#Fandom is supposed to foster transformative works and how can that happen when not only do you have to keep to the canon of the text

[mercymorn-was-right]

I think it’s great when crews talk about behind the scenes stuff and discuss their thoughts about what they’ve created and all that

but I loathe this culture of taking authorial intent as 100% canon

like not to mention that there are very few times there is actually one single ”true” author of a piece of media

but it also ignores the point that what is canon is what’s in the text

authorial intention can certainly inform our reading and interpretation of a text

but it isn’t law, it isn’t “canon”

and this culture I’ve noticed of attacking other fans because they interpret something in the text differently than what the/an author has stated was their intent (or even their own thought of what might’ve happened that they haven’t even decided on!) — it’s harmful to media analysis, but on a smaller level it’s harmful to fans and fandom spaces

like, one example of this would be in one of my own fandoms — She-Ra (2018)

none of the characters have outright stated sexualities in the show — something the crew has even commented on that there wouldn’t be labels on Etheria as everyone is just taken as they are

like yes, you can certainly see hints in the text to some characters attractions: Bow pretty explicitly has a crush on Sea Hawk and later gets into a relationship with Glimmer, so it’s not fa-fetched to say he is canonically bi or pan — it exists in the text of the show! Similarly, Adora shows explicit attraction towards women at numerous times while being portrayed to be pretty indifferent towards men, meaning there is good evidence she is canonically a lesbian. Scorpia is portrayed this way too, being completely unimpressed when Sea Hawks tries to charm her in season 1

but for others, it’s not as clear

Catra, Perfuma, Netossa, Spinnerella etc

they are certainly sapphic — that much is clear, but we know nothing (in the text of the show) about what their attractions look like apart form this

for Catra, it’s by virtue of her obsession with Adora — unlike Scorpia and Adora herself, Catra never shows interest in anyone but Adora, and so we really can’t speak on what other attraction or capacity for attraction she has. It’s just Adora.

for the others, it‘s by the virtue of being side characters. Spinnerella and Netossa was a couple since day 1 so really, it’s irrelevant and the text doesn’t give us any indication of attractions outside their very happy marriage. Perfuma goes to prom with Bow, but it’s unclear if it’s in a friendly way or if she’s into him, and later she has a flirt with Huntara, and eventually gets with Scorpia. Because she‘s a side character her attractions aren’t pondered on any closer

and yet I see some fans hound other fans because they headcanon Catra as bi, or any other “infraction” on what the crew has said in panels or on Twitter

and like I get the urge

because the common argument is that you are “harming/erasing X sexuality”

and like, in some contexts that’s certainly true

for example, it would be helluva lesbophobic leap to call Adora a straight woman

but while bi Adora isn’t my cup of tea, and it goes against canon (which I agree with in this instance bc I like it), as a lesbian myself I don’t really see an issue with it

because it’s not erasing queerness or Adora’s queer attractions — it just shows a different flavor of queer that that particular fan vibed with more, maybe cause they are bi themselves and see themselves in Adora. Hell, I headcanon Adora as a demiromantic lesbian because that’s what I am and I recognize myself in her character

and so it really astounds me when some fans vigorously hound others for “erasing canon lesbians” because they headcanoned Netossa as bi when she isn’t even explicitly anything but sapphic in the text, and furthermore it doesn’t even harm queer people as a group

it only furthers separation between queer groups when we are all truly better of together

and not only does this have implications on queer issues of solidarity which is a big important topic

but on the interpersonal level, it works to make fandom a less welcoming, more hostile place for (queer)people wanting to be creative and play with characters they love

and it’s a damn shame

[jemelle]

these are ties that bind (7/8)

you can also find this story on ao3!

fandom: criminal minds

rating: t

(chapter) word count: 2,671

story masterlist / all writing

summary: emily and hotch must pretend to be in a long-term relationship in order to foster carrie. shenanigans and serious conversations alike ensue.

a/n: just the epilogue after this!

seven.

The state of Virginia gave them two day’s notice for the first home visit. Emily cleaned the house from top to bottom the day before, not wanting a single thing to seem out of place. Aaron caught her in the hallway, making sure all the picture frames were hung perfectly straight.

“Emily, we live here.” She stopped fiddling with the frame long enough to look at him. His expression was mostly one of concern, though she could see the occasional flash of amusement.

“I know.” She also knew what he was implying, but the Elizabeth Prentiss-like voice in her head was strong. He was going to have to say it outright.

Aaron, as always, delivered. “They’re not going to expect the house to be perfect.” But my mother always does, she didn’t say. Truthfully, she didn’t think she had to. 

He sat down on a stair, motioning her to join. Emily obliged, leaning absentmindedly towards him once she was settled.

“What’s important to them is that Carrie is healthy and happy. And trust me—“ he said, looking meaningfully in the direction of Carrie’s bedroom. “If she weren’t, she would tell us.”

And wasn’t that the truth. Carrie’s frankness was one of the things that Emily loved most about her. Emily had always been like that, except that only a few had ever cared about what she had to say.

“Okay?” Aaron asked, letting his hand drift over to rest lightly on hers. Emily took a deep breath, silencing the thought that they would be judged for anything less than perfection. The social worker wasn't her mother, and neither, for that matter, was Emily. She had to stop trying to live up to impossible standards.

“Okay.”

Jack came up to the two of them, then, asking for someone to admire his Play-doh creations. Aaron agreed, standing up and glancing at Emily over his shoulder as he was led away, Jack’s small hand clasped in his. Emily sat on the steps for a moment longer, caught in the memories of every time her mother had deemed her lacking. When she rose, it was with the determination that it would never happen again.

(If she caught Aaron meticulously fluffing the couch cushions some hours later, she didn’t say anything.)

~

The social worker’s name was Meghan. She was young, mid-twenties, with honey colored hair and a periwinkle scarf that matched her winter coat. She sat in Emily’s favorite armchair, clutching a mug of tea. Emily had laid out cookies as well, though nobody but Jack had touched them. She might have let go of perfection, but that didn’t erase the need to be polite.

“Can I show you around?” Aaron asked, breaking the silence. Emily knew the whole visit was a formality unless Meghan found something damning, but she couldn’t stop herself from worrying. The smallest thing could give them away, and the state would not be as forgiving as Carrie had been.

“I'll do it,” she found herself saying. She flashed her winningest smile as both Aaron and Meghan turned to look at her. “You stay here and look after Jack and Carrie, honey.”

Aaron’s eyes crinkled slightly at the pet name, which was practically a full-on laugh from him. She smiled openly at him, standing up from the couch and motioning Meghan out of the room with her.

Meghan paused on the stairs, looking at the photos Emily and Aaron had hung there one Sunday. Emily was suddenly painfully aware of the lack of family photos. There were plenty of Jack, of course, and Carrie had allowed some of the photos from her scrapbook to be framed, showing her progression from giggly child to sullen teenager. There was even a photo of Haley holding a baby Jack, but none of the four of them together.

As much as she wanted to offer some excuse about busy schedules and photo-shyness, Emily forced herself to stay quiet. It was the kind of detail a non-profiler wouldn’t necessarily notice, and bringing attention to it might even raise suspicion.

Indeed, Meghan simply resumed climbing the stairs, allowing Emily to take the lead as they toured the second floor. 

“When did you and Aaron meet?” she asked as they exited Carrie's bedroom.

“Aaron and I work together… well, he’s my boss technically,” Emily amended, watching Meghan’s face carefully for any signs that this would count as improper behavior. Seeing none, she went on. We didn’t get along at first, but once we sorted that out the rest was history.”

In reality, Emily wouldn’t describe their problems as history. The two of them were still working on their relationship every day, but that only made it stronger.

As Emily led her around the house, Meghan kept up a steady stream of questions, mostly about Carrie and how she was adjusting. Emily responded as succinctly as possible, though she couldn’t keep the emotion from her voice when describing how they truly had become a family. Eventually, they ended up back in the living room, Emily’s heart melting at the sight of Carrie and Aaron playing with Jack on the floor.

Meghan sat back down in the armchair, refusing Aaron’s offer to bring her another cup of tea. They chatted for a little while longer, Emily suppressing a smile every time Aaron’s answers to Meghan’s questions lined up exactly with hers. Who would have imagined that Emily Prentiss and Aaron Hotchner would one day have a bond like this? Not Emily, that was for sure.

For once, Emily felt secure. They would pass this test, not because they had cheated, but because they really were the best place for Carrie to be. She let herself tune out of the conversation, mind wandering until Meghan leaned slightly out of the chair and said something that snapped her back to reality.

“I hate to ask, but where are your wedding rings?” Shit. Perhaps she was more observant than Emily had given her credit for.

Aaron stepped in before Emily, mind racing, could come up with an explanation. “We’re both federal agents who deal with highly dangerous criminals. Wedding rings would make us an immediate target.” Like any good lie, it was grounded in the truth. Though he had worn a ring when he and Haley were married, it was quite another thing to be married to another agent. A canny unsub who figured out their relationship could put the whole team in jeopardy.

Meghan nodded sympathetically, though Emily wasn’t sure she was totally convinced. “That must be difficult, having to hide your relationship.” 

Emily found her voice: “We have Jack and Carrie and each other, and that’s what really matters.”

It was terribly sappy, but also the truth. 

If she didn’t believe them, Meghan was smart enough not to say anything, simply nodding before moving to the next topic. “I just need to speak to Carrie alone in the hallway, and then we’ll be finished!” she chirped, and the two of them exited the room, Carrie holding the door on the way out. 

The moment they were gone, Emily turned to Aaron. No wedding pictures and no rings. If one slipup was dangerous, two seemed to guarantee failure. Still, Meghan was looking for abuse, not marital fraud. They could still pull this off. They just needed to take the final step.

In an almost laughably perfect demonstration of their connection, Aaron, without prompting, voiced her thoughts exactly: “We need to get married.”

~

The wedding day dawned bright and cold, a light dusting of snow covering the ground. For once, Emily was the first one awake, though she was content to lie in bed, Aaron’s solid warmth next to her. When he began to stir, opening and closing his bleary eyes, she slipped out from the under the covers, heading for the kitchen.

Carrie was already there, eating cereal and reading the Sunday comics. Emily bustled around the kitchen, making conversation and coffee and trying to ignore the small knot in her stomach. Getting married was just a formality, a legal recognition of what they already had.

Coffee ready, Emily poured mugs for her and Aaron and sat down at the kitchen table across from Carrie, taking slow sips while she waited for it to cool. Eventually, Aaron and Jack joined them, and the four of them sat together, enjoying the silence before splitting up to get dressed.

Emily had already picked out her outfit, pulling an unworn sky-blue dress from deep within her closet. She thought wearing white might have been a little too on the nose with regards to the sanctity of their marriage. Aaron, in contrast, was wearing a tuxedo that Emily strongly suspected was the same one he had worn to his first wedding. 

Jack and Carrie were dressed in complementary outfits they had bought on a recent trip to the mall, the navy blue polka dots of Jack’s socks and bow tie matching the pattern of Carrie’s dress. 

“Do a spin?” Emily asked when they had reassembled in the living room, and Carrie obliged, her skirt flaring out as she laughed.

JJ met them at the courthouse doors, passing a wrapped present over to Emily before she could protest. Though they didn’t technically need a witness, JJ had been invited nonetheless. She was still the only one who knew the true circumstances of their situation, though Emily supposed it was only a matter of time before someone else (probably Penelope) figured it out. 

Even if the team had known, Emily wasn’t sure she would have wanted to invite the entire team. They were family, more than her own had ever been, but it would inevitably transform the wedding into an event of epic proportions. Neither her nor Aaron were much for parties; the current plan was to be in and out as fast as possible, hopefully early enough to have lunch somewhere in Arlington.

When their names were called, they entered a small courtroom. JJ and Carrie and Jack sat down on the first row of benches as Emily and Aaron approached the magistrate. Emily reached out and wrapped her hand lightly around Aaron’s. His answering squeeze grounded her, a reminder of why they were there. 

The magistrate began speaking. “Ladies... and gentleman,” he said, inclining his head towards Jack, “we are gathered here today to witness the joining of Emily Elizabeth Prentiss and Aaron Arthur Hotchner in the bonds of matrimony.”

Arthur as in ‘Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan’, he had admitted when she’d asked while filling out the wedding forms. Haley and I picked it out when I changed my name after college.

Elizabeth as in ‘I carry the weight of my mother with me wherever I go,’ she had responded, only half joking.

“Marriage is a matter that should not be entered into lightly,” the magistrate continued, looking at each of them in turn. “I trust the two of you have thought about what marriage means to you, and that you stand now, ready to offer a life-long commitment based on love, trust and respect.” 

Emily glanced back. Jack was focused on swinging his legs against the bench, but Carrie met her gaze and smiled softly. Emily returned the smile. She knew for the first time in her life what commitment really meant to her, the promise to be there for the good days and the bad.

“I would ask you to please join hands, but I can see that you’ve jumped the gun a little with that one.” He chuckled slightly at his own joke, pausing briefly before beginning again. “Do you, Emily, take Aaron to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?”

As he spoke, Emily saw first Hotch and then Aaron in her mind’s eye. She saw the man who rarely cracked a smile and the one who would do anything for Jack and Carrie. The one who would never admit to weakness, and the one she had found passed out on the bathroom floor. They seemed to have nothing in common, and yet they both cared so deeply, so selflessly, even to the point where it began to hurt them. Even when she was in the wrong, he cared, expecting nothing in return except a promise to try and do better next time.

When Emily said “I do,” it was a vow to Aaron Hotchner, the sum of all his parts and nothing less.  

The magistrate repeated the vows, looking expectantly at Aaron when he finished. Emily had a brief vision of Aaron refusing to say the words, deciding that he was finished, that enough was enough, but she pushed it away almost as soon as it appeared. He had earned her trust, proven time and time again that he would be there.

“I do,” Aaron said, turning to look at her with that signature Hotch intensity, the sternness all but replaced with warmth.

“The rings?” 

Aaron produced the velvet box from his jacket pocket, opening it to retrieve the rings. They were a matching set, plain silver bands that they had picked out together. No rings in the field, of course, but Emily had wanted one nonetheless, something to remind her of their partnership even while separated. Aaron had agreed, and though Emily had watched him carefully for signs that he was simply conceding to make her happy, she had found none. 

The bands were inscribed, the one sentimentality they had settled for. As well as being a fitting quote, it also came from one of Emily’s favorite movies, one she had watched over and over. Almost cloyingly sentimental, it still never failed to move her deeply to hear the words come out of Robin Williams’s mouth: “But if there's love, dear... those are the ties that bind, and you'll have a family in your heart, forever.”

a family in your heart, forever. That was the etching on the rings, and those were words Emily hoped would always ring true.

Aaron slipped the ring on her finger. It was cool against her skin, the feel of it making her unexpectedly emotional. Blinking away tears, Emily slid his ring on in turn, looking down briefly at his hands before returning her gaze to his face.

“With this ring I marry you and pledge my love, honor and devotion,” the magistrate prompted. They repeated the words dutifully, knowing that all those things had been promised long before this ceremony.

“By the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Virginia, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.” Once upon a time, Emily would have recoiled, but she let Aaron pull her close, knowing he wouldn’t do anything she wasn’t comfortable with. Sure enough, he simply pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek.

“You did it,” he whispered. Emily leaned back so she could see his face fully, his smile filling her with warmth.

“We did it,” she said. This time, she didn’t try to hide her tears.

 JJ snapped a picture of them on the courthouse steps. Emily held Jack in her arms, letting him pull at her dress, while Aaron stood next to her, arm around a beaming Carrie. The snow began to fall again as they stood there, a picture-perfect wonder.

Years later, Emily was trying to find a file that she was sure had been on JJ’s desk when her elbow caught one of the framed family photos. When she propped it back up, Emily realized it was the wedding photo, tucked in between a picture of Henry on his first day of school and a photo the whole team had taken on Halloween. She was touched by the fact that JJ thought it had been a moment worth remembering in and of itself; Emily had always loved the photo because she knew what it had taken to get there.

taglist: @robins-gf @catgrantknows

[oskarwing]

TUA Percy Jackson AU

Just me having the need to combine Fandoms. These are just my very chaotic thoughts in no order. Also I might write a fic to this one day...

Note: Even though I don’t mention it for everyone specifically just where it seems to fit because this post will be really long already they all have ADHD and dyslexia because that comes with being a demigod in the Percy Jackson universe.

Luther and Five were the first of the seven to come to Camp Half Blood Hill. They are children of Hephaestus and a male engineer.

Luther spend his earlier childhood trying to impress his human father by working hard in school and trying to get as good as him but the human Dad never quiet came over suddenly having to take care of two children that suddenly showed up in front of his door with a note from the dude he had dated for a while saying that those were their biological children.  

At eight years old Five decided to run away and Luther couldn’t let him go alone. 

Luther has their godly father’s craftsmanship talents which he mostly uses to build his model spaceships and sometimes trying to make more functional ones he also gets pretty good at sculpturing.

Five is good at building things too of course but he’s also one of the children of Hephaestus who have pyrokinesis-powers (I know that is super rare but ssshhhhh) 

While they were running away from monsters Five lost control of his fire and he accidentally burned Luther who will always have scars from this and also restricted movement in his left hand (he is still good with building but it takes him a lot longer and he sometimes needs to ask Five for help)

While he was recovering he dreamed about Hephaestus and his father showed him his deformities and tried to make it easier for his son (I know gods generally don’t care but he can relate and also Luther is a tiny eight-year-old still at that point.)

Five obviously feels immense guilt over this. He was just scared and of the monsters and wanted to burn them like he did with some of the others but instead he got his twin! 

He helps Luther as good as he can though. In the beginning when Luther still had a hard time he’d cut his food for him. 

And nobody, not a soul, not anyone in the whole camp would ever dare to make fun of Luther. Not when his twin is standing behind him with eyes surprisingly icy for someone with fire powers. 

They will try twice to go back home to their father.

Once when they are ten and want to maybe see if it was so bad after all. 

And once when they are starting highschool and want to give normal life a shot. 

The first time engineer human daddy made constant remarks about Luther’s scars. Both of how bad they looked and how it made him a little more clumsy because of how badly his left hand was burned. 

He also like implied that he thought Five did it intentional. That was one of the few times Luther had to comfort Five while he was crying. Though he was crying too.

That stay didn’t last more than two days and they were on a bus back to camp. 

The second time their human father was nicer. He had a new boyfriend and a dog and seemed genuinely apologetic. Though after how he had behaved neither of the twins accepted those apologies. 

He didn’t know how to talk to them still.

There was too much between the three of them and it seemed awkward. 

 In the end it was a drakon attacking all of them that made the twins decide that this wasn’t their place. 

Their father told them that he’d keep their rooms always ready for them to stay when he saw them off. 

There weren’t any ‘I love you’s but that dog? The dog of the new boyfriend? She was a female dog and she had puppies in the time they were there. One of those dogs really loved Five. 

And Five loved him.

And that’s the story how the Hephaestus-cabin got a tiny mascot named Mr Pennycrumb.

Klaus comes to the camp a year after the twins. He’s thirteen. 

His godly parent is Hermes. 

His mother had a big green VW trailer when he was little. One with which they traveled through the whole country staying wherever they seemed fit. 

They lived in the back cuddled together on the bed. Klaus will still say that was the best time of his life. 

It was also his mothers way of trying to protect him from monster. She hoped if they kept going they wouldn’t be to easy to find.

But then she got attacked and killed by a monster anyway and Klaus was handed through the foster system where he was also declared as crazy for how he described his mother’s death.

He went to countless therapists over the years. 

Until he got found by a Satyr who brought him to camp. 

He quickly joined in with the pranks some of his half-siblings did. 

Also he became one of the children of Hermes who smuggle in all the good forbidden stuff the campers need and desire. 

He’s quiet great at stealing as well. 

Somehow he always gets Luther to build things for his pranks without Luther knowing what they are for. 

“What do you need a pieform with a lever system that is remote controlled for?” “Oh, you know, I just wanted to give that harpy on the tree some pie and I can’t throw that high.” “Aw. That’s so nice of you!” 

The pie ends up in the face of a surprised Ares-child. 

Klaus is cackling in safe distance. 

Since he has no other place to go he stays in the camp year round.

Third to join was Allison, only a few months after Klaus at age 15

She’s the daughter of Aphrodite and an artist. 

Her father was bewitched by Aphrodite’s beauty and he has a portrait of her.

When she was little Allison spend hours in front of that portrait just staring at her mother. 

Her father never once told her about her no matter how many questions she asked only one time when he told her he didn’t like to paint humans and she asked: “What about Mom then?” He answered: “Your mother is entirely different, Allie.” 

Allison got handed from school to school. The schools claiming she was manipulative and somehow always got what she wanted and them only realizing what had happened after it was done.

Her father didn’t put her into therapy though. He just ask her to try her best to stop. 

Allison didn’t really understand how she was doing it though. People just did what she wanted them to.

It’s charmspeak obviously.

When she was attacked by a Cyclops in school though her father thought it was time to get her to camp so she can learn to cope with her demi-godliness

But she mostly only goes in summer and spends her schoolyear with her Dad.

When Diego joins the camp at 14 a week and a bit after Allison he’s this angry boy always starting fights with anyone around him. So naturally everyone assumes he’s just a child of Ares.

But then he gets claimed and to the surprise of everyone... he is...

The son of Apollo.

Everyone’s like “That angry dude is supposed to go in a cabin full of sunshine people??”

And Diego is a little surprised too.

But he is very good at archery as it turns out.

And dancing! Apollo might be the god of music but you gotta know your way around rhythms if you want to be good at dancing!

His human parent actually is a ballet-dancer.

After she found out she was pregnant with Diego she moved in with her good friend Grace. The two of them fell in love before Diego was born.

Yep, Diego is raised by lesbians. Because I say so.

Grace is this friendly soft Mom we know but she’s also the one to teach Diego various martial arts.

 Diego’s biological Mom is this no-funny business stern mother who on the other hand very much loves her son.

She just wants him to succeed in life and with her profession she just learned that you have to be tough to succeed.

Diego ended up in the camp because both of his moms got fed up with getting attacked by various greek monsters all the time.

Well fed up is kind of the wrong word but they wanted to make sure that Diego would be able to defend himself if he was ever in danger and Grace’s teaching don’t help him anymore.

So at the start of the summer they drive him down to camp.

He likes his siblings there.

Though he is concert of one Dave Katz who spends far too much time with that one Hermes kid that can never sit still and he’s not sure if he’s good for him.

Ben comes to camp half a year after Diego with a Satyr. He’s twelve and just radiates sadness seemingly.

 Since he’s staying in the Hermes-cabin for a few days before he gets claimed Klaus tries to cheer him up a little with various dumb jokes. 

He doesn’t laugh once. He does however ask for some books.

It turns out that he with help of his father worked through his severe dyslexia just to read the stories his father read to him himself

His father was a marine biologist and super dork.

Little Ben had this big book about different sea species he used to look through.

He also had one about different mythologies because his Dad was also super interested in that kind of stuff and wants his son to be informed all around.

He basically had books about anything and everything. And his father tried his best to answer any question he had and the questions he couldn’t answer he’d find someone else to answer.

Anyway you probably already know that Ben’s godly parent is Athena.

Surprise!

Once he gets claimed Klaus is like a little sad cause he started to feel really protective of him while he stayed in the Hermes cabin.

But he gets to see him every day anyway so it’s all good.

They still don’t know what’s going on with him though.

The Athena Cabin and Klaus try their best to find out why he’s so sad all the time.

It comes out during the mission he, Klaus and Diego go on.

On one of his research trips Ben’s father was attacked by Cetus. Ben was also on the trip but was able to safe himself though for a while it looked like he was about to drown.

His mother saved him however with a small boat that appeared under him.

As soon as he got to land it transformed into a tiny nutshell. 

Ben has it with him at all times and that’s how he saves Diego and Klaus on that mission telling them that story.

Vanya is who Ben, Klaus and Diego are going on the mission for.

She is this ten-year-old girl in an elite boarding school who for some reasons despite trying her very best always gets in trouble.

The reason is constant monster attacks.

She’s pretty upset about that. She knows her human-father expects the very best from her. And so does she! She has to be the very best!

Her father is a conductor in a high-level orchestrate and he expects his daughter to be a lot better than ordinary.

The boys bring her to camp where she shows off her violin talent.

Diego kinda hopes that she’s an Apollo kid so he can keep an eye on her. Though he’s also somewhat scared of her.

She and Five are instant friends! They sit next to each other at the camp fire listening to the dumb stories Klaus tells or the great ones Allison acts out.

She gets claimed during capture the flag where she wins the flag (with the others help)

Her godly parent is Nike. 

She’s a little scared when she sees what kind of overachievers her siblings are.

Sporty kids, Kids that are great at art or acting or school.

And she’s just little Vanya with her tiny violin and she couldn’t even make first chair in her school’s orchestra.

Soon she learns however that even though her siblings are highly competitive they are deep down very sweet.

She goes back to her father after the first summer ends but pretty soon comes back.

He told her what a disappointment she was. 

Five and Luther have also returned from their Dad by then and they bond over shitty parents.

Klaus is also still there to lift the mood!

And Ben! He joins in with books he read. 

None of them can wait for Diego and Allison to finally join them at the end of the school year.

[penguinsocksworks]

See You At Home (1/?)

Read on AO3

Read on Tumblr: Chapter 1

Summary:Keith is just one of those normal teenagers living a double life, trying to balance being a superhero named Red and a boring college kid. Keith also has two major annoyances in his life: his roommate Lance, and his teammate blue. He swears to god, it's almost like they're the same person!

Or

Keith and Lance are roommates who don't know that the other is also part of earth's very own evil fighting squad; Voltron. Shiro and Allura shake their heads a lot, Hunk offers supportive smiles, Pidge laughs their ass off and Coran doesn't get what the big deal is.

SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IM GOING WITH THIS BUT YOLO AMIRITE? No but seriously, Nessa, Happy birthday and I seriously hope this is what you were looking for.

To all the readers that are reading this: I'm fairly new to this fandom and I haven't been apart for that long. That being said I tried to keep this as in character as I could but... idk. I attempt to be funny too, so warning for bad humor. This was originally just supposed to be a private one shot for my friend Nessa's birthday but it turned into something a little more when I started to think about it more. And so I wanted to share it will the community! I'm not sure when updates will come, but I'm looking forward to working on this. Im scared to call this a miraculous lady bug AU cause it really has nothing to do with that show but it has superhero concepts from the show so like... its not completely but the concepts are owned by them. So I hope you all enjoy!

Nessa requested that this fic contain: HeLL ToNS OF FlUfF, Keith interacting with kids, enough angst to make you need tissues for a year, cute oblivious boys, smartass Pidge, and like five other things. So lets see if I can make it work. Lets play the 'lets guess how many chapters long this fic will be' game.

If you wanna hmu for anything here on tumblr you can! Im currently taking prompts to distract me in between writing this when i need a break.

SO AFTER THAT WHOLE SPIEL ENJOY MY SHITTY WRITING!

Keith will kick his ass one of these days. Seriously, say he won't cause he'd absolutely attack his teammate right in the middle of this fight. He could've gotten the both of them killed!

“Red,” a hand landed itself on his heaving shoulder, “You okay?”

Keith turned to snap at the voice, ready to release his anger all over the black paladin that dared ask him if he was okay. But he didn't. He stopped halfway, because yelling at Black wouldn't do anything but get him in trouble, whether it be in general or having to face Pinks scolding later on about being nice to your fellow paladins.

All these code names were confusing as hell to Keith, but he supposed that they had to keep their identities hidden for their “loved ones” safety. Or so said Pink, aka his brothers girlfriend, ahem sorry fiancé as of last Friday, Allura. She was deemed the leader of Voltron when Coran had come to earth, crashing through the ceiling of Shiro and Alluras nice apartment, and told her that she was the long lost princess of Altea.

In the middle of taco night too.

It started off like any normal night. Keith had to attend mandatory family dinner nights at least once a month or he'd get yelled at by both Allura and Shiro. Keith didn't quite get it, since it was only the three of them that attended these dinners and he often wondered why Shiro never insisted that Lance, Hunk, and Pidge tag along as well.

Shiro probably just wanted a break from all the kids at once. And! He'd get to harass his little adopted brother as much as he pleased in this setting without having to worry about embarrassing him too much. Shiro was thoughtful like that. Call him a saint if you will.

“So,” Shiro had been sprinkling more cheese onto the meat of his Taco Bell taco, “What was Lance up to tonight?”

Normally Keith would just shrug, he would never be able to predict exactly what his roommate would spontaneously plan when he was out, but this time he had received a definite answer to his “so Lance, I'm heading over to Shiro’s tonight, what are you going to do?”

he usually just received a joking “I dunno, just go already. Your presence is making me sick.”

But Yes, Keith actually had an answer for Shiro's inevitable question this time around, “Movie night with Pidge and Hunk.”

Keith would rather be watching a movie with them than be interrogated and made fun of all night by Allura and Shiro, but it was the last day of the month and they hadn't gotten their dinner in. Allura hummed, “So how is school? Getting good grades I presume?”

“Y’know, for someone who claims to not be good with kids,” Keith shot Allura a glare, “You've been upping the mom talk lately. Is there a time constraint on this wedding that I should know about?”

“Haha Keith,” Allura rolled her eyes, “No there isn't. Can I not be concerned for the person I've known for practically all of his life?”

Keith scowled, “I met you when I was five. And you hated me back then.”

“That's because all the foster ladies thought that you were the cutest thing since puppies and gave you extra cookies,” Allura waved her fork. She always used a fork, claiming it was just unnatural to eat tacos with your hands, “Surely you can't blame me for that. I even braided your hair!”

“You are like the big sister I never asked for,” Keith mumbled into his food. His eyes only narrowed further when Allura got that weird gleam in her eyes.

“I'm going to be your actual sister soon,” Allura grasped at Shiro’s hand, “Isn't that right sweetie?”

“That's right pumpkin!” Shiro just cooed back with a sickly sweet look.

They only did this when they wanted to torture Keith. And boy did it work, “You two are the reason I don't believe in love.”

“Shouldn't that be the other way around?” Allura just smiled, head resting on her palm now.

Keith scoffed, “No couple could ever be ask cutesy as you guys. I'm calling BS on all this. It's all fake.”

He didn't like the weight of Shiro's hand on his shoulder, it was the tell tale sign of a serious dad talk, “Keith. You will find someone some day that will make you act like this.”

“Oh god I hope not,” Keith crinkled his nose, “If I ever look this dumb just��� shoot me.”

“Who knows Keith,” Allura had a sing song quality to her voice that he didn't like, “Maybe you've already met that special someone. Maybe you already act this stupid with someone.”

“What are you imply-”

And that's when Coran promptly crashed through the ceiling, luckily not causing any major injuries.

Coran had been ecstatic that Allura had managed to find at least two of the paladins. Meaning him and Shiro. It had something to do with the earring and dog tag they had gotten over the years. Keith still played with the single stud in his earlobe when he was nervous. It had become a habit. But after everything that's happened recently, he almost felt like tossing it into a river and never looking back.

“Princess Allura! It is I, Coran, your faithful caretaker all the way from Altea,” Coran bowed in front of Allura, “I have dreadful news of our home planet. But that is not important right now.”

“Who… How on earth do you know my name!” Allura backed away a bit, “I demand you tell me now!”

“I've known you since you were a baby, Princess,” Coran wiped a tear, “I was just as sad as the rest of the royal family when we had to send you here.”

“Send me here?” Shiro looked at Alluras dumbfounded countenance and contemplated getting a pan to hit the guy with.

“For your protection, of course. Ah, Allura my girl! I'm so proud of you!” Coran put his hands on his hips. Keith just couldn't look away from his voluptuous mustache, “You managed to find two Paladins already!”

“Paladins?” Allura squeaked out, looking as shocked as Keith felt.

Coran just tilted his head and grinned, “Yes! And just in time too, Zarkon and a fleet of soldiers should be coming any minute to retrieve Voltron.”

“Voltron…?” Keith felt as if he had heard that name from somewhere before. Had Pidge mentioned it?

All three of them were shocked, Coran just  blinked curiously and explained for the unpteenth time that evil forces were on their way and they needed to find the other paladins. Of course none of them moved.

Except for Alluras hand, sliding over to call for 911.

To be fair, it's not everyday that someone comes crashing into an apartment ceiling, claiming that your flimsy little accessories could turn you into a badass crime fighter. Or that you were the long lost princess of a dead civilization. It was crazy and insane, but as Coran showed them how to summon their weapons and costumes from their respective jewelry pieces, it started to become a whole lot more real.

Either that or someone slipped something into their tacos. Which was possible. Keith had seen the cashier hopped up on something more than once around campus. He was more disappointed about his crushed dinner than concerned about the whole forming Voltron thing.

He had priorities bitch.

When Keith yelled out an embarrassingly cliche phrase to release his outfit, “Red Paladin! Defender of Voltron!” There was a flashing light and he was blinded for a moment. He looked sheepishly down at his armor, admiring the solid almost lightly matted red coloring. the sword was an unusual weight in his palm, he was used to a lighter fencing sword, but the cool metal that seeped through his covered fingers felt powerful.

The helmets on their heads covered their hair and the tinted visors made it hard to make out any sort of eyes. The outfit made it out so that the only feature of theirs that could be really recognizable on their faces were their mouths.  

After that initial transformation, Allura with her pink suit on, felt her necklace chime out. The sweet bells that were released when she first summoned her outfit was replaced by harsh screeching. Coran made an inhumanly high girlish squeal and led them all aboard the ship that he had used to destroy their tacos. Dinner was completely forgotten. Keith had a bad feeling about going onto a strange ship. Shiro always said not to go into strange vehicles. But then again, Shiro was also heading into this strange vehicle so...

Aboard the ship, the three of them were led to a command center of some sort, five chairs surrounding one pedestal. Shiro and Keith sat in what could have been their designated chairs, the ones glowing black and red.

“Princess,” Coran twirled the ends on his mustache, “please place your necklace in the hole!”

There was a heart shaped divot in the plain looking circuit board in front of her. She diligently removed her necklace that she had possessed since she first showed up on the foster cares doorstep and placed it in the hole, probably thinking this was still some strange dream.

The castle ship thing took off and landed somewhere in the middle of their city. Keith could feel himself pale at the sight of it, a beast robot of some sort preparing to take down building after building.

“Shiro…” he looked towards his adoptive brother, “Shiro what's happening.”

The older male just shrugged, awe struck at the sight.

“Chop chop! Let's go you two, your so called earth isn't going to defend itself!”

Coran shouted out, almost gleefully.

Shiro stood, “What? You can't be serious. We don't even know how to fight properly.”

Keith knew that Shiro did. Even just a little bit. He’s in the army, or he was at least. Deployed for only a year and a half and one missing arm to prove his time. He was a fighter, and if it wasn't for Allura, himself, and that therapists disapproval, Keith was sure that Shiro would go and sign himself up again.

“Oh don't be ridiculous! You'll be fine!” Coran started to push on their backs, “Though the ticks are ticking away!”

“Coran!” Allura lurched forward in her chair, closer to a hologram screen that popped up, “What is that?”

On the screen appeared three other figures, looking about as panicked as they all felt. But they had on outfits so similar to Keith and Shiro's that they stood out from the normal civilians, who were panicking and running away.

Coran let out a giddy noise, “Those are the other Paladins! How delightful, they're all in the same area. Good work Princess! We won't have to do any relocating!”

Keith and Shiro looked at eachother, then back at the screen. The yellow one looked like he pulled out a gun of some sort. Shocked himself by doing it too.

“Go on! Don't let all your fellow teammates do the hard work.” Coran ebbed them out of the ship.

By some movie magic bullshit they won without truly knowing what to do. Going into the details of their first uncoordinated and messy battle wouldn't be worth the effort. Just know it was bad and quite stereotypical for a first battle with a new team. The monster that these evil Galra things that Coran mentioned was one of those level one types. So it wasn't like they were smart and sent a boss to strike while the iron was hot, as Shiro put it. Which was good for them. Bad for the Galra. They all followed Shiro and Alluras careful commands to shoot here or stab there or watch out for that falling car Blue or holy shit seriously just watch out.

It was grueling. And by the end of it, Coran released some other magic bull shit, like fucking fairy dust sparkles, and the half destroyed city looked as if it had never been touched. As if a giant space alien thing hadn't just almost blown it to smithereens. As if Keith, Shiro, Allura, and these three other mystery people hadn't almost been killed.

What a day. Definitely one for the journal. And yes, it was a journal not a diary, no matter what Keith's annoying ass roommate said. Journals help keep track of events and important things while diarys were just something girls wrote in hoping they'd get taken so they could live their dreams of being in a cheesy Disney movie.

There was a difference.

“Good work team!” Shiro tried to smile as they all boarded the ship. The new guys marveled.

“Woah!” The green one’s eyes sparkled at the high tech looking castle interior, “What is this place?”

“This is the castle of lions!” Coran smiled waving his arms out, “it's our new base. Welcome paladins!”

The yellow guy tilted his head, looking impossibly innocent for someone of his stature, “b-base? You mean like, we're going to have to fight those guys again? Like. All the time?”

“Essentially yes. Until Zarkon and the Galra empire are taken down.” Coran played with his mustache.

“Sweet!” Keith flinched as the blue guy screamed in his ear, an arm nearly hitting him, “This is gonna be so cool! Imagine all the ladies that are going to be lining up to see a superhero.”

“Ah,” Allura spoke up, “That's probably something we should discuss.”

The newly found princess was startled when the blue paladin bowed and calmly spoke, “We can talk about it as long as you need your highness. Maybe somewhere private? Dinner perhaps?”

Keith figured by the way the Yellow and Green paladins shook their heads and tsked that the Blue one did that a lot. Of course there would be someone with that type of personality on the team. The type of personality that clashed with Keith's own. The type that Keith already had to deal with in his day to day life. He wasn't sure how he would cope with another guy like Lance. That sorry excuse for both a roommate and a reluctant friend.

Okay… he wasn't that bad. But Keith couldn't stand it sometimes.

“Blue’s not really my color,” Allura shook her head and laughed a bit.

“Back off blue,” Shiro’s voice held no malice, he actually smiled at the antic, “This one’s mine.”

The blue guy blushed. Or at least Keith thinks he did, it was hard to tell under the helmet and visor, “Ah sorry ‘bout that man.”

“Don't be. It's fine,” Shiro was never one to pick a fight for no valid reason.

“Idiot,” Keith whispered to himself before he could stop. He hoped that the guy hadn't heard, he didn't want to fight on the first day of making their team.

No luck. The blue ones head shot up, teeth baring slightly. Keith was sure that the guy was going to pounce on him, or yell at him or… something. But he froze for a millisecond before putting on a smile that made Keith's inside move in a funny way. Good funny or bad funny he couldn't tell.

“Well hello,” Blue grabbed his hand, placing a small kiss on it, “Do you have a name, or can I call you mine?”

Keith swiped his hand back wearing a look of shock, the blush prickling at his skin. It only deepened when Green let out a howl of laughter and was bent at the waist trying to catch their breath.

Shiro cleared his throat, clearly amused at how flustered his brother was. He could almost picture Keith glaring daggers behind his tinted visor. Laughing slightly, he tried to veer the conversation back, “We should discuss our identities.”

The blue one nodded, placing his chin in the crook between his thumb and pointer, “We have to be like Clark Kent right? And protect who we really are for the sake of our loved ones?”

Allura chuckled, probably to be polite, “Yes. Like um, Batman…?”

“Superman! How do you not know superman?” The green one exclaimed, the yellow one put a hand over its mouth to shut them up.

Shiro cleared his throat, “Okay. How about we just make this simple and go by colors. I'll be Black, the princess can be Pink, and there on.”

“What a splendid idea!” Coran seemed to brighten, “I can just go by Coran though. If you prefer.”

“Yes. Okay, then that's settled,” Allura breathed out, “We must not reveal our identities to anyone, including all of us here. The less people that know who we truly are the better. That means transforming out of sight and away from people.”

“Okay question though,” Blue interrupted, “How do we transform? Cause I kinda just tapped my ring when it started glowing and ended up like this.”

Coran smiled, “it's simple, just hold it for three seconds and say “ whatever color you are paladin! Defender of Voltron” you should be fine. Just as long as you don't let those things out of your sight.”

Coran gestured to the jewelry before twirling his moustache. Shiro coughed, “Well, then we'll just have to make sure that they're secure at all times.”

“Yes, the Lion spirits have all chosen you,” Coran leaned back on the dashboard and Keith felt like he was about to get a long lecture.

Green, who had been slumped back in their chair, hunched over to look slightly intrigued by the tale, “Lion spirits?”

“Yes! The lion spirits! Each of you has a possession that a lion has chosen specially. They were all sent to this planet with Allura when she was born and they seem to have chosen all of you,” Coran pointed his finger up towards the ceiling and smiled, “All of you must have very good souls if the lions chose you. Their original Paladins were nothing but Noble.”

“Yes but how did we not… not realize that we had their, um… spirits? Is that what you called them?” Shiro waited for Corans confirmation nod before continuing, “How did we not realize that we had them?”

Blue held out a hand too, “Yeah and how did they know that we’d buy these things?”

“Ah that is a fascinating story,” Coran pulled up a diagram in the space between them, the lights sparkling with an unreadable story, “The lions found their homes in your jewellery, as you call it, after you obtained them. They often track their potential paladins for a while before choosing and they have the ability to talk with their paladins and empathize with them. Perhaps they didn’t think that you were ready for knowledge of their existence yet.”

Keith felt a shiver run down his spine and a warming comfort pool in his stomach. Was it coming from his earring? Was that supposed to be Red? Or! Or! A better explanation for this was that Keith was currently stoned out of his mind or drugged and slumped over at Shiro’s from the obviously tainted tacos and this was all an extremely elaborate acid trip.

“Zarkon will do anything to get his hands on these spirits. Send spies or bounty hunters, or as you have seen, giant robots. The transformations should only last about four of your earth hours max before you need to reset them,” Coran nodded, before pulling what looked like a watch up to his eyes, “Which should be coming up soon. Hurry along, we wouldn't want your identities to be revealed. I’ll go over Altea’s history and the destruction next time, I’m sure you want to hear about that Princess. Your parents would've been proud of how you turned out.”

Allura just nodded, but Keith knew that she really wanted to know more than she was letting on. It was something that the both of them had wanted to know about for a long time. Back when he and Allura were both staying at the same foster home before she aged out of that particular home when Keith was nine and she was fifteen they used to sit around and talk about stuff like this. Their origins.

Keith, poor little Keith who was six years her junior was always hanging around Allura. Which was unusual for him, considering that he liked to be left alone most of the time. At first she found him annoying, Keith was almost positive of this, but she eventually warmed up to the lost child. They’d sit outside on the roof after the foster ladies would go to bed and just look at the stars and laugh about how their parents were probably somewhere in space fighting evil and just dying to come back to see them soon. It was Allura who taught Keith how much fun things like gymnastics could be, showing him how to do cartwheels and front hand springs. It was a nice way to pass those summer days at the foster home.

When she left that was the beginning of one of Keith’s dark periods. He hated describing it like that. It wasn't really all that terrible, but he supposed that there wasn't really a better name for it. He completely closed off, fearing that anyone he would get close to would have to be taken away from him again. He just… learned to adapt. It made him tougher in a way, more skeptical. His curious doe eyes didn't gleam with the same childlike wonderment. But he was still keith, and he learned how to live life. It wasn’t until the Shirogane’s adopted him that he started to feel better, he had even made a few friends at school. Lance had shouted at him and resented his “totally awesome and perfect” being at first, but once Hunk and Pidge had taken a liking towards him Lance started to warm up as well. And by the time Allura had come back into his life as his brothers fancy new girlfriend he was relatively… stable, again. Keith couldn't help but smile a bit at that thought, all the coincidences. He also couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Allura, finally getting to see where she was from. Cause yes, Keith was at some sort of peace, and yes, he had a loving family and close friends… but that wasn't the same as knowing where you came from. Why you weren’t wanted in the first place…

“Thank you Coran,” Shiro gave a firm nod and Keith almost parroted him like a child would their parent. The man being thanked just smiled widely like he knew something they didn’t and he popped open the gate. With that they left, Coran promising to alert them via tacky jewelry when they should meet up again to train.

That was also about two weeks ago. Now Keith was about ready to kill Blue for nearly shooting him while trying to aim for a Galra. Granted it probably saved Keith a nasty blow to the head and grueling trip to those weird healing pod thingys, but Blue still could've hit him.

Slicing through a robot, Keith growled and pretended it was the other Paladin. Yellow whistled, “woah. Nice one there buddy. I think that was the last of them.”

“Alright Coran!” Blue yelled into their intercom, “Were good down here! Release the fairy dust!”

After the town magically regenerated, the paladins all marched back into the castle, Keith instantly turning to Blue, “You could've shot my head off!”

“But see, here's the thing Red,” Blue stuck up his nose, “I didn't. And I managed to save your ass. This isn't exactly the outstanding thank you that I should be getting.”

“Whatever Blue,” Keith's cheeks were hot, from anger of course, not from that confident and amused smile, “just be careful next time.”

The red paladin stomped past and into the castle before the rest of them, heading towards the main room to probably get briefed before going back to his apartment to crash. It had been a long few hours, and this stupid town was just lucky that he didn't have any homework due the next day.

“What's his deal?” He could hear Blue ask Yellow as they followed him in.

Allura was in a rush, her words jumbled as she spoke, “Alright good work today paladins! We are really bonding as a team. Some need more work than others-” she pointedly looked at Keith and Blue “-and I would love to stay and chat but this fight has taken up more time that I think any of us have anticipated. It is drawing on the fourth hour and if we do not hurry, we will transform back soon.”

With that they were all dismissed and scattered. When Keith finally made it to the apartment he didn't even have enough energy to question where Lance was or why he wasn't back. His roommate would show up eventually. Eventually.

~~~

Keith woke up to the all too chipper sound of his phone. He would have to go and get Lance out of bed soon, the guy didn't seem to wake up to his own alarms. Keiths newest task was to get him to classes on time, as strenuous and torturing it can be sometimes. And despite all those things he said, he and Lance were friends.

Ish.

They had their moments, and they lived together! That had to count for something. They also shared the same friends, and a lot of the same classes. A few were differed here and there due to time. In the slots where Keith took fencing and gymnastics classes, Lance took archery and swimming or track (depending on the season). Both majoring in astrophysics.

Keith put two toaster waffles into their little second hand toaster and wandered down the hall to their bathroom to brush his teeth. He frowned at his reflection in the small mirror above the sink, his hair was sticking up in an unattractive way. Running a comb through it and watching it pop back up, Keith huffed. It was going to be one of those days. He quickly tied as much of it up as he could, though it still looked like a mess, and left the lights on as he exited.

He decided to get dressed after eating (not wanting a repeat of the previous morning where he spilt juice all over himself and had to frantically change),  so he skipped his bedroom instead going to get Lance, yawning as he opened the door without knocking, “Lance!”

“Five more minutes,” Lance pulled the blankets over her head, tightening his grip, “The you can drag me to hell all you want.”

“I'm going to go get the water,” there was only a hint of a playful tone in his voice. Because yes, he had once thrown a bucket of water at Lance. Though, being the boy who was always oblivious to common sayings and such, he had actually thrown the bucket as well. How was he supposed to know that you were just supposed to dump the water out? No books ever specified. But regardless of Keiths slight lapse in judgement, it had made a nice bruise form on Lance’s face that stayed for a week or two.

Lance shot up not wanting a repeat, “Don't!”

“Good morning,” Keith rolled his eyes, totally not ready to deal with the image of Lance’s stupid bed head. Ya know, cause he’d just complain about it, no other reason, Keith just trying to save his ears from the barrage of complaints that his roommate would make, not cause it was endearing or any other synonym of the word, “Get up or we’ll have no time to eat.”

Once Keith was out of the room, Lance unwrapped himself from his cocoon of warmth, exposing his skin to the cold autumn air. It was way too freaking early. It was always way to freaking early.

He quickly ran into the bathroom to brushed his teeth, nearly squirting the mint toothpaste everywhere and cursing under his breath. A clean smile is a nice smile. And a nice smile woos the ladies. Pulling on a shirt and some pants that were hanging out of his closet, Lance hopped on one foot trying to get his other sock on while simultaneously exiting his room. He nearly fell over, which wasn't new. That in itself was a daily occurrence. As was Keith's side step to avoid his wobbling on his way into the kitchen. They had learned to work around each other, with each other at times as well.The toaster looked as if it had been done for a few moments before either of them had a chance to enter the kitchen, Keith ran to get plates, “Here. It's still hot be careful.”

Lance slid into the stool at the counter before he gladly stuffed some of the waffle in his mouth, but not without his usual quip, “Truly a nutritional breakfast here Keith.”

Keith  rolled his eyes and turned to pour syrup over his and Lances waffles, “Bite me. If you want something better then wake up yourself.”

“Maybe I will,” Lance took another bite, wrinkling his nose a bit at the fingers that he got sticky, “Do we grab Pidge and Hunk today?”

Keith used a fork, like a civilized person would,  “Nope. They texted earlier that they have to be there early, something about a project.”

“Perfect,” He watched as Keith shook his head at the way he licked the syrup off his fingers and waved his now cleanish hand over at the fridge, “Please?”

Keith stood again to get glasses out of the cupboard above the sink. Why couldn’t Lance just get something for himself? Why was Keith saying this in his head? “Why can’t you get your own drink ever?”

“Because I know you’ll get it for me,” Lance’s smile faltered a bit at Keith’s glare, “Keith… Buddy? Love you.”

The boy in question just rolled his eyes at the dragged out ‘you’ and poured himself a glass of orange juice and got a cup of ice for his friend, “Here.”

“What’s this?” Lance raised an eyebrow at the ice then at the sitting boy, “Ice?”

“Yep,” Keith just turned to dig around in his backpack. He made a small victory noise when he pulled out his phone.

Lance sat there for a moment, waiting to see if Keith would say anything else. But when the other boy seemed to just be mindlessly checking things on the screen, Lance poked him, “Keith I can’t drink this.”

“Wait, it’ll melt,” Keith didn’t look up still, but Lance could see the small smirk making its way to his face.

Lance sighed and forced himself to get up, “I hate you sometimes.”

“Really? I thought you hated me all the time, ” Keith started tapping at the screen, “my how far we have come.”

“Sarcasms really not appreciated,” Lance just poured the ice into a canteen and then filled his glass with Milk, “Nice hair by the way, really goes with the whole I don’t give a shit look ya got going on today.”

He could hear Keith put his phone down and when he turned Keith just had an elbow on the counter and his head in his palm. A small frown adorned his features and he sighed, “I didn’t change yet. I probably should.”

Lance watched as his roommate walked in the direction of his bedroom, leaving a quarter of his waffle untouched. Keith had been wearing a pair of grey sweats that could have honestly been Lance’s at one point, since the pant legs were too long and now had holes at the bottom from stepping on the extra fabric. It wasn’t uncommon for them to wind up with some of the others clothes since they just combined their laundry to save water, though they’d usually notice right away and return them. Usually. Keith had a problem figuring out what was his and what wasn’t since he never really paid attention to which clothes were his. Shiro was always adding hand-me-downs to his collection anyways so it was hard to keep track. Plus the clothes that Lance outgrew he would give to Keith too, if he wanted them. If not then they went to his younger siblings and Pidge to root through. But the shirt that Keith was wearing that morning had definitely been one of Lance’s, the one he had been looking for but gave up on a month ago. It was an old NASA shirt that had paint stains on it from that one time they tried to redo the living room.

Lance chuckled fondly at that memory as he reached over to eat the rest of Keith’s waffle. He had been complaining for about three months after they reluctantly moved in together about the horrible shade of red on the wall.

They had moved in together when Lance had been kicked out of student dorming back in sophomore year of highschool because some shit that his roommate did (and the both of them were blamed for) and Keith had had enough of living with Allura and Shiro. Back then they had barely known each other, having Pidge as their only mutual friend but never had they all hung out. Lance had been whining about having no place to live when he was chilling with Hunk, “Dude! I’m broke and I have nowhere to go. All my stuff is going to be put on the curb in two weeks!”

“That sucks bro,” Hunk said in a totally not sympathetic way since he was too invested in his homework and had been listening to Lance repeat the same thing for the past hour, “Good luck with that.”

Pidge was out with someone they both hadn’t caught the name of and were left in the apartment to fend for themselves. It was a Saturday, and Hunk still chose to do the extra homework that wasn’t due for another two weeks, claiming that he’d forget it by then. Honestly it was a smart idea and he probably should have followed his friend's example, but Lance just groaned again, “Hunk! How did you and Pidgey manage to get this place? It’s so cheap for like, all this room. You gotta hook a brother up.”

“Actually,” Hunk looked up from his writing, “There is this apartment upstairs that’s open for rent. The woman up there is moving to Rhode Island and had to leave almost immediately. She was so nice too, had a tiny little baby and-”

“Okay Hunk! Set it up, I wanna see it!” Lance jumped to his feet, “Imagine if we lived in the same building! All the late night movies nights that we can actually have because we won’t have to worry about student curfew!”

Hunk had just sighed, knowing Lance wouldn’t let up until he called the apartment building super and request a tour. Lance was just lucky that Hunk had fixed the guys radiator once and now they were friends.

The apartment wasn’t terribly big, but Lance was awe struck by it when Hunk unlocked the door. The foyer opened up into a decent sized living area that had two nice floor to ceiling windows. Lance was already planning everything out in his head, his TV that he got as a going away present would go right in between those windows… and the plants he had could go next to it. There was a counter connecting the kitchen area to the living room area, the place was had an open concept. Lance knew his mom would love being able to talk to him from the kitchen while he played video games with his siblings whenever they came to visit. Or if Lance ever got that special someone he had been looking for, they could talk while one of them made dinner or something.

The closet off the side of the living room had a washer and dryer in it, as well as a few shelves for soaps and things.  On the other side was a hallway. The bedrooms were adjacent from each other and the bathroom was at the end of the hall, which Lance gaped at, “Its great!”

The mirror was small but there was a lot of counter space and the tub was big and the shower head was an appropriate height. Lance practically raced into one of the bedrooms. The walls were a baby blue and the closet was a nice size. But what got Lance falling in love with it was the skylight that lined the ceiling in one nice strip in the back, “I want this room. This… is perfect.”

Hunk just rolled his eyes, “Why don't you look at the other room first.”

“Nope. This one. This one’s mine, end of story,” Lance said looking up at the sky, “I’m going to just sit here and look at the stars for hours.”

Then there was the noise. A bam! sound of some sort, like someone had bumped into something. Hunk jumped out of his skin practically, “What was that!”

“I dunno, but I take it back. I don't wanna live somewhere that's haunted,” Lance clung onto his friend, “L-let's go check it out.”

“It came from the other bed room,” Hunk pushed Lance out the door, “You go first.”

Lance rolled his eyes but there was undeniable shaking in his step as he toed the door open. He screamed.

“What! Ghosts? Lance what is it,” Hunk had clamped his eyes shut and hid behind his best friend despite being almost twice his size.

“No,” Hunk perked up curiously at Pidge’s voice, “Just us. What are you guys doing here?”

Lance just ignored the question, “Hunk it’s worse than ghosts, it’s Keith!”

“Keith?” Hunk stood up straight and tried to look past Lance’s flailing arms, “Are you sure?”

“Who are you?” Keith had eyed him, “And what are you doing in my new apartment?”

Lance stopped freaking out for a moment to glare at Keith, pointing a finger at him, “Your new apartment? I don’t think so buddy, I’m buying this place.”

“Keith, this is Lance. He was recently thrown out of student housing,” Pidge sighed, “Lance, this is Keith, his brother’s girlfriend recently moved in with him and his brother and he doesn't want to live with them.”

“I know who this is Pidge,” Lance sneered, “We’re rivals at school.”

Keith just raised an eyebrow, “Rivals? Who even are you?”

“Lance! Ya know… Lance!” He poked his finger into the other's chest harder, “You seriously can’t remember who I am?”

“Oh, you’re that kid that accidentally tripped and dropped acid all over the floor the first week of school, right?” Keith looked genuinely curious for a moment before he narrowed his eyes and swatted Lance’s hand away, “Don’t touch me.”

“Listen, you both need a place to stay,” Hunk intervened, being the voice of reason, “Why don’t you both share the apartment? I know how much you both want it. Need it even. And it’ll lower the cost even more!”

“Fine with me, I’m going to go get the forms and stuff. See you later Pidge,” Keith just waved and headed towards the door. Lance thought he was seeing red, steam coming out of his ears. How dare his rival not remember who he was? Keith had to be the most infuriating, terrible, beautifully ignorant person that he had ever met. Stopping at the door, Keith turned back to the three that were now in the hallway watching him and smirked, “Oh, and Lance was it? Rule one if we’re going to do this, don’t talk to me.”

They broke that rule within weeks of them actually moving in. Keith quickly realized that he and Lance were going to have to communicate somehow, so he went with sticky notes for the first two weeks. They were simple notes like ‘My laundry is in the washer’ or ‘were out of OJ, I’ll pick some up later’. Lance thought he was going to have to build a working friendship with a packet of post-its for the rest of his time in the apartment.To say that their first official meeting, that both of them remember that is, did not go smoothly is an understatement. It wasn’t until Allura and Shiro made a surprise house warming appearance that Keith had to say something.

“Allura, Shiro. This is my roommate Lance,” Keith shook his head at the way Lance seemed to gawk at them. It was hard not to, they were probably the most aesthetically pleasing, photographic people Keith had ever known, “Lance this is my brother, and his girlfriend.”

“You…” For a split second Keith was worried that Lance was going to hit on one of them. Pidge mentioned that he had a hard time controlling himself in front of pretty people. But instead Lance just turned to him and grinned triumphantly, “You talked to me!”

At that Shiro and Allura both gave him disappointed and confused looks, knowing that he could isolate himself it he wanted to. Thus began what Lance and Keith both hated for quite a while, their forced friendship. Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Allura decided that it was best for all of them to start hanging out in a group, meaning that Keith and Lance would actually have to interact. Lance, personally, had no real issue with it. He definitely didn’t want to live with a stranger, his mother would not approve, and he was open to the idea of friendship. Not necessarily a strong one, but one that was stable enough to say, “Hey Keith, is this your sock?” without the fear of getting punched. Keith didn’t seem that invested in it though.

It took a while for him to open up, the whole group thing was slowly working. Slowly being a key word. They quickly learned that they all liked hanging out together which was great because Lance didn’t have a real group of tight friends since seventh grade. And Keith didn’t have one like, ever.

Lance and Keith had gotten along better, but it wasn’t until Keith came back to the apartment to find Lance trying to pry open a paint can three months after moving in together with a chopstick that things really started to change between them. Keith dropped the groceries on the counter and stared at him, furniture moved and trash bags lining the hardwood floor, “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like Keith,” Lance grunted as he tried to wedge the stick in again, “I’m obviously trying to open this.”

It was silent for a few minutes, so Lance figured that Keith lost interest and went into his room to brood or something like that. But then a screwdriver was stuck in his face and Keith’s hand was attached to it, “Here, try this.”

“Thanks,” Lance blinked for a moment, shocked that Keith was helping him. He smiled at the other boy, “Wanna help me paint over this awful red?”

Keith looked around their living room, the paint was a deep red that he honestly kind of liked, “Why?”

“It’s terrible Keith,” Lance waved his arms around, “I went out and bought this like, weeks ago but forgot about it.”

When Lance popped open the can and mixed it, Keith was slightly mesmerized by the deep blue color. Lance just continued to pour it onto the roller pan and gestured to the roller near Keith. Keith held it up cautiously, “In there?”

“Duh Keith,” Lance responded, reaching for the remote, “Mind if we watch some TV while we work?”

Lance put on one of the Friends DVDs that he had, starting at season one. Keith smiled, “I love this show.”

“You do?” Lance snorted. Keith didn’t really seem like the type to sit around and watch sit coms. Maybe documentaries, but funny little shows like Friends? Nope, never would have guess. Though Lance learned over time that one of Keith's guilty pleasures was to curl up under a blanket and go to town on Lance’s sitcom DVD collection. He caught his roommate once at three am laughing at the TV, which made Keith stutter out an excuse with an adorable blush on that didn’t go away until Lance insisted it was fine and joined him.

Keith got changed into clothes he didn’t really care about and rejoined Lance in his painting adventure. There was only an occasional laugh from one of them for quite awhile. They both decided to start on random parts of the walls, which they later regretted since Lance hadn’t bought enough paint to cover the whole room.

“What idiot doesn’t buy enough paint to paint a room?” Keith raised an eyebrow, his expression filled with amusement instead of annoyance.

Lance just shrugged, “I dunno, what kind of Idiot has paint all over his face?”

Keiths hands flew to his face to check for wet paint, but found nothing, “What? I don't ha-”

Lance smeared what was left in the bucket on to Keith’s cheek, “You were saying?”

That seemed to be the wrong thing to do and Lance was regretting it when Keith stuck his palm in the paint then hit Keith right in the middle of his face. Keith laughed at the shell shocked expression and didn’t stop until Lance sandwiched his face in between two paint colored palms of his own.

“Lance!” Keith cried out through a fit of laughter, which was honestly one of the nicest sounds that Lance had ever heard. It sounded genuinely happy, and unbound to anything. Unrestrained, light.

Lance just smiled as he stood and held a hand out, “Yes honey dearest?”

“Are you getting hungry?” Keith got up as well and tried to wipe his hands off on his shirt. His expression was still bright and if Lance squinted enough, a bit flustered from his last comment. Lance couldn’t help but think that Keith should look like that all the time, undoubtedly and purely happy. He started to walk closer to Keith, which alarmed the other into backing up win matching steps, “Lance? Are you oka-”

Keith’s eyes widened for a moment, realizing that he hd just backed up into a wall with wet paint all over it. Lance smirked, “I’m okay. You good?”

Slamming his hand into the wet wall first, Keith pushed Lance backwards and left a handprint on his NASA shirt, “Perfect.”

“Oh, you are so getting it Kogane!” Lance swiped at the wall, “Get back here!”

Lance tried to grab at Keith, who side stepped and made Lance fall face first into an area of the wall that was still red. Keith laughed, “Too slow.”

“How’s this,” Lance turned to get as much paint all over him as he could before launching himself at his roommate, “For too slow?”

Keith’s entire body shook with laughter as he tried to roll Lance off of him, “You’re heavy. Get off!”

“I don't know,” Lance let himself melt into dead weight, “I'm pretty comfy right now.”

Keith gave one hard shove and it had lance sprawling out on the trash bag covered floor with a hard sounding thud, “mm you comfy now.”

“Jesus okay, you can push pretty hard. So chinese?” Lance sat up and Keith nodded.

When the food arrived Lance paid the guy, claiming that it was the least he could do for making Keith help him paint the walls. Sort of. As they both settled in the middle of the living room, food containers placed in places without paint, they observed their handy work. Or lack thereof.

“We really fucked up these walls didn’t we?” Lance let out a low whistle, “I think I can see an imprint of my face on that one.”

Keith shrugged, “They're one of a kind now.”

It was true. No one else in the world had walls that were painted inconsistently in both blue and red with terrible hand prints and smears everywhere. Probably.

“That’s true,” Lance nodded, “First home renovation and we can’t say that we didn’t make it special.”

Keith just hummed, “Yeah…”

Lance still didn’t know a lot about Keith at that point, and Keith probably didn’t know a lot about him either. Which was fine, they were still growing.

“So, why did you need to move out of Shiro and Allura’s?” Lance asked since he never really knew why, “I had to move because my roommate decided to pull a prank on the dean and I got blamed too. So what was it? Were they being to lovey dovey?”

Lance was worried that he over stepped somehow when Keith went quiet. Putting down the container, Keith leaned back on his palms to stare out the big windows at the stars. His reply was so quiet that Lance almost didn’t catch it, “It’s exactly because of what you just said.”

“What? They were being too coupley?” Lance copied the other's movements. The stars were so bright that night.

Keith shook his head, “No. You called it Shiro and Allura’s. It was never really my home.”

“What?” Lance raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure people called it Keith and Shiro’s before Allura moved in.”

“Not what I meant,” Keith sighed and went silent for another moment, “I never really felt at home there. Like it was mine. It was always Shiro’s place to me. And Allura fits in there now, so it was time for me to start over.”

Lance turned to face him, “So this place can be your home now.”

Lance didn’t really get it. But maybe that’s because he’s always had a place to call his home. Surrounded by people he loved and memories that were irreplaceable. A place where he knew that he could just be himself, a place where he didn’t have to worry about doing things like turning a perfectly painted room into shit and getting kicked out. And Keith… well. Lance had heard enough of his story to know that Keith probably never had any of that.

“Maybe…” Keith’s reply came after a while, his purple eyes still focused on the stars but his expression wistful.

That was about three years ago. Now they were close friends that were going to the same college that was joint with their old high school. Still living together. Still hung out with the same friends. Still had that same crappily painted living room.

Lance couldn’t help but wonder if Keith considered their apartment his home now.

“We promised Allura to stop by to help pick out flowers for the wedding,” Keith walked back in fully dress, “Are you okay? You look dazed.”

“Yeah it’s all good. Just… thinking,” Lance replied, still a bit out of it.

Keith waved a hand in front of his eyes then snapped until Lance blinked, “Don’t hurt yourself there.”

“Shut up Keith,” Lance swatted his hand away, “I’m smart.”

Keith just shrugged, “Whatever you say. Anyways, were you listening? Allura and Shiro need us after school so don’t forget.”

“As if I would forget to help them plan the most upcoming wedding of the century,” Lance tugged on his backpack, “You better not forget.”

“I won't.” Keith laughed, slipping on his shoes to run out of the door. Initiating an unspoken challenge.

Lances legs picked up speed as he chased his friend out of the two story complex and down the street, “Good!”

“Good!” Keith called out from over his shoulder.

Lance let out an aggravated howl. And by the time they entered the school grounds they were panting at Pidge and Hunks feet.

“Why the hell are you guys so sweaty? It's not even seven thirty yet!”

~~~

This paladin stuff required a lot of running since there was no other convenient mode of transportation. None of them owned a car, or rather the ones who did were not confident about not crashing in the haste. Obviously the bus was out, and Lance could pull out his bike but what would he do with it once he got to the fight? Just leave it there? Oh hell no, not after he has kept it safe all those years with his trusty bike lock.

So yes. Lance was extremely happy that his mother had forced her baby flash into running track since fourth grade. No matter how Lance looked at it, he was grateful for his mother chiding him and pushing him to run. Imagine if he didn't! Yeah he had Archery as a sport but that didn't do much for your cardiovascular health.

He remembered the first time he was called into battle. Or, rather the first time that he, Hunk, and Pidge were. They were all over for a movie night at his place, obviously since they do that every week. But this time Keith was over at Allura and Shiro’s for dinner so they were down a person for popcorn.

How awkward would that have been if Keith were there too? They'd all see their glowing jewelry shit and have to leave him there while they were pulled towards the center of town. Or maybe he'd pass out like Hunk almost did when they transformed into their armour. Whatever it was, Lance was sure that it was fate that Keith remained oblivious to the fact that he and Blue were the same person. What would he do if he found out that his friends were also members of Voltron? Probably tell Allura and Shiro… then they’d get the ‘that's dangerous be careful’ speech from their parents away from home.

And that wasn't a conversation that Lance really wanted to have. Again.

The first time he had met Black, Pink and Red, Lance was shocked for a lack of a better word. He supposed that a three man team wouldn't have been that effective against the shit they were facing, but he wasn't sure what to expect. Pink was beautiful, that much was obvious. And of course Lance could see how Black was perfect for someone like her. Only Shiro and Allura’s future children would be able to compete with Pink and Black’s in the looks department. And every other department. Lance thought it was unfair that god or some being out there made two sets of perfect beings.

After hitting on Pink and thoroughly embarrassing himself, not that he really noticed, Lance saw Red. Well, heard him. And yes, Lance had just finished being starstruck over the only female there but there was something about the tiny pout on Red’s lips that made him smile and want to tease him Using one of his classic lines, he was delighted to see a hint of pink on the little bit of skin that the helmets revealed. Lance had to grudgingly admit that Red was something of a looker, adorable even.

Not that he’d ever say anything like that aloud. Not anymore anyways. Not after he and Red developed some sort of rivalry or something.

This whole paladin stuff is fun, trust him. Lance loved being a paladin. Coran had graciously explained to them the next day how everything was supposed to go down. It sounded, for a lack of better words, dangerous. But unique and fun. Might kill them, but fun.

“You will all be responsible for saving not only this world, but many other planets as well!” Coran had smiled widely, clasping his hands together, “You will form the Voltron team! Led by Black and the Princess of course. You’ll all be heros! Defenders of the Universe!”

Lance liked the sound of that. Heros! It sounded daring and cool, like he was. He could finally show everyone that he was good for something, even if that something was putting his life on the line for everyone else.

“Do you ever think it's strange that they wait until after school?” Lance asked, running towards the center of town yet again, “I mean. Do you think maybe the evil mastermind has school too and that's why he never attacks during the day.”

“As important as an education is Blue,” Pidge was slightly behind him, “I doubt that Zarkon waits until after school hours. You probably just jinxed us.”

“Ah Black you're so lucky,” Lance waved his hand, the black paladin turning to him, “You don't have to deal with the woes of school life.”

“Wait until you join the work force,” Black smiled, if they weren't running Lance was sure that he would've crossed his arms, “You're going to beg to go back to school. Try to save up for a wedding on top of college debt too.”

“You're getting married?”

Black looked a little confused by the question. He tried to study what he could from Lance's face. Had he mentioned this before and Lance just forgot or wasn't paying attention? Black slowed down, chuckling awkwardly, “Didn't I tell you?”

“Not that I remember,” Lance blinked. Pidge looked up at him with a laugh.

“But Blue has always been a bit slow.”

“Not funny Green,” Lance squawked, “I remember plenty of things-”

“Sure you do”

“-and, as a matter of fact, I just remembered that I'm missing some wedding planning right now too.”

“You're getting married?” Pidge bit down on their bottom lip at Blacks question, hitting him in the side.

Lance swore he heard Pidge whisper, something to Black along the lines of ‘if he doesn't’

“Nah,” Lance waved his hand and shrugged, “My two friends are. This college kids still single.”

“I wonder why,” Pidges voice was dripping with sarcasm while they tried to conceal a laugh. That was always a weird saying to Lance, dripping with sarcasm. It was accurate enough cause it was as if Pidge had plunged their words into liquified sarcasm and the extra was falling off of it. But still, it was a weird image.

“Guys!” Hunk called from his spot just a few feet behind them, his voice worried, “Guys! Look at that!”

Lance's full attention was drawn to the newest robot contraption thingy. It was huge, “oh fuck.”

“Alright team!” Pink’s voice was kind of static in their helmets, “This robeast is armed!”

Hunk and Red had come up behind them, Hunk panicking, “Armed? Like, he has a gun or like, several arms? Or both, oh god don't let it be both! Princess tell me it's not both!”

“Calm down yellow,” Black commanded as firmly as he could, “We have to just take this step by step.”

The battle wasn't as long as they had anticipated from the size of the monster. It took maybe an hour at most, Red and Pidge worked to cut off its arms (“Its both Yellow. It's arms are infused with rifles of some sort”) and then Lance shot through the plate on its back and it was down.

The easiness of it all made them a little weary. But that didn't stop them from going back to the conveniently hidden spaceship to celebrate.

~~~

“She's just magnificent, isn't she?” Lance was gawking at the new student sitting across the courtyard, “Her name is Nyma, how foreign and perfect.”

Keith scoffed as he stabbed his salad with a little more force than necessary, annoyed at Lance's latest antics. Hunk whined, “Dude come on! Finish eating, we gotta get to the cafe.”

“Why?” Lance raised an eyebrow, “You wanna go see your girlfriend before her shift ends?”

“She's not my girlfriend, she just happens to be a really nice barista that I admire very much and who also happens to be in the same fine culinary arts class as me,” Hunk pointed a finger in a matter of factually way. It was true! Shay was nothing more than a friend (sadly) and he did like hanging out with her in culinary class. The girl knew how to cook, and like people always said: the way to a man’s heart is throughout his stomach. And man did Hunk love those little tartlets that Shay seemed to magically make with ease.

Pidge snickered, they knew that Hunk had somewhat connected with the part time Barista that Allura had hired at her and Shiro's cafe, “Yeah, the blush really helps your case there.”

“Shut up Pidge,” Hunk mumbled, hands hiding his face, “Just hurry up so we can go!”

“Should I go talk to her?” Lance all but ignored Hunks exasperation, “I mean, I am the smoothest, most handsome person here. I should show her around.”

“What you should do is finish eating,” this time it was Keith that glared at him. Lance looked him dead in the eyes and brought his fork full of leftover pasta to his mouth as slowly as humanly possible. Keith growled in response, “Lance!”

“Yeah cupcake?” Lance feigned innocence, batting his eyes to really sell it, “Whatever am I doing wrong?”

Pidge didn't know whether or not the pinkish color on Keith cheeks was from frustration or something else, but they knew that they had to stop Lance before everyone started screaming again, “C’mon Lance. Allura and Shiro need us to go help them deliver the invitations.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance waved them off, finally covering the Tupperware and putting it back in his bag, “I hear you. You guys go first, I'm just going to talk to her.”

Hunk didn't need to be told twice, “Alright buddy. But don't forget to show your face since we have no more classes today, Shiro and Allura will be pretty upset if they find out you ditched for a girl.”

“Mmhm. Got it Hunk, don't piss off Shallura,” Lance waved his hand, “hurry up before you miss Shay.”

Hunk mumbled something along the lines of “for the last time we're not dating!” before Pidge presumable cut his rant off with a pull on his shirt and an annoyed sounding “shut up Romeo and let's just go!”

There was shuffling that Lance barely registered in his day dreams of sweeping Nyma off her feet. The chattering growing quieter and quieter until the faint buzzing was non existent. Lance sighed, finally alone and allowed to shamelessly look from afar for as long as he pleased. Or… so he thought. He jumped slightly when Keith's voice was directly shot into his ear, “What's a Shallura?”

“Jesus fucking Christ Keith! Give a guy some warning,” Lance turned to glare at Keith, the two jumping far apart when their noses accidentally touched. Coughing after choking on what seemed like air, Lance put his hands on his knees to catch his breath, “ how old are you exactly?”

“Nineteen,” Keith deadpanned, rubbing at his nose, “Why? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Shallura is Shiro and Allura's couple name, duh Keith,” Lance blinked. Keith did nothing but stare at him blankly. Groaning and shaking his head, Lance walked back over to sling an arm around his friend, “Y’know like… Brangelina or B-Zee.”

Keith managed to cross his arms, “Okay?”

“You're obviously not getting this,” Lance placed his chin between his fingers, “It's like… well… ours would be Leith. Or Klance. It's our names just smushed together.”

“That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard,” Keith glared, crinkling his nose in a way that was definitely not adorable, “What idiots come up with this stuff.”

It wasn't a question. But Lance treated it as if Keith was genuinely asking, “Me. I come up with this stuff. Personally I like Klance for us, it has more of my name which is obviously better. Keith is such a douchebag name.”

“It is not,” Keith huffed, “But that's fine with me. My name comes first like how I manage to beat you at everything.”

Lance sputtered a bit, “Well there's more of my name in it so… uh… there! I win.”

“That makes zero sense,” Keith just shook his head with a slightly exasperated sigh, “It's just a dumb name.”

“It is not! It's cute and creative,” Lance ran a hand through his hair, “Like me.”

“So it's extra stupid,” Lance hated the way Keith always rolled his eyes. Especially when he did it without any real annoyance, just slight amusement. Like now, why did he have to make that face. It was so… friendly? Endearing? Like he was enjoying fighting. Lance won't deny that sometimes it was fun, and more often than not now a days their arguments had more fond undertones compared to the absolute detestation they held when they first met. But that was also what annoyed him! What gave Keith the right to look like that?

“Rude Keith. I'll prove to you it's not stupid,” Lance mimicked Keith and crossed his arms.

The other didn't look too impressed, “How?”

“Um…” Lance looked around. How was he going to prove it? Ask someone? He could sense that someone was walking past them behind Lance, so he spun around quickly to get the stranger's attention, “Hey! Could you settle something for- Nyma?”

Keith let out a snort at the unnaturally high octave that Lance's voice reached. The girl that Lance had shot his arm out at blinked in surprise, “Hi? Do I know you?”

“Not yet,” Lance regained his posture and winked at her, surprised when she didn't turn away in with that unsure look that most people had, “but we could get to know each other.”

Lance was finally going to get somewhere with someone. This time he'd do everything right. He was going to pull out all of the stops, pull on every Disney movie he's ever watched. Nyma and her beautiful blonde head was going to be his. And they were going to slowly fall in love everyday and use those stupid cliche wedding vows and name their kids something along the lines of Marco and Lucille and die old together in a house on a nice hill looking over the sunset. Yes. He was certain of it.

~~~

Keith was a big enough person to admit that Lance was somewhat good looking. Okay, very good looking. With his stupid eyes and lean tall body and his broad shoulders from all that swimming and… okay off track here. Point is, he was attractive, which made it kind of confusing for Keith who didn't understand why Lance hadn't had a significant other  in a while. It wasn't like Lance didn't put himself out there. And it wasn't like there were no rumors of Sally or Jane or whatever people were named now a days having a crush on Lance.

And don't get Keith wrong. He was secretly grateful there were zero chances of him walking in on something he would want to forget. But he still had to wonder.

There was something more to Lance than just his looks though. Which, Keith figured, deterred some people. His personality was bright and excited and overall big and loud. It wasn't something everyone could handle. He was a self proclaimed flirt extraordinaire and often stated how he was the meme god's gift to the world. Whatever that meant. Some people didn't understand him or ridiculed him for his seemingly too optimistic outlook. They called him naive, claimed he would miss the really important things and do everything for show. People thought he wouldn't be able to handle a real relationship. That he was too out there for most people's taste.

But Keith just thought he was a goofball. A dork with a big mouth. There was nothing wrong with that.

Though many people didn't have to live with Lance either. Keith could sometimes see how Lance could be irresponsible, forgetful or spacey. He thought something along those lines when they first met. But he always did what he had to do and then some when it counted.

It was little things that he did. He still called his mom to say goodnight everyday at exactly nine thirty like clockwork. He looked out for that weird computer part that Pidge desperately needed to complete their super computer whenever they went out shopping. He could instantly tell when any of them needed cheering up, and would just crack a joke and smile. If it came down to it he would always shut up and be a good pair of ears to vent to.

Keith liked the small things he did around the apartment too. Like buying Keith his chunky peanut butter and eating that with Keith in order to save money even though he personally preferred the creamy kind. Or that He often draped a blanket over Keith if he found the boy snoozing on the couch, and if he was feeling adventurous and sure that Keith was in a deep enough sleep he would carry him into his room. Or that Lance had memorized his schedule down to a T and reminds him when he has to do things with a simple “oh Keith aren't you going late for that flipping or whatever practice with Allura?” Or “you have that weird English thing due tomorrow right?” They were subtle reminders that he could have bragged about remembering. Or at least he could have held it over Keith's head that he himself didn't remember some of the times. But he didn't gloat about how good of a person he was for doing these sort of things.

The little things reminded Keith that Lance wasn't actually a terrible person, and that if you got to know him he was actually nice to hang around. They reminded Keith why he shouldn't just kill Lance in his sleep with the knife under his pillow on particularly trying days when his patience was wearing thing.

Nyma was giggling into her palm, “What is it that you needed settled?”

“Oh nothing it was stupid,” Lance waved his hand, trying to play his outburst off.

Keith raised an eyebrow, “So you admit that it's stupid?”

“No,” Lance turned to shoot Keith a look, “it's not stupid, I just don't want to bother poor Nyma over here with our stupid fight that you clearly have lost.”

“Oh I wouldn't want to get in the middle of a fight between…” Nyma shifted her gaze from one boy to the other, obviously trying to find the right word to describe whatever she thought they were.

“Rivals,” Lance supplied at the same time Keith just stated, “Roommates.”

Nyma looked slightly confused, “Rival roommates?”

“Yep… roommates… who are also rivals.” Lance trailed off, “But that's not important. The names Lance, how would you feel about going to get some coffee sometime?”

Nyma eyed Keith one more time, making him squirm a little, before turning to Lance, “That would be lovely actually.”

“Really?” Lance sounded genuinely shocked.

Nyma just nodded and Lance let out a whoop. Keith tapped his foot in slight irritation as he waited for them to exchange contact information. They had to get to Allura and Shiro's okay? So of course he was a little antsy. And this girl… she didn't sit quite right with him. He was a person that followed his instincts and right now, they told him to stay away from this girl. Red flashing lights and everything going off in his mind.

“Oh what a nice ring,” Nyma commented as she handed Lance his phone back.

Lance put on what Keith thought was supposed to be a flirty smile, “Thanks. One of a kind, it's really something special.”

“I can tell,” Nyma waved, smile dazzling, “See you around Lance.”

Lance was just a stuttering mess, “Yea. You see soon. I mean! See you soon!”

Lance claimed he was in love. Keith said he was being ridiculous.

~~~

“I don't get what Keith's problem is,” Lance said as soon as he squeezed into the booth Pidge and Hunk were occupying. They had probably been at Alluras cafe for at least thirty minutes, meaning his was thirty minutes late. Pidge already had their computer out and was typing away at something again while Hunk was looking over at the counter where Shay was wiping down the espresso machine.

“What did he do this time?” Pidge didn't even look up, “you guys were pretty late.”

“Well, since you asked, he snapped at me again,” Lance glared at nothing, “He said I was being stupid when I said I was in love.”

“What?” Pidge turned to him, “You told him what?”

“I told him I was in love with Nyma,” Lance casually stated, “And then he totally flipped for no reason.”

Okay, maybe Lance was exaggerating a bit. Keith didn't scream or anything, just did that stupid pouty mumbling to himself not at all adorable thing that Lance hated. He liked it when Keith smiled at him, and couldn't Keith be happy for his friend? Maybe reward Lances efforts with at least a tiny smile. Pat him on the shoulder and say, good going dude you totally got her in the bag good luck. Except maybe say it in a more Keith way.

“Who is this girl again?” Pidge couldn't help but ask. The people that Lance claimed to love and die for were always somewhat interesting. Or more accurately it was interesting to hear about the different ways someone could be turned down. Pidge had faith in their friend though, Lance would open his eyes and see someone perfect for him one day. And if he was too stupid to use common sense, Pidge would just have to beat it into him.

“Nyma, just moved here the other day. She's breathtaking. Has the prettiest eyes too. Only the most beautiful people on this earth must have that weird purpley color. It's definitely special,” Lance looked starstruck and Pidge looked to the side of him, as if they were on the office, “she has a nice shy smile, oh god. She seems so calm and collected but she's got this fiery bold passion in her, I can tell. She and I are going to go on tons of daring adventures together.”

“Seems like you have a type,” Pidge mumbled to themselves while Lance continued to ramble on obliviously.

“And guess who has her phone number, that's right. Me! I actually got it,” lance looked like he was swooning.

“Wait what?” Pidge snorted, obviously not expecting that, “I mean. Good for you but wow.”

“Don't act so surprised pidgey, I got game,” Lance pointed two thumbs to himself, “She and I are going to live happily ever after.”

“I dunno Lance,” Hunk tore his eyes away from the counter, eyebrows scrunched together, “I kinda have a bad gut feeling about her.”

“Ugh, not you too! I've already had it up to here,” Lance raised his arm as far as it would reach, “with Keith and Red. I don't need this from you too buddy. Please!”

“What did Red do?” Lance looked at Pidge like their question had personally attacked his mother or something.

“What do you mean what did he do?” Lance waved his arms around erratically, “He's so annoying and a know it all! He practically hates me for no reason!”

“I don't see how this relates to Nyma,” Pidge just gave him a blank look, “but you did goaded him into running into a wall the first day of training and you started another stupid rivalry with him like the non-existent one you have with Keith.”

“He's still stupid,” Lance groaned and threw his head back, “Aren't you guys supposed to be on my side, you are my friends?”

“Yeah but we're also Keith's friends if you haven't noticed,” Pidge closed their laptop and scooched out of the booth, “I've just reached my Lance limit. I'll be in the back of you need me.”

~~~

Shiro wanted to shoot himself. Which, in itself, wasn't a rare passing thought (alarmingly enough). But this time it wasn't his well hidden and deeply buried emo side making a surprise appearance. No, it was Keith that was currently making Shiro wish that his brains were splattered about the table instead of inside his head.

In Shiro’s defense, Allura also looked like she was moments from strangling herself. Keith just continued to pace in front of the table, unusually talkative. But that was probably because he was ranting, “Blue is so, Agh! I already have to deal with Lance on top of it! They're like the same person Shiro, except not! How is it that I somehow am stuck with the two of the most infuriating idiots on this planet day in and day out!”

Allura and Shiro exchanged looks. Not quite sure if they should interject. Keith looked at them expectedly and Allura shrugged, “It's fate Keith, what do you want us to do about it?”

“I dunno! Something?” Keith groaned, face in his palms, “Separate us in battle? Let me come live with you guys again for a bit?”

“Keith,” Shiro sighed, he didn't like the nearly hysterical tone his brother was using, the break room in the back of their cafe wasn't the most ideal place for a freak out, “You don't hate Lance. You guys are friends, I'm sure you'll learn to get along with Blue like you have Lance. Working towards things like that will make you a better person.”

“Shiro I'm not sure how much more dumbassery I can take in a day,” Keith waved his arms, “Lance was one thing. I could… ya know, actually see his face. At least I can tell the difference between his I'm joking face and his I'm dead serious face.”

How could they not see that Keith was having a serious crisis? Lance was his friend, he wasn't a stranger. He'd like to think that he knows a lot of Lance trivia since the stupid little facts about him have reluctantly stuck with Keith over the years. The funny way he plays with his thumb and ring finger when he's nervous or how whenever he walked around he avoided cracks at all cost just to be safe. Lance was familiar and… safe.

Blue was a complete mystery. A very Lance like mystery. But still, a complete shadow in the dark. Keith was having a hard time trusting the Paladins his didn't know under the masks. How can you trust someone when you don't even know their name?

“But what do they do that makes it so unbelievably unbearable?” Allura rolled her eyes, continuing filling up sugar containers without much thought, “Sweetie pass me that one?”

Keith watched as Shiro handed over the empty and washed container before continuing his rambling, “They're both just so aggravating! I can't describe it. I thought that I'd only be able to feel this way about Lance but now Blue too. I think my tolerance for stupidity has dropped.”

“Or you are just being sensitive to his- their, taunts,” Shiro sighed, “Why don't we change the subject, why were you guys late today?”

Allura looked up at that one, raising an eyebrow and pursing her lips slightly, “Yes. We've been waiting for almost half an hour, you're lucky Shay came in late today and insisted on staying extra to fill up the time.”

“It wasn't my fault,” Keith pouted, crossing his arms and glaring at the tiles, “Lance was flirting with some girl.”

“Oh?” Allura laughed, head tilted slightly, “And pray tell, why were you there? I'm sure Lance could strike out all on his own without a wingman.”

“I was trying to get his sorry ass over here before you drop kicked him into next week.”

Allura looked like she was contemplating something for a moment, “fair enough. Continue, how did he fail miserably this time.”

“He didn't. He got her number. Nyma, like that's a real name,” Keith was slightly amused by how shocked they both seemed, “But something's off about her.”

“Well, normally i'd agree since I can't picture anyone that actually falls for Lance’s lines being exactly right in the head,” Allura sniggered, “But are you sure? She could just be that one in a million person.”

“Allura, I'm serious,” Keith shook his head, “Something's off! My instincts are telling me to avoid her and that Lance probably should too.”

Allura topped off the sugar and screwed the lid on tight. She shot Shiro the ‘this is your problem now sucker’ look before getting up, “I'm going to go relieve Shay of her duty now.”

Keith looked helplessly at Shiro, “You believe me, right?”

“Well…” Shiro scratched at the back of his head. He was luckily saved by Pidge bursting back in through the door Allura just exited.

“If I have to hear one more word outta Lance's mouth I'm going to stab him with- woah what's with the face? You look like you're also about twenty seconds from murder.”

“Nyma,” Shiro just shrugged and picked up the list of supplies that needed to be bought, “Some girl that-”

“Lance actually got the number of! Yes I've heard!” Pidge groaned and took a seat, “I'm blocking all of this out, I've heard enough about this chick to last me two years.”

Shiro started to check things off the list and there was a brief, wonderful moment of uninterrupted silence. Keith looked between his two friends incredulously, internally freaking out. He had to warn them, or at least get his point across.

“I'm telling you Shiro,” Keith shook his head as his brother did his stock orders, “Something's not right about her.”

“You know,” Pidge called out from the corner where they were huddled up. The break room was small but was the spot that had the best wifi in the cafe, “Normally I would just say that you were jealous or something but-”

“I'm not, what would I even be jealous of?” Keith looked like a strange mix between completely baffled and annoyance, “And I thought you weren't listening anymore.”

“I said but, jeez cool it there,” Pidge waved their hand, “to answer your question first, of her. Duh Keith, and secondly, as I was saying. I would normally just say you were jealous but Hunk had a weird feeling about her too…”

“Hunk?” Shiro finally looked interested, pausing his stock orders, “Why? What did he say?”

Pidge merely shrugged, “Some stuff about his gut not agreeing with her. But then again she was the reason we were late to see Shay so he could've just been upset.”

“No something is wrong,” Keith insisted, turning to Shiro, “Why do you only seem invested when Hunk says something's up?”

“Keith you… you and Lance… you're not…” Shiro seemed to struggle for a minute before he tried to switch gears, “What did she do?”

At that Keith pulled out a chair and crossed his arms, “She was just all giggly.”

“Did she say anything weird though? Or was it just the fact that she actually found Lances flirting amusing that's got you on edge?” Pidge raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“She was all like,” Keith coughed and raised his voice to mock her. Normally he wouldn't stoop to that level of childishness, but he was only human. And he was annoyed so, “that would be lovely. What a nice ring you got there. Ohhh Lance you're amazingly cool!”

Shiro and Pidge exchanged what could've actually been a worried look before the door opened again.

“I am amazingly cool,” Lance threw his jacket onto the table, the room was growing increasingly smaller, “You finally admit it?”

“No,” Keith glared, “In what world would make you think that I-”

Pidge snickered, “He was imitating your girlfriend.”

“Nyma?” Lance looked at Keith kind of shocked, he narrowed his eyes “Good imitating or bad imitating?”

Keith must have had the oddest look on his face, but he ignored the question, “I’m heading back to the apartment. I have a lot of work to do, call me if you need anything.”

Shiro sighed, “Okay, but you have to be here for stuff tomorrow, you know how crazy all this planning is making Allura.”

“Got it.” Keith nodded on his way out, “I won’t be late tomorrow.”

Shiro nodded and Pidge waved as Keith made his way to the back exit. Lance startled them by grabbing his jacket too, “I’m just gonna head back home too. See you guys later. Hey Keith wait up!”

When the door was closed all the way Pidge mumbled, “Shiro, they are two of the dumbest people I have ever met.”

~~~

They convened in the backroom when the shop was closed. Pidge was the first to speak in an ominous voice, “Thank you all for meeting me here. We are here to-”

“Pidge cut it out, it’s creepy when you do that voice,” Hunk pulled out a chair and sat down in it, “What is this all about anyways? Where are Lance and Keith?”

“Well, if i weren’t so rudely interrupted,” Pidge shot him a glare, “You would know that we're here to talk about them.”

Shiro and Allura’s cafe was mostly dark now, the lights having been turned off to tell customers that they were no longer open. The place still smelled like freshly brewed coffee and tea though, which was calming. Allura placed a hand over Shiro’s on top of the table, “Go on Pidge.”

“Okay, firstly, we all know that we’re also those new paladins that have to save the world right?,” Pidge looked at the three others, “Right?”

Shiro blinked, “Oh… So we’re acknowledging it?”

“Yeah I thought we were just going for a ‘let’s just not get into it’ sorta thing,” Hunk added, “It took me a day to realize it. But when I did I was like ‘woahhh this is awesome. And crazy. But mostly awesome cause it’s you guys!’”

“Yeah it took us a week to figure it out,” Allura gestured to herself and Shiro.

Pidge still couldn't believe that it was true. Pidge had seen it from the moment they had all met up at the first battle. Their friend group had turned into a group of superhero fighters.

And people said that they couldn't possibly get closer.

At this point in their life, Pidge wasn't even surprised that it was them that got chosen to make up a weird ass team fighting for a weird ass cause. What Pidge was shocked about was the fact that not everyone immediately figured it out. Sure, Shiro, Hunk, and Allura didn't take that long to piece things together, but it still took a bit of time! To Pidge, the whole thing couldn't have been more obvious from the very start! Hell, Lance and Keith still had no fucking clue what was going on.

“It's literally a helmet. It's not super hard when you're not oblivious and stupid,” Shiro rolled his eyes, “these things don't even change our voices. And we're all friends, we've all basically memorized everyone's mannerisms.”

“Yep you would think that right,” Pidge deadpanned, “Now to the problem with all of this. Instead of complaining about just Keith, Lance complains about his alter ego as if they're two different people.”

“That's cause he thinks they are two different people!” Hunk cried out, “How?!”

Allura perked up, “Well if it helps, Keith still has no idea either.”

“They're just… a little… I don't know.” Shiro sighed, “Should we tell them?”

“No!” Pidge shouted, before coughing to compose themself, “This could Be fun. Don't ruin your kids fun Shiro.”

“I don't know Pidge,” the older male shook his head.

“But think about it. They should discover something like this themselves,” Pidge a smirk grew a little more, “Imagine their faces when they find out.”

“Mm,” Hunk put on a thoughtful look, “Terrified. I bet they'd be down right terrified.”

Shiro sighed, “Okay. But just because I think it'd be hilarious when they find out.”

“Oh I will be so disappointed if I miss it!” Pidge smiled, when something struck them, “That means that Lance hit on Keith technically when they first met as Red and Blue, which means that there was something that caught his eye at first glance.”

Shiro sighed and spoke quietly enough that Allura was the only one that heard, “I thought this was a meeting to talk about how oblivious they were to the whole paladins then. I didn’t know this was to address their refusal to acknowledge other things too.”

“Are you kidding me? Lance was like that when he first met Keith as Keith too,” Hunk shook his head.

Pidge and Shiro both shot him a look this time, puzzled. Pidge started to frantically wave their arms, a giant up to no good grin covering their entire face, “What! When!”

“Yeah, Keith told me that the first time Lance ever talked to him it was something about a rivalry and consisted of just screaming,” Shiro’s face was priceless, “he didn't stop complaining about it for hours!”

“Keith didn't remember it obviously since he didn't even remember Lance when they were looking at the apartment but Lance hit on him, like, the first day of school.”

“Wait seriously?”

Hunk put a finger to his chin, “Well I think it was more like Lance tried to when Keith turned around and it turned into ‘Did it hurt when- u-uh ah, y-you- pretty eyes… I mean. Hi! Hello, names Lance.’ He’ll deny it to hell and back though.”

“What did Keith say?” Pidge was up in his face now, face filled with amusement.

“He was just like,” Hunk put on the most annoyed looking face he could muster, “‘Keith.’ And then he turned back around.”

Allura smiled, “Oh i’m never letting him live this down.”

“Okay, but one more thing,” Shiro coughed, “What do we do about this… Nyma person?”

“Oh yeah, bad news,” Hunk shook his head, “Bad vibes everywhere.”

Pidge sighed, “But Lance thinks that she's his soulmate.”

“Well… I guess we're just going to have to see where it goes then,” Allura said firmly, “Give her a chance.”

~~~

Lance absentmindedly flipping through channels while Keith was on his phone. Homework was done and the clock read somewhere close to three am. He looked up when Lance snorted, “Tch. This show is so unrealistic.”

“Hm?” Keith looked at the screen, “Pokemon?”

“Yeah,” Lance pointed at the characters, “How do they not realize that’s team rocket? They see them like, every day. You’d think that they’d be able to tell.”

“Well, it is a kids show Lance,” Keith shrugged, yawning and clicking his phone off “Kids aren’t that smart, maybe they can’t tell.”

“You’d have to be a special brand of stupid to be that oblivious though,” Lance changed the channel.

“Yeah.” Came another yawn.

A few beats later Lance turned to see his friend’s sleepy looking eyes, trying to fight it. Lance smiled at the content look on Keith’s face once his eyes gave in and closed, “welcome home Keith.”

They fell asleep a little after that, curled up in blankets with the TV still on and empty takeout containers littering their botched up living room.

ech. Should I continue this or scrap it and redo it? I'm still super worried that I'm writing this completely wrong so lmk if I am lol.

Also this is only the first chapter and its like 36 pages (15,162 words) long. So I'm kinda worried about length. Future chapters will probably not be this long... eh. Probably, I have a tendency to over write things. BUT CONGRATS TO YOU, YOU MADE IT THROUGH 36 PAGES OF MY CRAP!

AGAIN  if you wanna hmu for anything here on tumbr you can! Im currently taking prompts to distract me in between writing this when I need a break.

[jassmarie19]

Favorite Fics List

Here is my list of the best fics I have ever read regardless of fandom and in no particular order

Twist and Shout by gabriel, standbyme - Supernatural, Destiel - I’M LEADING WITH THIS BECAUSE IT’S GETTING TURNED INTO A BOOK AND THEREFORE WON’T BE AVAILABLE ONLINE ANYMORE SO READ IT WHILE YOU CAN Summary: What begins as a transforming love between Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak in the summer of 1965 quickly derails into something far more tumultuous when Dean is drafted in the Vietnam War. Though the two both voice their relationship is one where saying goodbye is never a real truth, their story becomes fraught with the tragedy of circumstance. In an era where homosexuality was especially vulnerable, Twist and Shout is the story of the love transcending time, returning over and over in its many forms, as faithful as the sea. If you were part of the SPN fandom and you didn’t read this fic were you ever even a part of it? (COMPLETED)

A Thousand Beautiful Things by superpotterlock (fvalconbridge) - Supernatural, Destiel - Summary: Accidents happen everyday, like someone accidentally hitting you in the face with a ball and then you mutually getting off with them in the school showers. Now Dean’s not saying he’s gay, but the thing he has going with Castiel isn’t exactly straight either and he isn’t even sure if it matters any more. Basically Cas is a rebellious teenager instead of a goody-goody like in most stories (UNFINISHED but worth it imo)

A Hole in the World by AnnelieseMichel - Supernatural, Destiel, A/B/O - Summary: Dean Winchester never wanted to go home again. Going back to Lawrence meant people who knew what he was, who didn’t buy into the lie. But with a tragic accident, he’s back and dealing with the death of his father, the social stigma and objectification of being an out Omega, and the lingering aftermath of a long-ago crime. (COMPLETED)

Fingers Tap Into What We Once Were by 2ofacrime24 - Supernatural, Destiel - Honestly, I read this fic so long ago that I don’t really remember what happens, but it left such a lasting impression on me that when I saw the title again I had a physical, not just emotional, reaction to it. So it makes the list. Summary: Human!AU. Castiel never expected to see Dean again, the man from one marvelous one-night stand. However when Dean walks back into Castiel’s life on the arm of his twin sister, Anna, a year later, Castiel’s world is turned upside down as he realizes just how much Dean affects him. (COMPLETED)

Out of the Deep by riseofthefallenone - Supernatural, Destiel - THE MERMAID AU TO END ALL MERMAID AUS! Honestly though, I consider this is seminal piece of Mermaid AUs. Summary: Stay away from the light-beds. Stay in the deep.It is the first thing hatchlings are taught the moment their fans unfurl and they can swim without their parents to buoy them along. It is the first rule, the first law. It is the beginning of every boogey-monster bedtime story told when they settle against the cliffs to sleep. Castiel should have listened better. This was also the first fic I experienced that had its own culture and fandom surrounding it. (COMPLETED)

Shootin’ You Straight by rockstarpeach - Supernatural, Destiel - I started reading the first chapter of this fic to remind me what it was about and then I just read the whole thing because it’s that good. Summary: AU. Dean Winchester is in a band and Castiel is a fan. Not of the music, of Dean. An opportunity presents itself one night after a concert and Castiel can’t pass up the chance of a lifetime. Neither of them is happy to leave things at just one night, though, so they start up a romance troubled by long distances and Dean’s rock star lifestyle. It’s not perfect, far from it, but this is their story. (COMPLETED)

Vita Nuova by worldaccordingtofangirls - Supernatural, Destiel - Summary: AU. Dean Winchester takes a job as a teaching assistant to get his little brother into a prestigious academy. He doesn’t quite expect such long nights and snobby kids, but the real surprise is professor Castiel Novak: or falling in love with him, that is. Excuse me while I go re-read this whole fic because I forgot it existed and really need to back in my life. (COMPLETED)

Blue Lips, Blue Veins by romanoff - Avengers, Stony - This is a LONG FIC (145 chapters) but WORTH IT Summary: Tony Stark is Iron Man.Before that, he was an man with bigger heart than brain. Before that, he was an asshole with a bigger mouth than sense. And before that, he was was a scared little boy. Not that it matters. Stark’s always have had iron in their backbone. Basically, it’s Tony’s life story. (COMPLETED)

Born from the Earth by venusm, Avengers, Stony, A/B/O - This fic takes world building to a whole nother level, like I am telling you! Summary: Tony Stark’s born an omega in a world where that means he’s supposed to follow certain social rules. He becomes Iron Man anyway: Fuck biology.If only his biology (and the world) would quit fucking him back.Note: This is a multi-pairing fic; this world works very differently; not all pairings will be tagged until work is complete. Read with caution. At 81 chapters this is also long and very complicated. There’s also LOTS of trigger warnings and stuff but the author tells you what’s gonna be in each chapter (in a code! which is cool). (UNFINISHED)

Go Ugly Early by just_another_tinker - Avengers, Stony - Summary: He’s The Captain?This was not good. This was so not good.There were theories of course, of what The Captain would look like. Most followed the typical Hollywoodesque belief that he was some version of the Godfather, sitting in a dark room with a cigar, commanding his forces with a flick of his wrist. There were even some that even thought that The Captain was not one person, but a whole network of people with eyes and ears everywhere.The blonde Adonis in front of him was definitely not what Tony was expecting.Of course, in the end it didn’t matter.There was a reason no one knew what The Captain looked like.Because anyone who saw his face never lived to tell the tale. It’s a Mob!AU!! (UNFINISHED)

Liquid Lunch by romanoff - Avengers, Stony - Summary: Tony’s turned into a vampire. It’s very sad for everyone involved.Especially Steve. Not just because Tony keeps trying to eat him alive. There are other reasons too.“Just let me try a little bit,” he pleads “I won’t take all of it, oh, just a little taste—” He presses his palms flat against the glass and tries to scrape his teeth down the window “I can, I can control myself, promise.” And then he turns those eyes on Steve, looks him straight on, and they’re pleading, and innocent, and really, it’s selfish of him not to give Tony his blood, why would he not, he can’t see any justifiable reason, so he just starts rolling up his sleeve and nodding as Tony salivates into the glass. This fic is a WILD FUCKING RIDE OKAY but like, you gotta read it it’s just too good. (COMPLETED)

Playin’ For Keeps by Artemis_Day - Avengers, Jane/Loki - I’m putting this fic here 1) because I think it is a fantastic fic but 2) because I want more AUs like this Summary: The year is 1987. Jane Foster is just another struggling grad student, trying to reach her dreams and resist the urge to kill her crazy metal loving best friend. Until said friend drags her along to her favorite band’s concert, and one very mysterious and sexy guitarist throws her whole life out of order. (COMPLETED)

Power and Paradox by The_Kinky_Pet, Avengers, Stony, A/B/O - This has all the world building of A/B/O fics and puts it right up there with Born From the Eart IMO. Summary: “Billionaire, genius, engineer, philanthropist, submissive.  Yeah, submissive.  Any questions?”OR Yet another BDSM-AU.  (UNFINISHED but might start being updated in April of this year)

Standard Deviation by jennagrins, karengrins - Avengers, Stony - Summary: Okay, so maybe Steve isn’t Professor Stark’s biggest fan at the start of term but first impressions can be mistaken.Now Steve doesn’t care what Clint says, Tony is not his boyfriend. Another fic that gave me a physical reaction when I saw the title even though I vaguely remember what it’s about (COMPLETED)

Nothing Like the Sun by Lomonaaeren - HP, Drarry - Summary: Harry finally realizes that he has trouble keeping lovers both because of his looks and because he isn’t very good at sex. He does what he can to alter that, but it seems he’s never going to be good enough to satisfy a wizard lover. When Draco Malfoy offers, Harry thinks a casual relationship with him might be the solution to his problems. But he should have remembered one thing: when it comes to Harry, Malfoy has a problem staying casual. BRB have to go re-read this fic because it’s so good (COMPLETED)

Pricking the Velvet by Teland - HP, MWPP Era - This fic is…I don’t even know how to describe it honestly. It’s an experience. But completely worth it. If you think you’ve read everything, you need to read this fic. NOT FOR BEGINNER Summary:  It starts with James being a right twat. Okay that’s not helpful here’s some stuff from the AN on the first chapter: This happened because, back in September, on hir way to dreamland, Jack muttered sleepily ‘if James Potter went into velvet, it would be like him having a period on his *head*’. At which point we riffed on the concept for the next two hours while snickering like twelve-year-olds. I began writing the next day, even though I was already working on Plenary. Jack came up with the title immediately, too, bless hir. Pfft. (COMPLETED)

Nox by penceyprat - HP, MWPP Era, Wolfstar, Jily - Summary: The Marauders are starting their fifth year at Hogwarts; Remus is starting with a massive scar across his face - a byproduct of the increasing severity of his furry little problem, which is a definite cause for concern despite his insistence that it it’s fine.Sirius is starting with the memories of a certain morning at 12 Grimmauld Place in August: memories that he might not ever forget, yet is desperate to cloak underneath the facade that every is fine at home and that he and his parents just sometimes encounter minor disagreements.James is starting his fifth year, yes, but more importantly, he is starting phase five of his plan to woo Lily Evans: somehow his friends seem doubtful that he might succeed, but James, being James, is in no lack of confidence.And Peter, well, Peter is starting to wonder just why he puts up with these people, and if he should really be feeling sorry for Lily Evans, and maybe if he should have asked to have been sorted into Hufflepuff. The title of the first chapter is “ohmygod i am so in love with this fic already” and that is how you will feel after reading that first chapter. (COMPLETED)

Alone on the Water by MadLori - Sherlock, Johnlocl, Probably THE Sherlock fic that everyone has to read. This is the first fic that ever made me cry. Summary: Sherlock is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Warning: angst like whoa. (COMPLETED)

Stronger Than This by Laiquilasse - Sherlock, Johnlock, A/B/O - I wound up re-reading this whole fic while I was making this list. Summary: Sherlock is convinced John is stronger than his Alpha instincts, and he stronger than his Omega. So when Sherlock goes into heat, this is the first time John remains at Baker Street with him. There is MPreg in this but like not actually? I don’t like MPreg usually and I was fine with this. It’s also part of a series. (COMPLETED)

A Cure for Boredom by emmagrant01 - Sherlock, Johnlock - WOW is all I can say about this. Summary: They’d never talked about sex in the year they’d known each other. Well, that wasn’t quite correct: Sherlock had never said a word about sex; John had bemoaned his personal dearth of it on many occasions. (COMPLETED)

Sherlock: Give Me A Label (I’ll Make Confetti) by IBegToDreamAndDiffer - Sherlock, Mystrade - Summary: Gregory Lestrade is the local badboy. He drinks, he smokes, he has sex, but that’s what a lot of seventeen-year-old boys do. Not Mycroft Holmes, of course; that posh git wouldn’t know what to do with a bloke. That’s what Greg thinks until he sees a new side of Mycroft, and every label he’s ever used is torn down in seconds. (COMPLETED)

how the mighty fall (in love) by braveten - Yuri!!! On Ice, Viktuuri - Summary: Every Victor Nikiforov fan has three things in common. 1. They have unrealistic expectations for romance. 2. They mark their calendars with the dates of his newest book releases and the premieres of his latest movie adaptations. 3. They either passionately hate or love his greatest rival, a mysterious author whose pseudonym is only two letters: “KY.” It’s an authors!AU! (WIP)

You Can’t Plan For Everything by RivDev - Yuri!!! On Ice, Viktuuri, A/B/O -  Summary: Yuuri forgets that he has a scheduled heat coming up until it’s just a couple weeks away. He scrambles to get everything ready in time, including deciding whether he’ll spend it alone or with someone. Victor only wants to help. SLOWBURN like you don’t understand how slow this burn is. (WIP)

Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches by Reiya - Yurri!!! On Ice, Viktuuri - If you’re in the YOI fandom and you haven’t read this I don’t know what to tell you except go read this. Summary: ‘…Of all the rivalries in the world of sports over the years, perhaps none has become so legendary as that of Russian figure skater Viktor Nikiforov and his rival, Japanese Yuuri Katsuki…’A single event changes the course of Yuuri’s life, throwing him into a bitter rivalry with Viktor Nikiforov that spans across his entire skating career. But as the years go on, rivalry and hatred begin to develop into something very different and Yuuri doesn’t seem to be able to stay away, no matter how hard he tries.Hatred and love are two sides of the same coin and even though everything changes, some things are still meant to be. (COMPLETED)

Execute Order 69 by imgoingtohellforthis - Star Wars, Obikin - THIS IS A CRACK FIC but honestly this is just as important to me as My Immortal so its going on this list. Summary: Palpatine ditches the whole idea of “Make Anakin evil” and decides to open up a strip joint instead! Glitter, money, drunk Obi wan, and whole lot of madness. (COMPLETED)

Love of the Second Star by SteeleStingray - Captive Prince, Lamen - I don’t think I can ever say enough good things about this fic. Summary: In the book series, Laurent and Damen thought aloud about what life might have been like if their countries were at peace and Auguste had lived…In THIS story Vere and Akielos are allies and 17 year-old Damianos is spending four months of every other year in the Veretian Court. It is there, he begins to feel attracted to the prince of Vere and discovers darkness hiding under the surface of court. Spanning nearly 8 years, Damen, Auguste, and Laurent are embroiled in bittersweet feelings and intense passion.“I would court you with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve. There’d be no lies between us. We’d have time to be together.”(TW FOR LATER IN THE STORY: Implied CSA; Implied Sexual Assault; Sex) (COMPLETED)

The Veretian Flytrap by Just_Another_Day - Captive Prince, Lamen, A/B/O - HOLY SHIT THIS FIC. Summary: The court treated it like a joke. His uncle told him it was a weakness. Laurent chose to listen to what Auguste had said it could be: an advantage. You know that posts that’s like “I went into this expecting Yaoi and I got Risk” that’s what this fic is like. (WIP)

In The Same Candlelight by Like A Dove - ATLA, Zutara - Summary: In a world where there is no war, Zuko and Katara spend their summers together. Growing up is messy, embarrassing, and at times sad, but they think it might be okay because they have each other. One of THE Zutara fics. (COMPLETED)

The Black Games by Mrs Pettyfer - ATLA, Zutara - This is an EPIC journey that is in three parts and still being updated. This is the first story in this EPIC Summary: Once bound by ice, now bound by fire. 12 provinces. 24 tributes. 1 winner. Let the games begin. (COMPLETE)

The Sparrowkeet Series by audreyii-fic - ATLA, Zutara - Summary: Ba Sing Se has fallen and Katara has been captured by the Fire Nation; a more adult take on the potential progression of S3. AU series of interconnected one-shots. Zutara. Rated for lemons and general darkness. (COMPLETED)

His Majesty Prefers Blue by ShamelessLiar - ATLA, Zutara - Summary: A year after the war’s end, the gaang returns to the Fire Nation for a week of diplomatic meetings. There, they hear rumors about a vigilante who wears a blue mask and Katara finds herself digging deeper into his identity and motives. Blue/Zutara Lemons (COMPLETED)

If any of your favorites are missing let me know!

[doctor-roman]

Faces in the Background - Shadows Over Innistrad & Eldritch Moon - Part 3

Rem Karolus

Rem Karolus is one of the most quoted characters from Innistrad, second only to Hal and Alena’s combined count of 12 and surpassing them when counted individually.

Rem is another character who has held many titles throughout his life, from “Blade of the Inquisitors”, to “Slayer of Angels”, until finally settling on “Slayer of Eldrazi”, with the list succinctly describing Innistrad’s history.

In the original Innistrad block, Rem was known to travel alone, save for his old horse Jedda, and carrying his signature rapier and poniard with a bastard sword slung on his back. And that was all he needed to become the most revered member of the Thraben inquisitors, and the most feared human among Innistrad’s monsters. Despite his fame, Rem hardly ever went where the church told him to go, preferring to simply wander and deal with crises as he encountered them.

Upon Avacyn’s downward spiral into madness, Rem took his skills as a slayer of monsters and turned them against the very angels he had served throughout his entire life.

This took a severe emotional toll on him.

While he had always been known to be a grim and grizzled individual, his demeanor became even more sour, with Thalia suspecting that Rem’s faith and soul had died the moment he was forced to kill an angel for the first time.

It was Rem that found Avacyn’s spear and is assumed to be the first to find Avacyn’s ashes after her confrontation with Sorin, Jace, and Tamiyo. After going in circles just to pick up the spear (which was too powerful to be held bare handed by any one human), he carried it to Thalia to be used in the fight against Brisela and the Flight of Nightmares.

After this fight, it’s unknown what happened exactly to Rem, or for that matter, Thalia, Sigarda, and Grete, as shortly after Brisela’s defeat at the hands of Thalia, Emrakul arrived, and with her, a new wave of Eldrazi monsters.

Rem is quoted in 8 other cards:

Clear Shot (EMN) "What worked to bring down angels will do the same for these horrors."

Demolish (AVR) "To truly defeat a skaberen, you must destroy not the monster but the lab."

Gloomwidow (SOI) “An unexpected ally."

Guise of Fire (AVR) "Fire will eventually destroy a zombie, but a fiery zombie destroys a lot of other things first."

Hellrider (DKA) "Behind every devil's mayhem lurks a demon's scheme."

Lambholt Elder (DKA) "Be wary of the seemingly gentle souls. The weak here were slaughtered long ago."

Shattered Perception (DKA) "You must shatter the fetters of the past. Only then can you truly act."

Slayer’s Cleaver (EMN) "Don't stop chopping until the pieces stop wiggling."

Renna

On Innistrad, alchemy is not the protoscience that we know it as where people try to turn lead into gold. Instead, alchemy on Innistrad is the science of creating life from dead bodies, using various processes to do so. The most common way to do this, it seems, is by harvesting lightning for later use - most likely in an effort to shock life back into whatever’s being created ala Frankenstein (the process of which is already captured on a card).

This all probably sounds familiar with the fact that skaberen (people who stitch dead bodies together) exist, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

From what I can tell, stitchers are only a type of necro-alchemist, with others practicing the craft in other ways. For instance, Hadaken of Nephalia uses geist-fueled engines to animate their skaabs, while Geralf uses lightning directly from storms.

I believe Renna here is of the latter school of thought, and primarily uses lightning for her experiments just like Geralf does. We know that she bottles the lightning she collects, as shown in the other card she’s quoted in, but how she uses it from that point is a mystery.

Living in Selhoff, Renna has no shortage of materials needed for their practice, as Selhoff is located in Nephalia - a province known for its black market of body trafficking.

Renna is quoted in one other card:

Vessel of Volatility (SOI) "To be honest, I'm not quite sure what's going to happen."

Runo Stromkirk

Unlike the other vampiric families, the Stromkirk line dwell in the province of Nephalia - away from the other families in Stensia. Their progenitor, Runo Stromkirk, was a high priest in life who worshipped a pre-Avacynian god of the sea and storms. It is unknown what shape or form this supposed “god” took, but it has been a question among the fandom since this aspect of Runo was first discovered.

Using his massive fortune, he supported and fostered a culture of fine woodwork among the human populace of Nephalia. Everything in Nephalia is built out of wood, from its buildings to its ships. But this was by no means an accident. To support this boon of wood carving, the humans of Nephalia cut down many of the forests in the province, which left fewer sources of wood to make into wooden stakes - one of a vampire’s few weaknesses.

Unlike the other vampire families, Runo has made sure that the Stromkirk line takes special care of the humans under his family’s control. Humans with especially tasty blood are kept in lavish areas of the Stromkirk manor in pampered bondage, kept alive just enough to be fed on throughout the course of their lives. However, because of this, some argue that they are safer than others against the rest of Innistrad’s monsters. With the Stromkirk line known for their talent in the art of fencing, one can see how.

In Eldritch Moon, the members of the Stromkirk family that gave themselves over to the Nephalian coastal cults - likely due to the Stromkirk family’s connection to the coast - were the first of Innistrad’s denizens to be transformed into Eldrazi spawn.

Based on other pieces of flavor text that are soon to follow, we learn that Runo himself became a worshipper of Emrakul. How far along he has been warped into an Eldrazi monster is a question that still demands answering.

Stromkirk Captain (DKA) "No longer can we allow our human populations to be mindlessly slaughtered by ghouls. Slay all who trespass."

Stromkirk Condemned (EMN) "Blood from the vein is the finest vintage to accompany a feast of the mind."

Weirded Vampire (EMN) "Emrakul makes apparent those whom she has favored."

Vallon

Vallon is an inspector. They go out and inspect things. Like murder scenes, and strange sightings of eldritch growth.

Inspectors on Innistrad are a relatively new thing that are closely associated with The Order of Saint Traft. You can see this in the art for Thraben Inspector: the character in question has the symbol of the organization - a golden gryff - on the shoulder piece of their armor. 

The inspectors came about in response to the newfound mysteries plaguing Innistrad in the days of Avacyn’s madness in an attempt to solve and fix the problems the humans were facing.

And then Emrakul just sorta popped out of the ocean. Not much of a mystery when the culprit jumps up and says “Hi, it’s me!”

They also worked on various murder scenes when the need demanded it, but that took a backseat due to the fact that there were more pressing concerns at the time. Now that Emrakul is sealed away, I imagine this will change and inspectors like Vallon will be reassigned to other, more manageable mysteries.

Vallon is quoted in two other cards:

Throttle (SOI) "Victim discovered at dawn with mouth agape and eyes bulging. No evidence of blood loss or dismemberment. Severe bruising around the neck."

Vessel of Paramnesia (SOI) "Write everything down. Trust me."

And that officially wraps up Innistrad. Feels weird leaving it a second time, but as Standard moves forward, so will we. Until then, I’ll see you all week after next.

[richmeganews]

We Spoke to 'Shazam!' Actor Zachary Levi About Finally Landing a Superhero Role

This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Imagine being a comics head and self-professed nerd, only to age into a good-looking 6-foot-4 tall dude being paid to wear literal spandex and capes. This is actor Zachary Levi in 2019, and he’s living his best life now.

“The whole time I was really hoping they wouldn’t change their minds,” he told VICE when speaking of his role as DC’s Shazam!, which opens today. “It’s probably why I peed in the suit, to mark my territory.”

The comedic actor best known for his role as the titular character in Chuck, joins the whole superhero cape squad playing a character once famous for standing toe to toe with Supes in the 1940s. In terms of an origin, it’s your basic 1940s comic plot—a young Billy Batson basically comes across an Egyptian wizard who gifts him with the transformative power and wisdom of the gods. From there, all it takes is a shout of “Shazam!” to turn a kid into a grown adult with a thunder signia.

Like I said, 1940s.

It’s been an up-and-down ride for DC since Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies wrapped up, especially compared to the mammoth success of Marvel. Wonder Woman set a critically beloved tone, Aquaman made a billion dollars, but there’s also been terrible movies like Justice League and Suicide Squad. Currently, Shazam!—modern DC’s most kid-friendly movie to date—is holding a 92% Rotten Tomato score, so things could be looking up for DC in 2019, especially given the anticipation over the Joker film.

Either way, it’s all exciting stuff and VICE had a chance to talk to Zachary Levi about his ideas around heroism, and why he sees it as important to eliminate the toxicity around the term “nerd.”

VICE: Given how much you’ve professed to being a nerd, It’s got to be an exciting moment for you right now. Zachary Levi: Oh dude, it’s such an exciting moment right now, and surreal if I’m going to be honest. I keep trying to explain it to family and friends and the words always fail me. It’s just groovy I’m super grateful.

I feel like you’ve been campaigning to be a superhero for a while though. I don’t know if I’ve campaigned that much, but I’ll say that it’s not lost on anyone that I find that whole superhero world to be delightful. Many know that I grew up reading comic books playing video-games, and still do. So I guess I was lucky enough to have gravitated toward those worlds, whether it was the Thor franchise or the Heroes series. I often thought that it wouldn’t go beyond that. It would be my one play and that superhero comic book moment I did that one time. But here I am, essentially reborn into the DC universe, wearing the whole spandex and cape deal.

But tell me how you really feel as a regular guy. How does it feel to take on this character? It’s really a mix of feelings. There’s the elation I felt as the kid in me, where I was like holy shit, this is so cool. But then there was the actor in me, who’s been doing this for 20 years while being blessed to be kicking around auditioning rooms in Hollywood, TV, and film for a while. That was a real sobering moment. I didn’t think it was going to happen. And I suppose the irony of life is that things happen when you least expect them to.

When I took the time to really think about it all with a clear and sober head, I realized how a role like this was something that was very rare to land in my lap. There are a ton of actors constantly vying for this. And sure, I’ve been very successful by some people’s measurements, but I didn’t think I was that successful to be honest. I wasn’t that famous guy who was going to lead anything, especially as a superhero in a movie of this caliber. For the longest time, I’ve been a journeyman actor, but DC still believed in me. I wanted to honor that along with the character. Shazam’s been around for 80 years. That’s 80 years of fans going out of their way to support a guy once known as Captain Marvel who couldn’t sell like his Batman and Superman counterparts. That’s an incredibly deep, cool, and rich lineage. The whole time I was really hoping they wouldn’t change their minds. It’s probably why I peed in the suit to mark my territory.

What do you draw from when you have to play a hero that’s a 14-year-old kid with the wisdom of an elder like Shazam ? Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for my parents and the girls I dated in the past, I’ve refused to grow up, I’m guessing that was a part of the ingredients. I’ve definitely tried to embrace the actual unit of responsibility and accountability that is important as you mature. But I’ve also tried to maintain the things that keep me young. My imagination, humor, heart, and wonder. Beyond the role, these are the joys I genuinely try to practice and that I believe in. Whether it be video games, comic books, movies or just being silly with friends. I could only assume that it was the special sauce that DC needed to give me the job. A grown ass man who was believably young at heart.

I kept having to remind myself not to overthink moments. We as adults overthink constantly, but kids are just feeling their way through life. They’re kind of reactionary, and very in the moment. They’re totally free to be silly. I was reminded of that every day through working with kids in this movie. It’s like, just have fun with it and be silly with them. Hell, I brought my Nintendo Switch and hooked it up for some multiplayer, those little things helped. As far as the wisdom, when you think about it, intellect and wisdom are two very different things. There are kids who may not be informed, but they display wisdom in other ways and through their perspectives. It’s not mutually exclusive.

What’s our definition of a nerd in 2019? Because there’s a lot of negative connotations being associated with it on a more toxic fandom level. There’s a lot of really cool momentum with the term. For the longest time, there was a derogatory connotation around it that had more to do with appearances. The stereotypical horn-rimmed glasses and pocket detectors types who were super into science, technology, video games, and all that, which by the way, I am all of those things minus the glasses and pocket detector. If we’re being honest, it’s fictitious term. It was made up by Dr. Seuss and it has nothing to do with any of the things I just mentioned. Either way, one of the things I’ve tried to do with my former company Nerd Machine, and event company, Nerd HQ, is find ways to foster conversations that re-examine the word.

As far as I’m concerned, being nerdy means you’re passionate. You could be a cards, fashion, makeup, sports, or gym nerd. It’s whatever. I just use it synonymously with passion. I think it helps by making it a more inclusive term, and one that embraces nerdiness through whatever you’re passionate about. It’s such a joke that you’ve got these stereotypical nerds attending comic-con or cosplaying, and then you’ve got the average jock who’s prone to making fun of these people for dressing up as cartoon, video game, or anime character. These are the same sports fans that go to a football game without a shirt on while dosing themselves with colors and random headgear. That’s fucking cosplay too. It’s the same thing [laughs]. Let’s just be honest about it and not yuck each other up. Let everyone embrace what they love as long as it isn’t a negative to others.

You’re also some who grew up reading about heroes as you’ve already mentioned in this interview. What does it mean to be a hero in 2019 with your adult lens? My idea of what a hero is, is pretty much what I always thought I hero was. It’s something that any one of us can be, and all of us have been one at some point in our lives. It’s a moment when a person can see clearly enough to know what’s true and feel deeply enough about that truth to fight for it. All of us have different platforms to do that, and we have the ability to dig at what’s real and fact rather than opinion driven by bias and fear. We need to really distill what’s actually right and fight for it. All of us can do that. It’s just a matter of feeling that conviction.

I’m glad you said that. I thought it was unselfish of you to defend Brie Larson when she was being unfairly attacked leading up to the Captain Marvel release. Thanks man, and that directly ties to what I was saying. I’ve known Brie Larson for a long time, and we have mutual friends, so I’m so stoked for her success and everything that she’s doing. For me, it was just a matter of standing up for what was true. It wasn’t about coming to the rescue of Brie Larson or Captain Marvel as if she needed rescuing, it was a scenario where a lie was being spoken. I knew they were lies and I had the ability to speak the truth in love, so the people spreading those lies wouldn’t feel attacked in a cycle. They weren’t taking the right path and we need to be able to call that out.

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