#even if it's not the one who birthed him

[dreamsteddie]

Steve and Eddie childhood friends au where Eddie's mom, Elizabeth Munson, is hired on as Steve's nanny when Steve turns four.

Elizabeth may not have the best reputation in town, but she went to school with Linda Harrington before she threw her life and money away on Al. She was young and foolish and thought he loved her like she loved him. It hurt to be proven wrong, that he loved her modest saving account more than he could ever love her, but at the end of the day, he gave her Eddie, so she carries on.

Linda had known her from before she met Al. They weren't ever friends, but Elizabeth was from a nice lower middle-class family and had long black curls that the other girls could admire. Not popular by any means, but someone who could be partnered up with Queen Linda for a history project without heads turning. Linda also knew from health class that Elizabeth was good with kids, so it's not a complete surprise when she gets a call asking if she'd like to nanny her 4-year-old son, Steve, for the foreseeable future so she can return to work with her husband.

The Harrintons are a wealthy couple, for Hawkins Indiana at least. In the grand scheme of things Richard's position as one of many property realtors in a major corporation keeps them comfortably in the upper middle classes, but the dollar stretches almost twice as far in the sleepy parts of Indiana.

Still, to Elizabeth who has never known more than a modest three bedroom and little Eddie who has never lived outside the tin walls of the trailer park, the Harrington home seems like a mansion fit for a king.

Or in this case, a little prince.

Steve is a sweet little boy, if a little bratty the first few times Elizabeth has to tell him no. When she first comes to the house to be briefed on all Steve's needs and how the house runs, he clings to his mother's perfectly pressed skirts and looks up at him with big brown eyes that remind her so much of Eddie's, full of barely contained curiosity. It doesn't take long after she introduces himself to him, stooping down to say hi and shake his little hand, for him to lose all that shyness and start, trying, to ask her questions. He's not at a place where he can use full sentences, but he makes do with pointing and the words he does have.

It's easy to see that Linda doesn't know how to interact with Steve, telling him more than once to let the grownups talk and to stop holding her skirt. Elizabeth doesn't say anything though, it's not her place and she could really use the job. Edde is sprouting up like a weed, and her previous income from the diner wasn't enough to get him all the things he needed. The Harringtons, for all their faults, are offering her more than a fair salary to look after their son.

The next week, she brings her and Eddie bright and early to make sure they get there just as the Harringtons head off to work. Elizabeth knows Richard wasn't keen on Eddie coming with her, probably not wanting his son to associate with a child he sees as lesser, but Elizabeth quickly realized that matters of the home like childcare were left to Linda's discretion, and she hadn't seen a problem with it.

Steve is waiting for his mother on the front porch, clutching her hand as hard as he can. When Linda pries his hand away he starts to snivel and cry, but to Elizaeth's surprise, he doesn't start to wail and scream. The first time she had to leave for work Eddie just about had a complete meltdown, not understanding where his mom was going or why he had to stay with his Uncle Wayne. Steve stays quiet, muffing his cries in a way that tugs at her heartstrings.

She takes his hand and guides him inside, holding back from scooping him up in her arms like she would Eddie to sing him a song and dry his tears. Something tells him the Harringtons wouldn't appreciate that.

So he waits, watches their car depart from the open doorway, and once she's sure they're completely out of sight she swoops down to hold him in her arms. The act opens the floodgates. Steve starts really crying and wailing into her arms, asking for his mama and clutching hard at the sleeves of Elizabeth's blouse.

That's when Eddie steps in, placing his hand on Steve's shirt and rubbing clumsy circles on the younger boy's shoulder. Eddie's not five quite yet, has about four more moths to go, but he's talking much more than Steve is and seems to relish in the use of his voice. Right now he's using it to soothe Steve, telling him it's going to be ok and his mama will come back and that they can share his mama until she does.

Then he does the damnedest thing.

He starts singing.

It's the same thing she's always done for him. Every time Al comes home and leaves again, when he falls off the jungle gym at the park, when one of the kids in town points out that his shoes have holes in them and that he must be poor. She holds him close, rubs his tiny shoulder, and sings her favorite Patsy Cline song into his ear.

The three of them stay in the Harrington's entryway for as long as it takes for Steve's tears to dry out, starting this new phase of their lives to the tune of Sweet Dreams.

[egophiliac]

I don’t think we’ve ever seen you draw knight of dawn before 🤔 what are your thoughts about him? Or take?

I've drawn him a couple of times, just really little/in the background. but I should draw him more, I love this guy a lot! I have many, many thoughts about him and the way he parallels Silver...and also I think it is extremely funny that his ghost is stuck in a ring. especially considering where that ring has been for the last 16-ish years.

[pharmasrightarm]

separate ways

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

As an owner of an xxy calico Jin rusong as an xxy calico is both so fun to see but so fitting and so sad in context of your warrior cats au

May I offer you a small consolation in the form of a slightly older Jin Rusong kitty?

[hellyrossum]

you know in all the posting about irving and helly’s friendship after last ep, i haven’t seen anyone mention yet that he was one of the two people who first saw her, who watched her (through the screen, on the other side of the wall) as she woke up for the first time, confused and scared and burning with anger. and then he was the one who brought her back; he was the one she first saw (holding her in his arms), as she was confused and scared and freezing. he was there for her start, and she was there again just in time for his end.

[jon-sedai]

And remember kids, the next time someone tells you, "George R. R. Martin wouldn't make Jon Snow the typical fantasy hero because that's cliche".....

Oh yes he would!

One viewer wants to know what character would you play (on the show)? GRRM: If I could magically clap my hands and become a different person, it would be cool to play Jon Snow who's much more of the classic hero. Everybody wants to be the classic hero! ABC Interview, 2014

GRRM: And the character I’d want to be? Well who wouldn’t want to be Jon Snow — the brooding, Byronic, romantic hero whom all the girls love. Meduza Interview, 2017

In fact he already has ☺️

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: assumed death / assumed sibling death / assumed child death / solitude ]

Thinking about Leo being trapped in the Prison Dimension and keeping himself warm through the power of his own ninpo - this ability is shown to us as a flame, after all, so imagine if, when he lets his mystic energy run through him, it warms him up, just a little.

In this desolate place, all cold and alone, he focuses on that flame and leans into its warmth.

He relies on it, and he realizes it that he’d relied on it too much when it goes out, and he’s once again cold.

(In another dimension, the Hamatos believe they lost one of their own.)

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

sometimes u just get so filled w thoughts about a pair of characters u gotta just go bonkers ya know

[hylialeia]

you don't get it. she loved him once. she didn't have a maester, she had a brother. he sold their mother's crown to keep them fed. he said Dany, please. she loved him, once.

[olasketches]

the fact that megumi was supposed to be the MC makes me giddy as hell. ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER GUYS

[mrscienceman4000]

Wait what if Sanji met Luffy he was a child- that would be so cute, and Luffy would be so supportive of his (future) cook!

[lagunaseca2013]

What do you thing Marc’s reaction is when he finds out Vale is pregnant in the Valpreg universe? Does he think Vale purposefully hid it from him?

well hello anon! I thiiiink this is about reverse omegaverse bc that’s the only mpreg scenario where vale is far along enough to warrant any anger for not telling marc. it’s not his fault, it was cryptic!

well for one, I think he handles it better than vale does, but that's for a variety of reasons. I don’t think he immediately jumps to vale hiding it as a conclusion bc he knows vale well enough to know there’s no way in hell he would’ve been racing if he’d known about it/he would’ve aborted that thang given the chance. imo marc probably does want kids and is very good with them but he's also 1) 22 years old and 2) not the one who has to carry and birth the baby. so on one hand it's a lot easier for him to be happy about. but on the other hand, vale is totally freaking out bc. he feels too young to have a baby. nevermind the fact that marc is for all intents and purposes, a young adult.

let’s not think about how 36 is already classified as a geriatric pregnancy. vale’s already suicidal enough just thinking about how long he’s been racing with this thing inside of him, plus the fact that he’s literally been on full strength suppressants this whole time. for his sake let’s say he hasn’t really been drinking all season with the exception of podium champagne and even that’s only a few sips. he’s terrified that he’s harmed the baby in some way.

what was the question? right, marc! I think it probably doesn't register as quite as big a deal as it should for marc for a while. he loves vale, he wants to be vale's alpha, however one-sided, and the season has been rough for sure, but enough of their history hasn't quite played out yet so he really does think they can work through this. also the pregnancy reveal AT sepang definitely like took some of the initial shock and hurt away from the incident bc hello new thing to focus on that isn't his omega publicly hating him and trying to knock him over mid-race. girl go talk to someone about this PLEASE.

vale is terrified and nearly catatonic w shock so directly after the medical checkup meltdown marc goes into alpha dealing with it mode and somehow gets them out of there and to his motorhome. he feels kinda bad bc vale probably wants to go to his motorhome where his nest is but that would involve confronting uccio and he's clearly not ready for that yet. (marc also does not want to see uccio, for obvious reasons……..) do they communicate any of this to each other? first of all marc just kind of senses that vale's pregnant but knows having the conversation there will end in catastrophe, so no! he just kind of assumes correctly w the added bonus of being right and vale realllly needing marc's scent right now. marc’s scent is the only thing bringing him any real comfort in the moment……..I wonder why……..

also pleaseeee let's take a moment to imagine the field day the press are having. this weekend alone vale has 1) dragged marc's name through the gravel, 2) let's say, uh, allegedly tried to kick marc off his bike mid race, 3) had some kind of scare in the medical building and cleared the entire place out so there's like doctors and nurses just hovering around outside looking concerned, 4) now left the medical building being physically shielded from the cameras by (checks notes) MARC! world's strangest series of headlines published that day. I don't even want to know what they were saying on twitter.

okay, now we've officially reached a secondary location. marc deposits vale on his bed and like runs around finding him clothes and blankets and boiling water for tea even though he knows vale probably won't even drink it. vale is like numbly dressing himself and half-heartedly arranging the blankets on the bed, shoving his face in marc's pillow bc he's already lost the battle w himself of pretending not to need it. marc hands him a cup of tea so now they're staring at each other sitting in marc's bed. and vale is holding a cup of tea.

basically marc tries to be like, the baby........and vale is in pure denial and also self-preservation mode so he's like what baby I don't know what you're talking about. so marc has to play dirty (vale is always forcing him to ride play dirty) and grab vale's hand and put it on his throat, vale’s trembling fingers brushing the raised bumps of his own bite. and marc is like vale I can feel you, I can feel you reaching out to me. I know you've been needing me. I know you have been stopping yourself, and I can feel it, I can feel our baby. our baby is there too. and then vale breaks down spectacularly and is like marc, amore, I swear I did not know—I have been racing, what if I hurt the baby—our baby.

now marc is young and also doesn’t have any of the answers here but he knows vale is scared out of his mind and that no matter what he’s determined to be there for him through all of it. it’s kind of unclear to both of them just how pregnant vale actually is but vale saw the ultrasound and that thing was looking hella fully formed, and marc has been feeling a growing presence through the bond for a while now so, both of them are separately confident that it’s too late for an abortion lmao. they also both have a lot of people to answer to, marc is only keeping alex and his dad away from his motorhome by telling them that he and vale are “handling the situation privately,” which is technically true bc no one knows what the situation is. also iirc I said that vale gave uccio his phone to deal with so let’s keep it that way.

okay there’s two weeks between sepang and valencia that year, right? I don’t really know like the details of how motogp riders live or in particular how they lived ten years ago but I’m going to pretend they’re somehow able to get a private flight out of malaysia that night, don’t ask me the details. marc still lives w his parents and shares a bunk bed w his baby brother so. tavullia it is!

marc hasnt been back to vale’s house since the crazy one sided mating incident. they get there at some ungodly hour and are like both numb and in their heads not really talking just sensing each other (this is the most calm marc’s instincts have been for almost a year at this point) and they’re finally going to bed when vale just kind of leads marc to his nest, wordlessly gets in. marc breathes in sharply, stunned, because vale’s nest is ninety percent marc’s clothes. it’s almost funny bc the majority of what vale had managed to steal is honda or mm93 merch from their sporadic hookups (before vale cut it off completely) so the entire bed is covered in like neon orange and red.

he gets in the bed and curls around vale, giant hand on vale’s stomach. vale unclenches for the first time in months and just silently starts crying into marc’s neck (scent gland) he is soooo scared. they have to schedule an obgyn appointment, they have to figure out something to tell yamaha because there’s no way in hell vale is going to finish the season pregnant. marc also has to figure out a way to convince vale to let him drop out of the championship to be there for him and the baby.

(when they eventually have that conversation vale is hysterically angry about it due to a combination of pregnancy hormones and projecting and being terrified that marc will resent him for it in the long run) sure vale, marc is going to resent you more for his own choice to drop out of the championship that he's already lost than for you one-sided bonding him and not letting him take care of you for months when you were pregnant. likely story.

ummmm okay this truly got away from me. the short answer is vale does his very best to keep marc out of it but he can’t actually deny what marc can literally feel through the bond so. there’s that. how do yamaha and honda and the sport as a whole and their families take it? well, that’s a whole other story……..

[feroluce]

Belobog was my fave main quest but a lot of it is so. Contradictory. It's like they had multiple groups doing different shit and none of them checked in with each other for consistency. And you see this so much in Gepard's profile.

So in the main quest, they made him unfailingly, unquestionably loyal to Cocolia. Gepard's character arc is him learning to question authority etc etc. And this isn't even a bad thing; that's a story worth telling! It makes good conflict between him and Serval! And I love that we got Gepard as a boss battle and I get to see him all the time in SU!

But then you look at his character stories and it's like. The complete opposite.

According to his profile, Gepard has already HAD this awakening, long before the Astral Express, and he'd already decided Cocolia sucks. Even outside of his stories, there's a pretty damning readable between him and Pela.

He even disobeyed direct orders right in front of her- he has been disobeying orders for a while now!

So I've decided I'm marrying the two different sides of this into a 1.5k fic-ish thingy, because I think there's some fun potential there with Gepard not trusting Cocolia, but still having to pretend to be a good obedient little soldier.

Anyway. I love to think of it as like. Gepard knows Cocolia has sunk into her apathy. He can see it in her eyes every time he looks at her. She doesn't care. Not about him, not about Pela, not about all his soldiers on the frontlines giving their lives to protect the citizens. And that's... It makes him bristle a bit, but ok. Gepard can deal with this. Even if Cocolia no longer cares, as long as she does her job then it's fine. Having compassion behind an action doesn't matter as much as the action itself. If Cocolia's heart is no longer swayed, then he'll just have to care twice as hard to pick up the slack. He considers it part of his duty as a captain of the guard anyway. It's fine. Gepard can deal with it.

And then, Cocolia starts coming down to the restricted zone. Issuing direct orders.

And Gepard realizes he is in way over his head.

Because Cocolia orders him to stay back and issue commands from the ramparts, away from all his comrades, away from where he can protect them.

Gepard had thought nothing could be as bad as watching a fellow guard die right next to him. But the first time he watches someone struck by a killing blow, so far away, it hurts. Every defensive scar across his arms itches, his fingers curl in want of a weapon, the cold cannot numb his hands enough as they desperately ache for his shield. It hurts.

Gepard tries to find any reason to stay. Because surely... He knows Cocolia has lost her love for her people, but surely... She wouldn't...

One day, Cocolia orders for their gunners to advance 20 yards. There are no survivors. She almost looks like she smiles.

Gepard doesn't sleep that night.

Pela brings him the report at the end of the first month; and then the month after that, and the month after that. A significant uptick in losses, and all of it started on that first day Cocolia started overriding his authority and issuing her own orders. The ends of Gepard's pens have all been nearly chewed off. Pela outright calls Cocolia an idiot, and Gepard corrects her. Cocolia isn't an idiot. Gepard had known her through Serval, knew her through all her college years and then some, and he knows how intelligent she is. It's not that she's stupid, and it's not that she's inexperienced, it's nothing of the sort.

Cocolia knows exactly what she's doing.

She must, there's no way she could make such a horrible mess of things so badly by accident. And Pela, quick as a whip, sharp as a tack, always too smart for her own good, catches onto the meaning behind Gepard's correction without any further prompting. The tent goes deathly quiet, nothing but the wind howling outside.

"...She's trying to kill us," Pela whispers, her voice swiftly suffocated by the silence.

Gepard swallows. He can't bring himself to correct her this time. There is nothing he could say that he would actually mean.

His gaze drops, back down to his desk and the reports on it. The names aren't listed, just the numbers, but Gepard knows them, knew them, and there must be something wrong, something he's missing, because why, why would she-? What could this possibly accomplish-?

“Gepard! Focus!” Something snaps right under his nose, and Gepard startles, eyes instantly honing in on Pela's irritated face as she leans over his desk. She holds his gaze for a moment before she huffs and begins to pace, wedges a knuckle between her teeth and bites like Gepard hasn't seen her do since cadet school.

Pela angrily strides from one end of his tent to the other, words hissed between her grit teeth. “What are we going to do?” In the dim lighting, Gepard can just barely see the damp spot of blood weeping under her gloves. “We need a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Wh- Yes, a plan! Unless you want more people to die!” Pela rounds on him then, all the wrath of a blizzard, winds roaring and snow sharp enough to cut.

“We don't even know-”

“What does it matter?! She killed-!!” Pela cuts off with a garbled noise when Gepard leaps up from his desk, hastily shoves his hand over her mouth. The prosthetic, not the flesh one, because he knows better than to assume Pela won't seize the opportunity to leave teeth marks in his skin.

“You're right. I'm sorry, I'm sorry; you're right. But you need to keep quiet.” Pela quirks an eyebrow at him and Gepard can read the question in her face. “Because we both saw what she did to Serval,” he hisses.

It's amazing the snow plains haven't thawed out yet, the amount of heat Pela can put behind a glare. The mere mention of Serval, and the smoking ruins Cocolia had made of her life and career, have her bristling up like a riled cat. The sudden hot breath she takes fans fog across his metal skin, and Gepard wisely keeps it in place until Pela finally sighs and reaches up, taps her fingertips against the back of his hand.

The second she's free, Pela bats him away and then her knuckle is right back between her teeth again, Gepard leaning back against his desk with his arms crossed to watch her resume her pacing. “If we spread the word, she'll have us discharged and make sure we can't even touch the frontlines,” Pela's voice seethes like an open sore. Gepard nods but keeps his silence. He knows better than to get in her way.

“And if you and I are both out of the picture, Belobog is fucked.” A little harsher than how he would have put it, but there's no denying that they're both important to the city's survival. Pela has the restricted zone running as efficiently as ever, and Gepard had become the youngest captain on record for a reason. “We need to keep this tight under wraps, at least for now… It can't leak to anyone higher up the chain.” Another nod. “Serval might know other discontents…” Another n-

Gepard's head snaps up. “No.”

“No what?”

“No. We're not involving Serval in this.”

Somehow, even the same tone that leaves entire squadrons shaking in their boots has never worked on her. “You're not deciding that for her, Gepard.”

Pela hadn't seen the worst of it, though, back when his sister had just been banned from the Architects. Serval's pride hadn't allowed it. Pela wasn't the one to find her passed out bottle still in hand, hadn't been the one to wash the sick out of her hair or carry her to bed. 

Serval still has trouble thinking clearly when it comes to Cocolia, still can't quite bring herself to be objective. And Gepard maybe doesn't want her to be purely objective- but he would worry a lot less if she thought twice before she acted more often.

“At least let me be the one to bring it up to her.”

“Whatever, fine,” Pela gestures affirmatively at him as she paces past, and Gepard sighs. Good, at least that's one thing he can help.

From there, it's a lot of hemming and hawing and frustration. Cocolia has them under her boot, and Gepard and Pela both know it. Even with the way she's been cracking down on freedoms lately, Cocolia is still, overall, liked by the people. It's unlikely anyone would believe them. They don't even have solid proof, because most people don't know Cocolia as well as they do and won't see the clues in the same light. 

The Fragmentum has been ramping up in recent years, too. Everyone is struggling just to survive as is, they can't afford a fight on two fronts. Gepard is a damn good captain, one of the best for that matter. But they're at a massive disadvantage, his experience is narrowed to fighting a defensive battle against monsters, that's all he's ever done. That's all anyone there has ever done. He has no way of finding first-hand knowledge for taking the offensive against a human opponent, and if he goes at this blind, there's no way he'll get everyone out unscathed. He's going to lose people. He's going to lose a lot of people.

He'd never thought before that Cocolia would have it in her to have someone killed. And with this new knowledge, he has no guarantee she won't go after Serval or Lynx if she decides to retaliate.

Gepard has to remind himself to breathe when he realizes this.

Pela writes down every name the two of them can come up with. Lists and lists of names and groups and anyone they can think of who might be an ally in all of this. They memorize every bit of it, make their plans of who to talk to and when. Gepard watches the sparks reflect off Pela's glasses as they burn the evidence together.

Pela finally leaves, far too late to make it home, but says she wants to stay in the restricted zone anyway to investigate. Gepard watches her make her way in the direction of Dunn's tent, watches her back until she's out of his sight and squashes down the urge to follow and keep an eye on her. His tent feels empty.

In the morning, Gepard is up before the wake up bells. He drags himself out of bed, leads his soldiers through their morning training. The same people gravitate to each other everyday. Friend groups and training partners. There's an ongoing rivalry between a few squadrons that everyone bets on. Some of them have lockets around their necks, keepsakes, mementos. Some of them wear wedding rings.

Gepard is suddenly, painfully aware of something acidic clawing at the inside of his throat, of a heavy weight low in his chest that blooms, takes up room until it threatens to spread his ribs. His mouth tastes of bile and blood.

He rearranges the schedules. Puts himself down for every open patrol into the Fragmentum, makes sure he'll be on the frontlines every single time Cocolia visits.

He only hopes that it's enough.

[clowndensation]

there’s a question to be asked i think about to what extent “getting out” can be conflated with “being saved” in this show, and what freedom actually means to any of these characters.

like you can argue that shiv saved ken by voting against him on gojo, but what if your intent behind saving someone is to inflict a worse punishment than if you’d just left them trapped? can a child weaned on poison survive on milk, or are you just sentencing them to a death by inches, starved of the only thing they know? and if you save someone specifically because you know that being saved is the worst thing that can happen to them, is that kindness or cruelty? at what point does a good thing become a malicious act?

and you can say that roman is finally free, but what exactly is he free from? the company? his father? does unlocking a cage mean saving a dog, or are you allowing him out on the street knowing there’s a kill shelter nearby? if the driving anxiety behind roman is that he’s an idiot and a failure—that he’ll never amount to anything, and trying will only lead to pain—and he’s finally cut loose once all of those anxieties have crystallized into cold hard fact in his mind, what has he actually escaped from? if the cage is in your mind, is it even possible for somebody else to unlock it?

the fundamental truth of a tragedy is that even being saved can be a death sentence, if the characters are incapable of escaping the thing doing them the most harm (themselves and their childhoods)

[eir-trixa]

One thing that gets me everytime is that Stoick would have absolutely LOVED Zephyr. And Nuffink of course but I have this weird feeling that he wouldve doted non stop on Zephyr specifically. She wouldve been spoiled rotten by her grandfather, taken everywhere on top of his shoulders or the crook of his elbow. He would be reading her stories before bed. He would have learned to braid her hair and sat down with her on tea parties. He wouldve gone with her troll hunting. He would be there for her and her brother in the way he never got to be with Hiccup because the times were different now and then. He would absolutely be her best friend and Im SAD they never got to meet.

[coquelicoq]

this relationship between the emperor and his favorite concubine is something else. because apparently she was his DAD'S concubine and she reminds him of his mom...he's like you're the only connection i have to my mother (presumably because she was friends with his mom, because they were concubines of the same guy, and because after his mom died she used to take care of him and make him the food his mom used to make him because she "loves children") and i'm sitting there like 😬 ok where are we going with this. then i get to the end of the show and discover they weren't going anywhere with it in particular. they were just like, we want this guy to have a mommy complex and we want you to know about it. okay. thanks i guess...