Thace - Tumblr Posts

Mistimed Charges

Voltron

Keith & the Blade of Marmora

Keith gets buried in a collapsing building. The Blades do not handle this well, emotionally.

A curse echoed down the hallway as he stumbled, another rumble shaking the base and ratcheting up his worry that he would not get out in time. The detonations were going off before they had been timed to and his ship was further away than he was comfortable with. It had been necessary to stash it so far away, but he was regretting it in the moment. The base was going to come down around his ears.

He grit his teeth and powered on, muscles burning and breath rasping, trying to get as close to the edge as he was able. Hopefully less would fall on him and he would be easier to find if anyone came looking. If not, maybe he could free himself and return to the Blades without assistance.

The structure began shaking around him even as he approached an exit, the set charges catching up with him quickly. He was not going to make it out. Even as he stayed on track, he reached up to tap the communicator built into his mask despite the mission having meant to be radio silent. They should be able to triangulate his position from the frequency and, even if the Blade could not, Pidge would be on hand and able to accomplish the feat.

“Keith? Status?”

“About to be buried!”

He watched as the exit collapsed and the roof began following until his head was hit by a piece of debris. That was the last he knew other than the fact that there had been shouting in his ear the last few seconds.

-

“Keith! Respond!”

Thace frowned as he fingered his own blade. “Those charges should have been fine. We all use them and the timer has never failed before.” He snapped his gaze to Ulaz, who had finally given up trying to get through to the kit. “We’ll need to lead an investigation into that. Kolivan, permission to retrieve the kit?”

“Granted.”

The information was passed over quickly and he was soon on his way with Antok and Regris in tow as backup. He fidgeted impatiently with his knife as they approached the area Keith’s signal put him. He hoped Ulaz was not harrying Kolivan too much in his worry.

-

“What was the damage?” Antok asked quietly as they stood by the healing pod they had been able to steal from the Empire recently. With this having happened, they were all relieved that they had gone through the trouble. Antok had been tasked with navigating the ship and, as such, knew little about the kit’s condition other than that he had been bleeding and Thace, who had picked up some medical knowledge from Ulaz, was extremely concerned.

Instead of answering verbally, Kolivan brought up the information Ulaz had sent him and passed the data pad over to him. He did not need to see it again. His guilt was hitting him hard enough. As it was, Keith would have to spend, mostly likely, more than a movement in the pod. Numerous broken bones were the least of his injuries and he had been close to dying before they had been able to get him back to their base.

“Ulaz and Thace are going to want to stay with him.”

“Already cleared.”

Antok sighed, handing the data pad back to the leader of the Blades. “I want to stay with the kit.”

“Everyone does.”

The Pride’s Nest

Voltron

Keith & the Blade of Marmora

The main four Blades deal with the aftermath of Mistimed Charges.

Also on AO3.

It was a new experience for Keith, someone actually being there to catch him when he came out of the healing pod. Normally he would try to take a step and fall to the floor due to unsteady legs. Previously, he had come out of the pod only to end up in someone’s arms as soon as he felt unsteady was foreign enough that he struggled to focus through the almost dizzy feeling that always accompanied his time in a healing pod.

“Careful, kitling,” was rumbled in his ear and hair as the Galra holding him rubbed his face along the side of his own. By the sheer breadth of the chest he was held against, he believed that it was Antok that had caught him. That was only confirmed as his vision cleared. The nuzzling against his face and hair only allowed him to make out the rough ridge of scar tissue that was present along his jaw and the silky hair that had fallen over his shoulder after he had removed his hood and mask, but they were familiar features.

“‘Tok?” he croaked in question.

The larger Galra purred to reassure the kit. “Yes, Keith.”

Before the former paladin had to prompt him, he was handed a hydration pack and assisted in drinking it so that he could get his throat in working order. His own, much softer, purr echoed around the room at the care that was shown to him.

After a few moments, he could feel his eyes getting heavy with sleep since his body was weak and he felt safe. With one small realization, that was derailed.

“‘Laz and Thace?”

Antok turned slowly so that his head would not spin. “They were waiting for you, we’ve just been sleeping in shifts.” He affectionately rubbed his cheek against the kit’s hair. “They have been very worried, kitling. Would you like for me to wake them so that you can return to their room?”

“Mmm, yeah. Nest’ll be comfier and better cuddles.”

The large Blade complied with a light grin. They were never going to let him watch for the kit again with the way he had scent marked him. At the same time, he was the only kit on their base and the heart of it as well. Everyone was going to be scent marking him for the foreseeable future.

-

Ulaz had flopped down in the middle of their nest as soon as they returned to their room with their now healed kit. Keith had quickly followed and was comfortable curled up with him, head tucked under his chin. His mate was rubbing his face all over his hair and holding him as close as possible. Soon enough, he was going to join them and proceed with his own scent marking. Hopefully Keith would be asleep by that time as he still looked absolutely exhausted.

“Thace?” his mate questioned softly. “Are you going to join us in the nest?”

He slowly settled down on Keith’s other side and gathered both his kit and his mate as close as they would comfortably fit. His eyes slid closed as he buried his nose in soft black hair and inhaled deeply. They had almost lost him, but he had pulled through. He needed to remember the positives. Keith was well, the healing pod had done its job, Kolivan had taken them all off of the mission roster for a while, and he had them there with him. They were protected.

Ulaz reached over and cupped his cheek, running his thumb affectionately across his cheekbone with a soft smile. “We’re here, Thace. We’re healthy. We aren’t leaving you.” A devious smile slid across his features. “And now you can finally make him sit down and actually listen to your history and societal lessons.”

-

Days later, Ulaz approached Thace quietly, wrapping arms around his waist and setting chin to shoulder.

“How do you feel about expanding our small pride?”

Thace’s ear cocked toward him questioningly, the majority of his attention still on the report in front of him. “Well, I know you are not carrying and I am well aware that I am not either, so how are you expecting to expand?”

“Antok asked if he and Kolivan may be a good match for joining ours. They are tired of it just being the two of them. “It also made a pride much less stable - someone was almost always gone for some reason or another, leaving the remaining member without someone to go to. Kolivan was always aware of how he assigned the members of a pride and always made sure to check on the remaining one if he sent one of a pair off, but rarely did he show such care between him and his mate.

Thace hummed in thought. “I am comfortable with that. We get along well already and they like Keith as well. Have you asked him?”

He laughed brightly. “I asked him first and do you want to know what I found out?”

Thace’s ears flicked toward him in interest as he turned to look more fully at Ulaz. “What did he surprise you with?”

“He thought we already were,” Ulaz rumbled, laugh purring from him. “That we were just staying apart for his ‘delicate human sensibilities’.”

-

Kolivan entered the room that he and Antok now shared with more Galra. He was still adjusting to the change, but he did have to agree that it was welcome to not return to an empty nest. There was also more heat to go around this way, which facilitated a comfortable nest and better rest. Ulaz and Thace were curled up together on one side of the kit and his own mate had his tail firmly wrapped around Keith’s ankle as the kit sprawled in the middle of the nest.

“Com’on, ‘Van,” a sleepy voice prompted as he stood there taking the sight in. “Lend some heat.”

Of course it was Keith that had awoken when he entered. Rarely did he sleep through even the smallest of disturbances. Before he could whine, he slid down into the space between Antok and the kit that Keith had widened for him. After he settled, their youngest member squirmed until he was sprawled across Kolivan’s chest, which brought Thace and Ulaz closer to keep in contact with their kit. Soon enough, he was lulled into sleep by the heat being generated from those around him.

Klance/Laith Soulmates

He couldn’t do this right now he just couldn’t. He heard Lance calling him back. He didn’t look back he wasn’t ready yet he’d told Blue -no Lance- that. He continued to walk away he didn’t know to where he just needed to leave. The tingling sensation on his wrist just wouldn’t disappear he knew Lance was writing to him trying to understand, talk it out still be friends but more, soulmates were meant to be romantic, -though rarely they would be platonic- he knew Lance would want more eventually, but he can’t well not yet.

He looked at where his walking had brought him The Blade of Marmora, the Martial art school run by the Marmora family, his family. He took out his key and opened the door he closed it without looking back by reflex. He unlatched the door labeled staff room, the soft scent of lavender mixed with lemon that most people thought it odd or weird smell on the other hand he adored it.

He walked past his Ojichan’s -or Kolivan as him and Acxa had started to calling him by his first name- desk a picture of himself with Acxa next to him their one of their mother’s hand on each of their shoulders his uncles Thace and Ulaz standing next to mom and Regris in between them Kolivan and Hal-aneoji -Antok- had arms around each other shoulders. All of them smiling a rare sight.

He sat down and finally looked down at his arm the words made him frown slightly ‘why did you leave?’ Lance’s writing was messy and Keith could feel the pain and hurt radiating off of it. ‘I told you I wasn’t ready yet’ he new Lance would almost immediately write back ‘but why?’ 

Why? A simple question with a very complicated answer. Keith was scared that’s why, he didn’t want Lance to leave mom had left and chosen to take Acxa with her -Keith knew that was what his dad told him a it was a lie but, still- then dad left for a bar and only came back when the someone lit the house on fire came in when everyone told him not to and threw Keith out. Then the foster parents left, or just weren’t there for him, and then the Shiroganes came Mrs. Shirogane died Shiro and him got separated in the system -they meet back up a few years back when Keith moved into town-. And then Keith found out the entire time he was in the system Kolivan and Antok were trying to get custody for him. Unable to because they weren’t citizens of The United States Of America.

During the time when he lived with the Shiroganes he found out and was so confused as to why? -why did it take so long to find out? why couldn’t they just have picked him up or something? Why not mom where was her and Acxa in all of this?- After Mrs. Shiroganes death, the Marmora family got custody, he moved to Korea and they became his family. They moved to Texas started a martial art school, Ulaz got a job as a doctor, Antok and Kolivan as security guards, Thace as a cafe worker, along with Regris who meet his soulmate Ilun.

Through it all there was a constant his soulmate nicknamed  ‘Blue’ or ‘Sharpshooter’ who he always told everything, the one person he new he could trust, the eye of the hurricane, the silence in the screams.

He thought Lance knew that so when he came and he figured it out Keith ran, he left his soulmate the person who has always there for him person he would talk to when he felt insignificant, he left like everyone did to him.

Now he sat there Lance waiting for an answer so enthusiastic about meeting his one true love, his other half and he just straight up left.

‘Cause I was scared. Scared you would leave, and then I left you, I’m sorry.’ He didn’t say sorry often the red ink was there for a moment before he realized what lance would ask or think about doing. He knew Lance was probably just gonna ask to meet up. Keith heard the door open. Immediately recognizing the voices Lance’s and Acxa’s. Of course his twin sister betrayed him. He walked out of the staff room.

“Hi Sharpshooter.”

Acxa just smirked and walked out.

“Hi Samurai, do you wanna talk? Or something?”

“Sure”.

Got all Japanese and Korean words from google translate so please correct me if wrong.

Hal-Abeoji is Korean for Grandpa 

Ojichan is Japanese for Grandfather

Edit: I actually forgot to add a title I was laughing after I added one.

Hello? (cue crickets and echoes) I've always used my tumblr to lurk instead of posting things, so now that I've begun writing fanfic regularly again, I thought I might test the waters and see what happens when I do start posting. To test the waters, I'll link the fanfic I've been working on. It's a story of Keith's parents in an AU where Galra need three people to reproduce and are actually alien in terms of biology and culture and language (let the aliens be alien!) rather than basically human with a few cosmetic additions. Pairing is Krolia/Keith's dad/Thace in various iterations. Content warning for: difficult labor, stillbirth, Galra being purple space seahorse-kangaroos (so very different concepts of gender/sex and reproduction from the human norm), and Keith's dad having a bit of a sexuality crisis. It's rated explicit, and there is a sex scene or two. More detail can be found in the fic's notes/tags. Without further ado, a link to the fic on AO3: Ménage à Trois

Posting another chapter of Ménage à Trois here! Only 3 chapters and an Epilogue left to post after this. 

Chapter 10: Halloween

It’s Krolia/Keith’s Dad/Thace (now with appearances by baby!Keith), and is rated explicit. In this AU Galra are essentially space-kangaroos, and the males usually nurse the joeys. More warnings on the fic at AO3.

(Now with fixed formatting. Wow, Tumblr is different from what I'm used to!)

Success! I have finished Ménage à Trois The epilogue/bridging piece for the (eventual) sequel is here: Isolation To Reunion Please note that both are rated explicit! Isolation in particular deals with institutionalized sexual harrassment. The pairings are variations on Krolia/Keith's Dad/Thace and Krolia/Thace, and baby!Keith makes several appearances. Also, alien biology and worldbuilding because hell yeah! For my next fic, I plan to finish The Rites of Courtship (also rated explicit, and has no continuity connection at all to Ménage à Trois, but does feature the same Galra biology and culture. Pairing is Keith/Thace. Do mind the warnings/tags on the fic itself!)

I had the opportunity to also illustrate a fic for the @voltronrarepairflashbang​!

The fic I illustrated is Goodnight, Goodbye  by @fluffy-keef​! It’s an awesome fic and I encourage everyone to read it.

Galraween Gift!

I participated in the @galraween exchange. My beta was the wonderful @fluffy-keef and my recipient is @jizzcuits I hope you like it! It got...longer than I intended, oops. 

Anyway, here’s the fic on AO3: The Festival Of Bounty

It’s Kolivan/Thace with a host of side-pairings and cameos and very space-fall flavored. I rated it teen to be safe. 

Preview for Thulaz zine

I got the honor of being chosen as a writer for The Fight We Take, a Thulaz zine that’s coming out very soon over at @galrashipzine! It will be free to download, and amazing.

The piece I wrote is titled “The Bonded-Pair Cover” and this is a quick preview for you all: 

Leader’s scent had an odd note in it that Thace wasn’t sure what to make of. It was almost… embarrassment? Regardless, Leader wasn’t letting that stop him, and continued. “Both missions will be isolating, and present you with sensitive information that must reach us at all costs. We’ve lost agents in deep cover and their information before so this time, I wanted to provide a failsafe for both of you. I would like you two to act as a support network and backup for each other. There’s more risk, but I have confidence in your abilities.”

“Of course, sir,” Thace said automatically, but his mind was racing. How would they even manage to meet, as far apart as they were likely to be stationed? They would need a cover— Oh. Thace risked a glance at Ulaz, who still looked grim, but didn’t smell of surprise.

Ulaz spoke, words carefully measured. “Bonded partners are given certain concessions, and that includes the ability to travel and meet with each other in order to keep the physical aspects of the bond maintained. However, recent research has worked towards providing the biochemical compounds to increase the time bonded partners can spend apart. The Imperial medical corps haven’t been successful yet, but we have used their formula to create a drug that will simulate a bond with only minimal contact, regardless of compatibility.”

Posing as a bonded pair…could work. Most Galra barely understood or recognized bonds. It also made perfect sense to give them chances to meet and exchange information under the cover of maintaining the bond, and Thace respected Ulaz. Bonding was something he had never expected to achieve, and didn’t want anymore now that he was a Blade, so he wouldn’t lose on that front either. “I’ll do it. How does it work, and what do I need to know?” 

My Voltron: Legendary Defender fic The Rites of Courtship is finished, because of this event! I can’t wait to post it. Here’s hoping I can post it with a bit of art!

WIP Big Bang 2023 Round Schedule & FAQ!

Schedule

All times are by 8:59pm PST. Convert time zones.

Sign-ups Begin- April 1st Sign-ups Close- April 21st Check In #1- April 22nd Check In #2- May 15th Snippets Due- June 1st Art Claims Begin- June 17th Check In #3- June 22nd Check In #4- July 6th Rough Drafts Due- July 15th Posting Claims Begin- July 23rd Posting Claims Ends- August 1st Final Drafts/Art Due- August 7th Posting Starts- August 8th Posting Ends- October 31st (the last two weeks are reserved for emergency posting)

FAQ

What is the WIP Big Bang? Good question! This is a Big Bang with one goal in mind: to clean out your fanfic drafts folder. These are stories that were unfinished for whatever reason, that authors returned to and completed, and the art that goes with them!

Do I need a Livejournal/Dreamwidth/AO3/etc. account to participate? No! You don’t have to have an account on anything to participate, though you will need to have somewhere to post your finished work. Having one or more accounts will help for you to follow what is going on with the bang (we crosspost to Dreamwidth, Tumblr, and sometimes Twitter at the moment), but they are not required to participate. You can always leave comments anonymously or with an opensource ID.

How many fics can we sign up for? We absolutely don’t mind multiple sign-ups. I know one year someone submitted 50 fics to finish, and got at least half of them done. We just ask that when you sign up with more than one fic you give each fic a unique user ID (please do not use the same ID for all your fics...it’s important to have different IDs for the check-ins).

Will I get emails about the bang? We do send out some emails, mostly for snippets and art claims and to ensure communication between authors and artists, but please do NOT rely on getting an email to remind you of due dates. We currently do not keep an updated email list of participants, so we only send individual emails as needed rather than mass emails.

However, email is the fastest way to communicate with the mods. If you have any questions or are having trouble communicating with your artist/author, please do email us! We will do our best to respond quickly.

What do you mean by minimum word count to enter? This is a WIP Big Bang, therefore we ask you to have at least 500 words of your story drafted when you enter.

Can an outline count towards those first 500 words that are needed at sign up? We have admitted work on an outline before so yes, if your outline is fleshed out enough to cover a 7,500 word+ fic, we’ll allow it.

Are multi-chapter fics allowed? Yes, multi-chapter fics are allowed and even more so encouraged if your fic is lengthy.

What about fics that are already posted on ao3 in part? Do those qualify for the bang? It's okay if you have posted a few chapters of your fic already (you never know when the muse deserts you, after all), we just require you to refrain from posting more until posting begins here. All we ask is that you not post any public updates to the fic until August 1st (or July 1st with the mod’s okay). We don’t want you to lose kudos and comments so don’t worry about pulling the fic down, just hold off on updates for now.

Is there a minimum word count? 7,500 words for each finished fic, but the sky's the limit, right?

I see that the fic minimum is 7500 words and that published WIPs are acceptable - but what if the WIP I’m considering is already more than 7500 words? Is the expectation to add an additional 7500 to it? No. You can add as much or as little as you need to finish the story, though we do expect at least 1,000 or so new words if your WIP already meets the word count.

What happens if an author finishes the fic they signed up with but it’s less than 7,500 words? The intent was to go over the minimum but once they got into it the story was shorter than they thought and stretching it out would make it less good. Do they have to drop out at that point? By all means, we want your stories to feel as natural as possible, and if it’s under 7,500 words you may have two options:

1 - Drop the fic for the main BB event, post it now, and wait to post it to our AO3 collection in February when we run our International Fanworks Day celebration of finishing fics that are less than 7,500 words when finished. There’s no art for the fic, but bragging rights are posted to the communities for a week.

2 - If there are enough fics that fit that category, we can do a special day of posting the fics, but you’ll have to forgo art for the fic. I, as a mod, would probably pick October 31st for the posting day, as it’s the last day of posting for the bang and I don’t think anyone will mind more than one fic that day. You can post bragging rights to the community and share the fic with everyone.

Is there anything not allowed? As long as you wrote it and you want to finish it, you're welcome to participate. RPS/RPF is fine. Incest pairings are fine. Things like that I know have been hinted at in questions asked and as long as you tag for them, we’ll allow it. Also, canon settings with mostly OCs is allowed. We just ask that it be tagged properly with any content warnings you would deem fit and be given the appropriate rating for the level of sex/violence there is in the fic. As of the 2023 round, original work is also allowed; however, we recommend you bring in your own artist or forgo art for an original work.

I have a fic I wrote a few years ago, but only the first couple chapters are posted on AO3 because I was never happy with the rest of it and knew it needed major revision. Is that something I could use for WIP Big Bang? The entire fic has been posted, but only on one platform, and it would be rewritten for AO3 and WIPBB. I think revising a fic for posting would work, as long as you have at least 500 words done, will have 7,500 words at a minimum when it’s done, and are planning to add more to the fic. Simply rewriting what you have would be a gray area, but if you’re going to take stuff out and add new scenes, either in the old scenes place or on your own, you should be fine.

What's the etiquette around OC-centric stories? Ones that are set in a well known fandom and use several characters, but still lean a lot on original characters? Are they discouraged, or fine? Based on my own personal experience making art for a story that had a heavy OC presence, it’s not something we discourage at all, but be forewarned when it comes to the art accompanying your fic your artist may not be able to incorporate the OCs into your art. Not everyone makes art of a hand-drawn or digitally drawn nature, so it helps if you have people for face claims ahead of art submissions, and you and your artist communicate regularly. You can also end up with art not featuring the OCs at all, just the canon characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Your other options are to bring in an artist you trust with your vision of your OC/make your own art (we do allow that, we just need to be told during the check-in before art that you’re bringing in your own artist if you go that route, or that you’re doing your own art…there will not be a need to sign up in the artist’s sign up, however) or to opt-out of art entirely. So there’s plenty of options to call on when it comes time for art. What are 'check-ins’? These are a way for us to see what you've been up to and for you to make sure you're still on track. It will give you a little nudge/reminder if you need it, but they are not compulsory. Basically a form is posted that you fill out with your user ID (unique for each fic) and a checkbox to let us know you’re still participating, plus a section for any notes for the mods.

How are the check in IDs used? They are solely for the mods organizational purposes. Each ID being for a separate story allows us to keep all the information you submit during check-ins and for snippets in one line on our spreadsheet. You don’t have to share your check in IDs with anyone else if you don’t want to.

How much progress should authors be making between each checkpoint? (Percentage-wise from our estimated total wc, I guess?) Ideally, with each check-in, you should be at least 25% closer to finishing. The end word count only really matters in that the fic needs to be at least 7,500 words when done, so it’s more your progress towards finishing that should be measured, not so much the word count.

What are the snippets requirements? In order to allow the artists to make art for the story they claimed, we require you to supply three snippets from your fic, between 500 – 1500 words each. The snippets will be sent to the artist after they have claimed your story. They're to help the artist match your story for artwork the best way he or she possibly can. It’s helpful to choose scenes or parts of scenes that you feel best represent your fic, but don’t feel like they have to be perfect to be submitted. Along with the snippets, we will send your artist the basic fic info and your email, so the two of you can collaborate more if you would both like.

What are the rough drafts requirements? For the rough drafts, stories should be at least 80% complete. You will not have to turn them in to us, just assure us that you are at that point. Anything less is at the discretion of the mods and those authors should speak to one of the mods asap.

What is, and do I need, a beta? A beta is basically a person who goes over your work to make sure that there are no spelling/grammatical errors and they can even be of assistance in helping you with story lines, etc. It is highly recommended that a beta looks over your work before posting. If you are having trouble finding a beta, try this post.

Where can I post my fic/art? Stories and art can be posted to your own personal journal, Tumblr, ff-net, AO3, or wherever you like. For those of you with AO3 accounts, we will set up a collection that will go live on the day of the posting. If you don’t currently have an AO3 account but would like one, you can contact the mods for an invitation code to see if they have any available. You can also add yourself to the AO3 Invites Request queue.

What does posting look like? Do we have to post the whole thing on the day, or can we stretch it out between when posting starts and our date? I’ve had a few longfics get killed by big bangs forcing posting to happen on a given day, and would prefer to avoid that if possible. For most fics, posting to AO3/FF.net/other places will be allowed to start in August and you can stretch it out as many posts as you want as long as the complete fic is up by your posting date (and posting dates go from August 8th to October 16th with two weeks for emergency posting). However, you can send us an ask/e-mail about posting as early as July if you have an extremely long fic/something with a long posting schedule. Mostly what we want is the fic to be completely up on the website of your choice by your posting date, and I know some people don’t want to overwhelm their readers. So we want to work with writers to give them ample time to post the story up to their posting date.

Now, as for posting to the communities, you get to choose which day your link to the story and bragging rights are posted, and as I said, we have a range of dates from August 8th to October 16th with two to three stories posting a day. If for some reason you miss your posting date, you have until October 31st to post to the community, during the two weeks of emergency posting. So hopefully there should be plenty of time to get a longfic up and posted to the website of your choice and our BB.

Will the three snippets per story we have to send in be the ones we want the artist to make art for? Or can it just be random snippets and then later the artist and I can check together to see which scenes would work best for art? So ideally, you and the artist will be communicating once you’re each sent each other’s contact information, and you’ll give your artist a chance to read all that you’ve written at that point. That’s what happens in most cases. If your fic gets picked by an artist and they don’t work with you, then the snippets you sent will be what the artwork will be based on. It’s a good idea to know that, while most of the time the artists work closely with the authors, there are a few exceptions to that.

How do I know when to post? Posting will be tiered; you'll each get your own posting date that you and your artist will decide on together. There will probably be three fics, plus art, posting per day between August 8th and October 31st. The post with date claims will go up on July 23rd and you'll have to choose your date by August 1st.

Posting of chapters on AO3 or your own blog (or wherever you usually post) generally starts August 1st, but you can post earlier (as early as July 1st) if you let us know you have a long story. However, posting has to be finished by your chosen posting date to the comm. One of the things we're hoping to do with the posted dates is to give everybody on the comm a little bragging time in the spotlight. You know, "this story was incomplete for this long, but I finished this sucker." If you don't have time to post your bragging rights to the communities on your chosen posting date, you can queue up a post ahead of time and we can post it on the date you picked or you can email us your bragging rights and we can post by proxy for you. Either way works for us. Art will be due on the chosen posting date to the comm.

What am I posting to the Dreamwidth/Tumblr community if I’m posting the fic elsewhere? You’ll be posting what we call bragging rights. It’s a small form you fill out and post to the community with a link to your fic (we’ll enable moderated posting to the Tumblr and Dreamwidth communities for members on August 8th). We will post a template for posting artwork and stories to the comm closer to the posting date.

Is there a minimum/maximum requirement for my art? There is no strict minimum, but we do ask artists to remember that the authors are writing a minimum of 7,500 words and your artwork should reflect that. You can do anything you like, including banners, wallpapers, icons, mixes, vids, gif sets, picspams, etc. Suggested guidelines for art are 500x500px (or equivalent of smaller pieces like banner + spacers, cover + icons, etc.) for traditional art, digital art, and manips; 2 minutes for vids; 10 songs + cover art for mixes; and 6 images for gif sets and picspams. We also ask that when you are in contact with the author, you work with them to see if there is anything specific they would like (i.e. a wallpaper, book cover, etc.). The art is your work, but having ideas doesn't hurt!

What are 'art claims'? The claims are when anonymous summaries of the story go up for artists to choose from. Artists sign-ups and art claims are the same thing; we use one form for both things, and that way the authors don’t have to sign up for an event they may not end up participating in. It is based on a 'first come, first served' basis and artists may choose up to three potential stories (in case their first choice is unavailable). If there are more stories than artists, there will be a second round of claims wherein artists may choose a second story to work with, and on and on until all stories are claimed for art.

If a fic up for claiming is rated explicit (R, NC-17, etc.), please only claim the story if you are over 18 years of age. Some authors may be uncomfortable working with underage artists on explicit works. We do not verify ages in any way for the bang, so this is solely on the honor system.

What do I do if I have problems or concerns about my author/artist? Sometimes authors and artists do not get along and this may cause problems with working together. If this happens to be the case with you, please email the mods and we will try to do what we can so that everyone has a chance to have fun at WIP Big Bang!

If you have not heard from your author/artist in some time after trying to contact them, you can reach out to us via email and we will try to get in touch with them for you.

Can I get an extension? Community extensions may be given in the event that the majority of the authors/artists need one. They may also be given individually under certain circumstances, but this must be discussed with the mods and will only be a short extension for posting. If you are certain that you won’t be able to finish your story in time, please let us know by June 13th.

Can I swap out a fic if my muse abandons it again? When you sign up, you give us the information on the potential fic(s) you want to write. If, say, one fic isn’t working but one you didn’t sign up for is, you can switch them out while letting the mods know if you need to change a user ID you used. It is absolutely okay to switch fics all the way up until snippets are due. By then, we hope you’ll have however many fics you plan on doing to at least 80% completion since rough drafts are due not much later. Just drop an email to the mods at wipbigbang@gmail.com with the new information (title, fandom, etc) and if you want a new sign in ID or plan to use the same one for the fic you’re replacing it with.

Can I drop out? We have high hopes that everybody who signs up can actually finish the round and share in the joy of the reveal with us, but real life can unfortunately get in the way and we completely understand! If you feel like you just cannot finish in time and no amount of assistance from us can help you, just let us know by July 13th (if at all possible).

Is it possible to be banned? We do have a banned users list. We hope to use this to encourage participants who are having issues to communicate with the mods. We want to help you! The way the ban works is that participants, either authors and artists, will be banned for dropping out without notifying a mod. This means that anyone who has not posted or talked to a mod by the time the posting period ends will be banned. Dropping out is not in and of itself a banning offense, so please do not panic if you have to drop out! We understand that there are many reasons you may need to drop, and we want to work with you.

Bans will last one round or until the issue is resolved, whichever comes first. To resolve a ban, authors will have to finish and post the story they signed up with and artists will have to finish and post the art for the story they claimed. Three bans will result in a permanent ban from the bang.

Are we allowed to participate without joining the Discord? Absolutely! The Discord server is optional, as just another way to interact with your fellow writers and get updates on important dates. It’s not mandatory you join, however.

I was just wondering if there’s any way to enter the bang anonymously? Like would it be okay to put our work in an anonymous collection on ao3 or something? Unfortunately, I can’t think of a way for that to work. The collection that we use is moderated but it’s not anonymous, and there are the bragging posts that you post on your posting day, which you would have your username on whichever platform you use.

I was just wondering whether I'm sworn to secrecy on which fics I'll be finishing up, or if I can shout it out to the world? No one is sworn to secrecy once they’ve signed up (aside from posting new parts to fic that’s already up somewhere…we ask that you refrain from doing that until at least July 1st)! We will be running Word Wars, where you can add more to a fic in a certain amount of time, and Whine Bars, where you can complain or ask for help or whatever else you feel like talking about when it comes to struggling with a fic, all after sign-ups end on a weekly basis, plus there’s the Discord server for chatting with your fellow authors and artists.

I have a question/concern that’s not mentioned here. If you need help, you can always contact a mod and we will do our best to make sure that you get your story/art finished. The best and fastest method of contact is through our email, wipbigbang@gmail.com.

Guys! Guys! I’m excited for posting to start. This is my fic! I’m hoping some kind artist will want to make an art for it still!

The final round of art claims is open at @wipbigbang! We have all sorts of great stories left in multiple fandoms, and we'd love any type of fanart for them: traditional art, digital art, fanmixes, moodboards, fic covers/chapter headers...any kind of art you can imagine!

The synopses are located at https://wipbigbang.dreamwidth.org/173272.html

The form is located at https://forms.gle/yyxkCxyXJopMTyUs8.

Voltron: Legendary Defender

#180

Title: The Rites of Courtship

Pairing/Characters: Keith/Thace

Rating Explicit | E

Warnings/Tags: Graphic Violence, Non-con/Rape

(Past) attempted/threatened rape, imprisonment, mildly dubious consent(only at beginning of relationship), canon Galra-bigotry,

Additional tags: AU. Alien biology/genitalia for Keith, Keith believes he's intersex, alien culture/courtship rituals, alien gender/sexuality, alien sex, possible/eventual mpreg (that is totally normal by alien standards), Keith and Shiro are adopted siblings, Allura's Galra-related traumas get aggravated but the Paladins and Coran help her through them, Keith has three parents, quad-sexed ovoviviparous marsupial Galra, Thace is a very devoted and loving consort/husband.

Summary: During the raid on the Galactic Hub, Keith is captured alongside Allura. Trapped amid a multitude of Galra who think Keith smells like sex and have every intention of forcibly taking what they want, Keith has to rely on the one Galra soldier who seems to want to help him. Choosing a consort through an ancient Galran rite is much better than the alternative, but it still means sex with a virtual stranger that Keith isn't sure he can trust. This is just a temporary thing until his friends can arrive to help him escape; Keith can do this. (He's really not sure he can do this.)

Additional spoilerific tldr summary: Keith gets captured, not knowing he's a Galra-hybrid that is currently fertile. Enemy Galra can smell it, and a bunch of the worst assholes in the bunch are all for raping the enemy they just captured. Thace desperately searches for a way to save Keith without blowing his cover as a spy, and hits upon the idea of an ancient Galra courtship/marriage rite(s) that will make sure Keith is protected until complete, thus stalling for time until Voltron can rescue him.

Except, Voltron doesn't show up when Thace was hoping. Keith asks Thace to be involved in the rites because Thace is at least trying to help. They end up completing the rites, becoming consorts, and even after more stalling for time Voltron hasn't shown up. Faced with worse than death, they discuss things together and decide to consummate, partly because they've already started to catch feelings for each other.

Voltron is still MIA, and Keith stumbles on Thace being a rebel spy, so while navigating Keith's new situation in the Galra fleet as Thace's consort they start planning Keith's and Allura's (and Thace's, because Keith isn't leaving without him damn it!) eventual escape.

On the eve of said escape, Voltron shows up, of course, and so begins Keith and Thace trying to figure out how to fit in with Voltron as Paladin and Consort, (and Galra rebel-spy and Galra-hybrid,) and with Allura having been traumatized by her time in captivity, to help her heal. Oh, and they still have to make allies and save the universe from a very angry Zarkon (and deliver a very final 'fuck you' to a would-have-been rapist), while navigating a new relationship, meeting new (and old) family, and team bonding. Oh and face a potential pregnancy somewhere in there too.