Looking at my upcoming schedules and crying because i'll be making enough money to survive and maybe have a little extra usually

Looking at my upcoming Schedules and crying because i'm working 40 hours a week and I can see my comic-making dreams get slowly crushed lile in one of them hydraulic press videos 🥲

the man out of time | steve rogers

first ask anon asked: Omg requests are open ☺️. Time Traveler reader meets Steve in the 40s. Steve and her hit it off but she skips around time and just doesn't want to stay, even though she really likes Steve. She goes back to modern time and bumps into Steve again. They are both super confused so they talk to each other again, they still like each other and he ends up learning of her powers and it all makes sense. Sorry for the long paragraph hehe. Hope you are well! 💌 -first ask anon

note: i was sooo fucking excited to write this it just took me a little while!!! of course this request would be your lovely idea first ask anon!! this might not be historically accurate but it is what it is. it's cute n fluffy n funny i hope y'all enjoy :)))

also here’s a playlist i made for it!!! click here ♡ 

the man out of time | steve rogers + reader

         You were really just trying to go back a few years. But your time travel powers worked a little too well. Like, you were fully in another decade - your existence hadn't even been a thought at this point in time. And yet, here you were, decked out in a rockabilly swing dress that you didn't even own. Apparently with time traveling came the plus of looking culturally relevant. Never mind the fact that you didn't know where you were, and didn't know anybody here. At the very least, you knew how to get back. But it would be too dangerous to try going back to the present until a few hours had passed.

    So for those few hours, you would be here - in this crowded dance hall, where many were gathered for some type of party. It seemed to be an important party though, because there were lots of people in uniform walking around and many important looking women and men. You remembered that you were, of course, in the 40s, during World War II. Did this mean you were a part of history? Shivers ran down your spine at the thought.

    You were leaning against the wall just observing your surroundings, taking it all in. Even if you hadn't meant to get here, that didn't make it any less interesting. A bit stressful? Yes. But your thirst for knowledge, which got you labeled "mad scientist" in your hometown (though really you were just a bookish girl with an insatiable need to know and learn more), overran all your nervous thoughts.

They could only hold you back. You wanted to know so much - to ask questions, socialize, even explore. But you decided that just watching was your best option. You didn't want to cause a glitch in the matrix by talking to someone and running the risk of changing the outcome of history as we know it.

     So you were minding your business, leaning against the wall with your foot settled on the wall behind you, gazing around the room. Gazing at history. For years you had only seen this era in black and white, now it was fully blooming in color. It was such a marvel to see.

    A deep voice caught you off guard as a man sidled up next to you,

    "Parties aren't your scene either, huh?"

     Naturally, you responded, because that was your first instinct, forgetting that you weren't supposed to talk to anyone. Still gently gazing out at the crowd of people in front of you, you responded, a distracted smile on your red painted lips,

    "You could say that."

You turned to face the man, about to excuse yourself just so you could refrain from talking to him (because again, "possible glitch in the matrix!" your brain screamed at you). And as you turned to face him, it was like his body appeared before his face. He was huge, hulkish, even, almost unnaturally so. His shirt buttons were nearly popping off, and your eyes were doing the same. But his body couldn't possibly be any comparison to his face, his existence.

You doubled back, having to refrain the potential wild reaction of throwing your hand over your lips. Still, you ogled at him in surprise and shock.

    Earlier you had suspected that this party was for important people, but what you were seeing now wasn't near anything you could expect. Because standing in front of you now was the Captain America. As in Steve Grant Rogers, the man out of time.

    Your heart was racing, and your brain had to take a few steps just to catch up with your body's reaction. Here Steve Rogers was in the flesh, someone you couldn't even imagine speaking to as regularly as this in the present. Someone you could only dream of seeing. And knowing that you were talking to Captain America had you realizing that you were genuinely a part of history. That now, whatever the word "now" meant, you existed in some little compartment in Steve Rogers' huge, not yet frozen, brain.

Was this something that should've worried you? Yes, and it did. You didn't even want to talk to a regular person, now imagine all the things that could happen with you talking to Captain America. A quick calculation in your fast running brain told you that there were endless possibilities, and not all of them were good.

     But your shock and intrigue clouded your better judgment, and you were standing in front of him with nothing better to say or do, just stammering.

     "Cap-Captain," you breathed out hard, nearly gasping for air. You could only imagine how stupid you must look. You suddenly wondered if your reaction made you look out of place. Then you wondered how out of place you looked to begin with, and suddenly it became a bit hotter, and the collar of your dress felt suffocating and tight. "Captain, Steve. Captain America."

    You swallowed hard, and felt your eyes travel down to his nametag bearing the title "Cpt. Rogers." As if he needed one, you almost scoffed. You were somewhere between being incredibly scared and going full on geeky fangirl. You wouldn't call yourself a stan of the present day Captain America, but it was still pretty damn cool to see him, and your naturally nerdy disposition had you fascinated with the fact that you even got this chance.

     Steve raised his brows, but had a smile on his face.

   "That's me. It's nice to meet you," he put out his hand for you to shake and you took it, your entire body nearly trembling with some electric shock when you felt his strong hand grasp yours in a warm, friendly handshake.

    "I'm... shaking your hand. Wow. This is fu-" you cut yourself off, remembering who you were talking to and the conservative nature of the time period you were in, clearing your throat. You also realized that beyond profanity, there was no way in hell you could talk how you normally would in modern times. You'd be found out, or throw everyone off. You continued, "This is amazing. I... really, I can't believe it. It's an honor to meet you."

    Glancing around the room, you started to notice that there were signs indicating that this gathering was essentially, a celebration of Steve and the other soldiers. For all your smarts, you had definitely missed a huge clue of where you were.

    Steve liked you already. You were a breath of fresh air. Lots of people acted over-excited to see him, but it was different with you. It was genuine, thrilling, and kind of cute. There was something about you. It wasn't off, per say, but it was almost strange, in a good way. Like you were walking around with a completely different air around you, like you didn't fit in, but somehow it worked. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

     "Well, thank you," Steve nodded, and he glanced down at your hands, still melded together.

But it seemed you were the one who wasn't letting go, squeezing hard. He raised his brows, then looked up at your face, which gave away all he needed to know. You were transfixed, studying him, and too in it to bring yourself back to earth. All these things, though, he greeted with a warm smile and a warm heart.

    You realized that you were gawking, and that you were squeezing his hand far too tight, as if you were the one with enhanced strength. You laughed nervously and dropped his hand, running your own against your forehead.

     "My apologies," you murmured.

     "All the same. Where are my manners, I haven't even asked you your name yet," he grinned, and you really tried quite hard not to get lost in the depth of those blue eyes, so charming and naturally friendly. But you couldn't help yourself, your eyes darting between his and blinking fast, twitterpated.

    Seeing him up close really put things in perspective. He was handsome, he was Captain America, and he had talked to you for no real reason. You were now determined to find out why he came up to you before the end of the night. Then you would go back.

    "I'm... Y/N."

    "Y/N. It's nice to meet you, Y/N," Steve nodded, and you felt your cheeks go warm with blush.

You felt stupid and girlish, blushing to death in front of this hunk of a man, knowing he probably got this all the time. You pushed hair behind your ear, your eyes gazing down at the floor,

    "So... how- how are things?"

You were well aware of how awkward you sounded, hyper-aware, even. But Steve found it endearing, and he liked talking to you.

    "Things?" he repeated, lightly poking a bit of fun at you.

You chuckled to yourself and looked up at him, a small smirk of a smile on your face. You worked up the nerve to make eye contact with him rather than have your eyes flicker all over the place, and you let out a hefty breath through your nostrils.

    "Like, life. Is what I meant," you shook your head playfully, poking fun at yourself, and Steve grinned, laughing quietly.

    "I know, I'm just teasing you. That is a heavy question, though."

     "Really?" you were intrigued - the part of your brain that ran nonstop wanted to know more. "How so?"

Steve shrugged,

      "I guess no one really asks me that. Not these days."

       You snorted,

     "I can imagine it's a lot of bullshit and work all the time."

You only realized what came out of your mouth when you caught sight of Steve's face. He was a mixture of shocked, offended, and honestly? Fascinated. It didn't take your swearing for him to realize that there was something wonderfully different about you, but hearing such language just confirmed his thoughts further. And he appreciated your brutal honesty and ability to resonate with him, even if it came with language. And surprisingly, it didn't make him recoil, it pulled him in.

    "Wow," Steve dragged out the word - it was all he could see, and looked at you with an impressed smile.

     You bit down on your lip,

    "Woops."

    "You know... we should probably be dancing," Steve joked, and you shook your head playfully, but also frantically. There was no way you'd be able to keep up with this kind of dance, and you were not going to be the girl who everyone could see Steve Rogers dancing with.

"Oh no," you waved your hand warily. "I couldn't possibly. I'm— I'm a terrible dancer. Sorry."

"That was a joke. I'm not too good myself," Steve chuckled, and for a moment you were each just laughing, looking at each other, gazing into each other's eyes as if you were the only two at the event. As if Steve didn't have probably a million responsibilities just within this night. He was enjoying your presence a lot for someone he'd just met.

You folded your arms, bouncing gently on the balls of your feet and swaying back and forth,

"If you don't dance at these things, then what do you do?"

Steve brought his arm up, scratching the nape of his neck as he squinted a little in contemplation. As your eyes followed his movements, your brain blanked -- all you could spell out right now was "muscle" and "bulge." You found yourself wide-eyed, blinking harshly.

"Make speeches, be put on the spot, talk work."

"Anything fun?" you questioned, and he laughed, appreciating the challenge.

"Leave with a girl?" Steve replied, although it was more of a hopeful question.

You grinned, looking up at him. Was he seriously courting you right now? It seemed as though nothing should feel impossible to you, not when in the year of 2020 you had time traveled back to the 40s. But this felt unreal.

"And do what?" you smiled, and Steve became slightly flustered, then placing his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth. He cocked his head to the side, again replying with a question,

"We could go on a walk. Visit my favorite diner for milkshakes on me?"

You couldn't help but beam at all his suggestions, your eyes glimmering as yours locked with his. You nodded, much too calmly in comparison to the way you felt inside - inflamed and jittery. Nevermind that you had fallen into exactly what you were trying to avoid - it was a beautiful fall anyway. Besides, who would you be to turn down Captain America?

"That's just fine with me. Let's get out of here, captain," you quipped, taking the initiative and linking arms with him, feeling his strong arm wrap around yours.

Talking and walking with Steve couldn't have been any more fun. Somehow it was like you both freed yourselves, rebelling and escaping from something that didn't suit you before. You didn't know what was to come next, and you certainly hadn't expected this. Anything could happen. Although you were nervous, it was just the right amount. You were excited, you felt natural walking the streets with him, arms linked together, gazing up at him like a puppy. Just being in the presence of such greatness felt like a dream.

And Steve was just as wonderful as they made him out to be, even more. In the time you spent together, you'd learned so much about him. He was kind and bright, made you feel comfortable and safe. You pulled humor and lightheartedness out of him, made him feel comfortable. He was glad to be here with you, away from everything else. He was proud of himself for working the nerve up to talk to you, for not ignoring the fact that he was so drawn to this stranger. And it was the best decision he'd made that night.

You were each strolling down the dark streets, only lit by street lights and the dim lights that came from people's windows as they got ready for bed. It felt reassuring to know that even while you were surrounded by unfamiliarity, you could find resonance in all those people, looking through their windows and wondering what they were having for dinner, imagining the ladies taking off their jewelry as they cuddled up in bed with a lover.

"I feel like I'm gonna be on a sugar high," you chuckled, sipping some of your milkshake.

Steve grinned down at you,

"Mike's Milkshakes will do that to you."

You sighed, glancing around at everything. It was beautiful here in the dark, even in the midst of war, with everything going on. Before, you could only imagine what these nights would be like. You wondered if you would've intentionally traveled back to this time instead of by accident. Considering the way things were outside of this moment in particular, you probably wouldn't. But you were glad you did. This felt like a beautiful mistake.

You pulled Steve onto a corner of an alleyway, the two of you basking under the glow of the street light.

"Steve," you said his name gently, but as if it were of the utmost importance.

He looked down at you, becoming nervous himself, feeling his heart beat in his chest. You were undoubtedly beautiful, and the two of you were more alone than you had ever been in the past two hours you had spent together, quite literally just walking and talking, sharing stories and time together. He felt close to you, towering over you, and it wasn't any less nerve wracking for you.

"Yeah?" he uttered out, and you found yourself opening and closing your mouth, trying to find the right way for the words to come out.

You just smiled, reaching your hand up and sort of awkwardly patting his shoulder, then letting your hand trail down his chest gently. He looked down at your hand, then back at you, waiting for your next words.

"Thank you. This night was so beautiful, I can't thank you enough."

At the corner of Steve's lips tugged a smile, and his eyes grew needy and hopeful,

"Don't tell me this is you saying goodbye."

You felt a pang in your chest as he said that. You hadn't considered the fact that you would have to say goodbye at some point, and you knew that meant goodbye forever. But you had been so caught up in your wonder that you hadn't thought of the moment to say goodbye. And yet, it seemed like that moment was creeping up on you.

You didn't want to look at it with sadness, it was as natural as could be, but you still wished you could stay for a little longer. You knew you had to go though, and as magical as this was, you didn't want to live in a world where you had no basis. You belonged in the modern world, it was where you should stay.

"Almost," you laughed slightly. "I do have a question for you, though."

    "Sure," Steve shrugged.

It was the one thing you really wanted to know: why you? Why had Steve chosen to talk to you, of all people? He didn't know you and you weren't boasting an important title. So, why you? You wondered. If you had some secret power to attract people like Steve Rogers into your life, you wanted to know what it was.

    You cleared your throat before you asked this question, suddenly feeling a bit shy,

    "Why did you come up to me? And talk to me... it's been on my mind all night."

Steve took in a breath and shoved his hands in his pockets.

    "I... don't know. I guess I saw a little bit of myself in you, crazy as it sounds."

     "Captain America is a wallflower?" you retorted jokingly, and he chuckled, shaking his head.

     "I just mean, you seemed like you were trying to find a way. And I'm constantly doing that. And something about you... is different. I like that."

You knew exactly what that something was. You literally didn't belong here. You weren't from here. Steve must have sensed that, even if he didn't fully realize it.

    "Hm. Well, whatever it is, I'm glad you approached me because of it. I've had the best night, really. I wish I could stay longer."

    "Oh, don't go. Not just yet," Steve grasped your hand and squeezed.

    "I can't. I have... somewhere to be," you smiled tearfully as you looked at your hands intertwined.

    Steve swallowed. He didn't intend on getting hooked on you as fast as he did, but he did. And now that he was hooked, you were leaving. It was a bittersweet moment, but he understood you had to go— it was like you had some purpose elsewhere, and that was clear to him. It was almost strange.

    "I understand," Steve replied, smiling at the touch of your hand on his, your thumb rubbing against his thumb. "I'm glad we met, Y/N. Can I see you again?"

You grinned. You certainly couldn't make any promises,

    "Maybe. But for now I have to go."

    "At least let me walk you home," Steve pressed, and you shook your head.

    "It's much further than I think you'll want to go," was all you said. Steve would've pressed more but for some reason your answer felt definite and true.

Good night Steve."

    "Good night."

Before you knew it, you were reaching up on his tippy toes to kiss his cheek, feeling his skin turn red hot beneath your soft lips. He held onto your waist gently as you kissed his cheek, and when you pulled away, you stayed there in his grasp for a moment, eyes lingering on his. You wanted more, so much more, but you had had enough already.

    You didn't want to get cocky with time. You patted his chest and took one last look at him with a smile and glimmering eyes. Then, you turned away. As Steve watched you walk down the alleyway, it was almost like you vanished into thin air.

| | |

It had been a week since your beloved encounter with Steve Rogers. It still didn't feel real, in fact you wrote down every detail in your diary so that if it were a dream, it wouldn't wither away. But it was as real as real could get. It wasn't the time traveling that surprised you, you knew that to be natural. It was the experience you'd had on your trip.

You couldn't tell anybody, not that they would believe you to begin with. You didn't want to tell anybody anyway. This was your experience for keeping. You wouldn't share this with anyone else.

    You were on your way to work, the memories of that night still fresh in your head, a cup of coffee in hand. You wondered if Mike's Milkshakes still operated. Like Steve, you too lived in New York. There was no reason for it not to exist. You would be sorely upset if it didn't - it was truly one of the greatest shakes you'd had in your lifetime.

     You were looking down at your phone and typing, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. The hustle of New York was nothing, you could handle it.

    Until you couldn't. You nearly got knocked on the floor by someone who you bumped into- or maybe he bumped into you, it was hard to say. Either way, it was a wild collision. And your coffee fell, and spilled on the both of you.

     What was funny was that the two of you were apologizing like crazy, stumbling to pick the things up that had dropped, speaking over each other.

    "Oh my god I'm so sorry," you stammered. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

    "All the same. Where are my manners?" the man asked, and you chuckled with a scoff.

     "New York will do that to you."

You were each kneeling on the ground and picking things up, scatterbrained. But you both looked up at each other at the same time, catching each other's eyes. And in that moment, something clicked for the two of you. Even when you left that day, you weren't really leaving. Because Steve was right here, a week and a few decades later. You blinked, tried to make sure your mind wasn't playing tricks on you. But it really was him. Captain America. And he wasn't dressed in full attire, but he was still there.

    You made a face, furrowing your brows. All the calculations in the world couldn't have prepared you for this happening. You stared at him, speechless.

    He broke the silence, staring at you just as intensely. The crisp blue of his eyes was piercing, staring into your soul.

    "I know you from somewhere," he said, with absolute certainty.

Your heart dropped. This was exactly what you wanted to avoid when time traveling. Not that you even expected anything like this to happen. You became bashful, shaking your head and blushing, hurrying to stand up, but Steve followed your motions as you stood.

    "No," you shook your head and laughed lightly, looking down so he wouldn't see your face.

    "I'm sure I do..." he squinted, still staring intensely at you.  You looked up, pushed your hair out of your eyes. You couldn't handle his eyes on you, not when you weren't even looking at him.

     His eyes locked with yours again and he seemed to be exploring your eyes, wide and scared and nervous, hopeful. You hoped he'd say he was mistaken. You know you would love another chance with Steve, but that night was to be fully over with. For reasons you already stated.

    But gazing deep into your unforgettable eyes, which had glimmered so brightly, it was like a switch went off in his brain, bringing him all those years back. To that one night. He squinted. How could he remember? It seemed so artificial, like it was a memory that had been falsely implanted into his brain. But that was the effect of you- you had changed his history.

    He opened his mouth, then closed it again, then dared to speak,

    "Y/N."

He said it as if it was an answer, not like he was asking if it was you. Again with absolute certainty.

You pouted, almost cringing as you answered, squeezing your eyes shut. You felt disappointed in yourself, for letting this happen, for opening this window of possibility to begin with. Your life and his life would be changed more than you were ready for.

    You sighed and took in a deep breath,

    "Hi."

Steve was still furrowing his brows at you, gazing at you with every intention,

    "I don't understand. How..."

    It surprised himself that he remembered you, just based off of one night. But you were hard to forget. And it was even more mind boggling that he was seeing you again, the both of you in the same shape as when you had first met. Had you been frozen too? No, it couldn't be. It had to be-

    "Time travel," you blurted. Your heart was racing. "I... I time traveled. I can... do that."

      "What, that's your show and tell?" Steve joked, and you felt a little less worried. At least he wasn't angry. And it felt better talking to him in present day, at a time where you both belonged.

    "You could say that. Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, that night was a mistake."

    "Mistake?"

    "I- I mean... it shouldn't have happened. And it was great, really, I can't stop thinking about it. But it shouldn't have happened. I didn't even mean to... it just happened. I just got lucky."

Steve looked at you. All those years ago he had sensed that there was something different about you, he just couldn't put his finger on it. Now he knew.

    "I knew there was something different about you that night. You were glowing with this... this thing... modernity, I guess," Steve nodded.

You seemed good enough. He couldn't sense any bad intentions from you, and he had a good feel for those things. It was just you. It was why the situation didn't concern him any further.

    "I'm surprised you even remember me," you laughed.

    "Remember you?" Steve repeated, incredulous. "How could I forget?"

He held eye contact with you when he said that, and it got you blushing, shrinking down and shaking your head,

    "I'm sorry."

    Now Steve raised his brows,

    "I can't see what for."

    "I just didn't mean for any of this to happen. I feel like I've disturbed you."

You apologized, but when you said it it made you realize you didn't really have much to apologize for. Steve didn't seem very upset... at all. It was just your brain telling you that you could mess things up.

    Steve chuckled quietly, shaking his head,

    "No... you haven't. And you didn't that night, either."

    "Mhm," was all you could hum out.

    "But if that's your idea of disturbing me... I think you should disturb me some more. Maybe you can disturb me over coffee. I'll make up for it," he gestured to the spilled coffee on the ground.

You had probably never blushed so hard in your life. Once again, Steve Rogers was actually hitting on you. And all the silly worries and blabber from your brain couldn't stop the feeling you got when you talked to him, when you were with him.

    "Right now?" you asked stupidly, feeling entranced by him yet again.

He smirked playfully,

    "Yeah. Unless you wanna travel back in time for it."

note: THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE!!!

Making Friends

I had the sappiest, sweetest fic idea, and here it is. Post season 7. 

Under a cut for length. 

~~~

There was nothing on TV. Granted, Keith supposed after fighting off a war lord and a giant robot, he couldn’t really expect much to be on television save for the news, but he was BEYOND bored at this point. He had been ordered by Shiro and the doctors to stay in bed. His concussion was worse than the other paladins, and his ribs were pretty badly injured when they found him.  

Allura’s hips had been dislocated, Lance had a concussion and a fracture in his left leg, Hunk had a concussion – he was the least injured of the paladins due to Yellow’s incredible armor – and Pidge had a concussion and several sprained limbs.  

They were lucky, Keith knew that. They should have been dead. They almost were dead, if what he heard was right.  

But he was so bored. His mother and Kolivan had to leave during the daylight hours, in order to help with repairs and debriefings, and Shiro was essentially running the Garrison at this point, with the help of Sam and Iverson, of course. Coran had been by Allura’s side non-stop, and while Romelle and the space mice had visited a few times, Keith didn’t have much in common with them. They were sweet, but it was awkward when they were all alone together.  

Due to allergies, Kosmo wasn’t allowed in the hospital wing, and Keith missed him desperately. He wasn’t allowed to leave his room without an escort, and his ribs hurt so much that he wasn’t sure he wanted to.  

Keith was lonely.  

He sighed and turned off the TV, leaning his head back against the pillows and shutting his eyes,  dragging his hands down his face. The hum of his monitors behind him were comforting but almost grating, and he would have given anything for anyone to come visit him.  

He’d even take Slav at this point.  

What he got instead was the pitter-pattering sound of feet and then the squeaking of his bedroom door. He lifted his hands and his eyebrows in time to see a little girl peep her head in, eyes widening when she saw that he had spotted her. “Um...hello?” he tried.

She squeaked and covered her mouth with a bunch of paper she held clutched in her chubby fists. She couldn’t be more than five or six years old, and her hair color, her eyes, the familiarity of her face...

“You’re...Lance’s niece, right?”

The girl grinned, revealing a missing tooth, and bounced into the room, bobbing her head. “Yup!” she declared, sidling up to Keith’s bed like she had known him for years. She stuck out a hand, very formal. “My name’s Lindy!”

Keith cracked a smile and took her hand, shaking it firmly. “Hi, Lindy. Did you get lost looking for Lance?”  

She shook her head, nose wrinkling. “Nah. Everyone there is booorrrrinnnnngggg. All they wanna do is talk about fighting and stuff. And Alonso won’t give me a turn with the helmet.”  

Keith wracked his brain. “Alonso is...your brother?”

“Yeah! You wanna color?”

Keith blinked, staring down at her hands. Sure enough, alongside the wads of paper she had a box of very tattered, very old looking crayons. Keith couldn’t help but wonder how long she had been holding onto them during the war, but he shook it off. “I’m...I’m not a very good artist,” he managed, accepting the red crayon that she offered him.  

Lindy grinned again, blinding, and before Keith could say anything she had clambered up in the bed alongside him, snuggling contently into his side. “That’s’okay!” she bubbled. “Me neither! But Papa says practice makes perfect!”

Keith chuckled and twirled the crayon between his fingers, relaxing against the warmth of the small child. “I suppose he’s right. What should I draw?”

Lindy tapped her chin with her purple crayon, her lower lip puffing out thoughtfully. “Hmmm...ooh! You can draw Voltron!”  

Keith coughed to hide a laugh. “Uh, that’s kinda hard.”  

“I’ll draw him too, don’t worry! Here’s a green and a blue and a yellow annndddd a black! Now we have all the colors. I’ll race ya!”

She really was related to Lance, Keith mused in amusement as he reached for the black crayon and started drawing Voltron’s head. The pigtails, the giggles, the faint freckles on her cheeks, her laugh, her personality – must have been a family thing.

He moved on to the red lion, wincing as the shape turned into a sort of oblong noodle, and then green, down to blue and yellow. Lindy finished well before him, signing her paper with a flourish of the pink crayon, and then eagerly bounced on the bed as he finished up Yellow’s head.  

“That’s good!” she declared, shoving the pink crayon into his hand. “Now you gotta sign it!”

Keith did as she asked, a smile flickering on his lips, and when he was done he was surprised to get a blank piece of paper shoved in his face. “Another!” Lindy squealed. “This onnnneee....can be whatever you want it to be!”  

Keith hesitated, watching as Lindy bent low over her page - “No peeking!” - and started coloring furiously. He turned back to his own page and reached out, picking up the black, blue, and purple.  

His fingers moved for him, brain struggling to make shapes out of the lines he was putting on the page. This probably wasn’t great for his concussion, but honestly Keith couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this at peace. Olkarion, maybe.  

The lines turned into fur, which turned into eyes and a tail and ears, and then a very cartoonish but recognizable version of Kosmo was staring up at him, and Keith felt a small swell of pride in his chest. He had drawn a lot during his year in the desert, but there was a severe lack of art supplies – and free time – in space, so he had fallen from practice.  

“That’s your dog!” Lindy cried in delight, and Keith jumped, almost having forgotten she was there.  

Keith chuckled and took the offered pink crayon, signing his name at the bottom, a little neater this time. “Yeah, it is. I miss him.”

“Where’d he go?”  

“He can’t come in because some people are allergic to him in this wing. That’s okay though. Coran and my mom are taking care of him.”  

“The orange bushy one?” Lindy asked.  

Keith stifled a laugh. “That’s the one. What did you draw?”  

Lindy blushed and held out the drawing. “It’s for you.”  

Keith stammered a bit but took the offered paper. He stared for a moment, not quite comprehending, and then tilted his head, face softening. “Is this...us?”

Lindy beamed. “Yeah!”  

On the page, from left to right, was a big yellow circle with a smiley face on it’s head and an orange line across it’s head. He was holding hands with a much smaller circle, bright green, with two black circles on the face. 

She in turn held hands with a red square that had a dark splotch of black on top of its head and a triangle on its face, holding hands with a blue square that was slightly more detailed than the rest of the figures, the legs long and gangly and the hair a brown mop. 

The blue square held hands with a pink triangle that had a blue dot in the center of it’s forehead, the skin colored in with a dark brown crayon. Four tiny circles sat on top of and around it, and it was holding hands with a tall black square with a scribble of gray on the top of the head.  

In the back, Keith could see an orange figure and a purple figure waving, and he recognized the mustache and the markings on the faces.  

“This is...great, Lindy,” Keith murmured, something coiling in his chest. He handed her his Kosmo drawing silently, and she took it like it was a priceless artifact, setting it on his bedside table gingerly before turning back to him.

She beamed, her dimples showing, and Keith broke character for just a moment to wrap an arm around her shoulders and squeeze. “Thank you for keeping me company,” he said, soft. “I was pretty lonely before you came.”

Lindy clicked her tongue. “Lance says whenever people are lonely you gotta hug them. But he also says you gotta ask first, cause they might not like that. Can I give you a hug?”  

Keith smiled, cheeks warm. “Lance is pretty smart,” he admitted. “Yes, I would love a hug. But careful, okay, my ribs are still hurt.”  

Lindy nodded very seriously and crawled up onto his lap, leaning gently across his torso and wrapping her chubby arms tightly around his neck. Keith lifted a hand to her back and rubbed it, feeling a bit awkward for a moment before he settled into the hug.  

Lindy was remarkably gentle, shifting when Keith hissed or winced in discomfort, until eventually she was snuggled up on his other side, doodling hearts and stars aimlessly on her last piece of paper, sprawled across his lap. “Is space pretty?” she asked, her jaw breaking in a yawn.  

Movement at his door made Keith look up, only to find Lance hovering there on crutches, a genuine grin on his face and surprise in his eyes as he took in the sight of the two of them. Keith offered a sheepish smile and Lance rolled a hand, telling him to continue.  

“Space,” Keith said, lowering his voice a bit and rubbing a hand up and down Lindy’s arm as he locked gazes with Lance. “Space is the prettiest thing there is, I think. The stars glitter for light years, and the planets are wild and colorful and unlike anything you’ve ever seen. There are mermaids and giant bugs and aliens that can talk to trees. They’re all cool, in their own ways.”

Lindy hummed, her drawing slowing, and Keith let his thumb circle her shoulder. “I think the nicest thing about space though is that I made some very, very good friends.”  

Lindy yawned. “Can we be friends, Keith?”

“I’d love that.”  

I don't ship kallurance but I LOVE being nosy about other people's projects. Whatchu got in the works 👀

I’m really mad cos I tried writing a long-ass response to this twice already!!! But my browser crashed the first time and then windows hit me with a surprise update the second lol. I had torewrite it so I’m sorry for the late reply :(

Kinda long so I put it under a cut:

Here’s an old summary for the superhero au fic (Title is almost definitely gonna change):

tbh I’m not greatat writing romance and I don’t find it particularly fun to write?? So more like kallurance-leaning slightly-shippy gen but w/ever not important OKAY SO first the backstory and oh boy it’s very convoluted and doesn’t make much sense right now so strap in: 

I was thinking the story would be set in acyperpunk-style AU, wherein Voltron is a team of underground heroes trying totake down the Galra- a sinister corporation who have essentially taken oppressive controlof the city through widespread use of their technology.  

Back when the GalraCorporation were just coming into power, team Voltron was first employed byAltea Industries- Galra’s rival company- as a heroic task-force charged withprotecting the citizens of the city. Before the story begins an “accident”happens  at Altea Industries (obviously a deliberate attack organised byGalra) that left the founder of the company dead and his daughter Allura, heirto Altea industries and member of the Voltron force, in a coma she’s yet towake up from. This is two years before the story begins.

For a short time afterthe incident, the four remaining members of Voltron (Keith, Lance, Pidge and Hunk) tried to keep the teamtogether and continue their work as vigilante heroes. They officially split upafter Keith leaves the group to look for his best-friend-slash-psuedo-brother Shiro, who went missing and isbelieved to have been taken by the Galra. Keith’s decision to leave caused anargument between him and Lance, which led to a rift in the team and the othermembers drifting away for their own reasons.

Keith was captured by theGalra in his attempts to find Shiro, and has spent a year imprisoned and subjectedto the torture of having his powers being experimented on. It’s revealed at somepoint that Keith let himself be captured deliberately so he could look forShiro on the inside- while he was there he discovered that Shiro has beenbrainwashed by the Galra and is working as one of their law enforcers. He doesn’t recognise Keith at all, and Keith realises that without Shiro’s help he’s stuck as the Galra’s prisoner. 

After the other three split, Lance is left as the soleactive member of Voltron, and has spent the two years prior to the start of thestory working to undermine the Galra and protect the city as much as he’s able,turning himself into a wanted fugitive in the process and living isolated inhiding. He’s the only one still in contact with Coran, who is protecting Allura while she’s in a coma, and they both spend the years watching over her and never losing hope that she’ll wake up.

I had some complicated plot stuff planned where Altea, before it was attacked, was in the middle of producing a piece of super-tech that would allow them to take down the Galra and restore freedom to the city. The tech shared the name “Voltron” with their team of heroes, and worked as a power-augmentation device that would allow the team to mentally connect with one another and boost their powers. The attack on Altea industries doubled as an attempt by the Galra to steal it, but somehow when she was caught in the firefight Allura used her astral projection ability to merge her consciousness with the Voltron device. The real reason she won’t wake up in present-day is that she’s still mentally connected to Voltron, which is locked away deep in a Galra facility, miles away. 

So that’s where everyone’s at! The story revolves around Lance trying to resurrect team Voltron- finding and reconnecting with his old teammates and convincing them to take another shot at the Galra- while also dealing with everyone’s separate trauma and the fact that poor Shiro is still mind-controlled and basically acting as the main villain for the entire first act. 

The story begins withPidge contacting Lance for the first time since Voltron’s disbandment, claimingthat she’s been sent information from an anonymous source containing Keith’swhereabouts, and instructions on how to break him out. 

Pidge and Hunk reluctantly agree to team up once again for the sake of rescuing Keith, and they break into the Galra research facility he’s being held in.

During his time as a prisoner Keith learnt that Voltron is being kept in the same facility as him and the Galra are running tests on in. Mid break-out he convinces the others to find and retrieve it.

They rescue Keith, and when they reconvene at Coran’s hideout and bring the device within her range, Allura manages to separate her consciousness from it and finally wakes up. Yay! Everyone is confused and horrified by this revelation!! Allura, you’ve been a brain-ghost infused with a piece of stolen technology this whole time?? And the Galra have been messing with Voltron without realising you were hitching a ride?? That’s gotta have consequences, right??

Probably. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AND NOW THE SUPERPOWERS:because that’s the most fun part of superhero aus obviously

I wanted to try and be abit more creative with the powers and stay away fromelemental/bending type ones lol. The only one I’m pretty set on is Allura, the others’ powers are things I’m still working out and would love some help with if anyone has any cool ideas! I’m totally okay with everyone having more than one superpower. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Allura: 

One of the world’s most powerfultelepaths/psychics. Can communicate telepathically, “astral project” herconsciousness to other locations within a certain perimeter, and read minds. 

Perhaps has some of her VLD-canon Altean powers eg. can communicate withanimals. 

She can also manipulate other people’s thoughts and perceptions to createillusions. Can’t physically shapeshift but can create the illusion that she looks different. 

As well as abilitiesof the mind, she has a strong connection with spirit/essence; eg. can senseother’s whereabouts or tell when they’re being influenced by an externalsource. Cannot heal physical injuries but has some sway over ailments of thespirit and mind. 

Power augmentation through a conduit: Being connected to Voltron for so long merged her essence with it, so now she can wield it as a conduit to boost people’s power, or like,,, direct and control Voltron’s innate power-boosting abilities at will via her telepathy (tbh I’m bullshitting a bit here while I throw ideas around lol)

Keith: 

If anyone in this AU is gonna have element-based powers it’sgonna be Keith- either he has fire affinity (can create and control fire +heat) or I could ramp up the angst and have him go full-on Jean Grey Phoenixmode ehehehe. 

The other main idea I had was power negation- upon physical contact he can cancel other people’spowers out. This would be interesting if it’s something he doesn’t havefull control over, and I reckon it’s something the Galra would take a lot ofinterest in using to their own advantage- would also be an interesting oppositeto Allura’s power augmentation ability. 

The other things I had listed aspossibilities for Keith are all endurance/enhancement-based powers eg. Enhancedspeed, dexterity and agility, night vision, regenerative/accelerated healingetc. All of these could be innate or they could be powers given to him by theGalra in an attempt to turn him into a weapon like they did Shiro.

Lance: 

Also not settledon anything for Lance but I did want him in part to have more compulsion andcharisma-based powers that fit his more sociable personality. He hascharmspeaking, a hypnotic ability that lets him influence the thoughts and actionsof the person he’s talking to. Even when he’s not using the ability he has away with persuasion. 

I also like the idea of him having omniligualism (thepower to speak all languages) or a similar variant that allows him to be easilyunderstood by and communicate with anyone despite language barriers.

I had an earlier ideathat everyone’s powers, where applicable, would be based on their original lion’spowers in vld canon? I’ve mostly scrapped that at this point but I do stilllike the idea of Lance having a sort of echolocation type of thing- maybe morelike he can feel the vibrations of structures around him and instantly puttogether a mental-map of the area. If he knocks against the outside wall of abuilding then he can feel out the layout of the interior, along those lines.Think Toph Beifong.

I also wanna give him low-level telekinesis because I think he’d had fun with that lol.

Shiro: 

I actually likethe idea of Shiro not having any powers originally; the Galra imbued him withsome abilities through his prosthetic arm that he wasn’t born with. The worst one isthe power to manipulate and deconstruct organic matter; the Galra intended forhim to use it to destroy and kill, but I had a thought I liked a lot where Shiro takesownership of it after they save him from the brainwashing, and he eventuallylearns to use it to heal and becomes the team’s go-to doctor.

I might scrap the idea ofhim not originally having any powers, depends if I can come up with anything.Maybe I can go back to my they-have-their-og-lion’s-powers idea and give himteleportation, and he eventually learns how to do it mentally and can astralproject.

Okay actually NightCrawler is my favourite superhero and I’m gonna fuckin let Shiro nightcrawl,fight me.

Pidge: 

Technopathy,obviously!!! She can do pretty much anything with technology, and I wasthinking that similar to VLD canon where Pidge adds her own modifications to herlion to give it new powers, in this AU she makes a lot of devices of her ownthrough her technopathy that give her access to a lot of manufactured superpowers eg. Invisibility/cloaking,electricity manipulation, some other cool stuff idk yet.

She also has eideticmemory and low-level telekinesis which she mostly just uses to help herretrieve objects in her lab when she’s hyperfocused and doesn’t wanna get up. 

Hunk: 

Hunk is an empath, which makes him goodat intelligence gathering because he can detect when people are lying throughtheir emotions. 

Also had animation/”life spark” down as a possibility, which isthe ability to bring inanimate objects temporarily to life; his creationsfollow his directions but their sentience levels are very low and they have noemotional intelligence. E.g he could hypothetically create an army out ofshopping mall dummies to fight for him, which probably wouldn’t do much physical damagebut would work as a good distraction while he hightails it outta there. Alsowould be a very good intimidation tactic cos that would be a terrifying sightahaha

Idk I don’t have a lot ofother good ideas for Hunk someone help me

Coran:

Enhanced memory, though not photographic or near-infalliable like Pidge’s is, and he’s kinda useless with it (mostly just usesit to subject people to long-winded anecdotes about his crazy life)

Omnilingualism. Thinks this makes him a gooddiplomat but historically it’s just gotten him into trouble with more people.

He’s spent the entire time since Voltron’sdisbandment guarding Allura while she’s asleep, protecting her from assassinationattempts, so it’d be cool if he had some other kind of power that allowed himto do this easily? Not anything flashy, an ability that a lot of people wouldunderestimate or dismiss as harmless, but something that’s let him keep themboth safe while she’s so vulnerable.  

AND THAT’S ALL I’VE GOT FOR NOW I hope it sounds interesting??? It’s kinda a complicated mess atm but I have fun thinking about this AU and I’d like to do something with it soon.

It’d be a mess of cheesy sci-fi drama and angst and found family so like,,, all good things. Thank you for asking about it I love to rant about my projects lmao

Voltron Season 4 Rant!

Beware, the following will contain spoilers about season 4 of Voltron! So don't keep reading if you don't wanna be spoilered!

So, I'm tempted to say I just binge watched Voltron “season 4”. But there'd be two lies in that statement.

I can not consider watching 2 hours of anything a “binge watch”. Even of cartoons, I have more intense casual watches, really. If you invest less time than you'd do on a movie, then it ain't a binge.

And by all intends and purposes, this was not season 4. This was season 3B.

Especially after watching it, I am even more set that they should have never released season 3A in August. They should have kept it and aired all 13 episodes of season 3 in October, as had been the original plan. Why they split it is completely beyond me. Particularly since it was just two months early. If we'd have the original release date be in say January, then yes, airing half of it in August would have been a nice break from the too long hiatus. But because of two lousy months?

This season would have benefited from being aired as one season. Because 3A was... lacking. A lot. I literally wrote an entire rant about how it was lacking. And some of the problems were actually well-fixed in this “season”. To have all 13 episodes together would have improved the experience as a whole.

Now, lemme get into the season!

What they're doing with Keith makes me mad? Like? First they make him the Black Paladin and leader even though he's not qualified to be a leader, he's not emotionally ready to be a leader and he doesn't want to be a leader. And now they just... remove him from the plot by essentially making him abandon Voltron? I get that what he was doing with the Blade was definitely more important than the showpony-ing the others did, but when he went on a mission while the others needed him on an actual mission, it was basically a dick-move and would have barely been tolerable if he had still been the Red Paladin, but for the leader to leave his team hanging in favor of a mission that literally anyone could have attended, because the Blade has a lot of people at hand... I didn't like that they made him act that way. I like that Shiro became the Black Paladin again through that, but I just can't believe Keith would deliberately let them hang like that and then just... leave completely.

So, yeah, I entered this 'season' with grumpiness after that first episode.

But holy shit, that second episode was so emotionally loaded. I'm so glad Pidge found her brother again. It was due-time, really. And they conned me into actually believing it was Matt's grave there, for a while. Like. Damn. Really well written and their reunion was so sweet.

And having Matt with the team was just... adorable. // Random thing: I've been contemplating Matt/Allura for a while now and it made me stupidly happy that he was instantly into her?

Also: KALTENECKER IS BACK. Also made me stupidly happy, because I love that they have a cow and after she didn't appear at all last season – and how does one hide a cow – I thought they'd have gotten rid of her. But Coran and Allura trying to introduce themselves to Kaltenecker might just be the cutest, dumbest, most adorable thing in this show yet? And farmboy!Lance is a definite giant yes from me, by the way. So is traumatized!Allura and traumatized!Coran. If you're unfamiliar with the human oddity of drinking other creature's milk, it must freak you out a lot. Brilliant.

Though Matt and Pidge being nerd-siblings is a close second when it comes ot most adorable thing. Oh gods, I've been grinning like a maniac the entire time as Pidge showed Matt around the castle, because it was just so sweet and such an emotional pay-off to Pidge's sub-plot. And Matt just fanboying about anything his little sister does is just so incredibly awesome.

Though... The glasses-thing made me furious. Like. Matt needed the glasses... and then the Garrison... fixed his eyes and he gave his specifically for his eyes prescribed glasses to Katie, who then just... wore them. If your eye-sight sucks and you need glasses, then they will not be just wearable for other people. I always assumed they just had regular glass as lenses and were part of the costume but Pidge grew so used to wearing them that she kept them – which I understand, I developed a certain fondness for mine real quick too and don't know if I'd be comfortable without them anymore. But that she just kept her brother's actual glasses that were for his eye-sight and casually wears them even though she didn't need any glasses at all before that – and even if, the chances that she'd need the same prescription as Matt is ridiculously low – it... it infuriates me as a person who does wear glasses and like... knows how they work? I mean? How do you not know how glasses work?

The “Voltron Show!” episode however was just really very exhausting.

For one, I truly don't like that Coran is just that comic-relief. I mean, comic-relief is good, but I'd like to see more of Coran than just “the guy who sweats a looot of slick and that's funny” and now “the idiot who actually buys brain-empowering seeds and uses them” without anyone really noticing that he's going completely crazy and is not Coran anymore. This was pathetic on his character but also on the rest of the team who took way too long to catch up with this shit.

Not to mention that I really can't relate to them putting on silly shows instead of saving the damn galaxy. Like. Sure. Promoting themselves and going to visit other planets is important, but the way they did it in the first two seasons was far better than “Voltron on Ice”. What the heck.

Though, I mean. Lance. On the rope. All the yes to that.

Okay, though. Other thing. The Galra-plot has completely lost me at this point. Lotor is actually Haggar's son. How... does he not know that she's his mom? That Haggar and Honerva are the same person? How do they act like petty prince and distant adviser he doesn't care about. The Galra sub-plot is literally making less and less sense with every episode involving it. From the random “Ooops, he has a son who was banished but we don't really explain why or where he was”, to the “And now, as he has barely been the enemy for half a season, we re-banish him again”, with the incredibly retconned feeling “Zarkon and Haggar were married all along but neither remembers”, including the “Me and my generals seem to be real close and that team is actually really cool but I’ma kill one of them without batting an eyelash”, all the way to “And now Lotor’s ready to join Voltron”... I'm sorry, but that is just getting weirder and more messy by the day. It doesn't seem the least bit consistent and more like they're winging it from episode to episode...

Now, to round it all up, let me get back to what had been bothering me the most about Voltron since... season 2 now. And what still bothers me the most about the season.

You literally only have seven main characters. How do you not manage to treat them equally?

Look. I know I complained about season 2 that it was turning into the Keith Show and that, while season 3 went a bit more balanced, still gave Keith the most spotlight – not to say that I don't want him to get spotlight, but I want the others to get ome spotlight too. And I sure as shit didn't mean to completely remove Keith for nearly the entire season. What the heck was that. Not to mention, “Oh, the Paladins are really very special and the lions don't pick anyone”, even though they do. They switch so easily around now that Keith abandoning the team doesn't even cause any problems because all of a sudden Shiro has his connection with the Black Lion back because it's convenient.

Shiro is a close second when it comes to importance and getting screen-time, but a real plot... he doesn’t get that much either. I had expected season 4 to give us some PTSD support sub-plot for him after he was captured and tortured again. I also start subscribing to the fan theory that Shiro isn’t Shiro, because he doesn’t... act like Shiro anymore.

This season at least had pay-off for Pidge, who at least also had her sub-plot.

Allura, occasionally, weights in a bit more.

Coran only gets the spotlight to be a ridiculous comic-relief.

But Lance and Hunk are pathetically underrated and underused.

Last season, Lance at least had the emotional thing of focusing more on his insecurities for like an episode, but even that didn't get an entire episode to be focused on, or have like the team care about it.

This season, both Lance and Hunk just had some throw-away random lines to be funny. They did absolutely nothing that had emotional attachment or importance or made them anything more than cardboard-cut-outs standing in the background to fill the empty space.

And four seasons in, that's getting really pathetic, for the writers.

Lance, at least, has his occasionally hinted-at self-worth issues, but it's due time he gets at the very least one episode to fully focus on them and on him. Maybe his psychological issues affecting him in a way that makes the team notice and be there for him. Particularly this season where they literally did nothing much aside from touring the galaxy, there would have been time to have an emotionally heavy episode, or anything, to focus on Lance.

But with Hunk it's even worse. He doesn't even have that. He had his cooking that got a bit attention at the mall-episode. He had the connection to Balmera that didn't get enough attention either. Heck, now that Rax and Shay returned for brief shots this season, he didn't even hug either of them. Hunk is by all interpretations a background character and it makes me actually angry because you literally only have seven main characters, how do you not manage to balance them enough to give them at least an illusion of equal attention? It's getting ridiculous.

Honestly, if the next season doesn't give Hunk and Lance actual sub-plots and more depth, this show is really going to drive itself against a wall.

I was also missing the team-dynamics. While Matt and Pidge got their interactions, all the other characters didn’t really. There... were no bonding momendts. No big emotional pay-offs. Klance had such cute moments in the first three seasons, now... they were barely even on the screen together. With the lion-switching of last season, I really-really- really expected to have a lot of Klance bonding over their lions this season.

The friendships between all the Paladins came way too short.

Yet by all intends and purposes, this was not a season. This was season 3B and it should have been released together with season 3A, because as one arc, there would have been more pay-off for what 3A sat up. Not to mention that 6 episodes is just plainly pathetic and doesn't qualify as a season.

Well, it is finally here. The entry we all knew was coming. Anyone who still breathes air at the time of this writing knew this entry was inevitable. Hell, this is the thing that started all this. This book, these entries, and the whole purge that is sweeping its way across the many kingdoms. Why the word "mana" is now said with the same fearful tone as "plague." Why the humming ones now hunt down unhinged mages, draining and cutting away the forbidden muscle. This is what caused it all. Those who rebel against the new rules and regulations turn to me and ask "why?" Why do I idly stand by and watch fellow magic users be hunted down and drained? Why I do not join the rebels and fight against the choking limitations that have been put on the academies and schools? Is it because I have been exempted from these rules? Is it because I secretly wish to reign in power over my fellow magic users? No. That is not why I let this all happen. You want to know why? Because we were so damn close to losing it all. The land, the kingdoms, the freaking world itself. It almost consumed us all, so yes, that is why I let these purges occur without a complaint. I even advocated for them! Mancers are a threat to us all, each one capable of unlimited destruction and carnage. Some are more dangerous than others, indeed, but that is no excuse. This is why these entries are written, this is why this tome is meant to be consumed by the public. To know what monstrosities dwell in the realms of magic. What horrible things writhe within our very necks, waiting for a moment of greed and pride to set them free. There is a reason these rules have been set, and why the old regulations are coming back even harsher than ever. We cannot let this happen again. We may not be able to control its birthing, like what comes from the fire, ice and water, but we can snuff them out before they reach that magnitude. There is a reason why Ferromancy has been forbidden for decades. We now just recently saw for ourselves what it can lead to. Look at our broken lands and shattered homes. Ferromancers show us what truly dwells within the realms of magic. What is there even to say about Ferromancers? What else is there new to share? These are beings that can bend and control metal at will, regardless of its type or density. That is what they do when they start off, but it quickly spirals out of control. Other forms of Mancer Syndrome may be controlled or contained, certain precautions taken to prevent infection. Ferromancy is not like that. It is not like any others that we have ever seen. You can't control it, we can't control it. We don't even know where it comes from. All other Mancer Syndromes require someone to delve into those specific magics, or have some kind of obsession with that specific class. Hell, they all have to be able to wield magic for it to even work! Ferromancy doesn't work that way, though, and we have no clue why. Anyone can become a ferromancer, even if that person has no magical talent whatsoever. it just...happens. Some people may read into the forbidden art and become tainted, while others may just simply wake up one day with the power over metal. There is no rhyme or reason to it, and it is terrifying. 

Once someone develops powers in ferromancy, it quickly spirals out of control. There is no way to slow the disease's progress, it just festers whether or not you have been using that specific class of spells. At first they obsess over metal, hoarding as much as they can. Then they start wearing it, creating armor that is often too heavy for them to physically carry. At this point they rely on their powers to move and function, as the armor is too cumbersome for physical movement. With this, ferromancers move in awkward, stiff movements, with heavy, clomping steps,  like a person who has weights strapped to every limb. Then, the ferromancers begin to cut. Driven by some unknown cause, ferromancers while start to carve away their flesh and limbs, substituting them with iron and steel. Since they can move metal with ease, these replacement limbs are essentially upgrades. A ferromancer will hack and slash more and more away until they are left with bone and organ, using their powers to supply their bodies with the resources they need. Eventually, a ferromancer will be withered hunks of flesh, entombed in a solid suit of armor. This is still not enough for them, as they then begin to eat it. Ravenous, they will seek out any metal to devour, stuffing shards and ores into their metal mouths, melting it down in the burning furnace that has replaced their stomachs. Large metal objects will be melted in their hands, using heat and ferromancy to turn the sturdiest objects into pudding, which they then greedily suck down. Consumed metal will reform onto their bodies, causing them to grow bigger and bigger with each meal. Thicker shells will begin to form, sharp blades and spines will jut from their carapace and new metal limbs will sprout from their bodies. As they eat and grow, their bodies become so heavy, that they have a hard time moving with four limbs. So more limbs are constructed, new body segments are added, and the ferromancer continues to crawl through the kingdom, devouring all metal and shredding all life. In these advanced stages, ferromancers no longer appear human, but more of some obscene metal insect with random limbs and body parts, seeking for more food to stuff into its burning maw. When they start to feed is when they are at their most dangerous, as they can quickly grow in size and strength with each meal. Their powers over metal will allow them to pull in food from distances away, sucking steel into their maws and orifices without lifting a finger. Whatever they cannot consume or control, they destroy. While their bodies quickly become covered in blade, claw and razor, their deadliest tool is their ferrofluid. Ferrofluid is named that because it appears to move and flow like silver liquid, but it can harden and sharpen like steel at a moments notice. This ferrofluid can be shaped and formed into any weapon, blade or object that can physically exist, usually resulting in strange combinations of weaponry. This can create quick spears that pierce shields then suddenly sprout more points to impale the blocking enemy. Tentacles that snare swords and then harden to yank away the weapon. Small prisons of flowing steel that can surround enemies and then shred them into piles of meat. They can move as fast as a serpent, and strike as hard as a troll. The only limitation of ferrofluid is that it must have some connection with the ferromancer's body in order to function. Ferrofluid cannot be launched like an arrow, or else it will liquefy the second it completely loses contact with its body. Ferrofluid also has a limited range. It appears that ferromancers have some field of magic that surrounds them, in which the ferrofluid can function in. Inside the field, the fluid can do anything. But outside the field, it falls apart. The size of this field varies with the stages of the ferromacer. Beginning or humanoid ferromancers have a radius of 10 to 15 feet. The more advanced stages can achieve almost 50 feet. At those stages, the ferrofluid is also used to help carry their bulk and snag quick, fleeing meals. Ferrofluid is difficult to make, so it requires large amounts of metal and power for the user to make even a cup of the stuff. The farther along the sickness, the more they have, and the more dangerous they are. Fighting a ferromancer is not a pleasant thing, but it is something that has to be done. Ferromancers only seek more metal to consume, and nothing else. There is no end state for them, they will just eat and eat. Even as their bodies reach crushing, immovable weights, they will continue on. The most important thing, is that ferromancers should be killed before they can reach these large sizes. While they retain a humanoid shape and size, they can be dealt with by a sufficiently skill mage. Once they reach larger sizes, they become more difficult to take down. Do recall that the Scourge of Steel required over two dozen highly trained magic users, five Cryomancers and three Pyromancers to take it down. The process itself ended up killing almost half of us. So it is vital that it never gets out of control like that ever again. For taking on ferromancers, remove all traces of metal from your person and surroundings. If you have the slightest bit of metal on you, the ferromancer will have a distinct advantage. No matter how trivial it may seem. During our first attempts against the monstrosity, we had a few rookies in our ranks that made that mistake. One wizard had not taken off his wedding band, believing that it couldn't cause any harm. During the fight, the ferromancer used its control over metal to knock the man's hand as he was firing an ice spear, sending the missile directly into the throat of a nearby mage. It then tightened the ring around his finger, and used it to pull the wizard towards its burning maw. That was the day I saw a man's head get pulled into three bloody pieces, his twitching body sucked into a grinding, pulverizing mouth. Though primal in its behavior, ferromancers are not dumb when it comes to using metal in a fight. Another mage had forgotten he had a metal filling in one of his teeth. The filling yanked itself out of his jaw and was shot through his brain like an arrow. Helmets can crush down and pop skulls like grapes, swords can swing around and gut their wielders. Any bit of metal that is brought into battle will be used against you, so just don't do it. The next thing to worry about is their ferrofluid. It is lightening fast and capable of taking any shape. Figure out their range and keep out of it. That is another good rule in general: keep as far away from the ferromancer as you can. If they grab hold of you, you are dead. If the ferrofluid is locked onto you and you are in range, you need to get out of its field as soon as you can. No matter how fast you are in your moves and blocking, the ferrofluid will adapt and find ways to pierce your defenses. Walls of solid rock and shields of ice will slow it down, but it is very crafty. One of our clerics in our early attempts was butchered by this ungodly liquid. She had thrown up plenty of good defenses, but was not watching where she was standing. A small trickle of ferrofluid slithered its way to her feet and pierced her ankle. The liquid then surged its way through her veins and burst out of her chest in bloody iron spikes. The only real way to slow this fluid down is to freeze it solid when it is in a liquid state. The fluid will be stuck in that shape for a few seconds, as the ferromancer works to regain control, which can be a lifesaver in the heat of the battle. The best types of magic to use against ferromancers is ice and water. Their major weak point is their burning heart, which fuels the furnace within their bodies. If you can douse the flames or snuff them out, the ferromancer will die. The cold and water can also help in slowing it down and knocking it off balance. Fire can also be useful, but only for certain scenarios. If you cannot snuff out the heart, than trying to pierce it will work too. Using fire to melt a hole in their chests can leave their hearts vulnerable to attack. Just make sure you are not using an iron weapon to impale it. Control over fire can also help in warding off their flaming breath. Ferromancers can release a torrent of white hot flames from their orifices, which can vaporize flesh in an instant. Using fire control to push their breath away or redirect it can be crucial in protecting allies. In the early stages of ferromancy, a pyromancer can be helpful in weakening the monstrosity. Using their godly abilities, they can pull heat and flame away from the heart, causing the monster to falter and struggle. Once the ferromancer reaches a certain size, though, they have enough control over their inner body to prevent this method from working efficiently. As I was writing this entry, and couldn't help but wonder on how I was going to end this. What could I say after reliving this horrible nightmare? Though I simply talked about their powers and ways, all I could think of was those chaotic times. The devastation, the horror of it. Whole towns and cities evacuated as the mountain sized abomination loomed on the glowing horizon. Seeing its burning aura light up the night sky, as it ripped through forests and fields. The faces of the people who fled, and the faces of those who fell. I could write about those who were lost in our efforts, but I feel there is not enough paper in the world to do them justice. So many lost in those battles, so many lives snuffed out, yet we cannot remember their names. How many are there? How many victims will remain nameless? How many sacrifices and losses were simply forgotten? I wish I knew, because that would at least give me some bit of certainty. It is strange to think that this is who I have become. My past self would never have believed it. A powerful sorcerer who once stood unchallenged, now writing books and waking up at night in cold sweats. A man so powerful that kings sought my aid, now locked away in the study as the magical world crumbles around me. A being who once stood on pillars of mana, now helping to send out the hunters who will knock them down. How I have changed. How the world has changed. I am not a religious man, but I do pray that this never happens again. Our world has survived this cataclysm, but barely so. I do not think we could do it a second time. I know that I cannot...             Cavarious Shaid