#Shiro is a dork

[autisticlancemcclain]

The first bout of whispering, Shiro can ignore. He’s a teacher by trade, after all. Astronaut, sure. Paladin, even. But he always expected to be a teacher, trained for it, and he knows when you put a group of teenagers in a room and expect them to start learning by lecture, there’s going to be some whispering. He’d be concerned if there wasn’t, frankly.

But as it keeps happening, again and again, to the point where it’s almost constant, Shiro begins to lose his patience.

“Lance, Hunk,” he says, catching himself long before then. He tries to smile, gentle but firm. “Everything okay?”

The two boys clam up immediately. Lance even begins to lean slightly away from Hunk, although Shiro’s not sure he notices.

Shiro frowns, puzzled at the reaction. That’s — uncommon. He’s seen embarrassed, seen sheepish, seen unbothered, even seen downright rude, but Lance looks almost… afraid. And Hunk looks at him with a lot more anxiety than the situation calls for, but Shiro is beginning to notice that that’s just Hunk.

The both mutter some semblance of apology, and Shiro moves on quickly, unwilling to dwell on the incident too long.

For the rest of the briefing, he keeps an eye on them. He’s still focused, of course, as their break-in and recon on a nearby Empire warship is not only hugely dangerous, but will also be hugely beneficial, but he lets his notes do a lot of the talking for him. He flits his eyes to the pair every so often, and while Hunk meets his eyes on occasion, smiling slightly, Lance keeps his head down, hunched over his tablet.

Shiro notices that the tablet is powered off. He doesn’t write a single note.

His shoulders are hunched up to his ears.

———

“Alright, kiddo, good job.”

Keith grins, stepping backwards and bowing to finish the fight. Shiro bows back, matching his smile.

“You did great.”

“I know,” Keith says cheekily. “You’re getting easier and easier to beat. Probably because you’re elderly.”

Shiro raises an eyebrow. “Am I.”

His annoying little brother hums, completely unconcerned. He steps off to the side and starts swinging around his training stick, very clearly showing off. “Mhm. It was super easy to fight you. I just went whoosh, smack, bam! —” he punctuates every sound with a swing and slash of the stick — “and every hit just landed. Honestly, I think a punching bag would have been more of a challenge. Adam is a way better spar partner than you. I wish I was shot into space with him.”

Shiro’s eye twitches. It’s a clear goad, he knows it is. Keith isn’t even trying to hide it. He’s a twerp with too much energy and too much experience pressing all of Shiro’s buttons — a favourite button of his, of course, being the bit of…healthy competition Shiro has always had with his boyfriend.

(He’s well aware of the irony. He hears Adam pointing and laughing in his head every time he endures Keith’s complaining about Lance pulling his mullet, so to speak. In fact keeping his mouth shut about the parallels is the only thing keeping him from throwing Keith down the laundry chute. He’s waiting for a moment when the reveal can be well and truly devastating.)

Shiro manages, with herculean strength, to step away from his turd of a brother, putting his training stick away.

“I am leaving,” he says loudly, pointedly turning away. “I said I’d train one hour with you and not a second more.”

He feels Keith’s pout more than sees it. “Coward.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shiro snorts, waving his hand dismissively. He hears swishing sounds, and the clicks of buttons — Keith is starting up his own training. Again. “Don’t be late for dinner or I’ll send Lance after you.”

“Can’t promise I won’t maim him,” Keith mutters. “Sometimes I just want to wring his neck.”

Shiro is very familiar with that feeling. Or at least the raving about it. He used to feel great pleasure in driving Adam to that point, just because he was hot when he was mad. But Shiro values his limbs — or at least what’s left of them — where they are, so he keeps the comments to himself as he makes his way out of the training room, meandering back to his own quarters.

He takes his time showering and redressing, knowing he’s got some time before dinner. He thinks Hunk even managed to wrestle Coran out of the kitchen, which means no food goo. It also means that he’s banned from even breathing near the kitchen until the food is fully cooked and completed — which is a bullshit ban and one based in false accusations — but he’s sure he can help set the table, or something. Stir a pot. He’s good at that.

He towels off his hair, not bothering to style it, and takes his time walking over to the kitchens. The castle floors are cold under his bare feet, he finds himself wishing he had the lion slippers Lance made him. They’re very warm. He never wears them because he’s terrified of ruining them, but it’s so icy in here that he might start having to, or else he’ll freeze.

As he approaches the kitchen, he hears voices. He freezes, quieting his steps and pausing behind the wall to listen. Hopefully no one else walks by, or that will be humiliating.

“— all you have to do is ask, Lance, just casually, it’s not even —”

“— it is even, Hunk, it’s the worst and I’m not doing it, why would I inconvenience —”

“— it isn’t! Not even a little! It’s the smallest tiniest thing!”

“Hunk —”

Hunk throws his hands up in exasperation, spoon going flying and splattering some kind of blue sauce all over the cabinets. Neither of them even blinks at it.

“I am tired of watching you struggle, Leandro! Heaven forbid you ask for help!”

Shiro frowns. That’s not good. That sounds serious.

“I asked for help,” Lance huffs, arms crossed over his chest. “I asked you, didn’t I?”

“I don’t count and you know it,” Hunk says sharply, mirroring him. “I already knew.”

Lance looks away, clenching his jaw. His fingers are tangled in his jacket’s sleeve, tense.

“You don’t have to help anymore if it’s too hard,” he mumbles. “I can handle it myself.”

Hunk softens. “It’s not that, Lance.” He wipes his hands in his apron and pulls Lance to his chest. Lance goes, although he doesn’t move his arms, burying his face in Hunk’s shoulder. “You know it’s not that. If that’s all we have then I’ll keep doing it, damn the consequences.” He pulls back slightly, nudging Lance back so he can look him in the face. “You can just do better, dude. All you gotta do is tell Shiro about your —”

A hand claps over Hunk’s mouth, cutting him off, and Lance squeaks, “Hey, Shiro, hello, hi!”

Shiro startles. He scrambles upright before Hunk turns all the way, so at least he’s only seen crouching by the door like a weirdo by one person.

He clears his throat. “Uh, hi.”

“You’re banned from the kitchen,” Hunk says, muffled. How he looks so mighty and dignified with Lance’s hands still very much pressed to his face is well and truly beyond him. Shiro is frankly awed.

“I just came to help set the table,” he assures, hands held up in surrender. “Promise I’ll stay away from the actual food.”

Hunk narrows his eyes, but must decide he could use the help, because he nods, stepping backwards so Lance’s hands fall back down.

“Alright,” he sighs. “I’m making stew. You can set out utensils if you must but know I’ll judge you heavily for it. Lance, come help me finish up.”

Lance scrambles after him, avoiding Shiro’s gaze like he’s sure he’s going to get yelled at. Shiro watches him go, perplexed.

———

The next few days are, for the most part, manageable. Their mission goes well, Keith is surprisingly mellow — Shiro suspects the little nerd has discovered a library of some kind — and distress calls are minimal. All in all, Shiro should be taking the time as the blessing it is and catching up on some much needed R&R.

Instead, he’s worrying about the Blue Paladin.

Shiro can’t say he knows him well. They’ve hardly been in space a couple of months, after all, and while Shiro must have taught him a couple times — he was in the piloting program so it’s almost impossible that they didn’t cross paths — the Garrison is huge, and Shiro largely teachers younger students. Shiro can’t recall teaching a Lance, anyway.

But he can tell something’s off.

Besides the fact that Hunk keeps looking at Lance with concern, the Cuban seems…withdrawn, almost. He still works hard in training and smokes them in any kind of long distance, but there doesn’t seem to be any joy in it. Even his arguments with Keith seem halfhearted, which Keith will never admit leave him agitated as much as it has Shiro’s eyebrows raising. Shiro is sure, basically, that something is the matter, and surer still that he has to be the one to fix it.

How exactly he should go about it…well, that’s the part he’s struggling with. He knows Lance is kind of star-eyed around him, even though they’re on the same playing field, so Shiro’s not sure just regular talking to him about it is going to do something. And he seemed pretty resistant when Hunk pressed, in the conversation Shiro overheard. He’s just not sure what to do.

Luckily, the situation starts to resolve itself.

“Hey, Shiro, can I talk to you?” Lance mumbles into his breakfast, as everyone else is distracted by Pidge and Keith’s loud argument about cryptids (Shiro has heard it too many times at this point. He’s tuned it out).

Shiro blinks. “Sure,” he says, trying to keep the shock out of his voice. “Now?”

“Uh, after we eat, maybe.”

Shiro tries very hard not to seem over enthusiastic. He sucks at that, so it doesn’t work, and it seems to make Lance more stressed, which only stresses Shiro out more. By the time everyone has finished up and people are starting to file out to various tasks, the tension between them is so thick Shiro feels as if he might suffocate.

Suddenly, as if he propelled himself, Lance springs to his feet, snatching his bowl and Shiro’s and powerwalking towards the kitchen sink. Shiro, startled, follows him.

“You okay?” Shiro asks softly, noticing the whiteness of Lance’s knuckles, clenched around a sponge, and the robotic way he scrubs it across a dirty spoon.

Lance says nothing. He keeps his eyes trained resolutely on the soapy water, spine ramrod straight, nerves bleeding from him in waves.

Hesitantly, Shiro rolls up his sleeves, standing beside him and beginning to dry what he rinses. As Shiro gets close he gets tenser, shoulders hiked up to his ears, but as the minutes drag on, empty kitchen echoing the sound of swishing water and clanking cutlery, he begins to calm down. Shiro watches his face relax, easing its worries twist, and terror fade from his brown eyes.

He hands Shiro the last clean dish to dry, then pulls the plug on the sink, darting over to grab a hand towel and starting to dry.

“Can you write mission plans in pink?”

The words rush out of him, like he’d been holding them between his teeth for God knows how long and they’d finally spilled out. He looks almost nauseous after he says them.

Shiro blinks. That was…not what he’d expected.

“…Why?”

“It’s perfectly okay if you can’t,” Lance continues, as if Shiro had not spoken. “I mean, whatever. I’ll figure it out. I’ve gone without this long, after all, and it’s totally doable. Of course there’s the migraines and the agony but that’s all light work. It’s war, after all. Ha.” He chuckles nervously.

He’s shrunk in on himself, looking almost small. Shiro stares at him with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. Lance doesn’t even notice, eyes focused intensely on the hand towel, breathing worryingly erratic.

“I just swore to Hunk that I’d ask, you know. He said it wouldn’t hurt. And of course it wouldn’t but I don’t need it. It’s just. You know.”

Shiro cannot stress enough how much he doesn’t know. He hasn’t felt this lost in a while.

“Pink makes the letters stick to the page. And I know that sounds stupid as shit and that’s because it is stupid as shit, unfortunately. Dyslexia is the dumbest thing in the world, actually. And who named it that? You know how hard that word is to spell? It’s hard. They should have called it — I dunno, I just mean, it’s whatever. It’s fine. I’ve handled it this long. Uh.” He looks up, finally, and maybe he doesn’t know how to make sense of Shiro’s expression, because he winces, shame overtaking his face. He sets down the towel and gestures vaguely behind him, stepping towards the door. “I’m just gonna — go. Sorry. See you later. Sorry.”

He all but flees out of the room. Shiro barely manages to snag the back of his hoodie, holding him in place.

“Lance. Chill a second. Give me time to respond.”

Lance looks deploringly at the door, then back at Shiro. He looks like he’s accepting his death. Shiro can’t help but feel the teensiest bit offended.

“I’m not going to bite you,” he says, aghast. “Jesus, kid. You’re going to give me a complex.”

To Shiro’s great relief, the remark makes Lance grin. Some of the tension eases from his face.

“You sound like my mother.”

“From what I’ve heard, that’s a compliment,” Shiro says lightly. He pulls out two chairs, orienting them so they’re facing each other. He deliberately takes the one farthest from the door, so Lance doesn’t feel trapped. He gestures to the other one. “Sit.”

Lance does.

“Now. From the beginning and with a little less fear, hopefully. Tell me what’s up, kiddo.”

Lance looks down at his hands, where he’s picking at a scar on his wrist.

“Um. So. I have dyslexia. I can’t read too well.”

Lance cringes as he says it. Shiro wonders who he has to kill for putting the idea that this is something to be ashamed about in his head.

“Cool,” Shiro says, as encouragingly as he can manage. “The main character of my favourite book series as a kid had dyslexia. I was jealous of everyone who had it. I used to pray for it.”

The revelation startles a laugh out of Lance, like Shiro hoped it would. The tension melts right off of him.

“You prayed?”

“Every night,” Shiro affirms, grinning. “I even crossed my eyes and pretended when it didn’t work. My mother didn’t believe me for a second.”

“You’re a dweeb,” Lance says, sounding kind of awed. Like he’s shocked that Shiro, too, is a nerd loser on this castle full of other nerd losers. “Dyslexia sucks.”

Letting his face settle into something more serious, Shiro nods. “I imagine it does.” He reaches over and squeezes Lance’s hand, subtly stopping him from picking at the skin. Keith has the same bad habit. “Writing in pink helps?”

Lance shrugs. “Sorta. Dunno why. But things are less squiggly when they’re written in pink or red. Not perfect, but it’s something. I can hardly read at all when they’re in black; it’s like my eyes are spinning out of my head trying to focus on ‘em. Gives me migraines like you would not imagine.”

“And thus Hunk whispering the plans to you so you don’t have to read them,” Shiro surmises, the whispering during briefings suddenly making sense. Guilt twinges in his belly.

“Yeah. Sorry about that, by the way. Didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Of course not,” Shiro says gently. “I get it now. Sorry for not understanding.” He frowns, remembering something. “I should’ve asked beforehand. Or suspected something, or known better, really. I had a kid a few years back in one of my astronomy courses. Li-something. I marked all his stuff in red for the same reasons.”

Lance makes a very particular face. Warning bells go off in Shiro’s head.

“I appreciated that very much,” Lance says politely.

It takes a moment for it to click.

Shiro considers banging his head against the table.

“Please tell me no,” he begs, ears reddening.

“It was a great honour to be renamed by the Takashi Shirogane,” Lance insists.

“I had you in my class for three years!” Shiro says, aghast. “I — I called you Li all the time! In front of people!”

“I didn’t want to correct you! That’s — embarrassing!”

Shiro cradles his head in his hands. Dear God. He knows he’s not great with names, but — Jesus. To rename a kid. Blatantly. Other teachers must have thought he was some cruel jackass.

“I think there was a Li McKinney ahead of me in roll call,” Lance offers, patting Shiro’s back delicately. “So. Pretty easy to mess up.”

“Did you write your name as Li on tests? And assignments?”

“After the first couple times, yeah. Hunk laughed at me. At a certain point I’d just dug myself too deep, I think.”

Shiro sighs, dragging his hand down his face. It’s still quite hot. He looks up at Lance, who’s mouth is twitching.

“You were short as shit back then,” he observes, trying to picture the kid in his class. “Like, shorter than Pidge.”

Lance scowls. “I was — saving up on growth spurts. Yeah. So. Purge that from your memory.” He smirks. “Like my name.”

Shiro groans. “I’m never hearing the end of that, am I.”

Lance smiles. “Probably not. I didn’t know you were uncool. It’s interesting. I’m seeing you in a whole new light.”

Shiro rolls his eyes, but reaches over to mess with Lance’s hair, like he would Keith. Unlike Keith, Lance freaks out way harder, screeching something about hard work and artistic expression.

He smiles. “Glad you came to talk to me, kid.”

Lance sticks out his tongue, but he looks pleased, too. “Yeah, yeah.”

[dan-the-adiposer]

Shiro/Kengo ship headcanons

1. Their relationship started off in a very indecisive way. Shiro basically says something that is practically a confession and Kengo is taken COMPLETELY off guard. 2. They still bicker a lot and everyone makes fun of them for acting like an old married couple. They both deny it with fervour, given they’re both nineteen. 3. They spend a long time warming up to each other on affections given mutual stubbornness. Neither is really big spoon or little spoon, it’s a free for all. 4. Before coming together, Kengo’s side of the attraction was a lot more begrudging than Shiro’s. Shiro was more of a ‘damn it, I actually like this meathead’ and Kengo was more of a ‘WHY DO I FIND THIS NERD CUTE, GOD FUCKING DAMN IT’. 5. When they do go on dates, it’s usually to watch film or to help each other out. Shiro gets Kengo to study via lighthearted bribery of affection and Kengo PRIES Shiro away from his work. They both learn a good deal from this. 6. Kengo was the one to initiate their first kiss and it was a very, very sloppy attempt.

[black--sun]

Shiro seems to be in a better mood. Ichigo presses his lips, annoyed to be at the whim of anyone’s mood swings. He huffs. “I wasn’t trying to give up on anything, I just wanted to fix the order. Especially if we’re going to a place where people know you. One asshole with a cellphone and that guy’s number could’ve ruined the whole thing.” Because pictures convey a lot of information quickly. “A bar then. Anywhere is fine. They'll have food.” He's not feeling much like eating, but it's mostly his mood and he'll likely force himself anyway. He's been skipping too many meals lately.

“Funny,” is his dry answer to that joke. It sounds like maybe the locks are busted, possibly the door, but he won’t know until he looks at it. He raises his brows, but yeah, he can understand that. If anyone broke into his place, they wouldn’t find much. “Good thing I didn’t lose your keys then. I can do it tomorrow in between whatever Ikumi has me doing.” Because that’s when he’s least likely to be missed even though he thinks she already knows he slips off.

He just kind of shrugs in response to Ichigo’s sarcastic reply. He didn’t expect the guy to be too much trouble. He told Ichigo via text he’d handle it, he wanted to be the one to do it, so he did. “Well. When you first invited me for dinner, I didn’t have anywhere in mind. I was gonna see what you wanted. Since we’re not on a fake date and we gave up on that idea, we can go wherever.”

He’s barely looking, and closes his hand when he feels the keys drop into his palm.

He twirls the keys for a second, than sticks them in the ignition and starts the car. “What d'you mean what am I doin’? About to drive us to get food.” Which isn’t what Ichigo meant at all. “The door’s got a chain, so it’s kinda locked from the inside when I’m home. You could walk right in right now, but I don’t think my neighbors ’re quite that nosy.” He motions with a thumb over his shoulder, behind him, “The few important things I keep around are in the trunk right now, just in case. If someone really wants to go through my shit, they can have it.”

[sukisheadlights]

hey there!!! could you make headcanons for all the Voltron guys for when they realize that (she/her) reader is like actually someone they could date/ end up with? like they get turned on by something she did or something like that? you don't have to but thanks for reading anyway </3

Voltron Paladins realizing Reader is someone they could end up with!

req: yes words: 873 pairing: voltron x reader content: fluff a/n: I was actually planning on writing something similar so thanks for the ask anon! <3

Keith

Keith isn’t interested in love (until he realizes he can date you) BUT FOR THE MOMENT HE’S NOT!

Both of you are still determining when you got close as well. You protected him once in battle, and since then, you’ve just stuck together.

And he of course protects you when he can because he's grateful you saved his life.

So you guys became friends,,, that was news to Lance btw.

Slowly you let each other into your lives, and now you train together often.

You were never ‘better’ than him at fighting (you actually just made yourself lose sometimes) and Keith sometimes ‘lost’ to make you just a little happy (little did he know hehe)

But today? Oh, you weren’t playing that’s for sure. He was super confused at first, then he was impressed, and then he was turned on. Which is fair because you looked straight out of a magazine, the ‘hot’ sweaty and perfectly messy hair.

When did you get so hot?

And boom. He felt he was on earth again because realization hit him like a TRAIN.

You were his age, and you were hot, and you could totally be a thing. And wtf is wrong with Keith? He's never thought of you like this.

Yeah, so that’s that.

And then he gets all awkward around you, and you guys haven't had a training session together since then. He always conveniently has something to do when you try to ask him.

Goddamnit.

Lance

You’ve been friends with him since the good old garrison days.

You grew to like the dork’s presence

You’ve always known he’s flirty, that’s just Lance.

Getting you flowers (sometimes), flirting with you in the hallways, and even when you’re fighting with the galra.

You always rolled your eyes, scoffed at him, or brushed him off but today?

Violence

You were so ready to mess with him too

You woke up with mischief on your mind

And mischief you created

BECAUSE BECAUSE BECAUSE

OK SO

Lance was flirting with you while fighting the galra

And he expected you to react normally but nooooo

You flirted back

AND THEN YOU WINK AT HIM

SHOOT A GALRA SOLDIER

AND LEAVE !???!!?!!!?!?!?!!?!?

Lance MALFUNCTIONS

Like lance.exe has STOPPED working

DECEASED

Keith’s snickering in the background! (And Shiro too but he won’t admit that, for Lance’s sake)

“Shut it.” is all Lance says for like 10 minutes

You’re hot, He’s hot, and you guys could end up together

You’re a woman now

And you could have him ENTIRELY at his knees.

Hunk

Hunk misses earth

So much

He stops talking as much and wanders around the castle

He didn't think anyone noticed

But you did

And you felt SO bad for him

So when you stop at the mall to get teleduv lenses you seek away

And get the closest possible ingredients to make his favorite treat

Ice cream sandwiches (real)

You’re testing weird white heavy cream adjacent substances and so much more all for him

You might get sick

Oh well

You sneak back and he gives you a weird “Where were you?” look,

But you just ignore

And then you slave away in the kitchen and finally end up with something that’s ice cream sandwich adjacent 

“What’re you making?”

“Ice cream sandwiches”

“Oh for the team? You should have let me help”

“No”

Confused hunk

“It’s just for us” and you hold up an ice cream sandwich for him

His face LIGHTS up and he gladly accepts it

Then you guys sit on the floor and just talk about life and how both of you feel

All night.

It's freaking adorable

He realises how much he adores you, and how he absolutely loves you and all of your little quirks

It doesn’t even matter when the ice cream starts melting, he’d much rather focus on you and talk. Only occasionally taking bites when you do

Pidge

Pidge always knew you were datable

And an amazing person

But she started falling for you when the paladins were trying to tell her to not go find Matt

You stepped in a stood up for her, gaining Shiro’s support.

And then when she was ready to leave she saw you putting your stuff into your lion

“You don’t think I’ll leave you alone, do you?”

She knows it’s because someone will need to be there for her in case Matt is gone

But she doesn’t complain

It’s a silent brewing of love and appreciation

And she’s so grateful to have you in her life

Shiro

When Keith was confused and stuck without Shiro, you stepped up and found him

He was surprised at first

But you took care of him and helped him out as he got better

You were there for him to lean on. Always.

Literally and figuratively 

His appreciation turned into adoration and then his adoration turned into pure, genuine love

Once he was fully healthy again

He’d try to pay it back to you

By protecting you when you went against any threats

ESPECIALLY when you were out of your lion

And then it just becomes a thing where you protect each other

It’s adorable

He loves you and he protects you

And vice versa

Adorable, I say.

[klanced]

Hey Katie! What are ur fav and least favourite bits of law school? Also which of the vld gang do u think would become lawyers, I could see allura, lance and maybe shiro

Hope u have a good day!!!! no pressure to answer this if u don't feel like it <33333

you're a sweetheart anon. i'm always happen to (slowly) answer questions about law school, especially people who are considering applying :)

Favorite parts of law school:

I'm going to be real with you guys, I am a dork-ass nerd who enjoys spending hours studying and reading so law school is like heaven for me lol

I just really enjoy being a law student. I like that I'm tangibly working towards my lifelong goal of becoming a lawyer. I like that the material I'm learning is really challenging, because I enjoy the challenge and putting in the effort to really learn and understand something.

This is less law school-specific, but I really love living as an independent adult in the city, with all the perks that come with being a graduate student. Between my social life and academic life, this is the most functional I have ever been lmao

Least favorite parts:

The networking events. God. Both the professional networking events and the law school body events. I hate being a person who is perceived and I also hate drinking around strangers. Fortunately I don't have to go to that many mixers because those events are more for big law/corporate law people, whereas I'm in public interest. But sometimes I force myself to go because it is a really good idea to meet other established lawyers in my field, especially as I start thinking about post-grad jobs. it always sucks though. I met the highest-ranked judges in my state the other day, which was cool

Job-Hunting. It feels like I am always job-hunting. I am applying right now for internships for NEXT SUMMER. I have sent out so many cover letters. I have scheduled so many interviews. Fortunately I've discovered that I actually like interviews and I'm apparently insanely great at them, I think law school has turned me into a sociopath.

I am so stressed all the time omfg. The worst part is that a lot of this stress is my own damn fault (I do way too many things lmfao) but I have SO MANY white hairs now whyyyyyyyyyyy :sobs: :sobs: (narrator voice: she did this to herself)

--

Re: the Voltron cast. Allura is definitely the most clear-cut choice for who would become a lawyer. I can see Lance and Shiro leaning towards careers in law as well, but I have no idea what kind of law they would practice lol. I also think Veronica and Nadia would make great lawyers. And my final dark horse nomination: I can see Shay practicing environmental law.

[itsapmseymour]

So, how did you come up with your OC, Cyana’s name? (Yes, I’m the dork who thought you named your other OC, Shiro, after a Voltron character.)

She’s Cyan colored.

Tadaaaa

[pidges-lost-robot]

I like to think that bar Shiro, who already knows him too well, the team wildly oscillates between thinking Keith is so unbelievably cool that he can't be real to knowing that Keith is probably one of the biggest dorks on the ship. Like Keith will make his way through sentries with his acrobatic brawling and sword fighting and the team will be like holy shit when did you get the time to learn to do something that fucking cool omg

Then five minutes later on the journey back they find out that Keith used to willingly have his lunch stolen cause a kid told him would be a bad person if he didn't and that he always gave it over, not cause he thought he'd be a bad person if he didn't, but cause he honestly didn't like that part of his lunch and thought it was a really weird persuasion technique ("I would've given them it even if they just asked normally anyway") but was then more affronted when the kid later said he'd always thought Keith's eyes were green ("my eyes are noticeably the opposite of green. Like people literally used to pick on me for not having a normal eye colour and this kid thinks my eyes are fucking green") and the team suddenly remember that he's not above being a loser like them

[alohaasaloevera]

Lance with 5 o’ Clock shadow 😱?????

They have a meeting in the bridge and Lance forgot to shave so Keith is just staring at him the entire time not listening to anything the others say

Keith, internally: oh quiznak quiznak quiznak quiznak please universe consume me whole I am about to crumble into nothing I want him please just—

Lance: what are you staring at?

Keith: shut up.

AND THEN WHEN KEITH GETS HURT??

Lance: *pulls Keith into a tight hug* don’t do that again.

Keith: AAAAAAA SHIT HIS FACE IS PRICKLY WHY IS THAT HOT?????

Lance: *moves so his head is resting in the crook of Keith’s neck*

Keith: *literally collapses*

Bro is down HORRENDOUS for Lance with stubble 💀💀💀 Keith would foam at the mouth if he ever saw Lance with 5 o’ clock shadow in canon (except he wouldn’t because it’s a children’s show who buries their gays)

HAHAHA POST CANON LANCE WHERE HE ACTUALLY DOESN’T SHAVE SOMETIMES SO KEITH HAS TO DEAL WITH ALL THE REPRESSED FEELINGS HE’S HAD SINCE THE BEGINNING

Lance: *conversing like a normal human being*

Keith: oh lord did he forget to shave? Why do I find this attractive please attack my neck—nope. that’s a bit too gay, Kogane. Get yourself together.

Lance: Oh hey Keith!!!! I haven’t seen you in awhile man!!!!

Keith, muttering: darn I think I’m attracted to dorks now

Shiro, who can still clearly hear him: you have been for awhile now

Keith: shut your gay ass up Shiro

Shiro: how about you shut yours

Lance: what are you guys talking about??? Is about me? I know, I’m so important—*continues rambling*

Keith: even his rambling is cute is he real???

Shiro: Yeah! We were actually just talking about how you look—

Keith: *glares HARD at Shiro*

Shiro: Really sophisticated nowadays.

Lance: Oh. Really?

Shiro: yep! Right, Keith?

Keith: Yeah.

(I am trying to keep my blog sfw so I can’t really go too far with Keith’s thoughts sorry!!)

[undercover-smutlover]

Art...🎨

*·˚Don’t forget to reblog, follow, like, and comment on the authors’ or artists’ pages. Show them some love!

*·˚Broken link or @? Pop a note in the comments or my ask box.

Cpt. Price...🏷️

Shirtless by @schrissdd

Mission Wetwork by @callsign-coolsquirrel

The Captain by @starsw3sker

Price by @redravenarts

Vulnerable by @mehh141

Cowboy Price by @vataro-ko

Gift Wrapped and Staying Fit by @nrdmssgs

Price Sketches by @hlxtn

Hickies by @tassodelmiele

Collection of Prices by @possibly-inhuman

Smoke Break by @yakowo

Lt. Riley...💀

Ghost/Simon Sketch by @shkretart

Simon Riley by @hi-shiro

It’s Huge by @simonrileyslut

Forbidden Waffles by @klaart

What If...? by @reds-skull

Big Boy with the Skull face by @mentoskova

Dork Dad by @rj-opp

Recruits Everywhere and Drunk Simon by @lanialania00

Sgt. MacTavish...🧼

John Mactavish by @schrissdd

Goth Johnny by @spiltspit

Too Pretty by @mellounir

Stop Cheating w/Gaz by @siddyyyyyyyy

KA-FREAKIN’-BOOM by @avianii

Tummy Ache w/gaz by @arualthefirst

Bad Puppy by @not-avril

Sgt. Garrick...🧢

Captain Garrick by @temeyes

Gaz with piercings by @veradia

Puppy Eyes by @99pm-e

Gaz Appreciation by @honeyhobbs

Gaz by @yupstep

Badass Gaz by @yakowo

Tan Lines by @honeyhobbs

Nice Shot by @cobaltbeam

Rizz Master by @ramvur

Smile by @munyon

Gaz by @baebomgi

Loving Gaz Hours by @cobaltbeam

Colonel Vargas...🤠

König…👕

Stop Looking At Me by @baaaaaaaam

Take it off by @crr0o

Shirtless König by @emmaseesghosts

Helping Hand by @emoelvin

141 + Extras...

Kindergartens by @rinnypyon

Tea Time by @amikoroyaiart

Thick & Thin by @rusticfurnace

Roach in food by @tanukigobrrr

Slip Up , Sick Bois , 0.5 Pictures by @temeyes

Military Gays by @yakowo

Traded Kyle for a PB&J by @ramvur

Starstruck by @s3rrrpentine

Fell Asleep Again by @reds-skull

Resting by @lanialania00

Late Night Chatter by @accecakes

[cyanoscarlet]

What Did You Eat Yesterday? - Chapter 182

Disclaimer: Raws bought by me. Not fluent in JP at all. Some liberties with wording were taken.

BUY THE OFFICIAL RELEASE HERE: https://kodansha.us/series/what-did-you-eat-yesterday/

-

THE SWEETEST FEELS EVER. (sobs)

It's been a great joy translating these two chapters of Nanitabe over the past week. I daresay this story arc is probably where everything comes together wonderfully for our main couple. Having binged all 21 volumes in English + everything from the live-action series in one go, I could definitely see how far Shiro and Kenji have come since the very first chapter. They've both grown so much, and I couldn't be any happier and prouder.

Wishing the absolute bestest best for these two lovely dorks. May they live happily forever and ever!!!

[apple-juice16]

Fanfics I found enjoyable. Like a lot. My personal favs.

Masterkey override or the one time when everyone realised that Lance was smart ClaraCivry (Kat_of_Dresden)

No Archive Warnings Apply, Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance (Voltron)Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk (Voltron), Matt Holt, Coran (Voltron), Smart Lance, Surprised Team, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Awesome Pidge, Types of intelligence, Realisations, People appreciatng Lance, Fluff

Basically, Lance asks Pidge to teach him some technical stuff, and it turns out that he is more intelligent than any of them thought (including Lance himself). A smart Lance fic, for all your smart Lance needs, featuring awesome teacher Pidge and startstruck team.

Words: 1,323 - Chapters: 1/1

Monopoly was a bad idea - AuroraDownTheRabbitHole

No Archive Warnings Apply, Keith/Lance (Voltron), Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith & The Blade of Marmora, Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron), Coran (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Kolivan (Voltron), Ulaz (Voltron), Thace (Voltron), Antok (Voltron), Swearing, Team as Family, Board Games, Monopoly (Board Game) - Freeform, Chaos, Domestic Fluff, Dads of Marmora (Voltron)

The blade of marmora members really shouldn't have let the paladins play Monopoly,you know what they say you only play board games with the people you want to break bonds with ............. this was a big mistake.

Words: 660 - Chapters: 1/1

An Eye for an Eye - DpsMercy

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Martin Blackwood & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James & Tim Stoker, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Michael | The Distortion & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Helen | The Distortion & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood, Sasha James, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Elias Bouchard | Jonah Magnus, Not Them (The Magnus Archives), Michael | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives), Helen | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives), Other Character Tags to Be Added, Jon is from Night Vale, Crack Treated Seriously, Friendship, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fix-It of Sorts, Jon becomes friends with most avatars, Spooky shenanigans, Jon is too chill to be scared, No beta we die like Gertrude's assistants, Typical Night Vale Weirdness, Typical Night Vale Violence, Canon-Typical Worms (The Magnus Archives), typical TMA horror

In which Jonathan Sims is not from the UK but instead, if you took his origins and turned them sideways twice then flipped them over, he technically would be from the US, the town of Night Vale specifically. Elias can’t do shit about it and gets a headache and slowly creeping madness instead. ***** On indefinite hiatus

Words: 15,555 - Chapters: 9/?

Welcome to...The Magnus Institute? - princeetheo

No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Carlos/Cecil Palmer, Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas, Martin Blackwood, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Elias Bouchard, Peter Lukas, Rosie Zampano, Georgie Barker, Melanie King, Jessica Law (Fictionalized), Jordan Kennedy, Ben Below (fictionalized), Basira Hussain, Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), Cecil Palmer, Dana Cardinal, Steve Carlsberg, Janice (Welcome to Night Vale), Abby Palmer, Cecilos are Jon sims parents AAAA, Non-Human Cecil Palmer, Cecil Palmer is Described, Autistic Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), Trans Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), Awkward Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), jon sims and dana cardinal are childhood besties, steve carlsberg is the best uncle, Cecil Palmer's Fashion Sense, Dork Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), eye avatar cecil palmer, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, FUCK CANON !, we ball, no beta we die like danny stoker, Pining Martin Blackwood, The Mechanisms Were Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist's College | University Band, Autistic Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, He/Him and They/Them Pronouns for Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Trans Martin Blackwood

Carlos 'The Scientist' Sims and Cecil Palmer are Jonathan Sims parents, that's it. that's the fic.

Words: 2,325 - Chapters: 3/?

jonathan sims: part-time archivist, part-time wanted murderer, full-time bitch

ceruleancats

No Archive Warnings Apply, Jon & Several Cats, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Georgie Barker, Jude Perry, Michael "Mike" Crew, Basira Hussain, Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Elias Bouchard, Martin Blackwood, Humor, Comed, ya bit cracky, Based on a Tumblr Post, everyone thinks jon killed leitner and they revere him for it, Season 3, Season 3 AU, Canon Asexual Character, Asexual Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cats

Jon didn't kill Jurgen Leitner, but no matter how many times he tries to tell people that, they just don't seem to believe him! It's not all bad, though: while he is a wanted murderer on the run from the cops, Leitner was apparently so universally despised that Institute employees and Avatars alike are tripping over themselves to help him out. Now, he just has to figure out how to clear his name (though that's easier said than done).

Words: 17,189 - Chapters: 10/10

The White Wolf - JaskiersWolf

No Archive Warnings Apply, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Triss Merigold, Nenneke (The Witcher), Shapeshifting, Shapeshifter Jaskier | Dandelion, Wolf Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Non-Human Jaskier | Dandelion, Feral Jaskier | Dandelion, Established Relationship, Protective Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Protective Jaskier | Dandelion, Pack Cuddles, Sleepy Cuddles, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Mild Blood

Following an unfortunate encounter with a mage, Geralt gets cursed into a wolf. Jaskier and Geralt must travel the Continent in search of someone that can help them. - Can be read as a stand alone

Words: 6,018 - Chapters: 3/3

Five times Jaskier hid nothing from Geralt and one time the Witcher finally noticed the obvious

cucumber_of_doom

No Archive Warnings Apply, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier can talk to animals, Geralt is so dense he might collapse into a black hole at any moment, can be read as pre relationship, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Cares About Jaskier | Dandelion, curses gone right, 5+1 Things

Jaskier has a special talent he never tried to hide from Geralt: He can understand and talk to animals. He never tried to hide this from Geralt, but our witcher is a bit dense.

Words: 6,747 - Chapters: 1/1

The Viscount - pukner

No Archive Warnings Apply, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Jaskier | Dandelion/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Jaskier | Dandelion, Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Original Characters, Eskel (The Witcher), Essi Daven, Valdo Marx, 5+1 Things, POV Multiple, Human Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion Being a Feral Bastard, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia is So DoneIdentity Shenanigans, Trans Jaskier | Dandelion, Genderfluid Jaskier | Dandelion, we're spicing things up yk, canon-typical weird euphemisms, POV Outsider, update it has feelings now, and yennskierand geraskierand geraskifer, why is it getting long

"I can't imagine just telling people I'm from Lettenhove, though," the man says, a smile caught in his voice, "How do you do it?" "Can I tell you a secret?" asks Jaskier, tone taking on a conspiratory tilt. Then, in a whisper that is no quieter than his earlier speech, "I think it's funny." "Funny!" says the man, laughing. Funny, thinks Geralt, bemused. Lettenhove isn't actually a real place. But Jaskier is certainly the Viscount of it. (Or, five times Jaskier tells someone he's the Viscount of Lettenhove, and one time he tells the truth.)

Words: 14,584 - Chapters: 4/5

[autisticlancemcclain]

Keith doesn’t miss Earth the way everyone else does.

He does miss it, of course. He had a few months early in their journey that he stubbornly insisted he didn’t, but he’s grown enough now to admit that yeah, wifi was nice. So was non-recycled air. And a yellow sun. (God, it’s so weird to genuinely miss a yellow sun. He never thought that shit mattered.) None of this even covers how much he misses, to his grand shock, the culture of Earth — it’s strange and humbling to have to explain what a car is. Or a country. Or the concept of global warming, which is an embarrassing thing to have to put into words to someone who’s never really heard of it. (Like genuinely very humiliating. Explaining to someone that they very nearly shortened the life span of humanity because of consumerism, essentially, is something he still thinks of and just shudders.)

Mostly, though, he’s happy to be in space. Space is weird as shit and so is he, so he feels like he has an easier time just functioning, really. He likes the untethered-ness of it all, the lack of general structure. He doesn’t spend a lot of time wishing things were different.

Except for right now.

His sword, which he has been boredly slashing and poking at the wall of the Empire ship, gets stuck in the tiny crack where two sheets of metal panelling are pushed together. He huffs grouchily at it, pulling it out, then has to plant his boot on the wall and yank when it refuses to do so. The tip of the blade gets unstuck quicker than he’d expected and the change in force startles him, sending him sprawling on the floor.

He scrambles to his feet, bright red, clearing his throat and trying to roll his shoulders casually, as if he was intentionally on the floor. He looks like a huge massive dork, so thankfully no one was looking his way anyway.

“Are y’all almost done?” he calls, trying really hard to sound like he’s just innocently inquiring and not whining. It is no easy task — he’s bored and he’s hungry and he’s restless and this stupid ship smells like a stale refrigerator and he’s really really bored, in case he forgot to mention.

He scowls when no one answers, sticking out his tongue at the green and yellow paladins, both of whom are hunched over a control pad, wires everywhere, trying to hack in or out of something. Keith’s not sure. They told him and Lance to keep watch at the door and then stopped responding, basically.

This is the part of Earth that Keith has missed. Back home, Keith got to do all the investigative shit, too. Don’t get him wrong, he likes being the stabby one, as Shiro has so patronizingly put it; he likes being the one to run head first into conflict with a smirk on his face and a sword on the ready. It’s fun to be the impulsive one and be rewarded for it. It’s fun to be able to wreck Empire shit and practice witty one-liners to shoot off at annoying generals and sergeants or whatever the Galra equivalent is, just to watch their eyes twitch in rage before Keith cracks them one. All missions are two parts, essentially, fucking around and finding out, and Keith loves having free reign to fuck around.

He just wishes he got to be part of the finding out, too.

He sighs, long and loud and petulant because obviously no one is listening. He knows that his investigative research with Blue was at a very different level than all the stuff Hunk and Pidge do. He understands that on an objective level. If he wants to be part of the find out portion then he has to be prepared, has to put in the effort to learn and keep learning, to know how to recognise red flags and read code and all that nerd shit.

But computer science is just so boring.

Keith is a science person. Duh. He went to pilot school. Physics was eighty percent of that whole spiel, and he’s always had an affinity for chemistry, even if said affinity caused a lot of explosions and also Adam’s blood pressure condition. Science is cool as shit.

But coding is fucking boring. He has tried and tried to sit down and learn it, but every time Pidge tries to explain the basics his eyes glaze right over, and it’s not fair to her to waste her time.

He sighs again. He gets to wait, then.

Deciding that he’d rather not slash a hundred new scratches in the ship’s wall, lest the damn bridge feel more like a prison cell than it already does, he starts to pace, swinging his sword back and forth randomly. He could try to practice a few of the techniques and swordplay choreo he’s been learning, but that’s no fun without a partner. He’s become spoiled with the castle’s training bot. With Shiro hanging back with Coran and Allura, there’s no one around to clash swords with.

He perks up. There is, actually. He forgot that Lance had unlocked a sword when he first got switched to Red.

He spins around, trying to find where Lance ducked off to. He expected to find him leaning on Hunk’s back or pestering Pidge, like he often does — they’ve long since learned to work around him — but he’s nowhere to be found. Keith walks around the area, poking his sword at piles of sentry parts he cut up a few hours ago, peeking behind control panels and various big important chairs. Nothing.

“Lance?” Keith calls softly. Something like worry sours his stomach.

Please, for the love of all things good and holy, don’t let Lance have been hurt or taken this whole time. Keith will never forgive himself.

Thankfully, a hand sticks up by the far end of the bridge, blue armour glinting in the ugly purple lighting. Keith heaves a huge sigh of relief, jogging over. He thought he’d seen Lance before Hunk and Pidge had hunkered down to get info. But in that brief moment of panic, he wasn’t sure.

“Whatcha doing?” he asks as he comes close enough to Lance to speak. The red paladin has wedged himself between some kind of steel storage bin and the wall, in an impossibly narrow sliver of space, which explains why Keith missed him when he was looking.

Lance doesn’t answer right away, instead nudging a roll of wire with his foot. He has something resting in his lap, and wire is looped around his fingers, sliding back and forth as he carefully weaves it into a pattern. Keith watches, intrigued, for several passes of the craft.

“Nicked it from Team Punk when they really started to get wrapped up in their nerd corner,” he explains, finally looking up at Keith to shoot him a wry grin. Keith grins back. “Standing guard is boring as hell, especially when we took out all the sentries and barred the doors. And the castle is parked outside, so hell if I know what we’re guarding for.”

“Fuck, I know,” Keith groans, sitting down in front of him. Honestly, there is no real reason for them to be here. He half suspects Shiro has sent them all out for some peace and quiet, which is rude.

He grabs the spool of wire by Lance’s feet, inspecting it carefully. It’s very thin, and flat instead of a round tube-ish shape that wire usually is. There are two wrapped around the spool, too, one red and one blue. Keith curiously looks back over to Lance’s lap, trying to get a better look at what he’s doing with the wire. He doubts it’s anything mechanical — Lance gets as bored as he does when Hunk and Pidge try to explain stuff — but he’s intrigued on what has kept Lance’s interest for so long.

He’s surprised to find that he recognises what Lance is making, or at least sort of. It’s a long, spiralling chain, like the wire has been woven together to make some kind of mini spiralled staircase. He remembers, although vaguely, seeing other kids at recess in elementary school, sat down all over the place, clambering all over each other with flat plastic string, making boxy keychains or scratching spiral bracelets.

“Oh, hey, I know that stuff,” he says. He scrunches his face, trying to recall the name of the craft and coming up completely empty. It’s not friendship bracelets, the string was too stiff for that. Not that loom elastic thing either. “I don’t know the name, though.”

Lance chuckles lightly, sliding a last piece of string through a loop before tying it all off. He hooks it next a growing collection of them that Keith just notices, with a wide array of colours and patterns, hanging off his utility belt like leaves from a branch.

“I don’t know the name, either.” He tilts his head in consideration. “Well, I do. I googled it once, and I got some strange French name that didn’t fit, so I never used it. No one ever, like, sought it out or anything. Someone just came to school with a pack of the thread and everyone was obsessed with it for a week before forgetting about it.”

Keith tilts his head in acknowledgment. That’s what he remembers, too, but he doesn’t remember ever having any friends who would give him any of the string to try, nor was he ever comfortable enough with whatever foster parents he had to fumble through a request for the string.

“…Can I try?” he mumbles, after watching Lance start and weave a new one. He’s not entirely sure why, but suddenly his cheeks are red, and shyness pricks at the back of his neck. He’s suddenly nervous that Lance is gonna laugh at him, gonna tell him no, gonna give him a weird look for asking at all.

It’s ridiculous. Lance wouldn’t do that, and there’s nothing wrong with Keith asking. But he feels the nerves anyway.

“Sure,” Lance says easily, tugging on the strings and setting his chain aside. He smiles brightly at Keith, brown eyes crinkled and soft, and although the shyness fades away his blush goes nowhere. If anything, Keith feels his face get hotter. “What colours do you want?”

Keith clears his throat, wishing the flush away. He points to the red and blue spool he’d seen first. Lance quickly unravels thread to the length of his arm, matching up both colours before cutting. He sets the spool to the side then carefully lines up both threads, folding them in half and wrapping them over his thumb too quickly for Keith to see what he does exactly.

“I’ll start it for you, ‘cause it’s hard.”

“Hey,” Keith protests immediately. “I can start my own.”

Lance raises an eyebrow. He blinks at him, slowly, for several moments. Keith huffs and looks away.

When he looks back, Lance is grinning, and he holds out the carefully started craft.

“It’s genuinely very difficult to start them,” he promises. “I’m the only one of my siblings who knows, they used to ask me to start theirs all the time. It’s way easier to do rather than start, trust me.”

That mollifies Keith a little. He does trust Lance, and now that he thinks about it he can vaguely recall how one person on the playground would hold court while a million people crowded around them, fielding dozens of requests for starts.

“Okay, watch me first, then I’ll walk you through doing it yourself.” Slower than he was moving before, Lance loops and weaves the thread, taking great care to keep his hands open so Keith can see the entire process. The chain he’s making looks different from the one he made earlier, and Keith says as much.

“Yeah, this one’s a box chain, it’s way easier. The spiral one is hard.” He snorts at Keith’s pout. “Don’t give me that look, doofus. You can work your way up to spiral. Try this one for now, okay?”

He hands the started chain off to Keith, then scoots out from his little nook, settling in beside Keith to help guide his hands.

Right beside Keith. His entire left side is pressed against Keith’s entire right, and he slides one hand under Keith’s arm, accidentally brushing across Keith’s ribs, to help guide his hands. Keith tries everything he can to stay still, breathing shallowly out his mouth, determined not to move even a muscle, either so Lance doesn’t move or does he’s not sure. He’s not sure what’ll make him feel less like he’s going to explode, less like every spot Lance touches isn’t going to burst into flames.

“Okay, start with the loops. See how there’s already kind of a square shape? Flip the red thread in either side of it, yeah, like that. There should be two loops and the extra string should hang opposite of each other. Okay, now take the blue string, and weave it over and under — yeah, just like that! It should create four mini squares in a big square, you nailed it.”

Lance looks up at him to shoot him that big beaming grin again, and Keith tries to muster a weak smile back at him, realising for the first time that he has yet to breathe and he should probably do that before the spots in his vision get any worse and he passes out.

This is fine, this is normal, Lance touches people all the time. He is a touchy person. This is so not worth him going batty about, what is his brain’s deal.

“Alright, now loop the extra thread around your fingers and pull it away from each other. It’s kind of a pain because it’s super smooth so it doesn’t really want to stay together, and it takes a learning curve, but — oh, hey, you got it! Good job. Now do it again.”

Trying to remind himself to breathe every few seconds, Keith repeats what Lance taught him, over and over again until the chain starts to look like an actual chain, to Keith’s pleasure. He’s fascinated by the quick way the squares build, how the layers are so thin but it doesn’t take long at all for them to stack into something longer than his pinky finger.

Keith blinks, startled, when Hunk and Pidge clap their hands, calling out that it’s time to go. He realises that there’s a bit of a crick in his neck from hunching over, the tips of his fingers feel raw, and the chain has become as long as his hand. Although it hasn’t felt like more than a few minutes, he’s clearly been doing this for a while.

This is amazing. A boring mission has never flown by this fast before!

“Looks great,” Lance says, genuine pull of his brows belying the truth to his words — he’s not just saying that at all. “You picked that up fast.”

Keith coughs, standing on wobbly, half-asleep legs. “Uh, yeah. I’m good with my hands.”

Lance makes a strange noise as he bends down and tucks the spools of wire away, a muffled, kind of derisive snicker. “Yeah, I bet you are,” he mumbles to himself, turned away, as if he didn’t mean for Keith to hear it.

Keith stumbles. His jaw drops. Lance is out the door and on his way to his lion before Keith can react.

He twirls his chain in his hands when he finally remembers how to do other things rhan have Lance’s words repeat in his head a bajillion times, walking slowly to his own lion. His right side still tingles ever place Lance touched it. He grins a little to himself, remembering the easy way Lance guided his fingers, smiled at him.

Maybe these boring missions aren’t so bad after all, actually.

[maudlxne]

// I have a lot to fix up on this blog still. Considering it's 6+ years old but I have been inactive for 3 years. I have some characters to trim as well as verses to fix up. Plus my muses page needs to be swapped/changed. I'm probably going to make an interest tracker as well ( once I figure out how ) as well as a ship bias ( I see that's a newer development since I've been gone. It's definitely handy! ) but I'm multiship trash so that might get long. If you would like to be added to my verses / Mains page let me know! There aren't many of us voltron dorks still running around after all. Small quick bias ship list of current active muses. However, this doesn't mean it's the only thing I will ship. Acxa: Lotacxa, Kacxa, Veracxa, Alluracxa. Ezor: Zethrid Krolia: Kolivan, her husband ( Keith's father ) Matt (My Matt is roughly around 23 - 27 depending on verse): Shiro (I can't believe the ship name for this is shatt ), Allura (maybe ), Matt getting a vacation. Hinata: Sasuhina, Naruhina, Sakuhina, the list goes on a little too long for her.

[unsoundedcomic]

Favorite Hayao Miyazaki villain and why? What do you think an aspiring storyteller can learn from how his villains are written? Do you think any of that helped develop any characters or moments in Unsounded?

Ooooh~~~ My favourite Miyazaki villain is Muska from Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa, but like, he's the least complex villain in any of the movies, haha. He has a huge fandom though because he's such a massive dork and unapologetically evil. He beats up little girls! But there's a real purity to him, and it feels SO GOOD when he gets vanquished at the end. And vanquished in a really horrible way too. God, I love Muska.

Other Miyazaki villains are, as I'm sure you know, much more grey, and beating them isn't about achieving any sort of power fantasy or catharsis; it's more about learning a lesson. Ghibli movies are a degree of didactic that Disney movies only dream about. In most Disney movies, the villain is as two-dimensional as the cell they're painted on, and the audience roars for their blood. This isn't really a great thing to be drowning children in, if we're honest with ourselves.

In most Miyazaki movies, you make friends with the villain. You learn why they are the way they are - you learn that they're human - and chances are you don't get to throw them off a cliff at the end.

I love all the above. I love unapologetically evil villains, and I love the greyer antagonists. Both exist in the real world. It's nice to think that some people are just misunderstood but nope. Some people are just sociopathic evil pricks and they really should be thrown off a cliff.

As far as writing villains, that's really going to depend on what you're after. Sometimes the escapism of utterly destroying a purely evil villain is exactly what the world and your audience wants and needs. We don't get to see that happen in real life too much; the opportunity to experience it in fiction is why we do what we do, so many of us.

But if you want something more nuanced because there is something special you want to express - like the complex relationship between the natural world and the flourishing of humanity, or the insecurity that's at the heart of a lot of bullying, or how isolation breeds contempt, Miyazaki is a fine teacher. Just remember that he likes his irredeemable villains too, and that's perfectly fine.

[shinjukuspiritcommittee]

A glimpse into the future

...

The days to follow since the incident at the Field Day were a return to a status quo in a way. You easily slip back into that sense of normalcy with all your friends at school, partaking in the occasional Guild battle, and growing closer to a new cutie every now and again. It’s been about a month since you had that adventure with Tatsuya and Yui, but it isn’t the last time you’ve spoken to them. You manage to maintain reasonable contact with both, especially since the pair attend the same school as the jocks you’ve grown close with. It didn’t even take long to incorporate them into group activities- they just naturally fit. 

Things have been looking up for you- enjoying school life and all the freedoms of a student well before they’d be replaced with the cynicism of adulthood. Well, that’s how things WERE supposed to be. One afternoon on your way to the guildhouse…

“Man, I’m beat.” Kengo yawns as your group, sans Ryota and Toji who had taken a detour to pick up snacks, strolls back to the guildhouse for your usual guild meeting to discuss plans going forward- personal and otherwise. 

Shiro sighs in response to Kengo’s complaints. “If you weren’t busy staying up late playing video games you might’ve not fallen asleep in class today.”

“It’s not MY fault that the boss took me three hours to beat!” He whines. “And I swear it was gonna be the last thing I did that night.” 

“If only that could be applied to your studying…” Shiro laments. You do point out that since meeting with a tutor Kengo’s scores have been improving. “Fair enough. Speaking of, I noticed your grades have been on the rise as well.” You mention how with a certain someone’s tutoring you manage to boost your grade by a few points. Shiro smiles, taking pride that at least one of his peers is taking steps to improve their grades. 

Moritaka can’t help but let out a little laugh. “That’s splendid to hear,” the dog Therian says. “Perhaps one day you may even match Shiro’s intellect at the top of our class.” You ask if he really thinks so, and proceed to grow a bit enthusiastic at the idea of ranking in the top ten if nothing else. “Sure I do. I’ve seen how you apply yourself with a blade, so learning new subject material should be plenty within your wheelhouse.” You do remind him that knowing how to swing a sword around is one thing, but knowing when to do so in a fight is another thing entirely. “Also true.”

“I believe in my partner.” Kengo quips. “If they got anything going for them it’s their wits when under pressure.” You ponder aloud if that’s a good thing to have in your talent list. “Sure! Means you work great under pressure, right?”

Shiro blushes a bit at all the ideas that have been presented. You notice this and decide to tease him a bit about how the two of you could be a power couple in the academic field! This flusters him immensely. “P-Please try to be realistic here. While it makes for a nice daydream, do consider all the extra work you’d need to put in to actually match my grades. Plus a power couple would imply we’re… you know…” 

“As if they’d go for a dork like you!” Kengo declares with the widest grin on his face. “If I know my partner, then your chances are practically ze-” It’s at this moment Kengo made a grave mistake. Shiro quietly glares in his direction causing his childhood friend to freeze mid sentence. An unnatural chill washing over him as the bespectacled gaze locks him in place and throws daggers at him. Shiro isn’t using any sort of supernatural abilities, nor does he possess anything over Kengo except authority. “Ch-chill I was just teasing ya…” He nervously utters out. 

His gaze softens and becomes a more relaxed smile. “I’m relieved.” His tone isn’t out of relief, but more so along the lines of ‘you made the right choice’. Once the muscular friend lets out a sigh of relief you tell him that sadly… he had it coming to him.

“I agree,” Moritaka sighs. “You shouldn’t provoke your friend that way.”

“Aww, c’mon. I was only teasing- honest!” He whines once again. Chatter like this continues for a bit longer as you near the safehouse. All of it’s shaping up to be a good day.

But something’s amiss. Why’s Agyo standing outside of the safehouse? “Hey, yeah. That’s pretty weird.” Kengo comments. “Yo, Agyo!” He calls out suddenly. The small guardian perks up the moment he registers you’re home. 

“There you guys are-!” Agyo huffs out in relief. You ask if he’s alright since he seems to be in a bit of a panic. “I-I’m okay! It’s just um… there’s someone here to see you.” To see you? Who-

“So, you’ve finally arrived.” A deep and powerful voice declares to you. It sounds unfamiliar and when the owner of such a voice steps out you’re taken aback in astonishment. 

The individual towers over most of your peers, roughly 210 cm tall and packed to the brim with powerful muscles. His medium skin covered in blond hairs matching the spiked up hair atop his head. Said hair also had a lighter patch in the middle which looks more odd than anything else. The man is dressed in a form fitting tank top and orange athletic shorts along with mismatched black animal skin boots. The most distinct part about this man however, are his eyes- one yellow and green, looking right at you. For a brief moment an unfamiliar chill shudders down your back as he looks at you the way a predator gazes at its prey. 

Then, almost in an instant, his expression softens and gives way to a smile. “I’ve been anticipating this meeting, Guildmaster of the Summoners.” You wonder to yourself just who this stranger even is?

[3cosmicfrogs]

…I’m gonna say it. Ask game for Voltron, literally any number. For the chaos.

oh Wife Mutual you are braver than the US Marines for uttering the name that must not be spoken in 2024... Let's Go!

2. Name your trash ship / 14. Name your crackiest crack ship

Not so much a crack ship as a garbage ship that is on crack like literally on crack the way i'm envisioning it: Shiro/Matt

Like listen, i dont see nearly enough content of any characters being nerds and the possibility for shiro/matt to be absolute dorks is exponential. like. 2 brightest minds of their generation with collectively maybe one(?) braincell between them on a good day. they are traumatised. they are constantly sleep deprived. they both independently got buff because of Space. Questionable relationships with robots. what i'm saying is they would be brilliant for each other and absolutely disasterous for everyone else.

6. who is your trash fave who is so problematic they probably have hate tumblrs dedicated to them 

i mean lots of people don't like The Clone (fandom dubbed Kuro)? Babygirl's pretty fucked up. Pretty evil. I like him, he did nothing wrong ever, he was absolutely right lance is annoying(they will come for me with bricks for this.)

10. what is the worst thing you want to become canon (character death, trash-ship etc)

look. many many things. but to name one: i think maybe 2-3 minutes more of Ulaz would have been fantastic. the emotional impact would have been incredible. also i like him.

16. what is your favourite ridiculous au

Look in general, not even limited to voltron: legendary disaster, i am a slut for Crack Treated Seriously and Hyperspecifc Job AUs. There's a fic floating around with Shiro as a SecUnit (murderbot diaries AU) which is ridiculous in the sense that in typical vld fashion it completely bulldozed over the queerness and Gender Deconstruction of the murderbot diaries and de-sexualised The Machine, but it still absolutely fucks because it's well-written and a total tear-jerker.

I'm also so so so supportive of Cosmic Horror (this needed to be explored in the show. tragically underused potential of everything and also the massive ancient sentient machines in your brain).

Voltron would have been so good if it was good.

Anyway thank you Wife Mutual i lov u mwah come invade my inbox or dms any time!