#But I just wanna read Keith's bond story:(((

[floydsteeth]

I love sending cybird an email explaining that the game crashes every time I open a bond story and then explain everything I've tried to fix it, and the email they send back is just telling me to do exactly what I've already tried :)

[masterhandss]

Forbidden fruit ask time: Keith x Katarina. I know people in western fandom are understandably wary of this ship, but apparently it's one of the favourites for the Japanese audience and based on what I heard it actually has some decent foundation in novels (not as much as GeoKata, but still). Since you read novels and are #1 hamefura blog on Tumblr and know so much I wanted to ask you to tell us how KeiKata is doing in novels if it's okay owo??

owo!! lmao, I don't know about being the "#1 hamefura blog on tumblr" (I-I... I thought I was an art blog... :')) I mean I just like to ramble about hamefura lmao but I'm always happy to answer questions!

Yeah... Keith x Katarina is a hard subject to talk about considering how violent reactions can be depending on who you're talking to. I remember when Season 1 was airing, people really doesn't like Keith as a romantic option for Katarina due to them being siblings, and I'm honestly waiting for those people to react to the S2 OP and S2 in general. I've talked to a few people who don't like KeiKata at all, and they have the absolute right to dislike any ship that they want, but it did make me sad to know how much Keith is hated by the EN Fandom considering how loved he is in the JP Fandom. He's pretty much the most favorite male character and the second most shipped with Katarina.

-> hamefura x(s2) & ln spoilers ahead <-

A lot of people's issues with Keith stems from the fact that he and Katarina are step-sibling and that it's really weird for Keith to be romantically interested in Katarina (a person who sees him as a little brother completely). People are accusing him of taking advantage of Katarina's trust in him to keep her to himself and that pursuing her romantically would destroy the familial bond that they've had for years. The thing is that Keith treasures Katarina as a person, not as a sibling. Yes, Keith sees her as family, but he also sees her as more than family. To him, being able to be together with Katarina doesn't mean that he'll have to love her differently, but that he will be able to love her even more deeply and honestly. You can even headcanon that the reason Keith calls Katarina "big sister" is because he's asked to do so, and because it's a symbol of his acceptance into the family, but maybe not necessarily how he sees her.

Some of the material that will be covered in Season 2 is about Keith, so I don't know how much I want to talk about that since most fans will be able to see it themselves. Keith has it the hardest because his position makes it so that he's the least likely to get his feelings across to Katarina due to their relationship. In one of the upcoming arcs in the anime, Keith will be able to break Katarina's baka shield in the same way Geordo does: by using actions instead of words, and by just literally finding the courage to take the risk and tell her.

That's where one of the interesting things about hamefura comes into play: one of the reasons why people dislike KeiKata so much is that they feel like the reveal of Keith's feelings would awaken disgust and betrayal in Katarina. Few fanfics of hamefura portray it that way, that Katarina would be weirded out by his feelings and reject them immediately. Maybe it's because Katarina is aware of Keith as not only a sibling, but also as a romance-able character in an otome game (also because of the nature of this series lmao), that in canon, she doesn't take his confession negatively and is flushed/embarrassed by it just like Geordo's confession. I know the "weirded out" reaction is the most realistic, but maybe Katarina also understands that their relationship doesn't have a clear label. They care for each other very much and whether that bond is romantic, familial or friendship isn't something they bothered to really name, maybe? Lmao I don't know, that last bit is just speculation on my part, I can't exactly get into Katarina's head and pinpoint what she thought of Keith's confession.

If I'm being honest, she forgets about Keith's confession more often than she does Geordo, mostly because nothing really changed after he made his feelings clear. I wouldn't say that she dismissed it, it's just that she's forgetting it because in her perspective being loved as a woman and as family by Keith both means that he'll take care of her and shower her with attention (aka no difference).

When I think about how "KeiKata is doing in the novels", for some reason the first thing that comes to my mind is the line "how they treated Geordo in the anime, from a JP perspective". I know that sounds confusing, but what I mean is that a lot of Arc 2 - FL2 scenes with KeiKata is kinda fanservice (aka the thing they tried to do for Geordo in the anime which worked for JP fans but made him hated by the EN fans) (not me trying to insert Geordo in a post about Keith hehe :V). Excluding all the Keith scenes that are coming in Season 2 of the anime and the current arc of the manga, the story really likes to test Keith's self-control when it comes to seeing Katarina as a woman.

Keith's scenes with Katarina aren't necessarily "hot and spicy" by any means, but people nowadays tend to be quite bothered and annoyed at typical japanese romance tropes being played out in modern anime series (such as bed-pining, surprised kisses and kabedons). I mean yeah I'd be bothered too if someone pulled those moves on me in real life, but for the japanese audience this is what their fanservice is like so that's the kind of stuff we'll see in hamefura. Just like Geordo, Keith is given a few scenes where he's put in a romantic spot with Katarina after he confessed, but it always just ends with him backing out and hoping that it at least could remind Katarina of how he sees her (like bed-pinning in LN6 & affectionate touches from Katarina in LN8). A lot of hate towards Keith stems from these scenes because people sees this as a disrespect towards Katarina and the familial relationship they have. These scenes helps reinforce how Keith sees Katarina as a woman and not as a sister, but depending on who you're siding with, you're either gonna be disgusted at Keith or extremely pissed off at Katarina's lack of propriety & density.

Like, people are getting angry at Keith for being a teenage boy who is being bothered by affectionate touches from the girl he likes who is also always approaching him with only a nightgown? I mean blame the author or Keith all you want but at least put some responsibility on Katarina as well :V People are really saying "well, he shouldn't be bot and bothered by it in the first place, they are siblings! that's disgusting!" well again, Keith sees her as a woman and Katarina needs to be aware that she shouldn't be so touchy with the opposite sex regardless if it's family. Keith kinda blames Katarina for the way he feels given how she acts around him despite being unaware of his feelings, which is also the cause of some hatred towards Keith.

People are saying that Keith is dumping *all* the responsibility onto Katarina because she acts in such an affectionate way towards him, but in reality Keith feels really bad & also hates himself for being so attracted to her when she doesn't even know about his feelings. He puts a lot of blame onto himself and thinks he's just as bad as Geordo sometimes (not saying Geordo is bad, more like Keith's "idea of Geordo" being bad lmao). Keith always walks on eggshells around Katarina because he doesn't want to disrespect how he feels about her and how she feels about him. It's just sad to see people hate him for the few moments where his self-control breaks so that he can act on his honest emotion, and accuse him of abusing Katarina's trust :((

Just like Geordo, Keith has made it clear how he feels and strongly desires to pursue her romantically, but his problem of being the step-sibling is still there. I haven't gotten my own copy of JP Volume 10 yet, I feel like I just wanna wait for the EN version instead of using GT, but multiple spoilers have noted that while Keith hasn't made progress in getting approval of his feelings from Katarina's side, he's at least able to get an approval from his family. Well, by that I mean Keith has already confessed his romantic feelings about Katarina to their father Luigi, and he replied by saying that he approves of whoever Katarina chooses for herself. Keith realizes that all he needs to do is get Katarina to return his feelings. When he does, his family wont hate him, but instead he'll be able to love them and be loved in the same, yet different way.

TLDR; a lot has happened to Keith throughout the light novels. He's progressing slowly and steadily just like Geordo, and is leagues ahead compared to the other characters. He has confessed his feelings and got reassurance of his relationship with his parents. Keith and Katarina's relationship itself hasn't really changed though, but it's nice to know that Keith is at least laying the foundations for his hypothetical future with her. Katarina doesn't really think about Keith enough to be able to tell how she feels about his confession or if her opinion on him has changed at all though, so take that as either an L or a W for Keith.

Thank you for the ask! I'm sorry if this isn't as elaborate as you wanted, anon. I like Keith and Katarina but I guess it's because they aren't my bias that I don't pay too much attention to the tiny details of how Keith is written in the books qwq

[klanceficatalogue]

Klance Fic Starter Pack

So back in June of 2018 I made a Klance Fic Starter Pack post but since it’s been a long while since then I decided it’s finally time for an update. So here we have it! - Karri

so why don’t we fall by aknightley (1/1 | 8,218 | Explicit)

Five times Lance used a pet name for Keith, and one time Keith used one for Lance.

Keith has no basis for having a relationship with someone, so he's trying to follow Lance's lead.

//nsfw

The Marks We Make by wittyy_name (12/12 | 255,302 | Mature)

Lance McClain constantly dreams of the day he'll finally meet his mysterious soulmate. They don't say much, if anything at all, but they leave him with gorgeous paintings temporarily tattooing his skin. It's not exactly the situation he hoped for, but when he feels the connection between them, he can't bring himself to resent them. As much as he wishes his soulmate would just talk to him, he's resigned himself to being patient. In the meantime, he has a loving family and good friends to help him get by.

Keith Kogane dreads the day he'll finally meet his obnoxious soulmate. He's just an art student who's struggling to find his place in the world. There's so much he hasn't been able to control in his life, and the thought of having a soulmate, just another thing in his life which he also has no control over yet can't do anything about, is a little terrifying. So he ignores the words that occasionally appear on his skin. He has other things to focus on: like being a new student at a big university where his childhood friend and step-brother go.

//nsfw

(shallura, hunk/shay)

Nightmares by Trashness (1/1 | 14,864 | Teen And Up)

Lance's nightmares are getting out of control. It's effecting his and the team's performance, but he's at a loss for how to fix this.

Apparently sleeping next to a warm body helps.

call me, beep me (10/10 | 85,591 | General)

(00:31) Do you think she gave me the wrong number on purpose? (00:31) Or was it a genuine mistake? (00:32) Like maybe she writes funny and I misread it? (00:32) Some of the numbers do look a little dodgy... (00:33) Cause, you know, her threes could very easily be poorly formed eights? And maybe she writes her sevens like her ones? (00:45) What (00:46) The (00:46) Fuck??? (00:47) Oh good, you are awake!

where lance messages the wrong number and things kind of snowball from there

(shallura)

Shut Up and Dance With Me by wittyy_name (15/15 | 249,827 | Mature)

Lance and his friends have been regulars at the Altea Dance Studio for years. Not just for classes, but to hang out, practice, and spend time with good people who love dancing. Every year, they audition to be one of the few representing Altea at the regional dance competition. Lance always auditions solo, but this year he misses out on auditions and blows his chance to participate. And so does his self-proclaimed rival, Keith.

Luckily, Shiro comes up with a brilliant plan: convince Lance and Keith to audition as a duo.

With a little convincing, and a lot of effort, these two might just be able to pull it off and go to regionals... or they might crash and burn.

//nsfw

(shallura)

Hearts Don’t Break Around Here by klancekorner (13/13 | 135,555 | Mature)

Lance and Keith have been best friends since first grade. Lance’s brain is always on overdrive and Keith’s blunt, realistic ass can never keep up. They both come to realize that sometimes you can learn a lot about loving yourself by loving someone else.

//anxiety //insecurities //nsfw

i bet you look good on the dancefloor by xShieru (7/7 | 43,295 | Teen And Up)

"So like in 'Step Up'?" Allura shrugs. "Now that you put it like that - yes. I guess it's just like in 'Step Up'." The smile that she sends Shiro's way - followed by a shy wave, eugh - is sickening to say the least, and Lance still doesn't believe in dance camps.

-

Lance McClain's dancing career begins and ends with Keith.

Keith just wants to find out what Lance's deal is.

(shallura)

you never stood a chance by kagshina (1/1 | 12,221 | Teen And Up)

lance to hunk ♡ >i’m gonna fukin die hunk oh mygod i sent >keith a work out selfie that i wan supposed to fcukin send to you and you know what it said >”BET YOU WANNA LICK THESE NIPS” >HUNK I WILL NEVE BE ABLE TO FCE HIM AGAIN I WANT TO DI E

(Or, Keith is beautiful, Lance has a crush, and there's lots of shirtless selfies)

nothing’s quite as sweet by dimpleforyourthoughts (1/1 | 50,369 | Teen And Up)

Keith is a barista who hates his job. Lance works at the cat shelter across the street.

Sweet Quiznak by CheckeredCloth (4/4 | 6,819 | Teen And Up)

"You're really into him," Hunk mutters, and wow, Lance's face is on fire. Hunk is killing him.

"Look, read into how you like, Freud, just make sure that if I die Keith knows I totally would've mowed his ass like grass. That way, I can laugh hysterically at his emotionally-constipated expression from the afterlife."

Or: Lance is badly injured and has a few skeletons in his closet. Or maybe just the one.

//blood //injury

What a Healing Pod Can’t Repair by Remember_Me (12/12 | 55,777 | Teen And Up)

The compromised wormhole was ripping apart at the seams, sending everyone spiraling away in completely different directions. Lance could feel himself being pulled and bent in ways he was definitely not supposed to be. -- Stitching the team back together after everyone is separated is difficult, and for one Paladin rescue wouldn't be coming for a very long time.

//violence //blood

Bonding Time by magisterpavus (1/1 | 16,416 | Explicit)

“Shiro, I fucked up,” Keith blurted, wringing his hands.

Shiro paused mid-punch, shooting him a quizzical look. “What? What happened?”

“I think,” Keith whispered, “I think I accidentally roofied Lance. With my dick.”

//nsfw

Homesick at Space Camp by K0bot (15/15 | 74,280 | Teen And Up)

Lance realizes he's been an asshole to Keith, and on a diplomatic mission to a key planet for the Voltron alliance he... overcompensates.

//blood //injuries //panic attacks

we’ll make it, you and me by ghostcribs (1/1 | 6,421 | Teen And Up)

"Keith, if we make it out of this alive, I'm going to kiss you."

//injury

time out of mind by aknightley (2/2 | 27,849 | Teen And Up)

Keith and Lance wake up married. In the future.

He lays there a moment, processing the faint throbbing in his head, a strange bitter taste like lemons in his mouth. When he opens his eyes, the room spins wildly into a kaleidoscope of colors, so he closes them again, breathing in and out until he feels less like he might throw up. He suddenly registers a warm weight over his waist, and lifts his head to see a brown arm thrown over him. It looks startlingly familiar, but different, bigger than he remembers, more toned.

Keith turns all the way around and comes face to face with Lance sleepily blinking his own eyes open.

A Fish And A Bird by Methoxyethane (1/1 | 13,141 | Teen And Up)

Lance has a boyfriend. Lance does not realize he has a boyfriend. Keith, understandably, does not react well.

On Thin Ice by anonimina (11/11 | 205,795 | Mature)

This multi-chapter fic chronicles the lives of a hockey player named Keith who gets enlisted into figure skating lessons by his brother, Shiro, to "work on his footwork". There he meets a pompous - yet talented - figure skater named Lance and gets swept away by both the sport and the skater.

Or: the not-so-simple story of two people trying to navigate the complexities of living in an ever changing world and face the traumas they've buried far away from the sunlight.

//anxiety 

(shallura, hunk/shay)

bench press me by eggboi (1/1 | 1,683 | Teen And Up)

“The hell are you doing?” Keith grumbles out, body mid-push up. There’s a snicker behind him, too close to his ears, though Keith can’t really understand what would be so amusing about this. Then again, he’s not really sure why Lance is lying on him while he’s doing push ups either. Other than to be, of course, annoying.

“Nothing.” Lance finally says. Keith hears the grin in his voice, which only proves to irritate him a little more. ‘Nothing’ his ass. “Continue with what you’re doing, Mr. ‘I’m-Too-Good-For-Socialization’.”

(Lance, as always, tries to annoy Keith by making his exercise harder. It doesn’t work. At all.)

My Youth Is Yours by MilkTeaMiku (10/10 | 29,980 | General)

An unforseen blast in the middle of a battle de-ages Lance into a child for a week.

Keith does not understand babies.

[doodle-zombie]

Lamia Bonding: Oozy Guest Special

We interrupt this unplanned Lamia Bonding Hiatus to bring you some Oozy appreciation! Lately, much of my writing has been RP on Discord only (largely due to my own nerves and feeling like crap) but I have been punched with inspiration. In the face. All of @theriverpersonshadow 's boys tend to really get me going and Oozy is basically Val's unofficial official Goop Husband (fight me I dare you).

So sit back and read a short story of some silly idiots being silly!

She'd always been willing to learn new things but the steady stream of words almost visibly flowing from Keith's mouth had Val feeling very underprepared for this new venture she'd taken on. It had seemed like a good idea to know at least a little bit about DnD, considering everyone she spoke to regularly at Caring Coils played. Piper had expressed a desire to once more be a dragon and she figured she'd be able to wrangle Marmalade, Lapis, and Lazuli into learning with her so they could all have some fun. But the jargon being spit at her in quick succession, in a tone of voice far too excited to be normal, was quickly making her have second thoughts.

Val was more a learn-by-doing individual. She wanted to see it being done when it was explained to her, not have the equivalent of thought vomit projected at her face. Keith had done good, in the beginning. He'd given a good explanation of the very basics of basics but he'd quickly gotten so enthusiastic that Val was left floundering.

Good gods, how did she get him to stop?!

Just when she was contemplating running away, Val quickly spotted her favorite lamia around and quickly shouted an excuse before hightailing it. It wasn't that she didn't like Keith (she did!) but he could get really intense about the oddest things and he clearly didn't know much about Valerie beyond her being a lamia owner and insane enough to be planning on opening a sanctuary for them. So when she asked him about DnD he must have assumed she would be like Alex... but Val only knew DnD was a lot of fun, needed people, and someone called a GM usually ran things.

So she knew next to nothing of substance.

Oozy poking his head into her field of vision was a lifesaver and she scooped up her goopy man while making her escape. He made a sound of amused surprise, still somewhat jumpy about her willingness to dirty her clothes every time she laid eyes upon him but he didn't sound particularly vexed.

One glance at his face was enough for dread to pool in her stomach. Every Corny she had ever met could pull off such a frightening smile when they were ready to unleash hell upon someone and Oozy was no different. She felt the foreboding in his grin.

"You heard nothing at all!" Val was quick to insist. "Nothing. Nada. Zero."

"Uh-huh."

Oh, he sounded much too smug and gleeful for her liking. Oozy wasn't normally like this, either, so she was stuck being increasingly suspicious of his smile and what he might be planning. He wasn't being malicious so she didn't think he would hurt her feelings but she feared for her pride more than anything else.

But, Oozy didn't say anything else for a long while. Not when she strode past Nikolai with a casual declaration of taking Oozy outside, not when she carried him to a bench in the park, and not when she began to talk about her latest asshole client and his crazy specific demands for another large-breasted female to be drawn in some anatomically impossible pose. Val didn't particularly like feeling as if she couldn't share an interest with Oozy, considering she liked talking with him and didn't want to add to his worries, but how did you bring up interest in something without seeming fake?

Honestly, Val had always thought DnD and such were really fun! She liked to roleplay in games and she'd always loved fantasy adventures but something always seemed to throw her away from DnD when she was younger. Then she'd reached the point where she just... didn't know how to get started.

What if she seemed desperate? Or dishonest! Hux would surely throw the mother of all tantrums if he caught wind of her interest.

She only realized she'd been silent for too long when a phalange was pressed into her cheek, right beside the divot where her piercing sat. Oozy looked more concerned now and, somehow, that made her feel even worse.

"Can you explain DnD to me?" Val blurted out. A moment to process passed. She blinked, mouthed what she'd said to herself, and promptly wished the cosmos would yeet her into a new century. Oozy looked rather stunned at her question too. "Oh stars, please don't laugh! I always wanted to learn more about it but nobody ever wanted to tell me so I gave up for ages. But you like DnD and I hate feeling like I only ever talk about stuff I'm interested in. Please shut me up now."

"Huh."

Well, he wasn't laughing but what kind of reaction was that! Val puffed her cheeks out just so she could huff more effectively, plopping Oozy into her lap so she could look sternly down at the dome of his skull.

Wait...

Oozy wasn't even smiling.

Shit, did she break Oozy? She would gladly take it all back!

"Nobody's ever asked me to explain it before, 's all."

"I said that out loud, didn't I."

"Sure did."

They both paused to stare at one another before they were laughing. A little hysterically, but it was laughter they shared.

"I really do wanna know more, though. Can't say I'll ever play with you guys, given how loud Hux might scream if I did, but you like DnD a lot, right? And Piper has been asking if he can be a dragon again. Plus, we can come up with ideas to troll Hux while you play with him next time."

If Oozy had any doubts before, he seemed to have lost them once he started laughing as he explained.

Maybe it was the closeness she had with Oozy but, his explanation stuck much better than Keith's had.

[lesbianklance]

8, 9, 17, 18!! Also 26 for klance

8. name a ship that is just yours

shayallurelle babeyy i am the leader of that ship because i created it and i love that for me

9. name a ship that is perfect just the way it is

oh man a few come to mind

catradora, sukka and percabeth im thinking of rn

my three canon ships that are superior

i havent finished the percabeth story but from what im hearing goddamn they're already one of my all time fave ships

17. name a ship which you love one character above all others

if im understanding this correctly like i prefer one character from the ship? because if that's the case well,,, that's all my ships i always have a bias

klance used to be the one exception but,,, yeah lance

if it means that i love one character of the ship more than the rest of the show's then once again probably all of them HEKWDSJSH

18. name a ship with the loveliest fanfiction

oh man tbh i only read specific ships' fanfiction

like ones that left me unsatisfied. rn as everyone knows that is klance

also ive been stuck in klance the longest out of all my ships so prob them?

there are some,,, questionable fics but the ones i read??? top tier

26. name a moment in which you understand klance the most

i mean,,, there are a lot

the bonding moment is what started it all it clearly meant a lot to both of them and just the whole thing and what it represents shows what klance shippers saw in them

then we got the pool episode their banter was so entertaining and i just love it

the classic i got you buddy scene? amazing spectacular

also i dont wanna bring the later seasons into this i really dont but lance choosing keith at the game show was fucking gay and also his bi panic when he came back

we do not acknowledge those seasons but,,, come on

if i had to go with one I'd say bonding moment tho cause that's what started it all

[justheretobreakthings]

Perchance to Dream

Written for @gentronlegendaryfriendships

Day Three: Telepathic Bond | Crying in Front of the Other

Written for @badthingshappenbingo

​Prompt: Sleep Deprivation

Word Count: 5,092 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Characters: Keith & Lance Read on AO3 My house, my rules, my ko-fi

Story Summary:

In the stress-filled days following Shiro's disappearance, it becomes clear that Keith is in desperate need of a good night's sleep. Lance and the rest of the team are determined to find a way to make that happen.

It was understandable that Keith would be in a bad mood as of late. After all, now that Zarkon was out of commission, a lot of political matters across the galaxies were up in the air, and the paladins were constantly meeting with one planetary leader after another. They were still having to keep up with battles and missions, and although the Blade was lending its assistance wherever it could, it still felt like they were spread thin now that they were short one paladin, and battles were that much more difficult now that they couldn’t form Voltron.

And, of course, there was the matter of what Shiro’s absence meant for Keith.

The other paladins didn’t have a whole lot of detail about what Keith had gone through when Shiro had disappeared on the Kerberos mission, since Keith wasn’t exactly eager to share any details about his past with anyone, but there were some things he couldn’t hide, not when some of his teammates were witnesses to them. Like the fact that Keith had been expelled from the Garrison for disciplinary issues within a week of the news of Kerberos breaking, or the fact that he had been living in self-imposed isolation for a year afterward, with no sign of having had contact with any sort of family or friends or of any family or friends even existing, until Shiro had finally returned, whereupon he steadfastly took up the role of Shiro’s right-hand man while remaining stubbornly closed off to everyone else in the Castle of Lions.

So, some emotional regressing was probably inevitable, and the rest of the team had formed an unspoken agreement to let it slide when Keith was snappish with them, when he skipped group meals and bonding sessions, when he stormed out of meetings, when he’d take the Red Lion out on yet another fruitless search for any sign of Shiro without letting anyone else know he’d be gone.

It was understandable, sure, but that didn’t mean they weren’t allowed to be irritated by it. And Lance was accustomed to being irritated by Keith, so it wasn’t like this was anything new. Just more of the same.

And more of the same also meant more venting about his Keith-related frustrations to Pidge and Hunk, who were annoyingly not particularly receptive to hearing about it.

“Look,” Pidge told him during one of these rants, cutting him off right in the middle of a very impassioned tirade about Keith having rammed into his shoulder in the hallway earlier that day without even stopping to apologize, “I’d be annoyed too, but cut him some slack. He just lost his brother, again. He has the right to be in a bad mood.”

“A bad mood, sure,” Lance said. “But there’s a limit to mood badness we should be willing to tolerate. Not like he’s never been a grouch before, but now it’s at the point where it’s messing with public image and missions. And team morale.”

“Him shoulder-checking you in the hallway really screwed up your morale that badly?”

“There’s no fucking way he doesn’t know he owes me an apology,” Lance snapped. “He’s just intentionally being a dick.”

“You always say that when it comes to Keith.”

“It’s always true.” He sighed. “Come on, help me out. When you get into a really bad mood about the situation with your brother and dad, you still pull yourself out of it after a while. What’s the difference there, huh? What do you do that Keith doesn’t?”

Pidge bristled. “I don’t get into ‘bad moods’, it’s perfectly justifiable to be pissed the fuck off when a tyrannical empire kidnaps your family and - ”

“Hang on, whoa, I wasn’t saying it wasn’t justifiable!” Lance said hastily. “I was just - ”

“So, what, does it mess with your fucking morale when I get grumpy about - ”

“I think what Lance is trying to say,” Hunk cut in, “Is that, when you’re feeling extra upset about the whole setting, the anger still settles. It’s just not sustainable to stay so angry for a longer period of time, you’d completely burn out and wind up basically breaking down. You’re mad about the whole thing, and rightly so, but you temper it enough that it doesn’t keep you from functioning and interfere with daily life, right? Meanwhile, Keith’s temper’s been flaring a lot longer than is healthy. It’s no good for him to not be coping.”

“Yeah,” Lance said with a nod. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was gonna say.”

“Like hell it was,” Pidge muttered, but thankfully she let it go for now. “It’s not like I’m doing anything to work through the anger, really. Just, like you said, it burns out. Eventually I just gotta sleep it off, get some air, wait ‘til I can focus again.”

“Ah, okay, so Keith has to sleep it off,” Lance said. “I’m sure a nap will make everything all better again.”

“Hey, you asked how I deal, and I told you. Not my fucking problem if you don’t like the answer.”

“Well,” Hunk said slowly, “It… actually could help.”

Lance frowned over at him. “What do you mean?”

“It’s kind of a well-known fact that lack of sleep basically kills your mood, right? Just think of how cranky toddlers get after they miss a nap. I mean, I’m not trying to say Keith is a toddler or anything, or that this is a temper tantrum, nothing like that. But, well, he’s been really pushing himself trying to find Shiro, and he hasn’t really been recharging. He’s still up earlier than the rest of us, and a couple nights ago when I woke up halfway through the night and went to get a snack, he was up pacing the hallways.”

“Huh,” Pidge said. “Come to think of it, I’m usually the last one to bed, but I have heard Keith still moving around in his room a few times while I was heading to my room to sleep. And he’s been yawning a lot in diplomacy meetings. More than usual, I mean.”

“Oh!” Lance said. “And our last team training session, I was totally kicking his ass on reflex time against those drones! Normally he’s like, almost as fast as I am, but he was stumbling around like a drunk! Think that was because he was tired?”

“Lance, he normally has the fastest reflexes out of all of us,” said Hunk.

“No, no, we’re pretty much even. My reflexes just look slower to you guys because you’re more used to seeing them.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s how it works,” Pidge said, rolling her eyes. “But hey, the point stands. Bit of sleep would probably do him some good.”

“Well, if it means a possibility of a slightly less pouty Mullet stinking up the place? It’s gotta be worth a shot.”

---------------------------------------------------------

The next time Lance encountered Keith in the hall, he didn’t wait around to get brushed off or bumped into. Instead he strode straight up into the path of Keith’s stomping boots, earning himself a level glare that he pointedly ignored.

“Hey,” Lance said, “Cancel any plans you’ve got for tonight. We’re doing a sleepover.”

“... What?” Keith said, blinking uncomprehendingly.

Lance wasn’t sure if Keith was just taken aback by his abruptness, or if he actually didn’t know what a sleepover was. Just in case, he explained. “You know, we all gather together, have some quality bonding time, get as comfortable as possible, then pass out and sleep through the rest of the night and, if we did it right, half of the next day too. We’re all meeting in the paladins’ lounge, at - at half past, uh… fuck it, Altean clocks are stupid. Once you start seeing someone heading that way in pajamas, it’s time.”

“No thanks,” Keith grunted.

He moved to step around Lance, and Lance held out a hand to block him. “Wait, you gotta hear me out first. We’re all gonna put on our paladin pajamas and lion slippers - that’s all mandatory, by the way, sleepovers are very strict about dress codes - and gather up all the pillows and blankets we can find, and we’re going to basically transform the lounge into a massive blanket fort. And Pidge is gonna bring her caterpillars along to join, and they’re basically the softest things in all of existence, and we’re gonna taste-test some of Hunk’s new dessert recipes he’s trying out, get nice and stuffed before we go to bed. Basically, this is gonna be the best night’s sleep any of us have had in years.”

“I’ll pass.”

“No, look, you can’t pass. It’s team bonding.”

Keith huffed. “We do plenty of team bonding in all our battles and meetings. And speaking of which, we’ve got more important things to be focusing on than blanket forts.”

“Well, yeah, but how are we going to be able to focus on those important things if we don’t take some time to relax in between? All work and no play makes Keith a dull paladin.”

“All… what are you talking about?”

Lance sighed. “Okay, look, I’ll level with you. The whole team’s been kind of, uh, concerned, lately. About your mood. And Hunk noticed you haven’t been getting much sleep lately, and frankly it’s making you even more of a grouch than usual - no offense, I mean - so we figured - ”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Keith growled. “Yeah, I’ve been in a bad mood. Do you wanna guess why, Lance? Can you think of anything that might have happened lately that may be worth getting a little bit upset over? What could I be concerned about, huh? What could I possibly have going on that’s more important than a goddamn sleepover?!”

“See, this is exactly what I’m talking about,” Lance said. “Maybe if you got a decent night’s sleep, you wouldn’t be yelling at me right now.”

“I’m not yelling!” Keith snapped. “And I definitely don’t need you to be monitoring my sleep schedule!” He stepped around Lance, and this time, Lance didn’t stop him. “Have all the sleepovers you want, but leave me out of them,” Keith muttered as he left.

Lance slumped as he watched him go. He had figured that it would take a bit of convincing to get Keith on board for a sleepover, but he hadn’t actually expected him to get angry over it.

God, he definitely needed a nap.

“Stupid, stubborn Mullet,” Lance grumbled under his breath, scuffing his shoes against the floor as started back to the lounge.

-----------------------------------------------------

The sleepover may have been a no-go, but that didn’t mean they had to give up on Operation: Make Keith Actually Get Some Sleep quite yet, especially since, in the coming quintants, the dark bags under Keith’s eyes, the disheveled state of his hair and his clothes, and his irritability were all increasing before the very eyes of the rest of the team. If any of them had had any doubts over whether he was sleep-deprived, they were certainly dashed by now.

But since apparently Keith had some sort of issue with his teammates actively encouraging him to sleep, they agreed that they would have to try more subtle methods to get him past his insomnia, help him sleep without letting him realize they were doing it.

Lance initially proposed raiding the med bay for some sort of sleeping tonic and slipping it into his food, but that idea was shot down immediately by Pidge explaining that it would be too risky to use a medicinal sleep aid on someone when they didn’t know how it would react with his biology, and Hunk saying that drugging Keith without his knowledge and consent was just an extremely sleazy and messed up thing, and making it clear that he found it very disturbing that he even had to point that out to them.

But there were other things to try, discrete ways to try to make the Red Paladin a bit more susceptible to some solid sleep. Hunk planned out dinners over the next few nights that heavily featured poultry and whole grains, which he explained to Lance induced the production of some sort of sleep hormone - Lance honestly had sort of zoned out the moment Hunk started throwing science into the conversation. Pidge messed with the lighting in the living quarters to dim the lights in Keith’s room, just enough that he probably wouldn’t notice the difference, but would also have a slightly easier time falling asleep despite the light.

Even the Alteans got in on it, as it seemed the human paladins weren’t the only ones who had taken notice of Keith’s insomnia. Allura had them all do meditation shortly before the castle’s night cycle began, under the pretense of it being a training exercise for the paladin bond. Coran, who it turned out was an ardent advocate of aromatherapy, pumped some sort of faint fragrance into the air vents in the living quarters, which smelled a bit like lavender and vanilla, although with a certain tartness to the scent that was distinctly Altean.

And yet, even after all of that, they still weren’t seeing a change. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Lance decided to try his own hand at it a few quintants into their new subtle approach, figuring it couldn’t possibly hurt. He waited in his own room with the door kept open, until he saw Keith pass by in the hall and called him in.

“What?” Keith asked. The word came out sharp and tetchy, but lately that was how everything Keith said sounded, so Lance paid it no mind.

Instead, he simply held out his headphones. “Would you mind giving this a listen for me? I think something’s a little weird with the audio, like it’s scratchy or something, but it’s hard to tell. I wanna know if I’m just imagining it.”

“Wouldn’t Pidge be better with audio stuff?” Keith asked.

“With fixing it, yeah, but right now I just need someone to give a second opinion.” Lance bounced the headphones in his hand. “Come on, please?”

Keith let out a long, low breath, but he obliged, taking the headphones and sitting on the edge of Lance’s bed as he placed them over his ears. Lance gave him a thumbs-up and pressed play on his music player, watching Keith’s face carefully. This was a special mix he’d been using for the last couple of years, and the fact that he’d had his player in his backpack with him when they’d wound up in the Blue Lion was a godsend. A playlist of soft guitar songs and light Caribbean ballads with steady and melodic percussion beats, all interspersed with ocean sounds. It had lulled him to sleep every night since he’d been in the Castle of Lions.

The mix played for a few minutes before Keith moved one of the earphones aside and said, “I don’t hear anything weird.”

“You positive?” Lance said. “Listen real closely, all right? Close your eyes, it’ll help you concentrate.”

Keith did, and his eyes stayed closed for another few minutes before he shook his head. “It all sounds fine to me.”

“Well, that’s good,” Lance said. “Guess it was all in my head after all.” He accepted the headphones as Keith handed them back to him, then cleared his throat. “So, ah, did you like that music? You looked like you were enjoying it.”

“Sure,” Keith said with a shrug.

“Hey, that’s - that’s cool. Gives us something in common. You know, if you want, you can borrow my music player for a while.”

“That’s all right, you keep it.”

“No really, I think you’d like it. You could, like, give the whole mix a listen, let me know what you think. I bet you’ll enjoy it, I’m sort of known for having great taste in music.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” Lance asked.

“Since when are you so eager to let me borrow your things?”

“Uh, since always? I’m generous.”

“Lance, last week I accidentally used your toothpaste instead of mine and you acted like I had stabbed you.”

Lance huffed. “Our bottles look completely different, how could you possibly have - ? You know what, not important. Just, I’m up for sharing now, okay? So come on, just take the music. You’ll like it.”

“Not until I figure out what you’re trying to - ”

“Jesus fucking Christ, I’m just trying to help you, Mullet! This is supposed to be relaxing! So could you quit being so goddamn stubborn for once in your life and just take the stupid headphones already?!”

A pause of silence stretched between them as Keith’s expression slowly fell to a dark scowl. “Oh my god. Is this seriously about that stupid sleep thing again?!”

“Yes,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “You know what, yes, it is. And honestly, we shouldn’t be having to go to this much trouble to get a grown-ass adult to actually take a nap, and this is getting really ridiculous - ”

“Wait a minute, ‘we’?”

“Well, it’s kind of really fucking obvious that you haven’t gotten half a dobosh of sleep in ages, but since apparently you’re too proud or something to admit you actually need help, the rest of us have had to intervene to keep you from just straight up dying of exhaustion.”

“For the love of - I don’t need anyone’s help to sleep!”

“Oh, like hell you don’t. Look at you, the bags under your eyes are so big I’d have to check them at the ticket counter. I don’t know why you’ve gone and decided that having trouble sleeping is something you’ve got to be ashamed or whatever’s going on in your head, but - ”

“I can sleep just fine! I don’t want to sleep!”

“What, because you’re being so damn productive in those extra waking hours you get when you don’t? You’re not exactly doing yourself any favors here.”

“It’s got nothing to do with that!”

“Well then what’s it got to - ”

“Do you know what happens every time I fall asleep?” Keith snarled. “You know what I see every single time?”

“Uh…” said Lance.

“I see Shiro.” Keith crossed his arms, his scowl deepening. “Every time I close my eyes to go to sleep, it’s Shiro. Sometimes I see him bleeding out in the hall of a Galra base. Sometimes I see that gladiator arena he told us about, and he’s in the middle of it, barely hanging in there. Sometimes he’s just floating out in the middle of space and he’s cold and he’s too far from anyone or anything to get help. And sometimes it’s just the Black Lion, getting shot to smithereens right in front of me in the middle of battle and I can’t do anything to stop. He’s hurt and he’s dying and I just do nothing.

“Because that’s what I did, didn’t I?” He choked out a dry laugh that was completely devoid of any humor. “He got taken, right under our noses, and we didn’t even know until we got back to the hangars. He could be dead, or being tortured; maybe the Galra have something in mind for him that’s so horrible we can’t even fathom it. And we could have prevented it, but we didn’t. And it’s all I can think about, and when I’m asleep, it’s all I can see.

“Hell, I got nightmares after the Kerberos thing too, imagined his shuttle crash-landing against that stupid moon and wound up with that playing over and over every night. But at least that time, it wasn’t like it was my fault. Not like I was there and could have done anything. Not like I’d ever seen Shiro hurt and scared before, so my stupid brain couldn’t use that for reference. This time, though?” He tapped his temple. “It’s all there. Just waiting to play out.”

He took a shaky breath. “If I stay awake as long as possible, though, just let my body pass out when it can’t handle being awake for one more second, I don’t dream. I guess I’m just, like, too exhausted for the subconscious to do anything but wait for me to wake up. So I can’t sleep until I absolutely have to, you know? Because if I don’t I end up - I have to see - ” He gritted his teeth and scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“... Shit, dude,” Lance said, slowly lowering himself onto the bed next to Keith. “I, uh… I didn’t know.”

“You weren’t supposed to,” Keith grunted. He lowered his hands and Lance could see the glistening of tears there before he brought his knees up, wrapped his arms around them and buried his face in them. “God, you’re not supposed to see this.”

“Why not?” Lance asked softly. “Keith, if you’d told us what you were dealing with, we could’ve helped you out.”

“How?” Keith snapped. “You can’t control what I dream about, you can’t undo what happened to Shiro. I just - I have to deal with this.

“Keith, you don’t need to - ”

“Yeah, I do.” He sniffed, wiping at his eyes. “Okay? And this isn’t me being stubborn or anything, I’m just stating facts. This isn’t something that can be fixed, it’s just something I - something I have to figure out. Somehow.” He coughed. “So, please, Lance. Stop trying to help. Tell the others to stop trying to help.” With one last sniff and failed attempt to blink away the now cascading tears, he stood and turned away. “I’ve gotta go,” he mumbled. “Should really get to the training deck.”

“But - ”

“Don’t - don’t tell the others. About this. It’ll just… make them worry.” And before Lance could say anything in response, Keith was out the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------

It was several vargas later that Keith finally stopped training and came back to the living quarters, and by then the castle was well into its night cycle. Keith was drenched in sweat, trembling somewhat from exertion as he trudged his way back toward his room.

So, the sight of Lance standing in front of the door probably wasn’t a welcome one, and Lance was unsurprised by the glare he received as Keith approached, which deepened further as he spotted the music player in Lance’s hand.

“What the hell are you doing?” Keith asked.

Lance took a deep breath. “I, uh - I had a bit of an idea. I know you said you don’t want me to, like, get involved in - in this whole thing going on with you, but I gave this a lot of thought, I really did, and I think you should hear me out. I’ve got something you really need to try.”

“Lance,” Keith sighed. “We already went over this. I don’t need you to help me fall asleep. And besides, the music, the beach sounds? They just don’t work for me, okay? There’s no point in - ”

“No, okay, I know we went over all of that,” Lance interrupted. “But this is different, I swear.”

“Lance - ”

“Look, this is either going to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done for you, or a stroke of absolute genius. It’s like fifty-fifty and we won’t know which one it is until we try it. So, here.” He held up the headphones. “Just give it a shot.”

Keith frowned down at the headphones, but slowly, he obliged, taking them from Lance’s hand and positioning them onto his head. “All right,” he said, closing his eyes. “Ready.”

Lance nodded and pressed play, then watched Keith’s face. At first he remained stoic, then, gradually, his brow began to scrunch in confusion. Lance held his breath as he watched, and after about a minute Keith’s eyes opened to look warily at him. “What… what is this?” He moved the headphones down, and Lance could just hear the sound of the playing track: a voice, soft and tinny at this distance from the earpiece but still confident and sincere. “We’re entering a new era of human exploration of the unknown universe, and every one of you has the ability to become part of history.”

“That,” Lance said, “Is a speech that was made about five years ago at my middle school, and probably a couple hundred others. By a certain Galaxy Garrison lieutenant I admired very much.”

“Yeah.” Keith brought the headphones off his head completely to stare at in his hands. “Thought I, um, recognized it. How did - how did you even get a recording of it way out here?”

“I downloaded a video of it that was on Youtube, converted into an MP3. Listened to it while I worked on my Garrison application, because that stupid application process was frustrating as shit and I needed the motivation. Guess I just never deleted it.”

“...Oh.” Keith kept staring at the headphones for a while longer before slowly moving them back up onto his head and closing his eyes again. Lance watched as he stayed still, for long enough that Lance was starting to wonder if Keith had forgotten he was there, when Keith finally opened his eyes back up and pushed the headphones aside again. “It’s… nice,” he said softly. “Hearing him talk. I’d… forgotten… how nice that was.”

Lance gave him a small smile. “Yeah. That’s the idea. See, I got to thinking, about the stuff I was having you try listening to before, and how you didn’t find it relaxing the way you were supposed to, and I realized, like, the reason that that stuff calms me and helps me sleep, is because it’s for me, specifically. Like, the Timba music is stuff I’ve been listening to my whole life, that I’d play in my room at home all the time, and the ocean sounds, they make me think of swimming and going to the beach with my family and laying down on a surfboard to watch the sun and stuff. And, you know, stuff like that, it makes me feel at home, right? It feels peaceful, and familiar, and safe, and that’s all good for getting a good night’s sleep, and for keeping the bad stuff away.

“But for you, well, none of those sounds are really home to you, are they? The music genre’s kinda niche, and I figure you’re more into… I dunno, punk rock? Post-hardcore? Some genre where your mullet might be considered acceptable. And as for the ocean sounds, I mean, you lived in the middle of the desert and you don’t even swim.”

“I can swim,” Keith said.

“Eh, you don’t so much swim as just ‘not drown’, but whatever,” said Lance. “Point is, they weren’t the right sounds for you. So I asked myself, okay, what sort of things would make Keith feel at home? Duh, explosions. But then I realized explosion sound effects would probably be hard to sleep through, so I went searching through my MP3s and found this. And, like, it works doubly well because if you fall asleep with this playing and Shiro shows up in your dream, then your subconscious or whatever might connect the two. So instead of him, um, going missing or - or stuff like that, dream-Shiro will start giving a motivational speech instead. You know, how sometimes when you’re asleep and dreaming and you hear a sound in real life and your brain just sort of incorporates it into the dream? I mean, it’s just a theory, but it has to be worth a shot, right?”

“Lance, I dunno if - ”

“Yeah, I don’t really know for sure either. Might be a little out there. But, you know. I just thought maybe this could be, uh - this could work. Here, you can set it to play the track on a loop like this, see.” He held up the player to show him. “And the whole thing is about an hour long, so it’ll probably only make it through one loop, if even, before you fall asleep, so you don’t need to worry about it getting super repetitive and driving you crazy. Now, the real motivational stuff is only at the beginning and the end. The whole forty-five minutes or so in the middle is mostly just talking about the Garrison’s programs and how to apply and stuff like that, but that’s still probably better than nothing, right? You can dream about Shiro in teacher-mode or whatever.”

Keith bit his lip in thought, eyes darting between Lance and the headphones, before quietly saying, “... Yeah. Maybe.”

“Try it, at least. For the team’s sake, yeah? ‘Cause we’re all kinda worried about your health at this point, and - and I don’t care what you say, you really need a good night’s sleep.”

“...Okay.”

“Okay?”

Keith nodded, reaching and hand out to take the music player from Lance. “I’ll try it, at least.”

“Great!” Lance said, face brightening. “Let me know tomorrow how it goes, okay?”

“All right,” Keith said. “And, um - just - for the uh, for the - I just - it’s, um, it’s nice to know that you guys all - ”

“Yeah, you’re welcome, Mullet,” Lance said. “Now, go the fuck to sleep.”

-------------------------------------------------------

For the first morning in a long time, Keith wasn’t the first paladin up and about. In fact, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were all already halfway through their breakfasts when Keith finally showed up in the kitchen, blinking drowsily against the light. But it was a different drowsiness than usual. The sort of drowsiness that came from just having woken rather than from desperately needing to go to bed.

Wisely, none of them made any remarks about the change. They bid him good morning and asked if he’d like to join for breakfast, as casually as they would have on any given morning on the castle before Keith’s whole insomnia episode began, and he accepted, his focus entirely on the food in front of him.

Lance waited until Hunk and Pidge started their own conversation, distracted enough by each other not to pay the rest of the table any mind, before tapping the table near Keith’s plate and giving him a questioning thumbs-up. Keith nodded, and Lance smiled as what he had already suspected was confirmed: Shiro’s speech had worked.

Lance was a goddamn genius.

And in the following quintants, as Keith gradually grew less irritable and the bags beneath his eyes started to fade, it became easier to believe that maybe, the team could get through this. Keith could get through this.

He just needed his goddamn genius teammates to help out a bit sometimes. That’s all.

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

Director’s Commentary- Love for You, Violet wants to go to the Garrison

My commentary is in bold <3 

Violet stood in front of them with a wide smile. “Well, today a lady came to talk to our science class and guess what?” Her fathers looked at each other with amusement then at her. This part with her talking was funny to write because I had to keep it in a little kid voice. So it always feels awkward reading over her little recap because it’s supposed to be in an eleven year old’s voice. “She was from the Garrison! She came and talked to us, and I already knew the stuff, but then she had a simulator for a ship! And everyone failed, but then I went last and they were making fun of me but guess what? I was the only one to finish it! The lady figured out who I was and she said I was basically already admitted! You guys just have to fill this out!” She revealed the packet and smiled up at them.

I imagined that the whole time she was recapping, Keith and Lance were both like... slowly feeling this wave of terror. It’s something that should have been obvious to them, but it wasn’t and now it’s blindsided them. But the expressions on their faces made her excitement disappear almost immediately.

Papa took the packet and flipped through it. “What? No. No way.” Obviously Lance takes it the hardest because he lost the most when he left. He’s the one hit by the trauma more than the others, at least in his immediate family.

Dad pulled out a chair and sat down. “Vi…. You want to go to the Garrison?”

She looked between them and her ears started flicking nervously. “Well… yeah.”

“Why?” That was Papa. He sounded angry. “We spent so long trying to come back to Earth and now you want to go and… be at this place?”

Violet felt a mixture of fear and anger bubbling in her, but she wasn’t sure which she wanted to indulge, so she tried to keep herself calm. That bit felt a little older than her, but I wanted to show this fear of not being allowed into this ideal place and the fear of her parents not letting her as well as the anger over the fact that they seem so against it and so angry because it just seems that everything has made them angry. “I wanna go to the Garrison because I’d fit in. They’d know who I am, I wouldn’t get bullied all the time. I’m good at it! Aunt Pidge taught me about the codes, Uncle Hunk taught me the machinery. I can speak in three alien languages! The Garrison is the perfect place for me and what I can do!”

“No! No, you’re not going there!” Papa shouted. It sucks, but the truth is parents don’t always handle things in the best way. Lance is very much not handling this calmly or appropriately. He’s just panicking. Charlie and Oliver froze on the floor where they were playing with some toys. And I’m also trying to slowly show the way the kids are all seeing this and kind of getting used to it in a way? Or at least it’s a norm that shouldn’t be. 

“Lance, calm down,” her dad said. He looked at Violet and sighed. “Violet, that school… you know it means you wouldn’t live with us anymore, right? And you’re only eleven. You have a whole year to think-”

“I don’t need to think!” she snapped. “Sergeant Bloom said I could be let in anyway. I thought you’d be proud of me. I’m the first person ever to beat the simulation on the first try!”

“Sweetheart, that is amazing,” Daddy said. “But you have to understand, a lot of things happened to us at the Garrison. They also haven’t exactly.... talked to her about it in depth, you know? The last thing we wanted was for you-”

“You already went! This is my choice, not yours!” she shouted.

“Violet, lower you voice,” Papa said, giving her an angry look. “You’re scaring your brothers. So this part. Although Lance is the one blowing it out of proportion, he’s using this moment to turn the blame on Violet and in a way try and stifle the conversation. Not a good thing. But again. Lance hasn’t been at his best at this point. You’re not going to that school.”

He reached for the application on the table, but Violet lunged forward and snatched it away. “No!” she shrieked. “You’re not taking it!” In my head that bit was very frantic.

“Violeta Esperanza vas a estar castigada!”

“Fine! Ground me! I don’t care!” She scowled and stomped her foot. Violet’s really good at being stubborn which she gets from both of them. “I want to go to the Garrison! I’d be good at it! People wouldn’t think my ears are weird there! Space was my home, and just because you guys want to pretend space never happened, it doesn’t mean I do!” I think the last line was a huge slap for both of them. Because honestly that is what they’ve been doing. And Violet also correlates space to happiness while Earth, to her, is to blame for her parents becoming the way they have. 

Daddy got up from the chair and held out his hand. “Give me the application, Violet.” Violet looked at him, clutching the packet closer. “When’s the deadline?”

“She just said to give it to Mrs. Singfiel when you filled it out,” she said softly.

He nodded. “Okay. We’re gonna talk about it. No more screaming. Give me the application. Let’s give this a week, okay?”

“Are you lying to me?” Violet asked, tears already beginning to streak down her face.

Daddy knelt down and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’d never lie to you, Vi.” She sniffed and gave him the wrinkled packet. “Go to your room. Take your brothers.” At this point Keith is remaining calm because well, for one, he wasn’t hit as hard by leaving Earth as Lance. He’s tired from work, and really, he’s trying to keep things calm before the inevitable blow up with Lance when they talk it through. Because the whole time the only one saying no has been Lance. Keith is more just... confused and trying to catch up. 

Her stomach flipped at that, but she did as she was told. She knows that “take your brothers” means they’re gonna argue. And she feels to blame for this argument. She gave the boys some of her old toys to entertain them then cracked the door open.

“-me the fucking bad guy, huh?”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Daddy said.

“We’re not letting her go there.”

“Why not?” Violet chewed on her lip. “She wants to go. It’s safe there. She’s not going to go AWOL like we did. They gotta remember the whole reason they got blasted into space wasn’t because the Garrison sent them, but because they snuck out of the classes and found a robot lion. There’s no war to worry about-”

“When we came home, I thought it meant we could leave the Garrison behind us,” Papa said. Violet carefully opened the door a little more to try and peek out into the dining room. “She’s supposed to make her life here, Keith.” At this point, they kind of all have these individual idea of the best Earth life. And it’s all clashing. 

“Her going to the Garrison doesn’t mean she’s gonna leave and live on Pluto, Lance! She’s not trying to leave us, she’s trying to find her place! And she’s right, she’d be a great pilot or specialist or whatever the fuck she wants to fucking be. She has experience, she knows the languages, she was born in space! How could we have ever expected her to not want to be part of the Garrison?” I’d like to think that because Keith was the one able to actually have her, he has this softer side than he ever did with anything. For him, it’s like, “My kid is gonna be great at whatever they want and I’m supporting them.” Even when it makes him scared or unhappy. It’s a closer bond because this is all so unique and new to him (family). 

“After all the shit that came from that fucking place-”

“You met me there. We were there when we found out about Voltron.”

“And we got sucked into space for over a decade,” Papa hissed.

It was quiet for a while. “We fell in love. We had… we had Violet and we got married and we had kids. Lance, you can’t… erase the bad from something without erasing the good. Like it or not, the Garrison- space- is always going to be part of Violet. I’m not going to be the one holding her back.” I wanted this part to kind of. Show the clashing between Keith and Lance. How things are starting to unravel. And it’s kind of a big punch that Lance has all this anger and hate and fear towards the Garrison while Keith has it in his head as the root of how he started his family and found love in many ways. This back and forth was one of my favorite things to write because there’s an underlying argument there too. 

She saw him sit at the table and he started writing on the packet. Papa was staring at him with a weird look on his face. “If you want to keep her close, you can’t shut down her dreams,” Daddy said, leaving the pen on the table. “I’m taking a shower.” For Keith in this story, showers are always his way of getting away while at home. Especially after arguing with Lance. 

[ichika27]

Destruction Flag Otome

With a long title like “ Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta“, manga and LN readers have been shortening it to the English title “Destruction Flag Otome” and it’s what I called it as I read the manga before the series’ announcement. The official English title for the anime series when it came out however is “ My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! “ which is a bit more closer to the English translation of the original title. I’m just putting this out there cause I’d still be calling it DFO as everything else is too long haha

Now, to get to my thoughts...

Story:

Catarina Claes (or spelled “Katarina” if you’ve been reading the manga) is a spoiled rich little girl engaged to a prince. Her attitude and personality changed when she gets a bump on her head, went unconscious for a while and got all the memories of her past life back - memories of her being an ordinary high school student. As she also realized that, unfortunately for her, this new life of hers is basically the same as the otome game she played in her past life and that she’s been reincarnated as the game’s villainess!

Having nothing in her future but death or exile, Catarina strives to change her future and avoid all the doom flags she could or have a back up in case her life gets overthrown into chaos like the original Catarina’s from the game. Little did she know that she’d change much more than her life with her plans.

Characters:

Catarina Claes - a spoiled rich girl who remembered her past life as an oridnary student when she got a bump on her head at age 8 and realized she’s now the bad guy in a different world similar to an otome game she played before. Since then, she’s become a nicer but stranger person to everyone around her. She plans to survive to adulthood by making sure she can defend herself when the time comes or have a back up plan in case she gets exiled. She’s pretty dense and so she doesn’t notice herself turning into the heroine instead.

Geordo Stuart - the prince engaged to Catarina. Geordo is well-known for all his abilities, looks and intellect. He was supposed to fall for the heroine and kill the villainess like in the original game but due to Catarina changing into a much nicer and more interesting person, Geordo falls for her instead. He’s probably the most straightforward on the guy’s side with showing his feelings for Catarina unfortunately for him, she is really dense.

Keith Claes - Catarina’s adoptive brother. His powerful but hard to control Earth Magic became a source of grief for him as a child and was the reason he isn’t with his biological family anymore. Resigned to being alone, Catarina’s kindness towards him is what made his life happier and what got him to falling for her alone which is contrast to his otoge counterpart that became a playboy. He’s pretty overprotective and is just as frustrated as the rest for having too many rivals for his adoptive sister’s affection. Out of all the rivals, he clashes with Geordo the most.

Alan Stuart - Geordo’s twin brother whose engaged to Mary. He’s competitive but feels inferior to his more well-known and much praised sibling. He ended up competing with Catarina as a child and her support towards him made him realize and appreciate the abilities he has that’s better than his brother’s. He became friends with Catarina and has fallen for her, too although unlike everyone else, he doesn’t actually realize this (it also doesn’t help that there’s a certain someone making sure he never does).

Mary Hunt - a shy girl whose engaged to Alan. Her family situation made her quiet and unsure of herself until she met Catarina who friendship and kindness made her open up. Her love for gardening is what got the two of them to bond as she helped Catarina with her vegetable garden. She grows up to be the most proactive of all Catarina’s harem with her being straightforward like Geordo but also more possessive making sure no one else gets the lead but this doesn’t stop her from being real friends with everyone else.

Sophia Ascart - with her white hair, pale skin and red eyes, other people think badly of her or outright bully her making her quiet and nervous with only her family to depend on. That is until she met Catarina who befriends her the first time they met and told her she looked beautiful. Her love for novels is what got the two to bond. She likes Catarina as well but unlike the rest, she wished for Catarina to marry her brother Nicol instead. Unbeknownst to her and everyone else, she has something else connecting herself to Catarina.

Nicol Ascart - Sophia’s older brother who cares for her a lot. He hated how everyone else treated and viewed his sister that meeting Catarina has been a different experience for him as Catarina never berated Sophia and even complimented her. He maybe quiet and doesn’t talk much but he’s smart and good-looking that he’s very popular to a lot of people (and Catarina couldn’t deny the boy’s good looks either). He likes Catarina but doesn’t actively pursue her the same way everyone else does.

Maria Campbell - the heroine of the otome game “Fortune Lovers”. She’s kind and sweet and hard-working but it’s all overshadowed with the fact that she has the rare light magic and the rumors surrounding her. Despite the bullying and her difficult family life, Maria never gives up still gives it her all although she is lonely... until she gets saved by Catarina from bullies. Catarina’s encouragement and friendship helped her and she ends up happier and surrounded by supportive friends. She also ends up falling for Catarina instead of any of the actual love interest.

Atsuko Sasaki - Catarina’s bestfriend in her past life. Acchan has played Fortune Lovers before and has given Catarina advice, hints, and some spoilers in her past life which helps her currently as she tries to avoid her doom flags. Despite being from Catarina’s past life from Japan, Acchan slowly gains a much more important role in the story as time passes by.

Thoughts:

First of all, I was super duper excited when I heard this series is gonna have an anime version as I decided to binge read the manga online before I saw the announcement. The OP is catchy as heck and is perfect for the show! The Ed is pretty good as well. The character designs is close to how it is in other adaptations which is great! The show is colorful and bright which shows that it’s pretty lighthearted most of the time (and of course something intense happens in the end haha).

Now for the episodes... they rushed the childhood arc a lot and cut off a lot of things that isn’t part of Catarina’s harem which is sad cause the manga sort of did the same (although it retained some backstories for certain non-harem characters). It would’ve been okay but they rushed the beginning only to add filler episodes in the middle of the series. Don’t get me wrong, I liked some of the stuff they added as they gave a bit more focus of some of Catarina’s harem members but it’s still sad we never got to see focus on the other people Catarina helped and influenced (like her parent’s argument regarding Keith or the gardener who taught her and his connection to the family, etc.). They did give Anne’s backstory screentime though so that was good.

I also don’t know how to feel with them revealing early on about Acchan’s “role” in Catarina’s new life. Like, a few hints here or there is nice but they gave the entire reveal before the finale even happens. It’s not really that bad if you’ve only watched the anime but for me, personally, I liked the reveal in the manga better cause it felt more intense and dramatic. Their flashback about Acchan and in her POV was awesome but it would’ve been nice if it was shown when that reveal happened. That’s just my opinion though.

Overall, it’s pretty fun and good and where else can you find a reverse harem + yuri harem at the same time? I’m not sure if any other series tried this before but this series certainly pulled it off nicely. I don’t usually like dense harem protagonist since the romance part of the show gets nowhere but it works very well in a way for this show. Plus, we can’t really argue that they fell for her too quickly when her new life is basically in an otome game which, if you’ve played a bunch like I had, knows that it’s kinda normal? lol

A new season has been announced for next year which follows the 2nd part of the series with new characters joining in. It’s exciting cause unlike the first part, Catarina has no idea about this as she passed away before the new game for Fortune Lovers was released so the new members of her future harem would be a surprise not just for us but for her as well!

And with that, thank you for reading this far! Hope the next season would be just as fun and entertaining as this one. I know I didn’t include a certain character in the “character” section of this but I’d rather not put too many spoilers here just in case new people decide they wanna watch it. I do hope the popularity of this series starts the “reincarnated as a villainess” story trend for anime cause I’m really hoping for “Observation Log of the Fiance of the Self-proclaimed Villainess” to get it’s own anime version. That one’s pretty good, too!

Also, I ship Catarina with Acchan haha. I have since the manga reveal so the added stuff about her and the flashback with her life with Catarina was very fun (and heartbreaking) to watch. 2nd to that are Keith and Alan who got some sweet moments with her. I do ship her with everyone else and wishes she could gain the harem ending though haha.

[randomfandomimagine]

Contest entry :)

Thanks to @welcome-here-in-my-world for submitting something for the contest! It’s amazing that you took the time to write this! I’m not the biggest fan of Keith, but this is well written and I love the fact that the character is non-binary. Also that you got other characters involved and how the story progresses :)

Title: Pretty Enough

Fandom: Stranger Things

Time of events: 29th-31st of October 1984/first two episodes of season 2

Romantic ship: Keith the Arcade Guy x Alex Henderson (OC)

Categories: Henderson!sibling, non-binary!character, friends to lovers, strangers to friends

Word count: 5400

A/N: I genuinely wanted to make this fanfiction shorter, but the idea for it was growing in me for quite some time before with more and more tropes adding and I just couldn’t stop! There are some themes I technically could just omit, but they helped me get to the main point of the story and I feel it would a bit incomplete without them. I’m also still afraid that I got something wrong by alluding only to the fandom, not any fanfiction of yours. At first I meant to use your OC, Allison Henderson, since we’re both playing with the idea of Dustin having an older sister, but I feel like – aside from ships being different for our OCs – my idea for Alex is still quite different from yours for Allison and it was easier to fit her into my story. Trying to put someone’s ideas into the frame of my plans could be done, but also it would probably make my writing less enjoyable for me, and at some point this enjoyment became what I decided to seek primarily. In the end I didn’t fail to have fun while writing this and I hope that it won’t be too bad to read this as well. :)

People say that home is where your loved ones are, but Hawkins never really felt like home to me. I love my family and I could do anything for my mother and brother. I bonded with them even more after Mr. Henderson left us – I am only four years older, but I always felt responsible for little Dustin, trying to take over our father’s place, with a lot of help from our loving mother. Despite that, I didn’t grow roots in our house and I really wouldn’t mind if we lived anywhere else. The fact that I don’t have too many special people besides family doesn’t help. Dustin managed to find a group of good friends and I used to think I could do the same – well, I used to be wrong. I had a few attempts, but I never made any friends at school. I failed even at befriending Nancy Wheeler, my classmate and sister of my brother’s friend Mike. All the connections we have didn’t make her willing to hang out with me.

After Will Byers, Dustin’s friend, and then Barbara Holland, a friend of Nancy, disappeared last year, things changed for even worse. I didn’t take part in the events, but thanks to Dustin’s stories he once shared with me (involving creatures from another dimension and a girl named after a number – strange as it all seemed, I had no reason not to believe him) I have an idea about what happened at that time and I see its obvious effect on his group and on the entire town. Will’s revival and no return of Barb made people afraid and suspicious, relationships – tense. I was never comfortable with walking the streets of Hawkins, but the fall of 1983 made them even more unfriendly.

My only friendly, safe place is the arcade, where I’ve been working since I turned 15 two years ago. For a few previous years I’d been spending most of my afternoons there, and I took the chance to make a little money from something I would be doing anyway. Apart from being a place to escape, working at the arcade provided me with one more thing – having that one person by my side who’s not family but seems to get me and makes me feel okay. It’s my co-worker, Keith.

I see how for him it tends to be hard to get into relationships with people for him. He’s whole two years older than me and sometimes it can already be a huge obstacle, maybe it should be for people like us. But when we are together, it’s actually different. It might be our work that brought us together, but it was only a catalyst for something I like to call a friendship – or is it a good start for more? We talk and laugh a lot, and I feel that with me he’s not as arrogant as he can be with others, he rarely teases me about things. He’s just… normal, which makes me feel like I’m normal as well.

Two days before Halloween of 1984 we both work an afternoon shift. We are at the counter, leaning towards it, sharing a bag of Cheetos. We’ve spend half an hour watching a girl playing Dig Dug – neither of us likes the game, but it’s weirdly pleasing to watch others play.

“Do you know her?” Keith finally asks.

“Nope,” I answer. “You?”

“Me neither. But she seems around your brother’s age, they could go to school together. You might’ve heard about her from him.”

“Bold of you to assume I know about all of my brother’s schoolmates,” I respond mockingly. “We talk about it sometimes, but I don’t think he’s ever mentioned her. She may be new to town.”

“Who on Earth would pick Hawkins to be their new place?”

“Freaks, I guess. The area’s full of ‘em.”

“True… Maybe you could ask Dustin anyway? He still might know something.”

“He’s gonna be here today, you can ask him yourself if you really want. I don’t care that much.”

We watch the girl as she finishes playing and leaves. Out of curiosity, I go to the Dig Dug station and check the results board.

“Holy shit! She’s good!” I exclaim as I go back to the counter. “She’s beaten my brother’s score!”

“Wow,” Keith comments shortly. “Wanna take a chance to torment him? Honestly, I wouldn’t mind having to mention he’s not the best anymore.”

“I’ll pass this time. The floor is yours,” I say when we see Dustin with his party enter the arcade.

I don’t really care about my relationships with Dustin’s friends, but it flatters me that I earned a little of their respect by working at the arcade. All four of them nod their heads and smile when they see me. Keith and I allow them to go and play; we wait with approaching until they lose the game. We stand beside them soon enough to hear my brother say:

“Well, there are still other games I’m top at, like Dig Dug.”

“Are you sure about that?” says Keith, startling them.

“Sure about… what?”

They run towards other stations and, a little panicked, comment upon Dustin’s defeat.

“Who’s MadMax?” Dustin asks us.

“Better than you,” Keith mocks.

“Ugh! Is that one of you?”

“You know we despise Dig Dug,” I note.

“Just tell us, you two!” demands Lucas.

Keith looks at me, raising his eyebrows.

“Please, don’t stare like that. You know I don’t go too far with them,” I say quietly. “Handle it on your own.”

“I can tell you,” he turns to the kids and lays his eyes on Mike, “but I need something in return”.

I feel the sting of jealousy before he’s done talking. Of course he’s thinking about Nancy.

“You’re not getting a date with my sister!” Mike says loudly, also knowing what Keith means. “I’m not prostituting her!”

“Oh, come on! Just get him the date, only one! Don’t you want to know who got better than us?” Lucas teases him.

I’m getting done with their conversation, so I turn around and leave. I’m doing it at a good moment, as there’s a boy waiting at the counter. I put a fake smile on, ready to answer his questions. Keith joins me a few moments later.

“Well, now we know they don’t know her, guess they would’ve recognized the nickname. But why did you step aside? I weren’t done with them, I thought you wanted to listen.”

“I didn’t want to listen to you argue with Wheeler about his sister. It’s getting weird.”

“What’s weird about that? I’m just trying to get a date.”

“Okay, but why Nancy? Everybody is so obsessed with her, even my brother, and now you. She is a basic bitch, definitely not worth your time.”

I’m aware that I’m getting bitchy myself, since I don’t know Nancy too well and she probably isn’t that bad once you’re close to her, but when I talk to Keith knowing he thinks of her, I can’t stop.

“But she’s pretty,” he says with no hesitation. “And she looks nice in a dress.”

I try to swallow the clump of sadness growing in my throat. I should’ve known better that he would pay more attention to people like her when it comes to romantic interests. Having this thought in my head that the joke’s on me, I still can’t help jumping into an argument.“That’s what you care about? Pretty faces and pretty dresses?” I say with shaking voice.

“Yes, I think so.”

“But you have never even talked to her! You don’t know if you’d get along with her!”

“She’s pretty enough for me to take a risk,” he repeated.

It takes all my strength not to scream or punch him.

“You know what? I always thought you were worth something, but now I think I see you are like everyone else. And I need to go.”

Not waiting for his reaction, I grab my bag and step outside the arcade. The delayed sound of closing doors tells me someone’s following me. As I turn around, I say:

“I told you I don’t want to…”

I stop when I realise it’s not Keith, as I assumed, but my brother who left the arcade after me.

“Oh. That’s you…”

“Yes, that’s me.What happened? Keith pisses you off too?”

“As you can see, he does sometimes.”

“What’s that thing you don’t want to do?”

I respond with a short sigh. I can’t tell him it’s hearing about Nancy, I know he likes her quite much. He’s still my brother, I don’t want to hurt his feelings. It’s different than with Keith.

“Nevermind. It’s between me and him.”

“Okay. Don’t say if you don’t want to. But can you at least tell me who MadMax is?”

I smile at him as I decide to spill the tea.

“It’s a red-haired girl, probably around your age. I assume she’s new in the area, today’s the first time I saw her here.”

“Yeah, I also don’t think I know someone like that… But fair enough! Thanks! I’ll stay here a bit longer, so… see you at home?”

“Sure. See ya.”

Once he turns around and enters the building, I’m on my own. I can finally put my mask down. I let my smile fade away and first tears go down my cheeks.

I don’t manage to put myself together before reaching home and mother doesn’t fail to notice my state. It’s not exactly the first time when I come back sad from work, but for a first time I’ve been crying on my way back, which makes her approach me and ask:

“Hey, what happened, sweetie? Did somebody hurt you?”

Saying nothing, I burst into tears again and hug her. She hugs me back and then gently sits me on the couch, holding my hand.

“Alex, what is that?” she repeats. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“Mom, am I not pretty?” I whisper.

“How can you say that! Of course you are! Who made you think you’re not?”

“There’s this guy at the arcade that I work with… I really like him and sometimes I wish it was something more. But he only cares about that other girl. Today he said he could give her a chance just because she’s pretty. Why wouldn’t he give this chance to me, mom? Am I not pretty enough?”

“Oh, dear… Okay, let’s start with this. Do you think he at least likes you back?”

“I think so. We talk a lot and I feel he’s friendly to me.”

“That’s a good start! So, maybe you should tell him exactly how you feel? Or ask another friend for advice? I’m sure some girls at school will know how to deal with this.”

Right, ‘cause my mum assumes I have someone to talk to at school, even though she tries to keep up with my life and should know it’s not true. But… accidentally, she gave me an excellent idea.

Next day I’m not working and I don’t have to stand Keith’s presence, so I decide not to rush things. I wait until Halloween. That’s when in the school corridor I approach Nancy Wheeler.

“Hi, Nancy! How you doin’?”, I say.

“Hey… could be better, I guess”, she answers politely. “What do you want?”

“Um… advice. I want advice.”

“From me?”. She seems surprised.

“Yes. You know, there’s this thing…”

I stop when she starts staring over my shoulder. I turn my head and see Steve Harrington, her boyfriend, walking down the corridor.

“I don’t know what it is about, but I guess I can at least listen. Only not now. Meet me at 2 p.m. in the parking lot, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

Nancy nods and approaches Steve, leaving me alone by the lockers. I meet her again a few hours later, when – as we promised – we both appear in the parking lot.

“So, what is my advice supposed to be about?” she asks with no further introduction.

“About relationships,” I explain a little shakingly, suddenly feeling how embarrassment takes over me. “There’s one guy I want to pick up but I have no idea how, and I know you’re good with boys”.

Nancy scoffs, turning her head away.

“I’m not good with boys. If you mean Steve, it’s him who talked to me first and that’s what started things. Also, it’s not going that well anymore…”

“Yeah, I see, but you had to catch his attention in the first place. You’ve got charm, people notice you. There’s a lot of them talking or thinking about you, I know that. I don’t have this and it sucks.”

“Okay, okay. I get it,” she says with a sigh. “I’ll try to help you. Let’s go to my place. I’m going to the Halloween party later, I’ll be getting ready as we talk.”

We soon reach Wheelers’ house and – after saying hello to Mrs. Wheeler – go straight to Nancy’s room. She starts to go through clothes in her wardrobe as she asks:

“You said you have trouble picking the guy up. What’s exactly the problem?”

“He doesn’t seem to notice me. I mean, we know each other, guess I can say we’re friends, but I want it to be more and I’m not sure how to get to that, especially that he likes someone else.”

“Okay… Do you by any chance know what he values in relationships?”

I manage to utter that one and only word:

“Pretty.”

“What?”

“He wants his girlfriend to be pretty.”

“Oh, I see your issue then. You wear those ugly clothes, military trousers and oversized hoodies. You’re hiding your pretty side, that’s why he doesn’t see you like that. You need to become more feminine, it’ll make things easier for you both.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t think I could become more feminine.”

“Why not? You’re a girl, right? It should be easy. You can wear all those nice sweaters and jeans, maybe a little make-up could help, or some jewelry?”

I sigh deeply. She touched upon things that make me extremely uncomfortable, that’s why no one, not even my family, knows about my feelings towards them. But if I really want her to help me…

“Nancy… can I be honest with you? Totally honest?”

She sits beside me on the bed and reaches for my hand, saying softly but with confidence:

“Yes. You can.”

“I know it’s sound weird, but… I don’t feel like I’m a girl. I mean, not always. Sometimes it feels okay so I accept it and I even think about becoming more girly, but at other times I wish I was a guy so some things would be easier. And finally sometimes I just wish for it all to fade away so I wouldn’t have to care about what’s girly and what’s boyish… I hang somewhere in-between and try not to care. All those clothes I wear, neutral short name that I use… this image makes things easier at times where I don’t feel like a girl. No one questions it anymore and I feel comfortable. But… I don’t know if it even makes sense.”

“Well… it sure sounds confusing, but I can see your point. Being a girl is tough, I can feel that, even if it seems to be easy for me. I never wanted to abandon my womanhood, but it makes sense that you’re different from me and you wander to different places with those things.”

Her words bring me a relief. I tighten my fingers on her palm.

“Thanks, Nancy. I appreciate it.”

“It’s okay. Now I’m thinking… maybe you went so far into this not-feeling-like-a-girl thing that this guy doesn’t percieve you as one anymore? He might think you’re his mate or even see you more as a boy in a way. You work at the arcade, and those clothes again… It’s rare to find girls like that.”

“Yeah, this sounds logical… but if I don’t want to break with that image, how do I let him know I have feelings for him?”

“Just tell him the same things you told me.”

She’s not the first person to advise me talking to Keith openly, but I still can’t imagine that.

“If it only was so easy…” I sigh.

“Okay! Who is he?” Nancy asks, surprisingly elevated.

“Who?”

“This guy you’re so madly in love with! Who’s he?” she repeats, standing up.

“You know Keith, right? He works with me at the arcade, that’s where we met.”

She stares at me blankly for a moment.

“Sorry, but I don’t think I know him. Mike mentions the place sometimes and I could’ve seen him somewhere, but you know… no details to appear in my head.”

“How come?” I ask, also standing up. “He keeps asking your brother to set him on a date with you. Mike never told you that?”

“No… and you can’t be serious…”. I shrug my shoulders, saying nothing. “Oh, you’re serious?”. I nod my head in response. “So when you said he likes another girl, you meant me? And he wants his girlfriend to be pretty like me?”

“Something like that.”

“Well… it changes a lot. But I think this makes it easier for me to help you.”

“Wait, so you still want to help me? I mean, you just learned I came to you to talk about a guy that I want to pick up while he has feelings for you. Isn’t it weird?”

“I don’t think so… Maybe a little.”

“I also told him you’re a basic bitch in hope that he changes his mind about you,” I decide to tell her for some reason.

“Okay… that’s rude, I admit.”

“I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she calms me with a sigh. “I guess you were right in a sense. I was a bitch, for you. I remember you wanted to be friends with me once but I refused. I shouldn’t have. Now I see you’re a nice person… Why wouldn’t you be? You’re a Henderson, and I actually like your brother. And… even if it’s hard, I’m enjoying this talk.”

“Thanks… It feels good talking to you too. You’re fine when you don’t tell people to get lost.”

We get interrupted with the sound of the front door opening and closing, followed by Mike’s voice. Nancy gives me a sly smile and says:

“You know what? Screw that party. Steve has been making me sick lately, I suppose there are better ways to spend this day than partying with him. Come on!”

We quit her room and run down the stairs fast enough to catch Mike in the corridor, just before he steps on the stairs leading to the basement.

“Brother! Nice to see you!” Nancy exclaims. “Isn’t there anything you want to tell me?”

He looks at me and I know he realized that Nancy knows.

“You told her about Keith?” he asks anyway.

“I wouldn’t have to if you did.”

“Yeah, why didn’t you tell me someone was trying to get a date with me? Together we would handle it somehow,” adds Nancy.

Mike stutters for a moment before he manages to say:

“Because I didn’t want this to slip out of hand. Keith can get weird, but I kind of like him, I thought it would ruin things if I got you involved. Besides… I made a promise to Dustin.”

“Wait… what does Dustin have to do with it?” I ask, surprised.

“Don’t act like you don’t know! Everybody sees you have feelings for Keith. Those puppy eyes you make for him and how he made you mad and sad two days ago… Even MadMax noticed there could be something going on.”

“MadMax? So you know her after all?”

“She joined our class yesterday. But it doesn’t matter now. What matters is, Dustin really wants you to be happy, and if it means bringing you together with Keith, he’s fine with that, we both are. He once had this idea that if I keep on denying Keith’s requests so that he stays away from Nance, he might get bored and ask you about that date. It made sense to me, so I agreed.”

“But what about the rest of the group? Those two days ago Lucas encouraged you to get Keith the date. Doesn’t he know about the deal?”

“He and Will found out yesterday, when we talked to Max and she realised Dustin’s your brother. She asked outright if there’s something between you and Keith, so we explained everything. Earlier it stayed between me and Dustin, because it’s about you two, meaning our sisters.”

“You know what? I think it’s actually kind of sweet,” says Nancy as we exchange looks. “Dustin must really care about you.”

“Yeah, he’s a good brother…”, Mike agrees, strangely sad.

“Hey, you’re also a good brother! And a very good friend,” she ensures him, realising how her words sounded, and pats him on the shoulder. “Keeping me away, it makes sense to me too. You wanted things to work out well for everyone, that’s nice.”

“Thanks, sister. So… what’s the plan now?”

“I believe you have one so I’d like to know too,” I support his question.

“My plan is to go to the arcade with you, Alex, and confront Keith. My staying away doesn’t sound bad, but I think the case here is about what he imagines he could get from me. I’ll let him know he won’t get it and open his eyes to what he already got.”

“Sounds good! Let’s go!” I say cheerfully, even though deep down I’m actually terrified.

“Can I come with you?” asks Mike. “I could call out Dustin too.”

“But don’t you have some trick-or-treating to do with your party?” Nancy asks back. “I don’t know how long it’s gonna take us, and I don’t want you all to change or cancel your plans. Have fun!”

We remain silent most of our way to the arcade. The more we’re getting close, the more I’m nervous. Of course I want Keith to know about my feelings, but I have no idea how he’s going to react, and that’s why I never told him – I’d rather be just friends with him for the rest of my life than lose him because I wanted too much. When we’re almost there, I ask:

“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing? It all means too much, I think I’m gonna kill myself if something goes wrong.”

“Don’t worry, I got it under control. But if something goes wrong, remember it’s not the end of the world. I lost a friend last year, now I’m slowly losing my boyfriend, and I’m not killing myself.”

“I’m sorry… Sometimes I forget how much Barb’s case must hurt you. And it was that time of year, right?”

“Yes, it was November. But hopefully I’ll soon be able to move on… and survive. Because there’s more to this life, you know? I have my family to love, I admire Mike’s friends, and look how we are growing closer! I wouldn’t be able to abandon all this, just like you shouldn’t even think of leaving behind your mom and brother because of one boy who doesn’t love you back. They sure want you to stay, even if everyone else rejects you.”

“I guess you’re right…” I admit quietly as we reach the arcade. “Well, we’re here.”

“Yeah. So, how about I go in on my own and talk to him and then you join? You can give me about five minutes, I think it should be enough for me to explain what I need to explain.”

“Okay.” Before she steps in, I add: “Nancy… thanks for doing it for me.”

“No problem. Hendersons and Wheelers should stick together, don’t you think?”

I smile as she disappears inside. Having nothing better to do, I start counting. When I reach 300, I know about five minutes have passed, so I enter the arcade. Nancy and Keith stand together at the counter. It seems like they’re already waiting for me. When I join them, Nancy says:

“I think you should talk in private. I’ll try and take care of things here.”

I thank her once again and I go with Keith into the storage room where only the employers can go. It’s quiet there so we sit and chill there sometimes, although I can’t exactly recall the last time I stayed there for a longer while. When we are on our own behind closed doors after spending a moment in crowded and loud arcade, the silence is deafening.

“Now I know what you meant about me and Nancy not getting along,” he speaks first. “Talking to her felt weird.”

“Maybe it’s about your talk’s theme?” I suggest. “I don’t think it could be not akward.”

“No, it was more of a general feeling. But you’re right, the theme also was odd. I don’t get how you couldn’t just tell me I’m special to you not only as a friend.”

“I didn’t want to ruin what’s already between us. And I knew you wanted her. I thought that it would look funny if I tried to look like a competition.”

“I agree that you can’t really compare yourself to Nancy because it looks weird…”

“So I’m weird when I’m compared to her? Thanks!” I say angrily.

“Alex, please… Don’t do this to me now,” he begs, laying his hands on my arms. “Calm down. I don’t want to argue, not this time. I didn’t mean that you are weird, although I probably should remind you it’s you who said that Hawkins is full of freaks. I wanted to say that the comparison is weird because you’re completely different from her.”

“And that’s what I meant,” I say, trying to be calm. “You want her pretty face and her pretty dresses. I can’t give it to you. Because… there’s much more than that.”

“Nancy mentioned as well it’s not exactly just about those things. Could you please explain to me… how you are? How you work? I’m sorry, I can’t put it into words.”

“It’s okay.”

I explain the way I am in the same words I used when talking to Nancy. It makes him prove her assumptions true as he says:

“Now it makes sense why I never realised you have feelings for me, even when you tried to get Nancy out of my head. It’s so easy talking to you about everything, and you have this presentation… I kind of forgot you are a girl in the essence.”

“And in the essence, I will always be one,” I add. “It’s not something I desperately want to change. My state of mind shifts and I’m not too girly, but I’m still the opposite of you and I’m the same as Nancy. That’s why I’m Dustin’s sister, not brother, and it won’t change. Basing on all this and on the fact we get along well, I want you… I need you to see me as someone you could love. Even though I will never be a girlfriend in a full sense and I can’t give you what Nancy would.”

“Because you don’t wear dresses and your face is not the same as hers. But when I look at you now… guess it’s pretty enough.”

He hugs me tightly. It happens so suddenly I can’t help a quick shudder, but also standing there – with his arms around me and my cheek against his chest, not saying anything, after he admitted I’m pretty enough – feels so good that I want to make it last forever. After a moment I raise my head. We look each other in the eye and when I feel like our faces are getting closer and our lips are going to meet… we hear knocking at the door.

“Sorry to interupt, but there are some technical issues and I think you’re needed!” shouts Nancy.

I’m dissapointed that nothing happened in the end, but we can’t avoid our duties. We leave the room and see a man waiting at the counter.

“One of the machines broke,” he informs us.

Keith apologizes to Nancy and me and follows the man. Once they are out of my sight, six other people appear at the counter: it’s Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Will, accompanied by Will’s brother, Jonathan (one more thing I keep forgetting: his loving family cares about that boy at least twice as much since his dissapearance, that’s why he’s almost never alone) and a girl I’ve once seen, MadMax. Although she’s the only one in this weird collection I don’t really know (compared to her, even Jonathan feels like someone close), she’s the first one to immediately ask:

“Did you kiss him already? It could prove to him that you love him.”

“Whoa, hold up!” I say. “We don’t exactly know each other and you’re asking me about kisses? First of all, I’m Alex.”

“Max Mayfield,” she oficially introduces herself, shaking my hand. “When I saw you and him here two days ago, I was sure you were already a couple. And then I learned it’s never been like that. So, are you getting together or is it just some kind of weird game?”

“I think we’re finally getting together,” I admit. “But… how did you all even know? I mean, that something’s going on here right now.”

“I told them about everything,” Mike confesses. “Sorry…”

“Don’t be, it’s fine.”. Nancy smiles at him.

“No, it’s NOT fine!” exclaims Dustin. “You should’ve told me! You have no idea for how long I was your support. And now I don’t get to know something’s finally happening? I don’t get it!”

“What I don’t get is why you just don’t kiss him already,” Max interrupts him. “Do things really have to be so hard?”

“You know what? You’re right. It doesn’t have to be so hard.”

I notice Keith’s coming back; I step from behind the counter and approach him. As we meet halfway through, I climb to my toes, put my hands on his neck and kiss his lips. I can taste Cheetos he must’ve been eating before I came, but it’s good, it’s really good. And it’s good when he kisses me back, and it’s good when I hear the outburst of happiness behind my back.

Fall of 1983 changed a lot, but Halloween of 1984 starts the season that changes even more. Last year it was Nancy hanging out with Steve or Barb – now it’s Nancy with Jonathan and me. After welcoming Max Dustin’s party grows from four to five people, or from five to six, since Mike can’t forget this girl they crossed paths with a year before and believes she would fit with them. Another dimension – now I remember they call it the Upside Down – also doesn’t let anyone forget and forces people to fight itself, as the effect making citizens of Hawkins come closer together – well, at least some of them. Although it does a lot of harm, everything I go through with them helps me start calling some people “friends”… which finally makes Hawkins feel like home.

In all of this, one thing never changes. The arcade is still that friendly, safe place with that one person who understands me the best and always makes me feel better. It’s my boyfriend, Keith.

[storiesbeyondthestars]

Okay, so I read through a bunch of different spoiler free, S7 articles, and I’m going to give my opinions on things I read, and I did take some screenshots of different articles, so this ends up getting kind of long because I am a long-winded person. (Edit: I lied. This got super long.)

First of all, the consensus is that this season is going to be a wild one that focuses more on personal interactions and relationships, which is awesome! 

What we can see from the two above parts of an article (or a couple I can’t remember at this point where I screencapped what from -10 for research habits), is the truth we’ve always known that family is the real story behind Voltron. Lauren said it was about love. It absolutely is. I’m excited to see that this concept is really taking hold here, especially since we’ll be seeing all different kinds of love and family. 

As much as I love my ships, I love the story between everyone has a whole even more. To see this directly is going to be amazing.

Just throwing this out there, I’m like 95% sure they’re referring to Lance here. He’s easily the most sacrificial one of the team, and we know that Jeremy had a hard time voicing something because it was mostly crying. I think we found what it is.

While I’m a bit sad that the girls get pushed aside a bit, I always remember that it doesn’t mean they’re not there, not important, not doing stuff. They are. I get the feeling that they’re not going to go on the same kind of emotional journey as all the boys are this time around, which is kind of telling? 

I’m okay with Shiro not being a Paladin anymore. In fact, I think it’s the best possible thing for his character. He was the perfect leader and comfortable as a Paladin, and the best way to show what a character is made of is to put them in a situation where they’re not in their element entirely. So I am SO excited for Shiro this season.

Also, Hunk focus? Hell yeah. And my little, biased shipper heart did backflips at the last part involving Lance and Keith, though with the acknowledgement that the ‘crush or two’ thing may not at all have to do with them and it could just be about being leader and right-hand of Voltron. Plus...

I’m not quite sure I hold much value in an article that can’t spell Allura’s name right, but if Lance is a focus this season, and Allura’s not, but they show signs of a stronger bond...? 1 + 1 ≠ 2 in this case. Keep in mind, I’m not saying that Lance’s endgame isn’t Allura, I’m just saying that there’s some contradictions here.

Also while on the topic of specific characters...

I saw someone saying ‘oh look Shiro IS going to be a Paladin’. No. No he’s not. This is in reference to Season 3/4 when Shiro returning cut into Keith being Black Paladin. Of course we know the REAL Shiro wouldn’t have pushed Keith and stepped on his toes as much as Kuron did, so I think he’s going to feel bad about that. There may be a little awkwardness to it, but I think we’re going to see Shiro really actively be pushing Keith to lead, taking a step back. It’s what he wanted originally. 

I really, genuinely think that the line up for the lions with this team is final. However, it could hint towards people taking over for them in the future, or moments where they pilot other lions, but not permanently.

This is SUPER interesting. This roadtrip to Earth is going to focus a LOT on interpersonal relationships and I am HERE for that in every sense of the word. I’m very curious about the characters who’ll pull apart, since I honestly can’t see it being the core team, but that doesn’t leave much room, does it? It’s not going to be Keith and his mom. It won’t be Allura and Coran. I COULD see Shiro kind of purposely pulling himself away from the others a bit, including Keith (kind of a stepping off and ‘go be great’ thing like he did with Pidge in S1E1). These don’t HAVE to be negative things. I can’t see it being Keith and anyone, because he’s been gone for a long time from his point of view. So I don’t know.

Gimme all the matchups. Gimme Keith and everyone (since he’s been gone so long). And I genuinely mean everyone. Gimme Keith and Pidge on their field trip or something too. Don’t let them be the Zuko and Toph of the group. ALSO Hunk and Allura. I wanna see them be awesome together. Hunk, Allura, and Romelle side trip please!

Plot lines long thought abandoned. Okay, my shipper brain went towards Klance. I’m sorry, it did. My logical brain, however, says that this is not in reference to that at all. I think that might have to do with Hunk and Shay, whether to say ‘yes this is a thing’ or ‘no sorry but we’ll acknowledge this for you’.  

The second part, character development people have been hoping for with certain PaladinS. Okay, this one does scream relationship-wise to me, but it also CAN still be platonic. It really, really can. I really think this is in reference to either Lance/Keith, or Lance/Allura. And yes, it could genuinely be either one of them. 

This just is sort of reinforcing to him that they’re talking about Lance/Allura, Keith/Lance, or potentially, maybe even Keith/Allura but the last one is less likely to me (that’s the key here, because even watching through again, Keith and Allura being together romantically doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s a personal interpretation. You may very well see something I don’t.)

The way paragraph structure works is you group like things together to make a single point. If something is in the same paragraph, it should be related to other things in it. First episode in season 1 we established that Keith and Lance were going to be tied to one-another’s stories in some form. We also established that Lance was attracted to Allura (he was flirting with her). 

‘Arguably been on that path all along’. They think people are going to argue about it. It’s a romantic ship one way or another, and it has been planned since day one. No amount of screaming, threatening, or crying from a loud, small, nasty part of the fanbase has changed a thing.

I actually can’t find the article where this one came from. Now, first, we need to look at what could possibly be seen as a controversy, since that has a negative connotation to it. It’s also a very interesting word choice. Is it that the majority of the online community is going to lose their shit? Or is it the parents of kids watching it might stop and say ‘wait, what’? 

I genuinely get the feeling that this is either going to have to do with a relationship, or a personal sexuality arc. 

I think if it had to do with Shiro and Adam, they’d say it. It’s not a spoiler anymore. We KNOW they’re going to dive into it more. 

The online fandom is going to be generally super excited for LGBT+ portrayals on this show. It wouldn’t be a controversy at all to show Adashi (I like this one more because Adam called him Takashi), or for Lance to have a bi-arc.

Klance, maybe a little more-so, because shipping in general can be very touchy (if the backlash of calling Adam abusive says anything). It’s still possible though.

Also as much as I don’t want to say it, that small, loud, nasty portion of the fandom that flips out may do just that if Allura and Lance end up being a thing, but honestly, I don’t think either of these last two things would be considered a controversy.

Keep in mind, the core audience of Voltron is not teenage/adult fans online. It’s created as a family show, meaning that it absolutely is made to appeal to older and younger audiences a like, but the core audience are kids.

Kids who don’t spend time on tumblr/twitter freaking out over ship, and their parents that are going to be spending the money on merchandise.

I think many people would be excited to portrayals of LGBT+ relationships, we know that there are those parents that will swear off the show because of it. We know there are people that will scream about it ‘forcing representation in everything’ as if media content in and of itself hasn’t always been informed by political or personal opinions and issues (spoiler alert: it has). 

The ONLY thing I can think that would be considered controversial (which I don’t personally agree with but here we are) would be more LGBT+ rep. Maybe it is just Shiro and Adam’s relationship, maybe it’s Klance, maybe it’s just a bi-arc for Lance. Maybe it’s something else. 

It’s all about perspective. 

OKAY SO THIS PART. THIS PART HERE. They’re going to spend like at least a year and a half getting to Earth. Holy shit. There’s so much room for character moments here and growing together in ways that they couldn’t in the castle. The castleship was HUGE. I mean, the lions are massive and they’re always shown as teeny-tiny compared to it. There was lots of space to get away from one another. Camping in lions? Nope. All together all the time. This is absolutely Why relationships are going to be front and center.

It also means that they’ll be gone from Earth for two years at minimum. That’s insane.

Time itself playing a narrative is amazing too! I get the feeling that everyone’s going to think Voltron is gone. There are going to be aliens on Earth. They also had blueprints nad plans for Altean tech and they had examples of Galra stuff as well. People think Voltron is gone, but they’re not going to completely lose hope. In fact, Voltron will be like martyrs probably. Almost a legend again. ‘Legendary defender’. 

There was also one saying that Voltron might almost be outdated, which is wild but makes so much sense. Lotor made his own that almost beat them, after all (with Allura’s help). Haggar’s been to Oriadne too. Voltron is going to need some kind of boost in the end to go back to being the legendary defender it always was.

And finally...

LESS MOTHERFUCKING TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE FUCK YEAH.

[blue-likethebird]

Vee El Dee: The Good The Bad and The Ugly

If you’ve ever been on this hellsite, you’ve probably heard of Voltron: Legendary Defender. You’ll find the characters and the ships (and the discourse. Dear God the discourse) in tag after tag and on blog after blog. Now that the show has officially come to an end, I’m reviewing the whole damn thing. Talking about what I think worked, what didn’t, and what exactly the show did to make even the fans look at it so harshly now. (Just a warning “The Ugly” section discusses racism, and homophobia so if any of that triggers you I’d suggest you skip it)

Review under the cut

The Good

The Character Potential:

   Voltron’s characters had so much potential at the beginning. Their motivations, potential subplots, and clues to their arcs the first crew left us were actually interesting. How did Coran know Allura before they were frozen? What happened that caused Shiro to lose his arm? Is Lance going to reunite with his family? The show didn’t answer all of these questions mind you, but at the time they were introduced, those questions felt like they were worth sticking around to hear the answers.

The First Season:

   The first season is the only season that genuinely sticks out for me, way back in ye olden days when Voltron was a character driven show as opposed to plot focused. In season one, the plot took a backseat and the characters were what held up the show, and it’s probably not a coincidence that most of the character development and more emotional/memorable scenes occurred in season one, when there was time for the characters to develop. Likewise, the character focus allowed for everyone to get their day in the limelight -not just the characters who were valuable to the plot at the moment-.

The Balmera and The Return to The Balmera:

     I am never gonna be shy about my opinion that the Balmera arc is one of the strongest arcs that Voltron has had. Allura using the story of her people to inspire others and using Altea’s ancient connection to the Balmera to save an entire damn civilization! The goddamn adorable chemistry between Hunk and Shay! Believable suspense! Unlocking Lion Powers! The Balmera arc had it all and I was fed. Plus, Balmera gave us the introduction of the most blessed couple in Voltron history, hunay.

The Bad:

The Timeskips:

In theory, there’s nothing wrong with a timeskip. But you’ve gotta be able to show that the characters and show’s universe changed in some way during that timeskip and you can’t use them just to avoid actual story and character development. Take season six (? Or was it five? I don’t remember and I don’t wanna) when Keith and Krolia take a two year camping trip on a space whale while Voltron is off doing God knows what. Presumably during that time they developed some sort of mother-son relationship but we don’t get to see that development happening, or how that new relationship changed them, or really any proof that the timeskip happened at all besides Keith getting Galra marks and a teleporting space wolf. That particular time jump felt more like a cop-out to avoid writing Keith bonding with his mom.

Pacing:

To put it plainly, the pace is way too fast for anything to stick. The writing cycles from one season's worth of plot twists and WTF? moments to the next at the speed of light, leaving no time to address how the previous events affected the characters involved or not the show’s universe as a whole. So Lotor was actually evil all along and was using Allura to achieve his goals? Well there’s no time to mention how Allura feels about that, we’ve got three more surprise twists and a magic robot to shove into the plot! On the flip side however, the pacing is slower than a geriatric snail during fight scenes. The giant robot fights are usually the most exciting part of anything, but in Voltron, the fights are so formulaic that they just kinda… blur together into a boring fog. Lemme know if you can name this Voltron fight scene: the team’s fighting some random baddie, there’s a lot of yelling, someone gets a power up just big enough to defeat the current baddies when a bigger, eviler baddie appears who’s more powerful than the power up they just got, new baddie whoops Voltron’s ass, the support team watches in horror, someone else gets a power up that’s powerful enough to defeat the new bad guy, Voltron reins triumphant. What fight scene was that?

The Filler Episodes:

The fast pacing also means that they need to set aside breather episodes just to allow characters to interact besides in battle. That’s all well and good and there’s nothing wrong with filler episodes, if done right they can be some of the most memorable episodes a show can have (The Tales of Ba Sing Se anyone?) that is, if done right. But Voltron filler episodes don’t have that going for them. Filler episodes in vee el dee are an oasis of mud in the desert that is canon, they’re a generally unhelpful standstill point amidst a constantly changing series. I’ll admit that they can be funny at times but for the most part filler episodes are bizarre, unnecessary, and more often than not, poorly timed. If we just heard about a millenniums old empire folding in on itself and we’re just about to see a major character attempt suicide do we really need to see Coran go batshit while planning a space Disney On Ice?

The Ugly:

Racism:

#justiceforallura

I must confess that I am whiter than a polar bear in a snowstorm, but even I know that killing off a black girl (or black coded as the case may be), constantly torturing the Japanese guy, reducing the Samoan guy to food and fat jokes, and having the latino guy flirt with everyone before turning him into a farmer isn’t the best way to handle writing characters of colour. Denying said characters of colour arcs and screen time in favour of giving your white characters the same story in a different hat over and over again is also not the best treatment you can offer your poc characters. That’s not even mentioning other horrible treatment and stereotypes you’ll see the Voltron characters of colour experience. Let us also recall #notallgalra, the “what if the genocide victim was actually the bad guy” au mess in s3, all those “lol lance is stupid” jokes, the black character Kinkade speaking mainly in grunts, Allura dying to redeem the two genocidal dudes responsible for most of her trauma, and Hunk’s (half black half Samoan) family being enslaved at a fucking concentration camp like goddamn what the hell were you thinking Voltron that’s like hetalia levels of fucked up when we remember what kind of genuinely awful shit this show’s done to it’s minority characters.

Homophobia:

If you’re reading my review in the Voltron tag, and you watched the whole series, then there’s no way in hell that you haven’t heard about Adam dying and the backlash against Voltron for it. If you are somehow the .000001% of people who don’t know, Adam (a gay moc) was Shiro’s (another gay moc) fiancé who got a grand total of forty five seconds of screen time before dying when the Galra invaded earth. Meanwhile, L*tor and Allura’s relationship got almost triple that despite being abusive as fuck. But Shiro got married at the end of season 8! In a credits scene, to a guy in the background of a couple of scenes Shiro was also in. When lgbt fans expressed outrage at their rep being hyped up despite having no bearing on the plot or even Shiro as a character outside of one scene, instead of owning up to their mistakes, the crew of Vee El Dee said (or implied) that it was the fault of lgbt fans for hyping ourselves up. Yeah okay. Except after that we got confirmation that Ezor and Zethrid were a couple! Yay! Clearly a win for us El Gee Bee Tees right? Well… not really considering that both of them were depicted as psychotic torturers who also died a couple minutes later. Gotta love those crazy dead lesbians amirite?

Klance:

But why is klance in the “ugly” section!? You cry, I thought you were a klanti! I am an anti and I did ship klance but that’s not what I wanna talk about right now. When I put klance under ugly I wanted to discuss two things, the crew and the shippers. First let’s talk the crew; several folks on the Voltron staff have at the very least, not reacted negatively to the omnipresent ship that is Keith and Lance. I’m sure you’ll also remember that Lance’s VA Jeremy Shada was considered a KICK icon before that went south. The crew was also purposefully misleading when they talked about possible romances for Keith and Lance, the language they used was ambiguous enough that shippers interpreted it as proof that klance would become canon. When it inevitably didn’t and shit hit the fan, the staff backpedaled again. Stating that klance was never meant to be interpreted as romantic and we were all fools for thinking otherwise. That’s happened in the past so it’s a reasonable defence, except for the fact that scenes with Keith and Lance tended to contain unnecessary parallels to canonically romantic relationships, (the bonding moment paralleling an allurance scene in season six and their talk at the start of season eight paralleling two scenes, hunay in season one and l*tura in season five). So it’s not unreasonable to be a little suspicious there. Klance was huge on the internet, it’s impossible for the crew to have been completely unaware of what they were doing.

Next I wanna talk shippers. I’m not saying that being disappointed that a ship didn’t become canon is a bad thing. But when you act like that’s the worst thing Voltron did amidst the sea of ableism, racism and homophobia it gets a little tiring. The fact that so many klancers rushed to demonize Allura after season seven and eight and add on that I saw more people complaining about klance not becoming canon king than Allura dying a completely unnecessary death to redeem L*tor of all people was the final straw. I washed my hands of klance and Voltron as a whole.

———————————————

So that’s my review of V*ltron. I was gonna do a separate review of season eight but I didn’t even finish s8 and to be honest it probably wouldn’t have been any more than the words “Fuck Vee El Dee, Allura Deserved Better” in big pink letters. And I know I probably made someone angry with this review but if you actually managed to stick around my ramblings all the way to the end then I salute you regardless of whether or not you agree with me.

[giogio-golden]

an honest review of voltron (edited)

I know no one asked for it. I know I don’t have to write this. But I want to and I think I need to let out a lot of my feelings in order to feel some closure after the ending to a show that has had such an impact on my life. Prepare for a long post. These are my feelings and I’m open to conversation about this amazing show.

A Summary (in case you don’t wanna read the whole thing) This show has meant a lot to me. I’ve met friends through the fandom, been inspired by the characters and the story and found happiness in times when it felt hard to go on. I’ve never been so invested in a show the way I have with voltron, and even if the ending was a massive disappointment and there were many flaws, it will always have a place in my heart.

I’m gonna miss it

To start off, I’ll just say this review will have nothing to do with shipping or the fandom, because that’s a different rant that I think we’re all sick of hearing. The fandom had both a positive and negative impact on me, but I wanna focus on the show itself and not my opinions on ships or any of that. I will touch on ad@shi and a!lurance but in relation to the fact that both these ships were canon and in the show. This rant is mostly just me letting feelings out, but there will be criticism.

The Characters

Pidge Pidge was one of my favorite characters right from the beginning. I heard her voice for the first time and felt such a strange joy in my heart that I still can’t explain to this day. She was a character that I could relate to, even if I’m not nearly as smart as her. She’s tough and not traditionally feminine, which is so important to represent in a character. I will admit, her search for her family had me in tears, but I do think she deserved to be treated more like an adult who had gone through a traumatic experience of war. By the end of the show, she was around 17 or 18 (correct me if I’m wrong) after all the time skips, and had definitely matured greatly. The scenes where she gives up her video game for Allura and where she is able to see the history of the planet (I’m blanking on the name) were so amazing and made me so happy to see. Not to mention I have a bit of bias towards Bex, because I too am nonbinary as hell. Pidge has meant a lot to me as a character and I’m going to miss her after all this time.

Hunk Oh Hunkie how I adore you. Hunk has always been such an underappreciated character. He’s an engineer and a chef and a goofy scardey cat defying stereotypes of what it means to be “manly.” He’s also strong and tough, aside from all his fear. I wish we could’ve seen more of him, seen more growth, seen him rise and mature the same way the others did. Unfortunately, he was reduced to a bit of a comic-relief character, especially towards the end of the show. I love him all the same, he’s more like me than I care to admit, both of us being chubby and loving food and being scared easily. No one could ask for a better friend than Hunk

Keith It took me a while to warm up to Keith. He’s not the kind of character I usually fall in love with easily, but now he has my heart. Although he stole the spotlight of the show for a bit, his arc really was impactful. Keith went through a lot, finding his family and his self-worth. It was clear that it took a toll on him, but he was still able to be a leader and find compassion for his teammates. He’s shown the most growth throughout the series and it shows. Keith is a well-written character who deserved more love from everyone. Seeing him turn down being the leader of the galra in favor of forming a relief team from the blad was so incredible. Especially considering the fact that he let Lotor’s former generals join him. I wish the show had done more with a sort of “galra-form” Keith and delved more into the whole “not all galra are bad” trope. But overall, Keith has won me over Shiro Honestly, the show did not do great things for Takashi Shirogane. He’s amazing representation, being disabled, gay, and asian. He’s tough and strong and everyone fell in love with “space dad.” Though the show was going to kill him off and decided against it, probably because of his popularity in the fandom. Despite this, I wonder if there was more to him that wasn’t quite established because of this change in decision. I’ve always felt like there was something missing from Shiro (aside from his arm and mental stability), but I can never quite put a finger on it. I’ve always felt so attached to him, and seeing him rise up and survive through all the trauma to become captain of the atlas was so powerful. Especially with the implications of a name like atlas. His portrayal in terms of being a gay man was lackluster, especially in the last season where he barely had any lines that weren’t shouting orders (aside from the filler episodes). Shiro deserved better, he deserved to be a paladin for a lot longer, he deserved some closure, something more to show us all that our struggles and oppression do not define us. I’ll always love Shiro, no matter what his hair or his arm looks like, he means a lot to me.

Lance Lance, my sweet baby boy, my angel. I’m gonna admit I’m a bit biased, but Lance was also mistreated in the show. I’m not talking about being comic relief or getting “bullied” by the other characters. I’m talking about his ending. Lance started off as a cocky fighter pilot just wanting to rise to the top. His insecurities and sensitivity showed early, but he matured as time went on. He saved the lives of the other paladins numerous times, he served as moral support when Shiro went missing, he even learned to admit that he wasn’t quite as smart as Hunk or Pidge, and was not a prodigy like Keith. He had some great development. By the end of season 7, I was ready for him to get some well-needed love and support for all that he’s been through. I didn’t get that. I got a weird, stagnant version of Lance, serving mostly as support for Allura, who didn’t seem nearly as devoted to him as he was to her (but that rant will be later, stay tuned). I was especially with the scene when he was talking to Alfor. All the other og paladins had something nice to say, but Alfor only talking about Lance’s relationship with his daughter. His ending was frustrating, not seeing him flying with the MFE pilots or training a new generation of paladins. It was even a weird tease to see him holding the “LGBT” sign with Shiro and not have any interactions with them about that, while the other pairs all got some sort of plot around their signs. He was destined for greater things and I hope he gets them one day.

Lotor This poor man deserved so much better. I think we all agree that in the end, Lotor was portrayed as an abuse victim who lost to abuse and was considered evil for doing all he knew to do to survive. He was an amazing villain and a lovable character who even tricked the audience into seeing things in a certain light. His generals had amazing designs and they all had so much potential for so many different plotlines. But it didn’t end that way. Lotor succumbed to abuse and was always painted as evil and manipulative, even as a projection to trick Allura. The audience were the only ones who understood what he went through and although that had the potential for some good angst, it turned out to be glazed over in favor of many different angles. Lotor meant a lot to a lot of people, especially abuse victims who saw themselves in him. But it turns out that overcoming a situation like that isn’t possible even for someone as strong and determined and compassionate as Lotor. It was a shitty message to send to what is supposed to be a young audience.

Coran Now there’s not a lot I wanna say about Coran, mostly because I never felt attached to him. But through a conversation with a friend, I realized he should’ve been space dad from the beginning. He could’ve been the father character to all the paladins, could’ve been more that comic-relief, should’ve been given humanizing moments to grieve over his planet and even Allura. This man is so resilient and like a lot of these characters, shows that being a “man” is more than just being tough and strong and bruting, it’s about feeling love and being happy and spreading that love and happiness as much as possible

Allura Last but not least is Allura. Her death was devastating. Unfortunately I never really felt attached to her. Her character didn’t feel very developed. She learned to accept Keith and pilot blue, but the sacrifice she made, in the end, is one she would’ve made from episode 1. She’s always been tough and determined and passionate about her home and its history. I wanted to see her humanized more, just like Coran. I wanted to know more about her loving sparkly things and not understanding human things like cows and milkshakes. She had so much potential and it all felt wasted on a weird plot for revenge and anger and bitterness that was never really dissolved. She’s an amazingly designed character and a lot of people love her, I hate knowing that she was given the ending she was given.

Overall Negatives

Character Development The show was going so strong for a while. Every character was aging and growing and making progress. Then the last few seasons happened and suddenly the focus was on the war and action sequences and getting the plot over with. Many characters started to feel stale, their development stopping or becoming stagnant. Especially in the last season, it felt like a lot was not resolved in terms of how characters grew over the course of the show. 

Character Interactions (This is not about ships or the fandom, it’s about canon interactions in the show. None of this is implying I wanted it to be endgame, that’s not what this is about)

Shiro/Keith Man, these two had so much potential. Keith loves Shiro in canon. He said so. Even if it’s a brotherly love, it was real and there and so powerful it brought Shiro back to life. Their bond was powerful and strong and inspired so many people watching, including me. All relationships are important, and seeing Keith mature and have someone believe in him was so meaningful to those who see themselves in him. Not only that, but Shiro had someone who believes in him too. After being left by his boyfriend and told his disease would kill him, Keith was still there, supporting him and ultimately keeping him alive. They’re such a good example of a healthy relationship, platonic or not. So what happened in season 8? I don’t have an answer. They barely interacted. When Keith was close to death Shiro acted like a soldier, not a friend. There was no closure with them, no expressions of how proud of each other they were, barely even a genuine interaction. It was very disappointing. I could go on about how angry this makes me but I still gotta lot to write about Lance/Allura Once again, so much good potential. These two could’ve developed so much more in their relationship. They had the potential to be cute and loving and strong leaders together. Not only was Allura killed off, but she was also written into Lance’s relationship with a strange lack of love for Lance. It felt one-sided and rushed. Lance’s maturity with handling the whole thing came out of nowhere and felt weird and forced. He wasn’t acting like his goofy self, which in turn can give off a message that he had to change and become more serious in order to gain her affections. Yet another bad message to send to a supposed young audience

Keith/Lance There was a lot going on between these two and a lot of good development. I loved their quiet personal moments in the last season, they were tender and personal and demonstrated the growth of both characters. But just like Keith and Shiro, there was something missing in their ending. No closure. They never seemed to interact aside from these more intimate moments in this season, with Lance’s focus being on Allura and Keith being mainly a leader of voltron. All The Paladins One of this show’s strong suits was the interaction between a found family. Especially this season, it felt lackluster. It felt like characters were being shoved aside for the sake of more plot and story and Allura’s whole arc. Not only that but in the end, they weren’t a family anymore. They went separate ways, Lance mourning Allura’s death, Keith going off to be a lone wolf in the blade, etc. It was all a bit disappointing, especially for someone like me who knows what it’s like to find a family outside of blood. It’s not easy to separate like that.  The Portrayal of the Effects of War A lot of my frustration with characters and interaction and the ending of the show was how it lacked a reflection of how war affects people. The paladins were an obvious example of young people being forced into a place where war is rampant and their trauma should have been made more clear! Lance’s ending would’ve made more sense if they talked about the war affecting him and needing to just be with his family and away from the fight. The weird character development could’ve included that they all have some bits of PTSD and permanent damage due to all they’ve been through, especially considering how young they are. Nothing felt resolved or had an impact in the ways it could have. The show was doing so well with portraying Shiro’s PTSD and pain and then flushed it all away, once again to hurry along a rushed plot. It makes me so upset as a writer and a lover of the show to see such potential themes done away with. 

Honerva and The Finale This show has some amazing villains. People love the galra and Lotor and his generals and Honerva and even Zarkon. They had such good potential and learning about their past was emotional and impactful. But there was no resolution. Exploring Honerva’s mind and the other dimensions/realms of the universe were overwhelming and confusing and didn’t leave much room for development. There was potential in having Lotor be resurrected. He could’ve shown Honerva that you can’t bring back the dead and that abusers don’t get to have their victims given back to them. He could’ve proven to the paladins that being a victim doesn’t mean you will lose to your abuser. He could’ve provided a catalyst for Allura to learn to forgive and understand instead of acting out of anger and bitterness without listening to the full story. He could’ve provided room for Lance to find some self-love and even a chance for Shiro to overcome his own demons. There was so much potential in having him return and still have Honerva be a redeemable character who found family the same way the paladins did. The finale could’ve been so much more. Lotor could’ve been so much more. But he was reduced to a corpse and Honerva lost the potential of being the best villain in the show.

Overall Positives

The Characters I already went in depth on a few characters specifically, but their designs both visually and personality-wise were amazing. Many people connected to each paladin, even more than one. We loved watching them grow, we love their voice actors, we love our own found family within such an amazing story.

The Staff Through thick and thin the cast and team of Voltron have been amazing. There will always be slip-ups and hard patches but they have done such an amazing job supporting the fans and fighting through the drama. All these people are so amazing and kind and I hope to see more of their work in the future.

The Galra and Other Aliens Like I said before, people love the galra. They love their designs, their story, their potential. The galra are cool villains that provide a lot of fun to the story and the fan content that comes out of it. All the alien designs were fun to play with, even Slav and bi boh bee. These side characters are creative and made the world feel even bigger.

The Animation Not only were the character designs visually appealing, but the animation itself improved so much over the course of the show. Characters visually aged, the shots of space became more detailed and beautiful, it was all so impressive. Voltron has one of my favorite animation styles I’ve ever seen.

The Filler Episodes Many people hate these episodes but darn it I love them. They were fun and light-hearted and dove into fun situations we all love to see our characters in. The fair, Kinkade’s camera, the D&D episode, the game show episode. They all made us laugh and remember why we love these characters and why we want them to succeed, while also making them more real and tangible.

The Representation This may be a controversial opinion, but the representation in this show is fantastic. 4 out of 5 paladins are people of color. Allura is a poc. Many side characters are of varying races. Even if we didn’t get perfect LGBT rep, we got some well-needed diversity in cartoons. Although I cannot speak to any inaccuracies or stereotypes people of color feel might’ve played a part, I can speak to the importance of having many different races on screen for all to see.

Show-Stopping Moments While the fandom was good at predicting a lot of plot points, the show was still able to leave us all stunned and speechless. We all have certain moments that made us sob, broke our hearts, gave us chills. From Keith’s blade trials, Zarkon’s death, Shiro’s disappearance and journey home, Keith’s fight with Shiro’s clone, Narti’s death, the reveal of the og paladin’s backstories, Lotor’s betrayal, Shiro transforming the atlas, and so many more, there are so many scenes that shook us to the core.

[kristallioness]

A get-well card

Summary: Lance goes to see Allura for the first time after their battle to save Earth.

Word count: 1,972

Author's note: This story began writing itself in my head when I imagined these scenes happening. Based on these three posts (X,X,X) because those shots of them recovering in their wards warmed my heart. There's also a tiny reference to my only other VLD-related fanfic, "The cold". I had to get this off my chest because I treasure everything these two characters have (be it romantic/platonic love, respect, admiration..). I just really love Allura and Lance so much! Whether they end up together or not, I'm still weak for this (friend)ship, do you hear me? W E A K.

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"Do you think she'll like it?" the little girl wondered, holding out the folded piece of paper. She let her tall aunt carefully lift her into her uncle's lap.

"I'm sure she'll love it," Lance said with a loving smile, wrapping his protective arms around his niece. He rubbed his nose into her hair and gave her a kiss on her temple, making her giggle.

"Are we ready to go?" he turned to his big sister, who grabbed the handles of his wheelchair.

"Yes, I think so."

Veronica pushed Lance, together with their little niece, out of his ward and into the long corridor. Their nephew hopped alongside the trio as they slowly made their way to Allura's private ward. The kids had drawn the princess a get-well card and they wanted to present it to her together with their uncle, who knew her a lot better.

Lance's tiny blue eyes grew wide when he could spot two familiar figures standing outside of the ward at the other end of the corridor. They met both Coran, who was twirling his moustache around his finger, and Romelle, sitting on one of the chairs, waiting in silence. Thankfully their expressions weren't full of concern, much rather boredom.

"Hey, Coran! Is everything okay?"

"Oh, good day, Lance! Yes, everything's perfectly alright with the princess. She just fell asleep earlier, so we came out here to give her some peace and quiet. One of the medical workers went in there to check on her progress. I also asked him to reconfigure the machines to consider the normal vital signs of an Altean."

Lance frowned a little bit, staring at the card in his niece's hands.

"Oh.. Can we go in right now? My niece and nephew made something they wanna give to her. Show uncle Coran what you made!" he leaned closer and whispered into her ear. The little girl held the card out to the orange moustache guy. Coran knelt down on one knee to have a closer look.

"Hmm.. and who is this supposed to be?" he wondered curiously, pointing a finger at the round stick figure.

"That's uncle Lance! He's the bravest Blue Paladin out there," the girl declared proudly, making her uncle chuckle for a moment.

"Actually, your uncle Lance is the Red Paladin now. The princess is the new Blue Paladin," Coran corrected her.

"They saw my blue armour, Coran, so they wanted to use the blue crayon. Show him what's inside!" Lance added in a whisper. His niece opened the card and let Coran read the text. When he claimed that he didn't understand the letters they'd used, she read it out loud. His purple eyes began to glisten and they could tell that he was wearing a warm smile underneath that moustache.

"Well, if that isn't sweet.. Okay, you four can go in. Just be sure to keep really quiet. The princess needs her rest."

"Thanks, Coran! We promise.. C'mon, you two! You heard what uncle Coran said!" Lance said in a hushed tone, patting his nephew's back as Veronica pushed his wheelchair closer to the door.

The door opened automatically and the quartet entered quietly. A doctor was busy reconfiguring the monitors, exactly like Coran had said. Lance's nephew scampered to the other side of the bed and grabbed the side rail, staring at the sleeping princess.

"She's so pretty!" he whispered to the rest of his family. Lance noticed how the mice squeaked a little and hopped up on the empty table that served as a nursing trolley, where medical supplies were usually scattered. They were keeping an eye on Allura so that nobody would hurt her.

Veronica pushed the wheelchair to the same side of the bed, then stooped to whisper into her little brother's ear.

"I'll be right outside if you need me. Call me when you're ready to go back to your ward."

"Will do, sis!" Lance answered in a hush, then averted his gaze towards the princess, a warm smile decorating his lips.

"I'll leave you to it, lover boy!"

He gritted his teeth and glared at her for a moment. She stifled her giggling by holding a hand in front of her mouth as she exited the ward.

Lance forgot about his big sister's teasing and focused on the doctor who was examining Allura instead. He ran a scanner over her forehead to take her temperature. He wrote the reading onto the tablet in his hands, which had replaced the old clipboards decades ago. Lance saw how the information immediately appeared on screen on the wall above her bed, right beside her other vital signs.

Next, the doctor softly pressed a modern stethoscope on her bare chest to listen to her heartbeat, reaching up a hand to reconfigure the settings of the machine so it'd consider her thrice as fast rate normal. Lance grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling her "normal" pulse near her wrist thumping against his fingertips. Three beats in a tick, he remembered Pidge telling him once. Despite the rapid pace her heart was beating in, her breathing was calm like a human being's. She seemed so tranquil when she was asleep.

Soon the doctor finished the examination and left them alone with the princess, updating her advisor and fellow Altean about her progress on his way out. At least that's what Lance guessed they were talking about, judging by the voices he heard outside of the ward.

"Is she your girlfriend?" his niece asked. He blushed a little and scratched the back of his head. Even he wasn't sure at this point.

"Well, she is a girl and she's also my friend.."

"Is she gonna be okay?" his niece asked again.

"Of course she is, just like the rest of us.. Oh, shh!" Lance hushed his niece and nephew when he heard the princess mumble. He saw how she wiggled her pointy ears, as if she was trying to listen to the noises around her, and then, her sparkling blue eyes trembled open. A small smile formed on her lips when she met the eyes of the familiar figure.

"Lance.. you're here," she murmured, her voice still a bit hoarse. She felt how his thumb tenderly caressed her fingers. Her pretty blue eyes grew wider and she smiled fondly when she noticed the two little ones by his side.

"And you brought your family."

"Uncle Lance told us so much about you. Here, we made you this!" his nephew said, grabbing the card from his baby sister and handing it to the princess. Allura released Lance's hand and took the card in her own, propping herself up a bit higher. First she checked out the cute sketch on the cover, glancing at Lance when she figured out that it was him, and then opened the card to read it. She grimaced a little bit.

"I'm so sorry, but it seems that I can't read these words. I simply haven't had enough time learn the Earth language. Would you be a dear and read this to me?" Allura asked and handed the card back to Lance's niece, who did as she requested.

"Feel better soon, Allura!" the little girl read the biggest sentence out loud. Then her eyes trailed over the list of names in the lower right corner, who were wishing her a speedy recovery.

Lance's name was in red and the first one, followed by the authors of the card, namely his niece and nephew, as well as the rest of his family. The Paladins' signatures were right below theirs. The little girl showed that they'd written their names using crayons that represented their respective colours - dark purple for both Shiro and Keith, golden yellow for Hunk, forest green for Pidge. She'd written the princess's name in pink, according to her armour.

Allura didn't know what to say. She simply gazed at Lance and his siblings and grinned at the three of them.

"This is really sweet of you all. Thank you!"

She reached out her hand to pat his nephew's head. She called the mice on her bed and let them place the card on the empty table. The kids hadn't noticed the tiny critters before.

"Aww, what cute little mice!" the girl squealed and held out a hand to touch them, but she couldn't reach them. Lance helped his niece out by nudging his wheelchair closer and laying his own hand on the table so Chuchule can climb on.

"Yes, they're Altean mice. We have a special bond that allows me to communicate with them," Allura clarified, watching how Lance's niece softly petted the pink mouse.

"Cool! How does it work?" his nephew wondered. The princess merely giggled, then closed her eyes and thought of something to do. Plachu and Chulatt jumped onto the bed, climbed on her left shoulder and began braiding a thick lock of her long white hair. The boy's mouth fell wide open.

"Wow! How'd you do that?"

Allura opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I telepathically asked them to come and braid my hair."

"It means that she thought of what she'd like the mice to do, and since they could hear her thoughts, they started doing exactly what she asked them to do," Lance explained using simpler words. The kids were in awe. His nephew watched how the two blue mice continued styling the princess's hair whilst his niece tickled the pink mouse's tummy, making it squeak with joy. The sensation that carried over to Allura thanks to her mental link with Chuchule made her giggle, too.

"I didn't get to ask before, but.. How are you feeling?"

Lance furrowed his brows, a smile remaining on his lips as he slid his hand on top of Allura's and gave it another squeeze. She looked at it whilst lacing their fingers together.

"A bit tired, but otherwise I feel good. Blue really saved me from the worst."

"Of course she did. Just like Red saved me.."

There was a moment of silence before Lance spoke again.

"I was afraid that this was going to be her.. err, your.. our last battle together. But Shiro was right. The Lions really are stronger than we thought. Thanks for taking such good care of her."

"Anything for you, Lance."

Allura's smile turned upside down when she saw Lance looking at the door like he wanted to leave already. She held onto their entwined hands as she sat upright to stop him from calling Veronica.

"Wait! Come here.."

He looked at her questioningly, but pushed his wheelchair a bit closer to her bed. She leaned forward, her eyes half-lidded, hesitating for a second before she cupped his chin with her free hand and pressed a tender kiss on his cheek. When Allura pulled away to lie back down in bed, they were both blushing.

"Thank you, for inspiring all of us to continue fighting. When I saw you charge Red at one of the six Zaiforge Cannons after the reflectors broke, I knew Blue and I had to follow your lead and do the same to save your home planet."

Lance rubbed at his flushed cheek and grinned.

"Uhh, thanks, Allura!"

"So she is your girlfriend!" his nephew exclaimed happily, bouncing around the hospital bed whilst his niece began giggling.

Lance averted his gaze to the floor and attempted to hide his embarrassment. He lightened up when Chuchule started squeaking as she ran out of his niece's hand and onto his palm. He lifted the pink mouse to his face and let her rub her soft furry cheek against his own, making him laugh in return. He gazed into Allura's sparkling blue eyes and returned her smile when she grabbed his free hand and gave it a squeeze.

[noussommeslessquelettes]

🌻"Keith looked down at himself—which was kind of dumb in retrospect, since he could already feel the skin of his arms prickling as indication that they were bare—to discover belatedly that he had." I love this SO MUCh hh not only do we get jacket sharing but,, this line. this line dude. I love that he looks down but like, Realizes that he didn't need to and just ugh this line idk I just love it

the things that I do to force these two into cliche romantic scenarios (not that it does take a whole lot of forcing, bonding moment anyone? elevator scene anyone? don’t call me out for reaching don’t stop me now cause I’m having a good time hAVIN A GOOD TIME)

🌻 "Me, sobbing on the floor: b lease just let them get together and be h a p p y Also me, sitting in a swivel chair and sipping gingerale out of a champagne flute: your concern has been……… Noted™." god ily. you are my favorite. hhh I live for your authors notes "But y’all aren’t here to read the author’s notes are you? You’re here for that Good Good Klance Slowburn." nonono no sir I am here for BOTH

crying tysm because honestly even if ppl hated my ANs I couldn’t bring myself to cut them out or cut them short. I need to ramble so much bullshits I have no filter

🌻 OH MY GOD THE END AUTHORS NOTE ON HARVEST MOON IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER. like, ever ever. I really like it. I was like, "oh, I should copy paste some of it like I did before… hmm how about this first bit.. and this second bit… and the whole thing… wait no I can't copy paste the whole thing" so here I am just talking(typing?) about it anyway

cards on the table I needed to check what I wrote because it’s been so long lmao. Keith was definitely the one holding on by the way. Also me.

Also shoutout to Harvest Moon for being the only fic in Throwback Playlist named after an actual throwback

🌻 [Lance: Achilles has his heel, I have my raging bisexuality ] [Lance: It’s a blessing and a curse, really ] okay 1: I love this quote, 2: it may need to be my senior quote if I don't figure out whether I'm really just a lesbian or not… or if I never figure out whether I'm aro/ace, or one of the two or not. (atm I'm sticking with no labels cause like… I don't feel a need to figure it out lmao I'm fine just feeling whatever I end up feeling… or not feeling… whatever, is chill, yk)

I mean defos no pressure but I found queer’s been a really useful catch-all label, for myself and for friends IRL and online. I know not everyone’s comfortable with it but for me personally it’s always been just the easiest way to express the fact that I’m not cis/straight without having to get into The Bullshit with the straighties

also if u put it as ur senior quote I’d Yell just so much fdjkfgkj

🌻 hhh I'm sorry if my spamming asks is a little annoying or I'm clogging up your inbox lmao… idk I just get excited about your writing and I want to Talk about it and who better to sing it's praises to than the author themself, yk?

IT’S NOT??????? AND UR NOT????????? Don’t ever apologise please lol I crave love and validation and I do wanna know what ppl think of the shit I upload. Like every time I upload something five seconds later when I haven’t seen anyone react I’m like “oh god they Hate It” (full disclosure I still do that when I do see ppl react I’m a bit of a mess gfjkgfjkgf)

you’ll never annoy an author by talking about our stories, all of us are dorks who want to hear that ppl read their words and liked them hahah

[justheretobreakthings]

Remember Me - Chapter 17

(First Chapter) (Previous Chapter) (Next Chapter)

Word Count: 3,270 (Total Word Count: 67,717) Read on AO3

Story Summary:

It was strange enough for the paladins of Voltron to have found another human this far from home, locked in a Galra prison. But it was stranger still when this human insisted that he knew them, and even that he was the former red paladin of Voltron.

That couldn’t possibly be true, could it? After all, if this Keith was actually a part of the Voltron team, then why does nobody remember him?

Chapter Preview:

“Hey there, Red,” Lance said as he settled down onto the Lion’s paw, nestling into the joint with his back against the pastern. “Long time no chit-chat, huh?”

Red was silent, and Lance let out a sigh, stretching his legs out to fold in front of him. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, you’re probably a little annoyed with me. Sorry about that. It’s not like I’ve been avoiding spending time with you or anything, I’ve just been busy lately. There’s a lot going on in the castle.”

This time he got a response, a hint of a rumble in the back of his mind, accompanied by a brief mental picture of a formless white glow. “The quintessence stuff is part of it, yeah,” he answered. “That’s actually part of why I’m here. My bayard’s been a little out of whack lately, and Allura and Coran think that maybe being around unstable quintessence might have caused some weirdness in it. And in you, actually.”

Red’s response was more energy than image in his mind this time, and something about the vibes she was sending his way, seemed accusatory. Lance grimaced. “Well, no, wait, that’s not the only reason I came by today, Red! I did just wanna spend some time with you too! You’re my girl, Red, I love being with you. I’m just saying, getting everything back in order is a bonus of me hanging with you. You get that, right?”

“ - so while your Green Paladin was certainly correct in her assessment of this particular sample of quintessence being ‘unstable’, the fluctuations don’t seem to be at risk of creating energy emittences that would pose any danger beyond that of the strains we’ve studied up to this point, nor have we detected any sign of decay.”

Lance paused in his tracks as the door to the bridge hissed closed behind him. He hadn’t meant to interrupt anything, he was just looking to talk to Allura, and while he had been correct in assuming this was where he would be able to find her, he hadn’t realized she would be deep in conversation with Ryner on the holoscreen, Pidge in the seat next to Allura, nestled into the chair and her hands on her chin. Even from the back, Lance could tell she had her thinking face on in full gear.

Allura glanced black toward him, and he gave a sheepish wave. “Sorry,” he said softly, and Pidge spun in her chair to face the intruder. “Didn’t realize I was interrupting anything.”

“Nothing to worry about,” Allura said. “This wasn’t classified information or anything, Ryner was just updating us on her team’s research of the quintessence sample. We’re nearly finished.”

“Learn anything good?” Lance asked.

“Nothing definitive,” Ryner answered him. “We’ve been analyzing the structure of the quintessence sample we were sent and were able to detect differences between it and the records of quintessence structure that my team’s been using for their secondhand research, but we’ve yet to determine both the causes and the consequences for this difference, nor whether the structural change and the energy fluctuations are causative or simply concurrent.”

Lance blinked. “So, um, that means…”

“The quintessence is shaped weird,” Pidge explained, “But we don’t know yet whether or how that matters.”

“Ah,” Lance said with a nod. “Well, um, good work, math people. Keep it up.”

“Thank you,” said Ryner. “We had no intentions to stop.”

“Well, no, I just meant - ”

“By the by, Princess, your many-legged friend Slav has been in contact with me regarding some of his own current research regarding an incident of a location vanishing? He has some very interesting theories on the topic of alchemical versus quantum mechanical definitions on the concept of existence, although apparently his theories are still very much in the embryonic stage. I wish you had told me earlier that you had Slav working with you on the matter of your guest’s predicament, we could have started collaborating on research sooner.”

Allura furrowed her brow. “I… hadn’t realized Slav was even doing that research?”

“Really?” Ryner said. “He told me that Coran had requested it himself.”

“Yes, he had contacted Slav, but I hadn’t realized Slav had agreed. I didn’t think Coran had even gotten a chance to explain what wanted him to look into.”

“It’s Slav,” Pidge said. “He probably figured it out by Coran’s body language or saw a prophecy about it in his dinner or something. Don’t attempt to understand how his brain works, you’ll injure yourself.”

Ryner gave a small smile. “Whatever the case, if there’s any relevancy of his research to our own, we will update you. And you will let us know if you learn anything from the Blade’s examination of their sample?”

“Of course,” Allura said with a nod. “Hopefully we’ll be hearing from them soon.”

“We’ll work with what we have in the meantime,” Ryner said. “Signing off.”

The holoscreen went dark. Pidge stood from the chair, stretching her back out with a yawn. “Well,” she said, “Not much new stuff to work with here, not ‘til they get a working theory going on that whole quintessence structure deal. I’m gonna go help Coran sort through those reports the rebel scouts sent in.”

“Go ahead, he’ll appreciate the assistance,” Allura said, dismissing her with a nod before turning back to Lance. “So, you wanted to speak with me?”

“Yeah,” Lance said. “About - ”

“About your bayard, I assume?”

Lance nodded. “Coran said he passed it on to you to look over?”

“He did, yes. Come along with me to fetch it. I brought it with me over to crystal utility room to see if their quintessential energy could help amplify any irregularities with your bayard so I could identify them.”

“And did they?” Lance asked as he traipsed behind her into the hall.

Allura shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. Or at least, there weren’t any irregularities to detect. Sorry, Lance, but as far as I can tell, your bayard is in perfect working order.”

Lance frowned. “If that’s the case, then why has it been getting wonky on me in training?”

“I do have a hypothesis on that,” Allura answered. “Although nothing to confirm it. The bayards have an inherent connection to their respective Lions, so perhaps if there’s something causing problem with the bayard, the root cause is actually an irregularity in the Red Lion. It would make sense, I suppose. You were the one that carried Keith’s damaged cruiser back to the castle, so the Red Lion was holding the unstable quintessence samples right in her mouth. It’s probably even more likely that the exposure would leave some lingering effects on the Lion than on the bayard.”

“So, if something’s up with Red, what do I do about it?”

“I’ve asked Pidge and Coran to run a maintenance check on the Red Lion, so we’ll see if they spot anything. In the meantime, you could try to work with your lion bond a bit to see if there’s anything going on. Is she detects something amiss herself, she would probably communicate it to you. Have you been in the hangar with her much since your bayard started malfunctioning?”

“Um…” Lance furrowed his brow. Come to think of it, he actually couldn’t recall having spent any time with Red since their last mission. It wasn’t as if he had been avoiding it, it had just completely slipped his mind, what with training and traveling and the issues with his bayard. Immediately his gut twinged with guilt; he suddenly felt like a neglectful pet owner. “Shit,” he sighed. “No, I haven’t. Do you think maybe she’s messing with my bayard because she’s annoyed with me?’

“Mm, doubtful,” Allura said. “We’ve all been busy as of late, so the Lions would certainly be understanding of that. Besides, the Lions are many things, but petty is not one of them. Although, I suppose if any of the Lion were to be a little spiteful, the Red Lion would probably be the most likely candidate. Your bayard,” she added, as they had reached the utility room. She picked it up off a low metal table and handed it to Lance.

“Thanks,” Lance said as he took it.

“I really wouldn’t worry too much about this little anomaly. I’m certain it’s nothing that cannot be dealt with.” She offered him a small smile before continuing, “If you would like something to actually worry about, getting the quintessence samples sent out and the locations from that transport log scouted out has made it clear that the Voltron Coalition is going to need to be focussing on getting more vehicular capital and forming alliances with more planets that host hubs of interplanetary transit.”

Lance furrowed his brow. “Wait, why would that worry me?”

“Because,” Allura answered, “Coran has already started scheduling more airshows, parades, and dinner parties for Voltron.”

Lance let out a long groan. “Wonderful. You know, the first three million PR events were actually fun to do. The ten million after, it really started to lose its charm.”

“Well, it appears the current count is now up to thirteen million and four. Have fun dreading them.”

“I’ll try. Thanks.”

He made his exit, bayard in hand. It seemed his next task would be getting a little one-on-one time in with Red. Not a problem. The fact that he hadn’t thought to do so of his own accord lately honestly shook him.

No one liked to be neglected. Not even giant robotic lions.

He set out toward the hangars, passing by the living quarters along his way, all quiet as everyone in the castle went about their own tasks. The only other sign of life he came across was in passing the training deck; the lights were on and Lance could hear the clangs of metal-on-metal sounding through the deck, a clear sign that someone was in there, probably locked in combat with a bot.

He stopped to peer inside, curious. The team had already had a training session this morning, and Lance’s muscles were still a little sore from it. Additional training today seemed simply unnecessary.

One glance onto the deck later after sliding open the door, and Lance realized he probably should have guessed who the occupant was. Keith was in the middle of the deck, his day clothes soaked through with sweat, practice sword in hand and spinning to fight two gladiators, one on either side of him, and all the three of the participants in this fight giving it all they had. Keith managed a slice through one of the gladiators in what would be the neck had the bot been a person, and it evaporated and left him to focus on the other bot for another half a minute before managing to run it through, leaving it dissipating as well.

“Exercise complete,” a computerised voice said from overhead. “Completion time: eight doboshes, twenty-one ticks.”

“Dammit,” Keith spat as he bent to put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Dammit, dammit.”

“What’s wrong?” said another voice. Lance nearly jumped, not having noticed Shiro standing on the sideline, watch Keith fight. The black paladin strode to join Keith in the middle of the deck. “I thought that one was really solid. Your footwork was steadier.”

“It was nine ticks slower than the last round,” Keith replied. “And half a dobosh over my usual time from… from before.” He sighed and straightened up. “I’m still rusty.”

“Hm,” Shiro said. “If this is ‘rusty’, remind me never to get into a fight with you when you’re at the top of your game.” Shiro was facing away from Lance, so the latter couldn’t see his face, but he could hear the joking smile in his voice.

Keith, however, didn’t return it. He just sighed and set the tip of his practice sword onto the floor to lean against the handle. “Might be the weapon having something to do with it,” he said. “It’s - I’m not used to - to just using any old sword, you know? The bayards and my Marmora blade, they would always specifically change and mold to fit me just right, be exactly the weight and shape that was best for me. Then again, I’ve still been able to use other weapons before and all… I dunno, maybe it’s not the sword. Maybe it’s just me.”

“Keith, you don’t need to beat yourself up over not getting the greatest time on a training exercise,” Shiro said. “It makes sense for you to be rusty. After all, you’ve just gotten back into weapons training after so long without it. And Coran says you’re still a little underweight - ”

“Yeah, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Keith said with a shrug. “That’s always been the case. But I was faster before - before everything…” He looked down at his sword. “Or, at least, I remember being faster… I guess maybe that was… those memories were…” He took a slow, deep breath. “Fuck, this whole thing’s a mess, isn’t it. Here I am just trying to get back to normal, and the ‘normal’ isn’t even real. The only standard I have to measure myself by doesn’t even exist.”

“Hey, hey, Keith, it’s all right,” Shiro said. “Here, let’s get you some water, okay?”

He turned, and his brows shot up in surprise. “Lance! How long have you been here?” Keith’s head shot up too, and he immediately straightened up to stand tall, schooling his face back to neutral as if he hadn’t just been caught in the middle of a mini existential crisis.

“Uh, not long,” Lance answered hesitantly.

“Do you need the training deck?” Keith asked. “I was just finishing up.”

“No, no, I was just peeking in, wondering who was in here,” Lance answered. He scratched the back of his neck, uncertain, before slowly adding, “You, uh, you were doing a good job, you know.” Because as much as he was loath to admit it, and as much as this guy had been managing to sneak his way under his skin ever since he had shown up and turned Voltron’s world and daily life on its head, it was true. Keith was, if nothing else, a hell of a swordsman. “Especially considering, you know, all the - all the shit, with everything,” Lance finished lamely.

Shiro smiled gratefully at Lance before saying, “He’s right, you know, Keith. Heck, even in the short time you’ve been training with the team, you’ve been making improvements.”

“Mm.” Keith offered them another little shrug before making his way to the store of water pouches and getting himself a drink.

With a raised brow, Shiro moved toward him, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t discount the little things, Keith. You really have been doing a remarkable job. Not just with the training, but… with everything. Adjusting to being out of that Galra prison, settling into the castle, working with all of us. I know this hasn’t been easy for you, and it’s understandable to be frustrated with the whole situation, but considering just what that situation is, well, you’re doing remarkably.” He pulled Keith closer into a bit of a one-armed hug. “You should be proud.”

Lance’s eyes stayed locked on Shiro’s arm, the way it wrapped around Keith’s shoulders, the hand moving up and down Keith’s biceps in a comforting, soothing gesture before falling away. An easy, familiar motion, as if Shiro was accustomed to it, as if he had been around to walk Keith through sour moods for ages.

He was like that, Shiro was. Always the big brother to his teammates. To everyone. Nothing particularly exceptional about it.

So Keith really didn’t need to make such a show of relaxing and leaning into the touch, closing his eyes as he sipped at his water and rolling his shoulder as Shiro released it like he was absorbing the lingering contact.

God, Keith was so extra.

“Thanks,” Keith said. He took another gulp of his water before capping the pouch and turning to Lance. “Hey, uh, while we’re on the topic of improving, any chance you’re up for a rematch of our little sparring session? I’ve gotten protein lately - I think I could probably take you.”

He sent Lance a cocky grin, and the latter shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Maybe some other time.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. You’re already worn out from your own training. It would just be unfair to you, you know? I would feel guilty pummeling you if I’ve got that much of an advantage.”

“All right,” Keith said. “Rain check, then.”

“Right. Rain check.”

“Hey there, Red,” Lance said as he settled down onto the Lion’s paw, nestling into the joint with his back against the pastern. “Long time no chit-chat, huh?”

Red was silent, and Lance let out a sigh, stretching his legs out to fold in front of him. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, you’re probably a little annoyed with me. Sorry about that. It’s not like I’ve been avoiding spending time with you or anything, I’ve just been busy lately. There’s a lot going on in the castle.”

This time he got a response, a hint of a rumble in the back of his mind, accompanied by a brief mental picture of a formless white glow. “The quintessence stuff is part of it, yeah,” he answered. “That’s actually part of why I’m here. My bayard’s been a little out of whack lately, and Allura and Coran think that maybe being around unstable quintessence might have caused some weirdness in it. And in you, actually.”

Red’s response was more energy than image in his mind this time, and something about the vibes she was sending his way, seemed accusatory. Lance grimaced. “Well, no, wait, that’s not the only reason I came by today, Red! I did just wanna spend some time with you too! You’re my girl, Red, I love being with you. I’m just saying, getting everything back in order is a bonus of me hanging with you. You get that, right?”

The agreement she sent him was reluctant, and Lance couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. “Damn, you’d think after ten thousand years, you’d have outgrown that sort of petty impatience. It’s beneath you, Red.” He stretched out his arms before tucking them behind his head and leaning back into Red’s ankle. “All right, let’s see, updates for you. Coran’s got some more airshows scheduled, so be prepared for those.”

A low rumble. “Oh, shut up, you know you love them. You were born to show off. Such a cat. Uh, other updates. Hunk said they finished fixing up that cruiser Keith smashed, so now he’s gonna have more time for baking again, which is a relief because I have been craving cookies the last few days. I had stored a couple of the last batch in my room for emergencies but they disappeared. Allura swears up and down that the mice didn’t take it, but they looked so smug when I asked about it. I’m pretty sure she’s covering for them.”

Red sent an image his way, a memory of Keith’s cruiser crashing into the side of that cargo ship, with a questioning tone overlaying it. “Yeah, that’s the one,” Lance said with a nod. “He banged it up real good. We’ve got Keith training with the team now, actually. Isn’t that something, he wrecks a cruiser and basically gets rewarded for it.”

The vibes she seemed to send this time seemed a little scolding, accompanied by the mental image of flames and sparks. “Yeah, yeah, okay, I wasn’t meaning to insult him,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “Just saying. And, okay, sure, he’s a real spitfire in a fight, is that what you’re trying to say?”

A little purr at the back of his mind. “Well, whatever. He’s keeping up. Hopefully he’ll hold himself together a bit better next time he’s along for a mission. You don’t need to be using up all your time scooping him up out of the sky after crazy stunts, right, Red? You’ve got better things to do.” He grinned up at her. “Like, say, focus on me? Your favorite man in the world?”

Her grumpy agreement had his grin broadening, and he nodded in response to her questioning rumble. “I know, two-way street. I’ll focus more on you too, I swear. And hey, you gotta help me out with the bayard thing, okay? We’ll make a deal: I get my shit together for your sake, you get your shit together for mine. Sound good?”

“And I don’t need any sass from you,” he added when Red broadcast to his mind something halfway between a purr and a growl. “None of the other Lions backtalk their paladins like this.” He sighed and gave her little smile. “You’re still a good kitty though, Red. Love you.”

The little surge of warmth that Red sent to his gut seemed to say that that had appeased her.

[deanmiles13]

I WANNA’ BE ELECTED

“THE TIME I CADDIED FOR ALICE COOPER AND LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT!!!”

I Wanna Be Elected! Well not really. You see.... I was working at a shop that had been bought by Neil Lomax. He was a Portland native, who had graduated from P.S.U. and had a career in the NFL. The Cardinals to be specific. Which, had relocated to Phoenix Arizona in 88.

Home of J.F.A., The Meat Puppets and the great Mighty Sphincter. Oh and George Lynch, and Rob Halford. And the one and only Alice Cooper.

Now, almost everyone knows that Alice is a serious golfer.  And that’s where we are going with this story. Not really a Rock and Roll story except for when I hound him with trivia questions, later. So, back to Neil. Super sweet man and excellent human being. He was heading to play a golf event that Alice would be at, in Phoenix one weekend, and he said, “Hey Dean, going to see your buddy Vince Fernier. See, Neil actually thought his name was ALICE COOPER. I corrected him one day and he loved VINCENT. He even came back from this event with a framed Hatch Show Print poster of the event. He let us display it in the shop when he got back. I was hoping he didn’t care for it and would part with it. But alas, my reward was yet to come. He actually had another golf tournament and I sent him down with a copy of Killer.

It came back signed and I was stoked. But there would be more....

So, then Its Neil’s turn to have his big golf event “The Quarterback Shootout”. 

It’s an annual charity event he is really known for in Portland. A meet and greet with NFL legends and local celebs. The big ones I can recall are Drew Bledsoe, Marcus Allen, Charles Barkley, Jim Plunkett.

Having worked with Neil for a while, he had events and people would help and volunteer from work. The big event was this golf thing. Everyone fought over caddying for Charles Barkley. He was big tipper. The real cool thing was, this year Alice was coming up for it as a favor to Neil. No one at work was stepping up to caddy for him. What I knew about golf fit into a golf tee.

I imagined me out there fumbling around and dropping clubs to the sound of all that iron clanging and people laughing. So I was petrified, to say the least, when it was decided that I was going be Alice Cooper’s caddy. They demanded that the “residential rocker” at work, handle this rock royalty on the links.

Well the thought of me on a golf course was as foreign to my mind as being a surgeon, so I spent the morning getting ferociously stoned at home. The event was held at Heron Lakes Golf course and I lived pretty close. I got to the golf course and met up with everyone from work and just kinda waited.

Some people were already on the part where you tee off and practice. The driving range?!?!? You can see I’m out of my element here!

Anyway, we are kinda waiting for our assigned celebs to show up when a car pulls up, out comes this really petite person. All in black with their back to me. I was unable to make out who it was. They turn around and it’s Alice. People cheer and they hand me his clubs. This is the first time I have EVER held golf clubs. I used a golf bag for my drum stands to carry to many clubs, but this was the first time the had actual clubs in it. 

He signs some stuff and is escorted my way, and I’m on the driving range. The first thing I tell him after we are introduced is “Alice, there is NOTHING I can tell you today to help you in any way on the course today!!!” He smiled and said “ I think I got it.”

That put me at ease right away.

We made our way to a practice area of sorts and already, people were coming up for autographs. I got the impression I would be doing a little security work today as well.

That was no problem actually since I had done set security on movie sets and all sorts of events. And he was approached by all sorts of people. Old, young, and everything in between. The first person I remember to approach held out a cassette and said “I took your music to Vietnam with me!” Alice stopped on a dime and just talked right to the guy. Not to/at him, but TO HIM!!!.

I could tell right away that this dude was genuine. Little kids with Todd McFarlane/Alice Cooper dolls would come up and he would sign the smallest signature. Taking time with everyone he took a photo with. He had a line for everything. After the photo was snapped he would say “Now, I may not show up in the picture when you get it developed.” He was, in a word “PROFESSIONAL”

This is a guy who hung out with Harry Nelson, Keith Moon, Salvador Dali.

I mean, he was on the Muppets for cryin’ out loud!!!

I know we were paired up with Jim Plunkett and played against Drew Bledsoe and Rick Mirer. Jim was an old school NFL dude and was here to have a good time. Drew Bledsoe did some things that day that I thought really were uncool. For someone being asked to a charity event, to sign autographs and take pictures, he was acting like he was being put out. It was interrupting his game. That was the whole point of this thing. You could saddle up next to the celebs and say hi and a bit more. It’s what they paid for, quite frankly. He was taking his golf game a little too serious if you ask me. Jim and Alice had wagers going as to who could drive the ball the farthest and stuff like that. Alice was a petite guy and Jim was a bigger dude.

Alice won the drive contest. The main thing that I took a way that day was answers to a load of questions that I had. Some prepared and most just off the top of my head.

As I relate some of these, just realize, that I’m paraphrasing what was said. He was so totally open and honest with me, it was quite staggering to be honest. I would feel horrible if anything was misinterpreted. 

I started by asking about Johnny Rotten doing the liner notes on a Rhino Box set and he said “Johnny hates EVERYONE.... EVERYONE! Except ME! I can’t believe it. 

I guess him and Sid used to play Dead Babies on acoustic guitars to make pocket money.” 

I was like, Oh, it’s on! We proceeded to hole one, and I started chronologically with his career and headed back to Detroit. I asked about Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, MC5 and Iggy. He said “I’ll open for anyone! The Stones! The Who! But not Iggy! He just wipes the crowd out. Uses them up and wrings em’ out, and I can’t come on after that.”

I asked about his song “Only Women Bleed” and he said that was a number one multiple times, multiple countries, for multiple people.Tina Turner had a hit with it and he was proud of that.

I asked if he was a WHO guy or a STONES guy. He said “Listen to the opening of Elected.” DUH!!!

There were some interesting crowd interactions. From, two young dudes that wanted to have him sign a joint they had, to the McFarlane dolls and everything else. I told kids with the joint, there was no way... Then I mentioning it to Alice and he said “Yeah, it’s like right when you quit smoking weed and your friend comes over with 8 ounces and says “Hey, I’m leaving town for a few months, can you hold onto this for me?!?!” 

This one women came up to us and was yelling to get his attention. Frankly, I was a little sketched about having to “deal” with her. We go over, she says “Can you sign something for me?” He says “Of course, what do you want signed?” She starts pulling scarp pieces of paper out of her pocket and I mean like a match book, a receipt, and just whatever. So he signs whatever it was and we walked away. He is being real silent, like in his head and he said “Man, that was 40 miles of rough road!!! I often wonder what I would be like if I had kept drinking and what not ?!?!”

That was probably one of the most profound things he said that day. I asked him when he quit drinking and he said, when his daughter was born. I too had recently quit with drinking and found this to be sort of a bonding moment for us. I remember that I had brought some items to have him sign. A postcard and an album etc. But the cool thing was I asked him at the last minute if I could have the ball he had used for the whole game. That was awesome, and I still have THAT. 

I had all the stuff I wanted to asked and had kinda prepared the questions in my head, but it was the interaction with his fans that was really neat to see. The two young women who came up and started to bow and say “We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy.” I had kind of spaced the whole Waynes World thing, and when I told him “Oh man, I kinda forgot about that!” He replied “ I didn’t!!”

I asked if he gets that from people all the time, seeing as it was a whole new generation of exposure sorta thing. He said “No! It’s just that, when you get a movie script and you just see your scene, it’s not like you get to see the whole movie. It’s just me, backstage, Mila-wa-kay- and then we split.”

I’m still not really picking up what he’s putting down... “So when they asked us what we wanted, we just took my day fee for the movie and didn’t worry about any “back end” so to speak. So what happens? The movie goes on to make 18 million opening weekend.” He was not kidding... you could see that this one hurt.

I had mentioned a quote from him in Rolling Stone, I had recently read in which he commented on Marylin Manson. He said “Yeah... Real original. Call your self a girl name and put makeup on. Where have I heard that one before?”

Not in a rude or snide way, but in a kinda joking way. With a smile... I guess that’s what it all came down to that day. Here was a man who had done it all, seen it all, drank it all, and snorted it all. And in the end, he was alive, enjoying something that kept him sane (golf). Now, he’s out the other side, meeting people, saying HELLO - HOORAY!!! Let the show begin!!!

He was so at ease with it all and it was a true pleasure to watch him “work”. When anyone ask, what was he like?

I just say... “In a word - KILLER”

He was a man who seemed very content where he was. I mean if you weathered a storm like he did and lived to crawl from the shipwreck and right yourself for a second, third career?!?!? 

Man... that’s it!!!  That’s a success.

Telephone is ringing......