#god I am so weak polyglots

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 58

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

The Value of a Moment by @a-fools-errand

When Lance’s previously obsolete skills in language suddenly become very useful, he finds himself wondering why aliens can’t account for the fact that humans, particularly him, need sleep and would prefer linear timelines. (Or: an Arrival AU because I love that movie)

yall OBSESSED does not begin to cover it. i have never read a fic where lance was so goddamn cool. and in like. the insanest of ways?? like of course lance is a polyglot but THIS....this is a whole new level. i havent even finished it fully yet but like god this thing is so fucking cool. if ur looking for a longfic stop looking

2. Rest Stop by @flaming-potato-arsonarson

Lance wasn't like the rest of the world. And he had never had a loving mother tell him it made him stronger for it. So he told himself, gathering up his courage and grit to face a world of winged humanity, when he, in fact, has no wings and turns into a mermaid instead. A world that wants him to die. So he'd keep this secret like a knife in his boot, a sharp weapon until he died on his own terms. Not because of who he was. Except, Team Voltron isn't so sure why Lance is all rough edges and sharp points about showing off his wings. Or acting like a member of the Flock in general. It's clear he cares for them, but he's never shown an intimate part of him. Until he has to.

oh god this has gotta be one of my CLASSIC fics. read it a few dozen times. i read it right when it came out, six ish years ago (goddamn), i can remember curling up in my old bunk bad and eating this up as the hours ticked by. i was HOOKED. my jaw was dropped my eyes were glued. could not get enough. if youre looking for mermaid lance with a twist....brother this is it

3. Looking for Rain by @thewriter2

Like most things, it starts with the little things: his smile, his confidence, his talent. Eventually, all these little things add up to one big thing that threatens to crash over them like a heavy rain. But, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe something beautiful would come from it. A 5+1 (really a 10+1) of Lance and Keith falling in love.

oh god guys..... @thewriter2 knows how to fucking haunt you. if a 10+1 (!!) isnt enough for you, i want you to know this line has been echoing in my head since i first read: "He looks at you like you’re a storm and he’s a desert desperate to drown." UM??? EXCUSE ME???? SIMILE OF ALL TIME ACTUALLY???? keith being so so visibly obviously in love with lance is my actual roman empire shit never leaves my mind

4. Astronauts by @thewriter2

When they entered the Blue Lion, Keith was Lance’s rival--the person Lance was working so hard to surpass. But slowly, Lance found himself thinking of Keith less as a rival and more as something close to a friend. So of course, Lance’s traitor of a heart decided that it would be Lance’s kind of friend that it would fall in love with.

tags to sell you: "keith is a dork but lance loves him anyway" (dorky keith my beloved), "hunk is an a+ friend" (yes he is), "lance is a lovesick fool" (yeah), and "allura is older sister goals" yes yes YES you get it. and like....while keith pov is my favourite to write by far, lances pov as he realises he is in love....that will always hold such a special special place in my heart

5. his own worth by frogsterz

In the middle of the conversation, Lance stops talking and no one notices. It’s not like he had been leading the conversation, for he hadn’t been, but somehow the fact that his lack of input or opinion isn’t noticed tightens the grip loneliness has on his heart. He looks down at his food, his face burning, his throat tightening up.

now usually anything but team as family isnt my deal. im not big on classic langst. but keith as a knight in shining armour.....what can i say i am weak willed. deeply. also " It’s what made it worse. I miss home and I miss being held and the rain, and I loved you. I thought you hated me." got me so bad got me WEAK like i have never recovered from that line and i doubt i ever will

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[embersrevived]

pssst... Julian would be Ilya Barbarossa (barbarossa means literally "red beard"... and quite ironically, the plague-doctor-jules mun is greek, like the Barbarossa brothers)

Credit: taken from Wikipedia article entry for Hayreddin Barbarossa

((Ahhh, how very intriguing!! Thank you so much for this fascinating tidbit, I had no idea actually! I’ll definitely have to research more / look into the Barbarossa brothers, and “Ilya Barbarossa” sounds so neat!! I love this, thank you so much for sharing!))

@your-dark-magic-man-mysterio / @plague-doctor-jules

[def-sol]

Helloooooo it is meeeeeee, your local WayV hooooooe, whatuuuuuuup 😂 the bad alive stages are killing me,,, how are you holding up these days, darling? Also random request but would you share your favorite like 5 or so things about Ten? (I’m low key wanted to say 10 but no pressure 😂) ~ Rai

Goin through it but trying to figure shit out, the usual life and self reflection stuff I guess 😬 I hope you're doing okay and staying hydrated!

I haven't watched all the stages yet because I can only handle so much of Ten being a demon in one day! Here's 10 things I love about him!

1. His vocals are so soft and angelic and pretty yet he's good at putting his emotion into it! When I heard Dream In A Dream I was absolutely smitten and then I saw the New Heroes mv and my heart did flips.

2. His art skills! I highkey wish he could design a tattoo or something for me. I absolutely love his drawings and the fact that he designed his own tattoos is so cool.

3. He's a polyglot! How cool is that!?

4. Dance. Do I even need to explain? He's easily one of the top dancers in the industry, he makes each work his own and fills it so full of life! He's fantastic at any style and you can just FEEL his love for it! I definitely recommend his hit the stage performances if you haven't seen them! Also his solo freestyle videos!? *chef kiss*

5. His many piercings, he always wears the prettiest jewelry and I might be a sucker for people that aren't afraid of pain enough to get that many (lookin at you Hongjoong and Changkyun)

6. He's a cat dad!!! Need I say more!?

7. His very quick wit and sarcasm

8. I know it's cheesy but I love his smile! He's got beautiful teeth and the way his eyes squint a little! Ugh my heart.

9. God tier work ethic. He doesn't half ass things, when he works he works HARD. We can definitely see the fruits of his labor!

10. The way he interacts with his brothers! His relationship with Yangyang is so cute and hilarious, I love that he basically treats Yangyang as his baby but also torments him and the others like a brother would! How close he was with Johnny and Taeyong was so precious and I miss their interactions a lot.

In conclusion: I am WEAK for this man.

[giscla-blog]

( SARAH BOLGER / FEMALE/SHE/HER ) LONDON WELCOMES GISELA HABSBURG, THE TWENTY-SEVEN YEAR OLD CROWN PRINCESS OF BAVARIA. I HEARD SHE IS DESCRIBED AS INTELLIGENT AND LOYAL BUT ALSO PASSIVE AND TACITURN.

hi! i’m roxanne ( 18, she/her, cst ) and this is my lil peach gisela! i’m working on her dossier/connections page, but in the meantime, here’s an intro! please like this post or send me a message if you would like to plot ( i truly am a bumbling idiot at the moment pls forgive me for any mistakes i literally forgot to put the second part of this sentence i’m gonna implode ) !

gisela is the only surviving child of the king of bavaria. of course, he would have preferred that a son survive him, but what can you do? however, he is over the moon about his daughter’s engagement to the heir to the richest country in europe.

gisela is often referred to as the ‘pride of bavaria’, for this sole reason. she is its only ( legitimate ) hope for continuity. when her father dies ( and to be totally honest, it’s not looking too good for him in the coming years ), gisela will become queen, but only under the terms that she marry. she cannot be an unmarried queen. some are concerned that, in the event that she does become queen, that bavaria will be ruled by a foreigner ( aka her husband ). thus, some are calling for her to sign a regency, and her mother would act as queen regent on her behalf.

gisela often remarks to herself that “i am my father’s pride, but she is my father’s joy”. the ‘she’ in question refers to her father’s string of mistresses that could satisfy his sexual appetite and that bore gisela many illegitimate siblings. she is jealous of her brothers that spend a lot of time with their father, as he clearly favors them over her; thus, she constantly reminds herself that he will be proud of her once she is married.

since she was born, she knew that she would never hold any power that she did not marry into. and she was educated accordingly. under her mother’s careful supervision, she was raised to impress and charm suitors with her many talents in academics and the arts.

in the arts, she was well-versed in court dances and singing, and was considered a virtuoso of the violin and piano among her tone-deaf peers. ( as an adult, she doesn’t sing or dance for pleasure. she only dances as a means of strategy. she does find solace in her instruments, though. ) academically, she excelled in many areas. ( of course, she was never taught politics or constitutional law or economics, as those matters would never be important to her. ) however, she was fascinated with languages. well, it was partially forced on her; if she was to marry a foreign royal, she should be able to not only communicate in his language, but also seduce. as a result, she is a polyglot. ( a full list of languages can be found in her dossier. ) in spite of her mother’s insistence that she learn as many languages as she could, gisela found that she had an affinity for it, and learned many languages on her own.

though she found things about it that she enjoyed, gisela grew to despise court life. it was especially lonely, as she was an only child. her playmates were merely the children of the courtiers trying to get closer to the king. as a result of spending a lifetime surrounded by women bounded in corsets, gisela grew to adore her father, though she rarely spent time with him.

her family is slightly controversial because bavarians are traditionally catholic. though her grandfather broke away from the catholic church years ago, many europeans are still convinced that it’s just a facade and that bavaria is still loyal to rome. this may be true about some bavarian royalty and nobility, but gisela herself is a devout protestant. part of the reasoning behind gisela’s betrothal to george is to strengthen bavaria’s alliances with non-catholic countries.

ah yes, the betrothal. no one had expected her to be betrothed to the heir to the english throne. in the very least, many thought that she would marry another german prince. perhaps a prince from outside of the german confederation. for years since her eighteenth birthday, eligible princes paraded through the bavarian court. all of them perfect, but not perfect enough. gisela was taunted by her increasing age and the decreasing age of her father’s mistresses. ( “younger than she are happy mothers made,” people would snide in the hallways. )

objectively, george and gisela are a perfect match. he is a prince, an heir to a throne. she is a princess, also an heir to a throne. he is anglican. she is protestant. he is young and healthy. she is young and fertile. what more could someone want out of a marriage?

gisela is actually extremely wary of this marriage. the engagement was quite sudden; overnight, actually. they’ve been formally engaged for quite sometime now, and her father’s declining health has forced gisela to make a trip to london, she wants to win his affection, mostly for everyone else’s sake but hers. for her father, so he can pass with peace of mind. for george, for the sake of successful childbearing, ifyaknowwhatimean. ( that, and her biggest fear is that he will turn to mistresses, like her father. in addition to that, she’d also simply like to be his friend. ) for her mother, because she knows that her weak heart can’t handle the throne. she wants so desperately to make everything easier for everyone!

although, even though she’s here to be a catalyst for progress in their engagement, she can’t gauge how it’s going to go. they’ve not corresponded a lot, and any interaction was severely supervised and choreographed. like i said, she yearns for his affection ( again, not for herself, but for everyone else ) but would settle for his companionship. she is naive to the nuances of romantic love, and is no seductress.

truly, if u deadass got to the end of this god bless ya