Okay, so, I might be totally wrong and don't understand Lance's character. This is also kind of a headcanon wrapped in a headcanon and a bunch of other headcanons along with it.
โ ๏ธWarnings: might be a bit ooc
So, first of all, I don't get why Lance's intelligence is being so downplayed at times by some fans. I mean, I understand why this has become and continues to be the case. They've had good ground for this throughout all the seasons. Very often, if a character is given certain qualities that are frequently seen, there's a high probability that these qualities will be overused by fans themselves, even exaggerated to the maximum, making them not just a quality, but the character's entire essence, replacing their entire character with this quality, turning them into something more of a caricature and so on, but still (But this specific quality of Lance's, well, I don't know, it doesn't suit him, or maybe it does?). I mean, yeah, again, I understand why this happens, the writers made him like this, he's an adorable goofball: he fools around, flirts with everyone, etc., but there are also scenes where he is openly called stupid or hinted at, and this, interestingly, only happens to him out of all the characters, itโs like they just need a character who fits into this role, but they mistakenly combine the role of a guy who is ( canonically) supposed to be smarter than both Hunk and Keith with comments about him being stupid, Iโm not some kind of a critic or a great writer, but my complaint is that this has grown into some kind of bullying of the character (the character I like and in which I see insane potential for development, which the creators themselves missed, although they had 8 seasons), and at some points all this comes from his own team, his own friends, itโs not surprising that in some fics Lance betrays them, although this is hard to believe because Lance is portrayed as a person who tolerates everything that the creators and his friends sometimes do to him. We've been shown these jokes since the first episode, there's that scene where he makes a mistake in his calculations when they're discussing how long Allura was in the castle, but, anyone can make a mistake in calculations by accident, even if they're easy, maybe your brain replaces one number with another because of association, plus, some people find it harder to perform calculations without anything visual in front of them. Or that scene where he says the word "platonic" and isn't sure if he pronounced it correctly (I don't understand why they added that at all), but despite this, Lance is not stupid. Just because Lance is not constantly shown as a mechanic or a genius doesn't mean that he is stupider than the rest. But maybe it's better to just be angry at the writers, because they have weird tendencies with writing Lance, it's like they don't understand what to do with him, tearing him in two, because in one scene he is literally called "the dumb one" bluntly, using it almost as a name. Like, it's not even because of "the stupid characters" trope, I usually even really like them, they are usually made funny and sweet, in some cases even charismatic, they really lighten the atmosphere, and the main thing is that there is no burning sense of resentment for this character because of the way the creators used and treated him, because the viewer understands that, well, it's true, no matter how rude it sounds, there's no other way to say it, the character is not very bright, but the difference is that such characters really have, well, I don't know how to say it nicely, really big problems? to such an extent that they don't know how to count/read at all and so on, that's WHY it's not offensive + usually it's just voiced as a fact, and not some kind of humiliating joke, only then with such characters you understand why everyone around them can view them as dummies (some such characters are like they went through a lobotomy, and, again, it's okay and it's okay to like them).
But the problem is that Lance does NOT measure up to these lobotomized characters AT ALL, he has a brain, he uses it, he is not a stupid character, the creators are trying to make him like that after they make him NOT stupid, showing him in a different light, AT THE SAME time forcing other characters to say something about him. I understand that he's one of those "comedy characters who will lighten the mood with their stupid antics" characters, but later in the story, Matt appears - literally a walking meme, flirtatious and silly, and, despite this, he is not made out to be a dummy! Like, damn, one doesn't interfere with the other. A character can be silly and dorky, but that doesn't automatically make them stupid. Many of the jokes where Lance is made stupid aren't even funny, the scene where he is literally described as "the dumb one" instead of a name definitely looks like it should be funny because of the music, sound effects and visuals, but in my eyes it is, on the contrary, downright humiliating precisely because of these same signs of a "comedy scene", I don't know who else in Voltron gets humiliated like that besides Lance. Why do the creators forget the simple fact that Lance was accepted into the Garrison? Considering the flight simulation equipment they use (and we probably haven't even seen all of their equipment yet), it's a REALLY elite school, if they have the money for THAT. They even literally fixed Matt's eyes there. One of the hallmarks of those schools is also their own special uniform, which they have, and not everyone, CLEARLY not everyone, gets accepted. Or the very fact that, in addition to being accepted into the Garrison, he was in the same group as Pidge and Hunk, who are portrayed as genius mechanics. So why is it illogical that Lance simply wouldn't have been able to get into such a school and interact with such people if he lacked some special qualities or skills, or if he wasn't good enough? And also - Lance also has those "smart character" scenes, but for some reason most people don't care about them (or forget about them). And then the creators throw at the viewer the fact that Lance has complexes, like they want to make it even more painful, watching how he's belittled by his own team, when he's already insecure??? So, after all that has been said, finally, my own headcanon:
My first headcanon is that he used to be a massive nerd and a geek (another headcanon is that he often took all sorts of atlases and books from the library, but forgot to return them, and then always got in trouble for thaht). LIKE, imagine, a nerd and a geek (in the past) in the body(+with a personality and antics) of a handsome guy now, I love this trope, I don't see that anywhere with Lance, why, I believe in nerd/geek/fanboy Lance supremacy ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ I've also seen people who view Lance as dumb because of his obsession with his appearance, but whyyy? He wants to be handsome and neat, what's wrong with that? But what if it's actually deeper than that, showing more of his insecurities? His focus on his appearance gives me even more grounds for this headcanon. The creators had SUCH an opportunity to make Lance more interesting by giving him a backstory of an "ugly duckling" who used to be a geek but still is, just mentally and is now in a body of a tall, attractive guy with a cool hairstyle (honestly, such an interesting hairstyle could probably only be played out on Lance, I can't imagine it as beautiful on anyone else, it suits him perfectly), This was such an opportunity for the writers, oh my god, such a cool trope, and jokes like: "Hey, baby, do you know what these hands can do?)))"(I can even picture him saying that) suit him so well(maybe I should make a comic like that) and then he shows where this or that point is on a geographical map/or shows off how quickly he can score in the vld analog of guitar hero or something like that, WHAT POTENTIAL WAS MISSED, they wouldn't have to humiliate the character then to make someone laugh, instead they just laugh at the character the way they do:((( That's why he's so fixated on his appearance: he doesn't want to be perceived as the guy he used to be.
He was often teased and maybe even bullied for his hobbies, preferences, and his former appearance, which didn't particularly bother him(at that time). So he wanted to forget it as quickly as possible when he realized that, having become the complete opposite of who he used to be, he at least wasn't bullied as much, this leads us to Lance having the burden to always play someone he isn't. Perhaps that's why he says very little when his own friends treat him the way they do? He's insecure, but he tries to hide it behind a facade of confidence because he wants to be loveable, loved, and wants to be worthy of love, but he fails in firstly loving himself in order to be loved by others. This really upsets me, because the guy is constantly forced to choose between two poisons, because he clearly doesn't like either option, but the trauma of bullying is much worse(again, this is all a headcanon). I know there are a lot of inconsistencies in this hdc, like "why doesn't Hunk defend him then?"( if he knows Lance was bullied), or maybe he didn't know, I'll think about that later. Anyway, what I'm saying is that the idea that Lance isn't harmed by what's said about him, despite the writers' attempts to portray him as being okay with everything, is, in my opinion, not true. He is unhappy with all of it, especially how he is treated(sometimes by Keith when he says he doesn't want to spend forever with Lance, or when he jokes about not hearing him to leave him cuffed). This guy genuinely cares and doesn't agree with anything that's being said, he is not happy with any of it, but is forced to bare with it(the situation is made worse by the fact that he is stuck in space, bearing the burden of saving the galaxy, although he is not even sure if he should be on the team?), because he has no other options.
And so, imagine him earlier: Lance, somewhere at about 12-13, he recently had a big growth spurt, he has braces, maybe even glasses (then he will start wearing contacts [I understand that it doesnโt really work out that they will then be in space for several years, but, IMAGINE, maybe he had an operation that can be done before 18 in their universe in the Garrison possibly???]), he has 0 aura, he is terribly scrawny, he is very, very awkward(but at the same time very very social, friendly and extroverted if it makes sense??), wears t-shirts with strange, unfunny or cringe jokes or something like โIโm not a player - I'm a gamerโ๐ค๐ค๐ค or โYou think you're cool, but I'm coolerโ๐๐๐ or โI'm not afraid of danger, I am the dangerโ๐๐ค or โYou watch TV series, I watch Star Wars, we are different๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ", he constantly plays all sorts of videogames, is a 100% fan of Voltron analogues of Star Wars, chronically online, writes on forums, most likely, fights with someone on these very forums, because his favorite character is mischaracterized, and he writes all sorts of psychological analyses for this favorite characters with +19382543 words, and also has a whole blog on the analogue of Reddit or Tumblr ๐๐๐, his only friend is Hunk, with whom they are fans of all sorts of things together and play video games, and prepare for exams, and for each project they go to each other, and work together, Lance is very worried about school (hence the fact that in his school there was a "star system" for encouraging children, they gave stars for merits, this is why he was so worried that he would be removed from the board, this really destroys his mental state, makes him consider himself good enough only for his achievements, especially if the teacher reads out to the whole class his and others' mistakes on tests, his and others' grades, as well as who will get a gold star and who will not, which is very important to him.), If other teachers had belittled him as a child for their own reasons, that would explain why he was so upset(did you see that face??) in the first episode when he was scolded, again in front of the whole group), his whole room is in posters of all sorts of movies for nerds, and he definitely has a bunch of figurines and limited merch for them (Star Wars and other stuff), some of which he successfully bought on the eBay analogue, arranging everything on the shelves, without taking it out of the box and dusting off the dusty dust.
Later, of course, he'll grow up and become that Lance we all know, but it will all start with his first viewing of all sorts of rom-coms, where he'll pick up flirty phrases, take off his braces, glasses, change his clothes, start taking an interest in girls, etc., etc., well, so there you have it. Also, another headcanon, I have a feeling that at that moment, somewhere in the middle of this period, he began to gradually go to bed later and later, perhaps sometimes preparing for an unplanned test, perhaps going over the topic in advance, if there really was pressure from the teacher, (and there COULD be, which COULD give him the start of that obsession), and for him it was very important, and he always got a good grade, then bragging, saying something like "What are you talking about? It's the easiest test in the universe, seriously!", while preparing for the test all night, but in his eyes, to say that he didn't prepare at all is to show that he, on the contrary, is smarter, because if he doesn't even need preparation, like, if he didn't prepare at all, having received the best result, what kind of mountains can he move by actual preparing, ??? , (that's the logic. That's the kind of, I don't even know, independent attempt to downplay his own efforts for the sake of achieving greater admiration from his peers [here this headcanon is reinforced if we take into account those very jokes about Lance, if he was called stupid since childhood, this would explain his desire to show everyone the opposite and increase his status with the help of academic achievements]. The important thing is that Lance started with 00:00, in the middle he was already going to bed at 5:00, and then he could not sleep at all and go to school like that, the memories of how at 3:00 he once madly wanted to sleep became very distant for him at that point of no return. Of course, such long-term jokes with the body did not go away for him just like that, by the end his sleep schedule was so messed up that his body did not understand when to sleep and when not, he could calmly stay awake all night and despite this not want to go to bed earlier, he tried to stay awake all night, so that at least somehow he managed to go to bed earlier. But not only could he not fall asleep earlier, but he also could not sleep for more than an hour. He earned himself chronic insomnia, and in addition, his eyes started to hurt badly because of soreness, it didnโt matter how many alarms he had, he didnโt even remember when he set them and when he turned them off, there were only blurry memories that mixed with possible dreams, it didnโt really matter how much he slept, even having slept for 12 hours after taking all sorts of pills, he still couldnโt stand on his feet, and if he did manage to sleep, he woke up with red eyes that hurt and stuck together due to severe dryness, in the middle of the day his eyelids closed on their own, he had no strength to stop them, he constantly had what seemed like "hallucinations"(not realyl hallucinations, but you get what I mean), he imagined something, he mumbled something incomprehensible, what he dreamed, because he fell asleep in the middle of the day, because of this, reality gets mixed up, and it becomes unclear what is a dream and what is real life? Naturally, this affected his grades, making him even more nervous and stressed, making it impossible to sleep. He knew what he would see and, naturally, didn't want to see it. Ironically, the very thing that had prompted him to do this eventually became a problem for that very same original goal. Then he started having more frequent nightmares, all kinds of them: for example, he'd be given a test, and it would only have an F, and he couldn't see anything on the test except the grade.
He'd try to say something, try to figure out where the mistakes were, and he'd want to ask, but he couldn't. Then he'd get another test, but this time with a minus, then two minuses, then another and another and another, and he'd be completely bombarded with them. Sometimes the dreams would become so realistic that he'd wonder if something like that had actually happened. As he got older, naturally, he put a lot of effort into overcoming it, and in terms of his intense obsession with studying and sleep, unfortunately, he wasn't completely successful, but he did partially. Chronic sleepiness, though not to the same extent, still remained. He's even managed to get rid of the dark circles under his eyes, HEAr ME OUT, he uses a little foundation and concealer. It's no secret that he's very concerned about his appearance. Complexes could also be added here. Most likely, he once borrowed Veronica's foundation and hasn't stopped using it, but he's hidden it, perhaps buying his own, HEAR ME OUT AGAIN, not because he's embarrassed about wearing makeup, but because he doesn't want to show that his beauty isn't entirely natural, that there's something about him that's not absolutely perfect. It's similar to that example of belittling his efforts in school. Also, growing up and being very concerned about his appearance has motivated him to improve his sleep, plus, you know, all those jokes about "beauty sleep" and so on. I think that suits him. And just a little bit of confirmation, well, as a confirmation, I remembered that somewhere in some vld guidebook (official if I do rememver correctly) it was stated that he sometimes likes to take naps, like, I donโt know, itโs so cute. Well, as for Lotor, I think Lance also yawns chronically because he doesn't have enough air, it happens very often, and during a conversation with Lotor, he might yawn, and Lotor heard that in people this is a sign of disinterest in something, he will think that Lance considers him boring๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ And Lance will then tell him about his "adventures of the insomniac", and it seems to me that Lance will not talk about it as something scary, because 1) his defense mechanism is not to take something seriously to help himself cope 2) he understood from childhood that not everyone wants to be friends with a person who is always sad and has a bunch of open problems, (here they are a little similar to Lotor, because Lotor also keeps all the negative emotions and experiences inside, because he was 100% shown from childhood that this is just a weakness, as I said before, they have a lot of similar problems in some sense, and it would be cool if they could help each other, understanding what it is like, it's literally a mirror), he will talk about how he almost ruined himself and his life with a simple smile, Lotor will be very worried about him (they will worry about each other, while each will drop a verbal trauma bomb dump), Lance tells him such things, as I described above, and Lotor will be at that stage when he thinks that humans generally die from any sneeze๐๐๐, and Lance tormented himself like that, as it turns out. Therefore, with Lotor, Lance's habit of falling asleep for 2-3 hours in the middle of the day, if possible without anything dangerous happpens, will become more frequent, I really like to think that they will sleep together without sexual connotations, + it will be easier for him to fall asleep next to Lotor or in principle with someone (with whom he, of course, is comfortable), because I like the headcanon that Lance had a lot of sleepovers with Hunk as a child, and Hunk spoiled him so much with this, because Lance was very comfortable with him, since it was soft + warm, after which Lance became addicted to this in general, and it seems to me that next to Lotor it will be very warm and comfortable, especially considering their difference in height and anatomy, and right next to him Lance will be able to fall asleep faster.
Ohh, there's also one more thing about his past as a nerd, I have a headcanon that he gets really shy, flustered and blushy if someone start flirting with him in return, because he's not used to this, because he still partially has this geek/nerd mentality like "Wait, is he/she saying all of that to me????"๐ณ๐ณ๐ณ๐คฏ๐คฏ Fanboy! Lance is also true because of his clear admiration for Shiro, he literally called him a legend, I love hiiiiim๐๐๐๐๐ซก And don't even get me started on nerdy Lance x nerdy Matt, this will probably be a post on its own<:3
Okay, this was long, sorry