#maybe blue was looking for her before he got wormholed

[autisticlancemcclain]

Eighteen (Crazy) Ch. 7

The first thing they do when they get back to the Castle is plop their asses down to the kitchen and fucking devour some food goo. (Seriously, it’s borderline animalistic – they haven’t eaten in several hours, and it has been such a busy day – even the nasty food goo suddenly became the most delicious thing in the universe.)

After everyone has had a couple bowls, conversation starts to pick up, now that no one’s main focus is sustenance above all else. 

“Are there any more locations on the list?” Pidge asks. 

“One more!” Lance answers. “We’re gonna need to wormhole, I think. But it’s the last location, and so long as the galaxy is pretty quiet and calm we should be able to station there for a bit. I’m sure we’ll want to do some training tomorrow.”

Allura nods, grabbing her dishes and heading over to the sink. “Sounds like a plan. Is everyone ready to take off?” 

Various murmurs of agreement and one fully loaded dishwasher later, everyone sits safely buckled up in their stations on the bridge. Allura takes no time in wormholing (Keith has always wished the process would take a little longer, though. Not because he wants it to be more taxing on the Alteans, or anything, obviously, but the whole thing is just so cool and Keith would love to watch it for a little longer. Oh, well. Maybe he’ll get more information if he remembers to ask Coran, later – he always makes a mental note of it and forgets immediately), dropping them off in front of a new planet very quickly. 

“This is another really specific set of coordinates,” Lance explains. “We’ll need to take Blue again to get all the way there.”

On the walk back to Blue, Keith jogs ahead to catch up to Lance. Lance grins over at him immediately, setting off a flurry of butterflies in Keith’s stomach. (He hopes he never gets used to how Lance’s smile makes him feel.)

“You excited?” Keith asks, because there’s nothing he wants to talk about with Lance specifically, but he likes being near him. He itches to link their hands together, but he’s not yet sure that’s allowed. 

“Yeah! I’ve been having fun all day, but it got better when all of you guys joined in.” Lance does what Keith was too anxious to do – he reaches over, grabbing Keith’s left hand in his right, interlocking their fingers. He does it smoothly, in one motion. Practiced.

His hands are sweaty, though. And his ears are red.

Keith smiles.

“I’m glad,” Keith says softly, and they don’t say anything more. 

Lance squeezes their hands together once before letting go as he settles into the pilot’s chair in Blue’s cockpit, and the laser focus Keith had on their joined hands fades a little, and he can hear the rest of the team behind him for the first time since he left their bridge. They’re giggling, because of course they are. Keith rolls his eyes, but he can’t deny that their obvious support loosens some of the nervousness tangled in his chest. 

The giggles taper out as they arrive at the final location, right in front of the mouth of the most massive caves Keith has ever seen. No one says anything for a few moments, just kind of taking it in – it’s several times the size of the Castle, at least, and it’s so dark that Blue’s powerful headlights don’t even make a dent. 

“Well, it’s a good thing our helmets have those light thingies,” Lance says, and he’s off before anyone can stop him. Keith doesn’t hesitate to scramble after him, much to Shiro’s exasperation. 

Lance waits for them at the mouth of the cave, tapping his foot impatiently. “It’s like you guys don’t even want to come,” he complains. 

A foam dart hits him in the nose before he even has the chance to finish his sentence. 

“Stop complaining about dumb things,” Pidge orders, holding a dinky little plastic gun at Lance. Lance looks so comically offended that Keith can’t help it and snorts heavily. 

“You just – shot! Me! On my birthday! Where did you even get – a fucking nerf gun! A goddamned real fucking dookie nerf gun! Why!” 

Keith wheezes, doubling over. He’s not the only one. 

“Oh, fuck you guys.” Keith doesn’t need to look up to know Lance is scowling. 

“Your – your face –” Pidge gasps. 

“I’m uninviting you to my birthday party. Y’all can go home. I’ll explore this cool cave by myself. Goodbye.”

Lance stomps off into the deep emptiness of the cave, thin frame quickly swallowed up by the darkness. 

“Aw, Lance, c’mon,” someone coos, but there’s no answer. 

“Lance?” Allura calls, a bit of an edge to her voice. 

Still no answer. 

“Lance?” Shiro yells, louder, and transparently anxious. 

Silence. 

Keith is the next to call out, jogging quickly into the cave. “Lance!”

He’s the first of the rest of the team to enter the cave, not that it matters – once he’s about three metres in, there’s a bend in the massive corridor, and he can’t see a damn thing. 

“Lance! Can you hear me? La –”

“Boo!”

Keith shrieks at the top of his lungs, desperately batting away the thing gripping his arms. He scrambled away a couple feet, hands flailing, heart pounding, before he registers the absolutely howling laughter ringing through the cavern. His face drops. 

“Oh, fuck you.”

“You – you screamed –”

He can’t see him, but Keith is certain the asshole Blue Paladin is just as hunched over as he was earlier. 

“Double fuck you,” he scowls, quickly messaging the rest of the team to inform them that Lance is fine, and simply a dick-for-brains. 

“Do – do you think –” Lance catches Keith eyes and starts wheezing all over again. This time, Keith really has to fight back his smile. “Do you think you could walk back out so I can scare you again?”

“I think you and I better get going before Shiro’s space Xanax wears off and he wraps your dumb ass in bubble wrap.”

“You’re right,” Lance whispers, teasing and conspiratory. His brown eyes shine darker than they’ve ever looked, in the dim light of their helmet lights. He grabs Keith’s hand again, fingers curling around Keith’s, and all of the pining and the nerves and the oh-my-God-does-he-like-me-back and realises – hey. This is Lance. Lance who is his friend, Lance who is funny and dramatic and playful and ridiculous.

Lance who is yanking him forward, yelling “Run!” at the top of his lungs, just as the rest of the team comes stumbling in somewhere behind them. 

Keith runs. How could he not? 

He and Lance sprint down the dark hallways of the cave, laughing and leaning into each other, barely missing running straight into walls every time there’s a bend. They lose the rest of the team easily, both of them easily ignoring the messages popping up every two seconds on their comms (it’s just Pidge texting ‘losers’ again and again). After what must be ten minutes of straight sprinting, Keith has to call it. 

“Hey, hey – hey. Longlegs. Cool it a minute, will you? I feel like my lungs are trying claw out of my chest.”

“Fine,” Lance sighs dramatically, flopping onto Keith. “I guess if you can’t keep up…”

Keith rolls his eyes. He is so not taking the bait for that one. He and Lance are pretty evenly matched in most places, and Keith can kick his ass in others, but Lance has got them all beat in the speed department. 

“How about those coordinates, huh?” he says instead. “You said they were specific?”

“Yes!” Lance says brightly. “I wonder what Future Me has kickin’ in a cave. I mean, caves are cool, but I wouldn’t usually seek them out, y’know? Well, I did when I was a kid, but time is spooky in caves and I was in there for nineteen hours once without realising so my family reported me missing –”

Lance swings their hands between them as they walk, chattering from story to story, fast as a whip. Keith soaks in every word, asking all the right questions at the right times. 

God, Keith loves him so much. 

“Hey, I think it’s starting to get a little brighter in here,” Keith comments. 

Lance hums. “Kinda like Blue’s cave. Remember that?”

“Yep. I specifically remember you driving me insane.”

“I’m very good at that. You’re easy to rile up.”

“Butthead.”

“Goober.”

“Boogerbrain.”

“Gooseface – woah.”

The slow brightening of the cave corridors suddenly makes sense – Lance’s coordinates have led them to a wide open space, sunlight somehow pouring in from everywhere, waterfall gently cascading down into a beautifully blue lake. 

Lance gasps loudly, taking in the scene with a dropped jaw, and then he whoops, quickly pulling up Allura’s contact on the comm. 

“Everyone! Get in here! There’s a waterfall!”

Before anyone on the team even has half a second to respond, he’s hanging up and laughing maniacally as he drags Keith to the lake. Keith pulls his hand free, stopping him.

“Last one in is on dish duty for a week,” he says, and before Lance can process he sprints off. 

“Hey! Not fair!”

But Lance is laughing again, too surprised to run properly, jumping in the lake right after Keith, armour and all. 

“You’re crazy,” he tells Keith. He grabs Keith’s face gently, looking into his eyes, pretending at seriousness. “It’s a condition. You will never be cured. Thoughts?”

“One,” Keith says. He carefully plucks off his helmet, then Lance’s, tossing them onto the dry ground. Then he mirrors Lance's position, hands on his cheek, pulling him close. He leans close, tilting his head slightly, hearing the faintest uptick of Lance’s breath as their lips get closer and closer –

Lance’s hand clamps over his mouth. 

“Wait,” he whispers. 

“Why,” Keith whispers back. Lance’s face is rosy, and he keeps smiling and glancing away. It’s so cute that Keith considers imploding. 

“It’s my birthday.”

“I’m aware, yes.”

“I take birthdays very seriously.”

“Yep. Fondly remembering the twelve layer cake you stressed baked for Hunk. You should get stressed more often when party planning.”

“Shut up. I’m making a point.”

Keith leans forward and tips their foreheads together, grinning openly now. “Then make it, Bluebell.”

“I’m just saying,” Lance huffs, “that if you kiss me, it will be very special.”

“That’s the idea.”

“And if you kiss me on my birthday, one of those things will be overshadowed. Both of those things are groundbreaking. They need their own days, you understand.”

“Alright,” Keith whispers. And because he can’t help himself, not when they’re so close, he presses a lingering kiss to Lance’s cheek. It makes him giggle. “I’ll kiss you tomorrow, then. Okay?”

“Okay. It’s a date.”

“Good.”

“Woah, Lance, you weren’t kidding!” 

At the sound of the rest of the team’s arrival – finally – Keith and Lance hold eye contact for the barest second, coming to a final agreement, and then immediately start their attack, trying their best to drown each other. The rest of the team joins in immediately, yelling and laughing and choking when someone forgets their strength and drowning nearly occurs. At one point, they decide to play chicken, Lance, Pidge, and Keith sitting on Hunk, Allura, and Shiro’s shoulder and trying to shove each other off, Coran refereeing. 

“Future Me nails it again,” Lance says, when they’re all drying off on the lake-bed. 

“Yeah,” Keith agrees. He reaches over and grabs Lance’s hand, squeezing three times in quick succession. “You did. 

[jpitha]

Soon after Kelly arrived, war was declared.

She and her parents transferred to the joint Human/K'laxi starbase because of Kelly's mom's work in the diplomatic corps. It was her first time leaving Parvati and she was super excited. She had heard that there was a side effect some people experienced when going though a wormhole, but she didn't notice anything. One moment she was looking out the window at her planet, then there was a flash of white light and she was in the inky blue black of space.

She had seen K'laxi before of course, there were plenty who came to Parvati work work or live or take a vacation, but this was her first time being in close contact with them. She was excited to make friends.

She was delighted to learn that her class was almost evenly split between humans and k'laxi. After school, Panemi, a K'laxi girl from her class ran up to her.

"Kelly! Did you hear the news?"

"No? What's up?"

"Oh, that's right, you just came aboard. The war's on!."

Kelly was taken aback. "War? With who? I thought we had good relations with the Xenni!"

Panemi shook her head, her earrings jingling as she did so. "No, not them silly. The people over on the sunward arm!"

"What?" Kelly felt hopelessly lost.

"Just...just come with me. You'll figure it out." She took Kelly's hand and led her down the hall.

When they got to the room, there was about a dozen kids, human and k'laxi milling about.

"Okay! I got the new girl!" Panemi yelled as she walked in. "We can begin!"

"Right." one of the human boys looked like the leader. He was a little older than Kelly, maybe a grade or two ahead. "James and Nermani have just come back and they say the the Sunward kids don't have any balloons made yet, so if we go now, we can surprise them."

"But Max, we don't have any balloons ready yet either." A human girl about the same age as Max spoke up from the back.

"Well then Mary, it sounds like we'd best get started. Everyone grab a handful of balloons and start filling them. Use the faucets in the commons that the gardeners use."

Panemi grabbed Kelly and they both went out into the gardens to fill balloons. "Do you get it now?" she said.

"It's a water balloon war!" Kelly sounded relieved. "But, will we get in trouble?"

"We haven't yet. Max says that Sunward and Planetward arms do this every year and have for a long time. It's just water and we don't fill them too full so it won't hurt anyone. You just get a little wet."

Kelly has done water balloon fights on the warm days back on Parvati; she knows how to fill and tie them. After a short time, they're all full in the cardboard box they brought, and they carry them back together.

"Done already? Nice work newbie." Max says as they come back in.

"Uh, Max?" Kelly began. "So, I've done water balloon fights back on Parvati, but have you given any thought about..." she paused. "...Artillery?"

Max raised his eyebrows. "Tell me more."

As the rest of the kids came back into the room, she explained. "Okay, so if we can get our hands on some synthetic rubber in strips we can weave a little basket on the end and have two people hold each end and someone put a balloon in the basket, pull it back, and launch it super far!"

"Kelly, that's brilliant!" Kelly beamed at the compliment. "Starbase?"

"Yes Max?" The Starbase answered immediately, coming in over the headset of everyone in the room.

"Two questions. One: Can the printers make synthetic rubber strips?" And Two: Can we have some to make some water balloon artillery?"

There was a pause of a few beats. "The printers can make synthetic rubber strips Max, and I'll allow you to print some on the condition that you don't make it too powerful. At full draw, you can't bruise. I'll explain to you how to make it like that..."

As Starbase explained the basics of creating a water balloon launcher to Max, Panemi looked at Kelly.

"That was such a good idea! You used to have water balloon wars back home?"

"Yeah, but they weren't this coordinated. This is a lot of fun though, thanks for inviting me along Panemi."

Panemi's fur rippled a small blush, but Kelly missed the meaning. She hadn't learned K'laxi body language yet. "You're welcome. It's so cool to have someone who grew up on a planet here! You have to tell me all about it. I grew up on the Starbase my whole life, I've never been planetside!"

"I'd love to tell you about it! Maybe you can come over to our quarters later and I'll show you photos."

Another blush, missed by Kelly. "I'd like that."

[chintara]

Lance VLD Fanfic Idea:

Remember that time when the wormhole destabilized? (Yeah I know this is used a lot, but if you got a better idea do it!)

Lance is spinning out of control, plummeting towards empty space at dizzying speeds. All he remembers is purple electricity, his team yelling in confusion, then shooting out of the ship at his current trajectory.

“Come on baby,” he grits out through clenched teeth, white knuckled as he works to help Blue equalize. “We got this, I got this, it’ll all be-”

Why did no one think to put seatbelts in the lions? Lance pushes up from his spot on the floor, kneeling to see what stopped his uncontrolled spinning. Neon lights flash over his view screen, and a sign on his left depicts an alien woman (maybe, he really doesn’t want to judge) made from lights, leaning back on a pole, tail “swaying” as the lights flash, and her four arms sensually flashing across her body.

“Please, don’t tell me,” he stands to get a better look, bellow him sprawls a metal city, flashing lights, fireworks, brightly colored aliens, and most worrying; more stripper adds topping buildings and floating outside doorways. “Pidge will never let me live this down.”

A couple things

Lance can’t get blue back online

This place is deep into the empire so there aren’t Voltron friendly

A brothel mother takes lance in

He starts as a server, but he spends so long there he needs to get an apartment

Stripping gives him good money

A blade of mammora finds lance, reports to kolivan

Team comes for lance, there was a time dilation (1 month lance = 1 day team)

Lance is there for a little over a year (12 1/2 days team)

Lance rejoins team, and uses his new skills to complete undercover missions, lipstick missions, and even trains some of the blade

This all makes Shiro uncomfortable, but lance is 18 so he can make his own decisions

Keith secretly loves it and when lance and him start dating, lance takes full advantage of his skills

Pidge loves to bring it up in front of Shiro and lance joins them in embarrassing their leader

Hunk spends time researching alien stds and acts as lances muscle on missions

Allura is hesitant about sending Lance on these missions at first (she still sees him as immature) but soon realises how much lance matured and the insane amount of info he can get from these missions

Coran briefs lance about alien anatomy and cultural beliefs before missions, and treats lance when things get too serious once, vowing to do anything to keep his adoptive son safe

Maybe a couple assassinations when he unlocks a pistol on his bayard

* Free for anyone to use, as long as I am credited *

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Like the answers! :D

1: if they were able to paint their faces, what would they paint? When I was little I got my face painted to look like Batman with the blue cowl 😂

2: do they do nostalgic kid stuff, like making noises in front of those plug in fans or play with those door stopper thingies?

3: are the duo the type to slide down a railing/stair banister? For slapstick comedy, I can see them accidentally fall sideways off of it or hitting the end piece crotch first XD

4: has there been a time where they accidentally spilt their pants or taking a energy beam blast, leaving them in their underwear? (Don’t know if this question is ok to answer, message me if this is ok)

5: what was their first cuss word? Either accidentally or purposely.

6: what’s your opinion on the tv show Superman & Lois? I have a few rewriting ideas that you might love ;)

1: the “twins” are much younger, like 8-10

2: the twins aren’t twins XD

3: the Jordan character is superboy Jon Kent who is a year younger. The Jonathan character is Chris Kent who pretty much a little of your version: blue heat vision, gets powers from moon, from the phantom zone (if it exists don’t remember)

4: the first season is about gangs somehow having kryptonian weapons, later it’s revealed it was brought from a wormhole from space similar to Chris’s arrival. The season finale reveals that Chris is a sleeper agent anytime he hears words similar to portals ( portal, dimension, phantom zone itself) for his father Zod.

5: the second season is about Zods invasion & at the end, Chris breaks free of the program due to his superfamily loves & for drama, snaps his neck like in man of steel, due to his “warrior blood”

@pin-crusher2000 Glad you do, now here’s some more of them lol

1) For Jake, I can see the aforementioned Batcowl around his eyes and forehead while for Chris on the other hand, he’d probably would get two matching blue dragons on each side of his cheeks and a House of El S logo on the space between his eyebrows, just being a bit experimental

2) I can see the Duo probably jump on the couch if they’re especially bored (though remembering to put it back together after they’re done), be a little silly and wacky with their Lego sets, have some soda drinking contests and maybe as established before roleplay as warriors from their planet’s past akin to say tag or hide and seek in a way.

3) Mostly likely Jake alone would be doing that since Chris can conversely can float down the stairs for funsies instead. As for comedic mishaps, Jake on his try did indeed accidentally fall off sideways upon making it to the bottom, thankfully he wasn’t badly hurt but now he knows to adjust his balance better afterwards.

4) Actually if they do sustain damage to their outfits, I envision it being for more dramatic and painful reasons than comedic ones, mainly a result of bad beat downs the Duo would get from supervillains on their similar power level. It’s actually more common for them to have their boots shredded off by massive energy blasts and explosions or missing one of two gloves after saving the day. So yeah, nothing too comedic on this case

5) Chris: “Oh hell”; accidentally when he was six and after hearing Lois say it so many times when things went wrong for her. He said it out loud during a time the family were watching Clark trying to fight back against Solaris The Tyrant Sun and it was going badly

Jake: “Son of a Dick!”; On purpose when he’s about five when trying to float of the ground because his powers hadn’t kicked in yet.

6) Oh I like it for what it is just fine but I’ll freely admit those rewrite ideas are REALLY something that they should go for one day. Especially the one of Chris being an unintentional sleep agent for Zod and later fighting back as a season finale. (Chefs Kiss)

I love that SO much XD

[rubymoon-snape]

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron Defender of the Universe, Voltron Force, or Voltron Legendary Defender.

Summary: DotU Allura falls asleep and is able to see into two alternate realities.

Author Note: This is Kallura (DotU and VF but not VLD). The scenes DotU Allura sees takes place in Season 2 of VLD between episodes 9 and 12 and Season 1 of VF between episodes 19 and 20.

"Seeing Into Other Realities"

Allura was snuggled up against her husband, not minding his bare chest at all. She loved being close to him, and sleeping against him gave her a feeling of safety and love. She knew her sleeping in his arms allowed him to relax and sleep, even if it was just one arm wrapped around her waist. At that moment as she was drifting off to sleep, she could feel the gentle pressure of Keith's head against hers.

%%%

Allura opened her eyes and looked around, slightly confused. She wasn't in bed or even in her castle anymore. She wasn't even sure she was on her planet anymore.

"On your left, Lance!"

"Thanks, Keith! You've got one at 6!"

"Good eye, Sharpshooter."

Allura turned around at hearing the voices and was faced with seven individuals that were familiar and not familiar at the same time. She noticed that they didn't seem to be able to see her, so she took her time in looking at them.

She didn't recognize the one in the black armor at all, but the ones in the red, blue, green, and yellow armor were similar enough to her fellow pilots to hazard a guess at who was who. However, the two others on the bridge were completely unfamiliar to her, so unless someone said their names, she couldn't even attempt to guess.

The female in the center smiled. "Well done, Paladins. You repelled the Galra again. Coran, set some coordinates, and I'll wormhole us away from here."

"Yes, Princess." The orange haired male replied, working on some holographic screens. "Course laid in."

Allura didn't pay attention to the entire procedure as her gaze was drawn to the one in red. He was definitely Keith, but this Keith's eye color was different than hers. Her Keith had black eyes, whereas this one had purple. It was definitely a pretty color, but she was confused as to where her counterpart was. However, if the orange haired male was Coran and he addressed the female as princess, it could mean the female was her counterpart, but why wasn't she and her Keith closer or even speaking to each other? Maybe they hadn't realized their feelings for each other?

"Good job, Shiro. You took out a large portion of fighters. Lance, you defended the aft portion of the particle barrier admirably."

"I do my best, Princess," Shiro replied.

"Thanks, pretty lady," Lance responded with a wink.

"Hunk, Pidge, you two were a wonderful team, watching each other's backs."

"Thanks, Allura," Pidge replied, and Hunk echoed her sentiment.

Allura (DotU) waited for her counterpart to compliment Keith, but it never happened. She didn't even acknowledge his part at all. Allura (DotU) looked over at Keith, whose eyes were downcast.

"I'm going to go train," he said suddenly and stood up.

"I'll go with you," Shiro offered.

"Shiro, we need to discuss how to take down the Galra," Allura called out.

Shiro hesitated for a moment before locking eyes with Lance and gesturing for him to follow. Lance nodded. "Hey, Mullet. Wait for me!"

Allura (DotU) didn't know what her counterpart's problem with Keith was, but she didn't think she was going to get answers here, so she followed the two Paladins. She found them walking down the corridor side by side.

"Even though she didn't say it, you did a good job too. We made a good team," Lance said. He stretched his arms over his head. "Man, I don't know what Allura's problem is."

"You know what it is, Lance. She found out that I'm part Galra and has decided that she hates me. I don't blame her for her reaction. I mean, the Galra destroyed her planet and her people."

"But that was 10,000 years ago! You weren't even born back then. Coran doesn't blame you. Why should she?"

"I don't know. I just wish we could go back to being friends like we had been."

Allura (DotU) stopped following the two Paladins as she tried to process what she learned.  Apparently this Keith wasn't completely human, and the Allura of this reality hated him for it, even going as far as to ignore his contribution to the cause.

She looked up to see if she could see the Paladins and realized she was in a different place altogether. She was in a different castle again, but there were similarities she to her own.

Just then, she heard an unfamiliar voice call out, "Daniel, slow down!"

Suddenly, a younger boy ran through her as if she wasn't even there before he slammed into the opposite wall. He groaned, muttering, "Snart," before falling onto his back on the floor.

Two people rushed over. One was another younger boy, but the other one was wearing green with a visor over his eyes. The boy approached Daniel and helped him up, while the male in green typed on something on his arm. "As fascinating as seeing your fastest speed is, it might be better to see how you can stop without slamming into a wall."

"I don't know, Pidge. I quite enjoyed seeing him run into walls," a girl about the two younger boys ages called out.

"Aw, Larmina, you know you love me," Daniel replied.

"Do I though?" Larmina quipped back.

"Hopefully you at least get along with him since you are all future pilots of Voltron." A blonde woman came into the room. She was wearing blue and black and had straight blonde hair and green eyes.

"Aunt Allura, I do get along with him," Larmina sighed. "I just don't like him like that."

Allura (DotU) stared at her counterpart. Since when did she have green eyes and straight hair? For that matter, since when did she have a niece? She didn't have any siblings. She was so busy with comparing her differences that she missed another male's entrance...until he spoke. "As much as I appreciate you testing the abilities of your Voltcom, you should really brush up on your teamwork skills."

"Does that mean I can do some training in Black Lion, especially since he's fixed?" Daniel asked.

"No."

"Snart," Daniel muttered.

"Keith's right. Teamwork is useful off the field as well," Allura replied.

Allura (DotU) stared at that reality's Keith. He looked so different from her Keith. He had a darker skin tone, crystal blue eyes, and, most shockingly, short hair. She shook her head. Keith doesn't look good with short hair.

The longer she looked at that reality's Keith the more upset she got. She looked up at the ceiling, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I don't want to see any more realities. I want to go home."

%%%

Keith felt movement in his arm and roused a bit. He was worried about his wife, especially when he saw the tears on her cheeks. He wiped the tears away as best he could without moving the arm that was wrapped around her waist. He patted her cheek gently. "Allura! Allura, wake up please!"

Allura's eyes flew open, and she sat up, gasping for breath.

"'Llura?"

Allura turned to her right and saw her husband, his hair hanging over his shoulder in a braid. His black eyes were showing nothing but concern for her. She threw her arms around him, and he pulled her into his lap. "Sweetheart, what happened?"

"I-I-"

"Okay. You need to calm down first. Breathe deeply. In, out. In and out." Keith stroked her hair before cupping her face. "I love you my queen."

"I love you, my prince." Taking one more deep breathe, Allura began her tale. "I think I saw into two other realities. There were versions of us, but they were really different. One Allura absolutely hated her reality's Keith, who didn't want to stay near her; the other one we looked really different." She gave a watery giggle. "I think the most disturbing thing was that one of the Keiths had short hair."

"I will always be here for you." He gently put his forehead against hers. "And I'll never consider cutting my hair."

Fin

[kallurances]

s1e1 the rise of voltron (pt 2) liveblog

cont. from my pt 1 post!

aww shiro thinking that altea must have been an incredible place

this moment btwn allura and coran was so sweet :( i rlly did love their relationship and im glad they gave allura a little time to grieve, bc i rmbr they rlly never gave her the space to do so afterwards even though she was continually losing so much . . . gah

allura and the mice awww

im sorry this 'rivalry' btwn keith and lance is too funny like pls

allura is connected to the lions' life forces! how though? maybe this gets explained in s8 idk

but it is a cute idea that alfor was building this giant mecha cat warrior and he was like ‘my daughter absolutely needs to be in on this’ LOL

coran calling pidge primitive LOL

the lions choose their pilot; it is 'a mystical bond that can't be forced' LOL @ s3

god the og lineup was too good im trying to savor it while it lasts

goes crazy over the fact that we literally never found out abt the blue paladin's qualities. but yes i agree, the blue paladins are def the best looking and coolest of the bunch ^_^

lance being 'skeptic' over keith being assigned the red lion oooh foreshadowing?

only allura can open wormholes . . . again im left wondering what are the scope of allura’s abilities. is this bc she’s altean or bc she’s allura? or is this bc this is her ship, and other alteans can open wormholes on their own ship? maybe this gets answered later in the series i don’t rmbr

god she looks so serious my bb :(

sloth creature on green lion planet!!! loved these dudes they're just funky guys

shiro's gallows-esque humor was so funny to me, “i've been locked up by aliens for over a year, this is nothing” i love him T-T

the cut to hunk and lance LMAO

cool contrast of hunk overthinking and lance getting right to the point! hunk def has a lot of anxieties which give him a lot of hesitance, lance is v intuitive and usually pretty sure of himself

i love hunk's snark and sarcasm!!! he can be so petty lmao king

oh man yellow has lion carvings next to him too, who put them there? the blue lion had some too, are we supposed to infer that local natives did it (in the same sense how we found out later the arusians think of voltron as a divine being and they had carvings of the ‘lion goddess’ around the castle)?

“oooh pretty” hunk u r adorable

yes blue!!!

lance being distressed over hunk!!! my boys ahhh you can tell they def were pretty close before the whole team came together

pidge also overthinking lol but shiro being a reassuring presence . . . is this supposed to be a contrast to the earlier hunk and lance scene?

awww he used her dad's advice to calm her down, pidge’s soft smile T-T

“go. be great.” I LOVE U SM SHIRO the way this scene always used to make me so emotional pls . . . pidge's yelps of joy T-T literally crying real tears.

shiro and pidge were my first favs when i initially watched this show and im pretty sure this was the scene that hooked me onto them? ahh i really love them and the dynamic they built up over the course of s1 T-T *tries not to think abt later seasons*

lance bracing to get hit by the galra - smth similar happens in s7 i rmbr! was this an intentional parallel?

yay hunk to the rescue!!! oh also sven in s3 and hunk here both jumped in front of fired shots to save lance's life

how many times are they gonna do this hunk throwing up joke it got old after the first two times

pidge and shiro's knowing smiles they’re so cute :( <3

the galra have a hold on the red lion! man i rmbr someone pointing out after s1 it was bc it was probably alfor’s lion that zarkon got a hold of after he killed him and i was like :0 also why does zarkon have the red lion stowed away on a random warship - granted it's one of his best generals, but you think he would keep it somewhere more secure

not another lance pickup line sighing so loud rn

lance calling coran the old guy is so funny cause we all know he ends up sacrificing himself for him like 2x later on this season CTFU

l/h are team running away, k/p are team fighting back . . . the legs are all about stability and making sure they don’t get knocked down and the arms are all about offense and assertiveness . . . god i love how the anatomy of voltron translates into the character’s (initial) positions and characterizations it’s so *chef’s kiss*

and shiro is the perfect balance btwn the opposing parts here, the head who will direct their actions yup yup yup

HERE’S AN OPTION: SHUT YOUR QUIZNAK

I DONT THINK YOU'RE USING THAT WORD CORRECTLY

iconique

god s1 k/l dynamic was so funny i loved these dudes

i love that shiro defers to allura!!! those are her lions! and allura is unsure of what to do - she’s just a teen thrust into this leadership position for this war she never signed up for

the music when allura meets alfor's ai T-T

bb girl is so scared and unsure :( my babyyy

alfor admitting that allura was right and that he made a mistake!!! god i wonder what would have happened if he had listened to her

oh wait that was a s3 episode wasn't it

'you must be willing to sacrifice everything' goddd did they rlly know the series would end in her death this line is so bittersweet i hate u bitches

BOYS ITS TIME TO SUIT UP

god i missed this

the bayards!!! takes a distinct shape for each paladin! this was a rlly good way to add more characterization to them . . . l/h are more long range (perfect for support), while k/p are more offensive weapons (great for getting all up in someone’s face)

also side note, cool how keith gets a sword and a shield, rlly filling in the knight archetype here

shirooo u r my angel <333 i wonder what his bayard form would’ve been after he gained it from zarkon . . . Big Sigh

you have to earn red's respect! where was this energy in s3 lol

lance taking the lead in the absence of the natural leaders!!! cool

shiro having flashbacks T-T i rmbr thinking how great the depiction of shiro’s trauma and PTSD were when i first watched the show, but i think they pretty much dropped it after while . . . Sighs

shiro thinking of the greater good and pidge thinking more selfishly (valid), it’s nice to see shiro deciding to support pidge . . . he will always have his team’s backs

patience yields focus lol

keith being transfixed by the galra symbol 0.o

ohh he’s sensing red like how he sensed blue in the desert!!! did they ever explain how he was able to do that?

who designed the inner workings of this castle that only mice can fix

coran trying to communicate with the mice LOLLLL

frustrated keith lol

shiro is known as the champion!!!! i am so fascinated by his time in galra captivity but they never rlly built off it after s1 . . .

i love how lance loves piloting T-T my boy

KEITH TRYING TO BOND WITH RED LMAOOO

IM BONDING WITH YOU!!!! these moments are big thing to him huh

keith opening the hangar doors so they all get sucked into space SCREAM this bitch is CRAZY

ngl ever since ~s6, i have kinda been a keith hater on the occasions that i recalled vld but . . . i may be growing fonder of him on this rewatch

this shot of red coming for keith is so pretty and awe-inspiring like wow look at the scale of these lions T-T THEY HAD A BOND

GOOD KITTY

shiro's hand activating!!! u r so cool

kitty rose has left the stage! cute

allura pressing her joined hands to her mouth in nervous anticipation at the black lion meeting shiro IM GONNA CRY T-T god she must have been feeling so much pressure and responsibility to do all that she could to bring an end to that evil empire

her sigh of relief when the black lion accepted shiro :(((

the team attempts to form voltron!!!

hunk slamming into red and yelling COMBINE LOL

1 2 3 VOLTRON

THE THING THEY FEEL IS JUST THEM BEING PULLED INTO THE WARSHIP SCREAM

shiro’s speech!!! idc what the showrunners were thinking he was always meant to be the leader of voltron!!!

HUNK IS A LEG!!!

their joy is so pure my kidsss

the split screens as they yell in unison ahhh i missed this

shiro slapping keith on the shoulder lolll they’re brothers <333

allura is so cute <3

they're in the lion formation! i miss this lineup soooo bad crying shaking screaming throwing up rn

shiro likes being a defender of the universe :( and then they took that away from him IM GONNA CHEW ON GLASS

THE EPISODE STARTING AND ENDING WITH SHIRO KILL ME HOW DID THEY EVER THINK HE WOULD BE PERCEIVED AS ANYTHING BUT THE LIKABLE LEAD CHARACTER 

this ending song slaps

overall impresison: this was one of my favs back in the day, and it was easy to recall why! great setup of the characters and dynamics, overall good pacing, some rlly funny moments . . . we were all so happy that day . . . it’s hard to imagine how bad things were abt to become :(

[youremyonlyhope]

Wild Blue Yonder

I hate that I'm not excited. But I need to catch up.

Oh THIS is Isaac Newton? Interesting... Oh of course the TARDIS would crash itself into Newton's apple tree. Donna no. Stopppp. STOPPPPP. They did not just name gravity. Never mind they messed it up. Great. Good on Gramps. As always. I was gonna be like "Oh so now Donna's the only one who will remember gravity." but she just said mavity.... Doctor you had at least one android boyfriend in the past don't be shocked. Also I almost said Doc but it felt wrong, I feel like that nickname was reserved for Thirteen. I mean I could have told you the TARDIS was gonna be like byeeee. "You wandered with me!" Stop it. Don't you have a key Doctor? Something so bad the TARDIS ran away from it. Well. She's ran away before. Many times. On her own. Even from people (looking at you Jack) "Maybe time slowed down?" "No. I'd feel it. In my bones." Well you didn't as Twelve in World Enough and Time until it was too late but ok sure. This better not be a rehashing of Into the Dalek where it's inside of an alien/robot and this robot is just a blood cell or something. Now he said mavity. Please no. Oh wormhole! Ah so it's a rehashing of Utopia. Edge of the universe. So are they saying 3 years ago someone killed themself by opening the airlock? Still got the Thirteen gene of tasting stuff too much. I had heard about clones in spoilers. So. This Doctor is a clone right. Definitely heard a bit of an older theme play there. I forget which one though. Maybe the This Is Gallifrey theme? "She's all I've got left." I liked the music cutting out there. "My arms are too long." what. "Oh we get hungry, don't we?" ok cool greaty very creepy. Ew. "It is limiting." Yeah no. Ewwwww the jaw. Ahhh I think I liked the idea of someone killing themselves three years ago more than this. "I will find you." Gives 42 vibes.

I will say. Circling back to something I said earlier this week about Heaven Sent. I like episodes that are just the main characters. Almost like bottle episodes.

Ok some respect to RTD for not immediately retconning the Timeless Child like many Chibnall haters would have wanted him to. I will give him that much. Ok wait. So. The Not-Doctor is smart enough to think of clothing... The Not-Things have no sense of object permanence. That's actually fun. Good. Good good good. Dealing with the emotional aftermath of Flux and the Timeless Child too. Good. I really was scared for a moment RTD2 would act completely like none of it happened. Ahhhhh so I WAS right that she killed herself! Oh I meant to say the robot reminded me of Gadget or even Marvin earlier but got distracted. Good little robot. Ok so a countdown like 42. Bottle-ish episode like Heaven Sent. Edge of the universe like Utopia. That's a good mix because I love all those episodes individually. Here's where the TARDIS swoops in to save the day. Yep "and a time machine would know!" called it. Sort of a deus ex (time) machina but I'll allow it. Riding and hanging out the TARDIS door towards Donna kind of like in the Runaway Bride. Cute. Yeah no that was too close. Not telling a companion about their past. That's very Thirteen of you, Fourteen. "Are you ok?" "I will be." Very very Thirteen. WILLFFFFFFF. God. Even though I was spoiled over a year ago for his appearance. And again this week. I am SO happy to see him. You change gravity to mavity and the world all falls apart. NOT AGAIN. NO. WE'RE NOT DOING THE YEAR THAT NEVER WAS AGAIN.

Ok overall I liked that a lot more than the Meep. Not just because the Meep itself was nightmare fuel and I couldn't look at it but that episode was all over the place and too much nostalgia fanservice. This was more enjoyable as an actual Doctor Who episode. And it was creepy.

NOOOO. In loving memory of Bernard Cribbins. I knew they'd dedicate the episode but I'm still so sad to be reminded.

God it was good to see Wilf again. Honestly, Bernard despite being 93 or 94 at filming still had so much energy. God I love and miss Wilf.

Also are we gonna deal with this gravity mavity thing or not?

[cassioppenny]

thinking about leaf in rr rivalry. does blue miss her or feel bad for leaving her behind? does she end up suriving the flood because she was on a mount silver or does she not make it? if she did survive does blue know she's alive or does he think she drowned too?

[sun-lit-roses]

I'm supposed to be writing for three different challenges and catching up on the new Star Trek. But work is sapping my will to live so, of course, I started watching Stargate SG-1 instead. No idea if anyone else enjoys live reactions anymore, but I've never tried one: Episodes 1 & 2 Children of the Gods, here we go!

These guys might as well be wearing red shirts, can already tell.

Okay, the gate's kinda pretty? Also looks like a swimming pool.

DONT PICK IT UP...too late.

Are the aliens wearing helmets or do they really look like - okay helmets good.

I want a fire stick.

Goodbye red shirts.

Wait, a red shirt survivor - hostage!

Oh, it doesn't always look like a pool, that's interesting.

AMANDA TAPPING CREDIT (in case anyone's wondering why I'm watching 😁)

Dragging the poor man away from his telescope.

He keeps reiterating 'retired' like he knows he's the protagonist.

They kept a fire stick!!!

Body snatcher aliens?

'My men' 'You're retired' 😂

He did something other than what he reported didn't he.

Yep.

Aw, made the call to save people ❤️ All right now I want him to prove that annoying major (?) wrong.

They didn't make him wait very long in that cell. Am I supposed to be finding the other cell guy suspicious? Because I do.

So it's like a big combo lock?

Not sure why it's steaming, but it looks cool.

Pool time!

Question: Why is everyone in dress blues?

Communication via Kleenex 😂

No longer retired!

AMANDA TAPPING!!!

Burn them, Sam - BURN. Tough enough or do we need to arm wrestle 😂

Can we sacrifice the annoying major to the aliens?

Just shoved her through mid-nerding 😂

Wormhole! Also like a pool tube slide lol

Aw, the kid remembers him.

Sam geeking out over the Stargate 😍

He taught them to make booze! Really bad booze. 'So proud.'

Is that woman just there to hang on Daniel?

Oh hey it's our red shirt survivor!

Ooo maybe not much longer. Alien body snatchers!

Okay that's disturbing. Ick.

Yay it didn't pick her!

Oh wait, maybe not yay. Goodbye last red shirt.

Big pyramid!

Giant pyramid map?

*How* many stargates??

Nerd time! Such cute nerds.

Oh no, what's going to happen at the feast.

The gate!!

Guys the guns don't work. Think up a Plan B.

Oh no, the woman who only exists to kiss Daniel!

OH NO the kid like Jack's son!!

Ooo that soldier's gonna remember the evil dude's phone number.

Showed up just too late.

Okay, she's Daniel's wife, that makes sense. Still would have liked her to have - some lines?

Aw Daniel's got to leave everyone behind 😥

Oh I missed the explodey effect before!

She finally speaks! I like her spirit. But I would definitely be afraid of them.

Aw, is Jack reluctantly adopting a scientist?

Okay, I like that Daniel met his wife with her making fun of him. Still hoping she gets some more lines.

What happened to Jack's son??

...And we're all back in the mountain.

I guess Kowalski wasn't supposed to be suspicious after all! Good for him. Nice little promotion there. Since this show is called SG-1, I'm guessing we aren't going to see him again?

Ooo mysterious note to the annoying major.

Soldier's awake! And he remembers the phone number.

Countering the annoying major's orders already 😂

Okay I'm on Kowalski's side. He hates annoying major as much as I do.

Why are they stripping her?? They didn't do that to the last gal.

Oh no, not gross belly alien again.

Oh that's really disgusting.

Daniel's already too late without even knowing it. I think? Can the aliens be taken out?

Daniel's not going to get to finish that sentence is he 😂

Why do I feel like SG-2 isn't going to make it? 😬

Uh oh, worshippers!

No wait, I don't think these are the body stealing aliens we were looking for.

'Choosing' - is this where the evil aliens normally come for their body selection?

This looks Roman?

'We're gods, now what?'

Oh no, fire stick people.

Daniel she's standing by Ra as his queen, *maybe* not the time to make a big declaration.

Well this escalated quickly.

Not Ra - some other god - Aposis? He said it so quickly!

Jack found his foster son!

Daniel's going to do something stupid to try and rescue his wife isn't he?

Wow that guy appeared very fast 😲

Well that was weird.

Oh good they're all as confused as me.

'when hell freezes over' 'that pretty much describes our current situation' we love a sassy airman

Annoying major is now trigger happy major. Great.

Not more choosing!

...and there goes Daniel.

No! Not the kid!!

Ooo the creepy alien changed sides!

Good thing they were against an outside wall.

Aw, Jack's adopting the alien - Teal, Teak, Tealk? I need to turn on the subtitles. Teal'c!❤️ He just can't help himself when it comes to adopting, can he?

Oh no major trigger happy again

Ah! Teal'c has one of those belly things!

So he's a living incubator? I guess that's not a bad deal if the adult forms didn't think of themselves as gods who had the right to kill everyone they wanted. It'd be interesting to do a comparison between these and the Star Trek Trill.

Alien planes!

THEY HAVE TRANSPORTERS

oh no, the planes have fire sticks. why does everyone get a fire stick but me.

Yay grenades!!

Aw Kowalski you've won me over.

Jack, no!

His foster son is gone 😭

Get out of there!

Why are you dialing so slowly Daniel!!

Is that guy throwing rocks? Really effectively? Is he supposed to be a cave man?

Aw group hug

Dubious General and Annoying Major are Not Impressed lol

They're gonna go search for their people! This should be exciting.

Rating: 🔘🔘🔘🔘

4/5 gates Solid intro, got me interested, but still mad Share (?) didn't get more lines. Also, now I want a fire stick.

[massharp1971]

I think I was slightly more empathic towards Keller in this one but yes, it's another unhappy mckeller fic...

Also, I have headcannoned Rodney as potentially Ace ever since I saw his reaction to Katie Brown's cactus-related innuendo.

Thanks to @spacecadetdhdly for the help and inspiration with this one :)

___

This would work. Jennifer reassured herself that the new plan was going to fix things. She couldn’t just watch her husband fall into depression any longer. He needed a fresh start. Maybe they both did.

“Stop fidgeting – did you take your meds?” Jennifer asked, as they waited in the surprisingly substantial queue for the weekly embarkation to Atlantis.

“Course,” Rodney snapped, “I just… it’s noisy and hot and everyone smells, and I hate it,” he said.

Even amid the urge to tell him to use his indoor voice, Jennifer felt a mixture of warmth and love for the man. Rodney had been got better at naming the things that were bothering him instead of just being all-round pissy. He was doing good work – he’d really grown as a person, and she was proud of him. It was just… he was so miserable and dissatisfied with everything.

Finally, the eighth Chevron locked, and the queue began to move. Rodney calmed a fraction at the sight of the great blue puddle, but his fingertips, the ones that weren’t holding the one piece of luggage they hadn’t shipped ahead, were stimming rapidly. Jennifer wanted to reach for his hand, but she had learned by now that it would just irritate him more. Still, it made her feel happy for the first time in who knows how long to see the way the tension fell away from his shoulders as he stepped into the wormhole. When they were plopped out into the gate room of Atlantis, a small, hesitant smile was on his face.

His happiness made her happy.

His eyes scanned the room, taking in the beautiful stained glass, and then lifted up towards the command centre. And that’s when his eyes really lit up – well, his whole face brightened. Even his body seemed to get lighter.

Yes. That’s what she had wanted for him. This was the right thing after all. She followed the gaze up to the balcony, and there, looking back with an inscrutable expression, was John Sheppard.

Suddenly Rodney was pushing through the group of awestruck arrivals, making his way to the stairs and running up them two at a time. Sheppard, meanwhile, ambled casually towards him. Except there was a tension in his body that belied the casualness.

They met on the top step. Sheppard had shoved his hands into his pockets at the last minute, and performatively leaned against the balustrade. Rodney looked like he had been about to throw his arms around his friend, but he stopped short, moving from foot to foot in confusion, not knowing what to do. The two of them just stood, inches apart, looking at each other and seeming not to know what to say. Eventually, Sheppard managed what looked like a “hey,” and Rodney reciprocated with the same monosyllable.

Idiots. Jennifer thought bitterly, before deciding she needed a drink. She had smuggled two bottles of good gin in her carry luggage, but she wondered if Radek was still the man to go to for something stronger.

read more on AO3

[barnesand]

the scent of old stories [ ii ]

Summary: You haven’t found your thing here in Brooklyn, but you hope that you’ve found it within the bookstore that happens to be on your work commute. Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader AU: *chants* bookshop au, bookshop au, bookshop au. Warnings: No warnings for now! author’s note: we have one cameo for this story so far, but hey, we’re back in the bookstore and the pining shall commence.

chapter one can be found here: x

You thought that your tedious workload would drown out the reminiscing thoughts of yesterday, but you were wrong. Despite having your hands full with at least ten toddlers that were all vying for your attention (Jess needed you to look at her blue clay creation, despite you having no actual clue what it was supposed to be), you mind still found its way back the Second Hand. Working at a day care center is usually all-consuming—you couldn’t think of the last time you found yourself blinking away thoughts, not when there were so many things happening all at once.

Not that the children you cared for were the embodiment of chaos. But you had to pay attention to them—they were toddlers.

Your encounter with Bucky was three days ago. And in those three days, your mind still plagued you with a looping thought: why haven’t you gone back? Your mind was very correct in questioning your avoidance of the store. There was no point to it—clearly, Bucky was flirting with you. You might have lost your ability to return flirtatious remarks, because of reasons, but there was no denying that fact. Bucky wanted you to come back, to get that list of his favorite haunts. And, maybe, he would tag along on a few of those locations.

Ninety percent of your brain was scolding you about it, while the remaining ten percent remained on the fence about it. You know—good old denial: because what if he wasn’t?

You wouldn’t call yourself outright pathetic for believing what the ten percent had to say, but you were disappointed in yourself. Disappointed that you couldn’t give in and just do it—you did, after all, make a deal to return. Bucky had given you a free book, and that free book had come with a condition, and you had to honor it. What kind of person would you be—what kind of bibliophile would you be—if you didn’t honor it? But because you still quaked at the idea of returning, and because you feared that you would become a sputtering mess once again, you wouldn’t.

You’d considered gaining an outside perspective—but you didn’t really know your coworkers well enough. You spoke to them about several things, of course, but you hadn’t delved into the personal topics yet. You also humored the idea of calling your mother—but you really didn’t need to go down that wormhole of call. She’d find your indecisive thoughts a hint that you secretly wanted to come back home and you didn’t want to have an argument over that again.

By now, your ten toddlers have been corralled by another associate into quiet time—and for a brief second you considered asking your kids if you should go back to the pretty man at the bookstore. No—no, that’s too complicated of a story to tell and their track record with opinions wasn’t doing so well for you.

Your quiet dilemma would remain that—a quiet one.

In the last hours of your shift, you tried to occupy your mind as much as possible. The toddlers kept in your care must have noticed the keen focus you developed, because they seemed more chaotic than usual. By the end of it, they were nearly tired out as their parents picked them up. Once the last child was picked up, you quickly cleaned up the mess they’d made. Indeed, you did manage to lose track of those plaguing thoughts, but the moment you were alone they returned as loud as ever. You pressed your head to the too-small crafting table and let out a meager sigh.

“Do I go?” You said out loud, tapping your forehead once more—you wanted to knock the solution out of your head, but it wasn’t really working.

“Go where?”

You didn’t move from your position entirely, instead only shifting your head to the side to find one of your coworkers in the doorway to the playroom. Joaquin Torres was one of the coworkers you’d considered telling about your current situations. He was nice—well, nearly everyone who worked with you seemed nice, but he felt genuinely nice. He didn’t enter the room entirely, instead leaning the top half of his body inward. Almost as if he didn’t want to impose on your moment. You lifted your head, pulling yourself up from your crouching position to stand.

“Um,” you started. You straightened your clothes, re-tucking your shirt into your slacks. “Well—there’s this bookstore on the way home, and I don’t know if I should go back.”

“You like books, don’t you? Seems like an easy yes.” He joked, bringing himself into the room.

Oh, you wished it were an easy decision for you. The laugh that left you was short, slightly strained. Your hands settled on your hips.

“One would think that.” You nibbled at the inside of your cheek. “But the owner is really cute. And I think he’s expressed interest in me. I—yeah, I’m usually not like this around men but he’s really cute.”

He nodded. You couldn’t believe it was that easy to talk to him about it—geez, you should have mentioned it to him days ago. Even if he wasn’t responding right away, but you could see the contemplation in the furrow of his brow and that was enough. If Joaquin could just make that decision for you, all the weight you’ve been carrying on your shoulders would be lifted easily. Come to your rescue, please. Joaquin put his hands on his hips and gave yet another nod.

“You should probably stock up on kids’ books. It looks like they took a few.” He pointed to the bookshelf behind you—which, to your knowledge, was fuller than it usually was. But… you got the point. “Does this bookstore carry children’s books.”

Your heart was sputtering along, like the little engine that could. The only problem was that you don’t think you can. But you’ve already decided that you would follow Joaquin’s choice. If that meant that you would have to go to the Second Hand on your way home from work—for children’s books—then that was simply what you had to do. And if you saw Bucky instead of his employee, then that was just a bonus. Your sputtering heart could handle it; you think.

“Then,” you said, drawing in a deep sigh. “I will go grab some more books.”

You didn’t expect for the mid-September chill to creep in so quickly, but you wound up clutching your reefer coat closer to your body as you walked down the street. The small shop sign above the Second Hand grew closer, and your hands were already clammy at the idea of seeing him again. You already resigned to following Joaquin’s plan, that your intentions for coming in were for the kids only, but your body reacted otherwise. You’d stopped in front of the insurance agency, drawing in a deep breath to steel your nerves.

It didn’t work, but it was worth a shot.

A minute passed before you practically shoved yourself forward, scampering past the first window and through the door. The bell sang above you, and only the heads of other patrons perked up at the sound of it. To you, that felt like a good sign. Maybe he would become too occupied by the other people in the store to notice that you came back. You didn’t see any signs of Bucky, but you did find the aisle for children on the first floor, and you quickly made your way to the section.

It was colorful to say the least, and despite the fullness of the shelves it was surprisingly well organized. When it came to children’s books, though, you always veered toward the colorful ones. You crouched down, your fingers gliding across the thin spines of the books. The titles didn’t directly jump out at you, but then again, your mind was occupied, and you were constantly side glancing at the end of the aisles. But crouching on your knees, especially after a long day, proved taxing and you quickly moved to sit cross-legged on the floor. You did have three books picked out so far.

You heard the familiar thrum of Alpine’s purring behind you, and soon felt the feline brushing up against your back. You looked over your head, already smiling at the sight of them. How rude you were to not consider seeing Alpine again when you were stressing over the initial decision. Of course, you missed them, and their spine that was practically begging to be pet. But when you reached for them, they moved out of the way, only to come back. You shook your head, lightly laughing beneath your breath.

“What a tease,” you whisper, bending down.

You managed to rest a single fingertip beneath Alpine’s chin, scratching softly until the purring was so loud it could be a beacon to other cats. Your smiling was beaming, and you dared to scratch behind their ear.

You saw him move in a blur past your aisle, a massive stack of books in his arms—arms that were surprisingly thick and strained against the fabric of his Henley shirt. You would have paused the attention you were giving Alpine, but they absolutely refused to let you stop. And you didn’t have any time to move to a different aisle before Bucky reversed and filled the end of the aisle.

He wasted no time when it came to showing you that smile that made you swoon—almost, but your cheeks did feel warmer. You did smile back, hand still on Alpine.

“Hi,” you said first.

“Look who showed up,” Bucky responded with a short laugh. “Lemme put these books down, Reader. Hang on.”

As exhilarating as it was to watch him hold all those books, which caused your stomach to become all fluttery, you nodded in response. Were you always into arms? You’d assumed you were more into asses, but maybe you were wrong—it could just be all of him. Either way, he disappeared for a moment, and you quickly stole a breath for yourself. You considered standing up, but your legs felt as heavy as cement at the thought of it and you merely set the children’s books on one of the shelves and put your hands in your lap.

When Bucky came back, he had a folded papers in his hand and in one swift movement settled on to the floor beside you, his back pressed to the bookshelf you were facing. The three days you spent avoiding must’ve erased your memory of his appearance because pretty didn’t seem to cut it anymore. Your skin felt hot, your eyes tracing along the sharpness of his jawline, and your mouth practically watering at the pinkness of his soft lips. You were in way too deep, and, again, you were suddenly so concerned about Bucky noticing it.

He eyed you, the light from the fluorescents catching the cerulean of his irises so well. Like crystal clear waters.

He cleared his throat, unfolding the papers in his hand and from what you could tell he put too much effort into the list. Your eyes widened and you choked on a snort.

“Okay, uh,” you stammered for words. “That’s a lot.”

“I told you it would be extensive,” he chortled. “You’ve spent months here and you’ve only gone to the Brooklyn Bridge? It’s offensive.”

“I’ve gone to Coney Island!” You defended yourself. You leaned in, a momentary lapse in judgement. You eyed the list. “Which you’ve put on the list, by the way.”

“It’s for the experience.” He pointed beneath it, and you saw that he’d scribbled bullet points between each attraction he wanted you to see. “Two Coney dogs and then the Cyclone.”

You already found your mind filtering through the imagery of you on the Cyclone, knuckles blanched white as you gripped the handlebars for dear life. That wasn’t the issue, but instead the issue that arose from Bucky’s experience was the future candid photo immortalizing you vomiting the hot dogs you would have ingested beforehand. The hidden cameras on theme park rides always captured the worst moment, and for all you knew, that’s what Bucky was hoping for.

“You put thought into this list,” you commended him. “And you don’t even know me.”

A lot more thought than you’d initially anticipated; it would have made more sense if he simply told you a couple of places to visit. But to make at least two pages worth of locations and hidden spots for someone he’d only met once made no sense to you—that level of detail was better used one someone he knew.

He drew in a hiss of air, shoulders lifting in exaggeration before he seemed to settle on his next thought before glancing down at the list that now saw neatly in your lap. The tip of his tongue slipped out between his lips, swiping at the corner of his mouth—a habit you’ve come to notice, in the two times you’ve seen him.

“What better way to get to know each other than by doing the things on my list.”

You might as well resign yourself to this fate; it wasn’t as if you were going to be outright tortured by him (torture, fortunately, was nowhere to be found on his list). No, the fear that bubbled up your throat was purely at the idea that after all of this Bucky might realize that making such an extensive list may have been wasted on you. You weren’t boring, but you sedentary life had created a barrier between you and uninhibited fun. All those years at grad school where you buckled down to work on your degree had muffled that ability have fun.

But you wanted to get to know him. You wanted to know about the store, and how it came to be. There were other things—other things that made your cheeks redden and mouth water—that you wanted to know as well, but those would be better kept to yourself.

Finally, after much quiet thought, you nodded at him.

“We did have a deal.” You waved the list in the air. “So what are we doing first?”

He smiled widened, and you lost your breath when he moved to pat your thigh with a metallic hand. “Attagirl, Reader.”

[ageofevermore]

The Sun Met The Moon

SUMMARY — and finally the sun and the moon met, and they fell madly in love 

WORD COUNT — 2.5k

NOTE — part three to part one + part two

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ﾟ: *. ☽ .* : ☆ﾟ. ─────

alex’s drums:

Sweat clung to his brow and shone in the golden light of midday. She smiled at the sight of him, stripped of all awareness and singled in on the task at hand. He had Alex’s drumsticks between his fingers, and a black ballpoint pen between his teeth. She watched him for a while, tracing the flex of his biceps every time he beat at the mounted toms. A blush of sheer adoration spread across her stomach lining, unleashing that same kaleidoscope of butterflies through her being that she had been introduced to weeks ago. Maybe it was too soon to say she loved him, but she could see the rest of her tomorrows in his arms. 

“Hey, Ghostie.” She smiled at him from halfway across the room, advancing with less stealth now that he was aware of her presence. “What’cha working on?” She questioned. When her bare torso brushed against the snare drums, she leaned forward to kiss his lips sweetly. He tilted his chin upwards and pushed his bottom lip out, asking for another just seconds after she pulled away from the first. 

“Just some new instrumentals.” He mumbled, setting the drumsticks and ballpoint pen aside on the floor tom. He reached for her hands, mumbling a gentle breathed, “come here”, and pulled her down into his lap when his hands could guide her waist. Luke smiled against her neck when she giggled, turning her head so she could tickle his ear with kisses. 

“What are you doing?” She giggled when his hot breath tickled the patch of skin his tongue had just caressed. He was being his usually sweet self, though something else was prompting these touchy motives. “Alex is going to kill us if we mess up his drums.” She pulled away from the lips on her neck when they began to distract her, and instead she leveled her eyes with his. 

“Said you wanted to play the drums with me.” Luke smiled, nipping at her lips when she pulled them tight in a sheepish grin. She broke out into a full fledged smile at his silliness, cupping his cheeks with her hands and pulling his lips to hers in a proper kiss. “Put your foot on that pedal.” His arms looped around her waist, holding her tightly against him so she wouldn’t slip away from his touch when they started. “That’s the bass pedal. Push it every four counts and when we get to the pre chorus every eight, yeah?” 

Luke had gone through relationships and heartbreaks prior to what he had with Mia, but he had never been with someone who understood music like she did. He hadn’t ever met anyone like Mia. 

hair braiding:

She left him with Julie and the boys while the sun was still high, letting the band get a few solid hours of practice in without her distraction. She loved Luke, but he was incapable of getting anything done while she lingered, always wanting a cuddle or a kiss. It was cute, made her feel desirable, but she feared it would get annoying for their friends. 

She felt his gentle breath against her neck before she felt his arms snaking around her waist, pulling her back into his chest. She didn’t care that his hands were cold as he wiggled them between the waistband of her shorts and dug them into the flesh of her hips. She was just thankful that she still got to feel him against her.

“How was the rest of rehearsal?” She asked softly, reaching her hand up to gently twist silky strands of his milk chocolate locks.  Her nails scratched against his scalp, encouraging his arms fall heavy across her sides for a few blissful seconds. She strained against his hold, but he didn’t seem to notice her writhing, or when she let out a soft whine of discontent. 

Luke went on about practice, and the song he and Julie introduced to the boys. His smile was evident against her neck, and this time he noticed when she flexed against his hold and tried to twist in his arms. His retelling of practice seized, a smile cradling his lips as he squeezed her tighter, keeping her still. 

“What are you trying to do?” Luke taunted, watching her strain once more before admitting surrender to his tight eskomo embrace. He kissed a path along her neck, but it did nothing to distract her from her ultimate goal. 

“Let me hold you.” She managed through smiles and hums when his lips tickled her skin, heating the already dangerously hot exposed skin. Luke broke out into a full fledged grin, biting gently at the hollow of her neck.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders loosely, digging  her fingers into his hair, and smiling contently.  His head was heavy on her chest, but the weight was welcomed greedily. She loved just getting to hold him like this, considering most days he was pulling her into his lap and showering her with love. Absentmindedly, she had twisted strands of shaggy brown hair into a french braid. 

reggie + alex being younger siblings: 

Mia and Luke had finally settled down in the basement for a movie night. Julie had been the cover story, though once Mia’s parents were convinced of the girls sleepover, she snuck out of the window and made a mad dash for Flynn’s. 

Mia grinned at the blue reflecting off of Luke’s eyes. She had seen Mamma Mia more than a handful of times, in fact it was her favorite modern musical, but Luke had never experienced it, and watching him was better then any scene between Meryl and Amanda. 

“Do you like it?” She grinned eagerly, watching Luke’s smile widen when he looked down at her expression of sheer excitement. 

She nearly shrieks when Reggie’s voice sounds instead of Luke’s, and her head snaps to the side to find both Alex and Reggie curled up in two spare blankets. Luke looks majorly annoyed, forcing a glare at his bandmates. 

“What are you doing here?” He seethed, not lightening up despite the amused smile growing on Mia’s lips. 

“You said it was movie night.” Reggie shrugged. “You know, Mia, this isn’t what I expected from you.” He vocalized, not batting an eye when Luke threw his head back in exasperation and threw a handful of popcorn in his direction. The leather clad brunette hummed, picking up a popped kernel and throwing it into his mouth, nodding towards Alex in confirmation of it’s good taste. 

“So much for date night.” She whispers into Luke’s chest, though she was just happy to be beside her boyfriend and sharing her favorite film with him. 

pre show + post show cuddles: 

Luke’s head was buried in the crook of her neck, his anxious fingertips digging into the flesh of her hips. Julie and the Phantoms were playing the Orpheum, again, and his nerves were unrelenting in their assault towards his confidence. 

“It’s gonna be great, baby.” She whispered into his ear, fingers twisting at the loose strands of hair that had slipped from the two braids down his scalp. She pulled the elastic tighter, laughing when Luke winced. “You’ll be great.” 

“Phantom’s your on in 5!”

Luke squeezed her waist tighter, though whatever nerves had plagued him just seconds ago seemed to dismantle. He was hyping himself up, thrilled by the approaching gig. He got so in his head that he forgot he loved this, it just took a couple braids and kisses to set his confidence back. 

“You’ve got your bearings now?” She teased, kissing Luke’s nose and standing from his lap. She held her hands out for him, helping him up and off of the chair. The blue eyed boy nodded, shaking out his hands and forcing a wide grin onto his lips that had her laughing. “Go knock your socks off, Rockstar.” 

-

Luke made a b-line for her after their set wrapped, his sweaty body pinning her in a hug while she squealed and tried to worm away. 

“Luke! You’re disgusting. You’re all sweaty.” She whined. Her arms were pinned to her sides and her face was pressed into his chest, filling her with only the scent and feel of his sweaty and smelly body. “Stop it!” She threw her head backwards with a laugh, somehow managing to break away from his embrace. 

The braids she had tied into his hair were dripping with sweat so much so that the elastic was falling to the ends of his chocolate locks. She bats at his chest, nodding in the direction of the showers around the corner, “Go take a shower, smelly ellie.” 

Luke breaks out into a grin, forcing a ket kiss to her cheek before rushing off in the direction of the communal bathroom and showers, chasing Alex and Reggie who had clearly had the same idea. 

guitar lessons: 

“These chords right?” She looked up with the same crescent moons in her eyes that Luke had fallen in love with. She had yet to stop trying to impress him, getting better and better at her musical craft by the day.

“Exactly.” Luke smiled, blue eyes glistening releasing the same kaleidoscope of monarchs in her stomach. “Move down to G, baby.” Luke instructed softly, not wanting to break the soft focus she held. He motioned to the neck of his own guitar, smiling widely when she mimicked his actions and strummed the same note. 

Seeing her tongue poke out from between her strawberry lemonade lips when she focused and the crinkle of her nose every time she smiled up at him in delight made his half ghostly heart jump. 

When she went down to the wrong chord again, and frustratingly looked up at Luke with stars in her waterline, he reached over and adjusted her positioning. His fingers lingered around hers for longer than was needed, but neither party minded as they shared a highly sought after moment. 

“You play it.” She whispered, having had enough of her own lessons for the day, wanting to focus instead on her boyfriend's delicate craft. 

Luke smiled complying to her demand, nodding her along to sing the softly aged lyrics, “Here comes the sun…” 

finger kiss to lips thing: 

She’s rambling. She knows that she’s rambling yet she can’t bring herself to stop. Luke had opened a wormhole of thoughts and hadn’t expected the emotional breakdown to follow. Her hands are fisting at his t-shirt, but her eyes are alight with wild emotion that he’s never seen before. She’s dangling over the edge and he’s unsure of how to pull her back to safety. 

“Baby.” He tries, pointer finger beneath her chin and directing her attention to himself, “Baby girl. Mia.” Her eyes fall on his but she’s still a mess of hiccups and syllables, shuddering out apologies between every harsh intake of breath her lungs don’t reject. She’s gotten herself so worked up she can’t calm down. She wants him to understand her, but she knows that the more she talks the less he will. 

“That’s not what I meant! Of course I want to spend forever with you, I mean, if you want to spend forever with me. I just, I didn’t mean--” She rambles, her eyes pinching tightly when she understands the bending of Luke’s expression. 

Luke watches her struggle for a moment more, wishing he could just fill the miniscule amount of time before her next sob and tell her she had nothing to worry about. He wanted to spend forever with her as well; he loved her, but every time he tried to talk she shook her head and looked frantic. 

Finally, he pulled his middle and pointer finger together, pressing them to his lips before smothering them against hers. Mia’s eyes drew wide as she tried to comprehend what just happened, but Luke only smiled at the silence at her doe-like expression. 

“I love you too.” 

forgetting they can feel each other: 

They’re working together on a song, surrounded by broken picks and instruments. Julie’s keyboard is on the ground by her thighs and drumsticks are poking out from the tops of Luke’s ears. He’s nearly inverbal, mumbling broken words to her from behind pens and picks, but the sight of him pulls her heart in further. 

She plays another melody on the keys, coupling it with the notes Luke had insisted on. It sounds sweet in her ears, and Luke looks up with a smile when it draws him away from his concentration with lyrics. A pick is between his teeth again, so the compliment he tries to throw at her is muffled and close to uninterpretable, but she understands him. She understands everything about him. She understands why he holds her for as long as he can and why he pops into her classes at random. She understands the way he mumbles behind his hands and pens and picks, and why he insists on her making the two of them food even when he’s capable of it. She gets it. 

Luke watched Mia bring her lip between her teeth, eyes scanning the workspace before she lands sight on a faded leather notebook. Her path is blocked by his body, but she doesn’t pay it any mind as she pushes onto her hands and makes a start for the lyric book. 

Her head collides with Luke’s chest firsts before she falls uncomfortably over the guitar and into his arms, looking bewildered for a moment before she’s brought back to the reality of Luke’s status. She can touch him now, it’s not like three weeks ago when they were condemned to ghostly hovering. 

“If you wanted me to hold you, all you had to do was ask.” Luke beamed, moving the guitar aside so he could cuddle her properly. Mia’s cheeks flushed, “Did you forget you could feel me? Well, maybe I have to remind you.” 

HONORABLE MENTIONS — the three times mia knew luke was in love with her and the seven she thought he was in love with reggie:

TAGLIST — @r0s3mm @midnightmagicmusings​ @joshy-obx​ @parkeret​

[vikingqueer]

music recommendations because i have some thoughts™

i don't wanna be that person who's like "my music taste is so weird lol" but i find that very often most of my friends don't really care for the music i like so i thought i'd just make a long ass post about it on tumblr instead. Fair warning, I'm very passionate about MIKA and The Mechanisms and so this very quickly got VERY long because it is part of my ongoing campaign to convince people to listen to mika and the mechs.

1) MIKA in general, but especially My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019) and No Place In Heaven (2015) (especially the Deluxe version!!)

MIKA is a kind of British singer (half Lebanese, grew up in France blabla), and you probably know him for Grace Kelly and Relax, Take It Easy from his first album Life In Cartoon Motion from 2007. He writes a lot of FUN music, interspersed with the occasional slightly sadder song, especially when looking at an album like No Place In Heaven, which contains a lot of songs with gay themes, resulting in some songs that are just a little bit ouch. He's originally classically trained and has a frankly RIDICULOUS range and idk he just writes very good pop music. Also I have so much respect for that time he talked about how a lot of pop is very fake, with like expensive cars and stilettos and mini skirts in the snow and said "Because I walk down the street, and I don't see any of that. I see fat women and gay men. I don't know... That's real". He's written 5 albums; My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), No Place In Heaven (2015), The Origin Of Love (2012), The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2009), and Life In Cartoon Motion (2007).

For starters, I recommend listening to Last Party, Origin Of Love, Grace Kelly, Blame It On The Girls, Blue, Happy Ending, Pick Up Off The Floor, Last Party, Underwater, Tomorrow and Tiny Love (yes this is a long list but i REALLY love MIKA). If you want a slightly broader palette that's not just my favourites, I recommend the Mika starter pack on spotify.

2) The Mechanisms. I warn you. I am making this a thing. I have been obsessed with the mechs since last march.

Boy, where to start? The Mechanisms were a British 9 member space pirate story-telling cabaret that "died" in January 2020. They rewrite songs to fit retellings of various stories. I don't even know what genre I'd describe them as, but probably folk but steam-punk?? Their 4 "main" albums are concept albums, and I honestly just recommend listening to the from beginning to end in chronological order. A good way to get into the mechs is also to listen to UDAD and then watching the live show on youtube or alternately try giving Death To The Mechanisms a listen, to get good quality live show audio of TBI and various other stuff. Also, it was streamed on YouTube and someone combined the footage with the album audio and it rocks. Really, I think the mechs' best selling points are honestly just their concept albums:

Once Upon a Time (In Space) Their first album from 2012. I'd say this is the most "easily digestible" for the general public, since it's a retelling of various fairytales. So, what if Old King Cole was in fact not merry, but rather a cold-blooded dictator, intent on colonising as much of the galaxy as possible. What if Snow White was a general, looking to avenge what King Cole did to her sister, Rose. What if Cinderella was to be wedded to Rose the day that King Cole attacked in order to kidnap Rose? But y'know, In Space and also like every other mechs album it's a beautiful tragedy. Fave songs are Old King Cole, Pump Shanty, and No Happy Ending.

Ulysses Dies at Dawn You guessed it, it's a story about Odysseus, or Ulysses because I guess Ulysses is easier to rhyme or fit in the meter or something, idk. Ulysses is a war hero of unknown gender who is said to keep something that could take down the corrupt Olympians, meanest families in the City, in a vault to which only they know the passcode. Oedipus, Heracles, Orpheus, and Ariadne have been hired by Hades, who happens to be The Mechs' quartermaster Ashes O'Reilly, to get into Ulysses' vault. I didn't care much for udad at first, but honestly it's got some real bangers and the story is really good. UDAD weirdly stands out as the only of the concept albums to not feature any gay relationships, per se. Fave songs are Riddle of the Sphinx, Favoured Son, and Underworld Blues.

High Noon over Camelot This is my favourite mehcs album. So basically, this is Arthurian legend, but it's a space western and Jonny D'Ville does a bad southern accent. This is the story of the cowboy lovers Arther, Lancelot, and Guinevere searching for the Galfridian Restricted Acces Interface Login, or GRAIL, in order to stop their world from falling into the sun. Meanwhile, Mordred and Gawaine are ruling Camelot, and Mordred has convinced Gawaine to try to establish peace with the Saxons by whom Mordred was raised, but Gawaine hates viciously. If you love getting your heart broken and songs by a fucking off the rails batshit preacher I HIGHLY recommend hnoc. Fave songs are Gunfight at the Dolorous Guard, Blood and Whiskey, and Once and Future King. Honorary mention for Hellfire because it awakens something animalistic in me.

The Bifrost Incident TBI is the frankly only good adaptation of norse mythology I've ever known of, and I say that as Dane who was literally forced to learn things about norse mythology in school because it's my heritage or whatever. I've been listening to TBI a lot lately because it's VERY good. It's definitely the most refined of the mechs' albums (because it's the newest) but also I just love a little bit of cosmic horror. 80 years ago, Odin, the All-Mother, ruler of Asgaard, launched a train through the wormhole Bifrost that would reduce the travel between Asgaard and Midgaard from 3 months to 3 days, but things didn't go quite as planned. Lyfrassir Edda of the New Midgaard Transport Police is trying to solve the case of why suddenly the train has arrived 80 years late; to figure out whether it was accident or maybe it was sabotaged by Loki, who was allegedly sentence to death her murder of Baldur, by the Midgaardian resistance led by Loki's wife Sigyn, or maybe by Thor, who was to take over after Odin, and who holds quite the grudge because he used to be a friend of Loki's. You might've heard the song Thor from this album, it's apparently quite popular. Fave songs are Loki, Ragnarok III: Strange Meeting, and Ragnarok V: End of The Line. Yet again an honorary mention: Red Signal because while Lovecraft was a bitch, his invocations are fucking RAW.

Basically, the Mechanisms do all of their performances in character as captain first mate Jonny D'Ville, quartermaster Ashes O'Reilly, pilot DrumBot Brian, master-at-arms Gunpowder Tim, science officer Raphaella la Cognizi, doctor Baron Marius Von Raum (neither a baron, nor a doctor), archivist Ivy Alexandria, engineer Nastya Rasputina, and The Toy Soldier, who is, as usual, present. You can find very obscure lore about the crew of the Aurora here, tidbits on Tales To Be Told and TTBT Vol. 2, such as One Eyed Jacks, The Ignominious Demise of Dr. Pilchard, Gunpowder Tim vs. The Moon Kaiser, Lucky Sevens, and Lost in the Cosmos.

If you feel like listening to a full 40-50 minute album to find out if you like a band is a bit much, I recommend listening to one of the mini stories Alice, Swan Song, or Frankenstein, which are about 12, 5 and 9:30 minutes respectively.

3) The Amazing Devil You know that guy who played Jaskier in the Witcher? I got into The Amazing Devil from spotify recommending them because I listened to the mechs, and apparently Joey Batey from The Amazing Devil is the same Joey Batey who was in the Witcher. Both him and Madeleine Hyland are VERY talented singers and songwriters and their second album The Horror and the Wild makes me go out into the forest and SCREAM. I listened to it on repeat for like a month straight. I guess they'd also be considered folk, but like. New Folk. Also yes, this is another British artist, I don't know why I'm like this. I've never really gotten that into their first album, Love Run, but King slaps. As I understand there's this whole lore about the Blue Furious Boy and Scarlet Scarlet, Joey and Madeleine respectively, but unlike the Mechanisms it's actually possible to find out things about the actual real people and harder to find the obscure lore? I'm open for people to please help me. Fave songs are The Horror and the Wild, Farewell Wanderlust, and That Unwanted Animal, which is literally a third of their second album, but again. I haven't really listened to Love Run that much, and I just LOVE the harmonies on THATW. (also im gay and dramatic leave me alone)

4) dodie I have so much love for this woman. Like many others, I first knew dodie as doddleoddle on youtube. I think I first stumbled across her in probably 2015, because I distinctly already knew her before she released her first EP Sick of Losing Soulmates in 2016. I think I watched probably every video she's ever made in the span of a few weeks. I just loved her quiet sound and was absolutely HOOKED. Also she's actually the reason I got into MIKA originally, so thanks for that. Dodie just realeased her first album Build A Problem (in addition to her three EP's; the one mentioned above, You, and Human) and it slaps. Yes dodie is also British Fave songs are probably Monster, Rainbow, and In The Middle.

5) Cladia Boleyn Unfortunately, Claudia Boleyn only has three singles and that's it. She's been making content on youtube for quite a while, and that's how I first discovered her. I don't know what genre her music is, but I like it. The songs are Celesta, George, and Mother Maiden Crone, of which the latter is my favourite. I'm not saying Claudia Boleyn invented women in 2017 when she released Mother Maiden Crone, but she did. Also you guessed it, Claudia Boleyn is British.

6) Hozier I'm not about to tell you about Hozier. You know who he is. Listen to Nina Cried Power, Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene, and Shrike. Also Hozier isn't stricly British in that he is definitely from A British Isle, but Ireland is not part of the UK. Give me a break.

7) Oh Land Oh Land IS DANISH. I like her early music best, because I'm not that into the electronic sound. I guess Oh Land is just you regular old pop, but with the occasional weird vibe? Oddly enough, I like her first album Fauna best. Unfortunately I haven't really listened to her newest album Family Tree much, but it seems good? Fave songs are Frostbite, Love You Better and Family Tree. I cried on the bus, first time I listened to the Danish version of Love You Better, Elsker Dig Mer because my mother tongue always just hits harder. Also Frostbite is Oh Land doing a duet with herself which is pretty cool.

8) Oysterband This is a live recommendation. I mean they're a decent folk band and all, but they're a fucking experience live. If you like folk and you ever get the opportunity to see Oysterband live, do it. Unfortunately, yes. They are British. Either way, they are incredible on a scene and I think they deserve a mention for that.

9) Ben Platt Honestly don't know much about this guy, but he's not British and he was in Dear Evan Hansen. He released an album in 2019, Sing To Me Instead, and I just think it's a good album, there isn't really not much more to it. Fave songs are Grow As We Go, Bad Habit, and In Case You Don't Live Forever.

and thats all for now. this has been a ramble. shout out to you if you actually read all of this, especially the mechs part.

[kekeslider]

Hi, I'm not in the fandom and have never seen an episode of Voltron. How come Altean Lance bothers ppl?

There could be a lot of different reasons varying from person to person and may also depend on what version of Altean Lance it is. Altean Lance aus have existed basically since the start of the show. Lance is not actually Altean at any point in the show, he’s just given the marks at the end of the show by Allura as a mark of love or something. So early in the fandom, there were theories that Lance might have some Altean heritage, the basis of which was that the blue lion opened a wormhole in the first episode, which later on is something only Allura can do. And then you add in that Keith turns out to be part galra, fandom liked the idea of Lance being Altean to play into the rival/enemies dynamic they had and for their relationship to be a symbol of progress and healing (pretty much what the show did with Lotura and what could have also been achieved with kallura without having the racebend anyone). Not everyone held altean Lance as an actual theory about the future of the show, many people just used it as an au. In Fic, Klance “galtean” AUs became very common especially to create stories about royalty, wherein Lance would typically be an Altean prince (often Allura’s brother 🤮), whereas Keith might be a galran bodyguard or prince or whatever. I always, always hated these AU’s because Altean Lance is almost always written atrociously, writers making him meek and effeminate, a flighty, pompous Royal who can’t do anything for himself. And many people have pointed out that the fandom’s obsession with Lance being alien in someway when there was really nothing backing it up was pretty nasty considering he was canonically Latino, and that was always being pushed aside to focus on him maybe being something cool and different. I couldn’t say for sure, but in anon’s case I think the aversion to Altean Lance (or just Lance with the Altean marks) might come from how he got them. For me, they’re a constant reminder that Allura died at the end of the show right after giving them to him, and Lance went on to spend his life never moving on from her loss, never looking for love again, and telling people about Allura as if she was a prophet and he was an apostle spreading the good word. In showing how Lance would always love Allura, the show made him isolated and made it seem like he worshiped her as an idol rather than loved her as a person, someone he knew well and was close to. Lance gave up everything we knew he cared about before. I didn’t want to be a pilot anymore, wasn’t anywhere close to it, he went and worked on a farm growing Allura’s favorite flowers. The boy who out of the whole team was always the one looking for love is implied to have spent the rest of his life single after losing his first girlfriend in his early 20s. The Altean marks pack a lot of bad feelings and memories into 2 little crescents, but that’s how it falls. It’s always been especially annoying because Lance getting them in canon made them basically unavoidable, every klance artist in the world now puts them on Lance in every canon setting, even though they don’t add anything to it besides dredging up all those bad feelings from many other people

[para-imperium]

Horizon: Salvaged Heroes, Ch. 4

The opossum in the perfluorocarbon tank stirred, took a quick look around, then made a call on his BCI. Both Brom and Tanya saw the call notification on their HUDs, Horizon, who’d been exploring her own BCI, picked up first and subvocalized her words.

Horizon:Finally, you’re awake!

MechRat:Tanya? Is that you? Where am I?

Horizon:Relax, you can breathe, it’s perfluorocarbon. It’ll drain out in a few minutes.

MechRat:The breathable liquid? I’d heard some clinics and high-g ships used it to keep people alive, where are you?

Horizon stood up from the table where she’d been sitting and grabbed a robe, she’d already figured out how to reconfigure the smart fabric of her own into a jumpsuit using her BCI’s wireless interface. She walked up to MechRat’s tube and waved at him.

Horizon:We got up hours ago. What took you so long?

MechRat:Hours? Really? What kind of augs did you get?

Horizon:Well, I got a BCI, like you. Also I heal fast, my bones are made out of memory metal, my reflexes are a lot faster, I can pilot this ship with my mind, blunt force barely even hurts me, and I can stay conscious in space for an hour.

MechRat:An hour, really? Most spacer mods can only handle ten minutes.

Another icon in the call menu lit up, indicating Brom had finally entered. “Hey, how do you guys speak without moving your lips?” They heard it both audibly and in the BCI call.

MechRat:Try to think about saying it without actually talking, it’s simple.

Lift:Really? Just like that?

MechRat:Yes, like that?

Lift:You heard that? Guess I should be more careful about what I think now.

Horizon:I would say so. We were just discussing our augs, what about you?

Lift:Uh, I’m a lot stronger than I was before, it says there’s some sort of machines in my blood, I think that’s armor under my skin, oh and there’s mention of an exoskeleton? Maybe I’m getting a new powerlifter?

MechRat:So it sounds like we’ve all got a BCI and leukosynths, that makes sense considering they are supposed to have been ubiquitous in the Federation. It looks like they removed my old one completely and inserted a bank of processors running down my spine. Silvers! I could brute force hack my way into the Jord federal bank now.

Horizon:Is that all?

MechRat:No, there’s something here called “morphic tools.”

The opossum held a hand up in front of his face, and before his eyes his fingers began to split open revealing an array of small picks and graspers that changed configurations as he focused.

MechRat:So I’m the engineer, Tanya’s a better pilot, and Brom is muscle. You seen the rich kid and his pet bird yet?

Horizon:Yes, Corus woke up right after I did, apparently Lupine’s our commander.

MechRat closed the call after that, they just stood there in silence until his tube finished draining. Once it opened he took the robe from Horizon and threw it on, seconds later it transformed into a jumpsuit and turned a more familiar dark blue shade. “Run that by me again?” He asked, out loud.

Horizon explained what Lupine had told them about the crew dying in transit and the ship apparently designating him the new mission commander. “Huh,” he thought out loud. “That’s certainly suspicious.”

“What?” Horizon asked. “You think he’s lying?”

“I’d be more worried if he wasn’t.” MechRat replied. “Did he say what kind of augs he got?”

“Actually, no, I don’t think he did.” Lift considered.

The opossum thought some more, “okay, okay. What did the simulation show you?”

Tanya cringed. “Death, devastation, planets and ships alike left in ruin. Refugee arks going through wormholes and getting raided by pirates. I’d rather not think about it please.”

“Wormholes?” Lift asked. “All I saw was some pirates getting blown up and this ship getting launched.”

“Huh,” thought MechRat. “Well, it might just be that my implants were more complicated so it had to keep my mind occupied longer, but I saw a lot more than that.” He nervously looked around the medical bay, making sure they were alone before lowering his voice. “But until I figure it out, be careful what you say over the network.”

“Any particular reason why?” Horizon asked.

A bright red icon flashed over all their HUDs and they all heard a voice in their heads.

EyeInTheSky: All crew report to the bridge, we have a Class C emergency.

A map appeared in the corner of their HUDs and showed a path through the ship’s winding corridors to the bridge. MechRat sighed. “That’s why, because at least one of them could have admin access.”

With the alert icon continuing to blink, the trio strolled casually down the corridor, following the path indicated on the map. The door to the medbay appeared to fit almost seamlessly into the white corridor walls, as they walked they found they could spy the other doors only as the thinnest of hairline cracks. The corridor appeared to be a smooth white plastic cylinder, with a flat floor that provided the most imperceptible traction for their feet. Around one corner Horizon spotted movement and turned to take a closer look. A spider-like robot sprayed some gelatinous material into a gaping crack in the wall. Her curiosity satisfied she dashed back to her friends as they rounded the last turn up to the bridge.

Lupine swiveled in his chair to look at them as they approached. “Finally awake are we, Mr. Didelph?” He commented.

Corus was flitting around a large tank in the middle of the room, in which floated a holographic model of what Horizon recognized as the Tiere system. The raven stole an impatient glance in the scrappers’ direction, then pointed a wing at a red icon departing Skadi’s L4 point. “We received a distress call from a small habitat in this cluster.”

She made a gesture and a flat mechanical voice played from the speakers. “This is habitat Stouton requesting assistance from all ships in range. We have suffered a hull breach, estimated ten hours twenty-six minutes until complete integrity collapse. Estimated survivors: one thousand, two hundred and sixty-three; revision: one thousand, two hundred, and sixty-one.”

“How fast can this ship go?” Horizon asked, to whomever could answer.

“The gravity drive was capable of cruising at 297,000 kilometers per second at full power.” Lupine replied. “Unfortunately with the damage it took we can only manage a quarter that speed now.”

Horizon gasped. “That’s over 99% of the speed of light!” She exclaimed. “Even at a quarter that we could make it in less than seven hours.”

“You’re assuming it can accelerate to that speed at the drop of a hat.” MechRat interjected. His eyes glazed over for a few seconds before he spoke up again. “Huh, guess it can do that, even compensate for inertia so we’re not reduced to red slime.”

Lupine seemed to take notice of MechRat’s blue jumpsuit then. “Aren’t you a bit out of uniform, engineer Didelph?”

MechRat held up a corner of his outfit. “Relax, it’s the same thing the rest of you are wearing. I just changed the color to something that looks better with grease stains.” Abruptly, the jumpsuit turned white, causing the opossum to jump back a step. “Okay, fine, I was going to change it back anyways.”

The wolf oligarch ignored him and returned his attention to the holo-tank. “Returning to the situation at hand. Should we even bother trying to render assistance to this little fringe station?”

“Are you serious?” MechRat gasped in shock. “This is one of the most basic rules of spacer life. If a non-hostile ship is in danger, and it’s at all possible, you render assistance!”

Lupine snorted and turned to his secretary. “Ms. Corus, would you mind explaining why that is a bad idea?”

She sighed and pointed to the holo-tank. “First of all, the area has a great deal of loose debris flying about. The Resolutionsuffered catastrophic damage that killed the entire crew from impacting a small rock at near-light speed.” A bullet point and the word “debris” wrote itself on the hologram. “Second, we’d be revealing ourselves and our technology to everyone in the Tiere system if we went to help, that would make us a target for every pirate and raider within a light-year. Third, though I admit it’s very unlikely, there’s a possibility that this could be a trap.”

Horizon considered the three points and gazed back at her HUD menu, accessing the vehicular control rig system. There was a general systems readout for the Resolution, and another tab for the Dustbinthat indicated control systems were being installed in their old ship as well. The exostellar craft’s menu also displayed one large button that read “integrate.” She focused on the icon, only for a warning to pop up: “caution, do not attempt full nervous system integration while standing. Please be seated or lying down first.” Tanya noticed then a reclined chair that seemed to be made up of gel bags.

“Look.” MechRat continued to object. “You think any other spacers are going to be running that same “cost-benefit analysis” on saving them? We’re not flatlanders, we don’t have the luxury of treating people as abstract concepts. Those are our people out there.”

“Doesn’t stop you from fighting so much among yourselves, does it?” Lupine retorted, but Horizon ignored him. Instead she strode over to the gel-bag chair and sat down.

The gel moved around her body, shifting to support her joints and hold them snugly in position. It was the most comfortable chair she’d ever sat in. Now that she was sitting down, she thought, there wasn’t any reason not to integrate was there?

In a matter of seconds the bridge faded from view, replaced by a view of open space. For a moment, Horizon was concerned that she no longer felt her arms, legs, tail, or neck; but as her consciousness expanded new sensations came to replace them. Sensors in every wavelength known to Terran life, docking arms, weapons banks, gravity engines, the primitive but oddly familiar ship docked to her side. It dawned on her, she was the Resolutionnow. New instincts came to the forefront, drives to preserve her hull integrity and the knowledge to operate her systems. She saw the maps her sensors had made of every scrap and pebble in the Tiere system and made threat assessments of the Jordian and Logan navies.

“Tanya!” She heard MechRat’s concerned voice. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Horizon reassured him.

“You sure?” He asked again. “You just laid down and went all glassy-eyed and…”

“Why did your voice come out of that speaker?” Lift added.

A mental nudge prompted a small window displaying an overhead view of the bridge to appear. The opossum was standing next to her but turning his head towards the camera, where the bull was already staring. Her own body was lying on, or rather in, the gel chair which had now reclined and swelled up to partially enclose her extremities. Horizon paused for a minute, trying to formulate her answer. “I found another thing my implants can do.” She settled on. “It appears I can integrate my nervous system with the ship. It’s like I am the Resolutionnow.”

“Can you de-integrate?” MechRat asked.

Horizon could see the icon for logging out, but wasn’t ready yet to do so. “I believe so, but first…” She pulled up the holo-tank’s display and plotted a course from their current position to the station in distress. “My radar will give me plenty of advance warning of debris so long as I’m under .5c.” She highlighted a rock half a meter in length that the course curved around. “And the gravity drives can turn on a dime.” Then she added threat assessments to the map, there was nothing rated higher than “low” out past Surt. “And I can take on a JSF battle group, on the slim chance that this is an ambush we’ll be perfectly fine.”

“I still refuse to show our hand so soon.” Lupine objected again. “If we appear with this sort of technology now, before we’ve built up our forces sufficiently, my House’s enemies will target my close kin.”

“We could easily conceal our identities.” Corus added, much to Horizon’s surprise. “The spacesuits this ship fabricated for us can be set to hide our faces and species to a reasonable extent. And it would not hurt to have already built up some good will when the time comes to reveal ourselves to the system.”

The wolf growled softly under his breath. Tanya wasn’t sure she would have picked it up without the security mics of her ship body. “And how, pray tell, might we develop good will without revealing our identities?”

“Easy, we use pseudonyms.” MechRat interjected. “I’ve got a couple dozen alternate identities on different networks. We can probably use our ship nicknames, it’ll be easy to remember at least. Though you two newcomers will probably need to think of some. EyeInTheSky seems a bit unwieldy.”

“Fine,” said Corus. “How about I shorten it to Eye?”

The security camera spotted Lift and MechRat shrugging. Lupine sighed, “fine then. I’ll be “Princeps.” Be sure to remember that if we’re really going on this mission.”

“Helmswoman Horizon requesting permission to go underway, Princeps.” Horizon requested as formally as she could manage.

Princeps followed the course she’d plotted in the holo-tank with his eyes for a few moments, then nodded. “If anyone asks, we’re representatives of the Federation reborn. Leave further details to me.” He leaned back in his chair, or was it a throne? “Now go already.”

The last of the crew wake up. And they find their first mission.

To read more please subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/Zarpaulus

[emiltons]

earth angel (will you be mine)

Based on the prompt: AU Christmas.

NOVEMBER 28

They’re driving down a dirt road. If the lane wasn’t covered in a fresh layer of powder, Kara’s certain the van wheels would be kicking up dust, leaving a little trail in their wake. A way to announce their arrival in town.

The Welcome to Midvale sign is decked out in its holiday best. There’s a large wreath hanging from the top and needled garland frames the edges. It becomes a blip in the rearview mirror as they crest the hill and the town grid opens up before them. Maggie whistles. “Shit, Alex. You sure we didn’t enter a wormhole when you took the last right?” Alex waves her off as they navigate their way into the heart of Midvale, but Kara understands exactly what Maggie means.

Since she became a Danvers, Kara’s heard stories about the town over the years. This is where Eliza met Jerimiah. It’s where they fell in love and got married. And it’s like stepping into Norman Rockwell’s universe. As if they’ve travelled back in time, or perhaps the rest of the world kept changing, but Midvale got together and decided to put everything on pause instead. Even their old van, their trusty steed that’s carried them around the country to gigs, seems new when they step onto Main Street. Because Midvale has one. And an honest-to-goodness, real-life general store. Alex has to pull Kara way from the pick’n’mix candy barrels.

“If we don’t hurry up we’re going to be late to meet Hank.”

Hank knew Jerimiah. Was one of his best friends growing up, so even if Kara’s still thinking about the selection of taffy she tightens up her scarf, tucks her hands into her pockets, and hurries up her steps. This is still a job after all and she knows Alex wants to make a good impression.

They walk and stretch out the miles from their road trip, and Kara thinks she gets why Eliza kept coming back to Midvale (and not just because of Jerimiah). Everything looks a bit worn and weathered, like it all could use a new coat of paint. But Kara figures if it got one, the town would lose some of its charm. Because she swears with each lungful of clean, cold air she sucks in, she feels a bit more of that charm sink into her bones, right down to the marrow.

When they pass the beauty salon and barbershop, Maggie points out the pole. Instead of the customary red, white, and blue stripes, the colors of Christmas are on display instead, which honestly isn’t a surprise. It’s why they’re here in Midvale.

Hank is waiting for them outside the one-screen cinema, its marquee announcing the start of the month-long Midvale Winter Festival in three days. When they enter the theater, Kara marvels at the decorative touches and the posters from yesteryear.

“The Luthors donated the funds to restore her to all her glory.” Apparently, the family donates to keep the theater running year-round, even if it’s now only used for special occasions and events like the festival. They’ll screen holiday classics all month, and it’ll serve as an alternative location for the Icicle Ball if the weather on New Year’s Eve doesn’t play nice.

Hank gives them a tour. He shows them where they can practice, unload and store their gear, the dollies to help cart everything to and from the square where the festival stage will stand. They can check out the stage set-up in the morning and meet the other band -- The Waveriders -- headlining the festival then, too.

He then rattles off directions on how to get to the Grant B&B. Kara has trouble following them, but Alex knows the way, and Kara’s once again reminded of a time before she had an Alex. When Alex just had Eliza and Jerimiah all to herself. When a family of three still came to Midvale for summer vacations and winter retreats.

But now Jerimiah’s gone, and Alex says they owe him this. Kara’s not sure she agrees. She’s not sure anyone owes anyone anything ever, but some subjects aren’t worth the argument. And at the end of the day? Well, Kara’s excited to play again. To stand on stage and perform.

When they exit the theater, it’s as if the town transformed all over again. Kara of course noticed the decorations as they were walking to their meeting, but now that the sun’s dipped below the horizon, everything stands out that much more because it’s all lit up. The gas lamps. Shop windows. And Christmas lights lining, well, everything. Kara can’t turn her head to find a shop without a wreath, candles in display windows, or lights blinking. What seemed worn and weathered earlier somehow has a much more steady pulse now. Midvale has come alive, and maybe, just maybe, Kara’s rethinking Alex’s stance. Maybe they owe this magical experience to themselves.

Read in full on ao3

This was written for @waiting4agoodiea for the @supergirlfemslashsecretsanta 2020 exchange. Happy holidays!