Fic rec - As A Star, Forever Out of Reach

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: As A Star, Forever Out of Reach

Author: Neyasochi

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Shiro/Keith

Warnings: explicit sex (gay), possession/forced control, violence, warfare, character injury/disability, loss of a limb, classism, discussion of starvation, blood drinking

Other notes: AU, fantasy AU, royalty, slow burn, combat and warfare, so many pets

Length: 75k

Summary: The intensely devoted friendship between Prince Takashi and Keith, a lowborn rogue from the arid southern wastelands, was unexpected to say the least. It’s the stuff of street-plays and penny-novels— a commoner plucked from the grimey alleys to serve as the prince’s right-hand and confidant— and for a time, Keith even dares to believe that it will last. But the disappearance and presumed death of Prince Takashi while on an expedition to the borderlands brings everything he’d hoped for to ruin, and while the kingdom mourns its prince, Keith mourns the loss of his closest friend. Bereft, he sets out on a journey to the lost places along Arus’ borders, strung along by a distant call he cannot place.

Fate is kind enough to bring them back together, but not without first exacting a terrible toll on the prince: he is delivered into Keith’s arms with shattered memories and a cursed metal arm, his confidence shaken and his throne usurped, and the ill-boding news of the long-dormant Galra Empire’s imminent invasion. Keith is resolved to stay by his prince’s side this time, no matter the cost— even as their search for answers leads them to the very heart of enemy territory.

 

My thoughts:

 

…so I’m experimenting a bit. I started out with a nice coherent list of fic recs. Really nice. Over-aching themes and everything.

But I’m still reading fic, constantly, so stuff catches my eye, and I started wondering, well, I wonder if I’d get more done if I wrote recs right after reading a fic, all full of excitement, or if I waited like a week or two and did a re-read. The problem is, if I let my thoughts drift I’ll easily spend like an hour writing about fic. We’ll see what my free time is like.

Also, well. I still haven’t sat down to watch Voltron, but, um. Yeah. I like this pairing. I’m just gonna keep going through the tag. I’ll take a break soon, I swear.

But — more slow burn fics! And it’s a fantasy adventure instead of a romcom this time. Still, you have to give kudos to a romance that is so slow burn, with characters so oblivious, that even a villain in the middle of a battle calls them out on it before they realize it. Even the title is slow burn, hah.

(You laugh, but I myself, your humble fic reviewer, have been that oblivious. It’s funny in retrospect, but I’ll never underestimate how oblivious a person can be.)

This rec will mostly be for the second part, although I did read and enjoy the prequel first. The prequel is kind of a rough-around-the-edges Cinderella story, and also a fic where the author built up the friendship so well I honestly would have been happy even if they hadn’t gotten together romantically.

There is excellent world-building in this fic, layering the canon story into this swords-and-sorcery fantasy world. I like the Voltron lions being awesome sets of armor.

Really lovely prose, too. Like this passage:

Entering his father’s old bedroom still puts snares on Keith’s heart, prickling at the softest parts of him like nettles blooming in between the cords of his muscle. Wistfulness catches him twofold in this room he’s known from his earliest memories, always filled with the scent of oil and leather and desert herbs. He half-fears that he’ll round the corner and see the bed empty, that he’ll find Shiro’s been drawn up into the heavens like kings and heroes sometimes are in legend, made immortal in the shape of stars that Keith could never reach.

And so relief slakes through him at the sight of Shiro still stretched across the mattress, still mortal and earthbound, head tossed to one side and one foot jutting out from under the cover of Shabrang’s saddle-blanket. Keith settles in beside him for the remainder of the night, one hand softly splayed across the prince’s chest. It’s for peace of mind— that he might feel Shiro’s breaths and the solidity of him to reassure himself that all isn’t lost.

That first line is just vibrant — pain like nettles in the cords of his muscle. Nettles, very appropriate for a medieval setting (little less modern that needles, and fitting for someone who grew up in the wilderness). And just that pain — the sting of nettles: small, fine, piercing, but not just piercing skin or piercing the heart — no, piercing into his muscles. There’s a reason those flu shots ache so much — needles right into your muscles hurt. Also, if you really wanna extend the metaphor, the reason why you get medicine in the muscle is because it spreads more quickly through the bloodstream, so — so, those painful memories are spreading through Keith’s mind just as quickly.

Yeah, yeah, a bit much. My English major showing again.

And then, just that melancholy line about Shiro being draw away, like a hero and king Keith can never reach — agh, that is some self-punishing, angsty unrequited love, and that is the thread running through this entire story. Slowest and stupidest (stupidly oblivious, that is) of slow burns.

Still sticking to the first part, I adore a vulnerable Shiro and protective Keith. It’s hurt/comfort. It’s protectiveness. It just works for me.

And

Agh.

Wait:

Shiro stares up at him with the same sense of troubled wonder. Of hope-fraught disbelief. Of desperate gratitude, barely contained. His bruised lips part and close, the cords along his throat flexing wordlessly, and Keith knows the tear-rimmed look in his eye too well— he’d felt it there in that Garrison tent upon laying eyes on his prince for the first time in a year, after resigning himself to a life where he would only ever again see Shiro in his dreams or carven stone. Shiro looks at Keith as if the sight of him is too perfect to be possible. As if it makes no sense, after how hard every moment and every mile of the last year has been, to be so freely given the one person he yearns for most. As if reaching out to touch him might cause the illusion to shatter into moondust and starlight, leaving him alone in the darkness again.

……………dude they are this oblivious. And that scene keeps going with them making…I can see them making googly-eyes and this is not an illustrated fic.

I’ve almost got an urge to back through and compare exactly how Keith and Shiro pine over each other. Like, do they use opposite metaphors for each other? I could make a little comparative chart and —

Sorry.

Let’s keep going. I’m not even gonna make it to the second half of the fic. Which would be bad, because the second half of the fic is also amazing, if a little abrupt.

I, uh, I kind of thought maybe I’d skipped a chapter on accident? I had to scroll back up after a couple of paragraphs just to double-check. Nope, just an unannounced time-jump. And PoV switch.

Side-note: I adore PoV switches. I am terrible at writing them, because, deep down, I am not super creative. I tend towards characters who are like me, and writing from their PoV. I rarely challenge myself to write as someone else. But, as a narrative technique, oh, I love it. Love seeing things through another perspective, love seeing someone fall in love back. Takes a good amount of effort, too — you gotta sort of rebuild the world up through another pair of eyes, re-examine everything, re-interpret it. A good writer can give you the exact same scene from two different perspectives and you’d barely notice.

So we finally get to see Shiro pining, and Keith continues to be bad-ass. So much continually awesome world-building. More pets. Angst. Warfare. Horrific mind control and dramatic confessions.

And just — just the pining continues, somehow —

Spoilers?

Ending spoilers:

Would you believe the pining continues even after they get together?!

Yup, even after love confessions and sex and all that jazz, Shiro thinks, Keith won’t come home with me, and Keith thinks, Shiro wants to marry me? Boys.

This is getting away from me. Okay, beyond all the world-building and slow burning, the entire ensemble cast is great, the animals are wonderful,

This line is wonderful

Keith has to give credit where it’s due— Lance seems to be at his most insightful when there’s an embarrassing or otherwise sensitive moment to suss out and exploit.

Because it makes me giggle for some reason and it really works for Lance. Also Lance, upon realizing Pidge is a girl, immediately shrieks that he undressed in front of her. Ha.

Oh, and also me knowing what kadan meant because I keep poking round the Dragon Age Inquisition fics was wonderful.

Ok. I’m not sure I like trying to do these off-the-cuff. I descend into fangirl with a slight overture of English major. Erk. NAGL.

(Looking for more fic recs?)
Crossposted to pillowfort on 12/22/18