#but also be realistic and at least close to relative canon characterization

[lenalee-academy]

When you’re cruising along, deep into writing a multiple pov tonyfic and come to the chapter with that one character whose actions and motivations you just can’t quite grasp.

[muffintonic]

Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #62

A bit of life news: I am moving to a new position at my workplace working for a team that is currently very backed up, so my free time at work that I usually use to read fanfiction is about to disappear for the foreseeable future. It’s a good career move for me, and once things calm down I might have even more time and even be able to work from home. But in the meantime, yeah, I dunno how much fanfiction I’ll be reading. Whatever I do read will definitely get put in a list, though, haha.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Passing Grade by IcyPanther Words: 6,998 Author’s Summary: If Lance stayed in the shower long enough maybe the water would wash everything away. Maybe it would make him forget unwanted hands and the scratchy couch. Maybe… A sob tore through his throat. No. There was no forgetting. But he did have to paste on a smile and try to because no one could find out. Otherwise it was all over. AU - College My Comments: Mind the tags. There was a time when I sought out fics with this exact scenario because it fed something very needy inside me. It still hits all of those buttons super hard, and I really enjoyed reading this sort of story again, featuring my favorite character, written by an author I trust. I’ve already re-read it a couple of times, and I’ll be returning to it again, I’m sure.

The Cost of Winning by IcyPanther Words: 9,598 Author’s Summary: “The Blue and Green Paladins serve no purpose to the Empire,” the Galran commander smirked at his bound captives. “And as such you have no use except as arena fodder.” He chuckled. “Give us a good show before you die.” / Lance is determined to protect Pidge and save her from the arena. She will not die here. Over his dead body. Hopefully it’s not quite that literal of a promise. My Comments: Superb fic, possibly the best I’ve read from this author yet. The action is great and the plot is tight and suspenseful. Wonderful platonic Pidge and Lance, both getting beat up, both badass and protective of each other. This kept me at the edge of my seat.

All That Glitters Isn’t Gold by IcyPanther for wingedflower Words: 9,998 Author’s Summary: It started with Allura wanting something shiny for an upcoming gala. She, Pidge and Lance venture to a marketplace to find just the thing in a billed afternoon of relaxation and fun. But what they ended up finding was not jewelry at all. / “Welcome to Tyrol’s slave trade, Tyrol at your service. Or, well,” a dark grin lit the trader’s face. “I suppose you are at mine.” My Comments: Mind the tags. I really enjoyed this fic, though it went to some dark places for a little bit. Always fun to see Lance bonding with his teammates. And also getting hurt and then comforted.

And Molasses by Lemon_Lemmings Words: 4,008 Author’s Summary: “That’s not enough.” Hunk motions to the cookie mountains. “I need to make more.” “How many more? I can bake.” Hunk gives her a skeptical look.Pidge crosses her arms. “My cookies might not turn out as perfect as yours, boo hoo. At least they won’t be contaminated with the plague.” My Comments: Excellent sickfic with wonderful characterization for Hunk, right on the money. Pidge stepped up to the plate and took it like a pro. I could definitely see this happening, no question.

Atlas Cannot Stand by AnaliseGrey Words: 3,609 Author’s Summary: He and Lance had taken Red in to infiltrate a low-traffic Galra base- or at least, it was supposed to be low-traffic; it was just their luck they’d try to hit it when some dignitary was visiting. They’d made a good show of it all things considered, but in the end they were outnumbered and overrun. Lance had been up high, covering him from a catwalk, but was surprised by sentries coming at him from both sides of the walkway; there hadn’t been anywhere for him to go, and they were on him too fast to use his jetpack. Once they had Lance, Keith had surrendered quickly, not wanting to get Lance hurt. He could still feel Red growling quietly in the back of his mind, trapped in the hangar he’d left her in when they arrived. So far, her particle barrier was holding, but she wasn’t leaving until he was, and he wasn’t leaving without Lance. My Comments: The torture is pretty brutal in this one, but I loved the bond between Keith and Lance and how desperately they wanted to help each other.

May They Rest at Ease by ambivalentlangst Words: 2,539 Author’s Summary: Soldiers are created to say “vrepit sa” and die in a blaze of glory for their empire. They are not created to babysit kids, but some don’t mind, because someone has to keep the cubs safe. The universe they defend certainly doesn’t. My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. I adore this. So much. The two soldiers who palled around with Pidge, Hunk, and Lance essentially adopt them as their cubs, because those are three are far too young and don’t deserve to suffer. This fic makes my heart sing. It’s so sweet and lovely, despite the savagery of war.

Everywhere Cats by Engineer104 Words: 7,363 Author’s Summary: A mysterious mishap transforms the Lions of Voltron into…cats, who are more troublesome for their Paladins than for Zarkon’s Empire My Comments: Super fun and cute! I will continue to mourn the relative dearth of animal transformation crack in this fandom until I am satisfied, but this was a good fix, though nowhere near enough. So cute, sooooo fluffy.

I Once Loved the Stars so Truly, but I Have Learned to Fear the Night by Spazzcat Words: 5,638 Author’s Summary: Samuel Holt has loved the stars his entire life, despite where he ended up because of it. Ironically it’s not until after his rescue that he starts to hate their gentle gleam in the darkness, a cruel reminder of everything he’s lost. My Comments: Lovely alternate version of Sam finding his family. It hurt, but the ending made up for it, and the language along the way was gorgeous and vivid. Great OCs, too.

In the Dust under the Stars by cleanlittlesecret Words: 5,521 Author’s Summary: The woman entering his office must be close to seven feet tall if not taller, has long and pointed ears, and is entirely purple. She has to duck to avoid hitting her face on the doorframe, and Iverson is so busy staring at her with his mouth open that he barely hears Mick say something before shutting the door behind her. What in the Sam Hill is this? (Or, AU where Krolia stayed on Earth to raise Keith, and most people are not as bothered by her as they probably should be. Plus some other changes.) My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. Lovely canon divergence AU with a great Krolia and a cute though impulsive Keith. The details really made this story come alive; it’s very well-written and enjoyable to read.

Poison by IcyPanther Words: 2,876 Author’s Summary: Lance is fine. Or, at least he keeps telling himself that. He’s most definitely not a victim of the unknown disease with no cure sweeping through the city. Nope. But now he’s coughing up blood? Maybe… maybe he isn’t so fine after all. / “H-Hunk,” he whispered. “I… I think I’m s-sick.” Hunk let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “Yeah, Lance. You are.“ My Comments: What a great Lance-centric sickfic with super good comfort and a tense plot. I’ll never tire of these kinds of fics.

The Grim Particulars by yet_intrepid Words: 5,575 Author’s Summary: “Can’t believe Kolivan trusted these guys,” Keith mutters. He shifts awkwardly in the tight space, trying to alleviate some of the pressure on his arms, which are cuffed behind his back. “I always knew they were sketchy.” “They’re illegal weapons dealers,” Shiro replies. “Of course they’re sketchy.” Keith grunts, half-angry and half-amused, and gives up readjusting his position. It’s just as well, really, Shiro thinks. They’re in a tiny closet on a tiny ship, and there’s barely room for them to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, knee-to-knee. My Comments: Beware the tags. This is a grim story, as the title implies, not for the faint of heart. But good, as everything from this author. It catches you in the gut. Gave me some deep thoughts, too.

Thicker than Water by Fernandidilly_yo Words: 4,574 Author’s Summary: (Set right after season 5 episode 5)“How long?” Keith asks, taking another step into Kolivan’s office, his legs feel unstable underneath him, his body disconnected and flimsy. “How long have you known Krolia is my mother?” My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. I really like nuances of this story. Keith’s reactions and emotions all feel very realistic and true to his character, and I liked Kolivan in this too. Great stuff.

Bits by Lemon_Lemmings Words: 3,107 Author’s Summary: Violence is an acquired taste that Hunk inevitably accommodates. My Comments: Angsty and harsh and a little grim, but I absolutely believe that Hunk is like this. War is hard, and it’s not fair.

dear child of mine by glitteringconstellations Words: 2,365 Author’s Summary: Krolia went to Earth in search of a Lion, and found a family, instead. She learned what it meant to love and be loved, and she learned that sometimes, loving someone means letting them go.Or,Krolia cradles Keith in her arms for the last time. My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. Sweet and sad and lovely. I love this vision of Keith’s mother and father before the war. Or during the war, but in a peaceful interlude.

Mama is… by nigiyakapepper Words: 4,134 Author’s Summary: “A spy!” “Spy!” “Up in space!” “ ’pin space!” Keith is two. It’s one of his good days, judging by the boy shrieking with joy for no other reason than the enjoyment of the act. K - - - - -, his dad, moves as if to chase him around the sofa in their living room. Little Keith moves in turn, a ‘patta patta’ of tiny feet stomping on linoleum. He giggles while clutching his shirt—then full on screams and toddles away when his dad lunges after him. - - Who Keith’s mom is as Keith grows up. My Comments: Season 5 spoilers. Lovely snapshots of Keith throughout the years, missing his mother. I’m so glad he had such a good father, but then it hurt to lose him, too.

In Darkness We Shall Fight by Haleykim84 (tristen84) for BlackFriar Words: 6,795 Author’s Summary: Shiro and Keith are on a stealth mission that goes wrong. With no back-up and Keith injured, they struggle to get out alive. My Comments: A rollercoaster of a fic, fantastic action and wonderful teamwork and protectiveness between Keith and Shiro. It felt sort of classic, in a way, the OG duo back at it again. Fun and exciting read.

Of Crossing Swords and Crossing Lines by wingedflower for IcyPanther Words: 8,144 Author’s Summary: Written as part of a fic exchange with IcyPanther, following the prompt “shopping trip went wrong”. For the first time in his life, Keith sees something at the space mall that he actually wants. He’s willing to do everything to get it - especially if it involves ignoring Lance, who tries to talk him out of it. Things end up as well as expected. My Comments: A great, fun read with some interpersonal conflict and Lance getting hurt. Always a great combination for fic.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Beacon (43262 words) Shadows of Stars (182291 words) A Dragon in Thy Pocket (10018 words) As Color Fades Away (293755 words) Weekend Guests (16351 words) I'm not the Lance You think I am (79775 words) Back from the Edge (10869 words)

[driftingglass]

Top Ten Characters Meme Thingy-Ma-Jig.

I was tagged by @godspeedcomplex! Thanks bro! :)

Rules: Name ten of your favorite characters from ten different fandoms then tag other victims to do the same!

And I actually will only pick ten this time... unless they’re tied equally. That tends to happen a lot. 

I’m so excited for this one. :D

And because this is about characters... I have to talk about each one, with at least one bullet point response for each (or paragraphs... who knows). Sorry that this may turn into one long-ass post, but... characterization is my jam. 

Woo.

‘Kay. Here we go!

1. Killua Zoldyck (very closely followed by Gon Freecss...) from Hunter X Hunter.

Ah, goodness. 

Killua Zoldyck belongs at the top of this list for numerous reasons, even though I struggle to place a number in order for these characters. Truthfully, the top... three or four or so on this list will be pretty much in order. As much as I adore Gon Freecss and his role in the anime, Killua is, by far, the most unexpected turnout of a character I have seen in this medium. 

Killua’s storyline stems from a tragic yet morally ambiguous background, taking into account the many times we’re meant to feel sympathetic for a murderous little assassin child. 

Aside from his marvelous design and relatively innocent appearance, this character is ultimately self-sacrificing in nature for the few (or two, really) people he truly cares for, most obviously Gon and Alluka. 

Without going into a long tangent about the many reasons why this character has subverted many tropes and has created a well-deserved staple in the world of anime and manga, Killua stands out as a passionate, relatable and emotionally vulnerable character who never strikes me as unrealistic in his ambitions. 

There’s an undeniable rawness to him, this sensational connection that few characters have created for me, coupled alongside my constant desire to learn more and more about his mind works and what his relationship to Gon parallels in the world we live in.

He’s also the character I’ve related to the most -- in personality, fears, flaws, and even family dynamics -- even more so than number two on this list...

2. Izuku Midoriya (very closely followed by Katsuki Bakugou...) from Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia.

Similar to my reaction to Killua Zoldyck as a character, Izuku Midoriya is someone who I never believed I could actually enjoy as far as shōnen protagonists are concerned. This character’s flaws are very rare when considering the genre as a whole, but again, his self-sacrificing nature and total lack of self-preservation serve as fantastic parallels to not only his own story, but the lives of the people around him, especially that of All Might and Katsuki Bakugou. 

Izuku is also an incredibly fine example of a young shōnen character with inspiring dreams and ambitions that never seems out of place on someone his age. 

He feels realistic, and I relate to this character so much that it’s almost concerning. I love his design, his motivations, his personality, and his flaws. He is a very well-drawn character with a wonderful drive and incredible development, and most of all... he demonstrates fine ability to be what he wants to be outside of the realm of superpowers, which are so prevalent in the canon universe of the manga in which he stars.

I have not only an intense fondness and analytical love for this character, but admiration as well. Izuku’s dreams feel palpable, and I feel inspired whenever I watch him pursue his ambitions through hard work, determination, work ethic, and a rare dash of humility that is so rare to find in shōnen main protagonists.

A perfect example of a character who is masculine and strong while not fitting into the clean stereotypes that make others in the genre the way they are.

3. Zuko (very closely followed by Sokka and Iroh...) from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

There’s plenty of nostalgia connected to this one, aside from my immense amount of respect for the cartoon in general. Zuko is a character that changed the dynamic of cartoon antagonists/protagonists for many reasons, and his storyline is fantastically paralleled to Aang’s. 

His storyline is one of my favorites I’ve seen in a cartoon/anime, and most likely because it was one of the first I had seen at the time. Becoming familiar with this character and exploring the complicated corners of his personality is an absolute treat, and over the course of the entire show we are able to become familiar with his story, his character, and the immense flaws and strengths that compose him as a whole. 

And I guarantee that the term “redemption arc” mostly stems from this guy. As it should. (Unfortunately it’s led to far too many renditions and rehashings of this idea... *sigh.*)

It was honestly extremely difficult choosing between Zuko and Sokka, as my reasons for adoring both characters are completely different, but there’s something to be said about how difficult this was from the show itself. 

Avatar’s characters explore incredible depth in most of their cast, with both antagonists and protagonists, and Zuko’s storyline is not one to be missed.

4. Severus Snape from the Harry Potter book series.

Ah, this character. 

My reasons for this one are relatively simple, and are more related to the ingenious strategies J.K. Rowling incorporated into making this character believable, sympathetic (depending on the reader -- this opinion fluctuates quite often) and one of the most intriguing characters in the Harry Potter universe. 

From the very beginning there’s an intensity to Snape that is unrivaled with others, littered with constant questions and wondering what his place in the overall story could be. 

With each revelation I found myself continuously fascinated, and as far as I’m concerned, no one could have brought this character to life better than Alan Rickman in the film adaptations. His gravely voice, greasy black hair, intense emotional resonance matched with the subdued reactions expected of the character... I consider it to be legendary, and the best casting choice in the entire film series. 

My admiration for Snape’s storyline is more based on the fact that these continued revelations are woven like a fucking quilt throughout the books, dancing with questions and nagging points that prompt the readers to furrow their brow and wonder where Rowling was going with this guy.

I will never forget the genuine shock and adoration I felt for this character’s depth and incredible complexity, even far past the sniveling, frigid exterior and morally ambiguous background.

5. Daenerys Targaryen (closely followed by Jamie and Tyrion Lannister, and Sansa Stark) from A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones.

Oh my god it was so fucking difficult picking my favorite Game of Thrones character. Jesus. 

I actually didn’t think good old Mother of Dragons would make it to the top of my choices, considering my immense fondness for the characters closely following behind her. (And there are so many characters I admire and love from this universe, so those don’t even scratch the surface). 

But, when it came down to deciding which one outranked the others, I had to take into consideration what made me fall in love with them to begin with. 

Daenerys Targaryen has some of the greatest character development and growth that I’ve seen in any medium. 

This is a rather bold statement. But, as far as growth and development, I found myself consistently fascinated with Daenerys’ storylines, especially in the first two to three seasons. She evolves from this meek, timid, spineless woman sold as a slave to a barbarian warlord, to an incredibly influential and flawed self-proclaimed queen, with a fascinating historical context that elevates her above others. 

Daenerys has grown rather stagnant as far as development in the last season or so, which is what made me hesitate. However, my admiration for her, as the Breaker of Chains, or even the Khaleesi, stemmed from her bold, brave choices and ultimately well-meaning (yet naive) heart. 

So while my feelings for her in general are mixed, my admiration and fascination with her development from the beginning of the series to now is just... unbelievable. To see it progress this far has been a treat, indeed.

6. Mrs. Brisby from The Secret of NIMH.

A bit more of a nostalgic trip here as well, but The Secret of NIMH is one of my all-time favorite films, and a beautiful encapsulation of dark fantasy, magical wonder, family dynamics, motherhood, and the strength in the small against something larger than life. 

And Mrs. Brisby is a character that deserves a place amongst the best for many reasons, and many of her best qualities have to do with her bravery and determination to save her family from a cause that seems far too great. 

She is admirable in her courage, relatable in her vulnerability and fear, and inspiring in the lengths she will go to save her little family. 

I admired this character as a little girl, and still do this day as a young adult. With the hundreds of films and television shows I’ve seen (and on top of countless books), there are few characters who resemble the importance of motherhood as well as this one.

7. Roy Mustang (closely followed by Edward Elric and Wrath) from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Fuck. I broke my own rule. 

Now, Roy and Riza have one of my favorite dynamics in anything I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch (I have never read the manga). Also, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is my second favorite anime of all time, so that made it even more difficult to pick a favorite. Many of the characters are complex and likable, but after some serious inner debate, I had to go for this.

Roy Mustang is a character who could easily display himself as a bit of a pretentious character, especially with his grounding by the hand of Riza Hawkeye. 

His encounter with Lust is one of my favorites I’ve ever seen, and his backstory with that of Maes Hughes and Riza Hawkeye add so much to all three of their developments that it almost makes it impossible not to sympathize. 

Roy’s anger is palpable in this series. Even more so, dare I say it, than Edward’s. As much as I adore Edward (and as fascinating as I find Wrath), and relate to him and just... love his story, there’s something about Roy that calls me back to those fateful moments where he struggles to grasp his need for revenge and the greater good of the situation surrounding him.

His consistent arc as a character, and his connection Maes Hughes, only adds to his development and his wonderful relationship with Riza Hawkeye. I also heavily appreciate his mentor role to Edward, and how easy it is to relate to him within everything else.

8. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III from How to Train Your Dragon.

So, this film series in general is definitely DreamWorks’ magnum opus, and no one can convince me otherwise. The character development with Hiccup is not only relatable and endearing, but admirable as well. He stands out with his consistent decisions and changes, and his incredible attachment and relationship with Toothless is wonderful to observe.

On top of this, I find myself often comparing the character of Hiccup and Izuku Midoriya (which makes me think of an HTTYD AU and as much as I love that idea... gosh, I don’t have the time haha), due to their lacking roles in the society they’ve been born in and their incredible intelligence and awkward mannerisms. Also, they’re both freckled (hooray for my freckled faves)! 

Anyway. 

Hiccup’s tenacious attitude and courage is easily combined with his incredibly kind heart and trust in his companions. The development between him and Toothless is rooted in a friendship that we understand through vivid actions and understanding (and relating to) Hiccup’s personality and roles as the outcast/black sheep in his village of Berk.

I adore this character, and the series that has inspired him. Also, there’s something to be said about his ever-changing role in the movies, and I’m so incredibly excited to see where his character is taken with the third impending installment. 

9. Raven from Teen Titans.

Yeah, okay, more nostalgia in this one. Raven is a character that I admired from the very first time I watched Teen Titans, and above all else, I found her backstory, personality, character development and superpowers to easily be the most interesting of the gang. The cartoon is charming and dark and mature when it needs to be (in most cases), and much of the relatable and occasional complex nature to the cartoon involves this character.

Raven’s powers and her empathetic connection to the world around her is an idea that fascinates me each and every day. 

Even with original novels I’ve planned out and magic systems I’ve created, a great deal of my protagonists (usually cycled through on multiple drafts) have been subconsciously inspired by this ability and this general connection to the surrounding world. 

I had no idea how much Raven herself inspired me as a writer and creator until I considered my inspiration for the female characters I normally admire in these mediums. Her flaws are understandable while, at times, both irritating and relatable. Her design is far less stereotypically “pretty” when compared to, say, Starfire. There’s an element to her that screams authenticity when compared to the other Titans that I always found myself drawn to the most.

She deserves the popular following she has, both in the comics (from what I understand) and in this beloved cartoon.

10. Chihiro from Spirited Away.

Ah, this film. Goodness. 

There’s something brilliant about Chihiro and her character in general, but my reasons for liking her so much are mostly derived from the experience that I get to have as the viewer into the world of Spirited Away. This film is... a masterpiece, in every sense of the word, crafted by the ingenious hand of Hayao Miyazaki. And this man truly knows his characters, and is one of the greatest crafters of strong female protagonists I have ever seen.

Chihiro is young, and acts young. She is scared, and acts scared. She sobs, and wails, and trembles, and reacts as any little girl in her dire situation would. 

But, she is believable in her bouts of courage, in her desire to achieve her goal and her willingness to break out of the shell she’s been granted to mature past her years. Her journey in the film rides on her shoulders, exposing her kind, giving heart as well as her unabashed bravery, which makes her easy to relate to and cheer for until long after the film’s credits stop rolling.

She is a character who is so human, so enticing, and so accurate of female representation that I find myself wondering time and time again why I haven’t reviewed the film she’s in yet. 

Chihiro is one of the more complex female protagonists I watched as a little girl, and I admire her journey and personality to this day as a staple in anime. 

Woo. Well, that was a wild ride. Thanks for reading!

I’m going to tag... @decembercamiecherries, @tonerukun, @killushawn, @soulestring, @diggitydamnsebastianstan, and... whoever else wants to! Go for it! And I tagged these people because they were the first ones to pop in mind, so... yeah. You guys don’t have to do it. XD 

Until next time!

[ojamesy]

Ireland’s ‘Lost’ English Region The English Pale in Early Tudor Times

By contrast with the established traditions of regional history in many parts of continental Europe, the study of historical regions in Ireland and Britain has attracted relatively little attention. Throughout the British Isles, the nation has remained the preferred focus for the organization of the historical narrative; but local histories, particularly county histories, are also fairly ubiquitous, and as an alternative focus for historical inquiries they offer a stiff challenge to nation-centred history. The study of regions, however, seemingly falls between these two stools; and the English Pale in early Tudor Ireland, the subject of the present chapter, is very much a case in point. Individually, the shires of Dublin, Kildare, Louth and Meath which together made up the English Pale in early Tudor times have all attracted their fair share of county histories.2 In the fifteenth century, they were often described collectively as ‘the four obedient shires’, before ‘the English Pale’ was coined as a collective name for them. Thereafter, the English Pale was a prominent feature of Ireland’s political geography from its creation in the late fifteenth century until its slow demise following the completion of the Tudor conquest of Ireland in 1603. It was also the inspiration for the familiar expression ‘beyond the Pale’ with reference to actions which lay beyond the bounds of civilized behaviour; and references to the Pale’s creation and to its – allegedly – constantly contracting boundaries are a commonplace of histories.

Yet, beyond noting its avowedly English character and identity, historians have for long remained reluctant to offer any deeper analysis of the Pale, in particular to probe its status and character as a specific English region of the early Tudor state. The English Pale lay on a separate island; and it was the subject of legislation in a separate parliament. Even with reference to Ireland, the English Pale as a region has been largely ignored: almost the only significant exception to the rule that historians of Ireland do not do regions seems to be in respect of Ulster, and this is probably for political reasons relating to partition.5 As a region of the Tudor state, however, the English Pale has remained almost unexplored territory. 

At first sight, the study of the English Pale as a distinct region of Tudor Ireland might seem an obvious line of inquiry. Geographically, it was a fertile coastal plain. It was bounded by the Mourne mountains to the north and, more closely, by the Wicklow mountains to the south, but to the west, the plain’s champaign ground faded more imperceptibly into the bogs of the midlands. In all three directions differences of land capability and use, between pastoralism and tillage or mixed farming, also underpinned the Pale’s relatively visible boundaries: different patterns of settlement, reflecting land quality and the earlier subinfeudation of the region, supplied a clear boundary between, on the one hand, a heavily populated, more urbanized region of market boroughs and nucleated villages defended by a screen of major castles, walled towns, and fortified bridges, and on the other, an unimproved, more sparsely populated, landscape of mountain, moorland and bog. 

Contemporary awareness of these boundaries was further highlighted by ethnic differences among the population: acculturation was of the essence of a frontier society, and in the Pale marches the peasantry was predominantly of Irish descent, but there were evident differences in appearance between the Pale’s ruling elite, the merchants and gentry of English habit and speech and of English law and custom, and the neighbouring Gaelic clans of Irish habit and speech following Irish law and custom. And while the Pale was geographically separate from the English mainland, its population enjoyed the same legal status as English subjects elsewhere, entitled to the king’s protection and access to his courts, by contrast with the king’s ‘Irish enemies’ living in the territories surrounding the Pale whose status at English law was that of aliens.

 The wider European pattern of research on regional history does, however, afford some clues as to why historical research on the Pale should have remained so underdeveloped. Two points seem particularly important here. First, who or what defines a region may vary quite considerably: commerce and the economy; language, culture and religion; environment and climate; or history, identity and administration – all these forces helped in some measure to shape the Pale’s development as a distinct Tudor region. Yet regional history is usually history as constructed or imagined internally by the population of the region; and in the case of the English Pale, the region was later influenced as much as other parts by the development among the population of a separate Irish sense of identity which gradually replaced an earlier identification with the Pale as a distinct English region. Later still, following political partition in 1920, what had in Tudor times been a peripheral region of the English state became the core region of an Irish Free State which loudly trumpeted its Gaelic pedigree and identity. Thus, the modern descendants of Ireland’s medieval English, who had seen themselves as English by culture, identity and allegiance, now see themselves as Irish and identify with this independent Irish state.

A second consideration is that regions in early modern Europe were frequently characterized by their peripheral locations. Very often they were frontier regions, as indeed the English Pale was: but even where regional histories are a common way of organizing historical writing, the topics covered and the questions asked are normally shaped by what may be described as ‘the national agenda’, viz. the past (or future) political and cultural contexts in each country which have shaped its national grand narrative. Thus, the history of the English Pale needed subsequently to be refashioned in an Irish national context, and this was done by integrating the Pale more closely into the national story and marginalizing historic ties with England. This, in turn, called in question the nature of the Pale’s boundaries with Gaelic Ireland, specifically the Pale’s essential character as an international frontier, a subject on which historians of Ireland have traditionally had rather more to say. The concept of the frontier, and in particular the medieval antecedents of the English Pale, has attracted a good deal of attention since Professor James Lydon first explored the problem and sketched its dimensions in a seminal article published nearly fifty years ago. And since then, the frontier paradigm has featured quite extensively in studies of medieval Ireland’s two nations. Lydon saw the establishment of the Anglo-Gaelic frontier as a deliberate policy by the English government, one which supposedly presented few problems in the earlier age of English expansion (1169–1300), but many more later on. After c.1300, he argued, the frontier began to break up, and earlier clear-cut divisions between a terra pacis and a terra guerrae gave place to marchland. The result was that the settlers were ‘at least partially assimilated to the Gaelic Ireland they found all around them’. In the fifteenth century, however, Lydon detected ‘a new frontier emerging’ in ‘parts of the four loyal counties’ around Dublin; but then ‘the real frontier contracted once again to the limits of what was known as the Pale’. Thus, he concluded, the policy ‘of separating the races and driving a cultural barrier between them’ proved ‘a complete failure’. The Tudor monarchs were eventually obliged to ‘face up to the frontier problem in a realistic way’ by means of a complete conquest and a new colonization.

The range of ideas which were very tentatively explored by Lydon in his initial sketch of the problem in the 1960s later achieved almost canonical status, both as regards the gradual development of a distinctive terminology with which to analyse the problem as also regarding the significance which he attached to a supposedly continuing English decline in precipitating the Tudor conquest.15 The medieval frontier is of course a sensitive issue in Irish historiography: the island’s modern partition between two states shapes the historiography of the frontier – a phenomenon which is also true to a lesser degree in respect of regions – in terms of what is studied, from what perspective, and in what terms. It has also influenced the particular construction placed on some of the more familiar and accessible contemporary accounts of the English Pale, such as those provided by Sir William Darcy and Chief Baron Finglas. Thus, the late medieval frontier has been depicted primarily as a frontier, or zone, of contact rather than a frontier of separation, or to use the terminology developed by German geographers, as a Zusammenwachsgrenze (a frontier of convergence), not a Trennungsgrenze (a frontier of separation).

In this context, too, the historians’ quest to uncover the roots of Irishness also invited discussion of the growing ties between native and settler while overlooking inherited differences. The ‘national agenda’ has thus tended to marginalize the development of the English Pale as a physical frontier and also its essentially English identity: it stresses the thoroughgoing nature of the settlers’ dealings with the Gaelic polity, their supposed Irishness and ‘gaelicization’, portraying instead two varieties of Irishmen (‘Anglo-Irish’ and ‘Gaelic Irish’) interacting across a dissolving frontier. And attempts to redress the balance by focusing more closely on particular developments within the English Pale and the settlers’ English identity have been dismissed as ‘two-nation theory’. As this chapter illustrates, however, close attention to the actual evidence – descriptions of the Pale frontier as a physical barrier, and the political terminology actually used by the Palesmen to describe events there – suggests that the English of Ireland were far from seeing the creation of an English Pale as a failed policy in a failed entity. But then the Palesmen did not have the benefit of hindsight available to more nationally minded historians writing with the recent Troubles in mind.

II 

As a distinct region of the English state, the English Pale was a late addition, the product of political change during the course of the fifteenth century. Its emergence as a frontier region reflected the partial nature of medieval English settlement in Ireland and the consequent establishment of a frontier between English and Gaelic Ireland. Attracted by prospects of good land for agriculture, medieval English colonization of the region had been intensive, with the establishment of manors and a system of mixed farming along English lines. The surrounding uplands were unsuited to tillage, however, and largely remained under Gaelic occupation: English settlement thinned out very quickly to the north and south but more gradually towards the west. On the whole, though, the regions of English settlement in Ireland, including the Pale, did not form one compact block of territory but several smaller areas, interspersed between districts in which Gaelic lordship and rule remained unchallenged; and in the Gaelic parts power was fragmented between numerous small but independent chieftaincies and lordships. Thus, what had emerged by 1300, after the initial English impetus towards conquest had petered out and a broad political equilibrium between the two nations had been established, was ‘a land of many marches’, as Professor Robin Frame has memorably described it.20 And political conditions in each of these marches reflected the shifting balance of power between local Gaelic chiefs and English magnates. The following period saw the political and cultural recovery of the native Irish against the English in many parts. As this Gaelic Revival, as it is now called, swept away the more lightly settled, and marginal, districts of English lordship, so perceptions of the Pale’s borders as a frontier were powerfully reinforced by the close coincidence there of geographical, cultural, political, military and administrative boundaries. These contrasts were also underlined by the deployment in English official circles of a rhetoric of difference to describe the English and Gaelic parts. This rhetoric emphasised the ‘otherness’ of the native Irish living ‘beyond the Pale’, castigating them as savages. It reflected English perceptions of the politically fragmented, pastoral and kin-based character of Irish society, a population living in wooden huts in a dispersed habitat, without towns, in a landscape of mountain, forest and bog, all of which English observers saw as indications of a backward and primitive people. In terms of economic activity and social organization, for instance, the English had already developed in the twelfth century a checklist of the attributes of civility which, in reality, simply replicated conditions in lowland England. These included a well-populated landscape, with a settled society, wealthy towns and nucleated villages, a manorial economy, a cereal-based agriculture and a well-differentiated social structure with a numerous and vigorous gentry. By contrast, the ‘wild’ peoples of the upland zone, notably the Irish, were denigrated as lazy, bestial and barbarous – a shifting population living in idleness and brutality in woods and bogs, eking out a miserable existence from cattle raising and rustling. There were similar checklists of civility and savagery in regard to morals, dress and physical appearance. English reports divided Ireland rather schematically into a ‘land of peace’ where ‘the king’s loyal English lieges’ lived a civil life in walled towns and nucleated villages; and a ‘land of war’ where lurked the ‘wild Irish’, ‘the king’s Irish enemies’, in woods, bogs and mountains. Within a few short miles to the south of Dublin, for instance, the English lowlands gave place to the Gaelic lordships of the Wicklow mountains, agriculture to pastoralism, English-speaking gentlemen to Gaelic-speaking clansmen, English cloaks to Gaelic mantles, common law to brehon law, and stone houses to mud huts: in short, ‘English civility’ degenerated into ‘Irish savagery’. Legislation, codified in the Statutes of Kilkenny (1366), aimed to preserve the English character of the colonial parts by proscribing the use of Irish law and customs among the English.  In truth, though, the Irish were there in their midst because the English settlement had in many parts retained native labourers, often as serfs, to work the land, and the fourteenth-century labour shortages had encouraged Irish migration into the English districts. Later, mid-fifteenth-century legislation also required Irishmen living in the Englishry to take English names, to follow English customs, to adopt English weapons such as the use of the longbow, and generally to adapt their lifestyle to meet official checklists of English civility. Equally, the regular convening of parliament allowed Ireland’s English ruling elite (nobles, burgesses, knights of the shire) to demonstrate their Englishness by the enactment of law.

As the Dublin government’s control over the lordship’s outlying parts declined, so marchlands increased. The government increasingly focused its main defensive effort on the region around Dublin, so that in the early fifteenth century ‘the land of peace’ was increasingly identified with the boundaries of ‘the four obedient shires’, the counties of Dublin, Louth, Meath and Kildare. By 1428, ‘the four obedient shires’ had in turn been vaguely divided into marches and maghery.26 The use of this Gaelic term ‘maghery’, a transliteration of machaire (meaning ‘a plain’ or ‘level ground’), to describe ‘the land of peace’ (as opposed to the marches) is revealing. It occurred, for instance, in a statute of 1488, the Act of Marches and Maghery, which prohibited within the English Pale the imposition of coign and livery – a quasi-Gaelic military custom much disliked in the Englishry – except by landlords on their own tenants in the marches. The use of the terms ‘marches’ and ‘maghery’ also reflected an emerging distinction in terms of land capability, settlement patterns and political conditions between, on the one hand, a less densely populated, predominantly pastoral, outer defensive ring of the Pale, the marches, and, on the other hand, an English heartland, the maghery – an area of mixed farming, nucleated villages and market towns, in which conditions approximated more closely to those in lowland England and to official perceptions of ‘English civility’. This focus during the fifteenth century on the region’s defence led to the creation of a standing defence force, a developed system of fortifications, and new regulations for militia service. The Brotherhood of Arms, established by statute of 1474, provided for thirteen leading Pale landowners and local officials to elect from among themselves annually on St George’s Day (England’s patron saint) a captain of a retinue of 120 archers and forty horsemen. MMilitary aspects of the region’s division into marches and maghery were also consolidated. The boundaries between marches and maghery had been fixed by statute in 1477, in part to regulate the taking of coign and livery; and the Act of Marches and Maghery (1488) prohibited coign and livery throughout the English Pale except when imposed by landlords on their own tenants in the marches. Thus, upon proclamation by the governor and council of a hosting against the Irish, ‘everie gentleman dwelling in any marches’ was to cess kerne (billet unarmoured Irish foot soldiers) on his marchlands, but also to send to the hosting one horseman for every ten marks of annual income. The lords and gentry in the maghery, by contrast, were to send a longbowman to the hosting for each twenty pounds of annual income. Thus, the distinction between marches and maghery in terms of militia service was very clear. The marches were also gradually strengthened to prevent Irish chiefs and clansmen from entering ‘the English country’ by building small castles or towers, by fortifying bridges at key points of entry, and by constructing earthen dikes and ditches to inhibit cattle rustling. Thus, a statute of 1495, observing that in many parts the English marches were still ‘open & not fe[n]sible in ffastnes of diches and castels’, required tenants there to erect ‘a double diche of vi foote of herth above the grounde’ at the intersections of their land with Irishmen and other ditches ‘in the wastes or fasaghe landes’ beyond the marches.31 In other respects, too, defence needs promoted collaboration between the landowning elites of the four shires. Upon proclamation of a hosting, the gentry of Meath and Dublin were jointly to elect a captain to lead them; the bowmen of Louth, Meath and Drogheda were to go together; and Dublin city and the towns of Drogheda and Dundalk were to accompany the king’s deputy. Once in the field, the shires with their standards should lodge together: thus Dublin and Kildare were to go together; and likewise Drogheda, Meath and Louth should go together..

By 1494, when Henry VII appointed a new governor for Ireland to counteract the threat to his throne from Yorkist pretenders, ‘the four obedient shires’ had been transformed from an extended march into a distinctive region, with a clearly delineated, defensive frontier. Perceiving this, the new governor, Sir Edward Poynings, coined the term ‘the English Pale’ for the region, a new collective name which recognized the Pale’s separate identity as a region and also its predominantly English character. Sir Edward Poynings had briefly served as governor of Calais, and it was at that time, in 1493, that this English enclave in continental Europe between France and the Holy Roman Empire had likewise first been described as an English Pale. Local landowners and officials in Ireland, however, also recognized that here were not just four contiguous shires but a whole region set apart by its English culture from the surrounding Irishry. Thus, bills promoted by the governor and council and enacted by the 1499 parliament ‘for the increasinge of Englishe manners and condicions’ required those with land ‘within the precincte of the English Pale’ to ride in a saddle in the English manner and not to use Irish weapons. The term ‘the English Pale’ rapidly replaced ‘the four obedient shires’ as the preferred description of the region.

----Steven G. Ellis 

[maychorian]

hey! i was wondering if you have any voltron angsty lance-centric fic recommendations? aside from your own amazing ones ofc

Mmkay, so I’m what I’m doing here is going through my fic rec tag and just copy-pasting stories where Lance suffers. Some are angst, some are hurt/comfort, some are epic stories where the angst and hurt/comfort might be more of a side dish than a main course. The word count on most of the WIPs is no longer accurate, and some are complete, but I am too lazy to edit. This is taking long enough as it is. But yeah, you asked for it, you’re getting it. Langst recs, maychorian style. Warning: This is long. If you press the read more, be prepared to scroll.

Trembling Lips by nonna Words:  14,001 (WIP, but only one chapter to go)Author’s Summary: Lance is an emotional person who cries easily (and does the trembly-lip thing a lot) but tries to stay strong in front of the team.ORFive times Lance stopped himself from crying in front of his teammates, and the one time he couldn’t hold it back.My Comments: The BEST gen Lance-angst I have found yet. It is so good. The fourth chapter almost made me cry and I think I read it five times. I just…kept going back. I am DYING for the last chapter, omg, join me in waiting for it. Lance’s characterization is great, and Shiro is trying so hard, and everyone’s making mistakes but they don’t mean to. It’s absolutely marvelous and you should read it.

Collateral baggage by Zan_scrawlingWords:  718 Author’s Summary:  Lance can’t sleep; Coran is up and able to listen. My Comments: TOO SHORT but very sweet little character study. I’m such a sucker for Coran being serious and comforting for all these tiny, tiny smol children who have ended up in his castle, for real. I read this fic early on in my fandom experience with Voltron, too, so it, uh, might have influenced me.

I’m not the Lance You think I am by KairaKara101Words:  36,200 (WIP)Author’s Summary:  Lance isn’t human. Not that the team would know, he likes to keep that little fact a secret because he’s not sure if they’d treat him the same. That they’d be as welcoming as his family is. How in the world did he go from fighting in space to living on Earth acting like a class clown to fighting in space again?My Comments: I haven’t finished reading even what’s available yet but I’m reccing it anyway because it’s FANTASTIC. Lance as an alien crash-landing on Earth and immediately being adopted by an enormous, loving Hispanic family is absolute joy, and I’m just getting into the chapters where he joins Garrison and meets Hunk and the others. It’s just…really fun, and Lance is adorable and SO sweet with his new family and siblings. I love it, great stuff, I wish it was 200k words and I am honestly glad that it’s a WIP because I want more and I want to watch it grow up healthy and strong.

Burning by Tiger1Words:  11,457 (WIP)Author’s Summary:  The aftermath of their escape from Zarkon led to serious consequences for each member of the team, but at least they were all still alive - still together. Lance, however….well, let’s just say Lance didn’t get by totally unscathed. My Comments: As soon as the notification for my subscription on this lands in my email, I drop everything to read it. It’s a little more simple of a story, maybe, but it has everything I like. I would also like this one to be much, much longer, and also finished so I can read it at once.

Hunk and Lance’s Excellent Adventures by kiaella_vWords:  4,883 (WIP)Author’s Summary: Hunk and Lance being buddies.Chapter 5: Breathe.Or; Hunk and Lance Best Friendy Fluff..now feature Angst.My Comments: The CUTEST Hunk and Lance on AO3, golly, I love them so much. The first three chapters were just pure fluffy sunshine, then the author brought in the pain, and I am breathless for more. (Apparently going to be Klance eventually, but the focus is Hunk and Lance friendship.)

my head is dizzy now by asexualreyWords:  3,871Author’s Summary:  Allura had better get there soon. He doesn’t want to be responsible for Lance dying just because he’s completely useless. My Comments: Lance gets suddenly sick on a planet and Keith has to take care of him and Keith is AWKWARD and he is SCARED and it’s really NICE. Klance but can be read as gen.

My Youth Is Yours by MilkTeaMikuWords:  29,840 Author’s Summary: An unforseen blast in the middle of a battle de-ages Lance into a child for a week. Keith does not understand babies.My Comments: I am a HUGE sucker for deaged fics, and oh look, it’s Lance! What an adorable wee child! But also there is angst and heartache and pain and the Galra, and Keith is confused, but also drawn, and everyone is sweet and helpful, and Hunk and Shiro will be amazing parents someday if they live past this war, I swear. But yeah, well-written, super cute, baby Lance. Klance endgame, but mostly it’s about how cute tiny Lance is.

Tight Spaces by Emerald_AshesWords: 2,716 Author’s Summary: Set after “Crystal Venom”, the castle is slowly being brought back into working order after the corruption in the ship’s systems. Coran has a training exercise planned to serve as a test that is supposed to be simple, and easy. But with Lance things are never easy, although this time it’s really not his fault. My Comments: Mmm, yeah, Lance having a panic attack. This is really well-written and heart-wrenching, and everyone is very supportive in the end. I may have read this more than once. Or twice.

Waiting Room by GemmaRoseWords:  3,033 Author’s Summary:  When a fight ends badly, Hunk is hurt and needs more medical attention than a cryo-pod can provide. Luckily for the paladins, they’re close to home. My Comments: Really lovely future fic in which the paladins have been fighting together for over a year. Told from Lance’s POV as he fights to get Hunk medical attention, then has to wait for news with the others. The author does a great job of making everyone feel a little older, and a little harder, and a whole lot closer. I want a lot more. This could go 20k+, easy.

Just Static by Jessadilla (wobblyarms)Words: 73,144 (WIP, one chapter to go)Author’s Summary: –Static—–iro, Hunk, Kei—, nybody? I’m—–static—-I’m sorry guys. This is all my—-static–cc—–I found my coordinates. They’re—stttcc–guys. I hear something—–scccc–end transmission- Alone on a hostile planet, transmissions aren’t getting through. How did it come to this?My Comments: Another really good Lance-focused hurt/comfort fic. Everyone is well-written and characterized, though Keith and Lance get most of the screentime. Starts with the self-doubt and ends with Lance stranded on a planet with a very cool and interesting new enemy to deal with while everyone fights to save him. Epic H/C, and Klance.

Seeing Red by SagitarrowWords: 4,360 Author’s Summary: There’s a constant throbbing in his spine, like someone royally pissed at him is taking a hammer to it. It radiates through his whole body, every inch is pulsating and Lance can’t even remember what it was like to be pain free. Or: Lance falls down a hole. The rest of the team freaks out.My Comments: What it says on the box! Lance is hurt and the others rescue him. The descriptions are really sharp and visceral, and Lance’s self-doubt rears its ugly head again, but for the most part it’s a fairly simple hurt/comfort fic. And I LOVE that. Klance if you squint.

Counterclock by riverbanksWords: 3,273 Author’s Summary: Post Crystal Venom -Later, there’s a shift, and Hunk notices long before Lance is aware of himself. My Comments: Can be read as Hance or gen. So as you may have noticed, I’m a huge sucker for Lance with PTSD. This is a really lovely exploration of it based on canon, with a tremendously loving and wise Hunk. And the lions, too! Both Blue and Yellow are very important in this fic. Beautiful and touching.

ghost of a king by ashinan Words: 16,878 (WIP, but only one chapter to go)Author’s Summary: During a routine recon mission turned ambush, Lance and Blue must take drastic measures to ensure their survival. The aftermath leaves Lance lost and dreaming, and the team helpless to the possibility that, without a guide, he won’t make it back. My Comments: Klance, but everyone is equally important. This is one of the most gorgeous fics I’ve ever read, bar none, let alone in this fandom. The space battle in the first chapter is absolutely thrilling, as well as visceral and terrifying. The descriptions of the abstract space Lance falls into are stunningly beautiful, and the team’s desperate struggle to get him back is heart-wrenching. And Blue! Blue is AMAZING in this fic! She and Lance have conversations and go back and forth on who is in control at any one moment, a complete partnership much more developed than anything we saw in the show. It’s beautiful and I love it to death. Can’t wait for the conclusion.

Aid by HaurvatatWords: 8,362 (WIP)Author’s Summary: Frankly, the only person on Team Voltron with their shit relatively together is Hunk. Lance tries so hard, but… he can’t help but feel there’s a reason he never gets too far with that one, and maybe not 100% of it is Keith’s fault. All it takes is one battle, one accident, one mistake, and one secret to make it all rise to the surface. My Comments: Really, really good and interesting take on Lance in this one, different than I’ve seen anywhere else, but still perfectly in-character. It feels entirely realistic, and all of the characters are themselves, including sometimes being jerks to each other. But my favorite aspect of this fic is the relationship between Lance and his lion. The blue lion is so SASSY in this story. And she and Lance are incredibly close and good friends. I love it and can’t wait to see where it goes.

weak link by asexualreyWords: 6,249 Author’s Summary: The one thing he always wants when he doesn’t feel well is his mom, and she’s…god knows how far away she is. She probably thinks he’s dead. In this moment, he almost wishes he was.My Comments: I am so BLESSED to be in a fandom that loves writing hurt/comfort featuring my favorite character, like for real. Yeah, Lance is horribly, horribly sick, and he wants his mom, and he tries to hide his weakness from the others. It does not go well. This one made me feel a lot. I’ve read it several times. Klance.

He Sleeps in the Sky of Ice by jadencrossWords:  16,043 (WIP, 8/16)Author’s Summary: It’s been three months since the plan to rescue Allura, and Team Voltron has finally found each other again. Well, almost. A certain blue paladin didn’t meet up with who he was supposed to. And now, the whole team has to figure out why. He wouldn’t just abandon them. Would he?My Comments: This is a great action/adventure type fic where the whole team is searching for a missing Lance. The peril is really intriguing, and the world-building is cool and interesting. The emotions are also very sharp and well-characterized. I’m very excited for every single update. I really want to know what happened, and I want them to find Lance, and I want him to be safe and okay.

 Necessary by always_a_slut_for_hcWords: 22,026 Author’s Summary: Keith screws up, Lance is captured, and the blue light of Voltron is dimmed. Who are you really, Lance? And what do you need?My Comments: Yep, it’s another fic where Lance is tortured, rescued, and recovers. I like these fics, what can I say. This is well-written and complete, so if you’re a sicko like me, check it out. Klance, but everyone is important.

Long Distance by Emerald_AshesWords: 1,565 Author’s Summary: Some nights you just wanted to call home, and know that everything was going to be okay. My Comments: Pidge and Lance! And Hunk as mom friend! But yeah, poor Pidge and Lance are both homesick and tired and they just want their families. I’m glad they have each other, though. The ending made me achy and happy.

Prison Bonds by GriffinRoseWords: 18,295 Author’s Summary: Keith and Lance are captured and stuck in a cell together, but it’s not the Galra. They almost wish it was. These Cordalians feed off of emotions, and their favorite emotion is sadness. Worse, they’ve found a way to make their victims relive their worst memories to make that pain fresh again, and Keith has a lot of terrible memories he’d rather not relive. My Comments: SO GOOD. SO MUCH PLATONIC CUDDLING. Lance and Keith are both suffering horribly, and all they can do is comfort each other and wait for rescue. I’m so happy that it’s gen, too. And it’s finished! Run, don’t walk. It’s so great.

your claws in me by burlesquecomposerWords: 41,766 (WIP)Author’s Summary: “Oh trust me. When I’m done with you, I won’t be able to stop laughing,” Lance says lowly, and his lips curl farther, and there’s something wild in his stare, and it hits Keith suddenly. This isn’t Lance.Lance falls under the control of Zarkon’s Druids, and although his friends manage to get him back, nothing is quite the same. Maybe the Galra succeeded after all. Maybe the Galra merely wanted to tear Team Voltron apart from the inside.My Comments: Tagged as Klance, but so far it reads platonic. Really, really amazing story with Lance fighting brainwashing and everyone struggling to save him, trust him, return him to normal. Everyone has an important role, though there’s an emphasis on Keith. I really liked this one. It’s tense and heartbreaking at times, but it also has moments of great beauty.

Fake It by WashiPuppyWords: 8,994 Author’s Summary: Without the presence of other people to drown them out, the thoughts inside his head were getting too loud. Loud enough to drive him from his room in a desperate attempt to escape his own stupid head for long enough to sleep. It was too loud in there, and too honest. He needed to be around people, otherwise he was just left with…Just himself, and the agitated, twitching feeling of his own skin. A tale in which Lance and the Blue Lion have a one-sided conversation, Hunk is a Lance Whisperer, Pidge notices lots of things, Keith gets the wrong end of the stick, and Shiro gets a new nickname.My Comments: It is a known fact of Voltron fanfic that an insecure Lance requires a wise, comforting Hunk. This should be chiseled in stone somewhere. It practically already is. But yeah, I love this. Some snark and humor in there, too, and the characters feel like themselves.

Space Is Cold by borrowedphrasesWords: 1,152 Author’s Summary: Lance is a pain in the butt, but Hunk loves him and worries about him anyway. My Comments: Hance. Cute, sweet, adorable, loving Hance. My sweet summer boys. Just the way I like them.

Simple by APendingThought for MilkTeaMikuWords: 1,363 Author’s Summary: Keith has babysitting duty for baby!Lance tonight. Six hours into the mission, he calls for backup. My Comments: Hey, look, more deaged!Lance! Wow, I’m predictable. I’ve previously recced the fic this one is based on, and this addition is very sweet and lovely.

Welcome Home by RenaRooWords: 1,253 Author’s Summary: Lance figures they’re lucky that homesickness isn’t contagious. My Comments: LANCE AND PIDGE! I’m so glad to find more fics with these two being kind to each other. The characterization is great, with Lance trying to shrug things off with humor at first, then showing his real emotions to someone he trusts. I want so much more with these two.

Bundle in Blankets by KnightNuraStarWords: 23,173 (WIP)Author’s Summary: The wormhole did more damage to Blue and Lance than anyone could imagine.Lance is vulnerable and Blue makes a deal.Lance faces different challenges ahead. “What the fuck.” “PIDGE LITTLE EARS!” “I AIN’T LITTLE JACKASS!” “LANCE!”“HE STARTED!” “I DON’T CARE WHO STARTED IT! I’M ENDING IT!”My Comments: This one, ah, it’s a little bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but gah, I do enjoy it. Lance is deaged and stuck on a hostile planet, and there’s only one way that Blue can make sure he survives: Make a deal with Sendak. I know, right? But the author makes it work. Things get worse, and worse, especially when the rest of the crew finally finds them, and it’s super dramatic, but the emotions really work for me. Give it a shot if you like deaged!Lance and hurt/comfort and sympathetic Galra.

Coming Undone by Emerald_AshesWords: 2,409 (WIP) Author’s Summary: A mission quickly transforms into an ambush. Outnumbered, and without the immediate assistance of their Lions, the paladins retreat. However, Lance is captured. And when he is eventually rescued, the circumstances of his capture raise more questions than answers. Things only continue to get worse as Lance now has to deal with the aftermath of being prisoner to the Galra, and they try to figure out why the trap was staged in the first place. My Comments: HEY LOOK, one of my favorite Voltron gen writers is doing a multi-chap fic! I’m SUPER excited. Go subscribe!

Nightmares by TrashnessWords: 14,864 Author’s Summary: 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.My Comments: Klance, but it’s so FLUFFY and full of such nice hurt/comfort that I have to rec it. I just really like Lance being cuddled when he’s sad and scared, okay. I really like it.

Vulnerable by nerdyketones Words:  7,850 Author’s Summary: Each paladin gets their own chapter describing a time when they were vulnerable, and when their teammates and team supported them and helped them through their hardship.Pidge-IllnessKeith-AnxietyHunk-GuiltLance- LonelinessShiro- Pressure/PTSDMy Comments: THESE ARE ALL SO GOOD. All of the children deserve comfort, and they get it. Allura helps too!

Damsel in Distress by birdzillaWords: 6,269 Author’s Summary: Somehow Lance always finds himself in trouble. Fortunately, his friends are always there to get him out of it. My Comments: This is so CUTE. The space crew has figured out that Lance has terrible luck and walks headfirst into danger too much due to his friendly and trusting nature, and they take steps to protect him. It’s very subtly and gently done, until the end, when it isn’t anymore. So good. Give me all the Lance Protection Squad fics, please.

Let The Water Lead Us Home by LynnLarshWords: 12,972 Author’s Summary: He’d just wanted a glimpse. It was stupid and childish and selfish, but he’d just wanted one more look out on the ocean, one more peek in the window of his family home, just in case they never made it back to Earth. Just in case he never got another chance.But this wasn’t the Holo-Deck from Star Trek. And this broken simulator tube wasn’t going to be able to do any of that for him, now was it? A.K.A - Lance finds himself stuck in a simulation and Keith is determined to get him out.My Comments: Hey, look, it’s two of my biases in a well-written Klance fic. Please protect Lance and let him see his family again someday, please.

He’ll Be Fine by babitty for everyone who loves some good angstWords: 7,471 Author’s Summary: In which Hunk gets hurt, and Lance has no one to steady him. “Lance’s face burned, and he could hardly see through the blood and sweat dripping into his eyes. His arms burned from supporting Hunk and carrying his bayard. His legs burned from running and his lungs were fire in his chest, pure adrenaline coursing through his entire body. It was the only thing keeping him upright.”My Comments: As always, I am down for an exploration of Hunk and Lance and their relationship, mmm yes, and this is a good one. Poor Lance is so frantic about Hunk getting hurt, and he really needs his team to reassure him that everything will be okay, even though it’s hard to believe. Warm and fuzzy to the max, with bonus big brother Shiro just being as sweet as can be with a distraught Lance.

All That Matters by CamsthiSkyWords: 637 Author’s Summary: Keith talks Lance down from a panic attack. My Comments: Short but sweet! I would read Keith (or Hunk, or Shiro, or anyone) talking Lance down from a panic attack all day long.

I’m Trying to Reach You by WashiPuppyWords: 22,109 Author’s Summary: The mind is a tenacious thing. Once it grabs hold of a thought, a memory, or a problem, it can be hard to convince it to let go.Pidge has her drive to find her family, though right now she has these communication codes that could help her do that. Shiro has his past, though right now he has his a lion asking him for help and teammates who won’t tell him what’s going on in their heads. Lance has his doubts. And Keith… Well, he’s convinced that Hunk is some kind of Sex God who has slept with both Shiro and Lance. Now, how to prove that? Meanwhile, Hunk is just doing his best to look out for everyone. It’s like herding cats.My Comments: This is a sequel to a fic I recced in the past, and you should probably read the whole series for context if you haven’t yet, but this is SO good that I had to tell you about this one specifically. Lance has convinced himself that he’s replaceable, unnecessary, and Keith has gotten a misunderstanding from things seen out of context, but mostly this is about how much Blue loves her paladin and will do anything to prove that to him. The ending made me cry.

The (Not So) Still Of The Night by Sandyclaws68Words: 3,532 Author’s Summary: A few nights in such close quarters taught all of them a lot of things about their team mates.My Comments: Technical problems with their living quarters force the paladins to all sleep together in a little tiny room, and bonding ensues. They all irritate each other, they all help each other, they all comfort and cuddle and learn about each other. It’s beautiful in every way.

Rough Landings by SilfrvargWords: 2,079 Author’s Summary: In which Lance is having a bad day, and Keith is there to help however he can. My Comments: Aw, Lance. Sometimes everything just kind of falls apart at once and overwhelms you, even when you’re a Hero of the Universe. I loved Keith just doing absolutely everything he could to help Lance get through it.

It’s Only Allergies! Swear! by carefulrenWords: 2,621 Author’s Summary: Lance starts his week off with an innocent case of the sniffles that he believes to be allergies. Despite growing worse as the week progresses, he wants to believe that it’s still allergies. It’s not.My Comments: It’s a Lance sickfic. Of course I like it. I’m not even embarrassed anymore. Well, maybe a little bit. But I’m still reccing this.

Open Water by NeyieaWords: 1,398 Author’s Summary: Lance misses the smell of salt and the crunch of sand and the untameable waves. My Comments: I love Lance and Coran interaction almost as much as I love Lance and Hunk interaction, and this fic gave me BOTH. It’s short but incredibly gorgeous, heartachey and sweet and satisfying. It hits the spot.

Beautiful Minds by PotatoBenderWords: 16,247 (WIP)Author’s Summary: Lance used to be proud of his mental abilities. A pilot. A Paladin. Someone experienced with delving and controlling his mind. But after being captured, and enduring just a single encounter with Haggar, his castle was reduced to rubble. Rescuing Lance was the easy part - healing him is much, much harder.My Comments: This is my favorite kind of torture-and-rescue fic, where you kind of gloss over the actual torture and get straight to the rescue and healing and recovery. That’s what I like. I really like this. I’ll be reading each update as soon as it shows up in my email.

Empty Shell Inside Of Me by infiniterhapsody, vagrantBreathWords: 7,180 (WIP)Author’s Summary: After a mission, Lance is acting strange. Spacing out, taking a while to respond to everyone. After a mission, Lance is locked away deep within Galra territory, at the hands of a Galra commander only wanting two things: information and his terror. Wait, what?My Comments: This one is especially heartrending because you get two Lances for the price of one, and they are BOTH scared and hurting and in need of help and gah, I’m so on edge about this story. The chapters are short but they’re updating quickly, which is good. I need them.

All The Stars In The Universe by jamwritesWords: 7,045 Author’s Summary: After being rescued from capture by the Galra Empire, Lance isn’t the same. He’s silent. Reserved. Broken. But Keith won’t accept this; every night, he comes to talk to Lance. Every night, he attempts to fix what is broken, and tonight may be his last chance. My Comments: Mm, yeah, hurt/comfort, this is the good stuff. THE GOOD STUFF. I was really touched by Keith’s tenacity and Lance’s courage, after all he’d been through, to still reach out the only way he could. Klance.

A Million Stars Apart by SerenePhenixWords: 8,217 (WIP 2/?)Summary: Lance usually could deal with a lot of things: being whisked away by a sentient alien ship together with friends, his hero and a rival, becoming part of an intergalatic war he had never known was even taking place, getting separated and reuniting with the closest thing he had to family in space…Yeah, it was not nice but he could take it.—–After surviving another incident with a malfunctioning wormhole, Lance finds himself in a position that might push him to his very limits. There are a lot of things he is unsure of but he knows with certainty that he does not wish to fail Allura or Coran in their quest to save the home they’ve lost. My Comments: This is such a fascinating concept. After a wormhole malfunction, Lance finds himself having dreams of an apparent alternate universe where he’s Allura’s sick younger brother. (BTW, yes, I am a big fan of AUs where Allura is Lance’s mom or big sister. Love ‘em.) Trouble is, he’s not getting any rest during these dreams, so he’s getting exhausted in his regular life. Seeing as I have written over 100k about exhausted Lance getting pushed to his breaking point and beyond, you can imagine how I feel about this fic. I am a fan.

Ablaze by waywardflowerWords: 5,297 Summary: He can’t burden them like this. He’ll be good, he’ll be fine by himself and he just has to show them that and they’ll leave him. Lance wants their attention, craves it, needs it to survive with his stupid omega body, but he can’t stand the thought of needing it. … Lance goes into heat.My Comments: Platonic omegaverse fic! Whoda thunk. Insecure Lance gets taken for a ride by his body, and it takes concentrated effort from everyone else to keep him safe. Some of the speeches at the end felt deeply personal and heartfelt. This fic made me ache, but I liked it.

This House Unfinished by boyghostsWords: 30,776 Author’s Summary: “Concept,” Lance said, his voice heavy and gutted with the ache of it; he caught Keith’s gaze and smiled wide, for show. “The war’s over. We’re back home. All the things we love in one place.” Lance keeps losing the things he’s built. Then there’s Keith.My Comments: Klance. This is a gorgeous fic. The writing is so descriptive and emotional, and I just adore Pidge and Hunk and everyone doing what they can to help Lance with his homesickness. The relationship with Keith feels natural, too, but the author did manage to kind of rip my heart out near the end, so. I’m gonna need some more, okay?

Feeling Blue by SkarmoreeWords: 8,940 Author’s Summary: Lance was the class clown back in school. His crooked grin full of gaps often brought a smile to his friend’s faces. Seeing everyone else smile made him happy. Lance was the shameless flirt in the Garrison. It made the girls laugh at his failed attempts, and the boys chuckle at his ridiculousness.He didn’t mind being turned down, because everyone ended up happy.Lance was the blue paladin. It was his duty as a member of Voltron to keep the universe happy. But sometimes, just sometimes -Lance couldn’t bring himself to smileMy Comments: Another fanfic trope I’m weak to: that one guy who always supports everyone else eventually not being able to do it anymore, having a breakdown, an injury, whatever, and everyone else rallies around to offer support in return. This fic does it well.

Trial by Ordeal by To Be or Not to- Oh forget it (Mikki)Words: 89,187 Author’s Summary: They’re supposed to be two sides of the same coin, or something like that. The truth is a bit more complicated. (Character study of Keith and Lance)My Comments: This is long, but absolutely worth the effort. Warning for depictions of abuse in both parts, but it’s treated realistically and respectfully. There were parts in Keith’s chapter that I had to stop reading for a while and do something else, and pretty much everything in Lance’s chapter made me ache for him and the family he left behind. But it’s really, really good. Amazingly well-written and deep and lifelike, and it all makes so much sense, for both of these characters. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long, long time.

Home by kencatWords: 1,138 Author’s Summary: Lance just misses home. My Comments: BEAUTIFUL Hunk and Lance interaction. I love them both so much.

Winter High, Winter Low by carefulrenWord Count: 3,362 Author’s Summary: Lance and Keith both live in the same shitty apartment complex. With a massive blizzard roaring outside and no power, Keith has to take care of an incredibly sick Lance. My Comments: Klance. Modern AU sickfic, and it hits the spot.

Long Distance by JennypenWord Count: 1,004 Author’s Summary: Someone gets the Christmas present they need. My Comments: Gah, I just love it when the others help Lance with his homesickness.

Just Ask for Help by genericfanaticWord Count: 1,787 Author’s Summary: Lance is having a problem with what should be an easy task. Shiro talks him down from his frustration My Comments: It’s sweet and simple and comforting, and kind, wise Shiro is the best.

Hold me close. by sevansaWord Count: 3,705 Author’s Summary: Lance’s heat is approaching… he has never felt so alone before. My Comments: Turns out I have a weird affinity for platonic omegaverse fics. Who woulda thought. I always hated the concept, but when it’s done like this, I don’t know. The idea of team-as-family is just ramped up to a hundred, and with some of the pack suffering biological needs that require special attention… I dunno. I like it. This is quite an id fic for me. It feeds something. I read it twice.

Restless by BanjiWord Count: 1,899 Author’s Summary: [X-posted on FF.net] Lance tries to find comfort in one of his friend after another night of bad dreams and worries. Keith is probably not the best choice. My Comments: It is fluffy and I approve. Keith tries, even when he’s out of his depth.

Road Trip to End Times by VelkynKarmaWord Count: 1,604 (the next chapter has the langst)Author’s Summary: The outbreak is at its peak, and the country is in ruins. But there’s still hope: Safe Haven, the colony on the West Coast. Reach it, and you’ll find safety and a chance to rebuild a new life in this zombie-controlled world. If you reach it, that is. But Shiro doesn’t intend to give up on trying. Not when he’s got four teenagers desperate to find their families again under his protection.My Comments: The author has been posting ficlets from this sort of tongue-in-cheek AU on tumblr, and they are all AWESOME. I will happily read them again on AO3. My favorite was the one where Shiro saves Lance from bandits, but that one isn’t on AO3 yet. But here’s Lance in his typical role as Best Morale Officer Ever, even in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

The Empty Spaces Between the Stars by sliveredWord Count: 5,329 Author’s Summary: Talking was a far cry better than grunting, even if Keith’s voice did sound like… Feces, was it? Strange those human phrases that Lance had been trying to explain to him and Allura. But it didn’t sound good, was the point.*Five times Coran takes care of the Paladins.My Comments: This is super sweet and good and Coran is the best and I would like him to take care of me, too.

strength of the small by nowweareunstoppableWords: 12,736 Author’s Summary: A false distress signal lands the paladins in a tough situation. It falls to Pidge to earn their freedom, and it doesn’t come without a dangerous cost. My Comments: This fic is AMAZING. Pidge is an absolute badass, smart and strong and extremely well-characterized. The frantic run afterward to get her to help was intense and wrenching, too. And Lance was especially wonderful. You can feel his desperation, how deeply he loves Pidge and needs her to be okay, because she’s his little sister now and he CANNOT lose his family. Ahhh, I loved this one to bits. Highly recommended.

boredom is cruel and unusual punishment by babittyWords: 3,183 Author’s Summary: 3000 words of Lance getting the shit beat out of him, because i needed to get some angst out of my system. it’s not very graphic but injuries are listed and batons are used. My Comments: This is an old-fashioned whump fic, where the point is very much Lance (and Keith to a lesser extent) getting beat up. But there’s a lot of courage and tenacity on display here, and they do very much feel like themselves. An enjoyable fic, if you’re in the mood for hurt with not a lot of comfort.

all alone, all together by seulesWords: 1,516 Author’s Summary: This is bigger than anything he ever imagined. Lance knows the world’s balls deep shitty, so it’s not much of a stretch for the universe to take a crap and coat itself in it, only in a much larger scale. But it’s different when you’re told that the universe as you know it is about to be completely taken over by a tyrannical, fascist madman (surprise, surprise) and Obi-Lance Kenobi, you’re 1/5 of the universe’s only hope! My Comments: Aww, Lance and Allura bonding! I’m astounded that mine is the only comment on this fic. Please read it and encourage the writer.

Piece of Goo by genericfanaticWords: 1,207 Author’s Summary: Lance is sad and eats terrible food. My Comments: This is an excellent portrayal of depression and UGH I just want to give Lance a hug.

Infection by 5557Words: 73,271 Author’s Summary: While exploring an alien planet, Lance is nearly killed by a mysterious monster. Now he’s convinced that he is infected with an alien sickness. Why doesn’t anyone believe him? It must be Keith’s fault. This is a horror-comedy (but like, also a romance?), and I drew pictures.My Comments: Here, have some epic Klance hurt/comfort. It’s really well done. 

the currents you create by theoddoodisnudeWords: 18,501 Author’s Summary: Some days, he woke up even more tired than he’d been when he’d gone to sleep, and willing his body to go through the motions was just—tough. Like wading through thigh-high water or running on soft sand that gave under the soles of his feet. My Comments: Here’s my obligatory Klance hurt/comfort for the week. I think there’s always one. Anyway, this one is very good. Very realistic depiction of depression, and I liked how supportive everyone was, and how hard Lance tried to deal with everything even when he just wanted to give up. Also some wonderful Hunk and Lance and team bonding in there.

But a Scratch by manunulatWords: 1,052 Author’s Summary: This is a brief vignette set after s2ep2. Some things can’t be fixed by healing pods. My Comments: Would you like some Hunk and Lance being funny, loving bros, with just a touch of angst? I always like it. I like this one, too.