#surrogate siblings

[cloakedsparrow]

“Don’t worry, you still got me. I guess nothing’s changed” & “I heard you became an agent” aka another Resident Evil headcanon/rant

Damnation is my favorite Resident Evil film. Not just because it’s awesome but also because I feel like we get the most insight into Leon as a character in it.

He’s usually ‘on’ in some way when we see him. He’s usually either protecting someone, keeping a civilian (or fake civilian) calm/safe, or with people he can’t really trust (like Benford) or doesn’t know if he can trust yet (like Helena). But his interactions with Hunnigan, JD, and Buddy/Sasha in that film are different. He’s very raw and open. And hurt. And tired. And hungry. He really lets them (and us) know how he feels about everything. It might just be the best characterization we get from any character in this franchise.

As part of this unusual expression of feelings, he makes the title quote before hanging up on Hunnigan at the end of the film. He seems upset. He starts to storm out of the hotel room he’s in before taking a breath and walking out with a little more control. Considering that he’s on furlough during that film and then part of the DSO in the next game, I always figured the ‘I guess nothing’s changed’ line meant that Benford pulled his shit again, using something to make Leon feel he had to join the DSO. Initially, I figured it was something to do with Buddy/Sasha. After all, we do see him returning to his life as a teacher at the end, despite having kidnapped and nearly murdered a US citizen during the film.

But then In RE6 we learn that Sherry Birkin is a DSO agent who answers directly to Simmons. This strikes me as weird for several reasons.

He’s her adopted father. Wouldn’t there be a conflict of interests to him being her CO?

As unlikely as it would be irl, we keep being told that the DSO answers directly to the president, so why is she an exception?

She’s a BOW who has been kept very sheltered/protected up to this point. When, where, and how was she safely trained?

Then I thought of that part of Damnation.

What if making Sherry an agent was what got Leon to sign on? As the most experienced agent with the most successful BOW related cases under his belt, Leon would be the natural choice for all the really crazy/dangerous assignments after joining the DSO. If he were to refuse to join though, then an agent with no experience but the ability to heal rapidly would probably be a top contender for such assignments. Leon taking the position would mean protecting her all over again and that’s something Benford knows works.

I’ve never subscribed to the fan-theory that Sherry is basically Leon’s daughter. I’ve always seen it as more of an unbalanced brother-sister relationship. Leon gave everything to protect her (from Umbrella, from the US government, from a life as a lab rat, from foster care) but he was nine years older than her and busy saving the world. She specifically refers to him as the person who saved her in Raccoon City rather than just someone she can trust or has known over half her life when Jake questions her about trusting Leon in RE6. She ultimately trusts him over her adopted father, so they definitely know each other still, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve spent  lot of time together.

There’s also the way he says he heard she became an agent. It’s very...stilted. Like he’s trying not to give away too much or is maybe not too happy about that but knows it’s not his place to say anything. It’s all very much like a big brother who went off to live his life when a much younger sibling was still growing up at home. There’s trust, respect, and caring there, but only one seems caught up with the other’s life.

About that ‘not giving away to much’ thought: Leon is caring and initially trusting, but he’s also smart and has seen some serious shit. He wouldn’t have signed away his freedom to guarantee Sherry’s safety without wanting some sort of evidence that she was truly being taken care of in exchange. He’s probably been given regular reports on her, both from Simmons and from Claire. He probably has files of childhood photos and drawings, copies of medical reports/report cards, and random reports on her interests going back to when she was twelve. He probably has video of her home ballet pageants or piano recitals or whatever she was into at any given point in her childhood.

But would Sherry know about any of that? She knows who Leon is, of course. She remembers him saving her in Raccoon City and has probably heard about him from Claire, just like she heard all about Chris from her. However, no one knows how Benford ‘recruited’ Leon. Would it have been more beneficial to Benford to let Leon see her or to keep them separated so his only way of learning about her was through Benford? And what about Simmons? He agreed to take responsibility for Sherry, would he have wanted Leon potentially butting in while he saw to that responsibility?

I’d like to think Leon made sure he got to see her sometimes, but it sounds like such visitations would have been rare. With Claire able to verify whatever the reports said about Sherry, would Leon feel the need to push to see her all that often? If he was given the choice of him being able to see Sherry or Claire, I would bet he’d let Claire see her.

That means Leon would have to say something like ‘I heard you became an agent’ because at this point, they don’t have time for a full explanation, assuming he’d even be comfortable giving one. Without context, it might seem odd or even creepy for her to find out just how much he’s been keeping track of her life if she doesn’t know she was basically a hostage used to guarantee his service for years.

It kind of makes me wish we’d gotten that version of RE7 with Leon and Sherry working together. Maybe they’ll use it for a future game, like a Revelations type title that takes place in-between existing games/films. It would be interesting to see what their relationship is now that Benford isn’t around anymore.

TLDR: Headcanon that Benford let Sherry apply to be an agent of the DSO in order to force Leon to join after Damnation. Simmons probably agreed under the condition that Sherry reports to him instead of Benford. Leon has been getting reports on his surrogate little sister/instrument of coercion for years but she doesn’t know that.

[hayleysummers]

have elijah haters ever stopped to consider that he’s a single mom who works two jobs? who loves her kids and never stops?

[lily-ohfally]

WoL QotD: What made you choose your WoL's name? Does it have any important meaning or did it just sound nice?

Follow up: Is it lore accurate? If it isn't, why not?

[darth-sonny]

decided to give Kirby some friends, reasons being because why not and they deserve some

meet the gang!! Artemisia (mostly known as "Artie"), Wendy O. (who is amab despite the name), and Doro (or Dory or Dora, she like them all)

Wendy and Doro are yōkai while Artie is a mutant, though she was mutated while she was very young, so she has no clear memory of her old life as human

they all met when Kirby was 10, a few weeks after they found out about their true origins. Kirby and Artie go to the same middle school up-top and hang out with Wendy and Doro in the Hidden City whenever they can

oh, and also, they're all nonbinary. but since they're still kids, they haven't figured it out yet

[kazanfamily]

Starting a masterlist of ships who I always saw as sibling dynamics until I shockingly realized that the fandom shipped them romantically, and then they proceeded to become pretty much or actually canon

Sincerely, a hopeless panromantic who loves shipping but is still sick of amatonormativity in media.

-Migi

Ed and Winry - Fullmetal Alchemist

Yuu and Mika - Owari no Seraph

Catra and Adora - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Eren and Mikasa - Attack on Titan

[sandjosieph]

I feel like GeminiTay has "Chronic Surrogate Sibling Syndrome". Every time she makes friends she starts acting like a sibling to them.

[coochiequeens]

Men having kids through surrogacy to fulfill selfish wants without thinking of the impact on the kids would be reduced if surrogacy agencies has a screening process

Wife returns from work one day, sees strange woman at home holding infant

Husband hires surrogate to have longed-for child, furious wife threatens divorce

By Alice Yan in Shanghai Published: 9:00am, 29 Mar 2024

A woman in China has told how her husband resorted to secret surrogacy to acquire a baby because the couple’s 29-year-old daughter refused to give him a grandchild.

The 53-year-old woman, surnamed Guo, said when she returned from work one day in September 2022, she saw a strange woman in her home holding an infant, according to Henan Television.

The stranger told Guo the child belonged to her and her husband, and she had been hired as a maid.

A shocked Guo later learned that the baby was born via surrogacy after her husband paid an agency.

The child was carried by a university student, the report said.

Guo and her husband, who live in Yiyang, Hunan province in central China, have one daughter – their only child, who told them she does not want to marry or have children.

“My husband said, ‘Your choice means I will never be a grandfather. What’s the point of raising you? Not having a baby means you are not filial, according to Chinese traditional culture’,” Guo said.

The man, whose age was not included in the report, said because the infant girl was so cute and healthy, he might ask the surrogacy institute for a boy next time.

“I flared up into a fury. I am going to divorce him,” said Guo.

The husband stole his wife’s identity card to apply for the infant’s birth certificate which states that he is her father and Guo is her mother.

“I flared up into a fury. I am going to divorce him,” said Guo.

The husband stole his wife’s identity card to apply for the infant’s birth certificate which states that he is her father and Guo is her mother.

The news report told the story of another man, aged 62, from Henan province in central China who also hired a surrogacy company without telling his family, so he could have a baby boy.

The man’s daughter said her father had wanted a son for a long time.

“After the one-child policy was abandoned, my father asked my mother to have another child for him. But my mother was nearly 50 and she did not want to have another child,” said the daughter.

She said the surrogacy company charged her father 540,000 yuan (US$75,000) and guaranteed the baby would be a boy.

Surrogacy is illegal in China. In 2023, the authorities issued a directive to crack down on the activity.

The story caused a heated discussion on mainland social media.

“I support surrogacy being illegal. Otherwise, women will just be used for their wombs,” one online observer said on Douyin.

“Maybe in the future, dating couples will need to check their DNA to see if they are siblings,” wrote another.

[sealrock]

paris and their baby cousins. (telestas on the left & hyperion on the right in top picture, cleodice on bottom)

[lulusoblue]

having fun in Photo Mode now that I have Peppermint's date night Rock outfit unlocked

[incorrectgenv]

Jordan: I'm not mean. Name one mean thing I've ever done.

Emma: When we were younger, you convinced me eggs weren't real.

Jordan: They're not.

Emma: Haha, very funny.

Jordan: I'm serious. Didn't you hear?

Emma: No... what happened?

Jordan: ...Why would you fall for this again-

[hretoprvdthepltnx]

Hi! Can I send in a request where the reader and yelena has a sibling like dynamic, and the reader comes out as aroace to her and they admit they’re sibling figures to each other, please?

Blood Oath

Yelena Belova x gn!reader

Summary: It's a "sibling" night for Yelena and y/n and they tend to get deep with one another when the moon is up, and the dark is out to blanket them from the grueling truth that is the outside world.

Content: reader is aroace, Yelena is asexual, found family dynamic, discussion about lack of sexual attraction, reader also confesses an insecurity about fear of being alone, hurt/comfort, coming out,

Rating: 16+ (for mature conversation themes) || 1.3k+ words

The room was lit by an eerie hue of white-blue light and the occasional bursts of pixilated color cast by the television screen. You weren't paying any attention to the movie. It was another generic action film from the 90's and the quality was crap. Instead, your eyes drifted to watch the flickering bulb of the lamppost out the window - a story down and across the street.

A man stood under it, wearing a raincoat with the hood pulled up. It hadn't rained for weeks. He pulled a small box from the inner breast pocket of his coat and removed a cigarette. He lit it with a small lighter he pulled from the pocket of his dark jeans. The end of it burned red-orange and the smoke cast a shadow in the purple hue of the lamp light which made it look like a lanky dancing ghost.

"It hasn't rained in a month." Yelena commented, lowering her chin on to your shoulder to follow your gaze and peer out the window from behind you. She had muted the explosive blasts emitting from the system - the effects too loud and the talking too quiet. The movie must have had a production budget of fifty bucks. "I know."

Another man immerged from the darkness, and you watched, silently with Yelena, as they exchanged greetings. The second man, the new character, linked his arm with the first and kissed him on the cheek. The first man handed him the cigarette and together they smoked beneath the purple light of the lamppost, hand in hand. Behind you, Yelena awed. "They're adorable! Do you think their dating?"

With a scrunched-up nose, you relaxed back into the sofa and into the soft pressure of Yelena's body. "Probably, but who cares." You had lost interest in the inappropriately dressed man and his chain-smoking partner, casting your eyes back to the soundless screen. You squinted. It was always just a little too bright when it was dark out, but you didn't bother learning how to adjust the settings.

"You're just jealous because he has a partner, and you don't." You felt yourself tense, but Yelena's laugh and playful shove was all obviously meant as a non-serious tease. Still, you found yourself wanting to tell her. Needing too. It had been kept a secret from your surrogate sister for too long already, and this felt like the perfect opportunity. "What... What if I don't want a partner? Like, what if I'd rather just be me? Just my own person."

"What do you mean?" Yelena asked, turning in her seat to sit facing you, legs crossed up under her. Suddenly the flashing from the television set felt like it was putting out two much heat. Your face burned and you bent over to grab the remote from the coffee table in front of the sofa, switching off the power. The room was encased in a sudden black - your eyes struggling to adjust with now only the outskirts of the lamppost shading to light the dark apartment from the outside in.

You blinked several times as if that would help and, still feeling hot, threw your side of the blanket back into Yelena's lap. "I just mean, like, what if all that romantic dating-marriage-and-kids thing isn't for me? What if I don't want that?" Yelena slid closer to you in the dark and stretched her arm around the back of the sofa behind you. She laid her cheek against her arm, the rounded tip of her nose nuzzling your grey-cotton covered shoulder. "Like... what if your aromantic?"

Your heart pounded violently in your chest, the tips of your ears tingling with quick setting panic. Fight of flight was kicking in. You took a breath, deep and shaky. "Yeah. Something like that. Something... yeah." Yelena nodded against your shoulder, her calm soothing you just a little. Was she cool with this? Were things about to get weird between you? "Are you asking or telling me."

"Telling, I think." You cringed at the choked way the words came out. Yelena reached for your hand in the dark and squeezed it. "Do you know I'm asexual?" You felt yourself freeze. No, you hadn't known that - but of course you hadn't, this was her way of telling you. Yelena noticed the rigidness of your posture and nudged you encouraging. "It's okay, my sibling, I know how you feel. Like an outsider, right? Like some kind of other?"

"How did you know you were asexual?" You turn to face her - too quickly and she pulls her face up to avoid being hit. Neither of you acknowledge it, though an apology shows on your night-shielded face. She can't see it, but she feels it there, heating the darkness. Yelena chuckles, an indulging sound that strikes you as something slightly relieved. "Conversation, I guess. Television. Commercials and things like that. I just kind of knew it's not something I cared about, but I didn't realize that made me different until I got away from the Red Room and got to experience life for myself. You know, like, normally?"

"But how do you know?" you pressed, fiddling with Yelena's ringless fingers in your lap. "Why?" Your gaze lifted to hers and then dropped again, she wasn't being defensive, only curious. Releasing her hand, you pulled your knees to your chest and hugged them. "Because I think I'm asexual too." Yelena sighed and reached out to touch your leg above your ankle. As always, there were a thousand words hidden in her touch. "So, how do you know?"

"I don't. I mean, I think I do...but I'm not sure."

"Okay, I can make this easy. Name a guy you think is hot and that you would want to fuck." The silence spoke volumes. You tried to think, you really did. Was there a guy? A celebrity or someone you had met on the street, maybe? People were nice looking, but so were the stars in the night sky and house plants. You didn't want to fuck any of it. Finally, you shook your head. "How about a girl? A nonbinary person?" Again, the answer was the same. "No, no I don't think so. But I don't know what that means."

"It means sex isn't something that appeals to you, right?" Her tone was gentle and the way she reached for you, sliding closer, made you feel safe and understood. You were able to relax a bit, but only a bit. Nodding, you answered her, head to clustered to properly respond. "And neither is romance? You don't want either of those things?"

"Does that make me a freak?" you blurted, then shame compelled you to attempt to play it off with an awkward grin. Yelena wasn't having it. "No, you're not a freak. Neither of us are. We just want different things out of life." She shrugged and leaned back at an angle against the couch, smiling at you. Her smile was contagious. "I still don't want to be alone though."

"Neither do I. But there's more to love than just romance and sex. Society has us brainwashed." It was true. There was no denying that. Your gaze drifted back to the window - the couple was gone. Yelena's arms wrapped around you in a hug, and you laid your head against hers. Your knees dropped and she scooted closer, her head on your collarbone as you shifted to get better adjusted. "We have each other," she promised "and we will find other siblings. Other friends who become like family. We don't have to be alone. We can be happy."

You smiled wide, surprised to feel a rivulet of tears making its way down your cheek - the others landing in Yelena's blonde hair. She didn't complain. Instead, she hugged you tighter. "I love you." You told her, playing off a sniffle with a cough. "I love you too, my sibling. More than anything." It was like a weight lifted and you could breathe, truly breathe, for the first time. You closed your eyes and hugged her tighter and, in the darkness of your apartment, she held you while you cried.

|| masterlist ||

story by hretoprvdthepltnx©

Yelena Belova copyrighted by Marvel©

[br1ghtestlight]

i hate how fandoms always have to group found family dynamics into like big sister/little brother or mom and dad like Why cant they ever be a secret unknowable dynamic that there are no words for in the english language..... why cant they just love each other and be a family without labels. and then they make YOU feel weird for shipping them when THEY ARENT EVEN AN ACTUAL BIOLOGICAL/ADOPTED FAMILY!!!! THEYRE NOT ACTUALLY BROTHER AND SISTER THEYRE FRIENDS. THEYre friends omg.....

[raayllum]

I’ve got one more gift for you, Callum. It’s not cake or kisses, but it’s something more important than that. I’M GOING TO KEEP YOU SAFE. I have to. I love you too much not to. I still don’t understand what I saw in the Moon Nexus, but I know what it means. I know it in my bones. Viren is alive, Callum, and I am going to search for him… ALONE.

[quietwingsinthesky]

thinking about amara trying to brother-fy dean again.

[slasher-chikn]

[electricea]

there's people who hate joker/futaba? while it's not my favourite joker ship personally, i never got a 'siblings' vibe from them - and people infantilizing futaba or saying she's 'not ready' or 'too fragile' for a relationship because of her mental state just feels...odd to me, as a neurodivergent mun.