#a bit iffed that i forgot to add some action lines on this one but it be what it be also i think the drawing looks quite swell as it is

[daily-riseleo]

[day 19]: JUMP!

[biussworld]

Safe and Sound

Requested by: @riarora

“So I was thinking platonic LOV x child reader (You can make them 18 if you're more comfortable, but I was thinking more like 14-15) The reader (I'll refer to them as she/her, but you can make it gender neutral) has really bad insomnia so every night, she would be pacing around, doing anything and everything to make sure no dark thoughts take over. Usually, none of the LOV would bat an eye, but considering the fact that she's a child, they feel sympathy, so they indirectly try to get her to fall asleep. Like, sending her on extra missions (always with protection of course) or changing her normal tea with sleeping tea, or maybe just straight up telling her to sleep. Could you make it a fic too?“

Sorry if it took long! Here it isss~ I tried my best to write insomnia and stuff, but I didn’t want to misinterpret it ;(( I hope you like it!

Relationships: Platonic League of Villains x Gender-neutral!Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: anxiety triggers, vague descriptions of anxiety attacks

Word Count: 1.4k

The moon's high up in the sky and looming over Japan as you lie wide awake on the thin and ragged futon laid on the floor. The walls of your current base are cold and mold-smelling which adds to the reasons why you couldn't sleep. You count the handful of bullet points you've crossed off your to-do list for the day: tracked the new equipment delivery, took down the sole witness of you and the League's traipsing from one hideout to another, stole some snacks from an old man's convenience store- yep. Just another day for you.

You did receive good remarks from the team after you've proudly reported to them at the end of your mission, but Shigaraki's words clung onto you: "I'm just glad you didn't mess up."

Sure, you are, too. Until you were reminded of one moment where you've landed a step louder than the previous ones and almost blew your cover, or when you almost forgot to clean up your mess after dispatching the witness. Your mind sidetracked to what could've happened if all of those did happen, and it didn't help that you knew how their powers work. Shigaraki would probably reduce your limbs to ashes, or let Dabi cremate you alive, or confine you in one of Mr. Compress' marbles. All of it made you sick in the stomach and you had to clasp your hand over your mouth to muffle the sudden belching sound that came out of you.

Your head started throbbing and your vision spun slightly as you sat up. You stayed hunched over yourself for a bit, eventually standing on your feet and lightly treading towards the little 'kitchen' set up by Kurogiri to grab yourself a glass of water. Except Dabi was already there to hand it to you. "You look awful." He greets. "Thanks. Not as much as you do."

The small exchange between you two incited a chuckle from him. He takes a sip from his cup, and you wonder, "Why do you have an extra glass of water?" He puts his down and says, "I know you get up at midnight to drown yourself in glasses of it so I figured I'd help you out." You nod absent-mindedly and at the back of your mind you think to yourself, maybe you weren't too careful or were too loud the past few nights. As you start lecturing yourself in your head, he notices you space out and ever-so-slightly flicks your forehead. "Don't know why you can't sleep, but just close your eyes and it'll happen eventually."

After all of that, he leaves the makeshift kitchen and sprawls himself onto his space, leaving you squinting at him.

You believe there's nothing particularly special with his words granted that his upbringing didn't really teach him to be friendly towards kids your age, but you'd be stupid to admit it didn't help ease you even just a teensy bit.

---

The next day drew quick and everyone's fast asleep in their corners. As always, you're left to wallow in the corners of solitude, mind racing with destructive thoughts that keep you very much awake. You make your way toward the kitchenette. You find a few used tea bags and teacups lying on the countertop, and figured Compress might have been awake just like you. Still, you reached for a tall glass and filled it with water to the brim, then exited the room to sit in the chilly air outside.

As you approach, you hear two- three voices speaking just outside. Hushed, but audible enough to discern who's who. Toga and...

"Twice?" You meekly croak as you stare at both of them, head tilted in wonder. Toga struts to you and tugs you by your wrist, carrying your glass of water for you in her other hand. "We've been waiting for you! Come sit with us~" She makes you sit on a wooden box beside Twice, then said man hands you a teacup filled with nice-smelling liquid. It must've been them in the kitchen, you thought. You set your glass down, take the cup and sip.

"Why are you two up so late at night?" You ask in between sips. Twice replies with a passive-aggressive statement along the lines of "We were worried you weren't getting enough sleep" and blaming Dabi. Huh, I guess he told them.

You smile at the thought of the intimidating man caring for you, and Toga flashes you her signature toothy grin back while she proceeds to tell you about her day as if it were any different from yours.

You were pretty sure she was loud enough to wake the others up, but the overflowing energy she radiates that much late at night couldn't bring you to shut her up. Besides, you've got Twice doing that work for you. 

The conversation ended when you yawned quite hideously for the fourth time that night, Twice took your hand and led you to your bed that he had tidied up before tucking you in. He pats you on the head gently as your eyes flutter close.

---

It's been three weeks since then and during the time that had passed, it was always Toga and Twice that put you to bed. However for tonight, since Toga and Twice are away on a mission given to them by Shigaraki, you're left on your own.

You'd be lying if you said the midnight tea times you and the duo shared didn't give you a false sense of security, and that you hadn't clung onto it as soon as it dawned on you. Your mind drifted to Toga's face and her various comical expressions when she tells you her stories, or Twice's fatherly hands as he puts you to bed. It's been those two that took care of you and you've grown visually more attached to them, even familiarized yourself with their scent and warmth.

What if they get hurt badly? No. They won't.

But they said the mission was a little dangerous- They'll make it out alive. They're amazing!

Again, you find yourself in a downward spiral as your thoughts pull you into the void. Your mind's filled with what-ifs and buts that you don't notice your feet dragging yourself to someone else's room. You're caught in a mindless haze, your breath's starting to feel stuffy and your body feels sweaty and shit- no, it can't happen tonight. I have to be fine until Toga and Twice comes back.

Unless they don't-

"Hey, you're up." Shigaraki's voice snaps you out of it. He's standing in front of you, without the derpy-looking hand thing covering his face and he shows no emotion until you look at his eyes. His eyes meet yours and you see the worry, the sadness, the tender-loving brotherly look that he rarely sports. "Kurogiri, go make her some tea." He says after carefully taking your hand.

He sits on his makeshift bed, motions for you to sit and you oblige. He pulls you to him, resting your head on his chest and he pats your back softly. His movements are awkward and calculated to not destroy you with his quirk but he's trying, and you appreciate it and flash him a soft smile.

Not long after, Kurogiri comes back with a cup of the same nice-smelling tea you've been drinking with Twice and Toga. You remember the first time they’ve given you the drink, and how Dabi was the one who told them to do such a thing. They were precious, and your big brother and big sister for the time you were lost and insecure about your capabilities. For some out-of-this-world reason, you start bawling your eyes out on Shigaraki's shirt. He calls you out for staining his shirt, but his actions speak otherwise as he continues to pat you on the back. Kurogiri takes your hands, places the cup in them and gently rubs your forearm to console you. "They'll be fine, kid. We'll make sure of it."

“I feel like we haven’t told you this, but you’re doing well. Even Shigaraki says so.”

“Just don’t wanna inflate that pretty little head of yours or you might expect too much from us everytime.”

Shigaraki and Kurogiri's efforts of comforting you went deep into the night. Shigaraki wasn't sure if it was worth it, but when you've finally finished your cup of tea, relaxed and started snoring softly in his arms, he felt as if tons and tons of weights were lifted from his shoulders.

Somewhere in the midst of your slumber you’re reminded that everything’s going to be okay. You don’t know if it’s Shigaraki’s scent or the roughness of his fingertips on your scalp, but it tells you that you’re right here, safe and sound.

[stupidalteanpools]

projecting? probably, but hear me out

General Keith meta I guess. This is very long, but good writing ref for all you fellow fic authors.

Keith is a very sensitive guy.

Basically... out of all the voltron characters, Keith is the most relatable to me. I see him as someone who thinks more from his heart than from his head, who really does genuinely just want to do the right thing but gets way too carried away with what’s going on in his own head. He doesn’t care for people telling him what to do because he wants independence, but he is very emotionally affected by them regardless. He’s got a strong willpower, but the way he applies it is very much built around people and emotion.

1

Okay. So. First thing that comes to mind is the bonding moment? Obviously. He’s the kind of guys who clearly reads really deeply into things and probably overthinks a lot of things if he has nothing better to do.

I mean, yes, he does charge into situations unprepared without thinking ALL THE TIME but when he’s forced to sit down and think - say, for example, when he’s tossing and turning waiting for lance to come out of the healing pod (I see those lines under your eyes, Keith. I see them.) - he really goes at it. He reads into situations too much and tries to fit them to what he hopes for; does he dare to venture so far as to say that maybe Lance and him have something special now? In reality Lance was just a half-delirious boy pleased that he just blasted sendak, but Keith read way too much into it and went into their next interactions with a lot of hopes that were very quickly shot down.

He reads into the smile and the handholding as a sign of friendship. “we are a good team” probably means something deeper - it probably means Lance is realizing that they (as in, specifically him and keith) work really well together. He doesn’t see it as a spur of the moment thing - he feels like Lance has developed something more permanent with him, and so he cant resist the smile that comes to his face. We see that - he looks at lance for a second or two before slowly shifting into a smile - because he’s thinking and going through these what-ifs and reading into what those words mean.

2

His face throughout the beginning of Taking Flight.

Everyone always talks about this, I don’t really need to go into it - he’s very worried and concerned and pouty and all that good stuff. But there are lines under his eyes. Unfortunately I don’t have screenshots to add here right now, but those lines aren’t always under his eyes - so he was definitely losing sleep over Lance. I mean, if that doesn’t mean he was an emotional hurricane until Lance stumbled out asking about clocks, i don’t know how else you could interpret it.

3

the amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane.

He’s salty - because Lance forgot their bonding moment, Lance literally lost information so Keith’s making a jab at Lance’s memory loss. He clearly hasn’t stopped thinking about it. It was important to him, Lance doesn’t remember - - - - and now there’s no way he can just get over it without some kind of emotional release, which of course comes out through an insult.

4

we’re going back to the beginning. Lance and Keith, neck and neck - what does that mean?? Keith really has no memory of this boy, and here he is antagonizing him. That creates stress. And he’s already saving Shiro, whom he clearly has already known for a while. It’s a high-stress situation and adding these complex social dynamics is too much to focus on so he mutters out “congratulations” and just puts his mind to the task at hand.

Keith does this. He channels his emotions into action whenever he doesn’t want to think about them - this is really apparent all throughout the show, I’m not sure I need to go into examples here. But of course he hasn’t gotten Lance’s comment out of his system yet, and hearing him jabbering on from the back of his hover bike plane thing, the insult just kind of creates itself. It’s another way Keith tends to release his negative energy - he can’t cope with it himself, so he yells, he glares, he makes passive aggressive jabs.

It’s not just impulse, it’s an inability to hold his emotions down. The slightest things tend to enter his brain and he starts thinking about them too much, and he immediately needs release from that. Hence the temperamental nature, the tendency to seek isolation.

5

Which is another thing I’d like to get into. Keith likes being alone.

I think there’s more to it than just, “I like it out here. It’s quiet.” Keith has a tendancy to react to every stimulus around him: as I’ve said above, he overthinks small things and immediately seeks release for those building emotions. So he isolates himself because it’s comforting when he doesn’t have to work around other people. Lance especially: someone who definitely makes conscious effort to get on Keith’s nerves and one up him, someone who’s naturally a talkative boy. That’s a little too much for Keith, who prefers people who can either go along with him or will leave him alone. It’s not always a good thing though, and Lance knows that and calls him out on his behavior a lot, which is why I think Keith is very aware of the fact that his behavior is problematic - but I’ll get to that later.

Keith’s tendancy to look for places that are more secluded, quiet, and undisturbed by anything that isn’t his own i think reflects on an aspect of Keith’s personality that also explains why Keith gets along with Shiro so well. (And before I go on, I’m going off the theory that the cast has hinted at that Shiro is 25 and the other three boys are all 17ish.) Shiro is older than him and wiser, but he never uses it against keith or as a reason that keith should respect him. “you’re like a brother to me” is a very important choice of words because it reveals a lot about the way Keith sees Shiro, besides of course the obvious brotherly feelings. Keith is known for having issues with authority figures, so the fact that he calls Shiro his brother is significant in that Keith views him as an equal, but still as a guiding figure/role model. The choice of words denotes more respect toward Shiro than it would have if Keith had said “you’re like a father to me.”

Where Keith is concerned, a brother is more important than a father because not only does Keith have a distaste for authority figures, he specifically has issues with his own dad. Calling Shiro his brother equates shiro to someone Keith can wholly trust to stand by him no matter what. At the same time, Shiro fits Keith’s personality well because he’s gentle and he suggests things more often than he commands things. He doesn’t say, “Keith, you’re going to be the next black paladin,” he says, “I want you to lead voltron.” It’s a very clear distinction between “you” and “i” - the first one puts Keith on the spot, while the second one keeps it in Shiro’s perspective. The way Shiro communicates with Keith is simple and it doesn’t make Keith feel like he’s forced into anything, and Keith craves this easy comfort, especially with his high-riding emotions.

6

Back to lance for a bit. I’m not saying Lance is the worst person for Keith to ineract with. Their clashing personalities is exactly what makes them so dynamic as rivals, yes, but we also see that Lance is the only other person who seems to be able to calm Keith down and force him to think through things in a different way. Stopping him in the balmera, calming him down in the blade of marmora episode, etc. Yet, lance’s approach is drastically different from Shiro’s - so what makes him draw a similarly effective response from Keith?

I think this is more to do with Lance’s personality than Keith’s. I’ll keep this short - Lance is very drawn to people. We see this in how quick he is to flirt, we see this in how easily he picks up altean lingo, we see this in how fast he runs to defend people he’s just met, we see this in how he doubts himself and his position in the eyes of the other paladins. He’s more afraid of letting his friends down than he is of failing the universe, the way I see it. So this friendliness and magnetic personality - it applies to Keith as well. They’re friends, too, and just the fact that Lance is good with socializing when Keith is so not is enough to baffle Keith enough that he listens to lance. It’s not with ease like it is when Shiro is calming Keith down, but it’s effective and quick - and it keeps Keith in check, which is a big thing that Shiro just... fails to do, as much as I love him.

7

So, about Keith’s dad... his family, in general. I wasn’t really part of the fandom back when this was news, but I think it was said that Keith is secretely very happy to be part of voltron? and that really isn’t surprising at all. I’ve stressed a lot that keith like to isolate himself, but he still really wants to be liked and accepted and part of a larger community. Growing up as an orphan and later as the Garrison’s ace pilot has drastically shaped Keith’s personality. As an orphan, he’s had to learn to take care of himself, he’s had to learn some humility, he’s had to learn very quickly that the world isn’t his. Most children aren’t forced to grow out of that mindset so fast. Then Keith enlists in the garrison where he’s considered the most talented pilot of his generation, but it’s very obvious that this has never gotten to his head - we see it in his reluctance to be the black paladin, we see this in how uncomfortabe he looks everytime Lance mentions Keith from back in the garrison days. Keith is not comfortable with being in the spotlight - he’s been forced to be alone for a good part of his life and he doesn’t seek any more of it.

What’s much more important to Keith is belonging to a kind of community. Rather than being at the top, he’d prefer to have a family. Team voltron has been described as a family by Allura multiple times, and I think it’s definitely meant to feel that way. It’s the one thing that he hasn’t had for a long time, and it’s why it’s so significant that he see’s Shiro as his brother and why that admission is such high praise coming from Keith. I’m not going to get into why this is my headcanon, but Keith’s dad left keith when Keith was young and is probably still alive out there somewhere. It’s not that he needs his dad - he’s pretty distanced from him and although there are strong emotions there, there’s nothing all that phenomenal going on between them.

What’s more important about Keith’s relationship with his dad is how it contrasts with Keith’s relationship with the rest of team voltron. This is very clearly explored int the blade of marmora episode, and also another reason why Shiro is the one who is needed in that episode with keith. Shiro represents Keith’s family with voltron while his dad represents his blood-related family. The choice between the two is one of Keith’s biggest internal conflicts.

How does that tie into Keith being a sensetive person? It means Keith focuses heavily on being accepted by the people around him. It’s why it bothers him so much when Lance antagonizes him and why he tends to overthink those situations. It’s why we see those miserable expressions on Keith’s face every time Allura discriminates against his Galra side.

Yet, Keith’s still someone who rises agaisnt authority and seeks independence, so he’s not going to settle for trying to get people to like him - he wants them to like him as he is. It’s why he didn’t keep his galra lineage a secret, like I first expected he would when I was watching for the first time. It’s why he chooses to infiltrate the Galra ship. “No one’s commanding me. I’m doing it.” He knows he needs to prove both to himself and to his fellow paladins that every part of him, including the part that is Galra, is acceptable, even an asset.

It’s all part of his need to feel emotionally secure and comortable with his place in Voltron, and it’s why Hunk’s galra keith jokes are so important - Hunk’s normalizing the fact that Keith’s Galra, he’s accepting it. That means a lot to Keith, which is why even though he does give Hunk exasperated looks, he only retorts back when he needs correct Hunk by saying “I didn’t just turn galra.” Keith has always been Galra, and he’s not afraid of that fact anymore. He even smiles at Hunk by the end of the mission, because he’s comfortable knowing that Hunk accepts him as Galra without simply ignoring the fact and acting like nothing’s different.

8 (jeez i lost count and had to scroll up)

Let’s talk about Keith dropping out. this section will be pretty short compared to 7. he mentions how he found himself lost and drawn out to the desert by some energy telling him to search. I think the blue lion could sense him because he was galra and was probably calling to him through that connection - i also think that it’s very possible that a blade of marmora galra was the former blue paladin but took the blue lion to earth to keep it away from Zarkon’s hands. The same Galra is probably Keith’s mom or ancestor or something -- anyway. Blue still chooses Lance as her paladin, but i think Keith and lance are still connected through the blue lion because of this  by @voltronturd - - A N Y WAY.

It’s obviously something that has impacted Keith very heavily. It’s the reason they found Voltron, yes, but it meant a lot of really bad things for Keith - he has no family to return to, no other career to pursue, and he winds up in the desert, aimless. Keith’s a person who commits 100% to everything he does. and as much as I fucking love the conspiracy theorist keith memes, i just don’t think it’s in character at all. It’s more of a result of him having nothing better to do and nothing else in his life left to him rather than a secret passion. Keith was definitely a broken man for that portion of his life - another reason it makes perfect sense that Keith is secretly happy being a part of voltron and why learning that didn’t surprise me.

9

Okay, Keith and social situations - they don’t mix, we all know this. Why, though? I’d like to go into specifically their interactions with the arusians. “I don’t normally hug strangers, but, uh, wow. You... are.. cuddly.” what’s important is how he says he doesn’t normally hug strangers - not that he doesn’t hug strangers, not that he doesn’t normally hug people, but that he doesn’t normally hug strangers. before I start sounding like a broken record, basically, Keith is not opposed to hugging at all - it’s why i fucking love cuddly keith in fanfiction. He seems completely comfortable and at ease hugging Shiro, and while not so much with Allura, that’s more attributed to the fact that she’s suddenly calling him part of her family before stepping in close and curling over his shoulders without actually hugging him. It’s more of a keith, hold me gesture than a let me hug you gesture, and for a boy who struggles with social cues a little, it explains why the two of them are a little physcially awkward in that scene. 

So it’s not so much that he’s antisocial - as i’ve already described, he needs to feel like he belongs and he needs to feel love and acceptance just as much as any of the other. But with Keith, he tends to hide his positive emotions just as much and just as quickly as he tends to expel his negative emotions. We see this in how he smiles when Lance can’t see him, we see this in how he smiles to himself when Lance is out of the pod, we see this in how he leans against a tree trunk while the arusians are celebrating, we see this in his controlled, conflicted expressions at seeing his dad - although that last one is, admittedly, a bit different. (Keith’s not exactly happy at seeing his dad, he’s pretty conflicted and hence the conflicted expression, but i digress.) He’s more free about it with Shiro, because he knows Shiro won’t shut him down. He’s more free about it when he’s alone or in charge, because, again, he won’t be shut down; we see that in episode one as he grins before plummetting over the cliff, we see that when he smiles at hunk after their scaultrite mission, we see that when he grins at Lance after nailing him with a spore-ball.

But when he doesn’t know whether it’s appropriate or whether it will be appreciated, he tends to distance himself from the people or to suppress it. So when meeting new aliens the reason he’s quiet isn’t really because he doesn’t want to talk to them, it’s really because he isn’t confident in his ability to make a desirable first impression so he’d rather just enjoy himsel fin private rather than screw things up for himself. And this next part has no solid canon backing, it’s just me taking characters and putting them in probably situations, but I think he admires lance for being able to talk to people so easily, especially because it’s a skill he lacks. He can’t really do diplomacy.

10

Keith knows his behavior is problematic. This ties into what I just said - he doesn’t really trust himself to create the right first impression. On the balmera mission with Lance he says “That - actually... is a better idea.” meaning he’s fully capable of seld-reflection and he’s aware that there are  better ways to do things. He’s very conscious of the fact that he’s not in control of his emotions, and not only that, but he’s not willing to fix it - We see that when Shiro tells him he needs to control his emotions and he kind of brushes it off with a “I know. I’ve just had a lot on my mind.” He doesn’t like to talk about the fact that he needs to get in control, but he definitely knows it.

It’s why he turns around and frowns when Lance tells him to calm down before they go see the blade of marmora - he knows he’s being irrational and he’s sour at being called out on it but because he knows lance is right, he doesn’t bite back. It makes sense to him that lance would say that, but he doesn’t have a response to it other than just shutting himself off and removing himself from the situation before he makes it worse. It’s revisited that same episode by shiro when he asks Keith if keith’s okay, and mentions how Keith “kind of blew up at everyone back there.” Keith’s immediate response is that he’s fine - he does this several times in season two. He’s not mature enough to deal with his emotions, and this is exactly what Shiro points out to him - and he’s not mature enough to deal with that, either, despite the fact that he knows it.

This is just kind of emphasized in the simulation later that same episode, when brain shiro says “you’re thinking of yourself, as usual.” Keith is evidently very aware that he gets carried away with his emotions, and one of his fears is that he won’t be able to control it - you’re thinking of yourself, as usual. The “as usual” is important - it proves that Keith knows it’s a deeply ingrained trait that he has had for a very long time, and he’s afraid that it’s going to continue to create problems for him. It’s important to him that Shiro says this, because given that he places a heavy importance on the feeling of being part of a family and that Shiro is the closest thing he has to it, Shiro saying this is the best way to force Keith to face the problem, and the best way to make him grow and learn to choose the better option (which is choosing voltron over his blood-related family - this growth is what awakens his blade later on.) It really is build up toward Keith taking over the black lion, but until season 3 airs in september I can still hope for black paladin allura.

If you read this far, and you have stuff to say, dude hmu let’s chat about it. I hope it was just kinda helpful, insightful, and intriguing. If you draw some other conclusion about Keith’s character than I have I’d love to hear it. I might reblog this post again and add more to it so.. check back! if you’re interested. It’s 2:00 am and I probably missed a bunch of stuff I was thinking about when I started writing this post but whatever, wish me luck on my history exam tomorrow