#but yeah i do think that this isn't the real shiro

[voltronisanobsession]

Hii, I hope you are having a good day or night! I've recently read your platonic yandere voltron things. And I was wondering if you would make some more headcanons? Or stories with platonic yandere? Here are some ideas you could write either a few headcanons or a story about, for if you have low inspiration. Kidnapped reader with platonic yandere voltron, maybe by an alien species who wanted to help the reader? How would the team react? What would they do? Or maybe the reader get really sick which isn't easily cured cue the panic from the team? Again, just so you know I really like your work! So keep up the good work, and thank you for making your works in the first place! Take good care of yourself, and stay hydrated!

Yandere Voltron’s Reaction to Reader being Taken

O M G DONT EVEN PLAY WITH ME RNNNN!!!! I absolutely LOVE yandere voltron like they’re so fun to write for🤞😜 I love the idea of the group just going crazy if reader were to escape UGHH

tysm pookie, take care of yourself too and ENJOY THIISSSS

OK YOU JUST SPURRED IDEAS INTO MY HEAD

I can already imagine the group going crazy when reader suddenly gets swept up right from their grasp out of nowhere by some random spaceship

I know you said some kind of an alien species taking reader but hear me out

It’s LOTOR AND HIS LITTLE GROUPIES OOOOO

It’s painfully obvious that you’re the real star in voltron seeing as how possessive and protective they are of you, hiding you away whenever danger is nearby

So it only makes sense to Lotor to just kidnap you as leverage for his plans

Little did he know that you would be THANKING him for taking you away from the group lmao😭

Imagine your tied up and homeboys getting ready to explain his super mastermind plan to you when all of a sudden you start rambling about how good it feels to be away from them

“Nothing personal, you were the only thing holding that sad excuse of a team together, so I needed you out of the picture for now.” Cue smirk

“UGH THANK GOD! I was literally starting to lose my mind in there, you have no IDEA how needy they all are.”

Now cue a dumbfounded Lotor

He was not expecting reader to be so relaxed considering how he just snatched you up out of nowhere

You’re just chilling while looking around his ship, maybe making conversation with his generals

You finally get a break from the constant attention and possessiveness, ANYTHING is better than being around the group

While you’re happily talking your voice away with Lotor a group, everyone in the castle is freaking the fuck out

It’s bad enough that they let you slip away from their grasp, it’s worse knowing it was Lotor who took you away💀

We all know how Lance feels about Lotor so I think he would have one of the more extreme reactions to you being taken away

Probably starts pointing fingers and starts blaming everyone for not being able to keep you safe

Lowkey begins targeting Keith because it’s somehow always his fault when something goes wrong💀💀

Lance might even starting crying and wailing out for you with Hunk when the situation finally hits him

Keith is also another one to have a more violent outburst during and after your disappearance

He’s someone I see with strong emotions that he doesn’t know how to handle yet so we already know how he might act

Agitated? Yes. Scared? For you, yeah. Furious? Oh honey absolutely.

Keith might have almost caught you too, but he didn’t. He’s so angry with everything and mostly himself that’s he’s pushing everyone else’s buttons, trying to convince the group that the only right choice is immediately going after you

He’s too anxious now that you’re not in his line of sight, making him kinda desperate to get you back again

Hear me out but I think the calmest ones would PROBABLY be Shiro and Pidge

Now I’m not saying that they’re CALM but they have the nerves mostly in tact

They’re already trying to locate where you are with the secret tracker that have on you so it doesn’t really benefit them to try and blame someone for what happened to you

Pidge’s hands shake while she’s working her whizz tho. She has to type, erase, and retype every now and then because of how nervous and anxious she is

She’s so used to having you around that now her brain can’t function properly without you

She doesn’t want to lose you like how she lost her brother and father so Pidge is trying her best to have a one track mind

Shiro on the other hand is more level headed

He really does try to calm the group down as best as he could but with Lance and Hunk crying, Keith yelling at them to get up and do something, Pidge taking a long time to track you down, and Allura and Coran seemingly in an entire different universe, he can’t help but feel the pressure of this disaster falling on his shoulders

This man is ready to just end Lotor when they find him like I’m not even joking

Everyone is getting on this man’s nerves and knowing that you’re trapped with Voltrons enemy doesn’t really make him feel any better

Hunk might even strike fear into Shiro while he’s babbling on about if you’re hurt or not, if they’re torturing you to get any information out of you etc

Poor Hunk is a flood gate at this point. One moment you’re right next to him and the next you’re not

He’s having a complete meltdown in a corner, maybe trying to comfort himself with a small picture of a selfie you both took together

This dude is already imagining all these terrible scenarios you could possibly be in which makes him feel even more terrible

Quite literally feels like he’s gonna throw up now when he begins thinking about how he’ll never see you again

Allura and Coran are surprising quite and calm during all this

They’d keep to themselves but know that they’re going through some extreme inner turmoil

It’s kind of like Allura disconnected herself from the world ever since you’ve been taken

Her skin itches to run out and grab a pod to find you herself but she knows it’s a brash idea

The only thing she does is mull over the idea of making Lotor regret messing with Voltron

BUT TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORTT

They are willing to do anything to get you back, not caring for the description they’ll leave along the way

The longer your gone the less control and stability they’ll have as a group

Desperate and irrational are some words to describe them during your being away from them

They will stop at nothing to have you back with them, some more destructive and violent than others

No one holds back when getting you back from Lotor, leaving his ships wrecked and forcing him to put his plans on pause as he recovers

Who knows, maybe him and his group might’ve grown similar possessive feelings towards you as well with the time you spent with them? HMMMM

[lisutarid-a]

[Gakuen K] Munakata Reisi Route Translation

The Cavalry Battle Horse

LIST OF CHAPTERS

[Translation under the cut]

Saya: (The next The Cavalry Battle is the final event of the sport festival…It's a special club competition, so it's going to be an intense battle)

Saya: It's frustrating that the girls can't participate in the cavalry battle…Good luck!

Fushimi: Well, we'll just play the game the appropriate way.

Saya: (Eh… Munakata-senpai is not here. Where did he go?)

Kukuri: The main events of the Sports Festival, as well as the special club inter-competition, has finally reached its final event, the cavalry battle!

Kukuri: At the moment the leaders are the Blue and Red clubs, but after a seesaw battle, the score is tied 200 to 200!

Kukuri: In substance, it is a summit showdown between the Blue and Red clubs. We expect a he-eated battle between the Heads of the Blue and Red clubs!

Kukuri: Now, the representative of the Silver Club who left the game early, Neko-chan and Shiro-kun as commentators, who do you think will win this game?

Neko: Wagahai is hungry…

Shiro: No-no, you just had a meal a while ago.

Neko: Then, if you're hungry, you win first prize. So Wagahai wins!

Shiro: In other words, I think the one who works hard enough to get hungry will win!

Kukuri: Thanks for your comments! Okay, so the remarkable competition is starting…now!

Kukuri: O-Oh, here comes the horseman who breaks the rules!

Saya: E…Eeeeh!?

Munakata: Thank you for waiting. Well then, let's get started, shall we?

Yata: What the hell is that!? Why are you entering on a horse!?

Yata: T-This is so…cool, isn't it!!!!?

Kamamoto: Yata-san! Isn't that a foul play!? Right!?

Totsuka: Eh, I lo-ove it~! I want to ride a horse too!

Kamamoto: Hey! Even Totsuka-san! That's a foul! Come on, Yata-san, please come to your senses!

Yata: Ha! That's bad, I shouldn't have been so careless, I almost let the guys from the Blue club get the better of me!

Kamamoto: The Blue club didn't do anything to get the better on you, though…

Yata: You blues are going to lose by foul play for bringing that horse!! What a pity!

Fushimi: Tsk…I'm told it's a foul thing to do.

Munakata: The rule is to take the opponent's bowl while riding a horse, that's all. I don't see any problem.

Fushimi: …You heard that. Do you feel pity now, Misaki?

Yata: Damn Saru…!!

Mikoto: …Ha, looks interesting, doesn't it?

Yata: E-Eeeh!? What are you saying, Mikoto-san?!

Totsuka: Ah, it looks like somebody's got turned on. I guess it's okay to start.

Munakata: Well then, here we go!

Mikoto: …Come on! Munakata!!

Munakata: Suoh! I'm coming!

Kukuri: Thanks for your hard work today. It ended up being a draw, but it was very exciting.

Saya: That's right. It was really fun.

Kukuri: I was not able to follow the program and was so thrilled.

Kukuri: Kukuri-chan's live commentary was really cool. It was like watching TV!

Kukuri: Hehehe, thanks! I don't know why I was chosen to be an assistant. But I had a lot of fun myself.

Saya: Ah, I got a call. See you later!

Kukuri: Uhm, see you later~!

Saya: (I guess I'm done cleaning up here…)

Munakata: Konohana-kun, thank you for your hard work.

Saya: Senpai! Thanks for your hard work. The cavalry battle was really awesome!

Saya: I didn't expect to see you coming out on a real horse. I think everyone was surprised!

Munakata: Fufu, thank you very much. The preparation was worth it.

Saya: You look like you're pretty good with horses, are senpai good at horse riding?

Munakata: I don't know if I can say I'm good at it, but I like to ride it from time to time.

Saya: (Ehh…! I didn't know they ride horses sometimes, that's so elegant and cool)

Munakata: Well, have you finished cleaning up?

Saya: Yeah. I'm done here.

Munakata: Well, would you mind helping me over there?

Saya: Got it! I'm going.

Munakata: Fufu, that's a good reply. I'm looking forward to working with you.

[Prev chapter][Next chapter]

[shinader]

Takeshi Nakagawa

Hey fellas back at it again with the OCs. Like before I'm gonna ramble about the name and why I chose it, show some art I drew, and then go on and on and on under a read more. If you're confused about what I'm on about, my OC tag is "#ced ocs" so look there for more on my other OCs!!!

So this guy is Takeshi (武) Nakagawa (中川). Originally I was thinking of naming him Shiro as that means fourth son, but since "shi" or the part that means "four" in this case sounds like "death" the name could kinda sound like "son of death" but ALSO "Shiro" is like white. And it's like a fun high level pun. But I scrapped the idea because 1) I do not have an understanding of Japanese to let me know if I'm an idiot or not for thinking of this and 2) Shiro is the name of a kid from Morning Glory and I didn't want to have doubles from the canon series.

So, I just went through lists of names till I found a name and meaning I enjoyed that sounded good in my head (while also keeping that "shi" sound!). It wasn't until later I learned there are characters in the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series who have that name but I already grew attached + those characters go by their last names so I feel I'm in the clear.

And for Nakagawa, I just thought it'd be funny to use a last name with the 川 character because he is born and raised in Sotenbori. Because haha river. Yeah. Uh. That's the big reasoning.

Of the story I've written for my OCs, this guy is the main character. All of my OCs stemmed from the Cedric Miyazakis, and, well, when creating him I was really just like "haha what if Ceddy had a scary boyfriend" so I thought up an assassin-type character. And that guy became Takeshi. And he took over the whole narrative because he was pretty much the most active guy. And, of course, to become boyfriend material he must go through some shit and go through a sort of redemption arc!

To become protagonist material, Takeshi did go through a lot of growth from just "scary assassin boyfriend bait" lmao. First of all, since this story is meant to be somewhat like Judgment or Kurohyou. It takes place in the Yakuza/Like A Dragon world, has similar themes and vibes, and the characters don't interact with those in the main series (at least, not in any meaningful way). What this also means, is I want Takeshi to sort of fit the vibe of an RGG protagonist. He needs to have the whimsy to do substories, for one. He also has to respect women & be generally tolerant in a sort of way. And also he has to avoid killing people no matter what. Funny restriction to have on a character I meant to be an assassin but hey! I can work with it.

So, taking the base of "queer assassin guy" guy and infusing him with Essence of RGG Protag I ended up with. Well. A very traumatized young man.

Takeshi Nakagawa was raised from a young age to do one thing, become an assassin. His father figure, Kuro Nishimura, took him in as his own after Takeshi's biological father died on the job. Takeshi idolized the Yakuza as his father was one himself. Nishimura, being his old Patriarch, felt he owed it to Takeshi to try to raise him up right as best he can. Of course, with a father like that, it's impossible to avoid falling into the criminal underworld. Not that Takeshi ever actually tried to avoid it. In fact, he actively worked toward it. And at the age of 23, Nishimura finally gave him his first real job. A hit on a rival clan's patriarch, Cedric Miyazaki.

Now those from the last post know exactly why Miyazaki & Ceddy share a name, Takeshi was sent to kill Miyazaki, ends up finding Ceddy instead. And he doesn't look at him like "I've definitely got the wrong guy" because who in their right mind would genuinely believe there's TWO Cedric Miyazakis? Maybe someone a lot smarter than Takeshi, perhaps, but this man isn't very smart. He's trained in killing not thinking.

In continuance with Yakuza/Like A Dragon's overarching theme of Found Family, Takeshi's story also covers a bunch of family dynamics. He's got family dynamics unique to himself yet eerily similar to his deuteragonist/love interest. Raised by criminals, how fun! Takeshi's idea of family is consistently poked and prodded at, and we'll get to watch as he gets to know a different dynamic and deconstructs his own.

Along with exploring Family Identity, Takeshi explores his own Queer Identity, as well. Albeit in a minute sort of way. Takeshi begins his story fully believing he's straight, but later he falls in love with a man. He doesn't really push back on this idea, just corrects his identity to mean he's Bisexual. Perhaps we'll meet a character that helps keep him open minded...? (The answer is yes, her name is Asami Iwasaki. She will be expanded upon in a later post but she'll have to wait her turn). Anyway, overall, Takeshi is one of the simplest characters when it could to his sexual identity, second only to the straight characters, as he puts very little thought or care into it. He fell in love with another man? So be it. (Good for him, good for him)

There's nothing I hate more than a poorly done romance subplot. So I put a lot of thought into Takeshi's dynamic with Ceddy. All relationships will be further expanded upon in the future when I talk about the relationship chart. For now, though, I'll talk a bit about them two now since it's an important part of their story.

First off, they love each other. Really and truly. That's the most important part. Even if you missed any romantic undertones (or overtones lol) I'd want the audience to look at them and be like "these two truly love each other." And that bit is something I see missing from a lot of romance. And in a similar vein, they are definitely friends, best friends even. These are people who actively *want* to spend time together.

To get into some specifics, remember in my previous post I mentioned Ceddy is autistic (undiagnosed) and he has no friends because of it. Now there's Takeshi, who has almost no friends due to his lifelong obsession with the Yakuza (creepy!) and his general asshole way of speaking. These personalities generally create conflict with whoever they try to speak with but anything "wrong" with their speech just rolls off of them. Ceddy's blunt way of speaking tends to unintentionally cause insult, but Takeshi can take insults thrown his way as long as they're just the truth (plus Ceddy speaks in such a cheerful way he doesn't even clock them as insulting most of the time because Ceddy's just too damn friendly!). Takeshi just has an overall rude manner of speaking that people are uncomfortable with but Ceddy was raised by criminals, he's more than used to it, it feels like home. Just being able to communicate easily is a big way they're able to grow so close.

Hmmm... I won't talk about specifics of the story unless people are interested, but I will say that Takeshi is dumb in a fun way. He has to think and plan things, and he'll come up with ways to brute force things rather than truly strategize. No men allowed? Well, then he'll simply pretend to be a woman (poorly)

I feel a little dumbassery is necessary.

Umm hmm I guess that's all for now!! Next rambling I think I'll go with his teacher, Yoshie Koda!

[pyropsychiccollector]

This next analysis... Well, I already did one Apphia Yu-voiced character. Might as well segway into another one of her roles, yeah? The nice thing is that this next one, she isn't a criminal, but she is an assassin~... well, an assassin-in-training.

... And a pervert. Poor Nagisa. ... Or Lucky Boy Nagisa, maybe? :3

NagiRio

So, to trim this analysis a bit in the "early" parts of the series, let's just put it this way. Rio-chan didn't become a "major" member of E-Class until about halfway through Season 1 of the anime. In the first several episodes, she was more comic relief than a girl who played any pivotal role. I think the first time we saw her on-screen for prolonged periods was during the Kyoto trip, when she first tried to peep in on Koro-sensei in the bath, and then later that night with the girls gossiping about boys and listening to Bitch-sensei tell stories of her past. Still, I suppose the "peeping" is a good way to segway into this "plot summary" portion of the analysis... because it's the first time, on-screen, that Nagisa and Rio interact, especially outside of class.

I'll try to be nice, but.... Rio-chan is honestly a shameless teenage girl. XDDD She's a good example that it's not just guys who get ecchi and dirty-minded. Sure, we learn more later why Rio-chan acts out and focuses on having a good time, but she reeeally gets into it... (๑╹ω╹๑ ) She pretends she's just scoping out their target's weaknesses, but let's be real~... She wanted to see what was under those soap suds. (๑╹ω╹๑ )(๑╹ω╹๑ )(๑╹ω╹๑ )

Still, this is a good entry level into Rio as a character. She's laidback, fun-loving, speaks her mind... And Nagisa goes with the flow better with her than some of their classmates (like Okajima, who felt she was butting in on his Pervert livelihood); the start of their friendship isn't shown, but I suppose you can say that sitting to Nagisa's right in class gave her opportunities to interact or observe him. And since we don't know the particulars of how they started out as friends, there's even room to say that Rio chose to sit next to him, or vice versa. During the girls' gossip scene, she doesn't name Nagisa as one of the boys she'd be interested in; she names Isogai and Maehara as possible candidates, but leans more toward Isogai. Now, you can take this casual gossip in one of two ways; either she's being honest like always, or she's hiding her real fledgling crushes. Given the nature of the scene, I'm inclined to believe Rio is being honest in her assessments here - Nagisa's not on her radar yet in terms of romance, and that's fine! You don't have to leap straight to the romance . If she and Nagisa are just pals for now, that's a good start.

After Kyoto, Ritsu joins the class. Then Lovro tests Irina. Then Shiro brings in Itona. Then the baseball/basketball matches... Finally, we reach Takaoka's debut. If you want my shot in the dark at when Rio started to look at Nagisa more, it's at about this time. Why would that be...? Well...

This is the first time since the failed "suicide assassination" that Nagisa has stood out amongst his class. Ever since that time, he was observing or helping on the sidelines as other classmates and assassins took their shots. He helped organize the girls' rescue in Kyoto, but Rio wasn't there for that, and Koro-sensei dished out most of the throttling. Takaoka was out of control, and Karasuma needed a champion for Takaoka to ("willingly") back down. Still, Karasuma sure knows how to pick 'em; his instincts were telling him that Nagisa was harboring an innate talent for assassination, and he was dead-on. Nagisa himself respected Karasuma for always looking him in the eye, something his own family wouldn't do, and he wanted to make Karasuma proud and help his class overthrow a tyrant. Nagisa let his own instincts take control, and impressed everyone with how nonchalantly he beat Takaoka at his own game, without seriously injuring the man. I think this public display would put Nagisa on lots of radars, and it did. Koro-sensei already had an inkling, and now Karasuma and everyone else knew Nagisa was a natural.

Rio-chan was towards the center of the crowd congratulating Nagisa. It's a bit on-the-nose for a hint, but she even puts herself between Nagisa and Kaede... which I thought was kinda cute. XDDD Maybe part of it was subconscious, but still. A later line Rio-chan gives makes me think otherwise. Again, it doesn't have to be love, or even a crush yet - for now, Nagisa's a friend, and she's proud he had a moment in the sun here.

Shiro and Itona make another attempt... And then the First Term Finals are upon them, and Koro-sensei motivates his kids with promises of tentacles, if they do better than A-Class. Isogai makes an open invitation to join him to study in the library, which E-Class normally doesn't get the chance to. Sure, anyone could've come along, but I thought this was a cool follow-up to the Takaoka debacle. Whether it's as a crush or still just as a friend, Rio is seeing Nagisa now. She enjoys hanging around him, and Kaede, Yukiko, Isogai, Okuda... But I emphasize Nagisa, because...

Honestly, as a rareshipper, you learn to take every moment you're given. XDDD This moment before the exams is cool, because Rio and Nagisa have some one-on-one, even if it's just for a pep talk... and then these jerks poke their heads out and give Nagisa the bird, like usual. .... Rio-chan isn't having that. (人◕ω��) You can call it divine punishment~ (人◕ω◕) And she just keeps walking~...

Ah. And one other thing: Nagisa and Rio excel in English. Whether intentional or coincidental, it's neat to find similarities between these characters. Poor Nagisa misses the perfect score that Rio nabs, but at least he got 91 (more or less an A). He and Yukiko (Japanese) are among the scores that Koro-sensei announces, even if those two didn't get highest in the grade.

Then Okinawa happens~... Don't think I've missed the fact Rio-chan has invited herself onto the Kyoto group's team. (人◕ω◕) It's honestly cool how subtle she is about it. Sure, it'd be nice to see their team welcome her into the group, but.... I'll take what I can get. Maybe she was just on this squad because she can swim, but since there's no context.... well..... they didn't say it'd be a one-off deal. (人◕ω◕)

Later, after the failed group assassination, I found it a little endearing that Rio-chan wanted to try leaning on Nagisa when she wasn't feeling well because of the disease Smog infected them with. Again, no context for why she was near Nagisa... but she was. And Nagisa (and Kaede) were worried over Rio-chan as several others came down sick, too. This does, unfortunately, incapacitate Rio-chan for the Okinawa trip, but Nagisa plays a key part in defeating Takaoka again (and in an even more badass way), which allows Smog to freely confess no one's gonna die. Everyone can breathe easy~ :3

Season 2, though... Rio-chan takes a backseat again, for a while. She's there with everybody else, living the life or tackling the challenges with everyone else... She helped the class attempt to hook up Bitch-sensei and Karasuma. Was there for the summer festival. Supported Kaede's Pudding Popper plot. Helped the class save Itona and recruit him to the class formally. Helped with the sports festival, though the guys' Pole-Toppling was the main competition focused on.

Ah. One point of interest was in the daycare episode - Rio-chan was helping tutor the students, like Nagisa. It's not much, but considering some of the other E-Class members were engaging in more "fun" activities, it's a little sweet that Rio was tutoring the kids like hubby. :3

The Reaper makes his debut, tries taking out Koro-sensei by putting his students on the line...

Then comes another Nagisa-centric episode. Rio-chan doesn't make much of a showing this episode, but in the next one with the Fall Festival...

*coughs* It's not all heart-felt. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;; However, her talk with Nagisa just before Yuji shows up is serious and endearing. She really didn't mean to bully Nagisa or hurt him, she was just trying to have fun. ... And, well, she has fun at his expense again moments later, when Yuji comes trotting in, horny for "Nagisa-chan" as ever. (人◕ω◕);;;;;; Something to note, however. Rio-chan used her skirt to crossdress Nagisa. You can make a case, "why would she have a spare skirt on hand?" ... anime shenanigans? (人◕ω◕) Regardless, it doesn't go that way. She slides her skirt on him, and takes his pants. Don't get me wrong: This is a pretty rough moment for Rio-chan, 'cause Nagisa obviously doesn't want to do this.... I won't pretend it's all alright. At the same time, humor's infused in my blood, so while I do think Nagisa shouldn't be tortured like this, I realize it's a...gag. I grew up on cartoons that were a mesh of seriousness and silly, so I could appreciate AC's goofiness here. What's nice about this is that it's the last time crossdressing comes up save for one flashback pic, and then the girl jokes are done for Nagisa. ... So Rio giving her skirt, well... that's very avant garde for "just a friend". Moreover, she stripped them both downstairs for this.... brief clothes swap.... (人◕ω◕) Again. As a rareshipper, I seize every moment I can get. .... Rio-chan has at least an idea of what Nagisa's packing. Not even Kaede has this information. ... Yet. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)

To give a deeper look into this crossdressing scene, however, I will say this: Rio was sincere when she apologized to Nagisa, after she heard about his mom, what a control freak and how terrible she was. Rio knows she's been pretty sadistic with the girl jokes - well, her and Karma - and she cares enough about Nagisa by now that she doesn't wanna pick on him to that extent anymore. Some of you may argue, "But she turns around and does it again not even a minute later!" And well.... it's true. Rio does go too far again, taking advantage of Yuji's crush on "Nagisa-chan" to make them money for the fall festival... Here's the thing, though: Nagisa's within his rights to refuse Rio here, to just clear up Yuji's confusion right off the bat and be angry at Rio... But he doesn't. Part of it could be he knows they need the customers and the money for the restaurant, but Nagisa puts up with Rio's games regardless. ... Well, to an extent. Refuses to get pervy ("Show him the goods!"), and eventually he does just tell Yuji that he's a guy... And Rio does respect that. Once Nagisa gives his speech, Rio doesn't embarrass Nagisa in front of Yuji anymore.

... Karma still wants to mess around, and Rio hops all over the chance because she can't help herself... But after the festival, we don't see crossdressing come up again (except for one instance from Karma a few episodes later, but Rio doesn't add onto that). That's another way we know that Rio's sincere about cutting back on that kind of teasing. She does have one last moment of weakness there, but she respects his feelings from then on. Rio could've been like Karma and kept the jokes up... but she matures.

After the festival, Rio fades into the background again. She's there for the Second Term Finals. Places in the Top 5 (Nagisa's #14). She's there when Principal Asano makes his attempt on Koro-sensei. She's there for the Drama Festival. And... she's there when Kaede reveals her true identity as Akari Yukimura, and reveals her tentacles. I'll keep bringing this up, but this habit of Rio's to have a presence in the lighthearted times, and then fade into the background when generally more serious times arise... It fits the assassin motif of the series.

Take this scene for example. Kaede's going mad because of the tentacles, and Rio's one of the people protectively holding Nagisa back. Not Karma, not Isogai... Rio. This is a pretty telling moment that Nagisa's important to Rio; she knows this is a hard time for the bluenet because he wants nothing more than to save Kaede... But she doesn't want Nagisa going in there without a plan, because he'll get hurt. Rio's not overprotective, she doesn't sit on Nagisa or think Kaede's beyond saving... She just wants him to be careful.

And then Nagisa has that moment of revelation, and he kisses Kaede to take her mind off assassination. Rio and Karma are their usual teasing selves, but it is heartwarming that Rio snaps a picture of the guy she's fond of kissing another girl... Again, she supports Nagisa, and wants him happy. ... Even if Rio is greedy and wants her man~

After the fires are put out, tentacles extracted, Rio and Karma don't waste a moment to tease Nagisa impishly... But this moment is particularly endearing, because Nagisa doesn't get flustered like this unless people are poking fun at his height or his girlish looks.... No, this time, Nagisa kissed a girl... even if it was to save her life... And it's so outside of his normal routine, for "Karasuma Jr." to get intimate like that... Of course everybody's gonna congratulate him for that. ... Even if Karma and Rio just want to fill in the void left behind by crossdressing. I wish Nagisa had more moments like this... But he is a guy that keeps his eyes straight on the target. It's just great Rio supports Nagisa in his "love life", regardless of her plans to sweep him off his feet later....

Before we get to that fluffy revelation, however... I want to touch on this moment, which happens a couple of episodes later. We've seen the foundations of Rio's "serious side". During the Nagisa-centric episode, with the career counseling sessions, Rio reveals that she has a reason for being as laidback and fun-loving as she is. She used to be a child genius, and she longed for friendships and having a good time; she didn't care how good she was with school stuff. So she put up a facade of being dumb, goofing off... and before long, it was no longer an act. But E-Class, Koro-sensei, they helped her retrieve some of what she lost. That's why she values the bond she has with the Assassination Classroom... and why she's the one that speaks out when Nagisa suggests changing what their class is about. She disagrees with Nagisa on something, and I find this a super interesting development. ... Because friends can disagree on stuff. Even when they're your crushes... you don't have to see eye-to-eye on everything. I also see this as Rio looking out for Nagisa, because he's caught up in the moment, feeling like everyone's onboard with shifting gears. Rio doesn't like bringing down the mood, butting heads with Nagisa... but this class is important to her, and she doesn't want to chicken out just because they heard about Koro-sensei's past. She knows that there's others who feel the assassination is a crucial part of their bond, and in a way, she's breaking it to Nagisa gently. Tries turning it into a discussion, instead of an immediate decision that affects everyone. ... As opposed to Karma, who takes it personally and turns it into a fight. At least Koro-sensei is open to either possibility, provided the class stays united. The class really needs that unity.

Rio plays the war smart, keeping out of the fights until the end of the war, where she can swoop in and steal the Blue Team's flag... Thing is, Nagisa was playing the game just as wisely. He outplayed Rio, outplayed Karma, and I just really loved how it was Nagisa who took Rio down... 'cause it deepened their friendship a bit. Nagisa didn't make it personal, didn't look back after tagging Rio, Terasaka, Muramatsu, and Yoshida. His eyes were forward as always. But Rio...? Well. She had no choice but to concede defeat. She even admired Nagisa for outwitting Red Team. This was yet another moment where she was truly looking at Nagisa, understanding that even if saving Koro-sensei isn't something she bought into, Nagisa was fighting for his position with all that he had. Is it so wrong to admire someone that's as serious as you? People may wonder where the heck Rio's infatuation comes from (I'll touch on that soon enough) when she legit says that one line to admit her feelings... And I'm telling ya, you gotta go back and keep an eye out. Rio's just as sneaky as Kaede with her feelings, if not sneakier. This moment is just one obvious case where her respect for Nagisa is on full display; it gets more fleshed out as Nagisa properly wins the war.

Nagisa doesn't take the easy way out and snipe Karma. He understands that for Red Team to see where he's coming from, he has to fight on Karma's terms, even if Nagisa's at a disadvantage... Nagisa turns it around after losing for much of that final fight, but Karma has the opportunity to stab him in the back. Karma decides not to, and it boils down to the same reasons: Honor. Nagisa accepted his challenge, was even trying to finish the match with a physical combat move as opposed to a knife... Karma had no way out except for that "cheap" (but very lucky) move with the knife. He concedes the match since Nagisa once said he doesn't fight, unless it's a matter of life and death... So Karma recognizes this is important to his friend, and sees no benefit in stealing the victory besides to spite Nagisa and Blue Team; he's willing to hear Nagisa out. It seems strange to give Rio a similar moment, but she helped start all this...fighting. Rio conceding to Nagisa is just as meaningful, and shows she's not singularly determined about their original class goal. Nagisa's proven himself time and again throughout the Assassination Classroom, so Rio being happy in defeat... can mean that on some level, she was secretly hoping things would turn out this way. Rio's not about winning arguments no matter what; she'll give it her all, but when the opponent works just as hard... She's flexible and open-minded.

... Plus, she's got a soft spot for Nagisa, so...

The trip to space happens, they find out Koro-sensei more or less saved himself way back with that concoction he had Okuda whip up... The danger's not completely removed, but it's severely cut down to size. It's awesome that Nagisa concedes to let the class keep trying to assassinate Koro-sensei until the deadline, because it shows that he's listening to his classmates and respecting their feelings. Red Team helped with the space mission, it's only fair he returns the courtesy. If they still fail to kill Koro-sensei by the deadline, they'll settle for a more traditional student-teacher dynamic. The ending to this arc illustrates Nagisa, Kaede, Karma, and Rio's growth spectacularly. Really, the whole class's growth... But those four have been at the forefront of the class in some capacity for a while.

... Let's wrap up the "plot summary" section, eh? Valentine's Day~... This is where it comes into focus for Kaede...and Rio. I'll keep the talk of Kaede relatively short, but basically Rio is being a wingwoman like Karma. She sees the girl that Nagisa risked his life for is harboring feelings for the little studmuffin, and Rio-chan... feels like playing Santa. (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;

Y-Yes, Santa... (人◕ω◕);;;;;;;;;;;

*ahem* It may seem strange that Rio is encouraging a rival like this, but I suppose a combination of Rio's nature to hang back and wait for her opportunity, in conjunction with the civil war stoking some competitive flames within her... Let's just say, Rio's approach makes some crazy kind of sense. (人◕ω◕);;; It's not that she wants Kaede to mess up. No, no. Rio's been observing Nagisa-kun for a while, and she knows he and Kaede are thick as thieves. Rio is genuinely giving Kaede an opportunity here to win Nagisa over... But like in the civil war, Rio's not gonna pull her punches, either. Nagisa's a great guy. Kind, compassionate, serious.... Rio and Kaede are serious girls, too. It makes too much sense they'd fall for the same guy. A serious guy deserves a serious, fair competition. (人◕ω◕)

Kaede learns to just say what she has to say in her own words, and Rio and Karma spy on her to the very end. As Kaede decides to bury her feelings for now so that she doesn't distract Nagisa, who's admirable for always looking forward, Rio concedes it'd be petty to try stealing Nagisa from a girl so noble... It's one of the most fascinating "love triangles" that I've seen to date. Japan and its people tend to have this habit of being subdued with romance, and it plays into this show of assassins so well. Nagisa's not trying to win anyone over, he's so straightforward, honest, caring... and yet Kaede and Rio like him. A lot. For both of them to keep mum about their feelings... man, it hurts, but I get it. It's a Japanese staple to do it this way. No girl ends up with the guy in this case, but by the same token there's no proof that something won't work out down the line...

So where does this leave us? Why do I subject myself to a ship where Nagisa blissfully trudges on, unaware he's wooed at least two girls in his wake? A ship where the girl gives up the chase when she feels a rival is much more deserving?

I'm intrigued by the potential these two have. Just like Kaede, just like Nagisa, Rio is an assassin at heart. It's so fascinating these three sit together, yet Rio takes a backseat so often. If I had to make a distinction between NagiKae and NagiRio, it's that Kaede definitely fell for Nagisa a lot faster (subconsciously, anyway) than Rio. Rio.... I suppose she "knew" Nagisa for longer than Kaede did, even if it was just a couple weeks. Nagisa seldom stood out, kept his head low... and while it could be fun teasing Nagisa, she wasn't given enough incentive to truly notice him until his assassination skills came to light. Not that Rio was "always" an assassin; honestly, none of these kids were like that from the beginning. They had to be groomed into it. But as pointed out, Rio was in this haze of goofing off for a while. The reward money was awfully tempting, but Rio didn't know how to get back into the swing of things in terms of getting serious again right off the bat.

I suppose reflecting on it, Nagisa got her hyped up. The first part of the year, the classroom was thick with fun, goofiness, forced bloodlust, and mystery. Rio didn't know what to say when Nagisa did that suicide assassination, wasn't involved with Sugino's assassination attempt or the group with Isogai... Karma came in as a badass, and then Koro-sensei put him in his place. Rinse and repeat for Bitch-sensei. The school assembly was the same ol', same ol', as was the First Term midterms... Kyoto was fun from Rio's perspective; she wasn't with Nagisa's group for that episode with the kidnapping. Ritsu came in, Lovro came in, Shiro and Itona... The baseball/basketball matches... If you compare Nagisa kicking Takaoka's ass to those earlier events, only the stuff with Shiro and Itona really stacked up for Rio, and she didn't know those guys. ... But she kinda knew Nagisa, and witnessing him strut his assassination stuff... It had to at least get Rio thinking about her own performance.

That's probably another reason she threw herself into the First Term Finals - she wanted to turn herself around, and hanging around Nagisa was the way to go. It wasn't love at first sight, Rio simply admired Nagisa as a fellow professional and friend. Then she kinda missed out on Okinawa, and Nagisa was a badass without her there to see it... and Rio tries finding herself in the Second Term. She observes Nagisa more, grows to like him more... The civil war only deepens their bond, at least on Rio's end of it. By Valentine's Day, we know for sure Rio has feelings for Nagisa. First Term can be likened to RIo's "practice run"; she's learning the ropes like everyone else, and Nagisa's got a leg up on her. Second Term, Rio catches up to Nagisa. She scores higher on the Finals, but Nagisa's still the better assassin, much to Rio's chagrin. One thing I'm unsure of is if Rio's content with where her friendship is at with Nagisa, by Valentine's Day... That may be another reason she hung back. 'Cause for all that she tried being serious and imitating Nagisa, when interacting with the boy she was more often than not teasing him or goofing off. She didn't have many deep, personal moments that we saw with Nagisa.

Still. For all Rio's caution and care, I think it's unmistakable Nagisa cared for Rio. Maybe not romantically, but it's like Rio said: His self-esteem's not exactly the highest. He wouldn't dare assume girls like him in that way... And moreover, he's a driven, goal-oriented guy. But even so, Nagisa cares to stand up for her and the rest of E-Class against Takaoka (twice), he probably studied alongside Rio for English, and he puts up with the teasing she and Karma put him through (even if he hates crossdressing). I'm pretty sure with a little more courage, if Rio got more serious with their friendship, keeping the goofing around but spacing it out, she would be in a better position for a relationship with Nagisa, eventually. They do have a strong foundation as friends, but seeing more of that bond would definitely help.

Rio and Nagisa are both pretty serious people, it's just that Nagisa's circumstances make him less confident. He gets better, but having Rio for a girlfriend would boost that up even more. 'Cause she wouldn't let Nagisa stay forever meek. Moreover, Rio's habit of playfulness? Nagisa needs that. He needs the hell out of that. XD It's fantastic he wants to be a teacher, and he obviously inherits Koro-sensei's spirit at the end of the series, but even Koro-sensei had someone he loved. Having a life outside the classroom will keep Nagisa refreshed and perceptive to his students' individual needs. Rio could help him reach the more rambunctious kids more easily, and she'd keep Nagisa on his toes. Nagisa would give Rio a reason to return to Japan from her job as an interpreter/diplomat, and even a prospect of becoming an English teacher like Bitch-sensei.... Alternatively, Rio's trips abroad might inspire Nagisa to go out into the world and teach Japanese for a few years. There's possibilities here. Rio keeps things fun, and Nagisa keeps them grounded and...peaceful. It's a bit telling that in the final episode of the series, neither Nagisa or Rio make it to the reunion at the old building; they, Karma, and a few others are throwing themselves into their jobs. They'd provide solace to each other from work, and they'd come running for each other in a heartbeat.... XD I get the feeling Rio would also feel guilty about all the girl jokes from before, and let Nagisa get "revenge" a little... Or she wouldn't comment on it, and just spoil him for her past behavior.

One other detail is that Rio would absolutely draw the intimacy out of Nagisa. Nooo question. (人◕ω◕) He would not remain the chaste hero type. No sir. (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕) Nagisa might even be able to calm Rio down a bit... Wild, ecchi girl. Gotta love these two~...

[fanaticsnail]

|ω･)ﾉ since I also viscerally need a distraction right now... here's some question answers for you asdlkjglkfdg The entire lower half of the list, as it were >w>;;

What song makes you think of your favourite character?

There are so many songs that make my brain go 'oo, Law' that it'd been endless to list them all 😹 So I'm going to pick the latest three asldkjklgfd Immortal by Reinaeiry, Again & Again by the bird and the bee, and This Isn't The End by Owl City too.

What song makes you think of your OC?

🤔We're still finding songs and vibes for Shiro. Forged by Marskye vibes well with them, but I think the closet fit for them I've found (so far) is Fuck It I'm A Flower by Crying Day Care Choir.

If your favourite character was real and appeared beside you, how would you feel about it? What would you do?

... mildly largely flustered, I suspect. After the initial 'holy shit, Law's in the room right now' there'd be a large degree of 'and he can see my titty mousepad and figure collection and card collection and art prints and standees and 'do it for him' wallpaper all of him' (。_。);;

And then I'd ask him if he wanted a coffee and shuffle him out of this room ( =w=)b ... only to end up exposing him to our keychain collection wHOOPS

What's your favourite trope to read?

Impossible to decide alsdkjlkfdjg The most common troupe-ish tag in my AO3 bookmarks is 'established relationship' so adslkjglfdg I think the troupe that appears most is 'relationship growth and exploration and development together'. So probably... friends to lovers? In terms of well known, established - WAIT NO! I'VE GOT IT!

Relationship reveal ( =w=)b that stuff's delicious. Love a good '... wait you're DATING?! Since WHEN?!'

Would your OC and my OC (Tobiuo) get along? If so/not, why?

Hmm, we think so 🤔 Shiro can be a little clinical when it's not the socially correct time, but ultimately I think they'd both get along. With a shared mischievous sense of humour, along with a shared strong core made out of dedication and love for the Hearts- yeah, I think they'd get along just fine. I can picture them sticking their tongues out at each other childishly over a silly, meaningless argument alsdkjklgfdg

In a modern au setting, what would your OC do if not piracy, marines, or civilians?

Shiro would be a therapist and foster parent, I think! Not a full psychiatrist, I don't think they have the patience for that much academics- we think they'd want to get around to Helping People well before that point. They'd end up putting in a lot of unpaid overtime, but they'd live for their work, I feel.

adslkjgklfdsjgfdg I hope these questions help you asdlkjgfd they've helped ground us for sure ( =w=)b

Hi Leo 🖤! There is so many beautiful thoughts all together in one. Thank you so much for this.

I shall be adding those wonderful song recs to the Law playlist immediately 🫡. The fact you have an array of beautiful collectables with Law all over them is just gorgeous. He'd be so flustered knowing that in the same way he collects Coins and Sora comics, memorabilia is being collected for him.

Relationship reveal is hilarious. I have so many for the stoic ones. Two people that look on paper that they hate one another only to reveal that they've been happily married for years just gets me. I adore it.

I have read up on your Shiro and I adore them so much. Fishfolk OCs unite. Tobiuo and Shiro both being fishfolk that work for Law make me so unbelievably happy. Silent, petulant quarrels between them - all nose scrunchy and pouty is so cute. They'd be very fine friends for sure! And a therapist too? Oh, Shiro. My heart. I love them.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me to keep me distracted. I have loved it all.

[aspenmissing]

𝙲𝚛𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚅𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚖 (𝙿𝚝 𝟹)

Pidge and Hunk are still floating around in the Green Lion's hangar.

"Wait. Wait, wait. I have an idea" Pidge holds out her hand "Grab on!" They both reach for each others hand before they grab on.

"Yeah! We did it! Now, what?" Hunk asks.

"Now, kick me as hard as you can!"

"What? No, we're friends"

"No, no. Kick me so I can fly across the room and get to the control panel"

"Oh...oh, oh!" Hunk kicks Pidge and she goes towards the control pannel, but misses it "No, no, no!" The door then opens, making Hunk and Pidge fall to the ground. Lance, Y/N, Soul , Coran and Keith enter.

"How can you guys be taking a nap while this castle is trying to kill us?" Lance asks.

"Taking a nap! We've been floating around in Zero G? You know how scary that is?"

"That's not scary! That's fun! I was almost ejected into space!"

"I got attacked by killed food, and that's the most horrifying thing you can imagine! The stuff of nightmares! It'll haunt me to my grave!"

"Well, I had a robot trying to kill me!"

"And I nearly drowned, in a bathroom! I mean, ironic much!" Lance looks to Coran.

"I don't care what you say, Coran. This castle has gone apple and bananas!" Coran groans.

"Perhaps the infection from Sendak's Galra crystal is worse than we thought"

"Well, let's get rid of it" Hunk says.

"It's too late. When Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system"

"Sendak?" Keith asks.

"Wait" Y/N says "Has anyone seen Shiro?"

==

Shiro is still staring at Sendak.

"We're connected, you and me. Both part of the Galra Empire"

"No! I'm not like you"

"You've been broken and reformed. Just look at your hand" Shiro does so.

"That's not me!"

"It's the strongest part of you. Embrace it. The others don't know what you are. They haven't seen what you've seen. Face it. You'll never beat Zarkon. He's already defeated you"

"I'm not listening to you!" Shiro covers his ears.

"Do you really think a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin? Even your own sister is disgusted in you"

"Stop it!" Shiro punches the Pod, cracking it. Sendak's eyes open and smiles evily at Shiro, making him panic and push a buttom to send Sendak out. Alarms start blaring. Shiro bends down, breathing heavily. Later, the Paladins, Soul and Coran enter the containment room to see Shiro holding his head.

"Shiro, are you okay?" Y/N asks, touching his arm. He flinches away and she looks at him saddened.

"Where's Sendak?" Keith asks.

"I...I had to get him out of here. I was hearing his voice. He...He can't be trusted on this ship"

"It is the ship! I got stick in a cryo-pod, then, in an airock. Keith got attacked by a robot. Y/N nearly drowned, and Hunk and Pidge got attacked by food. It's been a weird morning" Computes begin beeping as a hologram of the ship appears/

"What? How is that possible?"

"What is it?" Keith asks.

"The ship is starting a wormhole jump!"

==

The Paladins, Coran and Soul enter the main deck to see Allura at the center.

"Allura, what's going on?" Shiro asks.

"We're going to Altea" Alura turns her head to face them "We're going home. My father is taking us" They rush forwards before King Alfor face appears on the screens. (Red-Bad King Alfor. Blue - Good King Alfor)

"Stay away from my daughter!"

"Uh..."

"Allura, wake up!" Y/N shouts.

"The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!" King Alfor appears next to Allura. They reach their destination, staring in horror.

"We're heading straight for a star and it's about to explode!"

"Father, I can see Altea" Coran goes to the barrier, and puts his hand on it.

"Allura! Allura, wake up! What you're seeing isn't real" Allura turns her head to face Coran before seeing some creatures fly past her. She smiles before seeing a meadown filled with flowers.

"The juniberried, the most exquisite flower of all" Allura picks one up.

"Allura, please!" A hologram of Coran appears "You've got to listen to me!"

"Is this real?" Allura asks.

"Of course it is real, Daughter. That flower you're touching is real"

"But where is the fragrance of the sweet juniberries?" Coran says, making Allura sniffs the flower again before coming back to reality.

"Huh? That's not Altea"

"When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system. Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here" Pidge says and Allura goes to the controls but is electrocuted back out of the barrier, caught by Shiro. King Alfor appears.

"Father, please, I beg you to turn this ship around. If we don't do it soon, we will all perish!"

"I know. That is my intention"

"What? Why?"

Don't you see, dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for ten thousand years"

"But we must continue to fight!"

"Fight for what? It is all over for Altea. You don't have to live a lifetime of war. You can be with me and the rest of your people"

"Father, please! The paladins and I can still stop Zarkon! Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen"

"Allura, my A.I. has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source" It flickers back "We can stroll across the Blossom Canyon every morning, just like we used to. Remember how much you loved that?"

"I remember. I'll see you soon, Father" Allura turns around "I've got to get into the A.I. chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually"

"But that means losing King Alfor forever!"

"Paladins, get to your Lions! I need you to slow the Castle's descent into the star"

"I can try to override the sytem to open the hangars" Allura and the Paladins leave the control room, leaving Coran and Soul. The Lions comes out of the hangars and push against the ship, using their thrusters. 

==

Allura makes it to the A.I room and goes to the center.

"Don't do this!" King Alfor says.

"You must"

"All my memories, all my knowlegde will be lost forever!"

"Do it, Allura. If you are to live, we must say goodbye"

"I'm sorry about this, Father" Allura goes to touch the container but everything blackens. "Huh?"

"Oh, my dear daughter..." Allura hears laughter and looks over at a memory of her and her father.

"Father..." She looks around to see memories of her and her father, young. Her childhood memories.

"This is not real. This is all in the past" Allura runs through the memories till she stares at the one of her father holding her when she was a baby, her baby laughter filling her ears. She begins crying. King Alfor appears.

"You don't have to fight, Allura. You don't have to make this sacrifice" Allura rushes forward and hugs her father, surprising him.

"Goodbye, Father" King Alfor smiles softly.

"Goodbye Allura" The glass container smashes, as all of King Alfor's memories fade away. Soul, who found her way to the room, goes next to Allura, placing her paw onto her leg. Allura looks to the creature and picks her up, hugging Soul while crying.

"She did it" Coran says, seeing the barrier go away. Alarms start blaring. and the Paladins are still pushing the ship back when Allura's face appears on their screens.

"Paladins, get to your hangars. We're getting out of here" They return to their hangars and they escape through the wormhole just as the star explode. Later, they are all in the control room. Allies is sat down, Coran and Shiro on either side as the Paladins are in front of her

"I'm so sorry about your father, Princess" Shiro says.

"We all are" Y/N adds.

"I'm so sorry about your father Princess"

"Thank you. But that was not my father" Allura stands up "The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with is anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron"

==

Hours later, when everyone has went to bed. Shiro is in the control room, looking into space. He the sound of the door opening, but doesn't turns around.

"What are you doing up so late?" A voice says. They sit next to him and he turns his head to see Y/N.

"Thinking. You?"

"Soul may be small but she's a loud snorer" Shiro chuckles "So watcha thinking about?" Shiro sighs, looking back into Space.

"Just what Sendak said" Y/N looks at him with a frown.

"What did he say?" Shiro's eyes tear up, but he refuses to cry "Shiro? Hey, it's okay-"

"He called me a monster...that I shouldn't be leader of Voltron" Shiro says "He said that even you're disgusted in me" Y/N's smiles softly.

"And you shouldn't believe that for one second" Shiro looks to her and goes to talk but Y/N stops him "I don't care what you look like Shiro, you are my brother. That piece of metal doesn't make me think of you any less" Shiro looks down at his arm.

"But I killed people..."

"You killed them so that you could survive" Y/N sighs "Do you trust me?" Shiro looks at Y/N with confusion.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes" Y/N takes Shiro's metal hand and places it around her neck "What, what are you doing?!"

"Squeeze" She states. Shiro looks at her in horror "Squeeze as hard as you can" Shiro pulls his hand away quickly, staring at her hard.

"Why did you do that for? I could have hurt you?"

"If you really are a monster, then you would have squeezed my neck, I gave you an easy chance and a monster would have took it, no hesitation" Shiro looks at her "Your not a monster, Shiro. Your just a man who's been broken... and needs someone to help fix him" Y/N says "You may be a pain in my butt sometimes, but your my brother. And I wouldn't change you for the universe" Y/N is suddenly hugged by a teary Shiro.

"I love you" Shiro says, hugging her tight. Y/N hugs back, smiling softly.

"I love you, too" The siblings watch the stars, knowing that as long as they are together, nothing will happen.

[mybelovedintrepidheroes]

things I loved about dungeon meshi:

- the fact that there was very little sexualization of the women in the series. like yes they do be in the nude sometimes but to me it doesn't feel like the artist/writers are drooling and foaming at the mouth wanting to fuck those women idk how to explain sorry

- the fact that there were underpants shots but they were ONLY from Senshi which is pretty funny to me idk I love how they're poking fun at the fan service in most animes.

now don't get me wrong I'm a certified monster fucker I don't mind sexual shit what I DO mind if it's objectifying women that shit doesn't sit right with me and idk in other series I just get the vibe that the creators aren't as confident in their show so they try to get specifically men to watch that series to get horny to? idk what the fuck the deal is with that it just seems like the creators aren't confident that ppl will like the show without the fan service which is a travesty, let's be real. again, I don't mind sex and other stuff in movies/series what I DO mind is if the women aren't doing the shit they're doing on purpose. I h8 pants shots in anime with a burning passion cuz like it's ALWAYS a mistake like idk I think it'd be way more fun if the women actually did that shit on purpose or if the men reacted differently to the fan service bullshit you know?

- Izutsumi is my fave character hands down (I'm also partial to Laios but that was inevitable given the fact that Damien Haas voiced him and yes I did watch it in English sue me) I was really fond of the idea that the barrier/spell also applied to her beast side which was indeed cool as shit I loved that so so much also the fact that she clung to Marcille, there's not a straight way to see that I fear.

- I loved the ingenuity with the creatures, like mollusks inhabiting armor? sign me the fuck up that is fun as hell! insects that look like jewelry & coins? oh that spells certain doom for some ppl! MIMICS ARE ACTUALLY CRUSTACEANS INHABITING FUCKING TREASURE CHESTS!! THAT'S SO FUN! SUCH A COOL IDEA!

- also that body swap episode oh hell yeah!! it was quite fun that Izutsumi got turned into a dog girl (kobold yeah yeah I know) bc there was an uneven amount of ppl, a very fun way of going about it.

- everyone talked completely the same way they usually do EXCEPT FOR Senshi that was so fun, elf senshi my beloved it was incredibly funny to me. also like was it part of the change to have him have flowers float around his face? perhaps idc it was funny as hell.

- the fact that what's his face was happy that his grandpa turned to dust, we love to see it. they've lived so long it could've been easy to make them incredibly afraid of death and almost even resentful but instead he's just like "good for him he got the FUCK outta here"

- deeply liked Kobru I love me a good antagonist <3

- okay hear me out it was deeply understandable that Shiro got annoyed bc laois kept asking abt his home and honestly I'm pretty sure there were some hurtful questions that laois asked and I think it's okay to be mad at and put off by someone who keeps asking questions that amount to "do you do *insert racist stereotype* in your country?" and I get that but also it's super funny that laios kept cockblocking him

I guess the end

what I didn't like about dungeon meshi:

- that season 1 ended

- that idk when the next season will drop

- that the subtitles were unreadable when I tried to watch it subbed bc the color of the subs was the same as the background which isn't helpful at all. like in that opening sequence it would help to make the subs black or some other color so you can actually read wtf is going on.

thanks for reading this have a nice day

[pof203]

A Summoner Birthday

Special Quest: Zao

WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

Thank you for coming with me, Lupin. I didn't think I would be able to come here by myself today.

You're welcome, Zao. I know you really wanted to come here.

You brought Zao to the virtual fairytale world because he wanted to see something.

Zao: I want to see the mountain we were on when we were last here.

Lupin: Are you sure? You can go to mountains in the real world.

Zao: Usually. But I never really enjoyed a fairytale mountain, mostly because I was under a spell at the time.

Lupin: Okay, let's go.

With that, you and Zao leave for the mountains.

Sometime later, you and Zao were now at the top of one of the mountains.

Zao: (excited) This is amazing! You can almost see the entire fairytale world from here.

Lupin: No doubt. And I thought the tower was the highest.

Zao outstretches his arms and enjoys the view before him, almost like he's the king of the fairytale world. You can't help but do the same thing. It was almost like you were flying.

A little later, it started to get cold and you and Zao decided to travel down the mountain.

Before you know it, you and Zao were at the hot springs.

Lupin: If you like, we can take a quick dip.

Zao: I don't mind, as long as we're here.

A short time later, you and Zao were in the hot springs.

How are you liking this, Zao? Is it good?

It's really nice. I know it's all just virtual and not real, but I can't deny the feeling it brings.

Lupin: I'm glad you like it. You know, this reminds of the first time we went mountaineering.

Zao: Yes, that's one adventure I don't think I'll ever forget. All the trials we went through, the people we met, we even made friends with Chernobog.

Lupin: Yeah, and to make it better... I saw something in you I knew I really liked.

Zao: You mean it? I would have thought you would only have seen something like that in Wakan Tanka, who is probably a better mountaineer than I am.

Lupin: He may have lived on a mountain, but that didn't necessarily made him a mountaineer... But he might decide to pick it up if we're there. We both love you that much.

Zao: And I love the both of you, too. I never really knew I could find others who are just as much into mountains as I am. I have met a few, but I never met anyone like you or Wakan. Even Bigfoot and Tanngrisnir caught my attention when they were with our club for a time. I wish they would have stayed with us a bit longer, it was nice to have more members, even an advisor. But, they are from different schools and cannot stay with us permanently.

Lupin: Durga's from another school, too, but she's a permanent member. I'm sure Bigfoot and Tanngrisnir would stay if you asked them to. They love you just as much as we do. I know I might not be the outdoorsman that you are, but I learned so much from you. You taught me more about nature, about living, and the beauty and exists all around me. Even Mr. Triton thinks so and he likes you, too... As long as you remember to study and keep up your academics.

Zao: Isn't that why you joined? I never would have passed that last test if you hadn't helped me study for it.

Lupin: Naw, that was mostly Shiro. He needed to get Kengo to study anyway and decided to make it a group study. He should be the one to thank.

Zao: True, but we never would have done it if you hadn't brought me to the library. I should thank you, as well. I love you, so much, Lupin. You're like a mountain... And I want to explore every last part of you, if you wish to explore me.

Lupin: (happy) And I will. We all will. I love you, too, Zao.

Zao: (happy) Let's explore each other.

You both get close in the bath, eager for the next adventure on the mountains of your love.

Before you know it, it was now night. You both decided to dry off, get dressed, and begin making your way back to Candyland to return home.

[white--moon]

His very first thought is that Shuren could do some groveling, and he thinks it would send a nice message to have Ichigo do the manhandling. But he also isn't ready to look at Shuren again right now and he's positive it'll put him in a shit mood. This is a conflict that will happen, he's sure of it, but he doesn't think it needs to happen right here and now. Unless the asshole keeps being a creep, anyway.

He eyes that smirk, not sure he believes it at all. This feels an awful lot like a poorly concealed trap. The only thing that keeps him from worrying overly about it is that there's really no losing for Ichigo, so probably no losing for Shiro either. "Well if you can't pronounce it, then I definitely can't and we're both gonna look stupid." He's only partly kidding, but they'll match the dress code and he has cash, so they'll be fine. He snorts. "Good choice, it wasn't supposed to be insulting." He arches a brow, "Not with that attitude I'm not. Maybe I was gonna ask to borrow your fancy clothes. Do I look like a fancy person to you?" He wasn't, and Ichigo's been in his closet before, he's sure he'll put that together.

"Oh yeah. No demographic of people're more ready to throw down on a moment's notice than lesbians. Do you not know any? I mean besides your baby sister." He gives Ichigo a slightly confounded look. What does that even mean? "I didn't say they're the only people that can be angry." His brows go up, sort of impressed. "Ooh, official training, and from another girl- an angry lesbian no less. Good for them. They probably really can kick some ass." So deceiving. Yuzu did not look the type when he met her. It occurs to him that Ichigo's entire family knows how to fight, like for real fight. So weird and impressive. He's pretty sure that's not normal.

A smirk tugs at his mouth and he huffs a laugh, "Kinky." He doesn't feel threatened at all. "As you should. This is harmless fun." Ichigo goes right back to his book, more or less leaving Shiro to his own devices, so he does what he does best and gets a little bored and nosy. He has a few minutes of screwing around in between talking to Ichigo's sister and addressing his own phone when it goes off, and ends up scrolling through Ichigo's camera. He gets to the photo of Shuren and knows immediately that's Ichigo's apartment and stuff and the blanket Shiro bought. He squints at it for a moment, then just sort of shoved the phone with the picture still on it into Ichigo's book without a word.

That question really amuses him. There was a time not so long ago that Ichigo accused him of being a cult leader. That offer could be mistaken for Ichigo drinking the cool aide. “Uh, yeah, maybe. I’ll let you know. I’m sure that’ll come in handy one of these days.” The next question is a poorly masked trick question. He may not have a lot of dating experience, but he has plenty of experience with reading what people want. He doesn’t even have to play the game, though, because Ichigo answers it for him. Sort of. His brows go up a little. “Ok.” That feels like a big step for having just decided they’re together together, but he likes it. He likes a guy who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to say as much. “You’re in school to be a professional reader. Is a menu item you can’t pronounce even possible?” That’s a lot of pressure, actually. Rather than take that challenge literally, he’s mentally running through a list of really expensive restaurants he knows of. “Ok, sure, so we’re both gonna have to change. You got nice clothes?”

He feels Ichigo start to relax against him and nods to himself a tiny bit. Good. Idiot. Thinking Shiro, the kid who doesn’t have parents, has already been to jail, and sells drugs for a living, gives two shits about parental approval or whatever getting along with Ichigo’s dad means.

He smirks and laughs lightly. “That’s not a surprise. Lesbians are always simmering with rage, ready to go off. Of course she can be scary too. Did you teach them how to beat people up?”

He snorts, looking over his shoulder at Ichigo briefly. “Not a chance, this thing’s hideous.” He turns back to the task of fucking with Ichigo’s phone when Ichigo slides him that look. “Who’s fault is that? You’re the one that handed it to me.” He’d turned the way he did purposely so Ichigo could see what he was or wasn’t doing, but Ichigo evidently doesn’t have anything too sensitive on his phone because he doesn’t seem like he could care less. Meanwhile, Shiro’s the exact oposite with his. His is almost always face down so no one chances a glance at something they shouldn’t see. It’d be just his luck that some dumbass first timer would text him something way too obvious, like ‘how much for X amount of coke’ or something, while he happened to be in public. And he would never just hand it over, it has way too much incriminating shit on it.

[familyofpaladins]

This post contains season 3 and season 4 spoilers.

@mateushonrado  That’s okay, not everyone agrees with the clone theory. I might very well be wrong, and this is the real Shiro. However, for me personally, I feel like there are too many clues pointing to this not being the real Shiro. Some people like the idea of Shiro being a clone because it adds drama to the story, and a lot of others like the theory because they too feel like there is a lot of evidence pointing at Shiro not being quite himself. And some people just like to bandwagon onto theories or headcanons that may or may not be close to what is actually happening. 

I’ve talked about my reasons why in many different posts, or reblogged posts that I agreed with (I think the best meta posts in favor of clone Shiro are done by @ptw30 and @smolsarcasticraspberry )(Some other good blogs who, I don’t think forgive me if i’m wrong, are NOT in favor of the clone theory are @radioactivesupersonic and @i-love-voltron-stuff) . I’ll try to sum up my reasons why I don’t think he’s Shiro here though. 

First off, the entire time I was watching The Journey, I felt like it was off. I honestly kept expecting Shiro to wake up still in galra captivity, because there was all those little clips of his more recent time with the Galra, and they’re all talking about operation Kuron. I thought he was going to wake up and operation Kuron was some kind of test in Shiro’s mind to see how if they could brainwash him or something. But then Keith and the Black lion found him at the end of the episode. 

After I had watched the season, I went on tumblr and saw that people had the similar thoughts and pointed out some things that I had initially missed. Such as the fact that when “Shiro’s” eyes were responding to stimuli, they made a carmera zoom/focusing sound. And then there’s the fact that in The Journey he was refered to as a “subject” with a long number after it, whereas back in season 1 he was referred to as a prisoner. People also pointed out the fact that Kuron means clone in Japanese. (I actually don’t think that he’s an actual clone. I think he is some kind of very realistic android, programmed with Shiro’s memories/to think like Shiro given the mechanical eyes. The “clone” for the name is a tiny red herring/just a hint that this isn’t really Shiro.)

Also, the circumstances of Shiro’s escape are pretty suspicious. He wakes up on a table, completely unrestrained and alone. He’s pretty out of it walking through the halls too, and yet he doesn’t really meet any opposition. You’d think that if you had the Black Paladin of Voltron, or the very least an already escaped once  prisoner, there would be more guards in the area. But no, he gets quite a ways before he runs into the sentries. And then all by himself he’s able to get in a pod and make it to the planet. When he escaped the Galra the first time around, he was restrained and in a room full of people, and the only reason he was really able to escape was because Ulaz helped get him out of there. Ulaz had helped take out some of the other people and used a bomb as a distraction for Shiro to get away. But now apparently he’s able to just escape easily all by himself with no other help. I just found his escape to be too easy, honestly. 

The next episode is really where I thought to myself that this wasn’t Shiro. The first scene we get of Shiro back with the paladins, is really kinda gloomy. It’s dark in the room, and it’s just Keith and Shiro having a gloomy conversation. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk about this part because if this is the real Shiro, it’s pretty understandable for them to be like this. Shiro did just go through a pretty harrowing experience being back with the galra and trying to get off the planet back to Voltron, and then being alone for 7 days with no food or water (more evidence for Not Shiro, a human being can’t survive 7 days without water, if I remember correctly, you can go that time without food but you can only go like maybe a couple days without water. Shiro should be dead at this point honestly. ANDROID) can put a damper on a reunion. But still, a lot of people (including me) were expecting a very happy reunion when Shiro returned and we didn’t get that. (Granted there were a lot of things throughout the seasons that the fandom wanted and didn’t get. See: The team’s reaction to Galra Keith) So maybe that scene isn’t evidence for Not Shiro, but it also doesn’t really make me feel like it IS Shiro.

The next thing is the Haircut. (Also granted I might be a bit biased against this because I just don’t like it, but anyway) Shiro’s hair got really long, and so he cut it. But he didn’t cut it back to what it was before. He made the white bangs shorter and didn’t give himself the undercut. He also put on an outfit that is similar but still different than the one before. It’s a new look. Most of the time in shows that are animated, and the characters have a default outfits, the only time they get new outfits is either when something dramatic happens in their story arc or pretty much everyone in the show gets a new look or update. We can even look back to the very first episode for this. When Shiro was on the Kerberos Mission he had no scar or white hair. But after the his year as a Galra captive, which is a HUGE part of his story arc, he comes back with a scar on his face and part of his hair is white. (Some people would also point out that he also got the undercut after the year with the Galra, because when they were on Kerberos he didn’t have the undercut. But if you see the photo of Shiro that the Garrison puts out after their disappearance, you see that he did already have the under cut. The undercut probably just grew out on the way to Kerberos. Because I bet you don’t want to be shaving tiny hairs off your head when you’re in no gravity. So he did have the undercut before.) But this becomes his character design at the same time we establish the rest of the characters designs. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge all change out of their garrison uniforms to their current outfits, which they stick with as the arc of them going off into space begins with them sneaking out of the garrison. Then they all get the paladin armor once they reach the castle and are told they are going to be the paladins of voltron, which is another big part of all their arcs obviously. It even happens with Allura. When we first meet her she is established as a princess and the daughter of a great leader, and she has an outfit that meets that description. But then after she talks with her father's AI she comes to terms with her own new leadership role and enters the room with her own fight suit(i Don't know what to call it, forgive me). Even later once she becomes a pilot of the blue lion, she gets her own armor, again it's a turning point in her arc as she moves from being in charge of the castle to fighting as a part of voltron. So far everything for the characters designs and changes have been outfit changes, which isn't a huge change, but can be for a big change for an animated show where the characters wear the same clothes all the time. Now with Shiro, he comes back and not only gets a new outfit(which is similar to his old one but still very different.) But also a new haircut. Now he did just end up back witb the garla and escaped again to return, but there doesn't really seem to be a point (that I can find anyway) for his arc here that merits a new look. Because he's been captured before and this new captivity doesn't really seem to have added anything to his own arc. UNLESS this isn't really Shiro and is actually a clone/android. The new look would also help to distinguish the real Shiro from the fake Shiro once the real Shiro comes back. (The other reason characters might change there looks are because the shows creators felt the need to add some new elements, but usually everyone, or at least the main characters, get new looks at the same time. But only Shiro got a new look at this time, which also makes it strange.)

Then there's the fact that Shiro can't pilot black. I don't see a good reason why Black wouldn't let Shiro pilot them if he was the real Shiro. They had just spent both season 1 and a lot of season 2 building the bond between, and Shiro was able to unlock Black’s wings, WHICH IS A PRETTY BIG DEAL. And for that bond to just be dismissed for no apparent reason is weird. I suppose it could be the writers just wanting Keith to pilot Black a little bit longer, but even that's a bad reason, because it's only that episode(S3E6) and part of S4E1 that Keith still pilots Black. And by the end of S4E1 Shiro is back piloting Black. So if this is the real Shiro why the three episodes of him not being able to do it (really only two episodes as S3E7 was just a flashback story)?? It just doesn't make sense to me if he were the real Shiro. However I feel like it does make sense if he's not the real Shiro. Because Black doesn't want someone who isn't Shiro, even if they look and act like him. But then why did black go to him at the end of The Journey you ask? Well lots of people have said it before, but I'll say it too. I think that when "Shiro was thinking about the other paladins and Black, he was accessing the real memories that they put into this fake Shiro, and Black recognized that and, probably really hoping that their paladin had returned, rushed to him. Then later upon closer inspection was able to sense that this was indeed not the real Shiro, and decided to stick with Keith until the real Shiro returned. So why did Black accept him in season 4 you ask? Well, as I mentioned in the post you commented on, when Black accepted him, the rest of the team was getting their butts kicked by bad guys and very close to losing, and Keith wasn't there to pilot Black. And "Shiro” went in and asked Black to trust him, and Black did decide to trust him, as he does think that he IS the real Shiro, he acts like Shiro and still wants to protect the team for the most part. And if Black hadn't accepted him, the rest of the team might very well have died or been captured, and I don't think Black would just sit there and let that happen. So Black accepts this Shiro, but pretty reluctantly. And again why wait so long to accept him if he really was the real Shiro? 

The next thing is the way that Shiro acts towards Keith. He tells Keith several times that Keith is meant to lead, but all throughout he's contradicting everything Keith says they should do. Now, granted, some of those contradictions might be stuff the real Shiro would say, like that Keith shouldn't go off by himself to find Lotor. But he tells Keith he's wrong almost every time Keith says something. Keith: We should go after Lotor to stop him now. Shiro: No we need to stop get that (comet) ship, it's too important. Later.... Keith*is going after the comet ship* Shiro: Stop going after the comet ship, you need to stop them from getting the teleduv! Keith: I thought you said the ship was the most important thing right now!?

 AND THEN, AND THEN Shiro says the thing that I KNOW the real Shiro would NEVER say. He tells the team to put down their defenses, making themselves vulnerable to the ship's weapons that took out Chunks of the Castle's Shields, and tells them to DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES. NO. I'm sorry, the real Shiro would not say that. He would never tell his team to put their lives on the line like that. If someone disagrees with me on that, I don't know what to tell you. (And really it's only thanks to Keith not really following those orders, that they were able to survive that and stop them from getting the teleduv.) Then after that Shiro and Keith are talking and Keith apologizes for not being a good leader, and Shiro apologizes for "having to step in." I'm sorry but, Shiros "stepping in" almost got them killed, while Keiths actions saved them. (Sorry that got a bit off topic, but main point was that the real Shiro wouldn't tell the team to almost kill themselves, and then acting like it was his orders that mad the mission work, when that's just not true)

 Even in the first episode of season 4, Shiro keeps pushing the leadership role on Keith, even though Keith doesn't want it, and then tells him he's not being a good leader. The rest of Season 4 didn't give a whole lot of evidence for the clone theory, other than what I've said before. But it also hasn't proved to me that it is indeed the real Shiro.

So yeah those are the main things of why I don't think Shiro is the real Shiro.

And maybe that’s all wrong and this is the real Shiro, but why would the creators go to all that effort of having those little flash scenes talking about operation Kuron and never explaining exactly what happened after that battle and still having that big mystery, to have Shiro really return? And again, why have the delay in Shiro returning to the black lion? Why not put him in his paladin armor for the coalition posters? Why make his poster say fight WITH voltron(which could be read as fighting against or fighting along side) when they could have said "Fight along side Voltron"? There just too many clues that are there for the revelation of this Shiro being a fake, for it to be the real Shiro.

And honestly the most random piece of evidence, that doesn’t really look like it’s real evidence, is what actually convinces me the most that Shiro doesn’t act the same. And it’s that after “Shiro” returned, he doesn’t make dorky faces in the background. Like if you really watch his face throughout season 3 and 4, he will smile and stuff at people and even scowl and get angry, but he has a fairly neutral or serious face the rest of the time. Where as in seasons 1 and 2 he really did make a bit more dorky faces in scenes. Now when ever there’s a scene where I think Shiro would make a dorky face of confusion or surprise, he only gives a small eyebrow raise that just looks like mild confusion instead of dorky confusion or surprise. And I think that it’s probably a very clever little thing that the animators included to set us slightly off without making it super noticeable. It’s the little things like body language and facial expressions that tune people in to what the person is like and their intentions. 

So there are the reasons why I think that the Shiro who returned in season 3 isn't the real Shiro.

[kosmo-mckogane]

listen, we're all aware that shiro suffered in pretty much every way possible with his treatment in the show, but i wanted to talk about some of the stuff that i rarely see touched upon within the fandom, and that is the inherent and blatant ableism that pushed so many major decisions when it came to his character.

we all remember the shit that went down with adam - but i want to focus on how shiro is treated in terms of autonomy here.

take a look at the garrison's immediate reaction to shiro wanting to go on the kerberos mission.

"[Sanda] Absolutely not!"

"[Holt] What? Why not? He's cleared all his physicals."

"[Sanda] I don't care what the doctor says. This man is sick and he shouldn't be sent on another mission"

and see, that right there - shiro has literally been given the all clear by a doctor stating that he's fit for this mission. at this point, there's absolutely no valid or logical reason these random people to decide what he is or isn't capable of doing.

and to me, the biggest insult was that they had this as his literal only interaction with adam.

"[Adam] Well, maybe he's right. Maybe you shouldn't go on the mission. You'll only be putting yourself at risk." [...]

"[Shiro] Don't start that again, Adam. You don't need to protect me."

and this is the fucking problem. the idea that disabled people need to be coddled and have decisions for their own health made for them, that they are inherently less capable. and yes, in some ways, it's true that shiro will have certain limitations that other people wouldn't, but he is very much aware of those limitations. here, he is portrayed as unnecessarily angry and irrational simply for wanting to make his own decisions.

the fact that they killed off adam while shiro was away on this mission just sets that idea in stone. here, the message they are conveying is that shiro should have obeyed adam and the garrison when they told him not to go on the kerberos mission, because having and practicing autonomy as a person with muscular dystrophy cost him the person he loved.

"Adam... I'm sorry."

that, to me, makes everything to do with adam a hundred times more insulting.

and the thing is, this wasn't something that just cropped up in the later seasons - the decision to push shiro aside, discard him for his flaws and strip him of everything that made him who he was, had been made long before they even decided he was gay.

shiro feared he'd been turned into a monster by his time as a prisoner, and that he couldn't be trusted to lead voltron due to his trauma and ptsd.

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

by removing him as black paladin and leaving him without a real place on the team, these fears of his seem to be confirmed.

we know this was set up early on, with all the brief hints at keith's leadership in season 2 leading up to shiro's disappearance.

"If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight."

ultimately, the journey shiro goes on as a character is one of loss and regression, being seen as "broken" and incapable and pushed out of a role that he seems to be made for in favour of someone who is in all regards completely unsuited for it. by the end, he's lost everything that made him him, and he's been stripped of any autonomy, importance and relevance. and to see him going from one of the most promising and intriguing characters to that? yeah, it really pisses me off.

[machifuwa]

- Animals - Menagerie of Animals (2/8)

That night. Koga and Tatsumi's Room

Koga: Suu... suu...♪

???: .....

Koga: ...Hmm? What's that? I hear mumbling...?

Is it Kazehaya-senpai? No, he's sleeping ve~ry peacefully here.

If that's the case, this voice... Is it coming from the next room?

???: Ho... Ko...

Koga: This voice. It's definitely a voice I just heard recently, and it's coming from Jagged Teeth and Shiro's room.*

Maybe Shiro's saying something, this late at night, it's pretty disturbing for us neighbours.

But what is he saying with that loud voice...? Let me put my ear to the wall and listen.

Let's see...

???: Hokuto-senpai, that's not the bathroom!

It's over here, here!

Oh, no. Please don't scatter the food around! It's bad manners, you know~?

Koga: "Hokuto-senpai"...? Could it be... Is he with Hidaka?

Anyway, he said "food". I don't think someone like me could have misheard it...

I can't believe Shiro's having Hidaka act like a pet and imitate breeding.

N-no, this is probably just a nightmare...?

Yeah! This is just some kind of nightmare. It felt strangely real and freaked me out. I'll probably wake up halfway through.

A-all right. If I just go to bed and forget what happened...!

There is no such thing as a pet human being, that's just absurd!

The Following Day

Koga: ...Is what happened, what do you guys think?

I don't know if Shiro's words and actions are accurate, but if they are, it's a serious situation for "Animals".

Subaru: Ahaha. Hokke~ is~ a~ pet~ What is that? Sounds ridiculous♪

I know it's difficult and all but living with Hokke sounds good.

Nazuna: Don't imagine strange things. It's obviously not right for a human being to keep another human being.

Nazuna: ...Ah. I get it, Tomo-chin was practicing his act, wasn't he?

I think Tomo-chin would enjoy doing such an unusual play. But they were rehearsing at night. Wouldn't that be strange?

Wataru: Unfortunately, there were no plans for a perverse play in "Dramatica" .*

And if there are such plays in the work that I have prepared, there is no way that the little rabbit wouldn't know about them.

Tomoya-kun has finally shared his perverted feelings with Hokuto-kun! I would have been happy if they invited me though...♪

Koga: Oi, we're getting off track here.

So, what should we do? I guess it would be too complicated to ask Shiro directly.

Subaru: Why don't we ask Hokke directly instead? I'll message him in "Hold Hands".*

Koga: It's more complicated than that. If we didn't get involved, Shiro might get his reputation damaged.

Subaru: Hmm~ If that's the case, then what happened last night was just Tomoya-kun's fantasy? Does that mean Hokke wasn't actually kept?

Wataru: Fumu, fantasy...

Yes, that's a possible line of thought. Yesterday, Tomoya-kun was acting strangely.

Nazuna: Yeah, that's what I was wondering too. He was upset when we talked about pets, wasn't he?

I think Tomo-chin was feeling pressured by the fact that he hadn't got one yet, and that's probably what gave him the nightmares?

Koga: Nightmares, you say?

Nazuna: Yeah. It will make more sense, then.

Tomo-chin was talking in the middle of the night. He had a nightmare about keeping his senior as a pet, so he woke up as soon as he could.

That is why "Hokuto-senpai, that's not the bathroom" and "Please don't scatter the food around" were the lines Koga-chin heard last night.

Koga: I see. Shiro, that bastard, he's got that much on his mind, huh? He's a watery one, isn't he?

Subaru: Alrighty. Then, let's all go with Tomoya-kun to the pet shop!

We can also work together on the "Animals" project that was on yesterday's agenda. Killing two birds with one stone!☆

Nazuna: Accompanying him to the pet shop is really needed huh.

However, since Tomo-chin is my friend, I would like it if we consult with him first. He may be a little timid about getting a pet.

Wataru: Fufufu. We're beginning to look like a normal circle!

I, Wataru Hibiki, will do everything in my power to cooperate with you for the sake of my beloved Tomoya-kun...♪

Ooh, my hair is reacting! It seems like Tomoya-kun is in the ES building!

Let's get to the distressed junior right away!

< EPISODE 2 END >

Notes:

Jagged Teeth is Koga's nickname for Mayoi and Shiro is Tomoya's.

A theater circle organized by Wataru. Their aim is to discover new sides to themselves. They create their own costumes and props and perform a wide range of plays, from well-known masterpieces to their own original works. (source)

Hold Hands is an app that the talents and probably the staff as well use to message each other.

Story: "Animals" [Menagerie of Animals]

Story by: 木野太郎 (Happy Elements株式会社)

Season: Winter

Characters in this Episode: Koga, Subaru, Nazuna, Wataru

Mentioned Characters: Tomoya, Hokuto, Mayoi

Reminder: I did not create this story, but I translated it, so please refrain from reposting my translation on other social media platforms.

I apologize if there are any mistakes as well.

(Prev - All - Next) Thank you for reading!

[white--moon]

Ichigo's reaction is amusing. He laughs, short but genuine. "I have no idea what it would entail either, and I'm not dead so I don't think I can manage a demonstration but we can try to figure out a living version." That shouldn't be hard at all. But Ichigo's been really hung up on the idea of him dying over the last day, so he adds. "Anyway, I have no intention of dying any time soon, so we have some time to figure it out."

Shit. He clearly misread. "Knowing I have it somewhere and knowing exactly where are two different things." Unless someone that isn't him has been in his wardrobe touching things, he does know where it is. He hasn't actually pulled it out or worn it in a long time, but he knows where he put it.

That sounds so boring. And clearly that's a day job type of thing because he knows what Ichigo does for real money, more or less. He knows enough to have it figured out. "Oh. That's what you were goin' to school for, isn't it? Fancy reading." Shiro never really understood the allure of it, but he never judged over it either. It's Ichigo's hobby and fascination, not his. He's glad it seems like Ichigo finished his schooling. Maybe them splitting up really was best for Ichigo. He offers up a wide smirk. "Yes I do and I'd be happy to see it again."

His eyes narrow slightly. He's pretty sure that's not what Ichigo was saying at all. "This isn't one of your ancient books, we don't need fifty tones to say any given thing. We can speak normal. But I'm glad you agree with me."

Ichigo's right. It is a bad idea. He takes a deep breath through his nose and sighs it back out. "Yeah, you're right. I probably shouldn't come back here afterward." Especially if Ichigo's going to leave. Maybe he'll go to the penthouse after all. He doesn't want to look like he's hiding, but he clearly doesn't have the mental capacity to do this right now. He's so hung up on his feelings for Ichigo he can barely keep it in mind that someone is trying their very hardest to kill him. Wild what the brain can block out when it needs to. He falls inline at Ichigo's side when he starts for Shiro's garage.

There's a depressing empty space in his lineup once in the garage. He points to his most low profile, average looking vehicle; a blacked out SUV that looks more like an unmarked police car than the car of a civilian with too much money. "You only gotta check one. You can check the rest after all this is done. Or send your friends to." The culprit could just plant a bomb tomorrow on a vehicle left behind. There's no point in checking all of them right now.

"About my- ?" He almost says boyfriend, but stops himself and shrugs. "I dunno. I guess I did. It's hard not to wonder if the cop you're bangin', who clearly knows who the biggest drug dealer in town is, is just being a cop. Under cover or whatever. Maybe it just looked less suspicious to be upfront about it when I asked him if he was a cop. You were worried about that girl in my bathroom, but the cop would be the right way to do it." Shiro's aware of his own weaknesses. A hot guy with that added element of forbidden and dangerous that being a police officer brings certainly got his attention.

He tosses his phone onto the bed after sending Ichigo the lady's contact info. He knows Ichigo would treat her right if he contacts her at all.

That laugh sounds uncomfortable. Part of him wishes they could dispense with the trying they're both doing, the other part of him is grateful for the efforts. "It's true, I been bad at not giving you what you want from the very start." Shirt? But it only takes him a second, because when he moved out of his apartment he found that shirt. He thought about giving it to Renji to give back to Ichigo, but he couldn't quite make himself do it. "That was your favorite?"

He gets his answer the moment Ichigo looks at him. They know each other well enough for him to read Ichigo just fine. It's flattering. Then the verbal answer Ichigo gives is weirdly touching. It's very sweet, and maybe too honest, but he finds himself liking it anyway. If they can't be together, maybe they can at least be on good terms. Even not being partners, he likes Ichigo's company.

He snorts. "Of course I did, I look good in or out of anything." But being put to bed sounds nice. Warm and cozy and comfortable sounds nice. He is tired, mentally at least. He offers up a little half smirk at the reassurance. "Let's get outta here. Where do you wanna go?"

[erithel]

If we want to argue technicalities, the ~~real~~ season 8 would have been the one where the producers didn’t give into the toy companies and fully written Shiro out of the show.

the only reported changes that we know of and was confirmed by officials were that

(Pre-bringing-Shiro-back-decision)

1. Keith exist in season 4-5 as voltron’s leader; some maybe all of Kuro’s scenes in those seasons were supposed to be Keith

2. krolia was supposed to meet Keith some other way and the space whale thing never was suppose to happen

3. keith never leaves for the BOM

4. They cut out one other angsty Keith scene involving him crying- it was acted and storyboarded already too and it wasn’t the vlogs.

5. Acxa and Keith were supposed to be romantically involved. (This is probably the only one that I believe was fan influenced out of the show)

(Post written and finalized s7-8 production)

1. Hunk was supposed to die, Acxa replaces him as the new yellow paladin

2. curtis replacing some blonde guy in the wedding scene to shiro.

3. Keith was also supposed to die, but they didn’t want too many girl paladins so didn’t get the greenlight to kill hunk and keith off.

I think they were trying to salvage as many cuts and scenes from s4-6 to have s7-8 make coherent sense because the finale was supposed to be a culmination of the rest of the show. And if you were already struggling to integrate a supposedly dead character and kicking out your main-main character and ignoring the other main characters, yeah the last season will be bad. It was bad the moment they made the decision to listen to toy companies instead of their writers and characters. So around airing s2 was when the decline started.

I would say the quality of the writing suffered in s2

I'm just going to leave this here for peoples' reference because you know much more about this than I do.

I have heard a couple of these points – mainly the one about Shiro being brought back for the sole purpose of boosting toy sales. And I do know that some of the scenes in I believe season 4 and 5 that involved Shiro basically pasted him over where Keith was placed before.

There honestly isn't much point in dwelling on what was supposed to be because there isn't some magical fix for it.

But this is why I think there's still so much fanfiction for this show, and why that fanfiction tends to be really, really high quality. The show was all over the place, due to meddling from outside sources, and it made the plot and the character development fizzle out or go off in places never intended because they didn't stick to their original plan. So the brilliant thing about fanfiction is that so many people have taken the canon show and found their own way to make it make sense.

And that is amazing.

That is peak creativity.

And the one good thing that came out of this whole debacle is that I believe it's shown a wave of creators how important it is to stick to your guns; to have a plan and stick to it. And how important it is to not let character development be the first thing that is pushed aside.

Seriously – in no world should a toy company or merch company have any say in the plot of a creative project. And in an ideal world, no showrunner or creator should cave to outside demands like that.

It happens all the time, but ideally…

[romelle]

Hello! I was wondering if you have any Lance and Shiro headcannons? I was rewatching Voltron and I think their friendship is really growing on me I find them very underrated haha

i agree!! their dynamic is something i’d definitely like to explore more in the fics i’ll write in the future, so here’s a start! 🤍💫✨

lance had a poster of shiro back at home. on his list of things to do after he gets back to earth, saying fuck you to rachel for teasing him about his dream to be on takashi shirogane's team is a close five

shiro: good job lance! you did really well out there

lance: don't i always ;-)

hunk, once shiro walks away: oh man, you're so gonna scream into your pillow about this later

pidge: which one of your childhood celebrity crushes is next? i bet joe jonas is coming up here just to compliment your singing

lance: not funny guys i literally cannot breathe

shiro really wants to help him through his bi crisis, but he doesn't know how to approach the topic... which is why he just keeps mentioning the fact that he's gay in casual conversations whenever he can. sometimes misunderstandings occur

lance, after shiro confides in him about missing adam: i totally get what you mean, man. i miss my wife and kids all the time

shiro: aren't you seventeen?

lance: uh yeah? what does that have to do with- ooooooh. oh no. please don't tell me that adam is a real person

shiro: what? of course he is

lance: this is so embarrassing. i thought we were talking about our sims

after he gets over the initial embarrassment, lance totally turns this into an inside joke of sorts. shiro tries hard to keep a straight face, but actually he thinks it's hilarious

lance: so, shiro, from one DILF to another-

hunk, putting his glass down: have you guys tried the thinking before we speak. i thought that the thinking before we speak was lovely

once they do have a talk about the bi thing, it goes really great!! lance is, however, still super nervous about it at first. especially the part about his crush on keith, because hello! that's shiro's honorary little brother!

shiro: so i was talking to keith earlier

lance: sorry you had to go through that

lance: ...why are you bringing it up though. did he say something about me

shiro: he-

lance: wait no psh don't tell me haha it's not like i care! i don’t.

lance:

lance: but did he

once he gets comfortable enough to talk about it, though, he hardly ever stops

lance, over the comms: your brother looks gnc af

shiro, contemplating whether or not he should ask coran if he can block lance: you're insane

shiro interrupts almost all of lance's attempts to flirt with aliens, but secretly he's amazed because he's not at all good at romance and genuinely thinks some of lance's lines are cool. he writes a few of them down.

lance: shiro's like, my hero

keith, who knows that lance maintains a skincare routine even in space, has a regular sleeping schedule and isn't afraid to put himself out there romantically, while shiro lived off of nothing but pop-rock lollipops for three days until he got enough confidence to propose to adam: why

real shiro is a good leader and therefore actually cares for lance's strategic input & is very grateful for lance's ability to get the team to loosen up a bit at times! his validation means a lot to lance; anybody else ruffling his hair gets snapped at for "ruining his do", but when shiro does it lance almost tears up

shiro: patience yields focus

lance: (chuckles)

shiro, sighing: ok, what's so funny this time

lance: sorry, sorry. it's just that, i can't believe you actually invented your own version of live love laugh. can we hang that in the kitchen. can i embroider it on a pillow. can we-

shiro: (blocks him)

shiro does that old man thing where he mixes up all of his kids' names until he gets to the right one. every time it happens lance acts like its a grave offence and goes "oh ok! i guess that's where we stand huh!" until shiro apologises 

they usually hang out by doing calming activities like face masks or watching altean makeover shows, but they do also often train together!

keith: (walks in while lance & shiro are sparring)

lance: shiro you have to let me win.

shiro: i do?

lance: please, c’mon, i need him to think that i'm cool and strong and badass! be a bisexual ally

shiro: i don't know, lance. you already are all of those things, and i'm sure that keith can see that even without me meddling.

lance: do you want to give a long-ass best man speech if i marry him or not

shiro:

shiro: alright so what you're going to do is you're going to aim for my right side, and then i'll-

when they come to earth and visit lance's family, he insists on giving them all a house tour and accidentally forgets about his posters

shiro, looking at the wall above lance's bed: is that... me?

marco: yeah dude! lancey lance here had, like, a colossal crush on you since he was a kid. i'm just surprised it didn't come up

shiro, genuinely touched: i had no idea you felt this way, lance. of course, you're far too young for me, but i still really appreciate it and i think that-

lance: woah woah woah hold the phone!!! i do not have a crush on shiro anymore! you're like my dad now.

marco, snorting: ok, sure

lance, back turned to the door: i'm serious! look, if there's anyone i'm in love with, it's his brother!

shiro:

marco:

lance:

keith:

lance: he's standing at the door, isn't he

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Look the damage the lion swap and clone arc has done to the narrative and the plot and the characters has been discussed to death, but we don't talk enough about the damage specifically done to Black Lion's character and judgement

Black Lion of all should have known that Kuron is not Shiro and that Haggar is using him given that 1) It's a telepathic lion who can route through others brains and 2) HAS THE REAL SHIRO INSIDE OF IT!!!!

Like there's no way it didn't atleast suspected something was up, especially given the fact that it is the one who saved Kuron!!! And yet not once did it warn Keith or Kuron or literally anyone and go 'hey, something is not adding up! You might want to take a look?' And it certainly not because it actually cared for Kuron and wanted to give him a chance, no that certainly isn't the case considering it didn't even care that Kuron was killed off and his body was being used to revive Shiro, no not at all. Not Fucking At All!!!

And then the lion swap, good God i can't even- Black Lion is supposed to take someone who is level headed right? Wrong apparently, cause out of everyone it chose the impulsive loner guy who was currently having a mental breakdown. The guy known for dipping and doing whatever he thinks is right, and does infact doing exactly that which nearly killed all the teammates. Yeah that guy. Oh and by the way Black didn't even tell Keith that Shiro is in there, the guy he's having the breakdown over. It also just completely screwed up team roles in a way that team never really recovered from. There's that too

Can i be mean for a second?