#it could've been an orphan in that explosion

[foulfiendfern]

im back . with orphan jon . also made a video to it so enjoy !!

[awhoreintheory]

Okay okay I have. Two thoughts that have been in my brain for a while that could go together if you want:

1. Peter, both as Spider-Man and his civilian identity, meets Red Hood/Jason first, and Jason, much to his dismay, gets attached REALLY quickly. This snarky, acrobatic shithead is adorable and reminds him of Dick, and to his horror, himself. Depending on how old Peter is, whether his actual age or he's deaged, Jason is either going "new baby brother" or "my child now". He signed the mental adoption papers SO fast and he's mad as hell about it, and he knows the heart attacks Peter gives him are karma

2. Peter is shockingly similar to Jason in a lot of ways; bonus points if Ben is an alternate version of Jason. He grew up poor, had issues with Tony in Homecoming because Tony wasn't trusting him and Peter believed Tony didn't care/was too controlling (parallels to both Jason *and* Dicks relationship with Bruce), died at 15, was betrayed by a sort of mentor/parental figure he was just getting to know, traumatized deeply by a green and purple themed crazy guy who killed his mother figure in an explosion he tried protecting her from, 100% has trust issues after all that... yeah the similarities are definitely there and you KNOW that would pain Jason. In general I think Peter is a mix of Dick and Jason in terms of personality (i mean, Peter was worried about homework in Civil War, that's such a kid Jason thing) and... well a lot of ways, really. The parallels run deep lol. Oh also Peter in Homecoming had a similar color palette to Robin (mostly red suit with the yellow jacket) and in Far From Home/No Way Home he had the red and black suit. Idk!! Similarities. Oh oh you could pull Harley into this too if you want, since Tony knew Harley first and for way longer than Peter

Just... gestures. Everyone talks abt Peter and Dick parallels but no one discusses the Peter and Jason parallels

You're right. I was a down right FOOL to not see these downright gorgeous parallels???

And you KNOW that while Jason seeing their similarities hurts, imagine how Bruce, Dick, and even Alfred would feel about that? How they would feel about getting a glimpse of the happy-go-lucky kid that Jason used to be?

That's another similarity! Jason and Peter both started out as pretty optimistic and happy. Like, Jason was going around saying "Robin gives me magic!", how cute it that? And Peter started swinging around in homemade suits when he was 14, and is just generally hard to get down. Spider-man always gets back up, right?

So for Jason, Peter is nostalgic. He reminds him a little of himself, maybe how Jason could've turned out if he'd spent more time with Dick. Jason sees this kid so like himself but with the chance to turn out different, and he's gonna take that opportunity damnit!

Bruce and Dick? They see a ghost of the past at first. Bruce doesn't see many of Jason's smiles anymore, if ever, but he could've sworn they looked just like that. Dick is a bit more privy to a relaxed Jason, so he hears it in how Peter speaks, his laugh, and how he gets when he's passionate about something. No one else really sees it besides Alfred, because they didn't get to see Jason without his anger.

I love me some Harley!! He's a cutie patootie. And would also add amazing angst,,, giving only child, orphaned Peter Parker middle kid syndrome was actually a therapeutic recommendation by my therapist, scouts honor. Because hello! Harley and Morgen? I need more siblings content of them.

[gold-rhine]

fontaine SPOILERS for like, everything released so far and speculations. I have a couple of theories on who Arlecchino might be. So, we know she's from Fontaine and she's old, she was making fun of childe for being a baby. She wants to stop the prophesy of fontaine ppl dissolving into water. She runs an orphanage, where kids later are recruited into fatui

this all, but esp orphanage and dissolving theme, I think v strongly connects her to Narzissenkreuz Institute from 500 years ago. It was an orphanage, from where all major players connected to dissolution in primordial waters came from. I think there is 2 options for who she might be:

1.Mary-Ann Guillotin. She was a sister of Alain Guillotin and an orphan herself. She was described as acting as older sister of the group in orphanage despite her being the youngest. She was recruited into Marechaussee Hunter along with her brother when she grew up, which is basically fontaine's secret service, which i think is very fitting. She ended up hunting her former friends from the Institute, Rene and Jakob, who at this time created a secret organization Narzissenkreuz Ordo and were planning to save fontaine by dissolving ppl into hivemind in primordial water. Same shit Arlecchino wants to stop. She presumably died in confrontation with them, after a huge explosion.

BUT it happened inside of Elynas, an abyssal dragon, and Elynas works basically by bloodborne gods rules. From contact with him any wild shit can happen. Like, as the result of same explosion the race of Melusines were created from Elynas' wounds, seemingly for no reason. He has dream dimension inside. He died, but his consciousness can still talk and act. There are portals into abyss all over him. So, there are countless ways she could've been teleported somewhere, warped, corrupted, etc.

Like, despite her being dead, both of fontaine world quests (the baby oceanid and the mechanical dog ones) end on strong message of "finding Mary-Ann." in fact, they converge together into this, and its basically spelled out they will be continued.

Also, in Marechaussee Hunter set we have this from Karl Ingold, adopted father of Jakob and Rene, reminiscing about past "And afterwards, the cries, sounds of fracturing and metallic clashes that sounded faintly from beyond the stone floor. And as he recalled the girl who used a "trick" to forcibly shift herself into a dark, safe cavern. Only then did the regret of not having recorded her final battle engulf his vision." - ok so, Elynas says there were many metallic animals in that fateful confrontation, so both "cavern" (Elynas is full of caverns and fight was inside of him) and "metallic clashes" AND "her final battle" point that it's about that explosion in which Mary Ann supposedly died. But he also says that "girl" used "trick" to hide in a cavern! Like who else it could be about if not Mary Ann. She fits 100% to the descriptions, we don't have other fontaine girls fighting their final battles in caverns, and with metallic clashes around. So she escaped, hid in "safe" cavern, but again, its a cavern inside of eldritch abyssal god monster. It could v easily warp her into whatever the fuck is wrong with her rn and make her immortal (Jakob who consumed Elynas' flesh is immortal, so that's provably smth connection to Elynas can do.)

2.My second option is Basil Elton, Vice Director of Narzissenkreuz Istitute. She was a former naval commander who retired and helped run the orphanage, but then during cataclysm left to fight monsters and presumably died in a fight that killed Elynas. BUT Basil Elton was H.P. Lovecraft's character, a captain of the ship who could visit Dreamlands. So, she might not be dead, but like teleported to abyss.

I think Mary-Ann is a better option, bc its more narratively satisfying to have a fight between former close friends (Mary Ann and Jakob, abyss Baptist who is still around doing some Schemes), and also like their confrontation would rhyme with a battle in Elynas where she presumably died, her stopping his plot of dissolution after so many years. but idk, we'll see

[deusvervewrites]

I was taking a look about how nobody noticed the Shimura house collapsing and how Tenko was able to get away, until I remembered the fact that I had a car accident literally occurred outside my house while I was taking a shower. My parents heard it loud and clear and thought I somehow broke the shower glass door but I didn't hear anything so here is my theory after checking with the anime version of the scene, since that one has a timestamp. This works independently of whether Tenko is a Quirkless who was given Decay or if Decay was a late blooming natural Quirk.

The entire house collapse took about minute and wasn't that loud. If taking a shower, which are often done in an enclosed space is capable of reducing noise, the neighbors probably wouldn't have heard it. There's also the fact that they could've been watching something loud on TV, like an action pack movie that has a lot of explosions or could've been hearing headphones.

This is Japan. The Shimura household and neighborhood could've been in an earthquake zone, which means that if the neighbors were to feel something like an earthquake, they would prioritized themselves and their families first, not go where the earthquake originated and get themselves hurt. It could also have been a villain attack nearby and with it being night, it would not be safe to go outside.

The neighbors could literally not be home at that time and let the lights on, which some have done.

The situation occurred at nighttime, where visibility is low, the activities are low and people aren't as likely to go outside for any reason. If they didn't noticed the accident, it could reasonably to assume that the light being out could mean that the Shimuras aren't there or they decided to to to sleep. Outside of certain people, who would look at their neighbor's house when the blinds could be down, thus letting out the indoor lights but people from seeing in or out?

Given that this a house in a suburban Japan, whether this occurs in the city or rural area, checking online, the average police response time in Japan is ~10 minutes, but this requires somebody to call the police, which someone obviously did in the morning. The Japanese police and heroes aren't going to be actively patrolling in a safe area that often.

Tenko is a 5 year old child who just killed his entire family, destroyed his house and gained traumatic memories from the event; the key part, he is a 5 years old child. Given his age, children that young, when they know that they did something wrong, is to either freeze up, deny/blame the situation, or leave the area. Children that age or younger and are capable of walking can easily go away from one's sight without anyone paying attention.

Tenko is the sole survivor. No one in the Shimura family other than Tenko survived, which means that there is nobody to report that he could still be around. It is reasonable to assume, judging by the state of the Shimura house and the sheer amount of dust to assume that the entire family died due to a villain attack.

Tenko post Quirk awakening does not look like Tenko Shimura pre-Quirk awakening. The stress of awakening Decay resulting in his hair turning white and making his skin a lot more drier and itchy, thus people aren't going to recognize such a kid. Unfortunately, Tenko looks like a homeless person so nobody is going to help such a kid in a dire situation and goes by the Bystander Effect of letting someone else do the job. Tenko could just been an orphan kid down on his luck, and Japan doesn't really treat orphans well.

Honestly it's pretty easy for Tenko to have simply slipped through the cracks

[mourniepoo]

Sobbing thinkin abt William (Day's kid friend who je does the reverse dìdi/gēge honorifics w/) Bcs like.

Imagine ur like nine years old, your settlement was just destroyed and your family was lost. In a single day ur jomeless and an orphan. But lucky you, a family friend lives in a far western town called Geludum and she heard about what happened and takes you in. Ans you don't know the dialect well, everyone jokes that you sound weird talking all fancy, but nothing too bad.

And anyway turns out that family friend who took you in works at a communal home, where a bunch of other people foreign to the town lived, especially kids. And maybe you're a little shy so you don't really make a lot of friends there, but everyone's nice enough and ur not bullied or abything so its chill. Really ur just missing your family and your old town.

So then one day some guy who'd been living there about four years shows up. Apparently he hadn't been home because of work, and your family friend scolds him for working so much when he only seventeen. He sees you around the corner and asks who you were. And you see his gun and his poncho and his hat, because you'd read about cowboys and vaqueros, and explosive weapons werent allowed back in your old town so you were really curious about it.

And the family friend calls you over and introduces you to Day. She says he'd been staying there since he was around thirteen. And he sees you eyeing the gun holster on his leg so he asks if you're from an central settlement, or maybe eastern? You say southeastern and he laughs a bit before taking out the gun and removing the bullets. He hands it to you and explains what it is, how it works. He says that if you ever get one you should be careful with it, 'cause you could shoot your leg off if you're not careful. You ask if thats what happened to his leg. He smiles and said it very well could've been, but he doesnt quite remember how that happened.

So fast forward a few days and you're always hanging behind this guy, like a shadow. He's a little mean to people but he's also really nice to you and the other kids so it's fun to be with him. You ask him more about his job and he says he's a meat salesman. And you get excited, asking if he brought any meat back to eat, but he says it's not the kind that you'd want to eat and leaves it at that. He asks what you want to be when you grow up, and you say that you don't really know, but it would be cool to be a chef. Day says he knows someone about your age with the same dream. You ask who, since none of the other kids in the home really like cooking, and Day says he can't really remember, that they're not from this town.

Then it's been a while and you and Day are pretty close. He goes out a lot for work but he brings back a lot of cool souvenirs. Like one time he brought back some new shoes with really good insulation, and they were a little big but Day said you would grow into them. Another time he brought a knife that he said would be good for cutting meat to cook. You said that it was kinda weirdly shaped for a kitchen knife, but he responded that it was from Koro and they make things differently there. He smiles and told someone named Ico that he hopes it's alright, but a good chef can use any tool. You ask who Ico is and he gets confused at what you mean.

A few months later and you're in the kitchen with Day and you're making something for dinner. You volunteered to make it for the whole house that night, and Day could supervise. Everyone looks a bit sick at the thought of Day making food, so they have a few other people in the kitchen helping you, as well. You ask for Day to pass one of the carrots and when he does you say thank you. Then you think about the honorifics people use in the western dialect and you shyly add "Dìdi" at the end. Day pauses and you worry that you weren't close enough to say it, or maybe you used the wrong word. He starts to say something but his face suddenly looks gaunt and sickened, so you look around to see if he had secretly cooked something without anyone noticing. But after a moment he smiles and says of course, and he adds "gēge" to it. And its pronunciation is a bit different from what you hear other people say but you're happy about it.

And at this point you've wanted to make yourself useful to the town, so you've been shovelling snow from pathways. Your family friend says not to go too far since some of the people in the settlement aren't very nice, but you figure that they'd be greatful for you to clear the sidewalks for them. Some of them are, and some of them yell at you to get out of their sight. You learn where to avoid, and most people are very kind to you. They'll even give you a few coins for shovelling their backyards or where snow fell through their roof and piled up. At some point you make friends with a few kids who live on one of the streets you shovel. They're really nice and they tell you about their school while you tell them about the home. It's really fun talking to them.

Eventually you ask Day to come meet them, but on the walk over one of people from a mean house is outside. The house is hard to avoid since it's down a major street, but he's usually cooped up inside so it doesn't matter. He sees the two of you and yells at you, saying he told you not to shovel near him, and why'd you have to bring some gunslinger with you this time. You try to ignore him but he keeps yelling at you while you're just trying to get to your friends. Day tells you to keep walking, maybe run a littls bit, and he'd catch up. He said he was gonna talk to the man for a second.

So you do, and a few minutes later you see a crowd formed around the front of the house, but it's too thick to see what they're looking at. The crowd is lively and excited, getting louder and louder with some sort of anticipation until you hear two loud bangs, almost like all sound cut out for just a moment, and the crowd is silent. You see some doctors rush in, and some guards, but you decide to keep walking to see your friends. All of you wait a few hours for Day to come back until your family friend finds you and tells you to come back to the house. You ask where Day is and she mutters something about him pulling this shit again, that he knows they cant have him at the house if he does this. You don't really know what "this" is.

One day while passing the mean house again, you see the man who yelled at you before with bandages around his stomach. You nervously ask if he knew what happened to Day, and he grunts, saying the bastard is probably in jail. He says he wished the guy would get a life sentence, but he'll probably only be there a few months. So you go to the jailhouse and you ask to see Day. He comes out in handcuffs, and he has this look on his face that you'd never seen before. Haggard and ghostly, his eyes glazed over as if in a trance. He made eye contact, but it was like he was looking past you. He looked angry. You don't like him looking angry. And then he looks sad, and you don't like that, either.

Day mumbles a little bit and you don't really catch what he's saying. It's kind of like the language you know, but also kinda not. You can only make out a few words. "Back" and "Missed" and "Sorry" and "Ico". Then he lifts his head more and talks a bit louder. And he looks at you pleadingly, finally talking in a way you understand, but he's not talking to you. He rambles at Ico, saying he's missed him, he looks so different now but he's still his little dìdi. He says that he didn't know what happened, and asks were Ico had gone for so long. And then he asks why he isn't responding, but he's looking right at you. He switched back to the other language and asks another question, one you don't catch. He starts speaking louder, almost yelling at this point, and the guards grab him and drag him back out of view. You see he isn't wearing his leg, and they say that it got destroyed in the gunfight.

You go back to the house and ask your family friend about what happened. She sits you down and says that you shouldn't talk to Day anymore, that he's very sick and that he needs to be left alone. You ask what kind of sickness and she says that she doesn't know, that he's had it as long and she's known him. And he'll be okay, but sometimes being around people in the home can make it worse, but she doesn't know why it's so bad this time. You don't know what kind of sickness makes someone go to jail.

four or so months pass and you haven't seen Day the whole time. No one spoke about him, either. You look around his bed and he doesn't have a lot of stuff, just his gun, an extra prosthetic, a few bags of some foreign money, and a card you made him for his birthday. His closet has a shotgun in it, and a few extra clothes. You see a Koro-style uniform, too, which is weird because he said he wasn't from there. You pick up the handgun- unloaded, Day always kept his bullets hidden- and laid down on the bed. You point the gun up the the ceiling and make a "pew" sound. Then the door cracks open and you point it there.

Day raises his hands up, "Woah there, officer, I only just got back from jail" he says. And you drop the gun to run over and hug him. The canes he was holding drop to the floor as he hugs you back. You're sniffiling and crying and you sob that it's been so long and you didn't hear anything after you visited the jailhouse. And Day wad acting so weird then that you didn't know what happened, and your family friend said not to talk to you so...

Day picks his canes back up and walks over to his bed. He grabs the extra prosthetic and asks you to please forget about when you visited, that he wasn't in his right mind and he doesn't want you to remember him like that. You ask what he means and he tells you that he's gotta move out of the house, so he probably wont see you again. He's only here to grab his things. You get sad again and you ask why, but he doesn't give any good answer. So you help him pack- there isn't much, anyway- and he just... leaves. But you grab his hand and ask if you can visit, or if he can cone back? Your family friend comes in to say goodbye and sees you asking. You turn to her and ask why Day has to leave, why can't you visit him ever. And she look at you, then Day, and back to you again. She sighs and says that Day's too sick to stay, and you can't visit him because of that, too. But he doesn't look sick, he looks better than whem he was jn the

Day takes off his hat and fiddles with the sweat band. He says it may be a little big for you, but if you mess with that band a little it should fit well. And he places it on your head before leaving.

But you feel a little bump in the strap, so when you're back in your bed you feel around to see what it is, andyou pull out a folded scrap of paper. A note from Day. It tells you to meet him behind the house in two days, that he'll be waiting after you eat dinner. He also says not to tell anyone he left the note, that it has to be a secret. So you wait the two days amd you excuse yourself early, saying you don't feel well and you're going to to to bed early, if that's okay. And when you're back to your bed you grab all the clothes and items you can before going out the window. You can see in the distance a figure against the red sun, and as it comes closer you recognize it as Day. He says you can live with him, that he has a place you two can stay. It's a little outside of town but it'll be great to live in.

So you go with him to the house. It's small, but it's only the two of them so it doesn't need to be very big. On your first night you curl up next to Day as he rubs your back and you don't hear the people calling your name in the city.

When you ask to go into town Day agrees, but he says only if he can come along. So he grabs both his guns and they go. You can see other people giving you sideways glances for some reason, but you're not sure why. You walk around through stores and in one of them you see your family friend. She must've been worried about you since she ran over to you and knelt down to see your face. You could tell she wanted to say something, but when she looked up at Day she stops herself. You ask what's wrong and she asks if you're okay. Has he been violent? Did anything happen to you? Day places a hand around your shoulder and you shake your head. You tell her that your dìdi wouldn't do anything like that, that you've been having fun living with him since he has all kinds of stories from his work. And it looks like she wants to say something else, but Day ushers you out and to the next place.

A few years go on and you're still living with Day. Ever since you left the communal home he's been leaving more often for work. He says it's harder to get the meat he needs to sell since he'd been noticed a lot, so he has to go to new places. He says theres better quality in some other parts, and he needs that since he's saving up for something really expensive. You give him some coins you got from shoveling snow, but he passes them back and says he needs to get the money himself. You notice he looks a lot more weak than when you first met him, his skin red and clinging to his bones. But he insists he's okay, that's he'll be a lot better soon, if all goes well. So you let him be.

And he comes back one day with some sort of bug. It was shiny and weirdly shaped, and Day said it was very important to him. He said that he would need to be alone for the rest of the night, and that even if you heard Day screaming you needed to stay out. He said that if anything happened to him, you needed to keep him in the ice and wait until morning, that someone he knew would be there. So you agreed, and even though you heard agonizing shrieks from Day's door all night, you didn't bother him. The next morning a woman you had never seen before knocked on the door and asked if Day was alive, and if not then how much would you want for him. You don't know what to say so you just lead them to his door and knock.

He tells you to come in so you do, and he's in a tub of ice, stained red with blood. You scream and ask what happened, why did he say not to come in all night? Did he have to go to a hospital? The woman said no hospital here would know what to do with him, so it was better to keep him here. Day reached out a hand and said that he was fine, he was gonna be a lot better now that he had the bug. He told Ico that he loved him, and it was okay now. You didn't know if Ico was that woman or not, but she rolled her eyes.

The woman kicked the tub, saying she made the trip out here just for him to survive the surgery. He laughed, then stopped because it hurt, and told her he had the rest of the money for her, anyway. You didn't know what they were talking about, but you stayed next to Day, holding his wrist to feel his pulse and make sure he was still alive. He asked you to make him some food, something easy to digest. He told Ico how he always liked the walnut soup he made. You didn't know how to make that, but you could try it.

[hebuiltfive]

Hope was a Fragile Little Thing

I don't know if I need to tag it as such, but spoilers for the last season of Thunderbirds Are Go.

This was just a short piece that I thought up whilst I was listening to Bigger Than The Whole Sky, by Taylor Swift.

"I've got a lot to pine about; I've got a lot to live without; I'm never gonna meet; what could've been, would've been, what should have been you" got me thinking about how Jeff would have probably had doubts that he'd ever see his boys again, and that he would never see them continue to grow, especially his baby boy.

Thus, this drabble was born. It was written quickly, and comes in at just over 1,000 words, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

I hope you enjoy reading it. I'm sorry for any pain, and I refuse to take responsibility for any heartbreak caused. <3

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

It was cold out here, wherever here was. 

He still wasn’t sure that this place wasn’t some kind of purgatory, that he was wrong in thinking that the blast from the explosion had sent him spiralling off into the depths of space, and that he was actually waiting to be judged by a higher power, whoever that might have been. Jeff Tracy wasn’t sure which outcome he would have preferred. Was that something to worry about? He didn’t know. All he knew was that it was so much colder than he could ever have expected.

After a few days inspecting the wreck, Jeff decided that he had indeed been flung out into space and that this wasn’t purgatory. At least, not in the biblical sense. He still wasn’t sure whether that was something to ponder on, or where he’d ended up. Apart from the cold, all he knew now was that he was far from home. From his family. His boys. The capsule in which he’d unwittingly ridden out here had plenty of rations that he could live on. For a while. When they ran out, he’d have to think up something else. His suit would protect him from the elements. Brains always built equipment to last. He could survive. That was the easy part.

Learning to live, however… That would be tricky.

For the first few months, Jeff grieved, not to dissimilar to the way his family were no doubt grieving his loss. Did they even know he was alive? He couldn’t bare to think about it. His mother would have been broken. His sons… They’d already lost one parent, and now he’d left them essentially orphaned. God, he hoped they knew he was still alive, if only so they wouldn’t have to grieve his (not-actual) death. He had hope that they’d find him, but despite what he had instilled in his boys, what he told the rescuees whenever he was on a mission, Jeff knew that hope was a fragile little thing. If they found a way to find him, they’d come. He knew that. Until then, he was alone.

So desperately alone.

Jeff tried to commit his son’s faces to memory, drew the island upon which their rescue service was built. It almost seemed ironic, how he was the one in need to rescuing now. Jeff refused to give up, however. Hope may have been fragile, but he would use each and every day trying to find a way back to his family. He would tinker with what was left of the Zero X. He would explore the rock which he was cast upon. Jeff Tracy would fight tooth and nail to get home, to get back to his family.

With only the thought of his boys to keep him going, he eventually passed the one year mark. One year of being trapped in a desolate part of deep space, with no way of reaching out to anyone. He had tried, and he would keep trying, but the odds of some ship flying in deep space picking up his signals were slim to none. Jeff Tracy had learnt to live with those odds. He had made peace with it. Yet his mind would constantly torture him by wondering what his boys had become, and about how his family had coped after so long without him. Jeff never had any doubts that they would thrive. The Tracy family fought hardships and continued regardless of the situation. That ethic was what helped International Rescue thrive. 

International Rescue. 

His sixth child, so to speak. 

Was it still operational, or would the family shut down the service? Jeff found himself hoping for the former, and not because it helped keep that hope that they’d find him one day. He had built that organisation up so it could outlive him, even if he had banked on his demise being a fair few more years down the line that what it had been. Life never was fair like that. His boys were experienced enough to carry the torch now, his youngest fast approaching the rest of his brothers once he’d finished school.

Alan had always held a special place in Jeff’s heart, and whilst Jeff thought of all the boys everyday, it was Alan he found himself crying for. It was Alan he missed the most, because it was Alan’s adolescence that he would be missing out on. Jeff had watched each of his boys grow up and become the remarkable men that they were. Alan would be the only one he’d miss out on, and the thought of him not being able to see what would become of youngest broke his heart.

He had hopes and dreams for all of his boys. Though he wasn’t a religious man, Jeff found himself praying, to whoever would listen, that those wishes would come true for them. He hoped that Gordon would go on to win many Olympic golds in swimming one day. He hoped that Virgil’s art would hang in some prestigious art gallery somewhere. He hoped that John would help Alan realise his dreams of becoming an astronaut once he’d finished his schooling, and as for his eldest, Jeff just hoped that Scott wouldn’t ever blame himself for what had happened. Scott deserved more than that. He deserved to be happy.

As the days passed, and Jeff continued to try and make sense of time in the vastness of nothing, the bright, burning flame of hope began to dim. It never quite extinguished, but Jeff began to accept the brutal truth; that he’d probably never see his home again, that he’d never know if any of his dreams and wishes that he’d granted his boys had come true.

It was just another routine supplies run. He’d left his make-shift base for five minutes. He had to start thinking about getting off this rock before it disintegrated. Jeff wasn’t sure how he’d get off it, or where he would go, but he returned to find a familiar figure. Falling fast. He had no time to acknowledge how quickly that flame of hope reignited with fervour. Jeff wasn’t even sure if he was hallucinating. He’d done his best to stop himself from going mad whilst stuck out here alone, but time flies even when you’re not having fun, and perhaps it wasn’t who he thought it was. Perhaps he’d finally cracked. Perhaps the blue and grey helmeted silhouette, so similar to his own uniform that he still wore, wasn't real.

It didn’t stop him, though. His years of training kicked in and, working on autopilot, Jeff was running, and jumping, and catching… Scott. His boy.

He was real.

He was here.

“I’ve got you, son.”

He was saved.

[xoxolaw]

frostbite, 007

- - - -

TO SAY HE WAS PUT IN A TRAP

would be less. Even traps have chances of being escapable but what was presented in front of him had no means of escaping. He was afraid of how much more detail Y/N knew about him so trying to defy her would only make it worse and just like any intelligent person, he agreed "Fine, I'll shift the ownership under your name but all the illegal changes need to be done."

Y/N smiled at his response and took out her pen that was ready to be signed with on the property papers. Meanwhile, the harbingers in the other room listening in to the conversation suddenly hit a realisation. "Wait... she could've just given me the information about Baruch and I would've threatened him to just hand it over to me. What didn't she do that?!" Arlecchino questioned and all the other harbingers could only sigh as a response.

"Is that head of yours empty or what?" Pantalone asked "Obviously she wanted the House of Hearth and it's given that she wouldn't reveal such information to someone who always picks fights with her." He taunted and Arlecchino took out her sword ready to slit Pantalone's throat but was stopped by Columbina.

Y/N shook hands with Baruch as a final seal to their deal and exited the room to enter the one where the other harbingers were. "I told you that I can fix it in a matter of seconds." She said while waving the property papers at them. "That coat looks nice on you" Pantalone stated and smiled at her but his words went unheard as Y/N shifted all her attention to Arlecchino. "We can complete the rest of the process together alright? We'll have to make one trip to Fontaine" She smiled and then looked at Pierro with her expressions darkening as she spoke the next words "and get the hydro gnosis as well."

"Won't you be recognised in Fontaine? Hope has it's main headquarters there so..." Childe spoke up.

"No one knows that I am the owner except one person who is the owner of Hope in the eyes of everyone."

"Why are things that way?" Capitano asked and this was the limit to how many questions she could take on "You guys seriously ask too many questions. At this point, you know more about me than I know about any of you! Obviously, I couldn't open up a headquarters of a large-scaled company in a nation I don't belong to. I needed a person who could operate it while I stay in my dear country... there were many reasons to why things turned out this way so if I am asked another question about Hope, I'll kill you"

"Yeah stop with this trivia that's been going on for so long. We need to prepare a plan to get the hydro gnosis... The explosion in the institute was successfully carried away, so I think we can move forward with the plan" Pierro said and got up from his seat "Let's not divert ourselves from our main objective"

"Sorry to intervene in the conversation but Lady Sandrone is back" One of the fatui agents mentioned and exited the room just as quickly as he entered after delivering the message.

---

"We found them all dead" Sandrone mentioned and sipped her tea as if the information she just mentioned wasn't a bad one. "Well... more documents to go through" Pantalone sighed and fixed his glasses "What do we write the cause of death as? They all died a worthless death, not even worth compensating for."

"They were all... the children of the orphanage..." Arlecchino muttered but the silence in the room made it audible enough for everyone to hear. "No family... they were alone in this world... who are you going to compensate to!!" She shouted, "Let me see them!"

"Well... you can but I have to warn you... the sight will be dreadful" Sandrone stated and Arlecchino clenched her fist to the point that blood started dripping from her palm. House of the Hearth... an orphanage with the sole motive of providing necessities to all the orphans from the continent and also the only place that was close to Arlecchino so, knowing the fact that team A and Z that contained only the members who were raised in House of the Hearth were now dead... left a huge impact on her. She was the first to leave the room and no one had a single word to say regarding the matter.

None of the other harbingers cared what had just happened. Their own personal agendas were enough for them to put all their attention on. "You guys are heartless..." Y/N spoke up while clearly not showing any remorse on her face. Those were just vain words with no meaning "You defiantly don't care about the agents that have no family right? But... I am pretty sure everyone in the orphanage considers each other closer than actual blood relation."

"You can't mourn over every soldier that dies in battle" Pulcinella stated "Sacrifice for the greater cause is necessary."

"Greater cause huh..." she mumbled.

"Her majesty, the Tsaritsa's special day is approaching so before we plan about getting our hand on the hydro gnosis, let's prepare for the grand banquet" Pierro announced.

"But wouldn't the hydro gnosis be a great gift to the Tsaritsa?" Pantalone asked.

"It would indeed be a great gift but I am not sure that we will be able to acquire it before her birthday approaches."

"Damn... The fatui does celebrations and stuff? I thought you guys were all serious all the time" Y/N stated dumbfoundedly but the response to her statement was met with a scream from Childe.

"Ahhh!!"

"What happened?" Pulcinella asked and Childe pointed towards Y/N, shifting everyone attention to her. "Your wound opened up what the fuck!!"

"Noooo the coat!!" Pantalone cried and Capitano looked at him like 'Are you for real dude?'

I hope you enjoyed it <3 008 -> <- 006

[jils-things]

i keep saying this but im being so brave right now but umm norto.n/irene .... lore... i thinkies... hid it because its lengthy and im embarry (not proofread im just brain dumping)

irene is an upper class woman - she was once a poor orphan but she was adopted by a rich family who couldn't bear a child so they took her under their wing instead ... even if shes already well adjusted to the rich and prestigious lifestyle, part of her still has no forgotten the old poor life she once bad. she always sympathizes the lower class who struggles everyday. she's very lucky to be where she is but... even to this day she struggles to be just like the real bloodline of constantines (family name). she's unfortunately in an arranged marriage with someone she doesn't know and wished it could've been different - which causes her to be out of the house and that's where she would always pass by, him.

and so there's no.rton - he's struggling, he's living in poverty, trying to find luck by following his father's footsteps and making ends meet. in a way, no.rton is also just like her, an orphan - but the only part was that she never got to experience the true hell of living by dirt. he wanted a better life, so he worked earnestly and diligently. he was praised by the employers and mocked by the coworkers. its hard to keep a positive working attitude with so many things being thrown at his direction.... but even still, he was trying his best to be kind and generous. the rich people makes him sick to his stomach. how selfish they are to not care of the people on the streets like him? it's unfair ... he believed every rich person was a scum

though his mind would change later when irene comes through and demonstrates the unthinkable - generosity, from the rich scums no less he'd say - but perhaps it felt wrong to call her one even if she was part of the upper class. she would always find a way to secretly drop a loaf of freshly cooked bread and coins on his station while trying her best to go unnoticed. tho he would catch on to her not so sneaky escapes trying to be charitable... i think at one point he'd confront her (which initially freaked her) but he's actually really nice... and thankful. very thankful

i think an interesting bit is when nor.ton's asshole coworkers would notice them being chummy (with a rich person no less!?!?) with each other (and uh oh it feels a bit slash rom here 😡) and they would try accuse him of slacking off to the superiors which again brings no.rton down and just. makes everything worse for him but irene tries her best to comfort him and promises him that all his efforts are real and genuine because she's seen them (and to prove her point, she doesn't hand out her kindness to his co-workers)... and tbh i think it would be funny the coworkers tried to look cool in front of her but shes like aha nooooo nope

no.rton has started to like tea ever since she made him drink her favorite flavors. he mostly liked the tea because it reminds him of her, aka the times where he's actually feeling okay.

i imagine a lot of hurt comfort going on with these two especially post explosion and his explosion scars would probably make him think he's too unsafe and dangerous for her and fears she'd see him like this... but she still cares. she still cares a lot for him. no.rton would also notice the ring she wears and irene has actually lied about being engaged (played it off as an accessory) because she didn't want him to change the way he acted just because she would be considered taken. she doesnt even know who shes marrying and yet the poor miner has her whole attention....

[kiyafromkiri]

“ Do you truly believe that anything so little as a rule, or a law, might have stopped me from protecting you? " [ Shisui :) ]

Kiya was sure that she was meant to die on this mission. Away from the village, alone with a seemingly impossible task, an assassination that went wrong in every possible way, and without any backup to speak of; yes, she was meant to die, because in the end, it was a mission too dangerous for someone far more important to take on.

The orphan, immigrant, lone kunoichi was perfect; she was expendable in a way an Uchiha genius, the way Shisui himself, was not. Someone should've told Shisui that. Oh wait, Kiya did, countless times, because she lost track somewhere along the time when both of them were made jounin years back. Not that it mattered much when she said it, because Shisui was Shisui.

They're in a safe house and she's nursing more than one bruised rib, all while glaring at the other shinobi, because she is still not entirely sure of how many rules were broken just to have him swoop in and help her escape what was possibly a lethal trap that could've killed the both of them if the explosion happened any sooner. Or if it had been anyone but Shisui who had came.

Which is why the, "No, I don't," comes out a little bit grumblier than she intended it to. "How'd you find out where I would be?" Because it was an ANBU mission, classified, unless someone higher up had purposely let him in on it. Or someone had let something slip. Or, as her mind worked out, someone wanted it to slip to catch him breaking shit tone of rules for her.

Actually, what she wants right now is to sorta use him as a pillow because unlike others, she's not blessed with stupidly amazing chakra reserves, and is exhausted.