#dustin snow

[motorway-south]

adwd theon is soooo fucking funny. he's tortured beyond recogintion even by himself and forced to see a girl he knows from childhood go through the same thing. he's lost everything he once held dear. theres muderers and cannibals stalking the castle. his only friend is a milf who hates everyone and starts talking to him about how the maesters faked 9/11 and how she wants to feed his surrogate fathers bones to her dogs

[jeyneofpoole]

in the asoiaf strip mall ramsay and barbrey work at insert minimum wage fast food restaurant and take turns locking theon in the walk-in for different reasons (barbrey needs something to do and ramsay thinks it’s hot.) nights watch crew run a movie theatre that always smells like bo and burned popcorn with sticky linoleum floors and a communal bong they keep in full view of customers next to the slushy machine. bran and jojen work at a gamestop that hasn’t seen a customer in a calendar year but it’s fine because it’s actually only a front for the psychic mafia to launder money through and the ‘district manager’ bloodraven gives them free shit sometimes so it’s a sweet gig. sansa waxes eyebrows in a salon so poorly ventilated she develops a fainting disorder. arya teaches karate at the hole-in-the-wall dojo that has never had a class size exceed three and one of those three is always noted grown man sandor clegane. dany works part time at her families’ below board exotics shop that doesn’t believe in permits for owning wild animals. robb is unemployed but he likes to spend time in the cornerstore looking at all of the types of gum and chuckling good-naturedly at the wacky flavors.

[loveinhawkins]

thinking about Steve who suffers through Dustin whining at him for rides to school—he secretly doesn’t mind, but he’s gotta put up some sort of protest or the kid will really start taking liberties—and one morning he pulls up to see Claudia’s car still in the driveway, even though Dustin definitely told him that she was already at work.

When he points it out, Dustin gets all defensive, “She’s busy, Steve!” before he launches into some complaint about homework—but Steve knows a distraction when he sees one.

He doesn’t point it out, hides his smile as he checks the side-view mirrors. Feels his heart glow with exasperated affection, that Dustin doesn’t need the ride at all—just wants to spend time with him.

“Take it I’m picking you up after school, too?” he says—and he knows that he is genuinely needed there, because Claudia sometimes finishes work two hours after the end of last period, and he’s not gonna leave Dustin to walk home in the dark, or subject him to the horrors of the bus.

“As long as it’s not a major inconvenience,” Dustin says precociously.

“You’re a major pain in my ass,” Steve says mildly, turning into the school parking lot. “Okay, got all your stuff? Yeah, yeah, see you—dude, how many times? Wipe your feet!”

But Dustin’s already out the car, waving with a smirk; Steve rolls his eyes dramatically.

But he doesn’t mind really: muddy footprints in the car are a small price to pay for family.

[strawberryspence]

Part 1 / Part 2 (please read part 1 first)

Robin Buckley finds birthdays weird. The first one you ever have, all the people around you celebrate while you don’t understand anything. You don’t remember much of the next few ones, maybe your seventh, your eighth.

Robin’s favorite birthday from her childhood is her twelfth. It’s nothing special. But she remembers the day so clearly, her friends, grandparents and parents singing in the park as she blows out candles. She remembers playing at the park for the rest of the day with her friends and this one boy. Golden hair, brown wide eyes, and a toothy smile. She remembers telling him it’s her birthday and she remembers the boy softly singing three lines of Happy Birthday as her other friends play in the background. Robin watches him make a flower crown with daisies, before offering it to her, as a birthday present. Robin takes a few daisies, tucks it into his brown hair. Before he leaves, Robin asks him to keep the daisies, to remember her by, and Robin keeps the remnants of the flower crown tucked in an old book somewhere.

Robin’s best birthday ever is her nineteenth birthday. It’s the first of her birthdays that she and Steve celebrate together as bestfriends. Steve makes a big deal out of it. He bakes a chocolate cake, garnished with shaved chocolates on top just the way she likes it. Steve drives them to Indianapolis, takes her to her favorite stores, buys her a tiny rainbow pin and tucking it in her jean jacket with the softest smile. He buys one of his own, tucks it in the sleeve of his ridiculous wine red sweater.

They go home, and at home Steve shows her his room. He’s shy, doesn’t even want to show her. His room, even with dull and colorless wallpaper has never been dull when Steve Harrington is in it. But tonight, it’s filled with the brightest fairylights, stringed around the room, turning it into the smallest and most wonderful wonderland.

“It’s the closest thing to Paris I have right now.”

Because Paris is Robin Buckley’s dream destination. Because Steve Harrington knows her, like the back of his hand. Because Steve Harrington is his soulmate.

There Steve sings her a soft, quiet Happy Birthday and asks her to make a wish. They sit in bed all night, eating the cake with two forks in the same plate, wearing ridiculous party hats, as the lights surround them.

“Someday, we’re going to Paris, watch the lights, and eat some ridiculously expensive cake.” Steve announces.

Robin laughs, “All right. It’s a deal, Dingus.” She playfully puts out her pinky, and Steve laughs, looping his pinky into hers.

Steve gives her his gifts, an old pocket book for touring Europe and a black denim jacket, with sherpa collar. It has patches sewn all over it, carefully choosen and sewn together.

“Dude, did you make this!?” Steve laughs, shaking his head, no. “Well, I didn’t do everything. But I did this.” He takes the coat, flipping it inside out. In the right chest, just above the pocket is a rainbow sewn in patch.

“Steve.” She chokes out, hand shaking as she gently caresses the patch.

Steve smirks at her, “If you need anything, you will find the key here.”

Robin laughs, “Stop being so creepy!”

They laugh.

It’s Robin’s best birthday ever.

It’s Robin Buckley’s first birthday with Steve Harrington.

It’s Robin Buckley’s last birthday with Steve Harrington.

Her schmuck, her bestfriend, her soulmate, her Steve. Just gone.

All she has left is money, clothes and a box she can’t even fucking open.

She storms his closet, greedy for anything that had even the smallest hint of his smell, that ridiculous hairspray and some kind of fucking wood that she can’t name. She takes a box out, takes that ridiculous yellow sweater he threw at Eddie. The same sweater they went back for, the same one he cried over, the same one he was clutching as he admitted feeling that hint of electricity with Eddie. She sees the denim vest neatly folded in the bottom of his closet, and Robin knows she needs to give it to Dustin or Wayne or to anyone but she shucks it to the box. She takes his letterman jacket, takes the stripes polo she always made fun of, took some of his old Hawkins shirts, she knows she can’t take everything. Max and Dustin and Erica would want some, but she wants everything she can take, anything that has a smidge left of Steve Harrington. She wants— no, she needs it. Because her bestfriend is just gone.

The moment her hand furls against the familiar fabric, tears fills her eyes. Robin has cried so much in the last twenty-five days that she should be empty, she should be all cried out. But the moment her hand touches the wine red sweater, she breaks, her knees buckling as she falls to the floor with a thud. She touches the sleeves, and something prickly touches her, she knows what it is. But the sight of the raindow pin still tucked in the sleeve makes her scream, a scream stuck between a sob and a wail, as she hugs the sweater closer, Steve’s ridiculous fucking perfume sweeping her nostrils.

“I can’t fucking believe you, Steve Harrington!” She sobs, she hears the door swinging open, and she’s not even sure who’s comforting her, who’s hugging her, but they’re also shaking, chest sobbing. Robin crumples the sweater to her chest, as close as she can as if it’ll squeeze out the essence of her bestfriend.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this without you, please, Steve."

Robin has never cried harder, she’s exhausted, her throat is hoarse, she hasn’t slept in the last twenty-five days and someone is holding her.

If she squeezes her eyes shot hard enough, holds the sweater close enough to smell and imagine. It’s just another day, just another day, she just woke up with a the worst nightmare and Steve is holding her in his familiar arms, lulling her back to sleep, to safety with his warmth.

Robin blacks out. It’s the first night she slept all through the night since Steve Harrington died.

Robin’s twentieth birthday is quiet. The kids, Nancy, Jon and Argyle baked her a cake. It’s not chocolate, but it tasted good. They sing, and Robin acts like she’s making a wish. She doesn't have the heart to tell them that no amount of candles, or birthday wishes, can ever bring back her wish. They watch more than three movies at the Wheeler basement, eat junk, eat cake and laugh, like there aren’t missing holes in their lives.

When the time comes, they all go home. Robin goes home, hangs her black denim jacket on the wall, and just like the days before the box on top of her desk taunts her. She hasn’t opened it yet, not that she knows where the key is. Her bestfriend only decided to be cryptic when he’s already six feet under the ground. Once, Dustin saw it and smiled at her, some kind of understanding flashing in his face, “You haven’t opened it too, huh?”

“How do you want me to open this, you fucking Dingus?” Robin whispers, shaking the box.

A thud makes her turn around, the hook where her jacket was hooked fell of the wall, leaving a dent and a few holes on the wall. Robin squints at it, the hook has been there since she was a child and has never went loose. She slowly moves closer to take the jacket off the floor, when she catches glimpse of the embroidered rainbow patch.

She smiles at it, slowly caressing it, and as if he’s just behind her, a whisper of voice in the back of her mind, “If you need anything, you will find the key here.”

“You fucking weirdo.” Robin laughs, tears starting to fill her eyes as she ransacks her room for a seam ripper. When she finds one, she’s laughing like a maniac as she tears a small part of it, not intending to remove the whole patch but just enough to take the key out. Robin squeezes just enough for the key to fall out. And there it is, in her hands, a small golden key.

She scrambles to reach for the box, falling to the floor as she tries to reach for it. She sits on the floor, criss-crossed as her hands shake and tears falls from her eyes. She opens the box.

It’s filled with white envelopes. A small note clipped on the lid:

If you’re opening this, I am sorry. I promise I am with you for every birthday. I tried my best to do as many as I can.

You are my soulmate, Robin Buckley. Maybe in some other universe, I will spend birthdays with you since day one. For this one, I hope this will do.

Happy Birthday. I love you.

- Dingus.

P.S. Go to Paris for the both of us, huh? Buy the most ridiculously expensive chocolate cake you can find.

Robin thumbs over the envelopes, numbering from 20 to 90. With shaky hands, she reaches for 20, gingerly opening it.

It’s a hallmark card, with three ice creams on the front. CONE-GRATULATIONS! It’s your birthday!

Robin chuckles as she opens it, her bestfriends familiar handwriting scribbled on the white card.

Happy 20th, Buckley! I hope to God you don’t get to read this card! I want to be there for your 20th and I sure as hell will be there!

In the off chance that you’re reading this, fuck, I am sorry. I must’ve done something stupid. I am sorry we don’t get to spend more birthdays together. I will be with you through a card every year.

I am so glad you were born, I was nothing without you.

Love you, Robs. Happy Birthday!

— Your schmuck, Steve Harrington

“And I am nothing without you, Steve Harrington.” She gasps, holding the card to her chest, sobs rocking her body as she slips into the red sweater she wears to bed every night.

She hasn’t washed it once and it barely smells like him anymore. She wonders when she’ll forget how he smelled like, wonders if she’ll ever find the perfect candle that smells just like him so she can light it up anytime she needs it, wonders if they’ll ever discontinue the Farrah Fawcet spray she uses in her hair even though she doesn’t need it.

Robin falls asleep with a card clutched in her hand and a sweater that barely smells like her bestfriend anymore.

Robin’s twenty-sixth birthday is when she finally goes to Paris.

She leaves everything in the hotel but the old pocket book Steve gave her and her 26th birthday card.

She buys the most expensive chocolate cake she can find, asks for two forks and finds a sit just in front the bright Eiffel Tower.

She opens her card, laughs, cries, and thinks about what Steve could have been doing beside her right now. Golden hair, brown wide eyes, and toothy smile, in a wine red sweater and a scarf around his neck.

She eats her cake. It’s good. But the best chocolate cake she’s ever had was in a bed, in a bedroom filled with lights, eaten with two forks in one plate.

She clutches her coat closer, the wine red sweater keeping her warm, like it always has in the past six years.

She opens the forgotten pocket book. The one Steve gave her on her nineteenth birthday. She’s never opened it, never wanted to face the fact that she’s going alone. The cover is battered, the pages yellowing as she flips the book slowly.

A single piece of picture falls from it. It lands face down. Robin can recognize the handwriting from anywhere.

“This is 12 year old Steve in front of the Eiffel Tower! In a few years, it’ll be you and me! Happy nineteenth birthday, Robs! P.S. Don’t mind the flower! I got it from a friend! Didn’t want to remove it because it’s really old and dry.”

Robin flips the picture, and there he was. Golden hair, brown eyes, and toothy smile. The same boy she played with, but in front of the same tower she’s in front of right now.

A single dried daisy is taped on the corner.

Robin laughs, smiling with tears at the picture.

Way before they both realized, way before they even properly met, way before they scooped ice creams together, way before blood and drugs made them close.

Way before everything, there were two kids, who played together in a park, daisies weaved into their hairs.

Robin Buckley spent her favorite birthday, her best birthday, and will continue to spend the rest of her birthdays with her soulmate.

Because even beyond the grave, her soulmate will never let her celebrate alone.

Steve Harrington will be there, one way or another.

(again, i am very sorry. if it helps u feel better i can barely see through the tears while writing this)

[jessmalia]

FILM/TV CHARACTERS I SEE MYSELF IN PART 7:

Malia Tate (Teen Wolf)

Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation)

Natalie Scatorccio (Yellowjackets)

Lily Aldrin (How I Met Your Mother)

Anthony Bridgerton (Bridgerton)

Dustin Henderson (Stranger Things)

Giselle (Enchanted)

Emma Woodhouse (Emma.)

Coriolanus Snow (The Hunger Games)

[xenon-demon]

I... have no idea what this is. No that's a lie I know exactly what this is, it's 2.6k of a Frozen AU with Steve as Elsa and Robin as Anna that I wrote in a fugue state after seeing a friend's production of Frozen: The Musical tonight. I have several WIPs I'm supposed to be working on and this is exactly none of them. Bone apple teeth. (Also I'm genuinely unsure if my usual crew of beloved enablers would even WANT to be tagged in this so... for now I'm not doing a taglist, and if I write any more of this AU I'll do one next time 😂)

“Steve!”

At the sound of his name, the Prince — now King, and boy is Robin going to take a while to get used to that — turns his head towards her. Seeing it's Robin, Steve gives his apologies to whatever noble he was talking to and steps away from their conversation. He makes his way over to Robin in just a few short strides, but his eyes flick back and forth between Robin and her new... well. She doesn't really want to think about what Eddie now is to her. In any case, she can already see a questioning frown start to brew on Steve's face, meaning this will be a much harder sell than she expected.

“Robin!” Steve exclaims, his gaze almost immediately sliding over to Eddie and giving him a once-over. He sounds markedly more subdued when he continues, “I see you've... made a friend.”

“Well, I wouldn't say a friend exactly!” Robin laughs, shrill and stilted, and gives Eddie's arm a pointed squeeze when he doesn't immediately join in. Getting the hint, Eddie finally starts laughing along. Hopefully Steve didn't notice her hinting, since she's had her arm wrapped around Eddie's since before she even called him over.

Steve raises an eyebrow at her, and shit does she need to keep this moving.

“This,” Robin announces, using the hand that's not around Eddie's arm to do a quick flourish in the direction of his face, “is Prince Edward of the Kingdom of Forest-Upon-Hills. We met at the ball tonight.”

“It's an absolute pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty,” says Eddie, trying his best to show the proper respect and bow as he does so. Robin's death grip on his arm prevents him from getting very far.

“Likewise,” Steve replies, sounding incredibly skeptical of this whole conversation. He then shoots Robin a look, which, rude, but also entirely warranted given what she's about to ask him.

Steeling herself, Robin begins to say, “Prince Edward and I-”

“Just Eddie is fine,” Eddie interrupts her, leaning in a little bit closer to her as he whispers. He's got terrible volume control, however, so she wouldn't know it was meant to be a whisper if she hadn't spent the past two hours talking to him.

“Not one for formalities, Prince Eddie?” Steve asks, the weight of his gaze finally leaving Robin's shoulders for a moment. God, she often wishes her brother was easier to read, but never as strongly as she does right now.

Eddie, meanwhile, straightens up so quickly it's like he's been electrocuted.

“Uh, not particularly, no. They grate on me,” Eddie says. He pauses for a moment, and Robin can see the deliberation on his face before he adds, “Your Majesty.”

“I'm not one for formalities either, Prince Eddie,” Steve says. His mouth twitches into a very small smile. “I prefer Steve.”

There's a pause, then, where Steve and Eddie are locked into some strange stare-down, while Robin looks on in vague exasperation. She's pretty sure she could strip naked and swing from the chandelier in the center of the ballroom and neither of them would take any notice of her. She's about to intervene, actually, because they really do not have time for whatever this is, when Eddie miraculously breaks the spell himself. He blinks a bit, looking away from Steve and back to Robin, face significantly more flushed than it was a minute ago.

“I believe you were saying something to K- to Steve, Princess?” Eddie asks, just about tripping over Steve's new title on instinct before catching himself.

Robin just barely restrains herself from rolling her eyes. She really is the bravest, most long-suffering warrior in all of Hawkins.

Putting her brave face back on, Robin turns to her brother and says, “Yes I was, thank you Eddie, I was saying that Prince Eddie and I-” and here she falters, because Steve looks back at her and meets her gaze. She swallows, trying to be subtle, and looks very pointedly at Steve's forehead instead of his eyes. She can't do this if she's looking him in the eye.

She takes another half second to compose herself, then rips the band-aid off.

“Prince Eddie and I seek your blessing for our marriage.”

“Excuse me?” Steve says, more like demands, almost choking on nothing. Robin's never seen her brother this off-kilter in her life. He doesn't even try to compose himself at  all before he says, “Robin, can I speak to you for a moment? Alone?”

Robin swallows guiltily, knowing he'll see straight through her if she agrees.

“No. Anything you want to say to me, you can say to both of us,” Robin says, and how her voice stays steady, she doesn't even know. It probably helps that she's still not looking Steve in the eye.

“Robin- I don't-” Steve interrupts himself to run his gloved hands down his face. He pauses for a moment, face completely covered by his hands, and takes a deep sigh. When he removes his hands and starts speaking again, his voice is measured. Calm. Deadly.

“Rob, you can't marry a man you just met,” Steve states. The word man falls heavy off his tongue, and Robin knew she would regret coming out as a lesbian, she just didn't think it would be like this. Squaring herself up for the best performance of her life, Robin begins her improvised speech full of bullshit to convince her brother to let her do this.

Before she can, however, Eddie chimes in with, "You can if it's true love." Steve doesn't even spare Eddie a glance, but his frown does deepen significantly. Shit.

“Steve,” Robin begins, trying very hard to stay calm, “Eddie and I have a connection unlike any I've ever felt before. I lo-love him”—shit, she could feel the bile rising in the back of her throat saying that, and judging by the almost-imperceptible twitch in Steve's eye, he knows too—“and I think it's time I start giving back to the Kingdom of Hawkins.”

“Giving back?” Steve asks, and fuck he's folding his arms across his chest now. “How exactly is this giving back to the kingdom? What you're doing is running headfirst into the first bad decision you can find.”

”I'm a bad decision?” Eddie asks. Both Robin and Steve ignore him.

“No, Steve, I'm giving back by giving the kingdom a new celebration to look forward to after your coronation,” Robin hisses. “A royal wedding is another opportunity to open the castle gates and bring the kingdom together-”

“Absolutely not,” Steve snaps, interrupting her. “We are not opening up the castle gates again for a long time.”

“Why not, Steve?” Robin snaps back. “Tonight's been great for the kingdom's morale, it's been great for you to see people and actually socialize-”

“You have no idea what's good for me, Robin,” Steve says, making her stop dead. It hurts, hearing Steve say that like it's obvious and she's stupid for not knowing it already. What hurts more is that it’s true.

Once it's clear Robin won't keep talking, Steve continues, “You asked for my blessing, and I do not give it. I don't approve of this, and if you're doing this in some misguided attempt to make me happy- quite frankly you've gone insane if you think this would make me happy.”

With that, he turns to walk away.

Okay, sure, she has no idea what Steve's whole deal is or why he's always shutting her out, but Robin is sure she knows what will help.

Sure, part of this crazy scheme is the vague idea that if Robin has a picture-perfect capable-of-bearing-children partnership, then Steve will be under less pressure himself to marry someone who can produce an heir. Maybe, with less scrutiny on his personal choices, he'll learn to relax and open up more over time. That idea falls apart pretty quickly, however, as the thought of producing an heir with a man - even one as fun to talk to as Eddie - makes her want to gouge her own eyes out. No, the real reasoning behind Robin's (admittedly insane) plan to marry someone she met two hours ago at her brother's coronation is so she has an ironclad reason for Steve to open the gates again. Sure, ideally it would've been a woman who caught her eye tonight, but she can't be picky. Robin doesn't meet anyone, especially with the castle locked up like it always is, and she has yet to think of something other than a wedding that would convince Steve to open the gates. Then Eddie came along, laughing and flirting (she thinks, at least; Robin's tried to black that part out) and professing his undying true love to her, and this was the best opportunity she was ever going to get.

And she has to convince her brother to open the gates again. Steve's been thriving tonight. He clearly loves the thrum of people, all of them dancing and laughing and enjoying themselves, and he's slowly coming out of his shell with every conversation he has with their subjects. Robin's spent more time talking to her brother tonight than she has in a long, long time. Too long for her to try to quantify it without crying.

Watching her brother turn away from her, the promise of a relationship with him going forward about to slip through her fingers, she knows she has to do something.

“Steve, wait-” Robin says, reaching out for Steve. She grabs him by the hand, feeling the soft cotton of the white gloves he always, always wears.

“Enough, Robin,” Steve says, not even looking back as he yanks his hand out of her grip. She's trying to hold on, though, so she's left holding his glove as Steve pulls his now-bare hand away from her. God, how upsetting is it that it's been years since she saw the back of her own brother's hands?

Steve swears, then, under his breath. Robin almost doesn't hear it; almost.

“Robin, give me my glove.” Steve's not asking; he's demanding. Robin can work with this.

“Not unless you talk to me about why you won't open the gates. Look at how tonight went, it's been so good for you-”

“This isn't up for debate, Robin, give me my glove,” and Steve reaches for it then, but Robin quickly holds the glove up high above her head before he can grab it.

“Why isn't it up for debate? Why do you isolate yourself all the time?” Robin's almost dancing now, twisting and turning as she tries to keep the glove away from Steve's grabbing hands. It doesn't help that he's taller than her, but she's more agile than people think, especially since Steve's in full coronation regalia right now. The material's stiff as a board at the best of times.

“You wouldn't understand, just give me the- ugh!” Steve's stopped trying to grab the glove, instead trying to restrain her and make it easier to grab.

“Maybe I would understand if you'd talk to me instead of shutting me out all the time-” Steve's almost got her in a headlock, but Robin ducks out from underneath it and quickly steps away and out of Steve's reach.

“Robin, that's enough!” Steve shouts, and then several things happen consecutively.

Steve reaches out towards Robin with his right hand, the one missing the glove.

Robin thinks she's going crazy, but- what look like snowflakes shoot out from Steve's hand where he's reached for her.

The crowd, most of whom had turned to look at Steve's shout, gasp, almost in unison.

“I- Steve-” Robin says, not quite sure where to start with the -- actually quite sizable -- pile of snow now on the ballroom floor.

“No,” Steve gasps, and Robin's never heard her brother so distraught. It makes something keen inside her, the sheer anguish in his voice. “No, no no no, this can't be happening, this can't-” Steve reaches up to pull at this hair, but more snow and ice shoots out from his hand as soon as it's pointing towards the ceiling. He flinches away from his own hand, sheer terror on his face, but with every movement Steve makes more and more snow and ice surrounds him. Within a few seconds, there's a wind picking up as well, and it's like a snowstorm is starting to form right there in the castle dining room.

The crowd, originally shocked into silence, starts to move again. Robin hears screaming, people running, shouting from the guards about an evacuation plan, but it's all faint and distorted like she's underwater. All she can focus on right now is Steve, the way his terror is only worsening by the moment.

“Steve, let me help you,” Robin calls over the roar of the crowd and the storm, taking a few steps towards him. She needs to get his attention before getting closer, the last thing she wants to do right now is startle him.

“Stay away from me!” Steve yells, holding up his hands in an instinctive 'stay back' gesture. Yet more ice shoots out towards Robin as he does so. “I’m not safe!”

“I don't care! You're my brother!” Robin shouts back, but Steve doesn't seem to hear her. He's looking down at his hands in horror, then at the waist-high line of ice between the two of them.

Robin somehow knows what he's going to do the moment before he does it.

“Steve!” Robin screams, breaking into a run. Steve's faster than her, always has been, so he makes it to the doors of the ballroom well before she can catch him. It also helps that people, even the guards posted at the doors, part to make room for him whenever he draws near. Seeing Steve push open the ballroom doors just enough to slip through them, Robin yells again, “Steve! Stop!”

“Princess Robin!” Someone crashes into Robin then, nearly sending the two of them flying. (Robin mentally thanks whatever God there may be that she wore pants and not a dress.) After regaining her footing, Robin looks at her assailant to find- oh, it's that guy. The Duke of one of their main trading partners, Tommy something. Haggard? Halfwit? Yeah, something like that.

“Princess Robin,” Tommy Hapless says, bending over with one hand on his knees and the other holding Robin's elbow as he catches his breath. God, Robin does not have time for this. “Princess, you can't- we need guidance. We need someone to... to lead us while the King is... indisposed.”

“I really don't have time for this,” Robin snaps, brushing his hand off her elbow. “Steve's my brother, I have to find him before he gets hurt!”

“I don't think... he's the one who'll be getting hurt,” Tommy Hanger-On says between gasps, quietly, but not so quiet Robin doesn't hear. She makes a point to stomp on his toes as she stalks off towards Eddie, who is doing his best to help people follow the evacuation advice. He looks faintly queasy, and very much like he would rather be literally anywhere else, but he's actually doing a pretty good job of guiding people where the guards want them.

Eddie doesn't notice her coming, so he jumps when Robin grabs him by the shoulder. She turns him around to face her, then grabs him by the other shoulder as well so she's looking him right in the eyes.

“I need to find Steve,” Robin says, not waiting for Eddie to finish whatever question he's opened his mouth to ask before continuing, “Can you take care of the kingdom until we get back?”

Eddie goes pale instantly. “What? I can't-”

“You're a prince, right? I know Forest-Upon-Hills is a pretty small kingdom, but how different can Hawkins really be?” Eddie doesn't look reassured, but Robin cares very little about that right now. She claps him on both shoulders in what she hopes is an encouraging gesture.

She grabs Eddie's hand and thrusts it up into the air, shouting, “Prince Eddie is in charge until I return!”

She then drops his hand before turning and running out into the night, ignoring the chaos behind her and the faint sounds of Eddie's confused protests.

Nothing matters to her now except for finding Steve.

[windriverdelta]

On the Grand Northern Conspiracy

Somehow I have been thinking a lot about the Grand Northern Conspiracy, an ASOIAF fan theory that posits that in AFFC/ADWD the lords of the North and Riverlands are plotting to install Jon Snow as King in the North. Well, no time like present to write a comment.

TL;DR I find it extremely implausible and would very surprised if TWOW featured anything even resembling that. It's a far-fetched conspiracy theory.

First of all, as other people like @turtle-paced have pointed out, there are lots of barriers to communication between the supposed conspirators and no evidence that they could coordinate their actions. Now, there is evidence in Arya's ASOS chapters that the Brotherhood Without Banners has contacts to the Riverlords and one wonders if Jaime Lannister in AFFC is being deliberately steered to Brienne, but that doesn't mean the Northerners can do the same.

Second, where is the set-up for the Northern lords using Stannis like that? Late Walder Frey is amply established as a traitor, opportunist and oathbreaker two books before the Red Wedding, there is no foreshadowing at all for Mormont, mountain clans etc. This isn't Game of Thrones, spectacular betrayals do not come out of thin air in ASOIAF. In this context, it's worth noting that foreshadowing in ASOIAF usually takes the form of a few unambiguous meaningful events, not a lot of very ambiguous little things that can interpreted in multiple ways like the infamous "Corn Code"

Three, Jon Snow does not work very well as a fulcrum for such a conspiracy. Ignoring for a moment that nobody has bothered getting his buy-in for such a plot (what if he deems it dishonourable and sleazy and ices out all the participants?), there is no indication that any physical copy of Robb's will survived the Red Wedding. Remember, the various lords and ladies are referred to as its "witnesses", and most of them are now prisoners of the Freys. Look at it from a character's perspective: Two lords who somehow survived the Red Wedding, claiming that Robb wanted to make Jon king. Why would anyone believe them? Especially Jon Snow, who knows in ADWD that Robb was killed by his own men, he has no reason at all to trust Maege or Galbart. And without the will, Jon Snow would just be an usurper and deserter from the Night's Watch.

Narrative-wise, I don't see much foreshadowing of Jon being king in the north in the main series - all so-called "foreshadowing" I've seen are ambiguous allusions or far-fetched interpretations. I see no thematic or character purpose, either - I tend to think that R+L=J, the three dragons and his assassination lead into him being a dragonrider and fighter against the Others. In my opinion, the political side of the Northern storyline is Sansa and Stannis' job. And there is plenty of potential conflict around them without the need for a king in the north scheme.

But the big sticking point is that the actions of many of the supposed conspirators don't fit with theory. Just to cite a few examples:

Lady Stoneheart is not crowning Jon with anything but a noose, not in a million years, there is no evidence whatsoever that she's anything but a revenge zombie.

Wyman Manderly is entrusting Rickon Stark to consummate Stannis loyalist Davos Seaworth, which makes no sense at all if he planned to betray Stannis later - why would he risk Rickon becoming Stannis' hostage?

We have no reason to believe that Barbrey Dustin is lying about not liking the Starks - for one thing, Dustin troops are noticeable by their absence for the War of Five Kings, true to her word. She'll probably jump ship if Roose falls, but that's not the same thing as becoming a Stark restorationist. In fact, I could see her supporting Stannis to take the Starks down a peg.

People keep citing Lyanna Mormont's defiant letter to Stannis as proof of Bear Island not being truly on his side, but not only is she (as Jon points out) not in charge of House Mormont, we later see Alysane marching with Stannis. She almost certainly is in contact with Maege given her comments to Asha about her family; I doubt that this is a right hand vs left hand situation. I am not even sure that she has much of a retinue, either - the problem with Rickon above may exist here too. Finally, recall that in AGOT Maege challenged Robb, telling him that he was so young as to have no business giving her commands. The Mormonts don't let anyone boss them around, that doesn't mean that they are Frey Lite.

In short, this theory requires lots of poorly foreshadowed OOC behaviour to enable a rather pointless political ploy that doesn't fit the narrative very well.

[sare11aa11eras]

I can’t wait until ADOS/TWOW when Barbrey meets the Stark kids and Sansa hits her with those big blue eyes and earnestly expresses her sympathy to Barb after learning her father wouldn’t bring her husband’s bones back like “🥺🥺🥺 why would he do that??? that’s so awful I’m so sorry!!! 🥺🥺🥺” and Arya and Bran absolutely EAT UP the Maester’s Conspiracy when she tells them about it and start compiling their own evidence to present to her and Rickon bites a Bolton or Frey about something idk— and then she hears about Jon and the baby swap and she’s like “THERE’S THE NED STARK INFLUENCE I KNEW IT the rest of you kids can stay tho”

[brionysea]

new genre of youtube comment dropped it's called "acknowledging parental neglect"

[justrambles]

(Beauty and the beast au steddie)

No.12 — Gift

"Alright, everyone— gather up! No, wait— spread out, we need the space!"

Eddie stands in the center of the living room, with a crinkled box in hand. Everyone—Nancy included— is sitting in a circle around him, nervously waiting for Eddie to open the box.

The box contains many mysteries, untold to the audience— this is Steve's Box of Photos. Eddie feels a bit excited himself, as he eyes Steve awkwardly sitting in the corner of the room.

With a final look towards the crowd gathered around him, Eddie plops down too, examining the box. It's a fairly neat one, except for the crumpled corner that makes the box look like it's been thrown to the ground.

Eddie gulps, opening the box, and stares at the contents inside. He thought it'd be just a pile of pictures. Well, if photos are not plastered to walls or put inside albums, that's how they're kept, right? But it's not. They are wrapped in colored paper, with names written on. They look like—

"Alright, seems like a distribution is in need," Eddie announces. The kids look curious, trying to look inside. Eddie grabs a package, squinting at the name.

"Okay, the first is... 'Wheelers'?"

"That's us," Nancy quickly answers. And as Eddie hands her the photos, she notices the wrapping and asks, "Actually, do you mind opening them for us? I think it might be a bit hard to..."

"Of course. Uh, do you want me to spread them out, too?"

At the Wheelers' nods Eddie quickly starts spreading out the pictures, one by one. It's fun, getting a glimpse into their old lives. All the photos are of the siblings, depicting various moments of their happiness. As he lays down the last one, he turns to the box again and picks up another package.

"The next is- may I present... 'Henderson.' I know that's you, Dustin."

***

"They seem very organized," Eddie comments.

He has now moved away from the center of the living room to the corner of it, leaving the others to reminisce. He tilts his head towards Steve, who's sitting next to him.

"Mm-hm," Steve hums an affirmation.

"Like they're supposed to be shown to others."

"They are."

Eddie gently hums in return, encouraging Steve to continue.

"They were supposed to be a gift, I guess. Before... before everything happened, I planned to give them out. Little memoirs, you know? 'Cause I was graduating and thought it'd be great for the party. But then, yeah, it happened and I never got around to it."

"Can I ask you about the damaged box?"

Steve hesitates at his question, picking at the floor a bit.

"I think I was angry," he starts. "Right after everything happened, I was angry that it had happened to me and angry that nothing was going to be the same. I stayed like that for a while, and I still had problems adjusting to this... form when I bumped into the box while trying to move. It pissed me off, I guess, being reminded of before. So I just threw it into the basement. Not the smartest choice— I didn't know the kids might have missed having pictures."

"Well, they were your gifts to give out. And sometimes a little suspension is needed for the element of surprise," Eddie mentions.

Steve just huffs, muttering, "Some suspension it was, going on for more than two decades."

Eddie shrugs, and suddenly a thought comes to him.

"Is that why you don't have a packet? 'Cause they're gifts for others?"

"What?"

"You know, your pack of photos. I didn't see one in there."

"Oh, yeah. I mean, there's no need to wrap it up if I just have them in the house, right?"

"So... do you have them? In the house?"

Eddie doesn't know why he is so curious about the photos. But the blurred figure he saw in the picture of the fair doesn't leave his thoughts— he wants to see Steve clearly.

Steve takes a moment to ponder, rubbing his neck with his claws.

"Uh... I'm not sure? I don't remember what I did with them, or where I put them. They're probably somewhere."

Eddie tries not to let his disappointment show — why is he even disappointed? — and just answers with a "Oh."

***

It's late at night, when Eddie hears a noise from the door.

"Hey, Eddie, Eddie? I'm coming in–, can I come in?"

The voice is muffled, so it takes a moment to realize that it's Robin's. And as soon as he hears her, the door opens by its own and reveals the crow sitting on the door handle, with something in her beak.

"I'm glad you invited yourself in, Rob. What's the hurry?"

Robin is not even affected by the tone of his annoyed voice—he was getting ready for sleep, you know— and just hops over to the bed. She sets the piece she had in her beak down in front of him, and Eddie sees that it's a photo, one of Robin's.

"Well, you helped us a lot today, and we all got gifts but you didn't— So it's a gift. Wait, maybe it's not a permanent gift. More like a rental gift, for only a while, because I do like that picture. But yeah, I thought you might want to see this one. I'm lending this photo to you for a few days."

"...A photo rental for a gift," Eddie questions, trying to figure out what it is that Robin's doing. Robin doesn't even catch his suspicion and just answers smugly with a "Yup."

"Tell me why I would want to see this photo?"

The photo is one of the pictures that Eddie had passed by earlier, of Robin and two other people who are probably her friends. Robin and the girl on her left are wearing some sort of band uniforms with instruments in their hands, and the boy on her right is wearing a basketball uniform. They're all grinning widely at the camera, clearly excited.

"Oh, I don't know," and Eddie can hear the sparkle in her voice as she continues, "This one was actually the first photo taken with Steve's new camera. He brought it to school because we had band practice and basketball practice nearby each other, and he wanted to show it to me first.

"He offered to take my photo first, with Vickie because— well, that's a story for another time. So, anyway, he had us in front of the camera but then Scott came and offered to take all of us so that Steve could be in the first photo, too. And this was it."

Eddie isn't sure he heard the last part of Robin's rambling. He's trying to look engaged in her story, but it feels like all his senses are directed towards the laid down photo.

The photo, which apparently has Steve in it. He curses himself for not having paid enough attention to the pictures earlier because, how did he miss it? Of course there'd be Steve in Robin's pictures. They're together almost all the time.

He's so engrossed in trying (and failing) to sneak a look at the photo without Robin noticing that he almost misses her starting to leave. She's at the door, glancing back at Eddie before muttering out something that definitely sounds like "another dingus." Eddie just mindlessly nods her a goodbye, now not even trying to hide his inattention.

As soon as Robin is out of his sight, Eddie delves into the photo.

Of Steve.

The first thing he notices is the moles scattered along his cheeks like constellations, noticeable even with the low resolution. Second is his hair, because— yeah, Eddie can definitely see Steve giving Dustin his hairspray. It's set perfectly even after having run around the court, and Eddie chuckles at that part.

Then, he is drawn into Steve's wide smile. Eddie stares for a moment, taking in the curve of his lips and all. Steve looks so carefree, with his arm slung around Robin. Carefree like any other teenager who is excited about his new camera.

And Eddie wishes he could have seen that smile for real.

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Small snowflakes spiral throughout the air as the wind carry’s them inside the boat house, where they would soon melt from the heat. The door knocks open, no one in sight. But the wind isn’t strong enough to open it. A small tornado of snow starts to form, spinning around faster and faster until nothing was able to be seen. As it finally dies down a man is standing there now. Seemingly appearing out of thin air. Pale with golden hair he wears a yellow sweater and comfy pants. Looking clueless as he walks inside, not shivering at the cold. As if it wasn’t negative ten out, and he wasn’t even wearing a coat or anything warm.

He moves inside the dark willingly, not afraid of what lurks in it. Almost on cue a hand is formed in the shadows and the door is closed behind Steve. Instead of fear forming on the man’s face he brightens up happily. Moving and he eagerly lets the shadows over take him. Swallowing him hole before he’s in a pitch black room and there standing in front of him was another man. Long curly hair, tall and lanky as he sits at a small table. His feet tossed up on it which forcefully move to connect with the paved ground. Moving himself as his dark exterior brightens as he sees Steve.

For a second Steve forgets the reason why he called this meeting, as his arms wrap themselves around Eddie’s tinier waist. Moving and hiding his face in the others neck, a for a second forgetting the other was made out of sand like the other had forgotten he was made of snow. Both cling together for a minute before separating and holding fond looks for each other. Then Steve remembers why they were there.

“I thought we both agreed that we weren’t going to intervene with Dustin’s bullies! You traumatized the poor kid! What the hell Eddie!”

Eddie makes a oopsie face as he moves melting a little as he stutters over his words. Before giving up and just melting into black sand that is whipped out the window and into the night sky. Steve groans as he moves running to chase his friend, hoping that he might be able to literally freeze the other before he found safe haven in their child’s room. Who sadly didn’t know either of them exsisted.

- haha this was just a small concept I had in my head just Jack Frost Steve with sandman eddie who both have shared custody over Dustin who isn’t even aware that he has two magical beings who take care of him

[jeyneofpoole]

the unequal marriage (after pukirev)

[demobatman]

modern au mike wheeler and the homo autoerotic fixation he would have on jon snow

[jankwritten]

Who worries more about Nico and/or Jason? Jack, Snowy, Parse or Percy? Also Who’s the mom friend in this AU

HMMMMM THIS IS SUCH A GOOD QUESTION. They all care and worry in their own special ways.

Snowy worries about Nico but not a whole whole lot anymore. He trusts Nico more than he lets on nowadays, and generally he’s overbearing as a way of getting teasing Nico rather than because he’s actually concerned. He worries more like a dad than anything, if that makes sense. He’s like if a responsible frat bro became a dad - he worried to a point but he also treats his kid like a bro.

Percy is like the big brother. He worries about Nico if Nico is doing something he finds concerning, and he has more of a penchant to panic if something is going on (like when Nico wasn’t answering his phone in chapter 4) than Snowy, but otherwise he’s down to push Nico around and shit, treat him like another one of the bros. I think of the four of them, Percy is the quickest to panic and the one who’s constantly looking out for Nico (we’ll learn later that Percy’s wrist injury was over Nico :D). But also Percy would never admit that he’s worried about Nico to that extent.

Parse is 100% the worst of them, over both Nico and Jason once Jason convinces Parse that Nico isn’t an asshole. Parse had a lot of unresolved fear over what happened with Jack, and he sees a lot of himself and Jack in both Nico and Jason, so he’s always worried, always checking in, always making sure Jason is okay and not panicking or drinking too much or doing drugs etc etc. with Nico he’s a little more distant about it but he’s always asking Jason for updates or if Nico is okay with the NHL pressure and all that. Especially because Parse realizes Nico is Weird around him specifically and he wants to make sure it’s not for any bad reasons.

Jack is worried about Nico and Jason in a more distant but similar way to Parse. He sees a lot of himself in Nico in all ways - big talent with a big shot dad, a weird relationship with his family, definitely something Different about his brain (*cough* autism *cough*) etc etc. He views Nico as a younger version of himself that he can coach and wants to help but doesn’t really know how. He’s awkward and his care usually comes across the weirdest to Nico.

They all want the best for Nico in the end. They all care!

OH AND THE MOME FRIEND hm I think Parse would be the mom friend. Asking if everyone is fed and well rested and bringing extra Xanax etc etc.

[certifiedl0serloll]

52:13.

Go to that time stamp stranger things, season 2, episode 9. Dustin looks disappointed but why does Mike? I mean both Mike and Dustin are looking in the same direction there is max, with Lucas and Will with that one girl. BYLER?

[eddieintheupsidedown]

Snow Day

The first snow in Hawkins in years, Steve and Eddie decide to make the best of it.

Word Count: 1316

AO3

-------------------------------

It was a cold January morning, Steve and Eddie were cuddled up together in Eddie's bed, a tangled mess of limbs and hair. If anyone walked in right now they wouldn't be able to discern where Steve ended and Eddie started. With no plans for the day, no kids to pick up, no campaigns to plan, no shifts at family video, they had decided to sleep in for once.

Eddie woke up first, stretching gently so as to not wake his sleeping boyfriend, peeling the others arms off of himself, before trotting to the bathroom. He took a quick piss and made his way back to the bedroom, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to rub the sleep from his eyes. He was about to lay back down, get comfortable again with his boyfriend, when something caught his eye outside. Hawkins hadn’t seen snow in a few years, the weather in the small town was all kinds of messed up since Eleven had closed all gates to the Upside Down. But when Eddie looked outside, the whole trailer park was covered in a soft white blanket. He saw a few of his neighbor kids already playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other and building snowmen. 

Before he could stop himself, Eddie had jumped onto the bed in an attempt to wake Steve. “Stevie, wake up! Stevie, it’s snowing! Let’s go build a snowman!” he was laughing as he was jumping around his boyfriend. Eddie knelt down on the bed and placed wet kiss after wet kiss on Steve's cheek, in a last attempt to get him to wake up. 

Steve woke up groaning, wiping his boyfriends saliva off his cheek, “What the fuck, Munson?” He slowly sat up, and looked at his boyfriend.

“Stevie, it’s snowing outside!” Steve rubbed his eyes and looked over towards the window, eyes lighting up as he saw the snow outside. 

Both men quickly jumped out of their bed, grabbing whatever clothes they could find and getting dressed with lightning speed. Eddie grabbed Steve’s hand and dragged him to the door of the trailer. They grabbed their winter hats and coats, struggling to put on their boots at the same time and stumbling over each other while doing so. Eddie was through the door first, dragging Steve along by his hand. However it wasn't long before he let go and sprinted off into the snow, leaning down to grab a handful of snow and catapulting it into his boyfriend's face. Steve ducked out of the way quickly, the snowball grazing the top of his hat. He gathered up some snow and retaliated with a snowball that hit Eddie square in the chest. Eddie pouted and Steve quickly made his way over, planting a small peck on the pout. 

“Come on, let’s build a snowman! That’s why you woke me, isn’t it?” Steve knelt down and started gathering the snow into a ball, which he started rolling around to increase its size. “I’ll make the base, you can make the middle and then we can work on the head together!” 

Eddie nodded, “We can use sticks for the arms and some stones for the face! I don’t think we’re adult enough to keep a carrot in the fridge though.” He turned around and started forming the body of the snowman, making sure it was just a little smaller than the base Steve was forming. They rolled their snowballs until they were both satisfied with the sizes, carefully lifting the middle onto the base. They shared a short kiss before working on the head together. Eddie was tasked with rolling the snow into a head size, while Steve gathered up some sticks and stones to decorate. 

They placed the last snowball on top of the stack together and started adding the stones to its face. Steve took his time, carefully placing each stone on the face. He added eyes and eyebrows, a big smile and then used a small twig as the nose, humming christmas songs as he was working. Meanwhile Eddie looked around and picked out a few bigger sticks, matching them for size, before carefully adding them to the sides of the snowman as arms. 

When Steve was done with the face, he pulled off his hat and placed it on top of the snowman's head. 

Eddie watched his boyfriend, humming along to the Christmas songs. “Don’t make his face too cute or I might leave you for him.” He wrapped his arms around Steve, nuzzling his nose into the other man's neck. This earned him a chuckle from Steve, who leaned against him and sighed contently. 

“I missed snow, I kinda wish we always had snow here.” They stood entangled like this for a few more minutes, observing the artwork that was their snowman.

“We should name him Steddie, you know, like Steve and Eddie together. Because he’s like our son.” Steve nodded in agreement.

“Because we’re not taking care of enough kids already? Good thing we don’t have to feed this one too.” Steve was shivering a little bit, taking his hat off was definitely a mistake but it was too late to go back now. “Can we go back inside and have breakfast now? I’m getting hungry.”

Eddie took his hand and they made their way back into the trailer, shedding off their coats and settling down at the little kitchen table. They quickly agreed on pancakes and hot chocolate, to warm up after the freezing cold outside. Eddie took care of the pancakes, while Steve warmed up some milk to make hot chocolate. They cuddled up together on the couch to eat their breakfast, already making plans to head back out after they were done. They shared a few soft chocolate flavored kisses, before getting dressed for the cold again. They hopped into Steve’s BMW, and drove to Dustin’s house, evil grins on both of their faces. 

Steve parked the car in front of the Henderson’s driveway, making his way up to the door, while Eddie hid behind a bush and prepared a small stack of snowballs. The door opened quickly after Steve rang the doorbell, and he was greeted by Dustins smiling face. 

“Steve! My man! I was just about to call you! Wanna go sledding together?”

“Funnily enough, that's what I was here to ask you.” Steve grinned as he pointed to his car. “Eddie wasn’t feeling too well and kicked me out, so he wouldn’t get me sick too.”

They chatted for a few minutes about the snow and how nice it was to finally get snow again, about picking up the rest of the kids and having a snow day together. 

“Eddie, NOW!” Steve yelled and quickly ducked out of the way, signaling Eddie to peek out from his hiding place. He held two snowballs in his hands and catapulted them at the boy standing in the doorway, hitting him right in the face and chest. Eddie ducked back down behind the bush, before throwing more snowballs in the general direction of the Henderson House. Steve joined him behind the bush and together they were giggling as they kept attacking Dustin, who didn’t take long to jump off the porch and retaliate the throwing. 

A full blown snowball fight quickly broke out, which only got crazier when El, Mike and Will pulled up on their bikes in front of the house, followed by Max, Lucas and Erica, who had all been contacted by Dustin earlier about his sledding plans. 

An hour later they were all laughing together on the floor of Dustin's living room, mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, exchanging stories of past snow days and making plans for future ones. Steve and Eddie exchanged a few knowing glances, both knowing it probably couldn’t get any better than this. The warmth in their hearts replacing the cold from outside.