Bill Cipher Obsession

Okay i keep forgetting I promise not to share the finished ones and then i post them all over discords and STUFF UGH SO HERES THIS ONE 😂

This animation is for a hawksxreader animated fic thingy im working on but animating TAKES SO LONG OKAY

Also low key tumblr wrecks my gif quality so i guess im gonna have to start making them smaller resolutions UnU

♡ - recommended

♡♡ - highly recommended

hinata/kageyama

sun above your shoulders by longleggedgit; (3k, completed)

♡  soft serve by tothemoon; (10k, completed)

don’t mind, one more by bepsi-chan; (3k, completed)

you can be king again by bisexualtrash; (1.5k, completed)

♡♡ ink and whiskey by quitana; (41k, completed)

wings by buu; (4.5k, completed)

♡ gold star, ash sky by bigspoonnoya; (147k, ongoing)

The Way I See It by staticrocket; (18.5k, completed)

Painting with Words and Painted Words by iwillstillopenthewindow; (5k, completed)

oh, we’re so disarming, darling by balconys; (3k, completed)

Don’t run on wet wood by boxofwonder; (6.5k, completed)

♡♡ Crowchildren by crypsis; (58.5k, completed)

♡ again by bigspoonnoya; (15k, completed)

♡ where the night goes by bigspoonnoya; (21k, completed)

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Thaw by peppermint_wind; (40k, completed)

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♡♡ maps, from me to you by tothemoon; (9.5k, completed)

♡ over the pavement that we walked on by daisuga; (2k, completed)

♡ WINTERSTORY: OR HOW THE BOY KING FISHED THE SUN OUT OF THE SKY by perennials; (2k, completed)

interlude: a moment apart by vivahate; (4k, completed)

daichi/suga

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somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond by themorninglark; (5k, completed)

from across the room by kingkageyama; (6k, completed)

♡ winner in the whirlwind by tothemoon; (7k, completed)

snapshots by minijhi; (4k, completed)

♡ Oh, Here We Go (Feel it in My Soul) by spatialsoloist; (7k, completed)

♡♡  Curse 49 by princesskit; (75.5k, completed)

I Don’t Love You (I Always Will) by shingekinoboyfriends; (9k, completed)

good intentions paving company by toyotas; (2.5k, completed)

i do (cherish you) by gabstar; (3k, completed)

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asahi/nishinoya

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silica sand by lilienpasse; (32k, completed)

come and take a walk on the wild side by Authoress; (4k, completed)

tsukishima/yamaguchi

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♡ Do you see what I see? by superpapershark; (1k, completed)

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over the setting horizon by crossbelladonna; (6k, completed)

fools of us all by MemeKonHQ; (2k, completed)

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♡♡ Blood by darkbluebox; (20k, completed)

your voice is my favourite colour by princessofmind; (34k, ongoing)

kenma/kuroo

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A Couple O’ Cats by Crollalanza; (3k, completed)

♡♡ curiosity kills by newamsterdam; (41k, completed)

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Sudden Shower by tsuruko; (3k, completed)

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oikawa/iwaizumi

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♡ ♡ the river runs by tothemoon (12k, completed)

Shiver by Yuu-chi; (16k, completed)

storm sanctuary by pyrality; (1k, completed)

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cross my heart and hope to die by TripsH; (58k, completed)

Food for the Heart by SharkbaitSekki; (28k, completed)

It’s Tradition by MelissaWritesStuff; (4k, completed)

let me count the ways by whitemiists; (4k, completed)

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♡ Take Me To Church by dboys; (43k, completed)

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late summer, early autumn by astersandstuff (12k, completed)

antithesis by sundowns; (10k, completed)

♡ All That Gold by minijhi; (6k, completed)

♡ the histography of a heart by perennials; (793, completed)

♡♡ pride falls by newamsterdam (95k, completed)

*can you tell i love iwaoi?

bokuto/akaashi

♡♡ pieces (series) by therabbitwhisperer; (37.5k, completed)

i’ll return home one day by awkwardedgeworth; (7k, completed)

bang! now we’re even by Authoress; (12k, completed)

♡ Crisis Converted by Aetherdrive; (60k, completed)

♡♡ Quiet by silvercistern; (41k, completed)

“Pizza is the most romantic food, after all” by phantomdieb; (11k, completed)

gravity holds us down (series) by awkwardedgeworth; (9k, completed)

♡ love in the time of wifi by dalyeau; (4k, completed)

♡ neo black by ephemeralsky; (17k, completed)

i put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight by carafin (3.5k, completed)

tea-stained polaroids by dalyeau; (6k, completed)

Pretend by Your_Friendly_Neighborhood_Pigeon; (6k, completed)

the jacket you never returned by daisuga; (5k, completed)

arrogant boy, love yourself so no one has to  by earlgrey_milktea; (7k, completed)

♡♡ h(a)unting by claws and keptein; (16k, completed)

The Fears are Paper Owls by yaboykeji; (10k, completed)

♡♡ the right path by norio; (14k, completed)

♡ ♡ 35mm by tothemoon; (21k, completed)

Growing Pains by aerococonut; (8k, completed)

♡ where will you stand (when all the lights go out) by therabbitwhisperer; (8k, completed)

come sundown, say you’ll remember my name by earlgrey_milktea (3.5k, completed)

♡ how to become a birder by norio (13k, completed)

right in the head by Mysecretfanmoments; (52k, completed)

♡♡ Character Development by silvercistern; (76k, completed)

yaku/lev

cold water, warm embrace by singingdevil; (513, completed)

it’s easier for you to let me go by burritosong; (6k, completed)

Yaku and the Beanstalk by Mysecretfanmoments; (4k, completed)

matsukawa/hanamaki

♡ call me maybe by totooru; (34k, completed)

♡ Things We Left On The Cutting Room Floor by tookumade; (6k, completed)

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skating on thin ice by iwaoidk; (3k, completed)

♡ Parallel Lines by orphan_account; (16k, completed)

plus one on orphan_account; (6k, completed)

Love Doesn’t Come with an Instruction Manual by plumtrees; (3k, completed)

♡♡ boiled frogs by idontknowwhatthisiseven; (91k, completed)

♡ nebulas by tothemoon; (11k, completed)

♡ ♡ rated m on orphan_account; (10.5k, completed)

Matsukawa Issei Contemplates Existence by perennials; (2k, completed)

kiyoko/yachi

sick of losing soulmates by esmaewrites; (7.5k, completed)

spirited away by merryfortune; (6k, completed)

sweet sunshine lives by sunny_umbrella; (1k, completed)

kuroo/tsukishima

♡ pings by barfs; (28.5k, completed)

♡ heretic by Batman (12k, completed)

♡♡ jaywalkers (series) by Batman; (127k, completed)

♡♡ xiv by ronan; (7k, completed)

♡ Leviticus 20:13 by Melissawritesstuff; (100k, ongoing)

The Hunt by WithLoweredVoices; (101k, completed)

maybe we were meant to be by artenon; (10k, completed)

miscellaneous

♡♡ distantly, you hear him by InkWitch - kenma/hinata; (4k, completed)

♡ Connected by Tsucchi - tanaka/ennoshita; (170k, completed)

♡♡ Mannequin Men by surveycorpsjean - bokuto/akaashi/kuroo/tsukishima; (76k, completed)

Phantom Limb by Marks - akiteru tsukishima/udai tenma (5k, completed)

♡ JOIE DE VIVRE (series) and horatio (series) by perennials - atsumu/hinata; (8k, 22k, both ongoing)

the yeah yeah yeah song by drifloon - bokuto/kuroo (4k, completed)

gen/multiship fics

♡♡ but for me, there is a storm by Authoress; (276k, completed)

Saviour by dgalerab; (67k, completed)

♡♡ bell, book, and candle by skittidyne; (763k, completed)

Ask a Stupid Question by darkmagicalgirl; (2k, completed)

♡♡ Come Morning Light by SharkbaitSekki; (354k, completed)

♡♡ meet me halfway home (series) by awkwardedgeworth; (246k, completed)

♡ Sendai Magnitude 10.0 by RussianSunflower3; (79k, completed)

please sign this petition to get dreamworks to allow the vld showrunners to give us lgbt rep.

Every Hiccstrid kiss

You aren’t less homophobic for fetishizing gay ships. You aren’t less transphobic for fetishizing trans people.

tim nods, pushing his salad around. “it’s kind of annoying.” he’s gone vegan ever since he could talk to animals. his cheeks are sallow. “yesterday i absorbed static and i can’t stop shocking myself.”

“you don’t know what from,” shay is detangling her hair at the table, even though it’s not polite. about a second ago, her hair was perfect, which implies she’s been somewhere in the inbetween. “try millions of multiverses that your powers conflict with.” 

“did we die in the last one?” you grin and she grins and tim grins but nobody answers the question.

now she has a cut over her left eye and her hair is shorter. she looks tired and tim looks tired and you look down at your 18-year-old hands, which are nothing. 

they ship out tomorrow. they go out to the frontlines or wherever it is that superheroes go to fight supervillains; the cream of the crop. the starlight banner kids. 

“you both are trying too hard,” you tell them, “couldn’t you have been, like, really good at surfing?”

“god,” shay groans, “what i’d give to only be in the olympics.”

xxx in the night, tim is asleep. on the way home, he absorbed telekinesis, and hates it too. 

shay looks at you. “i’m scared,” she says.

you must not have died recently, because she looks the same she did at dinner, cut healing slowly over her eye the way it’s supposed to, not the hyper-quickness of a timejump. just shay, living in the moment when the moment is something everyone lives in. her eyes are wide and dark the way brown eyes can be, that swelling fullness that feels so familiar and warm, that piercing darkness that feels like a stone at the back of your tongue.

“you should be,” you say.

her nose wrinkles, she opens her mouth, but you plow on.

“they’re going to take one look at you and be like, ‘gross, shay? no thanks. you’re too pretty. it’s bringing down like, morale, and things’. then they’ll kick you out and i’ll live with you in a box and we’ll sell stolen cans of ravioli.”

she’s grinning. “like chef boyardee or like store brand?”

“store brand but we print out chef boyardee labels and tape them over the can so we can mark up the price.”

“where do we get the tape?” 

“we, uh,” you look into those endless dark eyes, so much like the night, so much like a good hot chocolate, so much like every sleepover you’ve had with the two of your best friends, and you say, “it’s actually just your hair. i tie your hair around the cans to keep the label on.”

she throws a pillow at you. 

you both spend a night planning what you’ll do in the morning when shay is kicked out of Squadron 8, Division 1; top rankers that are all young. you’ll both run away to the beach and tim will be your intel and you’ll burn down the whole thing. you’re both going to open a bakery where you will do the baking and she’ll use her time abilities to just, like, speed things up so you don’t have to wake up at dawn. you’re both going to become wedding planners that only do really extreme weddings.

she falls asleep on your shoulder. you do not sleep at all.

in the morning, they are gone.

xxx

squadron 434678, Division 23467 is basically “civilian status.” you still have to know what to expect and all that stuff. you’re glad that you’re taking extra classes at college; you’re kind of bored re-learning the stuff you were already taught in high school. there are a lot of people who need help, and you’re good at that, so you help them. 

tim and shay check in from time to time, but they’re busy saving the world, so you don’t fault them for it. in the meantime, you put your head down and work, and when your work is done, you help the people who can’t finish their work. and it kind of feels good. kind of.

xxx

at twenty, squadron 340067, division 2346 feels like a good fit. tim and you go out for ice cream in a new place that rebuilt after the Phoenix group burned it down. you’ve chosen nurse-practitioner as your civilian job, because it seems to fit, but you’re not released for full status as civilian until you’re thirty, so it’s been a lot of office work.

tim’s been on the fritz a lot lately, overloading. you’re worried they’ll try to force him out on the field. he’s so young to be like this.

“i feel,” he says, “like it all comes down to this puzzle. like i’m never my own. i steal from other people’s boxes.”

you wrap your hand around his. “sometimes,” you say, “we love a river because it is a reflection.”

he’s quiet a long time after that. a spurt of flame licks from under his eyes.

“i wish,” he says, “i could believe that.”

xxx

twenty three has you in squad 4637, division 18. really you’ve just gotten here because you’re good at making connections. you know someone who knows someone who knows you as a good kid. you helped a woman onto a bus and she told her neighbor who told his friend. you’re mostly in the filing department, but you like watching the real superheroes come in, get to know some of them. at this level, people have good powers but not dangerous ones. you learn how to help an 18 year old who is a loaded weapon by shifting him into a non-violent front. you get those with pstd home where they belong. you put your head down and work, which is what you’re good at. 

long nights and long days and no vacations is fine until everyone is out of the office for candlenights eve. you’re the only one who didn’t mind staying, just in case someone showed up needing something. 

the door blows open. when you look up, he’s bleeding. you jump to your feet. 

“oh,” you say, because you recognize the burning bird insignia on his chest, “I think you have the wrong office.”

“i just need,” he spits onto the ground, sways, collapses. 

well, okay. so, that’s, not, like. great. “uh,” you say, and you miss shay desperately, “okay.”

you find the source of the bleeding, stabilize him for when the shock sets in, get him set up on a desk, sew him shut. two hours later, you’ve gotten him a candlenights present and stabilized his vitals. you’ve also filed him into a separate folder (it’s good to be organized) and found him a home, far from the warfront.

when he wakes up, you give him hot chocolate (god, how you miss shay), and he doesn’t smile. he doesn’t smile at the gift you’ve gotten him (a better bulletproof vest, one without the Phoenix on it), or the stitches. that’s okay. you tell him to take the right medications, hand them over to him, suggest a doctor’s input. and then you hand over his folder with a new identity in it and a new house and civilian status. you take a deep breath. 

he opens it and bursts into tears. he doesn’t say anything. he just leaves and you have to clean up the blood, which isn’t very nice of him. but it’s candlenights. so whatever. hopefully he’ll learn to like his gift.

xxx

squadron 3046, division 2356 is incredibly high for a person like you to fit. but still, you fit, because you’re good at organization and at hard work, and at knowing how to hold on when other people don’t see a handhold.

shay is home. you’re still close, the two of you, even though she feels like she exists on another planet. the more security you’re privy to, the more she can tell you. 

you brush her hair as she speaks about the endless man who never dies, and how they had to split him up and hide him throughout the planet. she cries when she talks about how much pain he must be in.

“can you imagine?” she whispers, “i mean, i know he’s phoenix, but can you imagine?” 

“one time i had to work retail on black friday,” you say.

she sniffles.

“one time my boss put his butt directly on my hand by accident and i couldn’t say anything so i spent a whole meeting with my hand directly up his ass,” you say.

her eyes are so brown, and filling, and there are scars on her you’ve never noticed that might be new or very, very, very old; and neither of you know exactly how much time she’s actually been alive for. 

“i mean,” you say, “yeah that might hurt but one time i said goodbye to someone but they were walking in the same direction. i mean can you imagine.”

she laughs, finally, even though it’s weakly, and says, “one time even though i can manipulate time i slept in and forgot to go to work even though i was leading a presentation and i had to look them in the face later to tell them that.”

“you’re a compete animal,” you tell her, and look into those eyes, so sad and full of timelines you’ll never witness, “you should be kicked out completely.”

she wipes her face. “find me in a box,” she croaks, “selling discount ravioli.”

xxx

you don’t know how it happens. but you guess the word gets around. you don’t think you like being known to them as someone they can go to, but it’s not like they’ve got a lot of options. many of them just want to be out of it, so you get them out, you guess.

you explain to them multiple times you haven’t done a residency yet and you really only know what an emt would, but they still swing by. every time they show up at your office, you feel your heart in your chest: this is it, this is how you die, this is how it ends. 

“so, like, this group” you say, trying to work the system’s loopholes to find her a way out of it, “from ashes come all things, or whatever?”

she shrugs. you can tell by looking at her that she’s dangerous. “it’s corny,” she says. another shrug. “i didn’t mean to wind up a criminal.”

you don’t tell her that you sort of don’t know how one accidentally becomes a criminal, since you kind-of-sort-of help criminals out, accidentally. 

“i don’t believe any of that stuff,” she tells you, “none of that whole… burn it down to start it over.” she swallows. “stuff just happens. and happens. and you wake up and it’s still happening, even though you wish it wasn’t.”

you think about shay, and how she’s covered in scars, and her crying late at night because of things nobody else ever saw.

“yeah,” you say, and print out a form, “i get that.”

and you find a dangerous woman a normal home.

xxx

“you’re squadron 905?” 

“division 34754,” you tell him. watch him look down at your ID and certification and read your superpower on the card and then look back up to you and then back down to the card and then back up at you, and so on. he licks his chapped lips and stands in the cold.

this happens a lot. but you smile. the gatekeeper is frowning, but then hanson walks by. “oh shit,” he says, “it’s you! come right on in!” he gives you a hug through your rolled-down window.

the gatekeeper is in a stiff salute now. gulping in terror. hanson is one of the strongest people in this sector, and he just hugged you.

the gate opens. hanson swaggers through. you shrug to the gatekeeper. “i helped him out one time.” 

inside they’re debriefing. someone has shifted sides, someone powerful, someone wild. it’s not something you’re allowed to know about, but you know it’s bad. so you put your head down, and you work, because that’s what you’re good at, after all. you find out the gatekeeper’s name and send him a thank-you card and also handmade chapstick and some good earmuffs.

shay messages you that night. i have to go somewhere, she says, i can’t explain it, but there’s a mission and i might be gone a long time.

you stare at the screen for a long time. your fingers type out three words. you erase them. you instead write where could possibly better than stealing chef boyardee with me?

she doesn’t read it. you close the tab. 

and you put your head down. and work.

xxx

it’s in a chili’s. like, you don’t even like chili’s? chili’s sucks, but the boss ordered it so you’re here to pick it up, wondering if he gave you enough money to cover. things have been bad recently. thousands dying. whoever switched sides is too powerful to stop. they destroy anyone and anything, no matter the cost.

the phoenix fire smells like pistachios, you realize. you feel at once part of yourself and very far. it happens so quickly, but you feel it slowly. you wonder if shay is involved, but know she is not.

the doors burst in. there’s screaming. those in the area try their powers to defend themselves, but everyone is civilian division. the smell of pistachios is cloying. 

then they see you. and you see them. and you put your hands on your hips.

“excuse me, tris,” you say, “what are you doing?”

there’s tears in her eyes. “i need the money,” she croaks.

“From a chili’s?” you want to know, “who in their right mind robs a chili’s? what are you going to do, steal their mozzarella sticks?”

“it’s connected to a bank on the east wall,” she explains, “but i thought it was stupid too.”

you shake your head. you pull out your personal checkbook. you ask her how much she needs, and you see her crying. you promise her the rest when you get your paycheck.

someone bursts into the room. shouts things. demands they start killing. 

but you’re standing in the way, and none of them will kill you or hurt you, because they all know you, and you helped them at some point or another, or helped their friend, or helped their children.

tris takes the money, everyone leaves. by the time the heroes show up, you’ve gotten everyone out of the building.

the next time you see tris, she’s marrying a beautiful woman, and living happily, having sent her cancer running. you’re a bridesmaid at the wedding.

xxx

“you just,” the director wants to know now, “sent them running?” 

hanson stands between her and you, although you don’t need the protection.

“no,” you say again, for the millionth time, “i just gave her the money she needed and told her to stop it.”

“the phoenix group,” the director of squadron 300 has a vein showing, “does not just stop it.”

you don’t mention the social issues which confound to make criminal activity a necessity for some people, or how certain stereotypes forced people into negative roles to begin with, or how an uneven balance of power punished those with any neurodivergence. instead you say, “yeah, they do.”

“i’m telling you,” hanson says, “we brought her out a few times. it happens every time. they won’t hurt her. we need her on our team.”

your spine is stiff. “i don’t do well as a weapon,” you say, voice low, knowing these two people could obliterate you if they wished. but you won’t use people’s trust against them, not for anything. besides, it’s not like trust is your superpower. you’re just a normal person.

hanson snorts. “no,” he says, “but i like that when you show up, the fighting just… stops. that’s pretty nice, kid.”

“do you know… what we are dealing with…. since agent 25… shifted….?” the director’s voice is thin.

“yeah,” hanson says, “that’s why i think she’d be useful, you know? add some peace to things.”

the director sits down. sighs. waves her hand. “whatever,” she croaks, “do what you want. reassign her.”

hanson leads you out. over your shoulder, you see her put her head in her hands. later, you get her a homemade spa kit, and make sure to help her out by making her a real dinner from time to time, something she’s too busy for, mostly.

at night, you write shay messages you don’t send. telling her things you cannot manage.

one morning you wake up to a terrible message: shay is gone. never to be seen again.

xxx

you’re eating ice cream when you find him.

behind you, the city is burning. hundreds dead, if not thousands.

he’s staring at the river. maybe half-crying. it’s hard to tell, his body is shifting, seemingly caught between all things and being nothing.

“ooh buddy,” you say, passing him a cone-in-a-cup, the way he likes it, “talk about a night on the town.”

the bench is burning beside him, so you put your jacket down and snuff it out. it’s hard sitting next to him. he emits so much.

“hey tim?” you say. 

“yeah?” his voice is a million voices, a million powers, a terrible curse. 

“can i help?” you ask.

he eats a spoonful of ice cream. 

“yeah,” he says eventually. “i think i give up.”

xxx

later, when they praise you for defeating him, you won’t smile. they try to put you in the media; an all-time hero. you decline every interview and press conference. you attend his funeral with a veil over your head.

the box goes into the ground. you can’t stop crying.

you’re the only one left at the site. it’s dark now, the subtle night.

you feel her at your side and something in your heart stops hurting. a healing you didn’t know you needed. her hands find yours.

“they wanted me to kill him,” she says, “they thought i’d be the only one who could.” her hands are warm. you aren’t breathing.

“beat you to it,” you say. 

“i see that,” she tells you. 

you both stand there. crickets nestle the silence.

“you know,” she says eventually, “i have no idea which side is the good one.”

“i think that’s the point of a good metaphor about power and control,” you say, “it reflects the human spirit. no tool or talent is good or bad.”

“just useful,” she whispers. after a long time, she wonders, “so what does that make us?”

xxx

it’s a long trek up into the mountains. shay seems better every day. more solid. less like she’s on another plane.

“heard you’re a top ten,” she tells me, her breath coming out in a fog. you’ve reclassed her to civilian. it took calling in a few favors, but you’ve got a lot. 

“yeah,” you say, “invulnerable.”

“oh, is that your superpower?” she laughs. she knows it’s not.

“that’s what they’re calling it,” you tell her, out of breath the way she is not, “it’s how they explain a person like me at the top.”

“if that means ‘nobody wants to kill me’, i think i’m the opposite.” but she’s laughing, in a light way, a way that’s been missing from her.

the cabin is around the corner. the lights are already on. 

“somebody’s home,” i grin.

tim, just tim, tim who isn’t forced into war and a million reflections, opens the door. “come on in.” xxx squadron one, division three. a picture of shay in a wedding dress is on my desk. she looks radiant, even though she’s marrying little old me.

you’re lying on mossy forest floors, slowly transforming into a nymph, your fingers are turning into flower vines, your limbs are bleeding honey & growing thick skins of sepia bark, wings sprout in between your shoulder blades. your breath sounds like the wind. fireflies litter the air above you

you’re hold up in an abandoned church, outside there’s a raging storm & a horde of zombies roaming around, pressing up against the entrance doors. you & a small band of survivors are staying inside for the night in hopes to ride the bad weather out. you take first watch & listen to these tunes on an old ipod while everyone else tries to get some rest & the undead crawl outside, awaiting the taste of human flesh.

you’re in your boyfriend’s pickup. he’s asleep in the passenger seat, you’re driving without a destination in mind & you have the window down as you let the cool night air whip against your face in a state of pleasant delirium you’re on a rooftop somewhere, there’s 5 am air on your skin, streetlights glint like coins at the bottom of wishing wells from where you sit. you’re feeling peaceful for the first time all week

you’re lying in the middle of a crop circle forty miles from your grandma’s old house waiting for aliens to come and abduct you

it’s four pm in the afternoon and you’ve got your head in the lap of the only boy you’ve ever loved & you’re reading jane eyre & he’s sipping on tea & it’s the kind of weather where it’s just warm enough for you to pretend it’s summer & it’s drizzling & you’re listening to the rain beat softly against the windowpanes you’re curled up in bed as it pours outside, there’s a citywide blackout and the last candle you had left has finally blown out, but you feel strangely at peace within the warm, all-consuming dark

THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG AND I STARTED TALKING ABOUT KEITH AND LANCE AS CHARACTERS AND I’M REALLY FUCKING SORRY OH MY GODJFDGYDSFS i get what you’re saying and i have to agree with you so i’m going to analyze some shiz… this scene has definitely opened up the opportunity for keith to actually, properly, reassure lance about his part on the team in a future episode. their development has been gradual throughout the show and this is no different… it’s one step towards something greater. we can’t expect them to instantly have all their shit perfect, you know? it’s, along with the entirety of season 3, changed the dynamic of their relationship. mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual support. they are finally really opening up to each other. 

this whole season, we see lance support and comfort keith A LOT and he does it very well… because that’s the kind of guy he is. he’s an uncle and a good friend. he has a big family, in complete contrast to what keith has. lance has lots of experience with people in general and just… having their backs, comforting and supporting them. lance loves people, he loves interacting with them and he is very good at it. family and friends are obviously extremely important to lance. the team is extremely important to lance.

lance is caring and he can read people/situations well, most of the time. i say most of the time because he never picked up on pidge being a girl even though everyone else did. he’s social and charismatic. he lifts people up, he is there for people, he makes people feel at home, in his own way… he lightens the mood with jokes and tries to diffuse the tension with jokes/changing the subject. or just by being… him. just by being lance he can turn the mood around. he can bring out the best in people and he can probably bring out the worst in them, too… i think he just brings out the most in people. this really applies to how keith is with him. lance can bring out a lot of different sides of keith, we’ve all seen that. he fires keith up, but makes him go soft and tender, too. keith is usually very stoic and closed off but lance breaks down his walls so much and it’s really great.

lance grounds people, he can cheer them up just by being who he is, just by being there. he is a constant. team voltron tends to playfully tease him or act annoyed with the things he says sometimes, but i know they are extremely fond of him. i wish they wouldn’t tease him as much as they do because i do think it gets to lance sometimes… but the problem with that is that he has never voiced his insecurities to them before… so they don’t even know that their teasing is possibly having negative effects on him, they don’t know that they’re actually hitting a sore spot. they’re friends and friends tease each other so it’s hard to like, be pissed at them because i can guarantee if lance actually voiced his insecurities to everyone… they would stop with the teasing, or at least, not tease him about stuff that would be harmful to him. i think one of the reasons why lance doesn’t voice his insecurities to everyone is because he doesn’t want them to worry, he just wants everyone to be happy and have fun… he doesn’t want to add onto all the other shit they’re dealing with.

lance uses a rifle, he’s the sharpshooter and he now uses a sniper, too… his role is one that offers support for his teammates and in a way, let’s them use the fullest of their abilities because with someone watching their backs… they don’t have to worry about someone getting the jump on them. they trust in their sniper. they trust in lance. a sniper covers their teammates and allows them to go all out. allows them to focus on what’s in front of them. lance has always excelled in ranged fighting and analyzing the situation/his surroundings and coming up with a plan that will work best for everyone. lance is an expert at supporting people, in battle and every other way.

but keith… keith is, like he even admitted himself, a loner. social interaction is not keith’s strong suit, never has been and that hasn’t changed. he is a lone wolf by nature, through and through. this is slowly changing and he is slowly opening up as he grows to view team voltron as his friends/family… but at this point, it is still there and a part of him. it most likely always will be, to some extent. keith has no family besides shiro and we know shiro is the only one who never gave up on keith… we don’t know much about his past but it is very safe to assume that keith has… never even really had a friend before voltron. he has had nowhere near as much experience interacting with people like lance has. he is very distant and closed off from the team compared to everyone else. most times when keith does seem to open up to the others, it’s during a mission or because the other person talked to him first. he does not tend to seek people out on his own because he is, after all, a loner. keith is not even that good at talking about his own feelings, he has a hard time even being in control of them sometimes… as we’ve seen when he blows up on pidge in season 1 and when he blows up on everyone in season 3. though, keith does actually admit his faults to lance this season… that is a big step for keith. that is a big step for their relationship.

keith has a hard time understanding things people say/do sometimes and he isn’t good at picking up on references or anything. lance is always a part of these scenes. the first time this happens is the “i say vol, you say tron…” scene in season 1. keith tries to play along but he doesn’t understand and lance is patient with him and tries to help him out. it doesn’t work so lance just tells him they’ll work on it. also in season 1, we have the laser guns scene. keith directly asks lance “what was that?” and lance tells him. in season 2, this progressed into lance explaining to keith, on his own, about the “hunter becomes the hunted” thing… that then progressed to when we got hunk and pidge talking technobabble and whatnot in season 3. keith instantly looks to lance for an explanation but this time, lance has no idea either. i just really like this progression shfsyfsg i think it’s important when analyzing their relationship. anyways, keith just isn’t… a social butterfly like lance and he has no fucking idea what he’s doing in regards to interacting with people most of the time.

keith uses a sword, a very quick and to the point weapon. very in your face. keith is a warrior, always on the front lines. brute force, pure instinct and skill. not thinking before acting, sometimes not even thinking about the team, as we saw on full display at the beginning of season 3. keith just goes for it, full swing. a sword does not offer support, it can be used in supportive ways, but that is not it’s purpose. it’s purpose is to go in and kill. keith is not an expert on supporting people, in battle or in any other way.

i think we have to remember all of this about keith and lance when analyzing the keith’s room scene? because yes, lance was obviously looking for a better answer than what keith gave him… he wanted to hear that he was important to the team and that he contributed. that he’s a great paladin and he doesn’t need to worry about his place on the team. but like i said, keith isn’t… good at this… he’s been better at it at times, he’s made progress… like with hunk in “the belly of a weblum” when he calmed him down and near the end of the episode when he was complimenting him but… i don’t think we can expect keith to instantly be a pro at this stuff at all times, especially because this is lance. it’s possible that keith was very confused because lance always seems so confident to him… that’s what lance lets people see, until now. this is the first time lance has come to any of his teammates about these insecurities. the way keith says “what are you talking about?” supports this… he sounds genuinely confused as to why lance would even think this about himself… and it also supports keith, in his head, probably being like wtf dude you are so important and skilled and you are my impulse control and my friend… BUT KEITH DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SAY ALL THAT BECAUSE HE ISN’T! GOOD! AT! THIS! keith tries to reassure him, he’s just trying to tell him not to worry because he doesn’t NEED to worry because keith knows he’s IMPORTANT… but the way he says it comes off like he’s just brushing lance’s concerns away and telling him to forget about it and focus on his missions… but i don’t think he is? we’ve seen how keith has grown to care for lance, so i know he’s trying to help him, he just really doesn’t know how. it has been a point in the show to show us keith’s poor social skills due to him being an orphan and a loner. 

lance still looks sad when he’s leaving keith’s room because that’s not what he wanted to hear but this next scene is what really made this whole interaction more special and important, for both of them…

when keith says “and lance, leave the math to pidge” it is obviously him trying, in his own way, to at least cheer lance up a little bit. he did not have to call to lance, he could have just let him exit his room and that’s that… but he didn’t and that’s important. not to mention, this whole scene was just very trope-y lmfaosjdfb… this is keith teasing lance, trying to joke with him and lift his spirits even just a little bit… keith probably tried more of joke-y approach because their whole relationship has been full of lots of teasing… he took something from their conversation they just had and tried to make lance smile. like i said, keith isn’t good at this stuff so i think he’s relying on their past interactions to guide him. he is not literally calling lance dumb or useless or anything by saying “leave the math to pidge”… math is one of pidge’s strong suits, they both know this. everyone knows this. when keith said this, as well as keith teasing lance to cheer him up, i read it more as him meaning something like “leave the math to pidge because you have your own strong suits and don’t need to worry about that or your place on the team.” keith is bad with words and he is also a man of few words, in the first place. 

in this same episode, very soon after this scene takes place actually… they need to take the lions out, but just like lance said… there are six paladins now that “shiro” is back and only five lions… but keith now knows that lance believes he’s the one who will end up with no lion. before anyone else even has a chance to say anything in regards to there being more paladins than lions, keith voluntarily gives up the black lion to “shiro” and decides to stay at the castle so lance will not have to give up red. i don’t think keith did this simply because he didn’t want to lead anymore now that “shiro” is back, because he could have easily still said he wanted to take the red lion while “shiro” takes black… but he didn’t, he left red to lance. like, the fact that these two scenes took place so close together is most likely so people could make this connection, i think. it just… doesn’t feel like a coincidence that keith told lance “things will work themselves out” and then proceeded to offer being the one to stay back so lance didn’t have to leave red. of course, black ends up not letting “shiro” in because he’s a fucking fake ass bitch, so this didn’t even end up mattering but like… it’s still important and i think people should at least think about the connection to those scenes.

keith knows how talented lance is (and if he didn’t already know somehow, he definitely does now because later in this episode, lance literally saves keith’s life by shooting a blade out of MID FUCKING AIR… that shit is HARD… keith even STOPS mid battle to SMILE SOFTLY at lance and admire him and his skills… acxa is able to run right past him and he almost gets blindsided by ezor because of this… this boy is fucking whipped). keith has experienced for himself in episode 6 of season 1 that lance is very good at coming up with plans when he, himself, would rather rush right in. i think he really admires that in lance because he can’t do that. he is not the plan guy, lance is. keith is all instincts and pure skill. keith has come to know how skilled lance is and he has come to know lance. not fully, of course not, but lance is no longer a nameless face, he is no longer a “who are you?” to keith… lance is the closest person to keith after shiro. he is keith’s newfound impulse control which was shown many times this season. they are friends. lance is the first person that was able to make keith smile this season, when he was extremely upset and angry about losing shiro and the whole leading voltron thing… but lance makes him smile. he makes him smile with one single line, “i’m not the goofball! i’m like the cool ninja sharpshooter.” like i said, keith knows how skilled lance is. i’m sure keith has seen these skills in action over the course of the show… they are a team, it’d be impossible for him not to know that lance actually is an extremely skilled sharpshooter. 

when keith scoffs and says “are you joking?” (accompanied by The Soft Look) i don’t think he’s saying it to be like, “really? you’re not the sharpshooter, funny joke” because keith knows that he is… i think it’s more like keith thinking “but you ARE a goofball, too” because lance is. lance is a goofball and keith probably likes that about him judging from the look on his face… like, lance isn’t JUST the goofball, of course, but he still is a goofball. if you only listen to what keith said and don’t look at his facial expression and don’t think about the progression of their relationship over the course of the show, it’d be easy to think he’s being a dick or something… but combining it with his expression and everything else we know about their relationship, it changes it. teasing like this has always been shown to be part of their relationship. for example, when keith teased lance back in episode 6 of season 1 when he got his lion back for him… along with the many times lance has teased keith. 

after keith says that, lance gets all defensive and says, “i’m being completely serious when i say, i do not want you to lead me anywhere.” (even though this drastically changes later on) and then keith says, “i don’t want to be the leader! that’s just what shiro wanted!” and then realizes he just told them all that and looks upset. i don’t think he even meant to blurt that out, but lance riles him up… lance opens him up, even if he didn’t mean to. lance looks very upset, as well, after keith says this… he genuinely looks concerned for him. i’m sure lance can relate to keith losing shiro, since he has a whole family back on earth. honestly, i think one of the reasons why it’s so hard for some people to pick up on the fact that these two care about each other… is because they are always bouncing back and forth like this. that’s why this season was so good for them, that rivalry is fading away. that’s why you have to take it all in with everything else about their relationship and progression as teammates in mind.

ANYWAYS, back the “leave the math to pidge” scene. this scene is purposefully framed in a way so we can see how lance is starting to view keith… because we are literally viewing keith through lance’s eyes. that is how the shot is set up. i didn’t realize it at first honestly, but when i watched this scene, i couldn’t shake the feeling that it was so… different and special somehow… i just couldn’t figure out why, until i read this post and it all hit me full force and honestly made me tear up. i’ll reference some things that were said but i highly recommend you read that whole post when you finish this. 

we know lance started off as viewing keith as his rival but over the course of the show, that has been changing… and this scene changes it even more, so much more… in a very big way. keith, in the first place, is usually very closed off… we all know that he crosses his arms in front of his chest a lot, people commonly do this to put up a sort of wall between them and the people around them. i actually do this when i’m in a new situation with new people and i am uncomfortable. it’s not that hard to believe that keith would do this too, considering his loner nature. he also seems to be glaring most of the time, even in the background of scenes… the shot of keith when lance is looking back at him is… very open. keith is not coming off the way we have gotten used to him being, which could be classified as very standoffish. keith is not coming off the way lance is used to seeing him. he is seeing him in a completely new and different way.

previously in this scene, while lance is voicing his concerns and his insecurities, keith still has his arms crossed in front of him. there is still a barrier. he has his arms crossed right up until this shot: 

whether it’s subconsciously or consciously, keith is trying to appear more friendly and welcoming towards lance. this goes along perfectly with him teasing lance, he’s trying to cheer him up and this heightens the effect. makes lance feel safe. he is completely open and his expression is so soft. everything about this shot is so fucking soft. he doesn’t even have his jacket on… they made sure to show him hanging it up before lance entered the room and i think they showed us that because they really wanted to get across the change in keith and lance’s relationship in this shot. keith is not seen without his jacket that often and i just… refuse to believe him taking it off didn’t serve a purpose for this scene, specifically. they are both allowing themselves to be vulnerable around the other. lance voicing his insecurities to keith, out of all people (yes because he’s the leader now, but “shiro” was back at this point, lance easily could have gone to him… idk man), lance finally voicing his insecurities to a teammate and it happens to be keith? that’s important. and keith just… everything about keith in this fucking scene is so unlike how keith normally appears. normally, the less clothes someone has on, the more vulnerable people feel… they feel exposed. keith’s whole stance is open and this shot was also literally coded as romantic… here’s an excerpt from that post i linked before.

When a character is being admired by another character, getting a shot through their eyes of their subject from the waist up, or thighs up, or knees up, etc, is a very common way of displaying that admiration in a visual sense.

this why so many people are comparing this shot to goddamn dating sims. that’s what it reminded ME of! the way this shot is set up is so commonly used in dating sims. i haven’t played dream daddy myself, but i’ve seen a lot of people specifically compare it to that dating sim. this shot feels intimate, it is intimate. we are witnessing lance starting to view keith in a different light because like i said, and like how that post i linked emphasizes, we are seeing keith through lance’s eyes. we’re not just seeing him through lance’s POV, but directly through his eyes. keith is the center of lance’s focus and this shot? just makes keith look really beautiful? which fucks me up because that is how lance is seeing keith. we then get lance returning the same softness keith expresses towards him:

even as lance is turning away, the smile is still on his face. i do think lance is sad and disappointed that he didn’t quite get the reassurance he needed and wanted… and someone definitely still needs to explicitly tell him he is important to the team and acknowledge his strengths and skills. keith still needs to learn how to comfort him better but i’m 100% sure we’ll get that in the future. regardless of lance not receiving the support he needed to the extent he was looking for, i think he is genuinely happy in this shot. i think keith genuinely made him feel a little better. keith did cheer him up a bit and make him smile, in his own weird ass way. remembering how the shot of keith was from lance’s eyes, the way he was seeing him… it’s safe to say that lance is starting to develop romantic feelings for keith starting, or at least really taking off, from right here.

With 44 days left until August 4th, or the release of Voltron: Legendary Defender season 3, this tumblr is all set up and ready to go.

We’re setting up a countdown until the release of VLD S3 starting July 5th.

How does this work?

As we approach the release date of season three, each day we have a new prompt for artists, writers, editors, cosplayers, and anyone else to use to contribute to the fandom. We have a prompt for 30 days, 20 days, and then 15 days - 1 day left.

Post works with the hashtag “vld s3 countdown” and we will reblog them - or feel free to submit directly to the blog so that we don’t miss it by accident.

The schedule of prompts is posted under the read more. Got any questions? Feel free to drop an ask! Be sure to check out our faq as well.