Disclaimer: Voltron Legendary Defender belongs to Dreamworks and Netflix.

I wrote this to make myself feel better after the heart-wrenching first part. It's not as connected as the last one, but should hopefully make everyone feel better. I even forwent putting in a gut-punching ending.

Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane.

Twenty-five years old, former ace pilot of the Galaxy Garrison, and is currently the Black Paladin of Voltron.

He is stoic, occasionally goofy, has a taste for cynical humor, and has been through more suffering than a man like him should.

However, considering what you just read, let's focus on the lighter side of him for a while, shall we?

1.) He does not wear eyeliner.

Shiro's eyelashes grow that way naturally, thank you very much.

And no, he does not find it funny. You wouldn't either if you and your brother got called "Lady Lids" back in kindergarten because of it. Thankfully, as he grew older, the other kids thought they looked more cool- or attractive, in the case of his admirers- than silly and ceased their teasing.

The only reason he never trimmed his eyelashes or anything was because his late grandfather had the exact same ones. It made his parents happy. Not to say Shiro's not still a tad miffed about it, but he learned to cope if only for that reason.

Now if only Lance would stop asking how he got his wing tips so on point.

2.) He can be surprisingly vindictive when he wants to be.

This is a trait the paladins learn about Shiro the hard way.

It starts when Keith accidentally lets it slip that Shiro's birthday falls on February 29th. The look of sheer betrayal the Black Paladin shoots him sends the rest of the team into hysterical giggles. He knows what's coming and it's delivered- Lance immediately starts joking, going on about "How could we let a six-year-old pilot the Black Lion? It's amazing his feet can reach the pedals!" Pidge joins in enthusiastically and even Hunk throws in a few taunts. Keith tries to choke down his laughter and fails miserably. Shiro himself, however, keeps his face carefully blank and exits the dining room.

Later that day, the teenagers enter the training deck for their daily session, only to find Shiro is not there. This is odd, since he's usually the first one in there besides Keith. Before they have any time to wonder about it, the Gladiator drops from the ceiling and proceeds to kick all their butts. They notice soon enough that a) the Gladiator has been turned up to a higher setting, and b) Shiro is watching languidly from the control room. They shout, begging for his aid, but he replies through their helmets that a six year old has no place fighting a dangerous robot- he might hurt himself, after all.

Thankfully, he ends the training sequence after five minutes. The paladins never mock his age again.

3.) He had a fan club back during his academy days.

First rule of Shiro's fan club is do not speak of Shiro's fan club.

Ever. He has enough negative flashbacks as is.

Second rule of Shiro's fan club is that if you must speak of it, do not in any way imply that it was flattering to have one.

It wasn't. To this day he still double checks the contents of his sock drawer to see if everything is there.

4.) He cannot hold his alcohol. At all.

On Shiro's twenty-first birthday, some of his friends and fellow officers insisted on taking him into town for his first bar experience.

Shiro remembers none of it. If his friend Jeff is to be believed, he had roughly three shots (far fewer than anyone else had) before becoming utterly plastered. Shiro told him that he didn't think that was biologically possible, but apparently biology had other ideas. The few more times Shiro has had alcohol since then seem to confirm it, though he remembers those better.

On top of having almost zero tolerance to booze, he's also a really embarrassing drunk. Like, blab-about-his-innermost-secrets-get-overly-affectionate-act-like-a-nerd embarrassing. He once recited all the opening scrolls from the Star Wars movies while drunk, and while that was impressive, afterwards he insisted upon doing it again, only to the tune of Material Girl. Which was also impressive, in its own way. He's eternally grateful there are no videos of it floating around (and there's not- he persuaded Matt to make sure of that).

Shiro swore off all alcohol of any kind when he accepted the Kerberos mission, and these days won't even look at nunvil- it may not technically be alcohol, but he's a leader now and he's not risking it.

5.) He used to LARP.

Shiro experienced a LARPing phase during his second year of high school, right before he was admitted into the Garrison's academy.

It wasn't the elves/wizards/bean-bags-are-fireballs kind of LARPing, but rather a science-fiction rendition some members of his school's astronomy club put together. The game's setting was one of a distant future where aliens had already made contact, and there was an ongoing struggle between space explorers, space pirates, and an evil alien empire. (The irony is not lost on Shiro.) One day the game's creators invited him to play the next weekend, and despite being up to his ears in extracurricular activities, he decided to give it a try.

He fell in love with it after the first hour and made sure to show up for every game after it. He offered his knowledge of space and aeronautics to help improve the story, and even recruited more players from the astronomy club. The first time he was delegated into a minor role, but after that his friends helped him cultivate his own character. He became Sven Holgersson, Space Viking, who was a fighter for the game's crew of space pirates. He had a foam space ax (yes, they just tacked the word "space" in front of everything- it was silly, but fun) and even spent every session speaking in a surprisingly convincing Swedish accent. It was all ridiculous and over-the-top and made Shiro all the more excited to travel into space for real someday.

He ended up quitting when he tried to bring Ryou to one of the games after weeks of wearing the latter down. His brother's reputation had already earned scorn and Shiro's so-called friends treated him badly. The game was cut short by Ryou getting into an argument with another player, which escalated into a full-on brawl. Ryou hadn't been the instigator, so when he got banned from the game Shiro left with him as a show of solidarity. He was soon accepted by the Garrison and Shiro never bothered to find a new group to LARP with.

He can't say he doesn't miss it, but the game doesn't compare in the slightest to living the real thing.

6.) He used to be afraid of cats.

These days he's okay with felines- good thing too, otherwise it would be a lot more tense with the Lions. As a child, however, he was completely terrified of them.

What made it weird was no one knew why. He'd never been hurt by cat or had any other form of traumatic experience with one. It first became apparent when he was two- during a visit to Japan he took one look at his grandmother's old tuxedo cat and burst into tears. He continued with his wailing until one of his cousins took the pet into another room, after which he finally calmed down. When asked what he made him upset, he (according to family testimony) just kept shaking his head and mumbling in baby-speak.

The trend continued through his early years. Every time he saw a cat or one got close he'd freak out. Some of his older cousins started calling him "Ranma" in good-natured jest, and Ryou once put a friend's mean old calico in his room just to hear him shriek. His mother decided enough was enough and one day took both her sons to the local animal shelter. She had Shiro interact with the shelter's kittens and gentler cats so he could see they weren't so bad. They did this every week for an entire summer and Shiro was eventually cured of his phobia. He celebrated by locking Ryou in a dark closet and took pleasure in hearing him spaz out for five minutes.

He still doesn't know why he'd been so afraid of cats to begin with. He recalls his grandmother- who owns the tuxedo cat and is also very superstitious- did have a theory. She theorized he'd been killed or harmed in some way by a cat in a past life, and thus became wary of them in his current life. Shiro's not the religious type, so he takes this with a grain of salt.

...Still, he remembers how much his neck used to ache after encountering a cat, so maybe...

7.) He has weird tastes when it comes to food.

Shiro likes smothering sushi in soy sauce- even when it's not supposed to have any, much to his family's exasperation.

Shiro prefers those weird off-brand creme cookies instead of actual Oreos.

Shiro eats tuna out of the can without draining any of the oil.

Shiro will eat a jar of pickles, then drink the pickle juice when he's done.

Shiro likes the food goo the Castleship produces the first time he tries it.

Shiro actually liked the Garrison commissary's macaroni and cheese dish. Even Hunk, who is willing to eat just about anything, speaks of the macaroni and cheese with nothing but disdain. When Shiro mentions that he thought it was great, the rest of the team shoot him expressions ranging from befuddlement to sheer horror.

Which is why he is pleasantly surprised when the Yellow Paladin recreates it for him out of alien ingredients. He's the only one who eats it and Coran complains about him liking this when he won't even try the paladins' lunch, but Shiro is happy all the same.

8.) He sings, but will only do so if he thinks no else is listening.

This is another trait the paladins learn about Shiro, but in a manner that is infinitely more pleasant than the last one.

It's back on Arus, when they're still practicing with Voltron and getting the Castle of Lions repaired. Allura tasks them with going through some of the storage rooms, raiding them for clothes and other supplies. Each paladin takes a room to search and after several vargas Lances decides they could use a break. He gathers everyone up and collectively they go to get Shiro. As they approach the storage room he was allotted, they notice two things- the door is open, and Shiro is singing.

The song being sung has a slow, lullaby-like tune. He's also singing it in Japanese and the paladins have no idea what he's saying, but it doesn't change the fact it's one of the most beautiful things they've ever heard. They peek their heads in to see Shiro going through a white metal container. The room is musty, which is probably why he left the door open. He's singing and it's like he's the only person in the universe. The effect is ruined when he finishes the song and Hunk, Lance, and Pidge all begin applauding. Shiro jumps a foot in surprise.

Shiro is suitably embarrassed, despite all the Garrison Trio's assurances that he sounded wonderful. Later, Keith quietly inquires about the song he was singing. With a face too straight to be genuine, he admits it's from an anime he watched once.

9.) Keith learned that crazy cliff-falling technique from him... kind of.

Back before Kerberos, Shiro would occasionally go on rides through the desert with Keith on their hover-bikes. They would race, visit old desert diners that had existed since before the turn of the century, and generally have a good time. During one such race, Keith pulled ahead of Shiro on their chosen route. Not one to back down from challenge, Shiro looked for a shortcut.

He found one in a nearby cliff.

Shiro immediately turned his bike and hit the throttle. To his thrill and Keith's distress, he rode over the side of the cliff and cut the engine. He waited a few long seconds before restarting the bike and cushioning his fall with the sudden thrust of air. He made it to the designated finish line a full five minutes before Keith did. When the teenager did arrive, he hopped off his hover-bike, grabbed Shiro by the shirt, and shook him furiously as he yelled at him for scaring the living daylights out of him like that. Shiro laughed at first, but apologized when he saw how truly upset Keith was. It took buying him an apple pie at their favorite diner before the younger man would even speak to him.

Once Keith had cooled off and pie had been eaten, he demanded to know where Shiro learned such an insane move. Shiro didn't respond, instead deflecting the question by making Keith swear to never attempt what he just did. Even he wasn't supposed to learn it, and if Keith ever tried it Shiro would make him run extra laps around the Garrison for the rest of his natural life. The cadet swore and Shiro had ruffled his hair in relief.

A year later when Pidge told Shiro the exact details of how they rescued him, he nearly had a heart attack. Keith wisely left the room, Shiro assumes later, so he wouldn't have to explain the ridiculous amount of time he undoubtedly spent driving over the edge of cliffs in the last year.

10.) He originally got his undercut because he thought it made him look cool.

Once upon a time, when Shiro was thirteen and had not quite yet shaken off his youthful gullibility, his cousin Ryūsei commented during a family reunion that Shiro would look cool with an undercut. Ryou had been teasing his twin earlier, calling him a hopeless nerd, and Ryūsei later jokingly made that comment to cheer Shiro up. The moment the future paladin got home, he started doing research into various styles of undercuts to see which one suited him best. He decided on the simple style he wears now, begged his parents to let him get it, and was allowed to do so provided he paid for it himself.

He kept the style all throughout middle school and the few years he went to high school. When entering the Garrison academy, he was immensely relieved that regulations towards hair were lax enough that he wouldn't have to change his favorite hairstyle. By that point though, he kept it not because he thought he looked cool, but because he was the only one in his class who had an undercut. He liked the uniqueness of it, and it became something of a trademark. Takashi Shirogane- ace pilot, Garrison golden boy, and guy with an undercut.

If he could say anything remotely positive about his Galra captors, it was they were "nice" enough to maintain his old hairdo. (And wasn't that just depressing.)

These days though, he personally tries to keep his hair the same because its familiar. Shiro's appearance has changed so much in the last year- the slash across his nose, his other scars, his enhanced physique (he'd always been fit, but apparently being a gladiator made you jacked), the white bangs, his arm. Every time he looks into a mirror he has to consciously prevent himself from doing a double-take, because he just doesn't recognize the man reflected back at him anymore. That stupid undercut he got when he was thirteen is the one aspect of his appearance from before Kerberos that hasn't changed.

A few months into their space adventure, Lance catches him with the Altean-equivalent of an electric razor, trying to shave his newly grown hair. It's honestly sad to watch, so once the Blue Paladin stops laughing he offers to do it for Shiro. As it turns out, one of Lance's aunts taught him how to cut hair and he ends up doing a pretty good job. Hunk and Pidge catch the two them and ask Lance to give them a trim as well. Keith bluntly refuses, not trusting his self-proclaimed rival to not screw with his precious mullet.

The entire scene devolves into Lance chasing Keith around the castle with the razor, followed closely behind with Pidge and Hunk wielding a spray bottle and a hand mirror respectively. Shiro doesn't break it up because he's belly-laughing too hard at the sight of Keith's completely terrified expression. He laughs so intensely that he has to sit down and catch his breath. It's the first time Shiro's laughed that much in over a year.

The paladins agree to upkeep their hair together once a month from then on.

Shiro changes his mind- his hair is still pretty cool.