#haven’t written sappy klance in a minute it was high time

[autisticlancemcclain]

Keith stares.

Constantly.

He always has. Even at the Garrison, Lance can remember him just staring. Endlessly. Like he was looking right through you, or like he was staring straight into your soul. Sometimes both at once. He’d never spoken one word to Lance before they went to space, but Lance remembers that stare with complete clarity. (Probably because he was on the other end of it more than he’s willing to admit, with all his attempts to get Keith’s attention.)

The staring doesn’t stop when they get to space. It doesn’t stop when they accept their roles as teammates, when Keith finally starts participating in their (totally justified!) rivalry, when they begrudgingly decide that maybe they can peel back on the arguing, a little. When they realise how well they work together. When they start working together on purpose, and some of those stares come with a small smile, a quirk of the lips, really, that brightens indigo eyes and shows the tiniest peek of crooked incisors. (When tragedy strikes, and the stare is blank. After tragedy, when the stare only gets blanker, and they don’t talk about what happens next but when Lance comes into his room after days of no response, sits with him quietly, brushes the tangles out of his hair and reminds him there are still reasons for him to get up. When they really become a team, just the two of them, red and black and the leader and his right hand.)

When the stares only gets softer and softer, and when Lance is the subject of them more and more frequently.

“What?” Lance snaps one day, frustrated and embarrassed and tired of being the only one that Keith looks at so closely. “What are you even looking at? You’re always staring at me, man, like you’re trying to fuckin’ read my soul, or something. It’s weird.”

Lance feels bad as soon as he says it. It’s defensive and mean and he tenses, preparing for Keith’s upcoming scowl, the argument.

But it doesn’t come.

Instead Keith smiles. Not one of his quick ones, a barely-there quirk of the lips, but a real grin, wide enough to make his eyes squint and face brighten. The fondness bleeds from him; Lance couldn’t miss it if he was the densest person alive.

Slowly, like he’s given Lance time to back away, he reaches foreword and tucks Lance’s hair behind his ears, even though it’s too short for that and doesn’t do anything, even though it’s clearly all about the gesture, an excuse to touch Lance gently.

Lance’s breath stutters on his inhale. Keith doesn’t pull away, resting his hand on the side of Lance’s cheek, not quite cupping it but not quite not cupping it, either.

“God, I’m so lucky,” Keith murmurs, almost too quiet for Lance to hear. (But no. Not impossible. Keith could’ve said it at one decibel and Lance would have strained himself to injury trying to hear it.)

“What?” Lance asks hoarsely, well aware his face is flaming.

Keith only smiles wider. “How could I not stare at you?” he asks, like Lance isn’t losing his whole mind.

Lance clears his throat. Then again, and again. And a fourth and fifth time for good measure because what the fuck.

“Keith, what — what’s going on —”

“I am so lucky,” Keith repeats, firmer this time. He has the same stupid look on his face, like he cannot help but he besotted with Lance, somehow. He opens his mouth again and Lance knows that if he has to hear whatever mushy thing Keith has cooked up then he is going to melt into a puddle of flaming goo. Lance shoots out and slaps his hand over Keith’s mouth.

“Stop speaking,” he orders, face flaming. “Explain what the hell has gotten into you.”

“Those are opposite instructions,” Keith says, muffled, because he is a jerk. His eyes are sparkling in amusement.

“I am going to whoop your ass, Kogane.”

“Fine, fine.” He pulls Lance’s hand off his face and then links it in his, holding them in his lap. He rubs his thumb over Lance’s knuckles as he speaks. “You remember the mall food court? Two days ago?”

Lance tilts his head. “Yeah?” He doesn’t know what the hell that has to do with anything. They had a supply run a couple days ago, loading up on cleaning mods and food supplies and million other things, and he and Keith had stopped for lunch at the food court slash restaurant.

“You, uh, you remember that waiter?”

Lance frowns, trying to picture a waiter. All he can really remember is how Keith had laughed so hard at one of his jokes that soda had spewed out of his nose. He feels bad, but he can’t picture their waiter at all.

“No?”

Keith scowls. It’s such a stark difference from his sappy look before that it’s startling. “That weirdo, stuck up shithead who wouldn’t leave you alone. He called you pretty boy three separate times.”

Vaguely, Lance remembers some light flirting as the waiter set down the cheque. He can’t even picture the guy’s face.

“I mean, not really. I get called pretty boy a lot.”

He hadn’t meant it as a joke, but it makes Keith laugh. He looks relieved, like he’s been worrying about Lance and the waiter.

Like he’d been jealous.

The sappy look is back on his face. “Just made me think, is all.”

Lance’s throat is dry again. The air is charged, and Keith is staring again, eyes tracing every inch of Lance’s face.

Something is going to change tonight. He can feel it.

“Think about what?”

He’s leaned closer without realising. Keith smiles, noticing, and his hand comes back up to Lance’s cheek. This time he cups it blatantly, running the edge of a calloused thumb over Lance’s cheekbones.

“How lucky I am,” he murmurs, repeating his sentiment from earlier, “that we’ve got such a pretty boy on our team. On my team.”

Lance face flames. His first instinct is to deny it, vehemently, to ask Keith what the hell his deal is. Something ugly rears in his head, something hurt — how dare Keith make fun of him like that. How dare he mess with Lance about something he’s sensitive about.

But there’s not an ounce of meanness on Keith’s face. He’s looking at Lance in a way that can only be reverent, like Lance is the only person on the castle, the only person ever.

He remembers all of a sudden that Keith is the most honest person he knows. Keith, who can’t lie if he tries, who’s emotions are written all over his face all the time, who’s easy to rile up because he wears his heart on his sleeve, who puts every ounce of effort he has into everything he does. Who fights this war even though it’s hard for him because he loves everyone so much.

Lance blinks, and is more surprised than he should be to find his face wet. Keith’s face creases a little in concern, and he gently wipes the tears from Lance’s cheek.

“What’s wrong?”

Lance laughs wetly, more incredulous than anything.

“Mullet, if you don’t kiss me right this fucking second —”

Keith laughs. He doesn’t hesitate a second more, leaning in and pressing his lips to Lance’s, gently at first, then like he can’t get enough.

His eyes are closed, as he kisses.

Lance almost misses the staring.

[sage-nebula]

I'm gonna ask Klance as I can't swing a cat without hitting 12 things tagged with that lol

Frrsajfddajgda I KNOW, RIGHT?? Like ffffff, I have nothing against the ship on principle (and more on that in a second), but I actually do have it in my tumblr savior because I could not go into Keith’s tag without seeing KLANCE, KLANCE EVERYWHERE and it got really tiring. I kid you not, once I added it into my Savior I once had a page with just one visible post because everything else was Klance. Jesus. 

But anyway, to talk about the ship itself . . .

Again, I have nothing against it on principle. I don’t ship it, really, but I don’t mind it either. I think that, if written well, it could be interesting and fun and even cute. The problem is, I feel like it’s really . . . really hard to find it written well.

My main issue---and part of the reason why I wanted to stop seeing it so much all the time---is that I feel like, since it’s such a juggernaut ship, at this point it’s become kind of removed from the characters and who they actually are, versus how fandom at large wants them to be. If you watch the actual show, there really isn’t anything romantic about Keith and Lance’s interactions. They’re certainly not the type to call each other “sweetheart” and “baby,” or otherwise act very sappy and in love. But fandom wants them to be like that---they want to believe that one or both of them are pining for the other, that everyone in the castle ships it (and has shipping it as their #1 priority, depending on the work), that this is some grand love story and that, if it doesn’t end up canon, the writers were queerbaiting (when, no, they haven’t been---there’s literally nothing in canon to suggest that this ship is going to be official). It’s to the point where the fandom is so large and so vehement that fanon has superseded canon for many people. Rather than viewing the characters as they actually are in the original work, fandom has decided that they prefer their versions of the characters. And when fandom realizes this, that’s okay (albeit not my cup of coffee), but I think that, by and large, fandom has a hard time realizing it. That’s why you get situations where the shippers harass the creators and voice actors and whoever else on Twitter (which, yes, has happened, apparently---it’s as bad as Steven Universe fandom, ffs).

Even setting aside the absolutely horrendous behavior of some of the shipping base, however, the mischaracterizations are really just not my thing. I like these characters because I like these characters, and so when they act super OoC for the sake of a fanart, fic, or whatever else, I immediately lose interest. I get that people do change how they behave around someone once they become romantically involved (to an extent---their personality shouldn’t do a complete 180), but I’ve seen so many fanworks that supposedly take place in the canon timeline where Lance and/or Keith are so OoC they’re barely recognizable. I remember seeing one fic where Shiro seriously injured / killed(?) Keith (what the fuck tbh), and Lance was crying over him and calling him “sweetheart” and whatnot and I just . . . no. That’s not Lance. It’s not Shiro, either (even though it was an accident on Shiro’s part, to be fair), but that’s really not Lance. When you get to the point that the characters are unrecognizable, why are you even writing fanfiction? What is it that you really want? Is it that you actually want these characters, as they are, to be together, or is it that you just think they’re pretty and want them to fill the tropes that you’ve already become attached to from other fanworks (/yaoi manga)?

I also have an issue with the fact that so many Klance works I’ve seen treat Keith as basically a prop or accessory to make Lance look / feel special. Like, it’s not necessarily that Keith is outright bashed (though I’ve seen that too, and it’s pretty disgusting), but it’s more like they want him pining after Lance as a way to make Lance seem super cool and amazing because he clearly has to be if Keith is pining after him! Or there are instances where like, Keith is the one to stay behind and fret and worry while Lance is out there running dangerous missions all the time (when, in all honesty, why wouldn’t they be on missions together?), or Keith obviously is just the supportive trophy boyfriend who wants Lance to be the leader, etc etc, you get the idea. And I’m not the only one who has noticed this; there was a post someone made a little bit ago about this very issue, where OP actually talked about how they’re a very passionate Klance shipper, but they’ve seen a “a disturbing number of Klance fics” (their words) where Keith is bashed. Keith is my favorite character, so obviously I’m going to have a real issue with Keith being mistreated (whether that’s bashing him or treating him as a trophy / prop to make Lance look better), but even if he wasn’t my favorite I feel like that sort of behavior is garbage. Why ship a ship in which you treat one of the characters horribly? Why are you using Keith as a prop or trophy for Lance? And why would you think Lance, even though he does see Keith as a rival, would want that? (/ why would you think Keith would tolerate it, because again, he’s not the type to stay home and fret while someone he loves does something dangerous---he would be throwing himself into the conflict right alongside them, tbqh).

So I have a lot of issues with how the ship is treated in fandom, and I’m tired, too, of the fact that it’s everywhere to the point where it’s essentially The Ship™ and so it’s present even in things that have nothing to do with it (like Broganes content that comes with a side of Klance out of nowhere, like, sometimes I just want Broganes, can we just focus on that, please?). But that’s more fatigue, rather than actual dislike.

But that said, as far as the ship itself and potential for it goes . . .

Again, if I look at it from a canonical perspective (i.e. if I see these characters how they actually are in canon versus how fandom wants them to be), then I really don’t mind it, and could even like it if it was developed properly. The way I see it is:

To begin with, I see Keith as asexual. His romantic orientation is up in the air; I haven’t decided, and I think that Keith hasn’t had the time nor inclination to really think about it either, because he’s been through too much in his life + is waaaaaaaaay too high-key stressed at the moment to even begin to think about it. Certainly there’s no way he was thinking about it throughout season two, when he was so preoccupied with the thought that he might be Galra (he is) and finding out the truth of his heritage. So even setting aside his orientation, I think that there’s absolutely no way that Keith has feelings for anyone in canon at the moment. I do like the idea of some Keith ships (for instance, I think that Keith/Hunk has potential to be pretty damn cute), but I think that, right now, Keith is just not in the right headspace for a romantic relationship, and it’s not even on his radar. He’s not pining for anyone, Lance or otherwise. He has way too much on his plate right now for that to be the case. I also feel that, similarly, he wasn’t pining for Lance (or anyone) prior to season two, either. Even when he was less stressed / had less going on . . . I mean, let’s be honest, here: Keith didn’t even remember who Lance was in the first episode. It took him a minute before he remembered, “Oh yeah, you were a cargo pilot, weren’t you?” Keith’s interactions with Lance never gave me the idea that he had some massive crush on him. Even his, “We had a bonding moment!!” only really counts toward friendship, because he spoke similarly to the Red Lion (“I’m BONDING WITH YOU” --- oh Keith, that’s not how bonding or friendships work). So as far as canon goes, I don’t think that Keith has a crush on or feelings for Lance. I just don’t.

Lance, on the other hand, I see as bisexual, but I think that he thinks he’s straight, and I think (though note that this is headcanon) that this is part of the reason why he’s so insistent on flirting with pretty much every woman (or female-like alien) that crosses his path. Lance is pretty much closeted even to himself, so he acts aggressively heterosexual in order to try and maintain that denial. Eventually, as he becomes more comfortable with who he is as a person, he’ll come to accept this part of himself as well and that will help him tone down the insistent womanizing, but until then, he’s pretty much bisexual in denial. He’s trying really, really hard to convince himself (and everyone else) that he’s straight.

So that said, I could see him having a crush on Keith, particularly since we know for a canonical fact that he was very attentive to Keith prior to the show even beginning, to the point where he easily picked him out through binoculars in the first episode and ran hell for leather in after him. Yeah, it was all under the guise of “NO I’M NOT LETTING HIM WIN THIS ONE!1!!” but god, how much time did he spend staring at Keith to be able to recognize him like that, despite the fact that Keith had the lower half of his face covered with a bandanna? That’s suspicious af, Lance. Suspicious af. I think that with Lance’s feelings toward Keith, it’s a bit complicated. I do think that some of his rivalry, and some of his desire to chase after / catch up to / surpass Keith is genuine. I think that Lance sees Keith as this amazing goal to chase after, and he gets himself fired up in chasing that goal because it motivates him to keep working and to try harder. Everything seems to come naturally to Keith (from Lance’s perspective), like Keith never struggles, and that simultaneously inspires and pisses Lance off, because Lance works hard for what he gets (even though he wants it to be effortless), and so for Keith to (seemingly) have everything come naturally to him, that makes Lance want to work three times as hard to surpass him.

But at the same time, I also think that there’s a measure there where . . . Lance WANTS Keith to be The Ace, he WANTS Keith to be amazing, he LOVES that about him. Like, again, it’s half inspiration, half anger; he doesn’t actually hate Keith, he doesn’t actually resent Keith, and posts that talk about Lance being an antagonist if Keith becomes the Black Paladin because Lance would never follow him are absolute bullshit because a.) Lance has already taken direction from Keith in the show (last episode of season two), and b.) Lance doesn’t actually hate / resent Keith ffs, he just uses his rivalry with Keith as motivation to push himself to be better. But for that to work, Keith has to be at the top of his game. I think that a lot of people see Lance’s hostile attitude toward Keith dropping out as some resentment / bitterness for Iverson only saying that he (Lance) was in the program because “the best pilot in your class washed out,” and I do think that it’s true that Lance is hurt by Iverson saying that. However, I also think that Lance might have taken Keith’s dropping out personally because . . . Keith was supposed to be the best. He was supposed to be at the top of his game and here he is, dropping out, what the fuck? So he’s super hostile and aggressive toward Keith at first because Keith sort of dropped the ball on being a goal to chase. Meanwhile, Keith is just like “I don’t even know who tf you are” at first, which makes matters worse, haha.

All of this is to say---I do think, certainly, that there’s potential for Lance to have a crush on Keith, that he saw Keith as a sort of goal to chase, as a rival, but also that he couldn’t help but be attracted to that, that he couldn’t help but find Keith extremely, extremely cool (and, though he ignores this part of his brain, damn pretty, too). Keith and Allura have a lot in common in terms of personality, and so it’s possible that the parts of Allura that attract Lance (personality-wise) are the exact same traits that Keith has, and therefore Lance projects his crush on Keith onto Allura, because again, he’s in denial about his sexuality, it’s easier for him to hit on Allura than it is for him to hit on Keith. And it’s extremely possible that his feelings could grow stronger as he gets to know Keith better, though at the moment I still see it as a crush that Lance hasn’t even allowed himself to really acknowledge, because he’s not quite in the right head-space for it at the moment, either.

I could see this relationship working over time, particularly if we got to a point where Keith is the leader of Voltron (I still want Shiro back in the immediate future, though), and Lance is his right-hand. They work really well together as a team and I think that, out of everyone else on the team, Lance is best suited to be Keith’s right-hand, to back him up in terms of leadership. I could truly see them growing closer in this context, could truly see them coming together and, perhaps when things have calmed down and Keith has more of his life in order, he could develop romantic feelings for Lance as well. It’s definitely possible, just not right now.

So yeah, I have nothing against this ship in terms of the characters themselves, but my feelings on it are certainly complicated thanks to the fandom and I don’t really ship it, haha. Maybe someday, but not right now.

(Though some of the art is really pretty, I will give the fandom that.)