#expect more VERY soon

[aro-paladin-pidge]

So, yesterday (I think) I posted about some vague ideas I had for what might have happened if the Galra had found Blue pre-canon, right? So I just had an absolute brainwave last night, and now this is a full-fledged au.

A little while ago, I made this post about how bad the character motivations in Voltron were (long story short, only 1 of the 5 paladins’ motivations worked for the plot) and I’ve been contemplating ways the show writers could’ve fixed this (for Lance and Hunk in particular) for quite a while and yesterday’s post fixes goddamn everything.

So, the empire gets the Blue Lion. For plausibility’s sake, I’m going to stretch the date on this way back to ~200 years pre-canon, let’s say after World War 3 (yes World War 3 canonically happened at some point, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it line from Season 7), which could possibly be around the 2100s (no concrete dates are given, so I’m just going off what feels right). The Galra conquer Earth, have Blue for long enough that Haggar/the Druids figure out some way to measure a person’s quintessence for similarities with the Blue Lion, and this quintessence-testing process goes into effect across the universe as the Galra attempt to find a blue paladin.

Eventually, Lance is born, and when he’s 13-14 years old (my best guess for when the Garrison would start taking students, based on real-life military academies and the Season 7 Keith flashbacks) he enrolls in the Garrison, (A Galra-controlled military school in this au) and as part of his physical for entry, they take some of his quintessence, as has been standard policy for the last few decades. They run some tests on it, compare it to Blue’s, and it’s similar enough that he could be a paladin.

So, based on what Allura says in s1e1 about the Lions choosing their paladins based on personality + how Red makes Keith prove himself before choosing him, despite their assumedly compatible quintessence, it’s clear that the lions choose based on two factors: similar quintessence (which seems like the minimum requirement, they HAVE to have similar enough quintessence to make a bond possible) and personality (personal criteria, aka why they choose someone to be a paladin. If the criteria are initially met, but then the paladin changes, like with Zarkon, a Lion can revoke their bond in favor of a better suited paladin. This shit is fascinating, imma write a post on it at some point) but, all this to say that the Galra would probably take Lance to wherever they’re keeping Blue, probably in that giant Central Command ship.

Blue obviously chooses Lance as her paladin, so the Galra basically kidnap him and force him to like, fly Blue for them. Lance is a decent person, so he doesn’t want to, but since the Galra control Earth in this au, they use his family as leverage to force him to. So, for the ~3 years until canon, Lance is a paladin/prisoner of the Galra, so he gets experience as a paladin, actual information about the modern Empire, and a motivation to fight them!

On earth, things would proceed mostly as they do in canon. I’d imagine Keith would know about his Galra heritage and probably have spent some time with the Blade/his mom, but she probably would lose track of him after his dad dies, so he’d still end up with Shiro, as in canon.

Shiro would be a Galra soldier in this au, a talented graduate of the Garrison that maybe has some doubts about the Galra’s mission. He’s assigned to fly a research mission to Kerberos with some scientists (including Matt and Sam, but not just them) and while he’s there, the team comes across something they’re not supposed to, like an Altean ruin or something, idk, this part’s not completely ironed out. So the team disappears, Kerberos mission is scrapped and chalked up to pilot error, and Shiro is sent to the Gladiator pits where he learns the truth about the empire.

Pidge enlists in the Garrison late, as a communications cadet, in order to spy on the Galra and figure out what happened to their family. I’d imagine that they pretty quickly figure out just how bad the empire is after their family goes mission, so they’re a bit of an anti-imperial activist.

Hunk stays mostly the same because he’s already an excellent character that deserved so much better. He and Pidge are placed on the same team with like, James or someone as their pilot. Since James is a jerk, Hunk bonds with Pidge over their shared nerdiness, and when Pidge eventually tells him about how evil the Galra really are, he decides to work with Pidge to find their family and maybe to fight the empire.

When canon hits, the Blade has the same motivation as they do in the show-to get Blue out of the Galra’s hands. Ulaz finds Lance, and eventually convinces him to defect from the empire, promising that the Blade will get his family out of harm’s way. He stages Shiro’s escape as a cover for Lance’s defection, and implants the coordinates for the Blade’s base in Shiro’s hand, telling them to input those coordinates once they’re sure the Galra can’t track them. They both escape on the Blue Lion, but Lance doesn’t really trust these people he’s met, like, twice, so they decide to go back to earth to make sure that his family is actually safe.

On earth, things go bad, because the Blue Lion is 1. Extremely noticeable and distinctive 2. Widely known as the most powerful ship in the Galra arsenal and 3. Was just involved in a major prison breakout. Yikes. Shiro and Lance are ambushed by Galra soldiers the instant they hit ground, resulting in a very big, public battle.

Keith, who is not a weird desert hermit, as Blue is no longer calling out to him and keeping him in the middle of nowhere, sees it on, like, the news or smth, immediately recognizes Shiro, and, just like in canon, rushes in to rescue him. Pidge and Hunk, back at the Garrison, realize that that’s Shiro, who disappeared with Pidge’s family a year ago. They rush out to find him, and all of the paladins meet up in Cuba, right in time for another big battle where they learn how to work together. They manage to defeat the Galra, but more reinforcements are coming, so they decide to get the hell out of dodge and get to the Blade headquarters.

Unfortunately, the Galra send a giant fleet after them, resulting in a huge, destructive battle, and Blue is forced to flee through a wormhole, sending them to, surprise surprise, Arus. Cue the rest of the series, but with paladins who have actual motivation to form Voltron and fight the Galra, characters who have worked together before, and someone who knows how to fly the Lions.

I do have another version of this au, which I think is way more interesting, both plotwise and characterwise, but it would dramatically upend the status quo of the story, change pretty much everything about the power scaling and overall stakes of the series, so I’m not sure about it. I’ll outline it briefly here.

Basically, the Galra Empire has to have some pretty great propaganda, right? I mean, they’re an incredibly oppressive, authoritarian empire that has had absolute control over the universe for 10,000 years, there’s no way that happened without excellent propaganda. So, what if Lance, who is 13 years old and signs up to be a Galra soldier at the Garrison in this au, is actually convinced by the Galra that he’s doing something good by serving the Galra? Idk how Shiro would get out of the gladiator rings here-maybe the Blade instigates a prisoner revolt, and Ulaz recognizes Shiro as the guy who’s most likely to survive, and gives him the coordinates bc of that-but he gets back to earth, finds Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and maybe even Adam, and they get to the blade headquarters, find the Red Lion, and get to Arus from there. This would make Lance a kind of villain for the first few seasons, and make the paladins unable to form Voltron, which I think would be fascinating, but would kinda necessitate an entire rewrite. This is where the ‘No Blue AU’ name came from, since the other one does have Blue in it. Maybe I’ll call that one ‘Yes Blue AU’.

[wasyago]

welp, didn't manage to get everything out before season 10 started, but i gotta post it one way or another so here we go! heard there was a fandom swap game going on, wanted to do a couple promts of my own :D

[wildflowercryptid]

i'm about to pass out at my desk, but have this stupid ass doodle i did before i go sleep.

[verminvamp]

Happy disability pride month! Im so happy that my old disabled sonic stuff blew up on the 1st so that I got reminded to draw them again

Plus some new headcanons this time. I think headcanoning Amy as severally visually impaired is fun bc that’s why she is always mistaking ohter hedgehogs for sonic lol (she only uses the walking stick if she’s going out alone, otherwise she just relies on the person she’s with to guide her.)

I’ve always headcanond Tails as nonverbal do to the tism, his iPod thing is one of those text to speech communication aids

He also taught Kit sign language because I think Starline is ableist (Kit is deaf)

[ejga-ostja]

six of bunny hare rabbits

[outletcrash]

shakes her around like a beetle in a jar

[jessaerys]

sun visits the moon at spk headquarters and gets so so so sleepy

[beresaad]

there's nothing like rubbing your horns together in sappy displays of affection with your wife

[mercurymoths]

Shadow but he’s in my outfit because I thought it fit him :>

[milesofstars]

After spending so much time around Kokichi, do you reckon Shuichi would pick up some of his traits? Ofc not the obsessive lying but when comfortable he mirrors his laugh or even becomes a little more playful, just to a lesser annoying state than Kokichi does.

i think he would absolutely pick up some of his mannerisms... for better or for worse! maybe a few little lies but hes honestly not very confident with it

we do a little trolling

and we do a little giggling

[abyssalic]

long time no see, babes!! heres a wip of one of the creatures thats going to be part of my beloved au!!

[strangersteddierthings]

Porcelain Steve - Part 7

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six🦇Part Seven🦇Part Eight🦇Part Nine

((TW for this part; period typical slurs and internalized homophobia. Read the tags before clicking readmore if you want the details))

Steve has been a porcelain doll for seven weeks when disaster strikes.

"What is that," Jeff says, because even though the words are in an order which would suggest that it's a question, the tone of voice Jeff uses decidedly is not questioning.

"What is whaaa-AH! Nothing! It's nothing!" Eddie, who was torso deep into his closet throwing things around to find his backup amp cord, turns to look at what Jeff was talking about, and is now launching himself across his room to stand between Jeff and Porcelain Steve. Porcelain Steve, who Eddie had lain on his bed, propped slightly on a pillow, headphones carefully perched on his little head, hooked to a cassette player currently playing the first hour of last week's Top 40 countdown that Eddie had taped for him (all three hours of it, leaving out the chatter of the radio show host. He'd had to use two tapes to get it all).

"Nothing sure looks a lot like a doll in headphones, Munson," Jeff has an amazing poker face but Eddie's certain he can see a bit of judgement underneath the carefully blank expression Jeff is wearing.

"I don't know what you're talking abo- hey! Hey, no, no, don't!" Eddie tries to bodily block Jeff when he moves forward and the two end up wrestling, a match that Eddie almost wins, if not for the hazard that is his messy room. He gets Jeff walked almost to the door before he steps wrong on something, ankle rolling and sending him down sideways. He clutches at Jeff but can't make purchase and Jeff, the bastard, does fuck-all to try and catch him. Instead, Jeff leaps out of arm's length, then lunges onto the bed as Eddie collapses to his floor.

Eddie frantically tries to stand and, in his haste, ends up with his feet tangled in a pile of dirty laundry and that sends him crashing down again, this time forward onto his hands and knees, so he gives up on standing and crawls the few short feet to the bed, finally looking up to see that the damage has been done.

Jeff has picked up Steve, holding him inches from his own face, eyes squinted in suspicion. Eddie is frozen, horrified and afraid, and can't bring himself to do anything as Jeff examines Steve closely, turning him around, poking his torso, flipping him upside down to examine his shoes more thoroughly. It's only when Jeff reached for the shirt, pinching the hem of it between two fingers that Eddie kicks back into action.

He lunges up, one knee on the bed, leaning over to grab Steve and yank him from Jeff's grip. His first instinct is to throw Steve over his shoulder, out of sight out of mind mentality, but as soon as he does, he realizes his mistake and twists, lunging to catch Steve in midair. He does manage to catch Steve, but it sends him bouncing off his dresser and almost back to the floor before he manager to regain his balance, where he proceeds to cradle Steve to his chest, which is heaving from the adrenaline, wrestling match, and subsequent dive after Steve.

Jeff is giving him a concerned look but something else piques his interest; Jeff reaches over and picks up the headphones, holding them up to one ear. His face goes through every emotion a human could possibly experience in less than fifteen seconds as he listens to whatever track was at the forty-ish minute mark on the Top 40 countdown.

Slowly, Jeff lowers the headphones, letting them drop to the bed before he gives Eddie a new, more judgmental, yet infinitely more concerned, look. "Eddie. What. The fuck."

Honestly, he's not sure there's anything he can say in response.

"Why- I don't... are you okay, man?" Jeff sounds both scared for Eddie, and scared of him, at the same time.

"I'm fine," Eddie manages to squeak out.

"Eddie," Jeff says seriously, "this is not fine. This is- this is insane behavior. You know that, right?"

"I've no idea what you mean," Eddie doesn't even know what he's defending himself from but his default response to anything is to defend himself. He grips Steve tightly around the torso with one hand and then moves both his hands to be behind his back so Jeff will stop staring at Steve.

"I mean this fuckin' insane shrine you have dedicated to Steve fucking Harrington. How did you even get a doll that looks like him. Did you- did you make that?"

Fuck. Holy fuck. What can he say to defend himself here? Is there a single way for him to come out of this not sounding deranged? If he agrees, let's Jeff's drawn conclusion be the truth, then that's all but confirmation to Steve about his big fat crush, so when Steve's back to being Steve he'll never look at Eddie again. Jeff might think he needs mental help, but he'll be here for Eddie. If he tries to deny the accusation, then he'll need an explanation. He'll have to tell Jeff something that make him seem less like a creepy stalker, but what? He can't tell the truth, not without letting everyone know he's going to tell Jeff. There's a whole other secret he'd have to let out to even have a chance of Jeff believing him.

Jeff must take his silence for acceptance or guilt, because he's speaking again. "I.... man, this is not healthy. Please tell me you aren't, like, hoarding a lock of his hair or his clothes or something."

Involuntarily, damningly, his eyes dart to the closet, where several of Steve's sweaters hang from when he'd borrowed them and never returned them. And it's not like Steve doesn't have several of Eddie's own articles of clothing, like his battle vest and a few shirts. But Jeff doesn't know they easily, willingly, swap clothes, so his eyes go wide and dart towards the closet, as if he can pick out which pieces belong to Steve on sight.

Actually, he probably can.

"This really isn't what it looks like," Eddie says because he has to say something. Being silent is too incriminating.

"I don't think you're aware of what this looks like," Jeff says, wiggling himself off of Eddie's bed to stand at the foot of it. "Of all the boys in Hawkins.... I knew you liked Steve but this is.... creepy. That doll looks so much like him that I recognized it. Does Steve know you're in love with him, or is this like a way to process your crush without having to-"

"Jeff!" Eddie yells, mortified. He can feel his whole face heat up, knows he must be bright red. Because Jeff just said, out loud and for Steve to hear, the thing that Eddie very much hasn't even said out loud to himself, even if he knows how he feels deep down.

Jeff must know he's overstepped some invisible boundary he wasn't even aware of because his face immediately shows regret. He takes a step forward and Eddie takes a step back.

Immediately, Jeff stops his forward momentum. "Shit, I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm sorry."

When Eddie answers, his voice sounds like he's been eating gravel, "Just, can you go wait in the living room? I'll be right out, and we can talk, or whatever, but can you just..."

A nod, and then Jeff is gone, closing the door behind him.

With shaking hands, Eddie brings Steve back to the front of him. Looks down at him. He's not even aware he's crying until he watches his tears mark Steve's tiny polo. He can't keep holding Steve. Can't keep looking at him. Not when- not when his best friend just outed him in the worst way possible. And Eddie can't even be upset or hurt about it because Jeff didn't know. He's teased Eddie about his crushes before, and in the safety of his own room, there was no reason for Jeff to have to watch what he was saying.

Even knowing that Steve is okay with Robin, loves her anyway, without the ability to confirm that Steve doesn't hate him right now, Eddie's going to freak out. But he can't. Jeff is waiting in the living room, and the band is waiting back at Gareth's. This was just- they were supposed to just grab the amp cable and get back, a fifteen-minute job at most, and now.

Now Eddie is staring down at Steve, willing himself to not have a panic attack.

"I'm sorry, Steve. I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have heard it like that, it s-should have come from me. It should- you-I'm sorry," Eddie gently underhand throws Steve onto the center of the bed. He lands face up and Eddie sinks to the floor because he can't stand anymore, and he can't really breath.

Steve knows Eddie's a fucking faggot now, and that he wants Steve, and there's no way he'll get to keep the friendship they had before this. There's no universe in which Steve isn't creeped out by this information. There has never been an instance where a straight boy found out about his crush on them and didn't abandon him. Not always cruelly, he'll admit. He's had friends that learned and just... slid from his life with no words and no fuss. Eddie just never spoke to them again because they never came back around, but they also never outed him.

That's what will happen with him and Steve. He'll quit inviting Eddie around, or calling when he's bored, and eventually it will get to the point that Eddie only sees him at BBQ's that Joyce drags him to.

Fuck. FUCK!

He's not sure how long he's on the floor but eventually, he finds the will to get back up and resume digging through his closet to find the amp cord. It doesn't take long, he was ridiculously close to finding it earlier, it seems.

Before leaving his room, he picks back up the cassette player and headphones. Silence comes from them, so he pops the tape out before flipping it to the B side and popping it back in. He puts the headphones around Steve's head again and presses play, doing his best to not actually look at Steve. He'll just have another breakdown if he does.

He trudges out of his room, closing the door behind himself before taking the short walk to the living room, where Jeff waiting on the couch, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled under his chin, eyes faraway as he stares towards the wall in front of him.

"Hey," Eddie says, to get his attention.

"Hey," Jeff says, sitting up straight and turning towards Eddie. "I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the fucking psycho here," he sighs, leaning sideways against the kitchen counter, arms folded across his chest, hand clutching at the amp cord just for something to ground him.

"Forget that, whatever I did, or said, or whatever, you were- when you yelled my name. You looked terrified. Of me," Jeff almost whispers the last sentence, and if not for the stark silence in the trailer, Eddie wouldn't have heard.

"Not of you, Jeff," Eddie whispers back, but his voice doesn't stay quiet because 'quiet' isn't a thing Eddie does easily or often. "Of... of myself, and these- of how I feel- I'm a goddamned faggot and now that Ste- when Steve finds out I'll lose him! Like I've lost every fucking person who ever even suspected I was a fuckin' queer!"

Silence stretches between them, enough to make Eddie fidget, dropping his crossed arms to twist the amp cord about anxiously with both his hands.

"Look, man, I don't know what's, like, the appropriate thing to say so I'm just going for the honest thing. You got me. You'll never lose me. And all those other assholes that you think you lost? You're wrong. They lost you. And if Steve Harrington is gonna be another one of those, then you aren't losing him. 'Cause he was never really in your corner to begin with."

If this were anyone else, with the exception of his uncle, he would be able to hold it together better. But it's Jeff. His best friend. Who never believed Eddie committed unspeakable horrors over Spring Break last year. Who didn't question the strange, new friends he suddenly had afterwards; who accepted as the only explanation a softly spoken 'they saved me' and that was enough. Who had said 'ok, cool' in response to Eddie telling him he was gay, years ago now, and continued trying to find out if Eddie had a secret relationship, switching girlfriend for boyfriend like it wasn't a big deal (Eddie did not have a secret relationship; his good mood that week was the result of snooping for his birthday present and finding the guitar hidden under his uncle bed).

It's Jeff. So, Eddie does the most metal, manly thing he can and bursts into tears, blindly reaching for Jeff and pulling him off the couch so he can bear hug him and sob into his shirt.

"There, there, you big baby," Jeff rubs his back soothingly, "let it out. Then pull your sorry ass together, because Gareth and Brian are going to think we died in a car crash on the way here if we take much longer."

"Ah, fuck," Eddie manager to say around the sniffling he's trying to get control of, "you're right."

"You good, though?"

"Uh, I will be."

Jeff nods and steps back. "How about this. We go to practice, and then you can come to my place tonight and we can like, hangout and talk. If that's what you want."

He's already nodding as he says, "yeah. That would be good. I- uh, I have something to do after practice, but yeah, after that I'll come over."

Eddie tosses the amp cable to Jeff after they climb into the van and head off.

Halfway there, Jeff says, "you know Gareth and Brian are in your corner, too. If you ever feel like telling them one day."

"One day," Eddie agrees, "but today has already been... a lot."

Practice goes well, with some ribbing for their tardiness allowed. If Gareth and Brian notice Eddie's been crying recently, they keep it to themselves. Which is good, because Eddie cannot handle one more thing today.

A promise to meet up with Jeff later and Eddie's back home.

Back to where he left Steve, who will be laying in silence on his bed because it's been well over two hours since he and Jeff left, and the tape only held an hours' worth of music on each side. Back to the nightmare of not knowing if Steve hates him now, or if Eddie's, and this is the most likely scenario, being a bit overdramatic.

His uncle is home, so he greets him, asks after his day, gets told dinner is Fend For Yourself Night (which just means leftovers or a TV dinner), and gets asked about Steve. Because of course he does.

"You sure he went on a vacation willingly with those parents of his, and he ain't actually kidnapped and trapped somewhere?"

That's a little bit too true. If only Wayne knew. "Well, no. I'm not sure. All I know is what he said when he left."

Wayne gives him a look. One Eddie is used to seeing, that says 'I know more than you think but I'm waiting for you to tell me' and Eddie's a little afraid of what Wayne thinks he knows. So, instead of prying that box open, Eddie just says he's tired and goes to his room.

Steve is exactly where Eddie left him.

Suddenly, without reason or logic, Eddie is angry. He's so pissed at Steve for being gone for this long. For having transformed in the first place. For not being able to assure him they'll still be friends, regardless of Eddie's stupid crush.

He snatches Steve off the bed, hand clamping around one of Steve's arms and his torso so he can hold him up with one hand. Steve's face, permanently stuck into a blank expression, looks back. Even knowing that Steve sees and hears through this thing, Eddie's so angry at the doll. If Steve hadn't been turned into this stupid thing, if Eddie wasn't so helplessly in love with him, this wouldn't have happened. Eddie could have taken his own time telling Steve, instead of hearing his deepest secret spilled easily from Jeff's lips. Instead of this not knowing what Steve is thinking, or how he feels. Is he recoiling in disgust at the fact Eddie's making him look at his face? Or is Eddie being awarded the same kindness as Robin, a quiet acceptance that won't change their friendship?

Eddie doesn't know that answer and he hates it.

He's so angry with himself because he should know better. He's forcing his own insecurities onto Steve, about acceptance and caring, when nothing Steve's done since they've become friends is prove that he'll always be Eddie's friend and not even the apocalypse could change that.

"I'm going to hang out with Jeff, so you're gonna be alone a bit longer. Or maybe I should drop you off at Robin's when I go," Eddie goes to toss Steve back on the bed when something pinches his palm. It's a startling sharp pain, quick to fade, but it's surprising enough for Eddie to let go.

Eddie watches, horrified, as he falls to the floor. He twists in the air, landing with a dull thump and cracking sound on his left arm before falling onto his back.

"Shit. Shit! Fuck, Steve, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," Eddie is crouched, already in the process of reaching for Steve when he freezes.

There is a crack on Steve's left arm, a line that starts above his elbow on the inside of his arm and runs down and across his arm to his hand, where Steve's pinky finger is gone. Looking slightly to the side, Eddie can see the small porcelain piece that Steve is missing laying on the ground next to him. Eddie's own hand is hovering in the air above Steve, shaking.

This can't be- how did- Eddie wracks his brain. Was the crack there already? Did Eddie cause the crack when he bounced off his dresser earlier? When did it happen? Does that fucking matter when it's Eddie who broke a piece off him? If Steve didn't hate him before, he's got to now. Eddie doesn't have time to panic about this, he's got to- El. El can talk to Steve. Find out if he's okay. What if breaking him-

Eddie launches himself up and to his dresser, grabbing at the Walkie up there. He pulls the antenna up, clicks it on and tries not to actually shout as he says, "Code Red! Code fucking Red!" He lets off the talk button, counts to seven in his head, enough time, he reasons, for someone to respond before he repeats the process. "Code Red!! Code Red!"

He repeats this process for three minutes with no response. Where the fuck is everyone!? How is he supposed to- Oh! The phone!

He tears down the hall and to the phone. He must look a right state, because Wayne looks very concerned and is halfway to standing up when Eddie gets to the phone beside him. He yanks the phone up and dials the number for the Byers-Hopper household, holding up a shaking finger to Wayne, a silent plea to give him a moment.

It rings and rings and rings before the answering machine kicks in. Eddie presses down on the disconnect button before dialing the Wheelers' number next.

"Hello?"

"Mike! Code Red! Where the fuck is everyone and why aren't they answering!?"

"What?"

"Code Red! Where's Nancy. Put Nancy on."

"Dude, slow down, what's-"

"I broke St-it. I broke it and someone needs to get El here now. Code Red does not mean ask questions, Mike! It means Code. Fucking. Red."

"Shit, shit, right! I'll get Nancy and we'll get everyone- just- we'll be there soon."

Eddie slams the phone down and has to meet his uncle's eye now.

"Eddie. What is goin' on?"

Eddie inhales a breath and can feel his lower lip quivering. "It's- can we talk about it later? I promise I'm not the one hurt, or in trouble, or- it's not me, ok. I just-"

"Yer shakin' like a leaf boy. What's got you so spooked?"

Eddie just shakes his head and flees back to his room, slamming the door shut between him and his uncle. He can't bring himself to cross the room to Steve. He slides himself down the door to sit on the floor, pulling his knees up to hug.

"I'm so sorry, Steve. I'm sorry."

[stevens-pastrami-sandwich]

Professor Boxleitner the typa guy to scream "EUREKA!!" after an explosion in the lab

[mothcpu]

dogfight

[mastersoftheair]

on the point of including black people in the show (or any period show), a lot of the outrage can sometimes come across as performative to me. it's one thing to feel upset about how little screentime black characters get compared to white characters (a valid criticism, believe me, I Know! give me an hour and i could talk your ear off about how this constantly annoys me as a black person who's damned to enjoy period pieces), but it's another to Only get upset while not actually creating content for said black characters, Especially when fandom (not just hbo war, but in general) is famous for taking Extremely minor characters and creating entire worlds with them, to the point where you wouldn't know they're minor characters at all until you check out the source yourself. richard macon, alexander jefferson, and robert daniels each have only 20 or less posts about them (at the time of publishing this post). in my own fandom experience (within fandoms both big and small and old and new, whatever), i've seen more content (posts, art pieces, analyses, fics, etc) made for minor white characters in less than a mere week's time (it's not a competiton lol i'm just giving a perspective here). so idk. obviously, there's nothing anyone here can do about a show that's already been filmed and released. we got what we got. thas it. at least in the great wide world of fandom, you can actually do something about it, turning the big into small. there's precedent for that. otherwise it just feels like complaining for the sake of complaining

[thedreadvampy]

sometimes I forget that my experience has been. um. not 'your experiences are not universal' vibes but more like 'your experiences are EXTREMELY atypical'