#but I have another drawing planned for that too

[morverenmaybewrites]

Iced Coffee (Jason Todd x Reader)

Summary:

In which Dick Grayson tries to give Jason some relationship advice. And ends up learning a few new things about his little brother.

Pairing:

Jason Todd x Reader

(AO3)

Imagine Dick Grayson wanting to talk to Jason about his new girlfriend. That is, you.

Imagine Dick Grayson, talkative Dick Grayson, whose laughter and words bubbled easily from his throat, like air released from an opened soda can.

Imagine Dick Grayson, who's used to going into any situation utterly confident in his ability to coax a smile and a story out of even the grumpiest civilians.

And now imagine him being utterly on the back foot ever since Jason came back.

The smile that's more reliable to him than his own mask now feels more like a grimace whenever Dick is around his little brother. His jokes and short little stories meant to put people at ease dry up on his tongue, and he's often left with his mouth hanging stupidly open like a fish washed-up on Gotham Bay.

For all of his hard-earned people skills, Dick Grayson simply couldn't find the right words to reach his little brother.

Perhaps it's because his last image of Jason Todd was that of a prepubescent boy, growing so fast that their father barely had enough time to put clothes on his back before he's outgrown them again.

And now, in his place was a hulking giant that Dick had to crane his neck to look in the eye.

Perhaps it's Jason's voice, and the fact that before his kidnapping, he hadn't come into adult voice yet. It was still high-pitched and bright and excited whenever they bent their heads to look over maps of Gotham. This new Jason, on the other hand, had the voice of a man, harsh and gritty, like stone grinding against stone.

One that often made him seem far too old than his actual age.

Or perhaps it's the simple fact that a decade ago, the Joker took away Dick Grayson's little brother.

And the man who came back was now a stranger.

Dick tried, of course.

He tried his best, like anyone would, given his position. After all, how many people were given a second chance to make their family whole again?

It's just that he didn't know how.

While the previous Robin had been talkative and curious and hung onto every word Dick said as if it was gospel, this new Jason was quiet, taciturn.

He spoke with a wince, as if every word hurt him, and Dick had to work hard not to wonder why this was.

He wasn't usually interested in drawing up battle plans, often choosing to do missions alone.

Now imagine Dick Grayson, crammed in what feels like the world's tiniest Jetta during a stakeout, quietly trying not to go insane. He had never done well with silence, even before Jason had been kidnapped. He hated the idea of sitting in it, stewing in his own thoughts until he could feel them scratching along the inside of his skull.

But try as he might, Dick just couldn't draw his little brother into conversation. His answers, when he bothered to give them, were short and irritated. As final as a door slammed shut.

"So, you know much about this guy we're staking out?" Dick tried.

"About as much as you. Wanted for human trafficking." Jason paused, massaged his throat as if speaking two whole sentences hurt him.

Someone's phone pinged. They both looked at theirs.

After a minute, Dick tried again.

"Barbara said he used to work out of Peru. I wonder what made him move to Gotham. Got any ideas?"

Another ping. Jason looked down at his burner phone. Caught Dick's expression out of the corner of his eye and mutely shook his head.

"Well," Dick pretended to stretch, more to have something to do than anything else.

He decided to try a third time.

"Seen the Bloodhounds’ game last night?"

Jason looked at him as if he was speaking in tongues, and Dick decided that it was high time he tried shutting up for a while. He tapped his fingers on the wheel, fidgeted with the radio, trying to decide which station was the least likely to drive him insane over the course of what seemed to be a very long, very boring stakeout.

Dick settled on easy R&B. Leaned back in his seat, or at least pretended to, as he watched Jason fiddle with his phone.

"Barbara got any updates for us?" he asked as Jason read over a text.

There was an awful moment when Jason startled, and the first thing he did was reach for his guns. It must have been instinct, his hands flowing smoothly from one location to the next. And it was only the quiet click of the safety turning off that seemed to bring Jason back to himself.

Dick could practically see his little brother forcing himself to relax: the visible unclenching of his jaw. The conscious decision to let go of his guns.

And Dick tried, very, very hard not to think about how he must have spent the past few years, if his first reaction to being surprised was violence.

If he could somehow revive the Joker just so he could kill him again, Dick would do it. He could have sworn he could hear his own teeth grinding. The air in the car suddenly felt thick, the silence suffocating, as both of them tried not to acknowledge what just happened.

And just as Dick was mentally rehearsing his speech to get coffee and stale donuts from the shop across the street, Jason spoke.

"It wasn't," he said.

Dick blinked. The number of times that Jason initiated conversation was few and far in between.

"Pardon?" Dick said, wondering if he heard it right.

"It wasn't Barbara on the phone," Jason clarified, this time slower, as if he was talking to a particularly dim child.

"Alfred, then," Dick guessed.

"No. And I didn't."

"Didn't what?'

"I didn't watch the Bloodhounds' game last night. I was on patrol and must have missed it."

"Oh."

Dick wasn't even sure if Jason watched baseball anymore. It was just another conversational Hail Mary he threw out there. But at least Jason seemed willing to talk, even if it was in broken fragments. But if Jason was on patrol the night before, and he was on stakeout tonight then he must not have gotten much sleep.

"Want to get some coffee?" Dick said, jerking a thumb at the corner store he was eyeing earlier. "My treat."

While Bludhaven didn't have the abundance of street vendors and overnight kiosks that Gotham City offered, it at least offered similar 24-hour joints that could offer the same overpriced, watered-down coffee that one could get in Gotham City.

And in its own small way, it was like Dick Grayson never left home.

Josiah Johannes Salazar was almost certainly the made-up name of the man they were staking out. A small-time thug, at least by their usual standards, he mostly dealt in human trafficking and came under Barbara's radar after a rash of missing person reports were linked back to him.

A gifted art student from the local college.

A stand-up comedian who often performed to packed bars on rowdy weekends.

A used-car salesman from the Burrows.

Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Just your usual run-of-the-mill scumbaggery. Kidnapping people to be bought and sold on the flesh market. Or so, that was Barbara's current theory. An easy enough case. Sure to be closed by the end of the week. In fact, Tim already had several hopeful leads on the victims' possible locations.

Which was why it was such a mystery that Jason insisted–insisted!–on accompanying Dick on this particular stakeout.

It wasn't like he was unwelcome–Dick would jump at any chance to bond with his little brother again–it was just unexpected. Certainly, when he had rounded the parking spot where he kept the second hand Jetta, he hadn't expected Jason to be there, a duffel bag slung across his shoulder and a scowl on his face.

And as soon as Dick unlocked the car, Jason opened the door and planted himself so firmly in the passenger's seat that for a moment, Dick wondered if they really did have a prior agreement he forgot about. But now in the garish yellow light of the donut shop, one fact was becoming increasingly obvious���his little brother was tired. The lighting made him look positively jaundiced, and the shadows under his eyes were as fat as bruises. His clothes were rumpled, and Dick found himself wondering if he had changed into them immediately after his patrol.

The scar on his face looked more terrible than ever.

There was a sudden tension in Jason's shoulders that made Dick realize he was staring.

He immediately dropped his gaze.

Only to find an even more incredible sight.

"Hey, Jason..."

Jason frowned at him, and glanced around the shop to see if anyone was listening. But apart from the cashier, a pimply teenager flicking through skin magazines, the place was empty.

Jason never did like hearing them use their real names while out on missions. And it was only after careful assessment of the area did he finally speak.

"What?"

His response was short and irritated, a clear sign that he was beginning to weary of conversation. But Dick couldn't help himself.

"Are you drinking iced coffee?"

The cups in their hands were nearly identical, condensation beading on the cheap plastic surface, although Dick was sure that Jason didn't have the same obscene amounts of caramel syrup pumps in his. But back when he lived in the manor, Dick was sure that Jason was strictly a hot coffee kind of guy.

A hot black coffee and cigarette type of guy. The result of spending most of his childhood in East End. Alfred despaired at the state of his diet, and Dick would often hear him lecturing Jason on the dangers of nicotine and caffeine addiction.

Jason glanced down at his drink, seemingly unbothered. "Yes."

He seemed content to leave it at that, despite the fact that this new information had hit Dick with the force of a bombshell.

Jason drank iced coffee now?

What else did he like?

Did he like matcha? Chai? Perhaps those overpriced flattened croissants dipped in chocolate? Did Jason still like soft tacos from food trucks? Or did he prefer burritos now?

For a moment, Dick envisioned inviting Jason to go shop-hopping with him and Barbara, the way they used to back when Jason was Robin. Maybe even invite Tim along, now that Jason was finally speaking to him.

Eat questionable street food until their stomachs roiled with grease. Or even better, haul it all back to the Clocktower and make a movie night out of it.

He could even imagine Alfred, somehow unchanged, hovering at the edges, making sarcastic comments about everyone's cholesterol level.

Maybe he could even convince him to try a fry or two.

Maybe Bruce–

The ping of Jason's phone broke Dick out of his thoughts.

"Not an update," Jason muttered at him, before opening his phone to take a look at it.

There was the barest flicker of emotion on his face before he was deleting the message and pocketing it. But not before Dick caught a glimpse of what was on the screen: a grainy image of the interior of a pizza parlor outfitted like it was from the 70s. A bottle of cheap beer and what looked like someone's Scrabble tiles were front and center.

Dick blinked. "Jason..."

The iced coffee. The constant texts from someone.

How could Dick Grayson, son of the world's greatest detective, had missed it?

"Jason, are you texting your girlfriend?"

It was like an explosion had gone off in Dick's chest, like someone had shaken a can of soda and pulled the tab to watch the glorious release of carbon dioxide and sugar. Finally, after struggling all night to find something that he and Jason could talk about, finally Dick found something that he could relate to his little brother about: women.

"Fuck off, Dick," Jason muttered, but he knew his little brother enough to realize there was no heat in it. "It's none of your business."

"Holy shit, you totally are. And while on a stakeout, too!"

Dick felt giddy.

It was unfamiliar, this ribbing. But it was welcome. It felt like the sort of thing that a big brother should do.

"You know Bruce wouldn't approve," he prodded.

He made his voice sound deep, mimicking their father, "Distractions on the field can be a fatal mistake."

"I don't give a rat's ass about what Bruce approves of," Jason said with a shrug, but he failed to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Besides,” he added. “He flirted with Selina Kyle all the time. In full costume, the hypocrite."

Dick laughed, partly because it was true, partly because he was actually bantering–bantering!–with his little brother again.

Jason's phone pinged again, and this time Dick couldn't resist another jab.

"She's got you over a barrel, huh?" Dick said.

"What?"

"Are you in the doghouse?"

Jason frowned at him, and Dick decided to elaborate. "Whenever I took missions one after the other, Barbara would let me have it. Especially if it made me miss date nights. She used to send me these walls of text..."

Jason shook his head. "She's not angry with me."

"Oh." It was nice of you to be such an understanding girlfriend. "It's good that she understands. How long has it been since you took her on a date anyway?"

Jason looked uneasy, shifting his weight from one foot to the next.

"Two weeks," he muttered.

"Two weeks?" Dick was flabbergasted. "Dude, Barbara would definitely have put me in the doghouse for that."

A night on the couch at the minimum.

"I've been busy," Jason said defensively. "We're nearly closing in on this case."

Right. Dick nearly forgot. Josiah Johannes something.

"Well, maybe you should do something nice for her, at least," Dick insisted

"You know, remind her that you care."

He thought of his father, who used to buy bouquets of flowers for his mother, to give to her after every successful performance. The night of her death, there had been a large bouquet of orchids left in front of her dressing room mirror that went unclaimed.

Dick shook his head, dusting away the mental cobwebs.

"Got any ideas?" he asked.

Jason shook his head mutely.

"Come on, give me something," Dick said. "You must have some idea growing up."

Bruce, he knew, was notoriously tight-lipped, so it was unlikely that Jason got any ideas from him. But maybe, once upon a time, Willis Todd did something nice for his wife.

"The men in East End would tip an extra five dollars to whores they like,” Jason snapped.

Dick felt his heart drop to his stomach. He could feel a flush rising to his cheeks.

"Yeah, don't...don't do that..." he muttered.

They grow quiet for several minutes, sipping their coffee and occasionally throwing glances at the building they were supposed to be staking out. It was Jason who eventually spoke first.

"She's not upset," he said quietly. "I just...feel like I should do something for her."

It struck Dick then, that Jason looked woefully young. It was likely that this was Jason's first real relationship. And he had nothing to go on except what he had seen men do to sex workers in East End.

And Bruce...wasn't exactly a model for healthy relationships.

"How about flowers?" Dick suggested gently. "Those are always a classic.

Do you know what kind of flowers she likes?"

A pause.

"No."

"I used to date a girl," Dick began. "Bit of a gardener. She loved roses. She'd snip the ends and put them in water to make them last longer. She loved white roses best of all, because she'd try all sorts of experiments with dyes."

Jason didn't answer, fiddling with the straw of his drink. And when he next spoke, it was in a painfully unsure voice.

"Is that...something I should know?" he asked quietly. "Her favorite flowers?"

Suddenly, Dick hoped–wished–violently that this wasn't Jason's first relationship. That sometime after the Joker and before the Arkham Knight, he carved some semblance of peace for himself. Maybe met a girl or a guy during those few sunlit months in Santa Prisca. Dated. Fooled around. The kind of things that he should have done growing up. The kind of things that Joker stole from him.

"Not necessarily," Dick said, his voice soft. "But it doesn't hurt to pay attention. Girls like that sort of thing. Well, people, really. If she ever mentions something like that, just make sure to take a note."

The nod Jason gave him was oddly solemn, and Dick realized, with heartbreaking clarity, how much his little brother wanted to make this work with you.

"What about chocolates?" Dick suggested again, not wanting to dwell on darker thoughts. "I'm sure we can find a confectionary here somewhere..."

Jason snorted. "Sure. In Bludhaven, the peak of romance."

He grew quiet again, before saying, in hesitant voice: "She likes old movies. There was that one about an urban legend..."

"There you have it," Dick said, trying not to let the relief show in his voice.

"You can have a movie night or something! Hell, you can even go now. Make a surprise out of it–”

But the contemplative expression on Jason's face–the one that made him look so young–suddenly fell away, and what was left now was pure Red Hood.

"Can't," he said, in a tone that brooked no argument. "We're on a mission."

"For some two-time smuggler? Please, I can solve this case with my eyes closed."

Jason looked at him as if he was insane.

"What?" Dick asked.

"Dick," Jason said slowly, with gravity. "What do you know about Salazar?"

"Hm?" Dick was still mentally going through the catalogue of nearby confectioneries the two of them could go to. "Some human trafficker...don't worry we got Tim tracking down his victims."

"A sculptor who's selling out entire galleries as a student because her work is so lifelike," Jason said, a bite of impatience in his voice. "A comedian who's always performing to packed crowds because everyone says his jokes make their entire week. A used-car salesman who never misses a sale."

Jason paused, waiting for Dick to put the pieces together.

Dick had never thought of the victims that way, and now that Jason was pointing it out, it all did sound rather strange. The realization came to him with slow dawning horror.

"Jason..." he said. "You think he's trafficking metas?"

Jason sighed, and there was something weary in it. Dick remembered that his little brother hadn't seen you in two weeks.

"You think he might target her," he concluded. "That's why you're working so hard on this case."

Jason didn't answer. He didn't have to.

"Does she know?"

"No." Jason's answer was immediate. "It's just...a working theory, anyway. I don't want her scared over a theory."

"It might make her a little more careful if you told her," Dick nudged Jason with his shoulder. "It wouldn't hurt. Plus...well, it's not nice to keep her in the dark, you know?"

Jason looked at him, and for a moment, Dick could see the boy from the manor. The one that used to hang on to his every word as if it was gospel.

He pulled out his phone.

And sent you a quick text.

"Thanks," Jason said quietly. "I'm still...getting used to...all this."

And he gave Dick a small, grateful smile. Just the barest quirk of the corners of his mouth.

But it was there.

Dick smiled back. "You're doing great. Besides, working for two weeks straight on a case to keep your little girlfriend safe? You're a regular romantic. She's going to think you're from one of those old movies she likes."

The smile was gone. The scowl back in place. Jason shoved him, with perhaps more force than he intended to, but Dick rolled with it, laughing.

Maybe getting to know his little brother all over again wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.

[bywons]

THOUSAND KISSES 𖥔 lhs

𝗔𝗖𝗧𝖵────𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖽𝗋𝗎𝗇𝗄 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗁𝖾𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗎𝗇𝗀 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍

❪ 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝒾𝐒 ❫ ｡ 𝗁𝗎𝗌𝖻𝖺𝗇𝖽!𝗅𝗁𝗌 𝗑 𝖽𝗋𝗎𝗇𝗄 𝖿!𝗋 1215 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿 ✿ 𝗄𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖽𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 贅沢 ／ 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐄

★REBLOG4KISS

“and i have the best husband ever!” you giggle loudly, nearly toppling over as your heel catches the edge of the table as the nearly-empty wine bottle tips precariously in your hand.

heeseung turns immediately from where he’s seated at the outdoor table, his usual calm demeanor caught off guard as he stands up slowly.

“there he is!” you stumble forward, dramatically pointing towards heeseung, “that’s the one, the most handsome— hiccup —husband!”

heeseung resists the urge to slap himself in front of his friends, as he makes his way towards you as fast as he can. behind him, his friends already burst into laughter, but that’s one embarrassment he can handle later.

“i swear to god,” he sighs, stumbling in his own steps as he stands across the table in front of you, neck craning up to take in the chaos, “get down, y/n, you will hurt yourself!”

your booze fueled brain could register nothing but the man in front you having furrowed brows, flushed cheeks and a very, very embarrassed facial expression.

“aww, s-so you do care about me!” you laugh, the wine bottle falling out of your hands at the perfect speed for heeseung to face and place it on the floor, “oops, sorry.”

“get down, darling please,” he pleads now, in his mind he curses himself as he plans to get on his knees next if you don’t listen, the only next option. “you don’t want to hurt yourself, right? please, darling i—”

you whine, stomp your heels against the table which makes both the table and heeseung panic, and pout at him. all three of which heeseung prays are far enough from his friends, so it wouldn’t be another inside joke soon.

heeseung’s hands twitch at his sides, jaw ticking as he throws a mortified glance over his shoulder. his friends are howling with laughter—sunghoon is doubled over, jake’s already got his phone out, and jay is definitely mouthing “good luck.”

“y/n,” heeseung lets out a shaky breath as he holds the sides of the table down, “please for the love of god, just come down, baby.”

“i won’t do it for free,” you complain, a small giggle leaving your lips.

heeseung sighs for god knows how many times now. he forces himself to look back up at you again, “what do you want, darling?”

“a kiss, hee,” you mumble, drawing dangerously closer to the edge, “just a kiss.”

heeseung felt as if his cheeks were caught on fire now. they were surely as red as a tomato given your dialogues and how long he stared at you. he loves you, he loves a little too much that if he had the power to fly up and kiss you, he would in a heartbeat. but unfortunately, heeseung can’t do that, which makes him love you less when you’re a step away from breaking your neck.

“i’m no superman, baby, i can’t get up there,” he sighs, again, god what a night this has become, “but if you get down, i’ll give you a thousand kisses baby i promise.”

“you do? hiccup really?”

“yes, darling, i do.”

you blink, clearly processing the offer in your hazy wine-sweetened mind, then break into a bright, delighted smile. “okay then!”

before he can celebrate your change of heart, you attempt a dramatic descent—your foot catching, your heel slipping—and in one horrifying moment, you lose your balance entirely.

heeseung acts before thinking. “shit—!”

he rushes forward just in time to catch you in his arms with a soft gasp, stumbling back a step as your weight crashes into him. your arms sling around his neck instinctively, and your face lands inches from his.

“hee,” you whisper, wide eyes and blushing, “you caught me!”

“i always do, don’t i?” heeseung's gasps for breathe, both because he basically played spiderman and he’s moments away from crashing out.

you blink, cheeks warm and eyes glassy as you realise your lips are too close to his, “are you crying?”

“no,” he mutters immediately, glancing away. “that’s just sweat. from all the stress you gave me tonight.”

you cling onto him, burying your head on his shoulders as you giggle softly. “y-you smell like laundry.”

“and you smell like love,” heeseung sighs.

heeseung finally stabilises himself, deciding to finally walk away from this gathering before you decide to do something even more reckless. he turns around, easily putting you in a bridal style.

he marches towards the driveway with you, trying his best to ignore his friend’ gala over it.

from across the lawn, someone wolf-whistles.

“we love you, superman!” sunghoon yells.

“that’s my boy!” jake adds.

“shut up!” heeseung barks over his shoulder, ears flaming.

he finally reached his much awaited rendezvous of the night, where he cs freely let his cheeks burn and heart thump faster. you’re still in his arms, giggling and coming up with pick up lines as you kick your feet around.

heeseung stops in front of the car, gently setting you down against the side so he can open the door, but your arms don’t budge from around his neck.

your words form an incoherent sentence as your pout, “are we going home?”

“yes, baby,” heeseung mumbles, smoothing his thumb over your cheeks, “aren’t you tired already?”

“but you promised me a thousand kisses,” you frown.

“okay,” he murmurs. “a thousand kisses.”

your eyes flutter up to meet his. the golden glow from the porch light glints in your lashes as he leans in and presses a kiss to your forehead.

“one.”

a kiss to your cheek.

“two.”

your nose.

“three.”

and then finally, he cups your face with both of his hands and leans in. and then, finally, he kisses your lips—soft, slow, and filled with every ounce of unspoken adoration he’d rather die than say in front of his friends.

your hands tighten around your neck as you both smile into the kiss.

heeseung pulls you even closer by the waist, pulls away for a breather and dives in again, his lips soft against yours as they trail up your cheeks and down to your neck as you giggle.

“four, no, five!” he exclaims, bursting into laughter when he sees you laugh too.

you’re breathless with laughter, still slightly tipsy and now thoroughly drunk on heeseung’s kisses. your arms refuse to let go of his neck, your feet kick lazily behind you as if the air around him has turned to clouds, and you’re floating.

heeseung presses another kiss to your collarbone, humming against your skin. “six, and i think this one’s my favorite so far.”

“you said a thousand,” you whisper, nose brushing against his as your lashes flutter with each blink. “you can’t cheat.”

heeseung grins, so wide and beautiful under the porch light it nearly knocks the breath from your lungs. “i’m pacing myself,” he teases, placing one more on the corner of your mouth. “seven.”

you gasp dramatically as you feel heeseung click open the car door behind, slowly guiding you inside it, “are you —hiccup— breaking your promise?”

“never,” heeseung smiles

he sighs as he gets in, feeling jake and jay giggling as they watch you drive away. but swears in his heart, he would give up eternity to kiss you a thousand times anyways.

스루 ܃ for my gfie ridoipup @isoobie >< #heeri too real, i love you so much always, mwahhh i hope you like this 🎀

© bywons, 2025 div ctto —taglist open ! nets. @/k-labels @kflixnet @k-films

[thydungeongal]

what’s your group currently playing, or if you don’t have a game going atm, what’s the last one you played/ran?

I have multiple groups actually, and juggling between them is a bit of a hassle but we manage. I'm currently playing Break!! with one group and I've been really enjoying it! It very much is like what if someone made an old-school D&D style classic adventure RPG but with cleaner modern presentation and lots of JRPG and anime influences!

I'm also running an open table Old-School Essentials game which thus far has had me running the two first-level dungeon crawls published for it, The Incandescent Grottoes and The Hole in the Oak. Been having a really good time with it!

I have another open table where I'm running Rolemaster Classic. Admittedly I had very ambitious plans for this one but they never quite materialized, but instead of beating myself over the head about it I've just settled into a sort of a simple episodic pattern with little continuity. It has been a lot of fun introducing a bunch of people to this silly game that I love.

I'm also a player in a friend of mine's D&D 5e campaign and like it's alright. Most of the fun in that game comes out of me getting to hang out with my friends and to be fair the system itself doesn't bring a lot to the table. Which is why I'm trying to draw that group in with the lure of something like Mythras after we finish that game. Currently that game is on hiatus though because too many of the people involved straight and keep having babies and stuff, which is very inconsiderate of them.

I'm also preparing to run Valiant Quest for some of my fellow internet girlies and I'm really looking forward to it. :)

The last one I played though was Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy at the @anim-ttrpgs indie TTRPG bookclub (you can find the link in their pinned post) and it was as fun as Eureka always is. Admittedly we had picked a scenario for the club game that sadly didn't really end up utilizing most of Eureka's strengths, it was mostly just a spooky scenario with very little actual investigation involved. The fact that it was originally written for Call of Cthulhu kind of shone through in the fact that the scenario itself wasn't prepared for investigators who could actually find leads instead of having to be led by the nose. But that is all on the scenario: the system was fun to play with again, our group was fantastic, and our Narrator really did an amazing job with an admittedly flawed scenario! I loved playing it despite those aforementioned flaws in the scenario. :)

[ysrjune]

hii there hope all is well i was curious if i could suggest a cute little fic or something of teen!dad scott’s first father’s day and/or mother’s day ? i love your teen!dad scott barringer it’s super cute

a/n: thank youuu ☺️ I love writing teen dad Scott. I'm so glad people are requesting him again!

For Father's Day, Scott's dad wanted to take a trip to Las Vegas with everyone. Your parents let you go since his parents would be the ones taking you (they just wanted you gone.. and you can imagine why.) Leo was now 1 year old. Mother's day had passed, so your first one was over, but now it was Scott's first Father's Day. It was just 2 days before Father's Day had actually come up. You all wanted to explore around the city before celebrating Scott and his father.

Waiting in the airport was fine. Leo didn't fuss much, but Scott did. He was hungry, and his back was hurting from sitting down. At least it was only an hour wait to board the plane. To pass time, he began to play with Leo. "Who's this?" Scott shows the mickey plushie to Leo. "Mick!!!" He claps with a smile. "Yeahh. Good job, weirdo." Scott smiles back.

The plane ride was also good. Leo didn't cry or make loud noises. He was calm and luckily, so was Scott. At the hotel, you and your family of 3 had your own room. It still had two beds, so you figured you could just leave the suitcases there or something since there was no use for it. "It's so hot here." Scott complains immediately. "I don't get why people actually live in Nevada. It's literally a desert." He groans and removes his shirt then quickly makes his way to turn on the AC. "You're so dramatic." You roll your eyes and set Leo on a bed.

"Aren't you hot, sport?" Scott lays on the bed with the baby and twirls his hair. The baby babbled nonsense, making Scott smile. "Me too but your mama thinks I'm crazy." He tsks and shakes his head. "One day you're gonna be just like me and walk around the house in your underwear to annoy her." He tickles Leo.

—

That night (to avoid the heat) you all went down to the strip to check what they had. Many restaurants and casinos. There were also girls who were practically half naked to take photos with. "Stop staring." You nudge Scott in the chest as they walk by. "I wasnt!" He whines. He definitely was.. but so were you if you were being honest with yourself.

The night was great. Walking around and then going to dinner then walking around again.. your feet and legs ached but it was worth it. Scott's parents wanted Leo that night because they just loved the cutie so much. So guess what that led to? Scott acting like the horny 17 year old he is. The only reason you agreed to have sex with him for the first time in a year was because he actually had condoms. Wouldn't want another baby..

—

Father's day finally came around, and Scott was actually excited. Another day out of the year that got to be about him! He showered before you did, so he was also ready before you. He watched you do your makeup and put on a pretty outfit after you got out. He was staring in awe. You're the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. "Stretchmarks look good on you." Scott compliments. Before you had Leo, he used to think they were sort of freaky looking, but now that you have them because of Leo, he thinks they're cool.

Scott knew you were insecure about them. They were mostly faded by now, but they were still there. Often, Scott would kiss them and make you feel like they were nothing to be ashamed of. "Baby's first drawings, they say." He chuckles and kiss your lips. Leo coos from the bed and Scott goes to pick him up. "Look at you, getting cuter and cuter by the day." Scott kisses his sons face. He's never like this in public. This is a side of Scott that no one else but you and occasionally his parents got to see.

In the morning, the plan was breakfast and then hit up a few stores. Then it would be lunch and walk around again, then head back to the hotel to rest, and for dinner, well.. dinner at a new restaurant. Going to stores was your favorite part. Scott had been wanting new sun glasses, so you took him to a store that sold them. He tried on a bunch of different styles of them and you got a ton of goofy photos out of it. He ended up wanting red ones (which was odd since he doesn't like colored sunglasses) just because they had cherries and dice on the side of them. "They're so badass." He explained them as.

By the end of the day, everyone was so tired and just wanted to rest in their rooms. You, Scott, and Leo were in the bed, under the blankets, in your pj's, watching TV. Leo was between you two, playing with his toys. Scott was dozing off. So basically, you were the one watching TV. "Daddy!!" Leo giggles and crawls over to Scott. The blonde groans dramatically. "Uuughhhh. Yes Leo? What do you want now? A bottle, a hug? my soul?" He says with no bark behind it. Of course Leo didn't understand. He just stared into his dad's eyes with his mouth open.

"I love you, ugly." He traps Leo in his arms and kisses him. "Hey, don't call him that!" You look at Scott. "He is though." He really wasn't. Leo was the cutest baby ever. "Mm," You hum. "Well, I love you. Ugly." You smile at Scott and kiss him. He laughs and shakes his head. "I love you more, Beautiful."

@bxbyysstuff @anakinstwinklebunny @lovethestarrs @valloos @anisangeldust @xo-yaaaaaasxo @anakinca @dollfilmz @alexlovesysrjune @sockiess @sythethecarrot @speaknow-sw @loveamira @alealuvshayden @mvst4far

[lookingforhappy]

Yeah it was a let down, building this expectation that we'd get to understand their powers a little more and see how their relationships improved when Reginald wasn't there (aware of them or able to meddle with them, even from beyond the grave). And then... nothing. Didn't feel like developing that major subplot i suppose??

tbh tho, Five didn't do a whole lot to get them together that they weren't already doing themselves - Diego had his cell bars shaved down & was planning an escape with Lila that night,

Luther and Viktor were going to meet at the club that same night regardless of Five's intervention,

Klaus and Allison met of their own accord anyways,

I imagine that Luther would have eventually caved the way he did in canon (after getting proof that he wasn't the only one to make it to Dallas through Viktor) and gotten Ruby to track down Allison,

Which then linked Viktor to Luther, to Allison, to Klaus & then with Diego running around trying to rescue Kennedy he wouldn't be especially hidden - considering Five is the one to convince him to look into Reginald he wouldn't be aiming for that at all.

So we kind of did get the answer to one question? Just not a particularly detailed one.

I would say tho that this feels linked to a little theme S1 built up (and the other seasons carried too) of Five's absence drawing them together - or his presence driving them apart.

Because ultimately, Five's been driving the plot (their relationships) since he disappeared.

(got a little carried away :| )

His disappearance was often listed right next to Ben's death as one of the big reasons the Brellies split up - but ultimately, this was a good thing as otherwise they may have remained with Reginald, as Luther did.

Then his absence in the first timeline with the apocalypse did ultimately end with the Brellies (minus Viktor) all together at the end, fighting the apocalypse (or trying to help Viktor),

Arguably his involvement in creating the Commission did lead to the preservation of the timeline that allowed the Brellies to be the kids that Reginald picked up - if the Commission was deleting defective timelines, then that must include academies like the Sparrows and the Phoenixes.

Then there's the entire Day that Wasn't. Five disappears and in that short amount of time, Luther and Allison work out their conflicts, Diego learns the truth from Grace, Klaus gets sober and summons Dave, Viktor learns the truth about Leonard before seeing Allison or his siblings - all things that don't happen when Five's around.

vs.

So, the timeline without Five in the 60s is super interesting because their relationships (to themselves, their powers, each other) developed better without Five than with him.

Which is another big discussion - the only significant positive change that Five's presence brings is the aversion of the apocalypse.

The trade is life or happiness, and Five is constantly choosing for them - life. Which is a massive character trait that's been established by his own consistent and kind of selfish desire for life above happiness althroughout the series.

one of the tua scenes that fascinates me the most is at the beginning of s2 when five first arrives in dallas. I wish we had an explanation for it because OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD??? everyone has such control and understanding of their powers (Viktor, Klaus) that they don’t develop over the course of the timeline that actually happens in s2, they’re all acting like a team, they somehow all met and banded together without five’s help??? how did that all happen????? I NEED ANSWERS PLS THIS IS HAUNTING ME!!!!!!!!

[xjulixred45x]

Was rereading your neglected child Yuu posts and-

At one point you mentioned Rook joining the anti-Yuu parents squad with Floyd and Ruggie and-

All I can imagine is them making like, an actual club of it. With plans and plots. Mostly to make sure little Yuu is taken care of but also what to do if little Yuu’s parents somehow show up in Twisted Wonderland and try and take them back

(The blood that would be shed if they did)

On a completely unrelated note, Silver and Child Yuu taking naps

And on another unrelated note, Floyd with find little Yuu with a bow and arrow the funniest thing. Def would place up targets for them to shoot

The worst part is that I can just imagine Floyd and Rook actually starting a Hate Yuu's Parents club (Floyd thinks it's funny to mention ways they can "get rid of them," Rook is taking notes). Rook probably (stalks) closely watches potential club members and gives them a mysterious invitation to join (did you see how Rook gave the VDC acceptance letter? Something like that).

Ruggie is the first to join (at first because Rook brings food to the club meetings, but then he starts organizing things better), and later several members from other dorms join (Lilia, Riddle, Trey, Jamil, Vil comes to check in from time to time so he's considered an honorary member, etc.). Even the teachers find out! But far from discouraging them, THEY END UP JOINING TOO.

The club splits into two factions: those who plan ways to more efficiently care for Yuu and ensure they doesn't lack any resources within NRC (the teachers, Riddle, Trey, Lilia, Jamil), and they do things like discuss meal plans, doctor's appointments, who will threaten Crowley into giving Yuu more money and better living conditions in general, or better yet, debate which dorm would be best for Yuu to move into (and this can go on for HOURS).

Then there's the faction that makes plans for what to do if, somehow, Yuu's parents arrive in Twisted Wonderland and want their child back. This usually includes a "wall of (murder) PLANS" with drawings (courtesy of Floyd) illustrating various of their "ideas" for "handling" the problem (having a piano fall on them, accidentally getting thrown into the water with sharks, dropping them from a broomstick from a great height, etc.).

They're either super sweet reunions or super sadistic reunions; there's no in-between.

And with the other idea: AWWW, especially after seeing some clips from Silver's Vintage story. Yuu spends a lot of time in Diasomnia, so it wouldn't be surprising to think they's seen Silver suddenly fall asleep. No matter how many times Yuu tries to wake him up, he remains knocked out most of the time.

Yuu doesn't like the idea of ​​leaving him alone in such a vulnerable state, so I try to stay close to him to watch over him! The problem is, little kids can't stay still for too long without wanting to move or, well, fall asleep. Silver ends up waking up with a soundly sleeping Yuu on his shoulder, and now he's trapped forever (it's become a habit).

Floyd definitely loves Yuu's little bow and arrow; he thinks it's the most fun thing in life and makes the most of it. He sets up targets for Yuu to shoot at, but some targets are intentionally set up so the arrows will either bounce off and hit people, break something, or potentially hit Azul. for his own entretaiment.

I imagine Yuu played with his miniature bow and arrow in the Monster Lounge before Azul banned it (so they wouldn't break anything). Floyd takes advantage of this and when something breaks, he tells Azul that it wasn't him, it was Yuu playing with their bow (Azul instantly isn't mad at all and tells Yuu that it's fine, but to be more careful next time. Much to Floyd's annoyance. Obvious favoritism).

___________

(ESPAÑOL)

Lo peor de todo es que me puedo imaginar a Floyd y Rook REALMENTE armando un club de Odio A Los Padres De Yuu (Floyd piensa que es divertido mencionar formas en las cuales pueden “deshacerse de ellos”, Rook está tomando notas). Probablemente Rook (acosa) observa de cerca a posibles miembros del club y les da una misteriosa invitación para unirse al club (¿viste como Rook dio la carta de aceptación al VDC? Algo así).

Ruggie es el primero en unirse (al principio porque Rook trae comida a las juntas del club, pero después empieza a organizar mejor las cosas), y posteriormente se terminan uniendo varios miembros de otros dormitorios (Lilia, Riddle, Trey, Jamil, Vil viene a checar de vez en cuando por lo que se le considera un miembro honorario, etc). ¡Incluso se terminan enterando los profesores! Pero lejos de desalentarlo, SE TERMIAN UNIENDO TAMBIEN.

El club se divide en dos fracciones, los que planean formas de cuidar de forma más eficiente a Yuu y que no le falte ningún recurso dentro de NRC (los profesores, Riddle, Trey, Lilia, Jamil), hacen cosas como discutir planes de alimentación, citas con el médico, quien amenazara a Crowley para que le dé a Yuu más dinero y mejores condiciones de vida en general, o mejor aún, debates sobre cual dormitorio sería mejor para que Yuu se mudara (y esto puede durar durante HORAS).

Luego está la fracción que hace planes de qué hacer si, de alguna forma, los padres de Yuu llegasen a Twisted Wonderland y quisiesen a su hijo de vuelta, esto suele incluir un “muro de (asesinato) PLANES” con dibujos (cortesía de Floyd) que ilustran varias de sus “ideas” para “encargarse” del problema (que les caiga un piano encima, casualmente siendo echados al agua con tiburones, dejarlos caer de una escoba a gran altura, etc.)

O son reuniones super dulces o super sádicas, no hay intermedio.

Y con la otra idea: AWWW especialmente después de ver algunos fragmentos de la historia Vignante de Silver. Yuu se pasa mucho tiempo en Diasomnia, por lo que no sería raro pensar que alguna vez ha visto a Silver quedarse dormido de repente, no importa cuántas veces Yuu haya intentado despertarlo, el permanece noqueado la mayor parte del tiempo.

Yuu no le gusta la idea de dejarlo solo en un estado tan vulnerable, por lo que intento quedarse cerca de el para cuidarle! El problema es que los niños pequeños no pueden quedarse quietos por mucho tiempo sin querer moverse o, bueno, quedarse dormidos. Silver termina despertándose con un Yuu sonoramente dormido sobre su hombro, y ahora está atrapado para siempre (se volvió un habito).

Floyd definitivamente ama el pequeño arco y flecha de Yuu, cree que es lo más divertido de la vida y lo aprovecha al máximo. El pone blancos para que Yuu dispare, pero algunos blancos son intencionalmente puestos para que o reboten las flechas y le den a la gente, para que se rompa algo, o potencialmente darle a Azul.

Me imagino que Yuu ha jugado con su arco y flecha miniatura en el Monstre Louge antes de que Azul se lo prohibiera (para que no rompiera nada). Floyd aprovecha esto y, cuando algo se rompe, le dice a Azul que no fue el, que fue Yuu jugando con su arco (Azul instantáneamente no está enojado en absoluto y le dice a Yuu que está bien, pero que tenga más cuidado la próxima vez. Para el disgusto de Floyd. Obvio favoritismo).

[thewinter-eden]

Blood Sugar Virus (36)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Genre: Horror, zombies, strangers to lovers, angst, suspense, slow burn Pairing: Kang Yeosang x female!reader Warnings: based on the Wanteez Zombie episode, zombies, language, discussion of parasites, gore, angst, heavy topics, suggestive content

Story Summary: You (stage name Sugar) are the co-captain of a horror acting group. You and your guys are the ones the companies hire when they want to stage a zombie, ghost, or any vaguely horrific and dystopian episode. So when you get hired by Ateez to develop a zombie program, it's just another routine that you've done a million times. Everything's going exactly according to script--until suddenly it isn't, and it starts getting a little too real.

🏆 Esteemed Moot: @ramadiiiisme

⭐️ Reader Spotlight: @mrsminseochoi

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Your decision to draw the zombies and parasites away hadn’t been contingent on any expectation of survival. You only had to run fast enough to clear the west hallway, only far enough to give Yeosang, San, and Mingi a brief window of opportunity to reach Rosé.

There had been no plan at the end of your mad dash through the school, no strategy to trap the hoard or slip away.

It was your moment to save them, to pay your penance.

It was your purpose, your fulfillment.

You’d stumbled on stinging legs and aching feet as far as you could, bracing yourself every second of the way for the end.

You deserved it.

You owed it.

It was your punishment, your salvation.

But every time they’d crashed closer, your brain hadn’t given in, it had kept fighting. Every clawed hand scraping your shoulder boosted you faster, every jostle of a clumsy mouth against your back striking panic in your heart.

When one of them had grabbed your duffel back and yanked you back, you’d thrashed against him so hard that the strap ripped. Some fraying thread of reflex allowed you to catch the broken strap and tug it free before the last of your supplies could be lost to the hoard.

Not yet, your brain had kept screaming. Not yet. It doesn’t have to be now.

When you’d found the open classroom on the east hall and diverted into it, your heart still begged you not to be caught. You’d tugged heavy bookshelves away from the wall with desperate strength and thrown yourself behind them with fear that crushed your lungs.

Not yet.

I don’t want to go yet.

You’d sat there on your knees and listened to them flood into the room, surrounding you with animalistic howling, and your entire will had broken.

This is my punishment.

This is what I deserve.

Let them come.

Let them take me.

But the fear had kept coming.

The panic had just kept creeping in, winding ropes of paralyzed terror around your spine until you had to cover your mouth to silence your cries.

I have to go.

I have to pay.

You could hear the parasites scrabbling around the bookshelves, pressing closer to your hiding spot. The man you’d killed had flashed before your eyes, and gradually, your narrative changed.

This is it.

You’d weighed the possibilities of your survival versus your impending death at the hands of the hoard, and you’d reached the same conclusion.

The fear had retreated, a predator giving up the chase at the realization that the prey was already dead.

The sobs that overwhelmed every muscle in your body no longer cried for help.

You wished you’d said goodbye to Jimin. You wished you’d told Namjoon how proud you were of everything he’d built for you. You wished you’d said something more meaningful to Yeosang, but a part of you is glad you didn’t.

He deserved someone good.

Someone kind.

Someone brave.

Someone who hadn’t chosen her own life over that of another.

He wasn’t someone you could rightfully have.

Your heart broke.

At least I don’t have to live with this guilt.

The pain will be over soon.

The exhaustion would finally end, the terror, the weariness of crawling out of bed before sunrise and falling back into it after sundown.

You’d never again have to stare at your dwindling bank account while the weight of your bills and expenses sat heavily in your inbox, demanding money you don’t have.

Your days of fighting with managers and directors and screaming for basic rights and respect for your team were over.

You wouldn’t have to stuff the weight of your sins into the backpack you shoulder every day and pray that you could carry it long enough to do your job.

This is peace.

The zombies thumped against your weak barricade.

This is justice.

Parasites scratched at the wood of the shelves, screeching wildly.

I can stop pretending.

Glass shattered, wood of the doorframe splintering, wicked creatures snarling over your head.

My debts are finally paid.

The shelves rocked under the weight of the shoving hoard.

My mom will be okay when I’m gone.

And then you’d heard your name. You’d seen his face, watched his hands reach for you like an angel descending from heaven, and you’d shattered.

Fear attacked again, snapping at blood in the water, your body unable to move. Your heart pleaded with you to take his hands, your brain begged him to leave you, to save himself.

Yeosang, please, let me rest.

You could go. His face could be the last thing you see.

One final thing you don’t deserve.

You’d wished with all your soul for that to be your last moment on earth.

But now you’re safe. You’re crushed into his arms, every inch of you pressed into every inch of him, and you feel like you’ve robbed your life back from the hands of righteousness.

“Don’t do that to me.”

All the fissures in your heart that had sealed over when he kissed you split wide open all over again. Throat clenching with another round of sobs that you don’t want to release, you push against his chest and sit upright against him.

The words are on your tongue, a plea to be let go, to be released from your prison of guilt, when your eyes fall to the wetness that soaks the front of his shirt.

His tank top is ripped, glimpses of raw, bleeding flesh peeking out around the shreds of cloth, and you lean back to get a better look. “Oh my god.”

His eyes fall to his abdomen, but his hands slide up your neck to cup your face. “I’m okay. It’s from the glass. I’m okay.”

Your fingers pluck at the fabric, pulling threads out of the exposed tissue, and he winces, jerking back against the desk. Bits of glass are stuck in the wound, painful gouges scraped from his lower ribs all the way down to the waist band of his pants.

“Shit, there’s shards of glass.” You can’t believe he’d held you so tight, pressing your body into stabbing shrapnel that pierces his abdomen. “God, Yeosang, you’re hurt.”

He tries to catch you as you scramble off his lap, but your jerking limbs are too fast. He tries to follow you, but the grunt he lets out tells you he’s in more pain than he’s letting on—maybe more pain than he realized. “I’m okay,” he groans unconvincingly. “It’s not that bad.”

It’s not that bad, he’s not stabbed through. You’re certain it’s only muscle deep, but panic is thrumming under your skin all the same. You find the first aid kit, the one that is miraculously placed in every classroom thanks to the inconvenient but life saving requirements of your insurance company, and hurry back to his side.

“Dammit, Yeo, you shouldn’t have done this.” He’d broken through a window and thrown himself on top of shattered glass just to save you. You peel the fabric away from the wound and grab his hand at it reaches for you, instead pushing it against his chest so that he’ll hold his own shirt up. “What were you thinking?”

His eyes are on your face as you pry the first aid box open and drop it to the floor next to you. After all of the injuries you’ve sustained tonight, you’re not too worried about the risk of pulling the glass out.

It’s not piercing any arteries or organs, and you know first hand that torn muscle can be withstood for at least the few hours he might have left in the school.

Still, the pain that he’s in weighs on you like it’s your own body that’s been stabbed.

“I was thinking I had to get you out of there.” He returns quietly.

Guilt pangs in your chest. “You thought I would want you getting hurt for me? You thought I’d be okay with this?”

He dutifully holds his shirt up with the one hand, but he brings his other up and holds it against the side of your throat as you work. “With all due respect, that was literally the last thing on my mind.”

Your teeth grit with sorrow that masks itself as anger. You use as many of the wipes as you can find to dab at the streams of blood and the dirtied wound around the shards of glass. His muscles clench as he sucks in a pained breath, his hand tightening around your neck.

The contraction releases another stream of blood.

“You thought I’d want to be saved at the expense of your health?” You grumble, wiping at the flesh trickles of crimson.

He gives an easy laugh. “If guilt over me taking a few superficial wounds is the price of you being alive and okay, I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to ask you to pay it.”

When your jaw clenches, tears brimming in your eyes, his hand moves to your chin and tilts your head up to meet his gaze. “I’m serious, Sugar. I really don’t care that you feel like you did this to me. Because you didn’t. And this isn’t the end of the world. It will heal. Don’t carry this. It will heal. You wouldn’t have.”

You pull your head out of his grasp and focus on his abdomen. You pry the first shard out with careful hands and he gasps, body lurching.

“It’s okay,” you whisper. “Just breathe for me.”

He pulls in a deep, trembling breath. “You look like I ruined some divine plan.” He teases you. “I didn’t know you had an appointment with death.”

You tug the next shard out a little harder.

His fists clench. “God, it was supposed to be funny.”

It’s not funny.

As he wheezes through the pain, a smirk curls his lips. “You’re breathtaking.”

“Shut up.” You don’t think you can face that kind of fear again. You don’t think you can offer yourself into the hands of penance and convince yourself all over again to lay down and let it happen. “I wish you hadn’t come for me.”

He doesn’t have a quick rejoinder for that. He lets you gently ease the rest of the glass out and rummage around for the wound spray.

You bite back your regret as he groans at the sting, drowning in guilt as his breaths come in short gasps.

“I will never stop coming for you.” He grunts at last. “No matter how many times you try to sacrifice yourself. I know you’re holding on to what you had to do, but I’m not letting them take you.”

You blot at his raw flesh with fresh towelettes and reach for bandages. The words you speak next are heavy, broken by emotion. “I can’t explain it any more than I already have.“

He watches you work, letting you talk.

“I know what he was, I know what the situation was, but I feel so guilty. I am filled with so much guilt, it’s like it’s corroding my bones.” Your tears fall freely. You’d think you’d be all out of them by now, but they just keep coming. “I can feel it in my ribs. I can feel it in my throat. It’s in my head and my stomach and right underneath my collarbone. It’s just screaming at me, reminding me that I felt a man scream and writhe on top of me as flesh was torn from his body, and I just kept holding him down so I wouldn’t be next.”

His hand cups your neck again, grounding, his thumb sweeping up to catch the tears that slip down your jaw. His expression is heavy with pity, and you can’t look at him.

“There is so much guilt. Like, I don’t want to eat meals anymore, because I don’t deserve it. I don’t want to feel joy anymore. I hate myself for finding peace and comfort in you, and I know that I can’t wake up tomorrow morning, with this night just a hellish memory, and pretend that I’m not being strangled by guilt for just carrying on after I used a person as a human shield.”

You press the last bandage to his abdomen and twist to find the same stupid painkillers that may or may not make a bit of difference. When they’re in your hand, you crawl to your ruined duffel bag and retrieve the last bottle of water before scooting back to him.

He takes them silently, drinking only enough to wash the tablets down.

You drop your hands into your lap and stare at them, sniffling past another rush of tears. “I know it doesn’t make sense. I know he wasn’t a person anymore. I can’t explain it in different words or give you a better reason, I just—I just can’t pretend that my life can ever be worth ending his. I can never do anything worthy enough of choosing his death over mine.”

He presses the water bottle into your hands, and you squeeze it, crinkling the plastic, but you don’t drink.

“They were hunting me. It was me they wanted. I should have died. And you killed two of them to save me. You never should have taken that on yourself, you never should have taken that burden. I caused you to exercise fatal violence against two people. I can’t live with that. I took his life. On my soul, I took his life. I have to forfeit mine.”

The last of the words in your heart settle between you.

Yeosang rasps painfully as he uses the edge of the desk to pull himself to his feet. When he straightens, his pain appears to have subsided slightly, and a free breath tumbles from his lips.

Before you can try to get yourself off the floor, he bends and pulls you up by your hands.

“I hear you.” He tells you. His warm fingertips brush hair out of your face, tucking tangled strands behind your ears. “I hear you, Sugar.” He steps closer and ducks his head until you meet his eyes. “But I’m gonna have to ask you to live with it.”

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[posttexasstressdisorder]

CNN 5/15/2025

ScienceSpace• 5 min read

Once ‘dead’ thrusters on the farthest spacecraft from Earth are in action again

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated: 9:18 PM EDT, Wed May 14, 2025

Source: CNN

Engineers at NASAsay they have successfully revived thrusters aboard Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from our planet, in the nick of time before a planned communications blackout.

A side effect of upgrades to an Earth-based antenna that sends commands to Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, the communications pause could have occurred when the probe faced a critical issue — thruster failure — leaving the space agency without a way to save the historic mission. The new fix to the vehicle’s original roll thrusters, out of action since 2004, could helpkeep the veteran spacecraft operating until it’s able to contact home again next year.

Voyager 1, launched in September 1977, usesmore than one set of thrusters to function properly. Primary thrusters carefully orient the spacecraft so it can keep its antenna pointed at Earth. This ensures that the probe can send back data it collects from its unique perspective 15.5 billion miles (25 billion kilometers) away in interstellar space, as well as receive commands sent by the Voyager team.

Within the primary set are additional thrusters that control the spacecraft’s roll, which enables Voyager 1 to remain pointed at a guide star so it can remain oriented in space.

If Voyager can’t control its roll motion, the mission could be threatened.

But as the thrusters fire, tiny amounts of propellant residue have built up over time. So far, engineers have managed to avoid clogging by commanding Voyager 1 to cycle between its original and backup thrusters for orientation, as well as a set of thrusters that were used to change the spacecraft’s trajectory during planetary flybys in the 1980s. The trajectory thrusters, however, do nothing to contribute to the spacecraft’s roll.

Voyager 1’s original roll thrusters stopped working more than two decades ago after power was lost in two internal heaters, which means the spacecraft has been relying on the backup roll thrusters to remain pointed at a guide star ever since.

“I think at that time, the team was OK with accepting that the primary roll thrusters didn’t work, because they had a perfectly good backup,” said Kareem Badaruddin, Voyager mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement. “And, frankly, they probably didn’t think the Voyagers were going to keep going for another 20 years.”

Now, Voyager 1 engineers are concerned that clogging from the residue could cause the spacecraft’s backup roll thrusters to stop working as soon as this fall — and they had to get creative, as well as take risks, to revive the long-defunct primary roll thrusters.

Fixing broken equipment in space

When the heaters on the primary roll thrusters failed in 2004, engineers thought they couldn’t be fixed. But with the threat posed by clogging looming, the team returned to the drawing board to see what had gone wrong.

Engineers considered the possibility that a disturbance in the circuits controlling the power supply to the heaters flipped a switch to the wrong position — and flipping it to the original position might restart the heaters, and in turn, the primary roll thrusters.

But it wasn’t a straightforward solution for a probe that’s operating so far away. The spacecraft is currently beyond the heliosphere, the sun’s bubble of magnetic fields and particles that extends well beyond the orbit of Pluto.

The mission team had to take a risk by switching Voyager 1 to its primary roll thrusters and turning them on before attempting to fix and restart the heaters. The heaters could only function if the thrusters are also switched on.

If Voyager 1 drifted too far from its guide star, the spacecraft’s programming would trigger the roll thrusters to fire — but if the heaters weren’t turned on yet at that moment, the automatic sequence could have triggered a small explosion.

A nail-biting test

In addition to the risk, the team, which began its work earlier this year, was facing a time constraint. A giant Earth-based antenna in Canberra, Australia, went offline May 4 for upgrades that will be ongoing until February 2026. NASA’s Deep Space Network enables the agency to communicate with all of its spacecraft — but its Canberra antenna is the only one with enough signal strength to send commands to the Voyager probes.

“These antenna upgrades are important for future crewed lunar landings, and they also increase communications capacity for our science missions in deep space, some of which are building on the discoveries Voyager made,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager and director of the Interplanetary Network at JPL, which manages the Deep Space Network for NASA, in a statement. “We’ve been through downtime like this before, so we’re just preparing as much as we can.”

While the antenna will briefly operate in August and December, the mission team members wanted to command Voyager 1 to test its long-dormant thrusters before they could no longer communicate with the spacecraft. This way, if they need to turn on the thrusters in August, the team would know whether that was a viable option.

On March 20, the team waited to see the results return from Voyager 1 after sendinga command to the probe the day before to activate the thrusters and heaters.It takes more than 23 hours for data to travel back from Voyager 1 to Earth due to the sheer distance between the two.

Had the test failed, Voyager 1 may have already been at risk. But the team watched the data stream in, showing the temperature of the thruster heaters rising dramatically, and knew it had worked.

“It was such a glorious moment. Team morale was very high that day,” said Todd Barber, the mission’s propulsion lead at JPL, in a statement. “These thrusters were considered dead. And that was a legitimate conclusion. It’s just that one of our engineers had this insight that maybe there was this other possible cause and it was fixable. It was yet another miracle save for Voyager.”

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VEE-GER LIVES!!!!!!

[chloesimaginationthings]

Gregory, Abby and Cassie are the new FNAF trio

[choccy-milky]

Hello! When your Seb x Clora pregnancy one-shot is complete, will it be on ao3 or wattpad? (or both?)

waiting with bated breath btw

not pressuring a finish tho, take ur time Choccy 🥰

it'll be on both ao3 and wattpad!! and omg ik its taking long IM SORRRY, its bc its gonna be way longer than i expected LMAO, i just recently finished my outline and the outline ALONE is 41k words💀and im currently at 8.3k written😩🙏 IM GLAD YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT THO🥹💖💖i defs hope to get it finished by this month or die trying...but heres a lil sneak peek in the meantime of impatient seb who cant wait to bring baby celeste into the world LMAO🤰👼

(seb is a freak but so is clora)

[xxplastic-cubexx]

welcome back to my accidental newfound journey to redraw every frame from this movie i GUESS

[1singulargrape]

Sukuita Princess and the Frog AU

I wrote this prompt a few months back and decided to draw the scene I kept thinking about; it's kind of a gift for myself :3 this is near the end

[Yuuji : Even if you're kind of an asshole... I'll protect you, and stay by your side <3]

For additional context, whoever cursed Sukuna did tell him that only a true love's kiss would lift the curse but he thought it was bullshit and decided to look for another solution. Fast forwards to Yuuji and him building a bond and he still doesn't tell him about it because, well, this is way too stupid to actually work. So Yuuji kissed him because he wanted to and now Sukuna has twice as much information to process

[itslilacokay]

believe it or not, normalswap?avm

(check some lorestuff in tags)

now back to main cast

[okoilo]

gloomy bear super sonico!!

[manalltheseart]

Oof. Sorry, Zillah. A bit too late, I think.

Game: Superstition by @13leaguestories

[ch1zzie]

The original in the bottom

Plus the picture I mainly drew but decided to draw the rest for funny