#some paladin rest time at the beach

[klance-dreams]

Okay but please imagine Keith’s reaction to seeing Lance after he’s finally spent some time at the beach again? In his natural element, bronzed like a literal god, burnished from the sun? freckles like constellations?? Lance with wavy, curly salt water-hair, eyes soft and relaxed.

+ Keith meeting back up with the paladins after too long away with the blade. 👀

He loves space of course, but even after his time in the quantum abyss, he’s still not used to the way all warmth & body heat was constantly leached away. Despite his memories of cursing his time in the relentless summer heat of the shack, he’s found himself beginning to miss the hot scorch of the desert sun against his skin.

The blade gave Keith a rare opportunity for downtime that somehow happenes to align with an impromptu holiday/break that Allura has planned for the paladins on a sunny, earth-like planet filled with tropical islands, flora & fauna.

To Keith’s surprise, Lance was the one to call and invite him to join them; sunshine already infused in his voice at the idea of seeing a beach again.

For Keith, the mere thought of getting to see Lance in his natural element? He wouldn’t miss it for anything.

He promises to Lance on the spot (he would promise Lance all the moons and stars if he could) to meet him there later in the day.

When he gets there, everyone has already been enjoying the sun & surf for hours. Pidge is sunburned and squinting at the glare against her datapad, glasses reflecting at a sleeping hunk whose legs have been covered by a crude sand castle. He’s spooning a large collection of fruits that look strangely similar to the ones Keith remembers from earth.

Shiro and Coran seem to be playing a complicated Altean beach game that Keith intends to avoid; Allura lays out on the sand, the mice resting in the shadow of her hair.

Keith thinks someone might have called out a greeting to him, but he can’t be sure, because the second he sees Lance? All thougts leave him, head empty.

It’s too soon to blame the redness in his cheeks on the sun, but he can feel how hot his face has gotten anyway.

Lance is sitting in the sand, waves lapping his ankles. His hair is wild & curling behind his ears from the salt water breeze.

The sight of him alone is enough to warm the cold ache Keith has been feeling.

Sand sticks to the bronzed slope of his back, glittering like flecks of gold, effervescent in the bright sun for Keith’s eyes to follow.

His shoulders are broad and already tanned and freckled where Keith knows his own would be red and sore.

His eyes sweep over the scar on Lances back, and the ones on his arms and sides that Keith wasn’t there to protect him from.

But here? With the blue of the ocean to rival his eyes? Lance looks untouchable.

Looks like a god, burning bright and warm and full of life, and when he turns around at the sound of Keith’s name being called out, Keith’s breath catches in his throat because this sight?

This is one he got to see in the quantum abyss. It was one of the visions into his future that he held onto like a lifeline, like a treasure.

The image of Lance’s smile, a true joyful smile, playing behind Keith’s eyelids and keeping him sane on the worst of those nights spent stranded in space.

Lance, eyes dancing bright and smile brighter as his wide mouth forms Keith’s name on a joyful laugh and he hops up to throw his arms around Keith in a hug that feels like /home/ in a way Keith hadn’t known before Lance.

For one delirious moment, the déjà vu is so strong that he’s afraid he and Krolia never made it back at all. That they were still stuck out there in the cold emptiness of the abyss. The way the vision blends with the Lance he has in front of him makes Keith want to hold on tight and never let go.

Especially when Lance leans back and their eyes meet and lock, electric.

Keith still hasn’t even said a word, but Lance only smiles brighter and knocks their foreheads together.

Says, “hey samurai, it’s been too long”

One traitorous hand drifts up against Keith’s will to trace the new freckles dotting Lance’s cheeks, which flush the lightest pink at the attention or maybe the intensity of Keith’s gaze as he floats into Lance’s orbit, pulled to him like the moon to the sun.

Lance’s leans into the hand Keith cups against his cheek, and finally, finally their lips meet; Keith’s cold and chapped and Lance’s, warm and soft, tasting of the ocean.

When he has to pull back to catch his breath, he finally murmurs back a warm and gravely, “hey sharp shooter,” lips pulled up into a crooked grin and eyes tracking the way Lance melts into him at the nickname like always.

They stay like that for a while, catching up on what they’ve both been up to when Lance says offhand, “hey where’s Kosmo?”

Before Keith can answer, they’re both knocked into the surf by 200 pounds of excited space wolf.

Keith wants to be mad, but the way Lance pops up from the water sputtering makes him grin through the hair plastered to his forehead.

Lance takes one look at Keith, waist deep and fully clothed down to the fingerless gloves, mullet drenched, and bursts out laughing at the sight

and Keith can’t even be mad. He pretends to be, crossing his arms and ‘sulking’. He tries to blow his bangs up and out of his eyes before he remembers it won’t work and that sends Lance into tears. Keith sits back watches Lance laugh for a minute, committing the sight to memory.

He’s gonna get revenge on Lance for laughing, but first he needs to level the playing field.

Lance’s laughter slowly winds down as he watches Kosmo run off to greet the other paladins, laughing again when the wolf shakes water all over Allura and Hunk.

While Lance was distracted, Keith had taken his shirt and gloves off, tossing them back onto dry sand and adding his soaked jeans to the pile for good measure.

Keith was slicking his hair back from his face when Lance turned back toward him and froze at the sight, suspiciously quiet.

// …tbc? transferring twitter treads. original thread here!

#klance #klance dreams #vld #lance mcclain #voltron #keith kogane #transferring my twitter threads #twitter threads #my writing #writing #just a drabble born from an all-nighter

[autisticlancemcclain]

From the goddamn moment he was born, Lance did not know peace.

Okay, yes, he’s being a little dramatic. But in his defense, he really hasn’t ever known peace — you try living with nine older sisters on a farm. That shit is hard. Lance didn’t experience silence until he was four years old, only a delicate child, and at the time it frightened him. He’s been surrounded by noise and chaos (and more noise, somehow) since his inception, basically.

So you can understand why the castle is kind of a nightmare for him.

Growing up, whenever he was annoyed by his family (which was frequently), he would stomp off the the barn and yell about how when he was grown, he was going to move out to a private beach house and never hear another soul again. He’d bitch and moan to the cattle about how he couldn’t wait to grow up and finally sleep in a room all his own, with no annoying sisters or nosy roommates or anything, really. He’d mutter about it every time Hunk read his journal, fume about it every time his sisters banged on the bathroom door and yelled at him to hurry up. He swore up and down to everyone that would listen that when he finally found peace there would not be a goddamn thing in the world and beyond that would stop him from protecting it.

Well, then he got his peace, in the form of a castle that doubled as a graveyard. His own room, for once in his life, and not a single person to bother him unless it was life threatening, basically.

And oh, how Lance hated it.

He tossed and turned like no one’s business on the first days, but brushed it off as getting used to a new space. And as he kept tossing and turning, night after night, getting maybe three hours of scattered sleep of he was lucky, he continued to blame it on a myriad of things: fear of a freaky haunted castle, weirdly stiff Altean beds, freezing cold castle temperatures, nightmares. All true things, of course, but eventually Lance had to concede — the castle was too goddamn quiet.

Tough pill to swallow, that one.

He’d tried to handle it himself. Stole Pidge’s headphones, hummed out loud to himself; hell, he even left the bathroom sink running for some white noise. None of it worked. None of it was the same as the constant sound of someone breathing right next to you, the grumbles of their snores and strange mutterings of their sleep-talk. The very thing Lance hated with a passion turned out to be the one thing that actually helped his insomniac ass actually sleep. Mother nature, you trick-ass bitch. You have a personal problem.

Now, of course there was an easy solution to this. He shared the castle with six other people — one of them his Garrison roommate! Surely, he could bunk with someone else.

But… no one else seemed to have trouble sleeping. At least, not for the same reason as Lance. And as much as Lance liked to play the obnoxious role, as much as nothing was funnier than pushing just the right buttons to make someone else explode… he couldn’t be that much of a nuisance. It was too much.

So Lance got real used to being sleep deprived.

Of course, he wasn’t stupid about it. He never went more than three days without sleep. On particularly rough nights, he’d crash Hunk or Pidge’s rooms raving about a sleepover, or convince the rest of the team that they should have a movie night, and then just happen to fall asleep right there on the couch. By circumstance, he and Shiro ended up helping each other out pretty often, too — the black paladin was kept up by nightmares about as often as Lance was by plain old insomnia. The man was usually too proud to accept Lance’s help, but every once in a while he allowed it, and they both slept soundly, for once.

Keith, though?

His help was a surprise.

Keith, as it turns out, has as much pent-up energy as the goddamn Energizer Bunny on steroids. On days they don’t have missions that will pump them full of so much adrenaline their hearts are at risk, he trains himself to exhaustion, else he’ll be up all night.

Training with him doesn’t do anything for Lance’s insomnia. It does, however, do wonders for their relationship.

Without Lance’s permission, angry, after-hour fights evolve into playfully competitive spars. Those spars evolve into genuine lessons, both of them teaching each other things neither ever considered learning before. (Turns out Lance’s flexibility comes in handy in swordfights, and Keith’s reflexes lead to excellent pistol work. Who knew?) And then, week by week, month by month, those late nights turn into a tension so thick that neither of them can bear it.

It may have been Keith to make the first move, but Lance thinks he deserves some credit. They wouldn’t be here without his complete inability to sleep like a normal person, after all.

The great thing about dating someone, though, is that eventually, bed-sharing comes into the mix. Eventually both parties start looking for excuses to stay in each other’s space just a little bit longer.

Lord above, is it ever a relief.

No longer does Lance need to desperately look for an excuse after seventy-two straight hours of prying his eyes open. Now he justs follows Keith to his room when the night cycle starts, wrapping around him like an octopus and stealing his warmth like a leech. Keith is the worst, most annoying sleeper in the world — he snores, he tosses and turns, and regularly talks and even yells in his sleep — and Lance fucking relishes it. It is a relief of biblical proportions to finally be able to have a good night’s rest, on a regular fucking basis.

It does, though, make nights when he has to sleep in his own room that much worse.

He doesn’t even have to, technically. Like, there’s no indication that Keith ever wants him to go back. In fact, the man always pouts when Lance stops at his own door, muttering petulantly to himself as he presses a kiss to Lance’s forehead and makes his way to his own room. Honestly, Keith would probably like it if Lance moved into his room, for good.

Lance bites his lip, considering.

Still. He doesn’t want to be annoying.

But there’s no way to know unless he goes for it, right?

“Hey, babe,” Lance tries, testing the waters. They’re both in the bathroom, getting ready for bed; Keith braiding his hair as Lance applies a myriad of skin products to his face. “Do you think you could make some room in your dresser for my socks? And, like, other clothes?”

Is it a coward’s way to voice what he’s really asking? Yeah. But Lance is nervous, okay? Cut him some slack. If this backfires then he’s back to sleeping twice a fuckin’ week.

Keith stills. He abandons his hair, turning slowly to face Lance. Lance looks away, fiddling with the hem of his pajama shirt.

“Lance,” Keith says, placing both hands on his shoulders. He’s quiet until Lance finally looks up at him.

“Yeah?”

Keith’s face is mission-level serious; eyebrows drawn together over dark indigo eyes, mouth set in a firm line.

“I would reach my hands into a live fire and swallow hot coals for you if you asked me to. Do you understand that?”

There’s a beat of silence. Keith’s expression remains unmoving, dead-serious, entirely unfazed by what he just said.

Lance bursts out laughing, shoulders shaking under Keith’s heavy hands, leaning forward to rest his forehead on Keith’s collarbones.

God. This is Keith. Why was he nervous, again?

“I just need a couple drawers, doofus. No need for theatrics.”

Keith presses a kiss to his hair. “Just want to make sure we’re on the same page. Yes, by the way. I cleared out half my shit weeks ago. I’ve been waiting for you to finally move all the way in.”

Lance smiles, hidden against Keith’s shirt.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

He never has to worry about sleep again.

———

based off this video

#i saw the video and was immediately like yeah that’s keith #vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #klance #insomniac lance #autistic lance #adhd keith #supportive keith #devoted keith #keith as a person is just a really devoted guy. to his husband to his fam to his friends to the cause etc #fluff #hurt/comfort #langst #insecure lance #my writing #fic fragment #fic #longpost #tall keith #drama queen lance

[oathfcrged]

REUNION CLOSED STARTER. @oathwilled

The hope had been brief and the realisation that he was alone quicker. He couldn't remember much before they'd been taken, he'd been with Paerin and then he wasn't. The squirming in his head had been the first sensation when he'd woken on the beach - the second, the panic and the anger that was never far behind. Covered in dirt and grime, and a few scratches from the crash after his relatively soft landing, the paladin pulled himself to his feet after remaining on his knees in silence - attempting to process what the hells has just happened. The parasite in his head should have been his priority, a way to remove it a slow but instead he only cared to focus on find Paerin, if he were still alive.

If - he knew he couldn't think like that. He'd survived and so would he. Bodies were scattered, some bloodied but all lifeless, and every one he walked past forced the hope in his chest to die a little more. The more he walked, the more his body protested, he was tired - he needed to rest but he wouldn't until he had an answer, until he knew what had happened to Paerin. He wasn't familiar with his surroundings, he recognised none of it, he'd rarely ever gone far beyond baldurs gate, he'd only ever intended to as the prospect of a little adventure, this however, wasn't what he'd had in mind.

There was too much time to think as he followed the path and kept out of sight while remaining without a means to protect himself. Usually he was good at silencing his thoughts, he could talk himself around, he'd had years of doing so but now? His thoughts were unravelling, spiralling at a pace he couldn't keep up with. Finally he had something worth holding onto and finally he had something to fight for but in a cruel twist of fate there was a chance that had been taken from him too. He'd taken an oath because he wanted to be good and worth something - to right the wrongs, and he'd looked to a God because it had felt right. Yet the resentment that had slowly built in him over the years could no longer be forced to the back of his mind. He was supposed to do good, to be good in a world that had done little but wronged him? It wasn't justice.

Again he tried to push the thought from his mind - to convince himself that Paerin would be fine and he'd find him, that he hadn't yet lost the one good thing he had. His mind would play tricks, his thoughts cruel, but he kept walking and he'd do so until his legs felt ready to collapse from underneath him.

Eventually he'd have to stop and there were few places that felt safe with just a sword he'd found on his way. Maybe he'd been going around in circles, it all looked the same, but when he caught sight of the cave in the distance it seemed a reasonable place to stop - provided there were no surprises waiting in there for him. " Anybody in here? " He made no attempt to sneak when he approached it, there was no point - he was clumsy and heavy footed at best. Fingers squeezing around the hilt of the sword on his approach, ready in case he needed it.

#oathwilled #v. the blacksmith. #/ act 1. #DONT MATCH THIS GOD #anyway i kept it vague BECAUSE #this sucks but have it

[greyias]

Still poking my way very slowly through Act 1 of BG3 with my half-elf pally girl, Aravyn, and just had the best series of quests/encounters that hit me a little in the feels.

So, long long ago, when WotC was starting to play test 5e, I started to attend some D&D Encounter sessions at a local comic/game shop, where we'd use some random pre-rolled character sheets to play. And I got handed the following:

This randomized Paladin who, for some reason, was also a wandering minstrel. I got to play her for all of one session, and unfortunately never was able to attend any more sessions (for reasons). Yet this yodeling Paladin has lived rent-free in my head for years, but had never found a group to play with in the years following.

So when I realized that I might be able to bring a version of her to life in BG3, I leapt on the chance and gave her the Entertainer background, and despaired a little that I couldn't multiclass her into Bard in Explorer Mode (although there is a mod for that).

I found a lute on the beach, played it very badly in camp and got yelled at by Lae'zel for it. And then, I wandered a little bit outside of the Druid's camp, to find a Tiefling bard singing so badly a bunch of squirrels were wailing with despair.

Having failed so spectacularly in serenading the camp, it would have been smart for poor Aravyn to just talk her way through this encounter. But here she was, being offered a lute and a chance to inspire someone with music.

And she knocked it out of the park -- being gifted the lute of the bard's deceased lover mentor as thanks for helping her break out of writer's block. (I mean, I get it. I feel that pain Alfira)

Mood™

Right afterwards, because I refuse to take a long rest while still full up on spell slots, I kept the party exploring, and encountered the harpy ambush at the beach. And we died. A lot. Especially in a frontal assault. So finally as a last ditch effort before having to put off saving the tiny child being lured in as a harpy snack for a better leveled party, I just had Aravyn sneak up behind and yeet herself from the harpy nest straight at the beasty ladies on the rock where they were hiding.

As you do.

Anyway, Shadowheart joined her, because what else should a healer do but leap into the fray and harm's way? (there was no way this was going to work, so what did I have to lose but my pride, I told myself) And as both holy ladies started swinging away wildly while the warlock and wizard looked on from above, I found myself wishing I really had some levels in bard in order to use countersong* to nullify the crooning harpy below slowly luring a little tiefling child to his doom.

After exhausting all actions and bonus actions, and since I had Lihala's lute already equipped with nothing else to do in between rounds I was like "...fuck it, we rock", and started blasting a song.

My Paladin, apparently, while fighting a bunch of harpies.

And I don't know if it was just a quirk of the dice rolls, but it worked. On his next round, the tiefling child immediately was able to break free of the song, which was the first time that had happened in all five tries and started running the fuck away. And I was like "...wait what?" and so after kicking ass on the next round, played again. And he was able to resist again and kept running further away while the harpies were distracted tearing the party to pieces.

No one in the party got charmed while Aravyn was playing her heart out, and by guzzling a lot of healing potions, they were able to just manage to squeak out a win. Bloodied and burning through all of their spell slots, they were victorious.

Uh, so yeah. Apparently I unintentionally recreated the end of season 4 of Stranger Things (with less tragedy!), and saved a little kid with the power of rock and roll while using the lute of slain bard. And damn, if that's not a true D&D experience I don't know what is. So I think it's safe to say that Larian has been able to somewhat recapture some of that lightning in a bottle feeling of playing a tabletop RPG in this game.

(even if that was all luck of dice rolls and playing the lute did nothing, I'm headcanoning Ari was channeling Lihala's spirit, because that's a far better story)

#gif #bg3 posting #grey’s bg3 tag #* technically it's counterspell in game #but my brain thought “countersong” at the time #anyway i'm loving the game #even if i kind of stink at it #bg3 spoilers #oc: aravyn #ari's og campaign

[kidge-planet]

Kidge summer event

Day 23 : hangout

Characters: Pidge/Katie holt , Keith Kogane

Pairing: pidge and keith : kidge

post Season8

A/N: This is the next part part of a fix that I wrote on Wattpad. If you want to read it, click here <----------------------------

If for any reason you don't read it, here is a recap :)!

Every years, the paladins had a meeting on New Altea. Last year, Keith missed it because of a long mission for the blade that lasted almost a year... In the meantime, he hadn't seen his friends in real life... Or actually, he hadn't seen pidge in a while. She was so busy lately... So When Keith saw her, she was gorgeous, more then he recalled... Basically he asked her if she wanted to hang out ............ ( Forgot to say that they kissed REALLY quickly)

Yup, I said quicklest. Well, it wasn't very quick... ANYWAYS, here is the part where they hang out!!

Keith arrived in front of Pidge's appartement, nervous. It was the big day! It wasn't a date, was it?...

After a long hesitation, he knocked at the door...

After a moment, he heard the sound of the key in the lock and then the door opened:

She was in... Pyjamas?...

"Hey, are you ready?"

Keith asked, awkwardly smiling at her.

"Not really... You know me, I was engrossed in my work and... Well... I didn't see the time..."

She said, embarrassed but slightly amused.

"Ho... It's ok, we're not in a rush."

He shook his head.

"Yeah, well, I still need to shower... You should come in."

She pushed her self aside for Keith to come in.

Once he walked in, he saw that her appartement was a little messy...

Yup, it's her appartement.

"Ok, make yourself confortable, I'll be right back!"

She rushed into a room that might be her bathroom.

He took a look around... Energy drinks... Pile of retro games... a Garrison jacket.

Ho, pictures!

Keith took a look at them.

There was pic of the team. He was on some of them. Some pictures have even been taken into space, when they were still paladins! Maybe when he was away with his mother and the blade...

He kept looking at the pictures and froze at one of them.

"Griffin?!"

In the same time, pudge arrived in the living room.

"I'm ready! Let's go!"

He turned towards her and immediately forgot about the picture he just saw.

She looked GORGEOUS.

She had on a red dressé that looked perfect on her. it stoped to her knees.

( like that one )

He haires were tied with a red ribbon and resting on her shoulder.

As for her face, you could see that she had a light make up. Unusual to see her wear some, but he hadn't seen her in years... Last time he saw her, she wore some too.. maybe she started make up? It's not a bad thing, he just thought that she didn't need it.

"You look... Very cute!..."

He stood.

"thanks!.."

They then stayed silent for a while, getting the situation weird.

"So, huh... Let's go?"

"Sure, Yeah. Let's go."

At these words, they headed outside and took Keith's motorcycle to go down town.

At this point, the both of them were wondering the same thing: Why was it so awkward?! They kissed last time! Well, it was quick... But still!

They arrived in town and Keith helped her to get down the motorcycle.

"SOOOO, what do you want to do?.."

Keith asked.

"Ho, huh... I didn't really thought... How about we check the stores? Or maybe you are hungry?"

She answered, while looking around her and fidgeting with her fingers.

She looked so cute... He blushed slightly.

"stores sounds good!"

Keith answered.

"Ok then! ANDIAMO(let's go, in Italian)!"

She grabbed his arm and dragged him into every stores that seemed nice to them.

The day passed and the sun started to settle. They sat in front of the beach that was no far from the town with ice creams.

"It was very nice, thanks for today, Keith." She smiled at him. A smile that was more beautiful that a billion sunsets.

"of course, anytime! I had an amazing day too!"

They Were sat so close that their shoulder were almost touching. They could feel each other's warmth.

"Also, thanks for that amazing bracelet! It's so adorable!"

He had bought her a small green bracelet.

"It was just very pretty... Like you. You needed it."

She blushed slightly before to laugh.

"You are being cheesy!"

He smiled at her. Her laugh was feeling the air and it was a beautiful melody that he could listen to every days. If only he could.

"I'm just saying facts. True facts."

She looked back at him, her expression and her gaze softening.

"You are being so adorable, Keith."

"you think?.."

"totally."

They became silent again, staring in each other's eyes. The silence wasn't awkward anymore, it became a confortable silence, a love language that only them could understand...

"So... I had a question."

Keith sighed.he had that in mind all day, he needed to ask now.

"yup?"

"well, when I was at your place, I saw a pic of you and James. He was kissing your cheek. I just wanted to know if... You two had something going on?.."

She somehow choked on her ice cream.

"WHAT?! NO! no! Absolutely not! His a coworker, nothing more."

"coworkers doesn't kiss each other..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"well, a friend. You know, like... Lance and Hunk, they kiss me too.. on the cheeks or forehead ! Of course..."

He sighed.

"So, did our kiss meant anything to you?.."

She looked up at him with a confused expression.

"of course it did. It meant so much. I never kissed someone like you..."

"someone like me?.."

"someone I really liked..."

He froze.

"you... Hold on. What?"

"I huh... I guess I like you.. a lot."

Keith's eyes were sparkling.

"you do?.. Ho, huh. I like you too... But not friendly. You get my drift?.."

She giggled and pulled him into a kiss. It was longer then the first one... Sweeter, better... Burning with passion.

As their lips were pulling apart, their heart were racing.

They stared at each other.

"So... That makes us a thing?"

He asked.

"I guess."

She smiled.

It was in front of this sunset, in this beautiful beach, that their love took another level.

That they started to share something new.

Bonus:

Keith: If we are a thing, you'll have to stop letting guys kiss you...

Pidge:

Keith: ok, Hunk and Lance are fine. I trust them and I know you guys are best friends..plus, hunk has Shay and Lance Allura... they also know I'll kill them if they tried anything else...

But! Only cheeks and forehead! And no other guys!

Pidge: yes, captain.

A/N: Favorite fic I wrote yet...

#voltron legendary defender #kidge #voltron #voltron pidge #keith voltron #pidge #keith #pidge and keith #keith and pidge #voltron kidge #kidge summer event

[blobfish-whisperer]

Excerpt from my new fic because I'm impatient :)))))

Then

It was a hot, humid night. The kind that leaves you persistently damp and, at least for most people, miserable. Not Lance. He was relishing in it, because it was the kind of weather that could only be found in one place in the universe: home. He was home. Had been, for almost a year now. The war was over. The empire had been defeated and was being systematically dismantled by the coalition. Voltron was no more. Lance was, for all intents and purposes, retired. It was over. Or, that’s what everyone kept telling him. 

It didn’t feel like it, most of the time. Not when he could still feel the phantom weight of his bayard at his hip. Not when he woke up from nightmares, night after night, and thought he was still back in space, still fighting the Galra. Not when he looked in the mirror when he got up every morning and saw the haggard, tired man staring back at him, took in the blindingly blue marks under his eyes and the long, ugly scar that tore its way up his cheek, and remembered. Oh, he remembered. He tried to avoid mirrors when he could, these days. He hated not recognizing his own reflection. 

Not that Lance could tell anyone all this. Who was there to tell? Not his family, who still looked at him like a magician halfway through a disappearing act. Not his team, who had scattered to the winds as soon as they determined that Earth would be okay. They tried to stay in touch for a few months. Slowly, the calls became shorter and more scattered. Slowly, Lance stopped picking up. Slowly, they stopped calling altogether. They were all doing things with their lives. Things greater than tilling soil at their family’s farm because no one else knew what to do with them. Things greater than laying in bed all day, staring at the wall, letting the time pass around them like a riptide they were caught in, unable to move, to think, to breath. Drowning on land, in their mind. Yeah, no one else had that problem. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to clue the team in on how much he was struggling. They were fine. Why couldn’t Lance be? So he forced himself out of bed. He worked the farm. He spent time with his family, tried to ignore how close they were to strangers, now. So much time had passed. Three years for him, six for them. Lance had a niece who was in kindergarten that he’d never met. She’d heard stories about her Tio Lance and had thought he was a ghost when he first walked through the door. She’d cried and cried. 

On nights that Lance couldn’t sleep, which was most of them, he slipped out of his bedroom window and made his way to the beach. He probably could’ve gotten away with using the front door, but he didn’t want to run the risk of waking the rest of the house up. Plus, there was a certain comforting nostalgia to to action. He’d done it many times in high school. It wasn’t tourist season, yet, and anyway most everyone’s vacation plans had been derailed by the invasion of Earth, so he usually had the beach to himself. It was just Lance, the sand, the sea, and the stars. 

On calm nights, like this, the moon reflected across the water. Lance felt his chest expand, and it was easier to breath. Since coming back, the stars were no longer felt distant and unattainable. They felt more like home than Earth did. Up there, Lance knew who he was. He knew what he was. A Paladin. He wasn’t that, anymore. He didn’t know anything anymore. 

Lance laid down, knowing he’d find sand all over when he left. It was a good, ordinary problem to have. He relished in it. The moon was waning. He took his time finding the constellations, counting them off like you might count sheep. Libra, Ursa Minor, Ophiuchus. One thing that every civilization he’d encountered had in common; the stories they gave to the meaningless shapes in their skies. Everyone had some sort of higher power they believed in. Most had many. Lance wondered if someone, somewhere had gotten it right. He wondered if it mattered. He didn’t pray anymore.

The closest he ever came was this.

“Hey, ‘Lura.” Lance murmured. Even though he was alone, he felt embarrassed to be basically talking to himself. He paused, waiting for some indication that someone might have heard. When there was nothing, he let out a shaky breath. “Hot night. It was a long week. Jamie’s got the flu and my mom’s been tired so I helped to take care of her. Hope I don’t get sick, too. That would suck. Elio graduated first grade this week. The ceremony was super cute, he got all dressed up and they sang a little song. It was like, ABC you later, EFGee I’m gonna miss ya…heh, it was cute.” he cleared his throat. “Um, anyway, that’s…that’s pretty much it. Nothing much going on down here. Nothing much ever really going on.” he swallowed, hard, around the lump in his throat, and didn’t say anymore. The stars were extra bright today. They blurred as he failed to wipe his eyes quick enough. 

Stupid. Lance didn’t even know why he did this to himself. 

He was about to give up and head back when he heard a small noise behind him. It wasn’t a sound most people would’ve picked up on but Lance, who had spent three years in space becoming especially tuned to noises and changes in his environment that warned of imminent danger and death, was not most people. He was on his feet in the breath of a second, adrenaline flooding through his veins.

It took him another second to recognize the figure standing before him, and still longer to truly accept it. 

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, his voice stiff with surprise and embarrassment. 

The other man stepped forward. It seemed impossible that it had only been six months. Keith’s hair was longer, tied back in a bun. Gone was his cropped jacket, in its place a regular-length coat made of a dark green leather. Instead of the black bayard, he had his Marmoran blade strapped to his belt. He looked different, and yet achingly familiar. Lance wasn’t sure what to do with it. He thought that this was how Scrooge must’ve felt to see Marley, to see an apparition from his past, once friend, now unknown.

Yet Keith smiled, crooked and soft, and Lance felt himself relax despite himself. “Hey, Lance. Your mom said you might be out here.”

“My mom?” Lance croaked. Guess he wasn’t as good at sneaking out as he thought. “Um, well, hi, I guess. What’re you doing here?” he asked again, because it beared repeating. 

“I’m here to see you.” Keith said, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Like it was so obvious. Six months of no contact, not a single video or call or text or friggin’ carrier pigeon. Just, I’m here to see you, like he was dropping in for coffee on any Sunday, not crashing his way into Lance’s life at eleven thirty at night on a random Tuesday. 

“Why?” Lance pressed, too flummoxed to even be angry. 

“I need your help. On a mission.” he held up his hands placatingly as protests began to fall from Lance’s lips. “I know, I know you said that you were done, but it’s really just a small one. It’s only a galaxy over, and it’s all diplomatic. I’ll have you back before the end of the week.”

Lance crossed his arms. “If it’s so small, why do you need me?”

“Everyone else is busy. And you know I’m crap at the diplomatic stuff. This is a really important planet for the coalition. They’ve been through a lot, so our presence will do a lot of good.” Keith said, shifting uncomfortably. “Please.”

“I’m not going to leave my family because everyone else is busy,” Lance snapped. “I’ve missed too much already. I’ve already saved the world, a couple times over.”

Keith ducked his head and took a deep breath. “Lance. I want…I need you. Not anyone else. You are the best person for this job. It’ll be quick, you won’t miss anything. I promise.”

Lance scoffed. “You can’t promise anything, Keith. You can’t be sure.”

Keith met his gaze, his eyes gentle but determined. “I do. I promise.”

And dammit. Dammit all to hell, Lance trusted him. 

Lance looked back to the house, to the warm, inviting light of the porch, his mom’s silhouette in the kitchen window, no doubt waiting for them to come in. Spica winked at him from over head. And Keith stood before him, waiting patiently, and Lance hated how he already look so sure of the answer.

“Whatever, samurai. But if I miss my grandmother’s tostones this Sunday, I’m shaving off that abomination you call a haircut.”

#klance #klance fic #lance #keith #vld #vld fic recs #lance mcclain #keith kogane #klangst #mine

[marv3l-drag0ns]

Paladin writing! This is part 1/3 probably, and part 4 will be the Paladin presenting the item to the Host at the @the-bone-shop

The Paladin bounced as it left the bone shop. Host was definitely an abrasive character, but gifts were important, especially for small businesses. The Paladin was determined to find one of Host’s enemies, or at least some entity that irritated them.

The goat skull on its back thumped heavily against their scales, reminding them of what they were planning on preparing for. The raccoon speaker was clearly a failure- the Paladin lacked the knowledge needed for runes, and this amateurish item was on its last legs.

The Paladin ran off to try and find its campsite. It didn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep, but recuperation and a base of operations was helpful, especially for magic item construction. It was, however, a long journey, which is why it tried to only visit the Bone Shop if it was necessary. Deer-Wings- or Cryptkeeper, if Host was to be believed- was lovely, but it did not merit the travel. Diving into its cloak, the Paladin withdrew a set of greaves, specially modified for its legs. It did not wear the greaves much, as it would often leave whatever passed for muscles under its scales aching and in need of attention, but it was a good way to race back and forth. It cut the travel time from half a week to half of a day. Equipping them hurt, as the thorns that adorned their maybe-calves were difficult to work around, but the Paladin did not need pain, so it ignored it. They resumed running. The Paladin had chosen a grotto right at the foot of a cliff, which was clear and had many of the basic ingredients for mending or magework. The Paladin had set up many more permanent utilities, such as a workbench, water refinery, and storage system, but it was not used to staying in one place and therefore was unable to think of this as a headquarters, much less a home.

The Paladin kneeled by its storage, which was more of a glorified shelf. It was wrapped in leather strips, with various bags the Paladin had made hanging from knots in the wood it hadn’t broken off. There was a large basket on the ground half-full of stones, many of which were black, more than half representing Condensed Voidsea. The Paladin had assembled on a beach full of marble-sized spheres of Voidsea, and harbored a deep connection to the small stones. It had tried to use them as a focus and ground one up to make a sealant for its first experiment, but it had ended up sealing the dog skull shut. The Paladin reached into its cloak and drew out the new rocks it had purchased, placing the black ones into the basket and setting the aquamarine on the shelf. Hopefully, a more diluted Voidsea sealant would work to provide the self, and the aquamarine would be a better conduct for speech.

Not letting itself get distracted, the Paladin swung off the goat skull and let it rest in the grass. Goats were held sacred in a few cities near the Voidsea, both for their value as sustenance but also for the horns that grew from their heads. Voidsea Goats often had traces of crystalized Voidsea in their horns, which manifested itself in odd ways that depended on the goat. Hopefully the Paladin’s own horns, which it had ground down in order to blend in better (it shuddered to remember that time), would be mirrored in the skull and further help the item.

However, that quest would have to wait. The more time the Paladin waited to give Host its gift, the more likely was Host to think it was rude. Rudeness was heavily frowned upon and would result in less songquartz to mend itself. Rudeness was not tolerated.

The Paladin sorted its purchases, then stood and shuffled over to its workbench. There, it shook out it’s cloak, seeing the various items it kept on itself land on the heavy wood. Various pieces of enchanted armor, the Paladin’s axe, sword, and knife, and various enchanted jewels, rings, and bracelets. The Paladin would not adventure without them, knowing that any item that it could carry would be useful. It kept the greaves on, but slipped a chilled hand in between the metal and scales to try and soothe the irritation. It stared at the seeking bracelet, before tying it around their ankle. Equipping a combination of attack and location items, the Paladin finally retied their bags that lay against their cloak. It was time to hunt.

#dragon's dissertations #dragon's dolls #the Paladin #mostly just background and setting stuff up #im so excited to finally be talkin bout the paladin's backstory #LOOK AT MY SKRUNGLY

[kroliasgirl]

three times...

for @badthingshappenbingo​ !!

summary; there are three times pidge gets nosebleeds: once at school, once in space, and once back on earth.

triggers; blood.

prompt; bloody nose. character/pairing; pidge. fandom; voltron: legendary defender.

one.

it happens when she’s rather rudely interrupted while studying for a test in the library, feeling stressed as all hell. a group of girls sits just across from her at another table, and they’re whispering amongst themselves, something about the upcoming school dance.

one of the girls looks over at her, a pretty beach blonde with a figure to match, and smirks, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“well, i think we already know who won’t be asked out by anyone,” she says, blowing a bubble with the blue gum she’s been smacking on for the last hour and a half. the girls around her giggle like it’s the funniest thing they’ve heard all day, and the blonde - katie thinks her name is jennifer or shayla - smiles proudly at her posse.

katie tries to ignore them, but it’s not long before a hair tie hits her in the head. she slams her book closed and tries exiting the library; however, she’s stopped by the blonde who grabs her by the arm as she walks past.

“hey, geek,” she says, “you been asked out by anyone to the dance yet?”

she blows another bubble, and katie just absolutely wants to pop the next one, watch it cover her hair and perfect makeup. however, she only tries pulling away, but the girl’s grip tightens.

“i asked you a simple question, is it too hard for you to answer me?”

katie still doesn’t answer, just wrestles her arm out of the other’s grip with ease and rushes out of the library. the laughter of the girls resonates in her ear, and she almost doesn’t feel the trickle of blood that drips out of her nostril and onto her arm.

she only notices it when, teary-eyed and sniffling, she reaches over to grab a paper towel from the dispenser and wipes her face.

“shit,” she hisses, knowing that if her mother picked her up in a few minutes and saw the blood, she’d instantly become worried and ask millions of questions that katie wouldn’t know how to answer truthfully.

nothing had happened - it’s not like she got the bloody nose by getting punched, but she knows colleen will automatically assume the worst, as mothers tend to do when it comes to their children, and so will her father and matt if they were told about this.

luckily, the bleeding stops shortly afterward, and katie is relieved that it does.

~~~~~

two.

it happens when she’s pulling an all-nighter, on her laptop and searching tirelessly for clues on the whereabouts of her father and matt.

allura, coran, and the other paladins have come in to check on her a few times, even keith, who had sat with her and just silently looked over her shoulder for a few hours as she scoured over footage of her brother’s breakout of prison by the rebels, scanning both the face of one of them and the sound of the explosion to see if she can get even the hint of a lead on who these aliens were.

during one particularly grueling night of just scanning the footage over and over again, pidge (that’s what she’s used to being called now) doesn’t hear shiro (who they had just found not long ago, adrift in space in a broken down shuttle) enter the room. she startles when she turns around to retrieve some information from the other holo-screen and sees him behind her.

“shiro! uh, hey,” she greets, trying to steady her rapidly-beating heart, “um... what-what’re you doing here?”

shiro only gives her a sigh in response, taking the seat opposite her and resting his head back against it. his fingers instinctively rub at his temples.

“...head still bothering you?” she queries, giving him a sympathetic expression.

a nod, then he leans forward, moving the chair to be next to her. that’s when his eyes land on something...

“oh, pidge...” he says with concern, and pidge thinks that he’s noticed the lack of sleep in her eyes. but when shiro reaches across from her to pluck a tissue from the box, she realizes...

“uh,” she stammers, “y-you don’t have to... i’m fine, really, it’s-”

“i remember matt telling me about your nosebleeds,” he says simply, “you, uh.. you get them when you get too stressed out, right?”

a simple nod as pidge finally grabs the tissue offered to her and presses it to her nose, tilting her head backwards. shiro gets up and is about to walk out of green’s hangar when he turns back around.

“oh, just a tip in case no one told you,” he informs, a small smile on his face, “lean forward instead of backward.”

and with that, he’s gone for the rest of the night.

~~~

three.

it happens after they defeated sendak and the mysterious robot, on the first night they’re all out of the hospital with clean bills of health. pidge is running a diagnostic on green after a meeting. she’s also stressing out over the whole ‘invasion-of-earth’ thing, so she’s got that going for her.

she’s almost done with fixing her lion up - poor girl took quite the beating - when she looks up and sees...

...lance. hm, why’s he here? she thinks. he should be spending time with his family.

“hey, lance,” she greets, engrossing herself with the code on the screen once more, “need somethin’?”.

“uh, yeah, um...” he takes a seat on the table top, something she would’ve scolded him for had she not been so fixated on the data in front of her. “shiro, keith, and sam wanted me to check on ya. said you’ve been in here for hours. colleen is also wondering the same thing, if... if you’re okay.”

“oh, uh,” she feels a bead of sweat trickle down her face, both on her forehead and right where her nostrils are. “yeah, i’m fine. i just wanted to do a-”

“dios, pidge, your nose!” lance suddenly exclaims, scrambling to grab a rag from the supply cart. oh, it’s not sweat, it’s blood. “okay, you are taking a break, come on.”

he hoists her up after he gets her to hold onto the rag, pidge instinctively holding her head forward. the words of encouragement from lance actually make her heart miss a beat or two, reminding her of how her own brother would make her stop studying so hard.

it’s kind of nice, his caring demeanor... no wonder his family loves him so much and was so worried about him during those years they’d spent in space.

after the bleeding stops, he’s still there, rubbing her back soothingly. she gives him a small smile before colleen enters, telling her that it’s time to go back home.

#badthingshappenbingo #voltron #blood tw

[galraluver]

Blaytz x reader headcanons or scenario (up to you) where reader can’t swim for shit and blaytz teaching them (no smut pls and take your time ˘⌣˘ 🌸)

One super fluffy scenario coming right up! As someone who still can't swim, I don't know much about swimming 😅. I hope that you like it 😊

________________________________________

No matter how hard (Y/n) tried while she was growing up she just couldn't get the hang of swimming; her parents even tried taking her to swimming classes once but it didn't help. It wasn't that she was afraid of the water, she really wanted to swim, but she always seemed to sink no matter how hard she tried not to. Everyone (Y/n) knew always told her that swimming and floating on her back would come naturally, although it never worked for her even though she tried following their advice. She always felt stupid for not being able to swim like everyone else around her so she decided to just avoid swimming pools, ponds, boating and lakes for the rest of her life. Then one day her life changed forever when she met a very special and unique man, someone who she never knew she wanted in her life; however, (Y/n) never regretted meeting him.

The man she met wasn't even human; he was an alien named Blaytz who just so happened to be extremely good looking, kind and semi aquatic. (Y/n) met Blaytz when she was at a beach during one of her weekend vacations, thinking he was a shark on legs at first which led to him explaining what he was and why he was on Earth. The beach was only a few hours away from where she lived, so she was able to visit the blue paladin every weekend when she didn't have to work. (Y/n) and Blaytz ended up in a romantic relationship at some point, one that they both cherished very much. One day while they were hanging out at the beach Blaytz decided to ask his human girlfriend a question that she should have been expecting.

"Do you want to go for a swim with me, (Y/n)?" Blaytz queried as he sat next to her on a secluded part of the beach, an enthusiastic grin on his face.

"I- I don't think that's a good idea…" (Y/n) stammered awkwardly, hoping to worm her way out of the situation so that she wouldn't unintentionally embarrass herself.

"Why not?" Blaytz asked her with curiosity, his feelers curling inward while he tilted his head slightly to the right.

"I know that secrets shouldn't be kept in relationships, but I'm ashamed about my problem. Blaytz, I can't swim. Everyone I know says that it's just in my head but no matter how hard I try I always sink." (Y/n) hesitantly admitted, feeling embarrassed as she told her boyfriend about her lifelong problem.

"If you want, I can teach you how to swim if you'll let me." Blaytz offered kindly, wanting to teach his significant other how to swim; he would do anything to have physical contact with her.

"I- I don't know… I guess that I could try, as long as you don't let me sink and drown." (Y/n) responded with uncertainty, unable to resist his offer.

Blaytz beamed at her, excited to teach her how to swim; swimming was one of his favorite pastimes and he wanted to do it with (Y/n) once he reassured her that she was safe with him. (Y/n) watched as her boyfriend stood up next to her, taking the hand he offered her and standing up as he helped her up off of their beach towel. Blaytz liked how cute the new bikini she bought looked on her since it was blue and had cute little sharks on it; (Y/n) knew that he would like it which was why she bought it. As he led her to the water (Y/n) felt nervous that she was going to somehow mess up and embarrass herself in front of her significant other. Blaytz led (Y/n) out into the ocean until the warm water was just above her waist, that way she would be able to safely float.

"Alright, now lay back on my arms and I'll guide you. Lightly kick your legs and loosely lay your arms on the water's surface." Blaytz instructed calmly, bending down a little and holding his lower arms out for (Y/n) to lay on.

(Y/n) lightly bit her bottom lip and nodded, doing as her boyfriend instructed and laid backwards on his lower arms. She shivered a little when she felt the water touch her back, but she couldn't help but smile when she saw Blaytz smiling down at her. (Y/n) had to will herself to allow him to hold her up in the water, eventually letting him have full control of the situation. Blaytz held (Y/n's) body up once she laid on his arms, letting her know that he wouldn't drop her. The young woman still felt nervous, especially since this was how her parents and the swimming teacher tried to help her float on the water back when she was a child.

"Hold your legs apart a little and start kicking while making a slight counter clockwise motion with your arms." Blaytz calmly told (Y/n) when he began walking sideways, moving further into the ocean.

"Like this?" (Y/n) asked him curiously when she did as he instructed, albeit a little clumsily for the first few minutes.

"You've almost got it. Hold your legs straight out. Remember, I have you." Blaytz answered, looking at her legs and seeing that she was still bending them a little out of instinct.

(Y/n) blushed a little before she straightened her legs out and got the hang of kicking; she sighed before closing her eyes, feeling more relaxed as she did what her boyfriend told her to. Blaytz could feel (Y/n's) body floating on its own after a while, but he still kept supporting her so that she wouldn't lose confidence in herself. The further he walked the more he lowered his arms as she subconsciously floated on her back by herself, hoping that she figured it out. Just to test things out Blaytz withdrew his arms while she was successfully floating on her back without any help, a big smile stretching across his face when he saw her swimming on her own. Before (Y/n) could swim away on her own Blaytz laid on his back and swam after her, making sure not to accidentally frighten his lover if he made too much noise in the water.

"Wow, it feels like you're not even holding me up." (Y/n) commented as she started to swim faster, her eyes still closed while she paddled with her arms and legs.

"That's because I'm not. You're doing it all on your own, babe." Blaytz happily praised his girlfriend; he knew that he would be able to help her learn how to swim, she just needed a confidence boost.

"What?" (Y/n) questioned with a shocked tone, opening her eyes and seeing her boyfriend swimming on his back next to her; she was beyond surprised that she was swimming all by herself.

"I knew that you could do it." Blaytz humbly responded, proud of (Y/n) for swimming on her own for the first time in her life; he might not have known her when she was a child but he could tell not being able to swim earlier made her feel inadequate.

A blush covered (Y/n's) face from his praise while her heart fluttered in her chest; it was nice having a boyfriend who had faith in her even when she didn't think she could do something that seemed impossible. She continued doing what she had been doing so that she wouldn't sink, breathing a little heavier as she moved through the water. Swimming came naturally to all nalquodi people but Blaytz knew (Y/n) would soon be a really good swimmer, just like him, even though she wouldn't be able to breathe underwater. (Y/n) really liked swimming now that she could do it, even though she could only swim on her back for the time being. With her boyfriend's help she would be swimming like a pro in no time, although she wouldn't rush herself so that she didn't get too stressed about it.

#Blaytz #VLD Blaytz #Blaytz x Reader #Nalquodi #Original Blue Paladin #King Blaytz #Original Paladins #Blaytz x Reader Scenario #Scenario #SFW Scenario #SFW #Voltron #VLD #Voltron Legendary Defender #Voltron AU Where Everybody Lives

[itsmochichu]

my secret santa gift for @mochasucculentart <3

#(I THOUGHT I POSTED THIS BUT IT WAS JUST SITTING IN MY DRAFTS FML) #voltron #klance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #adashi #adam w #takashi shirogane #klancesecretsanta #some paladin rest time at the beach #wow i rly miss the beach... i'm so happy i got this prompt #thank you to hob for hosting the exchange!!

[thisgirlhastales]

A few Keith/Lance stories for y’all :)

First off, the folks on Patreon voted on one of the stories below to be posted for y’all on AO3 — as soon as I’ve finished editing it, it shall go up :)

Secondly, if you like any of these other tales, they are all available on my Patreon for $1 (and for December, folks at the $1 tier could see every post in the higher-tiers for this month). The entire prompt collection thus far is as follows:

In A Very Indiana Jones Adventure, Lance and Keith Are Traversing a Trap-Filled Ancient Alien Temple: Pidge detects a strange signal from within the temple, but is needed elsewhere on the planet. Lance and Keith volunteer to investigate, and find themselves in the midst of traps that prey upon both their physical forms and their minds ... Which is made worse when they get separated ...

Lance And His Insecurities vs His Own Badassery: Lance  is in those early days of Voltron, home sick and insecure, yet he pulls of an incredible solo mission — but not without hurting himself badly in the process. Cue the Voltron Space Fam heaping loads of praises on  him while also tending to his wounds. Keith takes it one step further by  admitting a long held crush ...

A Puppy is Found and Much Family-Bonding Ensues: The paladins come across a puppy-like creature that finds its way onto the Castle. This good boy gets up to all kinds of mischief, but he has everyone wrapped around his fuzzy paws. Lance, for one, can't comprehend how soft Keith gets  — and how that softness gets to him. Everyone gets cute bonding time with the puppy, and Lance figures out that Keith can be sweet, and he kinda wants that sweetness directed at him.

Keith and Coran Are In Trouble, But Their Husbands Are On The Case: Keith and Coran are kidnapped during a routine meet-and-greet mission, held for ransom while the rest of the team is dealing with a malfunctioning castle. Lance and Kolivan are Not Amused. They gear up and head out together, ready and willing to utterly destroy anyone who gets in the way of rescuing their partners. Also, Shiro just wants to kiss Matt without Pidge screaming at them.

Thace Is The Blades’ Resident Hot Dude, and Ulaz Is His Long-Suffering Best Friend (Who Has a Crush): Some Thace/Ulaz sort-of canon backstory, with Blade missions, undercover shenanigans, there-was-only-one-bed, and Ulaz coping with the groupies that follow Thace wherever they go … While harbouring feelings he thinks are not reciprocated, that have no place during a war … Except, maybe they do.

Lance Needs to Save Everyone With Time Traveling: Lance and Keith are freshly together, stupidly in love, but they can’t bask in it right away, as a planet tasks Voltron with saving them from a temporal disaster. When their first try involves utter ruin for Voltron, somehow it is only Lance who can wield the time-travel device, and he goes back as many times as it takes to save everyone.

Coran is a Badass, and Kolivan is Suddenly Aware and In Love: Lance and Keith are acting out all over the Castle and Voltron, thoroughly involved in an overdramatic, obliviously-in-love romance tale. But that’s just the background shenanigans, serving as great distractions for Kolivan, who has fallen head-over-heels for Coran, and is becoming more and more overt in his wooing. Which no one notices, thanks to the Red and Blue antics.

The Space Cowboys Attempt to Rest: Lance and Keith take a vacation, and it’s legit with all the beaches and the nothing to do, and the lack of enemies … Though these Two McClains don’t quite know what it is to rest without a battle or heist on the horizon … It takes a little work.

Keith is The Apple of Everyone’s Eye and Lance Hates Everyone: Recently, Keith is the target of affection and flirtation wherever they go, and it’s driving Lance slightly (incredibly) up the wall … for reasons he may or may not be aware of.

A dramatic hurt/comfort tale: The Castle only has one healing pod available. Lance and Keith are both in desperate need — Shiro is left to make the decision, and whoever isn’t in the pod is seriously at risk. The rest of the team must tend to their friend who remains outside the pod. Cue guilt and hurt/comfort.

If you’re curious about the kinds of things I write, this post has all the details of what I will write and what I won’t write :)

Okay, that’s all for now! I’m heading back to my editing :) *many hugs*

#klance #patreon #voltron fanfic #fanfic

[sparklekitteh]

Loving possessiveness, you say? *Bites lip*

HHHHHH pleeeease lovingly possessive Jean makes my heart flutter.

OK so imagine game night -- you have a new guy sitting in with your weekly Dungeons and Dragons group and he seems to be ignoring both the DM's caution against romancing PCs and your group dynamics. He's leaning into his stereotypical Horny Bard (TM) character and trying to seduce your character. Everything he says is "M'lady" this and and "M'lady" that. He even mimes tipping a hat to you and breaks out into some terrible song on the ukelele he brought as a prop. He's misinterpreting your embarrassed blushing and nervous giggling as if you're into the flirting, but the blush and the giggle are because you know Jean is about to lay the smack down on him.

Jean scoots his chair so close to yours there isn't a sliver of daylight between you. He narrows his eyes at Mr. Bard and you know it's about to go down. He moves his custom-made miniature of his Paladin character -- the one he spent hours painting every fine detail until it looks like a tiny version of himself in stunning green and gold armor -- over to the bard mini.

"I take out my Hammer of Divine Justice and cast Banishing Smite at 5th level on the bard for 5d10 damage." He rolls his dice, counts up the score. "37 points of force damage. Are you below 50 hit points?"

"Shit, man! You used a 5th level spell on me? I'm at 41 HP."

"You're banished to a demiplane until the spell ends in 1 minute. Don't mess with my girlfriend. In character or out."

Jean sits back in his chair, throws an arm around your shoulders and hugs you close to him, pressing a kiss to your temple while he watches the bard wordlessly opening and closing his mouth, like some beached fish. You mark an item off your inventory.

"You're going to need this potion when you appear in our plane again. No hard feelings, but don't try that again." You rest your hand on Jean's thigh and your head on his shoulder. "Go easy on him, baby, he's new."

Jean's entwines his fingers with yours and smiles innocently.

"At least I made my point in game. This time."

#jean kirschtein #jean kirstein #aot jean #snk jean #jean imagine #dnd 5e #nerd humor

[autisticlancemcclain]

“Anyone seen Lance?” Shiro asks, checking his watch. “We have to suit up in an hour, but I haven’t heard anything from him.”

No sooner do the words come out of his mouth does the man in question stroll into the kitchen, pausing in front of the table where everyone is gathered and clearing his throat.

“I will not be accompanying you guys on the mission,” he announces.

It takes everyone a moment to process that one. Hunk is the first to react, something clicking in his expression before he groans, resting his forehead on the table.

“Here we go,” he mutters tiredly.

Lance happily ignores him, pouring himself some food goo and taking a seat next to Keith.

“Are you ill?” Allura asks, when Lance fails to provide any further context.

“Nope! I’m just going to hang back from this mission because I Saw what’s going to happen last night and no part of me is interested in crawling through sewage. Y’all have fun, though.”

“Why the hell do you think we’ll be crawling through sewage?” Keith asks. “All the Yuvleans want us to do is find some crystal for them.”

“And I’m telling you it’s going to involve crawling through the sewage system,” Lance insists. “I’m not doing that. I’ll stay on the castle with Coran and do chores, or something.”

Shiro looks pleadingly to Hunk.

“Please translate,” he asks.

This is not unusual. Lance and Hunk frequently have to explain each other’s trains of thought to the team at large.

“Lance thinks he can see the future,” Hunk explains tiredly. “He is not a Seer. He just gets lucky, occasionally, and he’s observant. There is nothing I can do to convince him otherwise.”

“That’s because you’re wrong,” Lance says patiently. “I do so get visions. I told you about the mermaid planet when we were fifteen, remember?”

“Lance, you dreamed once about alien mermaids and the universe is so batshit insane that it ended up being true. That is not predicting the future.”

“Mhm, sure. And the fact that I knew the names of the mermaids we could trust was coincidence.”

“Exactly!”

Hunk and Pidge both look exasperated, but Keith looks intrigued.

“You can really tell the future?”

“Please tell me you don’t believe in that shit too,” Pidge groans.

Both paladins ignore her.

“Not as clearly as you’re thinking,” Lance says, making a so-so motion with his hand. “I don’t usually get full detailed visions, although I do occasionally. Usually I get bits and pieces, right before something happens. Like, if we’re on an infiltration mission and we don’t know which hallway to take to escape, I usually get a flash of images that tell me what’s down each one.”

Shiro, who had been eyeing Lance warily for the most part, tilts his head in consideration. “You do manage to lead us out of ships when everything goes to shit.”

Hunk looks at him incredulously. “You too?! What part of ‘Lance has good instincts and is crazy observant’ am I making unclear? Science, people!”

“I’m not saying I think he can see in the future,” Shiro says hastily. “But I’m not saying he can’t, either.”

“Thank you,” Lance says emphatically. “Finally, someone believes me.”

“Hey,” Keith protests. “I believed you the whole time!”

“‘Course, Mullet,” Lance says with a grin and a wink. Keith goes a little red. “I appreciate it.”

“I also believe you!” Allura says excitedly. “One of my mother’s handmaidens also spoke of an ability to see forward in time, and she often made excellent predictions about future trades!”

“Ha,” Lance says, pointing his spork triumphantly at his best friends. Both of them roll their eyes in tandem. “Coran believes me, too. Said he can feel it in my quintessence, or something. You guys are outnumbered.”

“Whatever,” Pidge mutters, but she doesn’t really look all that annoyed. “I can’t believe you’re skipping the chance to flirt with pretty aliens just because you had a weird dream. I can’t believe you’re staying back to do chores instead of prancing around the planet’s canals and comparing the water to beaches back home.”

Lance shrugs, standing up to dunk his empty bowl in the sink. “Like I said, I’m not crawling through the sewer,” he says, heading for the doors. “But y’all have fun. Let me know if you meet the ninja turtles.”

———

Hours later, five very grumpy, very dirty paladins stomp their way back to the castle. Lance and Coran meet them at the decontamination chamber.

“Have a shitty time?” Lance asks smugly.

“Dollar in the bad pun jar,” Keith says immediately, just as Hunk says: “Can it, Cassandra.”

Hunk sounds cranky as he says it, but instead of being offended, Lance only laughs.

“Fitting,” he taunts, “since no one believed Cassandra and she ended up being right. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it, Hunky?”

Hunk levels him with a glare, but only lasts about three seconds before a reluctant smile spreads across his face.

“Alright, alright, touché. I still think you just made an educated guess. But I’ll give you that one.”

“Sure thing, bud. I’ve Seen the day you and Pidge believe me, you know. I’m going to be very smug.”

“More smug than right now?” Allura asks.

Lance smirks. “Exponentially.”

———

Shiro doesn’t let Lance skip any more missions because of his Sight. “If a mission is going to suck, then we get to suffer as a group. Team building,” he reasons.

He still doesn’t quite believe that Lance can See the future. But he does start to take Lance’s input in mission planning, so long as Lance can actually rationalize his predictions.

“That’s not going to work,” Lance says firmly, tapping the path Shiro has drawn down a hallway on the blueprints of the Galran cruiser they’re planning to infiltrate. “If we split up, Allura is going to get ambushed and hurt.”

Shiro inclines his head. “Reasoning?”

Lance pauses for a moment to study the blueprints further, trying to figure out why he knows that to be true. He saw the altercation in a vision, of course, but over the weeks of planning with Shiro he’s found that his divinations often follow a largely logical path of reasonings, Sherlock-style.

“This is a Druid-heavy cruiser,” he says finally. “See how the energy systems are rerouted to neutralize more power outbursts than usual? That means a lot of raw quintessence outside of its usual transport containers, which means Druids. And you know how freaky they are about trying to isolate Allura and take her for her quintessence abilities. She shouldn’t spend a second on this ship alone, and especially not down the corridors that are most heavily fortified and monitored. She’s our strongest, but in this case it will only make her a target.”

“Sounds good to me,” Shiro says, placing a proud hand on Lance’s shoulder. “We’ll work out something better, huh?”

———

It’s no secret that Lance spends at least two nights a week at the observation deck; missing his family and falling asleep to the projection of Earth’s steady turn. The team has quietly worked out something like a schedule, making sure he’s never there alone, and everyone makes sure he knows he knows they love him and are there for him.

Lance pretends to be oblivious to the schedule. He saw it in a dream before he’d even met most of the team, but he likes that they try so hard to keep it quiet anyway. It’s sweet.

“Do you know why I’m like this?” he asks one night, when Coran is the one to follow him in.

The advisor takes a moment to consider the question carefully, humming softly.

“I felt something different about you the second I saw you,” he says eventually. He huffs a laugh. “That’s half the reason I was so defensive of you.”

Lance snorts, remembering Coran’s flailing and threats. “I thought it was because I made eyes at Allura.”

Coran grins, checking him gently across the shoulders. “That, too, lad.” His expression turns more serious, pondering. “But I’ve always been very in tune with the energies of the universe, the balance of quintessence in every single thing that takes space. My father taught me to sit quietly with the space between things, to feel how they fit together. You, my dear —” he shifts to look at Lance directly, jewelled eyes meeting deep brown — “your quintessence reaches farther than most. For whatever reason, your soul is stretched wide, across space and time. Everyone’s is, to some degree, but yours more so. For whatever reason, when you came to be, the universe saw fit to grant you the burden of Knowing.”

He takes one of Lance’s hands in his, squeezing gently. “It’s a lot of responsibility, child. But there’s no one I would trust more to shoulder it with grace.”

———

Usually, Lance’s Gift is harmless. It doesn’t matter who on the team does or does not believe — it never has a great enough bearing on their life and mission to make a massive decision.

Until it does.

Until Lance stops mid-attack, freezing in his lion, shout ringing through the comms.

“Lance, come in,” Shiro demands. “What’s wrong?”

Everyone’s screen flickers for a moment before Lance’s comm feed pulls up, brown eyes wide and panicked, terror written all across his face.

“We need to pull back!” he says frantically. “Now, now, now!”

“We can’t pull back now!” Pidge protests. “That ship has the closest guarantee to finding Matt than any other we’ve found so far, and our intel guarantees we outmatch them!”

“I Saw differently, they have —”

Pidge bares her teeth at him. “If you think I’m giving up on my brother because you think you can tell the future —”

“You have to trust me,” Lance begs. “The entire fleet is a setup. All the fighter jets are manned by sentries, there’s not a single soldier on board the commanding ship. It’s a giant bomb. The second we touch it it’s going to blow so big it’ll start a new solar system. Please.”

“Lance, now is not the time —” Shiro interjects.

“I know, but —”

“We have every guarantee from the Blades that my brother may very well be on that ship!” Pidge says shrilly. “I know you think you can see the future Lance, but I just can’t trust that!”

“I’m not asking you to trust it,” Lance says again, more and more desperate by the second. “I’m asking you to trust me. And I promise you, Pidge, if we move forward than every single one of us is going to die.”

Tears drip from Pidge’s eyes. Her face crumples.

“Why are you making me choose between my brother and the team?” she sobs.

“Please trust me,” Lance begs again.

She swipes a hand across her eyes.

“If you’re wrong, I’m never going to forgive you.”

As soon as she says the words, Lance is yelling for everyone to pull back. Shiro echoes him, and the retreat back to the castle. As Allura opens a wormhole, the entire fleet starts to blow, every explosion tripping the ship next to it, until the entirety of the blackness of space is ignited in bright white flame and incinerating debris.

They barely make it through the wormhole in one piece.

———

“I still don’t believe you,” Pidge says stubbornly, once her tears have dried and they’re all safe in their hangars.

Lance smiles softly. “Thank you for trusting me anyway.”

———

Hours after everyone else has fallen asleep, after the last movie for movie night has ended, Keith and Lance sit facing each other on a mound of blankets, knees pulled up their their chins and arms held tightly around their legs.

“Your turn,” Keith whispers.

Lance hums. “How many questions do I have left?”

“We passed twenty forever ago. I think we’re just getting to know each other, now.”

“Oh.”

“Is that okay?”

Lance hides a grin in his pajama-covered knees. “Yeah.”

“Good. Ask your question, doofus. You’re taking forever.”

“‘Kay. How come you pretended not to recognize me when we were rescuing Shiro?”

Keith’s face flames. “I really didn’t recognize you!” he insists.

Lance shakes his head. “We had four group projects together, and you smirked at me after no less than twelve flight sims. I’m not buying it, Samurai.”

Keith holds his gaze for several minutes, glaring stubbornly. But finally he deflates.

“Fine,” he concedes. “I remember you. But if I tell you why I pretended to forget, you have to promise not to get mad, okay?”

“Fine, fine. Just tell me already.”

Keith looks away. He’s quiet for long enough that Lance reaches over to pinch him for not answering.

“Jesus, okay! I’m getting there.” He bites his lip. “Do you remember that dumbass line you used to say? About threading the needle?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Uh. I didn’t get it for a long time. I thought —” he grimaces, accepting Lance’s oncoming diva fit — “I thought your name was Taylor. So.”

To his surprise, Lance bursts out laughing.

“You dumbass! Did you really?”

“It was a valid assumption!” Keith defends. “You said that people called you tailor! What was I supposed to think?”

“Our names are right next to each other on roll call,” Lance chokes out, wiping a tear from his eye. He flashes a teasing grin as he slowly starts to calm down. “Guess there’s I reason I usually did better on the practicals, huh?”

“Oh, shut up,” Keith says, scowling. “You barely did better.”

“Neck and neck,” Lance teases.

“Yeah, yeah, cargo pilot. Whatever you say.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, silence interrupted only by Shiro’s horrible snoring and Lance’s occasional giggle.

“It’s your turn,” he says, once he’s finally gotten himself under control. Keith rolls his eyes, but asks anyway.

“How come you don’t flirt with random aliens anymore?”

To his surprise, the question makes Lance flush darkly. He looks away, picking at his nails.

“I, uh, Saw that I end up with someone soon. Feels disrespectful to flirt knowing I’m gonna be with him any time now.”

Keith’s breath hitches. “Him?”

“Them,” Lance corrects hastily, but the damage is already done.

“Who is he? Do I —”

“Game’s over,” Lance says hastily. “I just had a vision. If we keep playing you’re going to choke to death and die after I make an excellent joke, so. Better safe than sorry.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Keith accuses, but Lance has never been wrong before, so he hesitates.

Lance notices, doubling down. “Yep. I try to give you the Heimlich and everything, but it doesn’t work. You die in minutes. Gotta prevent that.”

“Fine,” Keith says sullenly. “I guess we should go to sleep then.”

“Probably,” Lance agrees, audibly relieved. “Don’t want you to die or anything.”

His face is red until the second he falls asleep.

———

Lance has his impulsive moments, sure. But the real impulsive members of the team are Keith or Pidge, no question about it. They are the king and queen of dumbass, split-second decisions.

When Lance gets a vision, mid-fight, on a planet so overrun with Galran soldiers that ‘outnumbered’ does not begin to cover it, he kicks both of those losers off their thrones by a goddamn mile.

“Lance!” Allura yells, once she realizes he’s breaking formation. “What the quiznack are you doing?”

“The witch controls it all,” he gasps out, to quiet for anyone to hear. He ignores the shouts of his team, ignores their questions, ignores his own guilt for leaving them so abruptly, and books it, as fast as he can, straight towards the cluster of Druids. They stand in a perfect circle, all perfectly still, tendrils of lightning quintessence pouring out of them faster than Lance can track, all tunnelling towards where Zarkon stands suspended above them all, sending deadly bolts of attack at Voltron and their scrambling allies down below. Every time a Druid drops, their very life force drained from them, a new one fills their place, as quickly as possible.

But Lance doesn’t need to see what’s in the centre of their circle with his eyes. He’s Seen it. He knows who lies in the middle of the cluster, who is pulling the strings between the entire empire, who has been this entire time.

As he runs, he feels his bayard warm in his hand, feels the form change from the barrel of his beloved gun to something sturdy, smooth, curved. When he glances down, he sees the familiar contour of a bow.

It’s too simple.

Far too simple.

But Lance trusts himself. He trusts the universe, and the responsibility Coran says it has granted him. He knows it would not lie to him.

He stops hundreds of feet before the cluster of Druids, standing firm as they all turn to face him in unison. He does not flinch when they raise their arms towards him, does not move when Zarkon turns to face him, raw quintessence lighting up his arms as he takes aim directly where Lance stands.

Lance breathes in. He aims the bow high in the sky, not at the Druids, not at Zarkon, but where he knows the arrow will arch gracefully, and make it’s deadly decent: landing dead in the centre of the Druids, where Haggar stands, unfocused on the sky above her.

Lance exhales.

He fires.

He hears a wicked shriek echo louder than any person every could, just as Zarkon’s final blast hits him square in the chest.

His own agonized screams drown out the terrified yells of his team.

———

You’d think it would be quiet, death. It’s the absence of life, after all. The cease of all movement. The end of one’s time.

It’s not.

Lance feels every one of his cells as they sizzle and fry, his very molecules tearing themselves apart as the blast of quintessence breaks easily through his armour. He feels every part of his body and soul incinerate out of existence.

It sounds like one long, shrill screech of brakes stopping abruptly.

It hurts.

———

“There’s no way he’s going to survive that! It’s a waste of time to hope!”

“How can you say that? How dare you say that?

“You think I want to? You think I want this? His very soul was fried, Keith! He is my best friend, he is my brother, but I am not going to put myself or anyone else through the pain of hoping!”

“The pain of hoping is the only thing that can make the pain of giving up feel better!”

———

Coming back to life is shockingly silent, in contrast. Still, too. He knows he’s not dead — he can’t be, if he’s thinking — but he can’t feel any further than that.

Everything is quiet.

———

It’s barely noticeable, when he can finally feel again. The faintest brush of a hand through his hair, a whisper, the press of lips to his forehead.

Then nothing, again.

———

“You’re going to make it, Lance. I’ll kill you if you don’t, you dumbass, selfless bastard.”

———

By the time he can finally move again, he feels like he’s lived four thousand lives. It’s the barest twitch of his finger, but it makes someone gasp, and then there’s a hand grasping his.

“C’mon, Lance,” it says quietly. “Prove me wrong, okay? About Seeing and living and everything. Please. Show me how wrong I was. I’ll even let you gloat forever, okay? I’ll never complain again. I’m sorry.”

Lance tries his hardest to move further, to squeeze Hunk’s hand; hell, even to twitch his finger again.

Nothing.

“That’s okay,” Hunk assures quietly. There’s a slight pressure on his head, briefly, and the scent of Hunk’s face cream and motor oil, and then it’s gone.

“Take your time, okay? I’ll be here. We all will.”

———

The first person Lance sees when he finally opens his eyes again is Allura. He can’t make his mouth move, can’t call out, but he doesn’t have to — she smiles softly at him, never moving her hand from his hair.

“It’s good to see those eyes again,” she whispers. “We’ve missed you, Lance. You think you can try moving your hand? I’ll help you, if you like.”

Lance screws his eyes shut — not because he wants to, he doesn’t, he’s only just opened them, he never wants to close them again — but he can’t seem to stop himself. It takes so much effort just to lift his hand a millimeter up from the mattress it rests on.

“Good!” Allura says, and when Lance forces his eyes open again he sees that she’s smiling much brighter, now, although tears drip down her cheeks.

“You’re so much closer every day, asteraki. In a couple weeks you’ll be all healed up, I’m sure. Okay?”

Lance still can’t make his mouth move, but he manages a hum. That makes her smile wider.

———

Allura is not entirely correct. He is not entirely healed in a couple weeks. But he gets closer and closer every day. After one week, he can move his hands, even though they shake. After two, he can speak, although his voice is raspier than the desert.

The first thing he asks for is an update — did he do it? Did it work?

“Zarkon and Haggar crumbled to dust,” Shiro assures him. “The second your arrow struck. Ten thousand years caught up to them, I guess. The Druids died, too. The Empire hasn’t really gone anywhere, but it’s in chaos. No one knows what to do. Planets are revolting left and right.”

He squeezes Lance’s hands, lifting one up to press a kiss to his knuckles.

“You did it, kiddo. You and that goddamned gift of yours.”

———

It takes months. Months of physical therapy, if speech therapy, of disgusting nutrient-rich diets and fine-motor training that frustrates Lance to tears.

It works, though. Over time, he starts to come back to himself. Not everything is fixed — he needs hearing aids, now, because he was so close to Haggar’s final scream that it shattered his ear drums. His hair is bleached white, too, and lightning-shaped scars run up and down his skin — Shiro jokes that they should start a club. He’s unbelievably lucky that he regains all the mobility in his hands. He still speaks in a stutter, and he likely will for the rest of his life.

But he’s fuckin’ alive, goddamnit, so he’s sure as shit not complaining.

His visions stop coming, too.

He doesn’t mind.

“You were right, though,” Hunk says.

As promised.

“You really could see the fuckin’ future. I’ll be damned.”

“This moment was slightly less depressing in my vision,” Lance says, grinning wryly. “All I got were those two sentences. Who know I almost had to die to get ‘em.”

Hunk glares, flicking him lightly in the forehead. “Too soon, buddy.”

“It’s been half a goddamn year since I got nuked!”

“It will be too soon for the rest of our lives. Your lucky I didn’t build you the safety bubble I wanted to build you, you menace.”

“He really was going to,” Pidge pipes up. “I had to pry the blueprints from his hands.”

Lance tips an imaginary hat. “And I thank you for your service.”

“Whatever, goober,” she says, rolling her eyes, but she’s smiling.

———

There’s nothing strange about the knock on his door. Keith knocks as he always does: just one singular knock, to make people on edge, because he thinks it’s funny.

But Lance freezes.

Because he recognises this feeling, the intense feeling of déjà vù mixed with clear memory — one of his old visions is playing out.

And there’s only one outstanding vision of his that takes place in his bedroom, with Keith, as he’s folding laundry.

“Come in,” he squeaks, desperately trying to compose himself and fight the blush off his face and failing horribly.

Keith steps in and immediately starts helping Lance with the laundry, even though he’s horrible at it and always insists that closets have more space if you roll up clothes instead of folding them.

Menace boy.

He’s quiet for a long moment, rolling laundry until Lance smacks him, and then begrudgingly folding it.

“Did you See this?” he asks eventually.

“Yes,” Lance admits, because he sees no reason to lie.

“Then you know what I’m going to say.”

“I do.”

Keith’s hands finally still, and he sighs, finally looking over at Lance with a smile that shows the barest peek of his crooked incisors. “That doesn’t make it easier, somehow.”

Lance’s belly curls, like he always does when Keith smiles at him like that. He tries to remind himself that he is a grown ass man and he does not need to swoon like a preteen when his crush looks at him, thanks. He forces himself to set the laundry down and take a step towards Keith.

“You should say it anyway.”

Keith hums, closing the distance between them and placing on hand on Lance’s hip.

“Is that how we’re gonna play it, Sharpshooter? You’re not gonna have mercy on me?”

Lance’s breath hitches. “Not for a second.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Keith mumbles, and then his other hand cups Lance’s cheek and he doesn’t waste a second before pressing their lips together, firmly, like he knows Lance can take it.

“I’m in love with you, Lance. I want to be yours. Sound alright?”

“I suppose I could live with it,” Lance rasps, completely unable to dodge the flick that Keith aims for his head when they stand so close.

He decides he doesn’t mind, though, not when Keith shuts up any further teasing with another press of their lips together.

And another.

And another.

It’s just as good as Lance knew it would be.

#vld #voltron #lance #lance mcclain #seer lance #keith #keith kogane #klance #hunk #hunk garrett #hunk & lance #pidge #pidge holt #pidge & lance #shiro #takashi shirogane #shiro & lance #allura #princess allura #allura & lance #coran #coran & lance #bamf lance #smart lance #langst #brown-eyed lance #psychic lance #team as family #longpost #my writing

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 55- Hell’s Chosen

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

The hermits discover a dark past to their paladin knight, does this change their perspective of him, or will it save their unlikely ally? 

Warning: Some description of wounds (i think)

________________________________

All eyes were on Wels. Very few had a look of knowledge. TFC, for one. But Tango’s visible confusion gives way to a much softer, quieter version of the hellfire wizard. “Helsknight? You mean the marauder from years ago? But he died.” 

“You’re right, he did. And I killed him. I buried him so deep inside me, and vowed to do whatever I could to be a better man. When Helsknight died, Welsknight was born.” Wels’s fingers are tight in the bloodstained fabric, knuckles turned white as he’s forced to relive, to speak of his dark past. 

“No no no no. You’re joking, right?” Doc shakes his head. Even he feared Hell’s chosen knight. Wels can’t possibly be that same person. Wels, a quiet, collected paladin with the heart of gold and courage of a lion. “I mean...no one ever told the story of Helsknight with a tail.” 

“Less limbs to get cut off if it’s protected by armor.” Wels points out, flicking the lionesque tail. “You want proof? What was the last time anyone ever saw Helsknight?”

Doc cocks an eyebrow, then waves his hand. “Hels and his band of bad guys attacked one of Ventus’s- the God of Judgement- temples. But the attempt was failed, and Helsknight himself was left behind as he bled out...from his neck…”

The entire group stares as the scar that Wels reveals, running from his collar to his clavicle. TFC doesn’t stare like the others. He’s known all of this the whole time. Tango shakes his head. “But you’re nothing like Helsknight. He murdered and killed for fun, to cause chaos and bring hell onto Lairyon. Wels, you’re…” 

“A changed man. Just like Apatia can be- if you give him the chance. Like the woman who healed me did, like X and TFC. Tango, if you don’t let Apatia give his chance to change and rectify what he can, then you can’t let me be any different. You can’t be a hypocrite and pick and choose.” From between Wels and Tango, Apatia groans. The blood has stopped, Ren’s work healing leaving a sloppy open wound behind. 

Apatia was pale, paler than he already was. Almost the same color as Grian, as the latter continues to recuperate from the torture he faced. But unlike Grian’s shallow, soft breaths, Apatia’s runs ragged and harsh. His jaws are clenched, fighting off the pain. With the remaining bandages and healing salve, Wels wraps up the stump of Apatia’s tail fin. 

Tango and Doc are still quiet, trying to comprehend the news that’s been delivered to them. It all makes sense, but their eads still struggle to put the two completely different personas together. As if they’re different people all together. 

Everyone knows who Helsknight is- was. He appeared as if from nowhere, like a demon spawned straight from hell. And immediately, he began reeking havoc. His band of villains attacked and raided. They were more than just some lowly bandits, or even a mafia. Helsknight was a villain, killing without mercy, without remorse, and without discretion. It wasn’t until their botched attack on that temple that ended the reign of terror that Hell’s chosen knight left on Lairyon. Just as quickly as Helsknight appeared, he faded into nightmares and horror story. Kids were told to watch out for the knight with one eye, because he’d pluck out their own to replace his. 

But Welsknight? He’s calm and collected, if a bit snarky. Even when battling even the husks, he always hesitates to strike a killing blow if there’s a potential to save the life instead. Wels is jovial, and a great baker, and tells great stories. Sure, he’s a great knight, but Tango once saw Wels cry over a dead fish he found at the beach. He’s a paladin, not a barbarian. 

Helsknight supposedly died years ago. Welsknight joined the hermits a few years back. Though there’s a span of time in between the day Lairyon celebrated the defeat of Hels and Wels following TFC back to Eremita, it begins to all make sense. There's a reason why Wels never talks about his past. Never visits home. Never explains how he got many of his scars.

Like puzzle pieces, it all falls together and paints a picture. Doc’s jaw clenches. As much as he hates to say it, or even think it, Wels is right. If a monster like Hels can become the man before Doc today, then maybe, just maybe , theres hope for Apatia. 

So long as he lives. The hermits are so focused on Apatia, their argument on whether he should live or die, no one notices Grian rouse from the darkness that still grips him. No one noticed the sky open up, both in Grian’s eyes and the sky beyond the windows. No one notices him weakly clamber out of bed, nearly falling flat on his face, and walking over to join them in the group. 

“What are we on about?” Even when he speaks up, the other hermits are so used to his voice that it hardly registers. 

“Welsknight was once helsknight, and whether we should save Apatia’s life or not.” Tango shrugs, his red eyes glaring down at Apatia with distaste. He still hates the man, but at the same time… they’re supposed to be the heroes. 

“As your resident healer, I think we should. But...I’m not sure why he’s here in the first place.” Ren looks up, realizing who is speaking, and scoops Grian into his arms. His tail wags loud and heavy, banging against the other hermits with every oscillation. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living, my dude!” Ren only sets Grian down when TFC reminds him that Grian is still working towards regaining his life, his color. He’s still slightly unsaturated, his skin missing the tint of pink, the red of his robest boarding the color of dried blood. Ren sets Grian back on the bed, trying to force the angel to rest. But now that Grian’s awake, he’s ready to cause trouble and start his day- even though he has no clue what time it is. 

“What’s going on? I...I don’t remember much. When did you guys save me? Why is Apatia here? How did you find me?” The questions fall like rain in a storm, impossible for the hermits to catch every last drop. 

It’s TFC that manages to slow the downpour. “Hold on, hold on Grian. Why don’t we start from the beginning? We’ll fill you in on everything, in time.”

----------------------------------------------------

All the hermits, once again under the safe canopy of the massive oak tree in their guild hall. Grian is wrapped in a warm, soft blanket- knitted by Stress- and a mug of warm apple cider rests in between his pale hands. “I can’t believe you guys came for me.” 

“Of course we were gonna save you, Grian.” Scar practically laughs at the mere idea of leaving him behind. But for Grian, who’s been kicked out of so many guilds for his troublemaking, it really shows how much they care. 

A rumble of agreements follow, and after a few more minutes of quiet comforting, it’s Grian himself that changes the subject. “Dolios is getting more powerful by the minute. I could feel all the energy flowing through those leylines, into him and that monster, Eurynomos. We can’t delay this any longer. Dolios has to go down.” 

“But we don’t even know how. We can destroy as many crystals as we want, but he’ll just keep making more. He has more power than a bunch of lowly mercenaries. He even beat Apatia, one of his own Councilmembers. One of the strongest guildmasters in all of Lairyon.” BDubs points out. Everyone goes silent as they remember the man in their infirmary. The stranger- he’s not a hermit, yet he’s among them. 

Grian looks up, pale face and hollowed eyes alarming for the hermits. He hardly looks to be among the living, but less like a dead man walking like he was before. “Xisuma, your brother mentioned something about the ancient ones. DO you think there could be a clue for us there? In the past?” 

X sighs, leaning back in his chair as he considers the question. “If the answer to ending Dolios’s dark reign truly lies in the past, then we’d have better luck finding the answer ourselves. Thousands of years, eroded by time, by kingdoms and cultures rising and falling, not to mention the disappearance of the ancient ones. There’s a reason ancient magic is dead- because none of the books teaching it survived.” 

“There’s one person we know who has studied the ancient ones for years.” Joe’s voice cuts through the crowd, looking around. Every other hermit is lost and confused, but Joe can see the mixed emotions raging in Xisuma’s eyes. “Besides Ex can take care of the island, of Apatia while we’re searching.” 

“Ex chose to leave Eremita. Why in gods’s names would he want to come back, to help us?” X growls. 

“Because he’s your brother. He helped us save Doc. He’s been helping us, helping all of Lairyon- in his own weird, Ex way. He’s not the villain here, he’s your brother.” 

X clenches his jaw. The scar over his eye burns at the memory of their fight. The words he said to his brother, and the worst responded in kind. Xisuma still received letters from Ex, but he only opened them when Cleo’s cider had clouded his better judgement. And he never responded. 

But he also remembers the moment, after years estranged, he laid eyes upon his twin brother, crammed into the bookstore he was running. The moment of relief, of happiness to see Ex alive and well. Their identical faces, like mirror images of one another. His hair pure white, like the bright sun in the sky. Even now Xisuma remembers how often he’d complain he could always find Ex hairs on his clothes. 

And that Ex helped them save Doc. All these years fighting, Xisuma can’t believe he’s going to be the one to concede defeat. But for the fate of Lairyon, he guesses he has to. He pulls off his mask, turning it over in his hands, running a thumb over the scratched out symbol. He swallows his pride, and stands. “I’ll get the letter to Phoebe. What’s one more stranger to the island?”

#hermitcraft #hermitcraft au #wizard hermits #light of lairyon #hermitcraft fanfic #wizard au #lol #wizard wels #welsknight #wizard Tango #tangotek #wizard doc #docm77 #wizard xisuma #xisumavoid

[szecretary]

thoughts on voltron: legendary defender, season one, first five episodes. this will be like witnessing your mom watch a show for the youngins and being confused the entire time. 

warning for spoilers, obviously, but idk what for because i’m later to this show than the alteans were to the war.

i almost closed netflix bc i saw that the first episode is one hour long wh-

this is how shiro is introduced? harsh. but i like that in the first few minutes, the galra are already established as a force to be reckoned with.

first scene with lance, hunk and pidge, already showing their dynamic and their current situation! also, lol, lance getting told "you're only here because the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue" way to create tension between characters, keith isn't even there and we already know lance kind of hates him.

i like hunk he reminds me of po from kung fu panda hehe

what's pidge's thing with the kerberos mission? he seems very very invested in it, even for a character that science oriented.

OH IT'S KEITH. man i'm actually really impressed with the character introductions in this first episode, they're so clever and very effective, they show the most important facts about the person without slowing down.

keith really lived alone in that desert cabin for however long huh

where's the cat going

oh the cat went home, neat.

i love how at this point it seems that only blue chose its paladin, for the rest of them allura did a personality assessment off first impressions and assigned the rest of the lions, she really said "the bond cannont be forced... by anyone except for me" ma'am these are 5 random people from earth.

apart from that, i'm loving how intuitive piloting is with the lions!

lol lance fully killed some people there

listen if pidge doesn't turn out to be related to the people in the kerberos mission... just :( the way he reacted to shiro quoting the commander? there's no way he doesn't know them.

"go. be great." SHUT UP 😭

blue woke up yesterday and she's already getting beat up give it a rest it's been 10.000 years.

FUCK OFF SENDAK. I know of you, you lame ass excuse for an antagonist.

shiro i love you that's all i have to say.

THE COMMANDER IS PIDGE'S FATHER I KNEW IT HHHHH

the mice are so cute i can't believe allura is a fairytale princess with animal sidekicks.

YEAH GIANT HERO ROBOT!

ok second episode let's go:

this druid lady has a very cool character design, not sure what's her point in the story tho

pidge when are you gonna tell us your secret?

third episode!

it's really not fair how cool shiro is, paladin of the black lion, and "the champion"

oh no, shiro was forced to fight for galra entertainment? mmmmm yeah why not i love pain and suffering.

the little people who live on arus are very cute.

i'm sure shiro only attacked pidge's brother to keep him from fighting the gladiator don't be mad pidge :(

oh so the thing was the same gladiator, makes sense.

OH PIDGE'S NAME IS KATIE she's matt's sister this makes so much sense, i'm very sad, i can't wait to know her story.

ok episode four, the iconic failed team cheer i used to see on twitter.

the way lance pronounced varadero beach made me want to cry but at least it's the first mention of anything related to cuba, so i'll take it.

why'd they already beat up lance gdi give the boy a break.

episode five, i'm stressed.

NOT THE FLASHBACKS I CAN'T KEEP IT TOGETHER :(

kerberos mission: takashi shirogane, and samuel and matthew holt :(

pidge you are such a badass you have my heart too, also it's so sweet how rover has like a little personality.

"hasta la later, keith" MAKE IT STOP

(but ok that does sound like something i would say to be annoying)

hunk and bolin from legend of korra would be such good bros you can't change my mind.

ok the galra are the bad guys but they have style, "nothing stops me but triumph, and death" that's cool.

THAT FLYING ROBOT BETTER COME BACK OR ELSE.

damn even the mice have a kill count everyone has a kill count.

love lance waking up only to shoot a bad guy and then dramatically faint again, maybe he has hispanic heritage after all, he has the flare.

"we are a good team" hell yeah you are buddy.

final thought on the first five episodes: honestly? i’m impressed, the pacing is great, the characters are well defined and they all get their little moments to shine. loved the pidge focus on episode five, and i’m very excited too see what happens next. that’ll have to wait because i haven’t slept and now my brain is repeating that voltron forming sequence they play EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

rest of season one liveblog.

#kari's summer watchlist #voltron legendary defender #voltron liveblog #vld #sze.log

[leidensygdom]

My Dungeons and Dragons campaign is turning one year old today, 8 of September. I made a thread on twitter explaining bits and pieces of it, and figured out I could also show it here- Since well, it’s been such a huge thing for me! We're now in the 48th session and it's still going strong- In fact, they finished the first of three acts a week ago.

In order, the first picture is the map -and the second one is the logo-. They have been part of the campaign’s identity! Then, just below, there’s the 3 player characters and the patron, who’s served as a NPC:

First one is Hákarl, a dwarf-goliath artificer Second one is Glar, a human Astral Self monk  Third one is Laestis, a kalashtar rogue/hexblade warlock And last guy is her watcher patron, Vest!

They first started in an inn called the Nest, run by the Aarakocra lady and her adopted kenku grandkid, Kavla. There, they also met the first NPC that would kinda bring them in to big time chaos: Dalshen.

He was a knight in training of the Dharka, who found out something suspicious nearby the inn, and needed some help with it. From there, they followed the tracks until they landed in an old ruined city, and found a temple to the Five Ghardan gods (since it was before Uragan, the fifth god, was murdered), and a cult that was following said dead god, led by Novra.

They kicked her ass, and she was put in trial, but she died after something strange destroyed her from within. It’d be the start of a long investigation to find out what caused her death. It’d lead the players to travel to Jalia, in an old temple she lead before her assumed death.

Here’s few maps from the corrupted temple: It was attacked by some extremists of The Chain (a faction that is against the caste system of Gharda) with crystal grenades, and closed down, as they’re known to cause crystal corruption. There, they fought Nilodus, the first watcher they actually met: an undead crystal creature, result of said corruption. They had the first rough boss fight and then left, after a NPC that travelled with them (Kandris) got infected by the crystal corruption. 

Outside they saw some fight ongoing between The Chain and some of the Ghardan templars. They met Iratha, their leader, -and threw her a crystal grenade to her- and were aided by The Chain, which was for the most part against the use of violence. Then, they realized these grenades had been smuggled in by someone who wanted to stir chaos between Gharda and The Chain (and Remyra), in hopes to stir a war.

Said person was Uth’gaeel (the fancy drow warlock from up there). They followed him to an underground workshop, where they found out the crystal grenades are made out of crystallized people. They fought their second watcher down there, and followed Uth’gaeel to a crystallized tower (that last gif). They managed to down him relatively easily, but then, he promptly turned into a watcher himself.

And boy, that was a hard fight! They managed to beat him, but ended up realizing this whole conflict had way more to it than they expected. Watchers have been roaming around for over a thousand years, and they have been pulling the strings to make Gharda and Remyra get into another civil war since forever. Still, they had some free time to, uh...

Have a well deserved beach episode. Nothing important here. Nope, not at all. Other than meeting a friendly watcher running a mobile library and finding an old shrine to the five gods, with a strange warforged that may have been a god in disguise. But, anyways! After that break...

They travelled together with The Chain to their base, the fallen dwarven city of Dhum Urnam. They met a plethora of NPCs there and had some time to meet them, and recover Hákarl’s lab, as he was born in this city before it was attacked. But a few strange happenings made them realize there was something weird ongoing in this city. And when I say weird, I mean “there’s something making fake copies of people and fleshy lumps all around”.

They travelled to the inner part of the city, where they had to fight copies of themselves. They found these were controlled by the four big baddies- And realized there’s some big watchers behind all of this. 

After defeating them, down they went, and found out what was creating all these copies: a fleshy watcher heart down there, beating and full of eyes. They kicked it’s ass, and it seemed like Dhum Urnam was finally free of danger! Or not, because they can’t catch a rest-

After fighting a statue possesed by a watcher, they found out one of the NPCs - Myca- was a victim to the crystal corruption. They decided they wanted to try and heal her up, by going to her mindscape and cutting the corruption in it. That didn’t work out well. They found out they had been cornered by one of the big watchers -Solaralith-, who is inmensely more powerful within a mind than she is physically. That last gif is the battlemap of the fight, and she was pretty much as big as the whole thing. They were entangled in a battle they couldn’t win, until Vest helped them out... By killing Myca outside of the mindscape, thus severing their connection with Solaralith.

With no time to recover, they were told Iratha (yeah, that Iratha from ages ago) was planning to siege the city. After some quick preparations, the day arrived, and they advanced through the territory to find her out and finish her, to ruin her plan.

They first defended a point with cannons from attacking dragons, used by the Ghardan troops...

Then travelled to an old ruined temple in the middle of a big lake. There, they fought her dragon, Jimmathael, and Iratha herself.

A rather straightforward fight against a golden dragon and a paladin, which seemed like it was coming to an end. But then, the final boss of the act made an appareance. Iratha, who had been crystal corrupted ever since they threw a crystal grenade to her, severed her own’s dragon head and took it’s place, in a gruesome transformation that led to Amalgam:

This terrible creature gave them hell, as it transformed the battlefield and summoned five flowers to assist it. These flowers gave her few buffs and made her resistant, and each of them symbolized one of the five big watchers... Who seemingly, seek to replace the Ghardan gods.

But they managed to conquer it! With it, came the end of the first act. 

It’s been a big big ride. I didn’t expect my first campaign to work out for so long, and after almost 200 hours of playing, I have to say I’m just incredibly proud of all the work I’ve done for it. It’s a long post, but I hope you enjoyed the read if you made it down here!

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #ttrpg #tabletop rpg #dungeon master #gharmyra #dwarf #monk #kalashtar #artificer #rogue #warlock #monster #eldritch #sygdomthings #366hell #hakarl #glar #laestis