#there is no kindness without transaction apparently

[joni-witchell]

And like...the gag is...I hang around the edges of other people's lives like the stinking corpse of a dead animal. 🤣🤣😂🤣😂😂

[readwritealldayallnight]

You know the woman in line behind you is getting impatient, hearing her not so subtle exasperated sigh as you continue to search through your bag, your cheeks burning a deeper shade of crimson when you catch the barista’s tight lipped smile in your direction, her attempt at reassuring you as part of her job, though you can tell she wishes you’d hurry up as well

As if your debit card declining a mortifying four times hadn’t been enough, but then your attempt at using your credit card was just as unsuccessful, the sound of the failed transaction on a stupid 6£ drink sounding out for everyone in queue to know how broke you really were

Embarrassment coursing through your veins, already thinking about how you’ll never have the guts to come back to this cafe again as you desperately search for enough spare change at the bottom of your purse to cover this morning’s coffee, your scrambling comes to a pause when a large shadow suddenly eclipses the overheard lighting above you

In the midst of your frantic searching, a tall figure has come to stand just next to you, their gloved hand stretching past your figure to tap a card against the machine, the happy beep of the teller confirming the transaction’s been accepted this time

“I’ve got tha’ for ya.” A deep, gravelly Manchester accent mutters low enough for only you to hear, before the figure tries to retreat back into queue unnoticed

You eyebrows shoot up in shock, the barista equally appearing surprised but not displeased as she finally gets to hand you your drink and quickly wish you a good day before she’s already trying to help the woman waiting behind you

You step aside out of the queue, swinging your head around to try and spot your mystery saviour who stepped in and helped you out without even needing so much as a thanks in return apparently

You spot him instantly, the absolute size of him easily giving him away. No one else in the small cafe could have created such a large, intimidating shadow, let alone spoken in such a deep voice that sent chills down your spine

He stands a head above anyone else in queue, currently last in the line after he stepped out to pay for you. He’s wearing a simple black medical mask on the lower half of his face, a black hoodie with the hood pulled over his head offers you only a small glimpse of his eyes, which are noticeably pointed at the ground at the moment

You’re walking towards him before you even realize it

“Th- thank you. I don’t-” You’re cut off when those same eyes glance up to meet your own, stealing your breath away. He seems almost as surprised that you’re speaking to him as you were when he stepped in and paid for you, his eyes betraying his shock for only a fraction of a second before he’s steeling himself and his eyes darken. You get the vague impression that he isn’t someone who’s used to being caught off guard

“I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t here.” You say to him, wanting to express just how grateful you are to him for his random act of kindness, but he says nothing in return, hardly blinking once as he simply stares back at you

“I can’t understand why my cards weren’t working today. I promise I don’t like- this isn’t a thing I do. Go into coffee shops and pretend I can’t pay, hoping someone else will…” You awkwardly laugh to yourself, beginning to ramble in an effort to fill in the silence

“Anyways I just, really wanted to say thank you. I don’t know how to repay you.” You’re scrambling now, attempting to save face as this man just looks at you, an arm beginning to swing your purse off your shoulder in hopes of maybe finding enough change to appease this guy

“Not necessary.” The deep voice finally says again, his eyes leaving yours to scan you from top to bottom and then back up again, almost examining the sight before him. You almost feel like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, seeing the mask moving along with the sound of that gravelly voice an enrapturing vision

“Oh- well I- I mean that’s really nice of you, but I swear I can pay you back.” You recognize that feeling beginning to swirl low in your stomach, familiar with the warmth gathering in the apples of your cheeks; your body realizing it a split second before your brain catches up. You’re kind of into this guy. You can’t see much of his face, but the sliver you do see certainly isn’t unattractive, his height and build speaks for itself, with a voice like that and the fact that he’s just saved your butt and expected not even a thanks in return, you’re wondering if he’s too good to be true

“Do you come here often?” You’re asking him before you can stop yourself, watching a single one of his eyebrows arching ever so slightly. “I just mean that- I come here a lot- sometimes. And if you’re here next time I’m here, then maybe I can pay you back, buy you a drink.”

You’re losing confidence the longer he stands there, not answering. What were you thinking? This guy was just trying to be nice, get the annoying girl holding up the line out of the way so that people can order their drinks and go about their day, and here you are holding him up even longer-

“If it’ll make ya happy.” He’s suddenly answering, snapping you out of your downward spiral. If you could see the grin that slowly creeps upon your face, you might be otherwise embarrassed, but right now you can’t bring yourself to care.

“Oh okay, amazing. I mean- yeah that would- that would be cool. Okay.” You reply, glancing at your watch. “I’m not sure for you, but um, I’m almost always here each Sunday. Around this time.”

“I’ll be here next Sunday. Around this time.” He says matter-of-factly.

“Next in line please.” The barista at the corner calls out, interrupting the two of you. You glance back to see that it’s now his turn to order, feeling bad that you’re about to hold up the queue yet again.

“Great. I’ll see you Sunday then. Thank you again, seriously. I really owe you one.” You say, gripping the straps of your bag tighter as you offer him a sheepish smile before ducking out of the busy cafe, a small grin playing across your face.

Ghost watches your figure through the large windows as you walk out of the shop, across the street, disappearing into the crowd of morning goers strolling about. Only once he cannot see you anymore, does he walk up to the counter, slipping a 20£ note to the barista along with a slight nod of acknowledgement, before he himself is turning to walk out of the cafe, empty handed, intent on catching up to you from a distance.

~~~~~~~~~~

AKA Ghost has been stalking you for months and finally comes up with a way to have you approach him

[brailsthesmolgurl]

"It's priced reasonably..."

Preview: The boys' reactions to you buying things on impulse/on a discount! (Let's be fair, we all know they are all rich af, but I personally wanna give it a slice of life touch for them <3)

SYLUS

The big man you call your boyfriend stares at you when you stepped in through the front door with multiple bags loaded in your small palms. You had told him earlier on that you were going for window shopping and he was all too kind to give you his card and to ask you to use whenever you seem fit. However, coming over a huge discount on groceries are rare hence you had decided to use it as you 'deem it fit'. Sylus did noticed his phone's notifications going off a couple of times to alert him about transactions made on his card.

Instead of him looking at it, he would just mute the notifications and continue his humming while he seats himself comfortably on the couch and watches the news broadcast. "You had fun shopping, kitten?" He smirked, walking over to you to help you with the bags. "Next time, bring me along. I would like to see how my kitten makes good use of my card." Yet, you apologised for having to use his card when you told him you were supposedly going for window shopping but the man laughed in response, finding your apology to be adorable. "No more apologies kitten for I am not a stingy man."

RAFAYEL

Whilst on a shopping trip with Rafayel, this man would splurge on you. Apparently in this case, he would take up the role of the impulsive buyer rather than you. You eyeing something for more than 3 seconds? Considered it bought. You mentioning about something more than 3 times? Considered it purchased. You imagining something that may look good on him? Considered it a done deal. This man has no fear nor worry of ever going bankrupt as long as you're satisfied.

Staring at the huge lorry outside of his mansion, unloading everything you had mentioned would definitely put you in a state of shocked. Your boyfriend would approach you casually, wrapping his arm around your waist and nuzzling his nose against your neck. You would definitely question him on his purchasing behaviour but he would pout. "Gift giving and impulse buying goes hand in hand, and I do not see the reason why I should not be spoiling my cutie." Seeing you smile, he would continue. "It is just one of the ways I can show you that I love you, so don't hold me back on that, yeah?"

XAVIER

Grocery shopping with Xavier would be like going on a hunt for rare breeds of wanderers. Anything that are on discount would not be missed, especially with both of your sharp eyesights. However, you and Xavier are not known to be impulsive buyers. More like calculative buyers, the both of you seemingly carry a bit of a girl math's mentality. Other than necessities, anything that is supplemental to the house would be assessed for its usability and longevity. It is a perk the both of you would sometimes fight or bond over.

But if the discount is worth the product, then none of you would get it on the spot. You would have your moments where you would get something out of the blue, without running through your usual girl-math calculations, and you would be met with the quirk of an eyebrow from your boyfriend. "I suppose we lack this in our house." He would secretly do the math in his head but would never say anything to intentionally make you feel bad. "Yeah, we can make this work, no worries." Then, he would pull the same stunt as you, showing you something that he had got out of the blue as well.

ZAYNE

You would give Zayne a headache sometimes. Your childlike curiousity for interesting and new items would prompt Zayne to take on the role of a father figure. He might sometimes go as far as to suspect you may have a slight hint of ADHD in your system, but other than a slight migraine, he finds the quirk in you to be specifically unique to you. And, he never complains. Being the gentleman he is, he accepts you for who you are and tries to work his way around you whenever he could manage.

"Do you think you really need that?" He would point at the stuffed toys you are holding in your arms. Your point being all of them are begging you to adopt them with their big googly eyes. "Y/n, you might just have to pick one for adoption." Your slack-jawed expression would make him sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose slightly before he serves you a reminder of the consequences for your behaviour. "You had adopted exactly 36 plushies, and now, only 5 of them are actually adopted on your bed, while the rest of them are abandoned in your closet. So y/n, which one do you plan to ACTUALLY adopt now hmm?"

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

ok for real though i go so insane for the fact that Lucanis owns a pet snake. i'm a real life snake owner and soooo few characters in media have snakes... like i went through some Elaborate headcanons to justify giving Dorian a pet snake in DAI... and veilguard then just dumped a man who canonically has one straight into my lap!!!!! i was doomed from the start

kicking my feet twirling my hair imagining what types of snakes the various crows all own... it really is the standard assassin pet apparently. Viago obviously has venomous snakes that he keeps for their venom (for poisons, making antivenin, and to build his own tolerance). i don't think he'd consider them Precious Pets but i think he would enjoy that this is an animal where interactions are very clearly transactional and build to trust. like a snake will never Love you the way a pet mammal will (their brains simply do not produce/uptake oxytocin) but you can still form bonds with them and i think he would appreciate that this process happens in a very logical way you can predict. And he keeps them in absolutely PRISTINE care (his quote in Eight Little Talons about the one he picks up there is "He deserves my respect. And a good home—with all the mice he can eat”).

Lucanis on the other hand, I think would understand the snake does not love him but still be more attached to his emotionally anyway. maybe because he's used to loving people who don't actually care about his well-being 😭 But I think he'd appreciate a pet he can actually freehandle more. House Dellamorte is not known for poisons the way the de Rivas are, and they might still have an adder on hand for venom reasons but it's more likely they just borrow some of Viago's if needed... poison's just not their niche. If Lucanis was the one picking out a pet I think he would go for a non venomous or rear-fanged variety (aka, some venom but unlikely to bite a human) so he can actually hold it without being on high alert (i mean, in our world, you should never freehandle hots, but people do anyway & would in fiction too. but its a very fuck around/find out scenario). I feel like he and Illario would probably have the same type of snake since they grew up as brothers--Illario also clearly had an emotional attachment to his own pet snake since he got mad at Lucanis irl for a dream he had where Lucanis threw the snake out the window [EDIT: I misremembered this part, it was Viago's dream. Though I think I do remember an in-game reference to Illario also having a snake..?]. So i think both of them having a pet they play with/dote on a little more than is actually needed for a reptile fits really well here.

now as for specific pet snake species headcanons. We have VERY little detail in the snake lore in Dragon Age, despite Tevinter using it as a symbol of the country alongside dragons. i PRESUME there's many kinds of species around but who knows what... the only one we ever get mentioned by name* is in Eight Little Talons, where the writer refers to the snake Viago picks up there as an "adder" or a "death adder" but never anything more specific. Unclear if this is just writers thinking an adder is a specific species and not a class of snake or if there's only one type of adder in Antiva. I mean there's like 200 species of snake in North America and 100 or so in Europe and SOOOO MANY MORE in the tropics/asia (to be fair, there's only like 3 species in England and none in Ireland, but that's sad and those countries are tiny islands and exterminated wildlife/wildlands on purpose so we're not applying that to Thedas). Antiva has coastline and is warmer and I'd roughly classify it as similar to the Mediterranean in terms of climate, with colder winters farther inland and more humidity/closer to subtropical up north. Without the benefits of modern electricity they'd probably be keeping animals that can do well at ambient temperatures for the region. Treviso is on the coast of a bay (not full oceanic) and not too far south of Rivain, so I think we can guess at fairly mild winters & hot summers, probably tending towards drier but with monsoon-influenced humidity.

(*technically an earlier character in Tevinter Nights refers to a "venomous drake-adder" but he was lying about it being there, and we have no way to tell if he picked a real snake to pretend was around OR just made up a scary sounding snake name. alas.)

Now... given the Crow's general penchant for aesthetics I think both Dellamorte boys would be drawn to a dramatic looking variety, like a mexican black kingsnake or white-lipped python. sadly both of these absolutely stunning species are both a bit outside the climate preferences I specified (mbk live closer to true desert, wlp true tropical). I also am charmed by the idea that they caught the snakes themselves in the wild vs purchasing them, becuase that's such a childhood animal-lover thing to do (my grandma used to tell horrified stories of my dad/uncles bringing home "wagons full of snakes" they found playing outside). SO i think my top choices are either the European Thedosian cat snake (Telescopus fallax), which is a rear-fanged beauty with a grey and white checkerboard pattern. OR a Mediterranean Antivan Grass Snake (Natrix natrix, astreptophora, or helvetica), which has the added bonus of badass keeled scales . While the grass snakes come in many beautiful color morphs due to the aforementioned crow drama I am inclined to give them the melanistic color variant, for the beautiful dark black appearance. Although I am also happy with the greener varieties :) All of the above average a little over 3ft in length as adults, so reasonable pet sized. Some of the Natrix genus are more aquatic than others so would be fed on frogs rather than (or in addition to) mice, and I do enjoy the mental image of Lucanis & Illario going out once a week to hunt for dinner for their pampered pets, falling into ponds on whatever estates they're currently being trained at :) as a lighthearted contrast to, you know. every other aspect of being raised as a Crow.

Left to right: Telescopus fallax, melanistic Natrix natrix, and Natrix astreptophora)

[lunastrophe]

As someone asked about marriage in drow culture, what about same gender marriage ?

That is a really good question! I do not remember same gender drow marriages being specifically mentioned anywhere in official sources, but in Drow of the Underdark (3.5e) it is implied that they exist:

A few drow marriages do involve multiple partners, however. These arrangements usually involve a single drow female taking numerous male partners, but other combinations are not unheard of.

🕷️ So apparently, a drow marriage can also involve a female drow taking numerous female partners (or male and female partners). Such combinations are less common than a female drow taking multiple husbands, but still, they are present in Lolth-sworn drow culture.

As for monogamous marriages - well, since a female drow can have multiple wives, I see no reason why she could not have only one.

🕷️ I suspect, though, that female-female marriages (monogamous or polygamous) are generally less common among Lolth-sworn drow than female-male ones, mainly due to social perception of gender roles.

Marriage, like pretty much everything in Lolth-sworn drow culture, is about having and displaying power over another individual or individuals. It resembles a transaction - it is not about love or partnership. Male drow are seen as naturally subjugated and easier to manage while a female drow, even of lesser station, may be less eager to stay submissive and obey her wife.

🕷️ A marriage involving a male drow taking one (or numerous) male partner(s) - truth to be told, I have no idea how it might work in a Lolth-sworn drow society, at least on an official level.

Since Lolth-sworn drow marry mainly to ...formalize alliances, to combine family resources or - in some cases - to cement their dominance over a weaker ally or companion (DotU, 3.5 e), it seems natural that such a "transactional" marriage would involve at least one female, to represent the more dominant side of transaction. Unless, maybe... when both families lack daughters or something?

🕷️ Also, marriage ceremonies are traditionally performed by priestesses of Lolth and in case of male-male marriage, I cannot really see it going well. Or at all. Honestly, I doubt that a priestess of Lolth would agree to perform such a ceremony and that Lolth would give her blessing to such a union.

🕷️ I suppose that male-male relationships among Lolth-sworn drow are generally not formalized through marriage, at least on an official level. Lolthite society probably does not even provide legally sanctioned forms of marriage for males, since they are generally perceived as second class citizens.

But who knows, maybe when male Lolth-sworn drow want to formalize their relationship, they perform some kind of a quiet, private ceremony without presence of priestesses...?

[formosusiniquis]

the bells, the joy (together in darkness)

Robin Buckley & Steve Harringto WC: 11963 | T | Tags/Themes: hivemind, Post S3, Scoops Troop Friendship, Nonbinary Steve and Robin, Blink and you miss it Steddie and Buckingham pre-slash AKA It's the Stobin Hivemind fic y'all! thank you very very very much to @spectrum-spectre for beta-ing this for me!!

Steve has never done LSD before. Which is the kind of statement his father would call ‘qualifying’ and ‘implies other kinds of wrongdoing, Stephan.’ Like the time he’d said he hadn’t smoked anything other than cigarettes that weekend. Apparently the ‘that weekend’ was a qualifier that got his very small pot stash flushed, and forced him into a second transaction with Eddie Munson in as many weeks.

Yeah okay maybe there were worse things, as far as punishments go.

Qualifying or not though, Steve has never done LSD. Not after the weekend he spent reading the supposedly true diary of a supposedly real teen that had been left on his bed. Like mother, like son, his father had sneered when he'd caught Steve curled up with it, like the whole plan to keep him from becoming pot-addled and destined for the gutter, or whatever, hadn’t relied on his gossipy nature.

It was mostly stupid, the book, but Steve figured it didn’t hurt to stick to weed. The stuff about that he knew for sure was totally fake.

Except now, he wishes he maybe knew a little bit more about what LSD was supposed to feel like. So he knows how to portion out blame for his current state. It’s currently 50% Upside-Down-Shit and 40% Russian-LSD-Shit and 10% Concussion-Shit, but if he’s being fair he’s blamed the Upside Down for about half of everything that’s gone wrong in his life since 1983. He’s willing to acknowledge that maybe the blame breakdown should be readjusted for this one.

“Hey Robin?” Trauma changes people, makes you want to stay close to the people who are changed the same way you are. Robin had shown up at Steve’s house the Monday after everything, trumpet case and duffle bag in hand. Apparently, she had walked from the school where she was supposed to be catching the bus to Band Camp, like she does every year. Apparently, when you undergo traumas heretofore unexperienced by any teen ever, Russian torture and flesh monsters, it’s okay to skip Summer Intensive to move in with your new best friend without telling your parents. Apparently, if you’re the kid that the Band Person, Director, wants to keep happy because in addition to the billion and seven languages you can play any instrument with a mouthpiece -- except trombone, slide positions, Steve had pretended he knew what that meant -- then you can just leave school to deal with your ‘mall fire smoke inhalation’ at your ‘aunt’s house’ instead. Apparently this is fine and Steve doesn’t need to worry about any angry former hippies beating down his dore because ‘what they don’t know won’t hurt them.’

So he can call out for Robin, without raising his voice because he knows she’s there. Somewhere in the house, the weight of it changed now that someone else is in it with him. He can call out even though he’s pretty sure she’s holed up in his Mom’s library on the ground floor, because he can feel her in the back of his brain and he knows she’ll hear him.

Drifting in an unfocused middle distance, he can imagine Robin. Curled up, she knows she’s been called for but isn’t in any hurry to comply, Steve will wait. He's fine with waiting, at least for the five minutes it will take for her to finish her chapter. He can see her, slotting her bookmark in place and sitting up straight for the first time in hours. She stretches, uncurls from the window seat that Steve also favors, gently sets the book down before letting a foot dangle and brush the floor to actually stand. And she leaves the library. She starts to feel closer, her presence looming stronger in his brain and Steve aware of himself in his own body. Then he hears her feet on the stairs.

“What is it, Dingus, did you know your Mom has a whole collection of French books? I’m in the middle of a bunch of lesbian short stories.”

“Yeah, she speaks it, not sure why.” He answers absently, “Have you ever done LSD?”

“I’ve had half a pot brownie and gotten way too high before.”

That’s not really the same thing, Steve thinks.

“I know it’s not really the same thing, Dingus, I was using it as a framework.” She flops facedown on the bed beside him, wiggling into what he’s started thinking of as her side. A lucky coincidence that she prefers to be tucked in on the side closest to the wall. Probably because she’s never seen anything burst out of one.

“Okay don’t think that, cause now I’m never going to be able to sleep again, I don’t think you’ve got enough space for us to pull your bed into the center of your room.”

He can see the way she imagines it. His bed, an island in the center of the room floating in a sea of plaid. Something about it is even more unnerving than if it stayed up against the wall.

“Not a good look.” He doubts anything will come from the walls again anyway, the Upside Down has proven to be surprisingly adaptive; it doesn't seem to attack in the same way twice. It makes it harder to be prepared, but he’s less worried about not being able to protect Robin in the middle of the night.

“Savior complex. Your mom has psychology books down there too. What does she even do?”

“Reads mostly. Do you think there’s anything down there about LSD?” He doesn’t think this is normal.

“Nice leap, Steve, I don’t think there are many drugs that link your brain with your coworker.” She says coworker, but he feels friend. Even that concept isn’t enough to describe the depth of warmth and affection that he feels wash over him as she thinks.

He lets the silence hang for a second, thinking but not sure what yet. His thoughts are slower to arrive and more jumbled in these early days post-concussion. His right hand curls, his fingers flex. First and third finger tap, then one and two, then none, one and two, and two, and none.

Robin’s knee jostles the bed as her leg bounces just a little.

“I think something else happened to us.”

“Wondered how long I’d have to tap your fingers for you before you got there with me.”

Read the rest on AO3

[maleyanderecafe]

Kill My Mother (Manga)

Created by: Kakeru Hououin

Genre: Thriller/Romance

Gotta thank Cherry for this one because even though as of current there's only started out it's already running at full speed. The story is rather dark already with the series ongoing. Violence, sexual violence, murder and others in this one and it's already a blast.

The story starts out with Shindou being forced to watch her mother have sex with another man. It jumps to Shindou being scolded by a teacher because of attempting to put cleaner into a male student's school lunch. It seems that this isn't the first time this has happened as she's had these kinds of event before. Shindou gets this teacher to grope her breast as a way for her to get out of this situation without a punishment, which works, and eventually leads to compensated dating with her and the teacher as a way for her to earn money. Here, another student by the name of Hasumi looks into her bag and finds a note. We get to learn about Shindou's backstory about how her mother changed after meeting another man, no longer caring for her the way she used to. As a result, she is trying to bring back "her old mother". While attempting to go out and meet the teacher, Hasumi comes into her apartment and tells her the teacher isn't coming. He also reveals that he's stolen her plan, which is revealed as running away during winter break and getting her mother worried so that she'll come looking for her, leading to killing both her mother and eventually herself. Hasumi declares that she doesn't want to let her die or give her body to the teacher, even stating he'll help with her plan because of how much he loves her. He gets slapped by her and tries to drive him out of her house. Hasumi reveals that he's had money for her this entire time and that he saw through her plan, only wishing that she bring him with her. Hasumi accepts knowing that she can use him.

We see a flashback of Hasumi stalking the teacher and Shindou. He ends up reading the note as he believes that it was a love note, before declaring he'd never let that happen. He ends up not only threatening the teacher but also kicking him in the balls and then tying him up, leaving him to be found by the janitor before going to Shindou's place. In the present, as they're about to leave, the man that has been sleeping with her mother comes, leaving Hasumi to come in and stab him in the dick. As he bleeds, Hasumi drags Shindou out of the house, talking about the plan to threaten a family to let them stay. The next chapter as they go onto the subway causes Shindou to get paranoid and run away, but failing. After an old lady offers the two mandarins, Hasumi gets angry and shoves it into her mouth and the two leave the station. Shindou gets mad at Hasumi as it almost blows their cover, leading to them fighting in a parking lot before scratching a van. This van apparently comes from a rich person, who ends up kidnapping the two. Hasumi ends up defending Shidou and stabbing and stealing his truck, eventually dumping them at an abandoned house. While doing this, Hasumi wears Shindou's old uniform, and Shindou ends up pretending to like him, using her experience with transactional love to take advantage of him. They end up at a hotel where Shindou tries to seduce Hasumi, but Hasumi refuses, knowing Shindou's patterns and doesn't want her to use her body like this anymore. She gets angry before setting up their plan for the household they will take over and drives over there.

The two are able to trick their way into the house, hitting the husband with a crowbar and tying both of them up. However, while Shindou is hesitant and scared about what's going on, Hasumi is rather calm and knowledgeable, knowing what to do in these kinds of situations. The wife is worried about them but accepts Shindou's demands of living in their house and pretending to be their daughter, threatening to kill the husband if they do not comply. Shindou tells the wife about her plan with her mother, with the wife worried and asking that they should call child services, something that Shindou refuses and she doesn't want her mother to become the bad guy. Shindou eventually gets Hasumi to release the husband and tend to him, with his request of knowing why she did all of this. Meanwhile at school, the class president, Tsukasa is tasked by the teacher to give something to both Shindou and Hasumi, before interrupted by another student, Natsume. We see the reason Shindou targeted this house partially because she envied the family and their life there. Meanwhile Tsukasa goes to Shindou's house and Natsume goes to Hasumi's house. Shindou's mom's boyfriend attempts to attack Tsukasa but she's able to defend herself and find that Shindou has run away (along with her horrible living conditions). Natsume finds that her mother is very much injured and has stated that her and Hasumi don't live together, instead finding that he lives near a shrine with a lot of images of Hasumi's love for Shindou. At the house, the husband is in a very panicked state before the two of them are offered a bath.

I will say that despite the fact that the story is pretty dark in a lot of ways, it's also kind of funny the way the two main characters react to things, especially Hasumi. He kicks people in the dick, stabs their dick with scissors, shoves an orange in people's mouths, like his reactions to these kinds of things are both hilarious and terrifying in concept since he doesn't seem to care at all their reactions. Speaking of Hasumi, we don't actually know that much about how he came to love Shindou, since we do see that he's loved her even before finding out about her plan to die and seems to have saved up a ton of money for that occasion, yet hadn't seem to have approached Shindou at all until when they met in her apartment. Shindou actually does yell at Hasumi when she tries to kick him out stating that a normal student wouldn't really understand what he's going through, but considering Hasumi's actions, it's not very likely that his backstory will be any nicer than hers since most people don't really become yanderes due to having a good upbringing in stories. We see that the mother has been greatly beaten up, so it's possible that Hasumi is actually the one that hurt his own mother for one reason or another. He also is very calculating, even knowing how to take care of the family that they threaten and is unaffected by Shindou attempting to use her body to seduce him (or at least is aware he's going to do it). Shindou herself is also a fun protagonist due to the fact that she's rather cunning in many cases, but still yearns for her mother's love again, even going so far as to commit a murder suicide with her. It's kind of fun watching her slap and scold Hasumi when he acts up because while she is still afraid of him, she still wants to use him to enact this plan. There's a kind of balance with the more naive parts of her and the darker parts she'd use to achieve it, though I'll be honest, I don't think this plan will actually end up with her mother coming to find her, leaving her more devastated than she might end up being. We see that she really is just a scared child as she greatly appreciates being with this family as she wanted to live happily, thus why she clings onto her past with her mother so bad despite the entire turn of what happens in the end.

The artwork itself is not bad, but I think it lies a bit more on the goofier side which is accentuated by a lot of the kind of funny things that Hasumi does that I mentioned earlier on. There's a bit of wonky anatomy, especially with some of the adults (and the person who kidnaps them has an...interesting design to say the least), but I do appreciate them taking the time to making more interesting looking characters that they meet in their runaway adventure since it makes them a lot more memorable. The more extreme expressions also make it clear that Hasumi's actions are really strange for a 14 year old (not that Shindou is really much better) and can often be ran to the extreme at times.

Overall, this series so far has been pretty entertaining and while there's not a lot out so far, I want to see where Shidou and Hasumi go in their twisted adventure to get Shidou's mother killed. I'm sure it'll ramp up every time. Thank you again to Cherry for being the best and helping me find these yandere stories.

[strawberrybyers]

since it’s stranger things day, let’s take some time to reflect on a few facts

mike describes to will that meeting el was “simple dumb luck” but then when he’s encouraged by will to talk to el from the heart, he tells her meeting her was one of the best days of his life…??? when mike is in the van talking to will; he is speaking from the HEART. he is saying exactly what he feels also without saying it directly. go back and watch the van scene again. the tone and pace mike is speaking at shows this is something he’s been feeling for awhile and it bothers him.

just a little reminder that mike, lucas, and dustin were in the woods LOOKING FOR WILL! they stumbled upon el and when she gave an inkling that she knew something about will, mike wanted her to stay. he was quick to abandon her when they see will’s “body” get retrieved from the lake. mike is PISSED. he feels betrayed because he felt like el was his only hope to finding will, but instead there is no hope as he now believes will is dead. el had hope in mike as she felt like she could be a “normal” girl with him. she’s experiencing a type of kindness and care that she has never received before until mike reacts the way he does when they go to the lake. remember, el’s upbringing has been centered around transactional relationships. she has never just “received” kindness because someone felt like it. everybody has always had a goal when it came to el. it’s not that mike is a bad person or he did anything wrong for wanting el around to find will. i mean, hell, who wouldn’t want to keep someone around who has info on their missing best friend?? but just interesting when you think about this in the context of how mike and dr. brenner have been paralleled before. more apparent when they literally show a scene in season 4 of when mike asks el “what did you do?” and they follow up with a scene of papa asking the same thing. all i’m saying is—is that mike and el’s relationship didn’t start because of “love at first sight” like mike claims in his “love confession” to her. we literally see how their relationship came to be. just to rewatch season 1 and you’ll see it for yourself.

when will is missing, the only thing that is on mike’s mind is will. if someone mentions will, he defends him. he spends the entire fucking season looking for him and convincing everyone that he is NOT DEAD. in season 2, when el is “missing” from his life, yeah, he’s concerned, but once again HE IS FOCUSED ON WILL. where is he the entire time in season 2? oh yeah, that’s right by will’s side!! even after el walks through the door, his main goal is still helping will!! i’m not saying this to give some impression he doesn’t care about el because i think he does, but not on the same scale as will!

in season 3, mike and el break up. all it took was max to show el a friendship that is not transactional to realize “oh wait maybe i don’t need a boyfriend?”. mike and el’s breakup is actually pretty significant to both of their characters. watching how they both handle the breakup is a testament to what their characters are actually feeling. the breakup for el shows her yearn for independence once again. the breakup for mike shows that maybe he wasn’t in the relationship for the right reasons? shows how he ONCE AGAIN prioritizes will’s feelings?? el breaks up with him and he lays on the couch burping and farting, but him and will get into an argument and he’s in the rain looking for him?? i thought el was the “love of his life”?? why isn’t he after her in the rain?? HE JUST LOST HER AGAIN AFTER GETTING HER BACK AND HE SITS AT HOME??? in season 4, he explains his insecurity and fear of abandonment. he’s afraid she’ll realize he’s some “dumb nerd” and not want to be with him anymore… um, sorry to interrupt your very real feelings mike, but she kind of did that in season 3??? max tells her there’s more to life than stupid boys, then she walks up to you and says “i dump your ass” and walks away laughing… like the thing you’re worried about already happened and you stayed home?? but you LOSE will and you are up and out the door. in season 4, he TELLS will that he feels like he lost him. he hates losing will. he’ll always be right there to mend things with will because losing will brings a type of pain that he is afraid of and that was his motivation for his love confession. the day he met el maybe wasn’t the best day of his life because he met the “love of his life”, but maybe because he met her and she helped bring back THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE.

[bestworstcase]

When the truce happens and the people of Remnant learn the truth about Salem, there are going to be people who worship her.

I wonder how Salem will feel about that?

it wouldn’t be the first time!

salem’s fingerprints are all over ‘the shallow sea’ and ‘the judgment of faunus’ but not in the same way that ozma’s hand is visible in ‘the two brothers’—the faunus myths are allegories of salem’s story, and while the mythical god of animals bears some resemblance to either brother depending on the story, their regard for humanity and dedication to freedom is all her. i do think she was the god of animals, back in the day, before humans came to outnumber the faunus and cultural pressures led to a movement away from self-identification with the grimm.

and in the present, she tolerates tyrian’s slavish religious devotion and there’s the echoes of salem’s religious views evident in how she handles cinder’s defiance.

and obviously in the lost fable, she and ozma receiving cult as gods to their people was her idea, “we could become the gods of this world” and all.

like i keep saying, rwby handles divinity and religion in a very polytheistic way and one aspect of this is that the line between man and divine is vague and mutable. salem’s ease with the notion that a person can become a god is generally parsed as a “god complex” by the fandom, egotistical delusions of grandeur, but the reality is that—from a polytheistic point of view—salem is a god. she has supernatural powers culturally understood to be divine (magic, immortality, command over grimm) and she herself has been worshipped as a god by various peoples throughout history, ipso facto she is a god.

for salem herself, this is less ego than just facing the world as it is. her apparent dislike of tyrian and rewarding cinder’s defiance suggests that she does not appreciate the groveling—which tracks with her disdain for cowardice—but i think that with regard to people who aren’t afraid of her, being worshipped is probably the kind of relationship she’d be the most comfortable with because of the reciprocal and ritualized structure involved.

(<- note the explicitly transactional way she engages with her inner circle. salem doesn’t expect, and i think doesn’t believe, that anyone will do anything for her without receiving something in kind.)

[hanazou]

— 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

It’s common sense for Odasaku that he has to take small, necessary steps steps for them to build up to a bigger pivoting change, and he wants to live up to that principle by proving to himself that good results do await at the end of the journey, no matter how painful the stones of this boulevard make his feet feel.

Teaching literature at a small local cram school, in a building hidden by its taller and brighter peers, isn’t what has been wearing down his body. It was the inhuman schedule he has to discipline himself into following. From early morning to sunset, he does the junk jobs no other rugged mafioso men in Port Mafia would do, and when the day ends, he has to rush to the cram school in town to teach literature (after making sure he doesn’t reek of gunpowder).

He was lucky they don’t run background checks on teachers as they’re short on talent. In fact, this was the only reason he could teach there. To live up to the luck and gratefulness, he fights the exhaustion weighting him down in the morning, and it was partly because he doesn’t have time to waste, though it’s also because the grade schoolers are so pleasant to teach that he forgets about what he goes through to stand on the podium in front of them. The salary isn’t much, but if he’s diligent about this just for a few more years, he build a decent experience to make a living without dependance on the mafia.

The students from his class were already dismissed and he just finished helping the student who wanted to consult about his homework with him. He could use a good glass of whiskey right now, drinking with Dazai and Ango at Lupin’s as usual, but he’s too exhausted to walk back to Port Mafia’s headquarters’ direction. The chilly night air of Yokohama greeted him at the exit. He took in a nice, heavy, breath, and released it with a long sigh, hand inside his pockets. For once, the folder under his arm doesn’t line out any illegal transactions but are about next week’s syllabus. It’s the fresh atmosphere like this that kept him going with this new routine for three months. He can handle this much.

Some students from his class walked pass him and waved goodbye at him with gratefulness on their faces. “Thank you for today, teacher.” They bowed.

“You’re welcome,” The corners of his lips twisted up in a smile, waving at the pair of boy and girl.

The front gate ahead was where the students chatted and gathered for a while for them to decide where they should go next. The arcade or straight back home? Hence, the area was a bit crowded.

“Can I talk to you, teacher? Just for a moment.” A student called from behind Odasaku.

“Of course,” He turns around to his student. He teaches a lot of them that he hasn’t memorized whose voice this one belongs to, although this one was very familiar. “What do you need–”

He was faced by your smile, the person leaning against the stone pillar, arms crossed while waiting for him.

“Evening, Odasaku.” You approached him. “How’s this new routine treating you? You must be more exhausted.”

“Apparently,” He sighed after taking in your surprise visit, rubbing the back of his neck. “But it’s bearable–and enjoyable. I kind of like doing this.”

“Of course you do. Teaching literature to high schoolers. That’s so you. Right?”

“Maybe,” He smiled slightly. “But what are you doing here?”

“To consult with you, teacher, what else?” You joked with the nickname. You looked around the area. Most students have left during your brief chat with Odasaku, leaving you and him with not many other people around. “Do you have time to spare?”

“Do you need anything from me?”

“Your company.” You stood in front of him, having to look up to the tall man. “So? Will you walk with me?”

Odasaku blinked, his usual accommodating expression on his face until he nodded. “Of course.”

Down the lane, Odasaku walked together with you in silence for the first few minutes. Your hands are inches away from brushing pinky fingers, but the distance was maintained and kept teasing for more contact.

“Dazai-san has found out ever since you started,” You broke the silence by revealing the answer to the question he hadn’t asked yet. “He was proud of you, and still is.”

“That makes it three months ago, huh,” Odasaku thumbed his chin. “Then why didn’t you nor he come earlier?”

“I can’t speak for Dazai-san since I don’t know the answer, and even if I do, I can’t talk about my superior in that manner.” You chuckled. “But I didn’t bring it up because first, you always look so exhausted every time we meet,” You flex out a finger to count “–and I didn’t want to stress you. And second, I like surprise visits.” You tilted your head mischievously to match the end of your answer. “Did I surprise you?”

Odasaku nodded, and to avoid your inquisitiveness that alerts him, he turns his sight back to the road in front of him, dimly lit by the lampposts around both of you. “In a good way though.” He admitted. “Did you really come all the way here just to see me?”

“I wanted to see with my own eyes how you’d fare in a normal society like this,” You confessed, putting your hands inside your warm pockets. “It’s a pleasant view, actually. Your students like you, and you seem to teach them well. You belong to this kind of routine and life.”

Odasaku stared at you, eyelids lifted. He felt encouraged. “You really think so?”

“You’re made to live a peaceful life, you don’t belong in a sombre environment like the mafia.” The words were heavy to be spoken. It was a smooth way of saying that you don’t deserve to be friends with someone as kind as him.

He weighed his options of whether to confess his plans to you or to stay quiet, keeping you in the dark about it. His eyes shifted to your face whose eyes were looking at the road ahead, not noticing the way he looked at you. He didn’t think he can handle the guilt of being dishonest about it. He decided that you deserve to know.

“I’ve made up my mind, actually.” Odasaku started. It gained your attention and you turned to him.

He confessed about the roadmap he drafted for this future, how he’s saving up as much as he can to gather enough money for him and his five children. He wanted to afford a deserving life for them, so he’s making the small steps of saving money to escape from Port Mafia and move somewhere else where it’s safer for the children, somewhere like Tokyo or Osaka, somewhere the Mafia doesn’t have the resources to blackmail him. He plans to secure a fulltime job as a literature teacher to earn stable wages. He came clean about it all without looking at you, as he never does well against guilt, while you didn’t know what expression to put on when he ended his talk.

After taking in a silent minute to process the flood of new information, you opened your mouth to speak softly. “You’re actually actively planning to escape?” You widened your eyes. “For good? With all of your children?”

Odasaku winced. Each word you spoke elaborated how much he had been hiding from you. “I should’ve told you and Dazai earlier.” He said. “I have no excuse. I’m sorry–”

“This is perfect!” You beamed up. Odasaku’s shoulders tensed. He didn’t expect this reaction, he thought you would be disappointed and betrayed about this sudden news of his future departure. “I’ve always feared that you would be too stagnant to make any real changes, but I’m relieved I was wrong.”

You were honest about your relief, you just didn’t confess everything you felt, about the disappointment of having Odasaku leaving you in several years. He was a good man and a good friend, the only light that shines in Port Mafia. You never regret dragging your drained body to the strayed, unlived bar in the alley years back in the night you first met him, although you never drink in your life.

He was sitting alone with his untouched whiskey with a face full of stories. His posture was burdened with confinement and hopelessness, yet he gleamed with authenticity and light. You were enchanted by how ambiguously welcoming he was, and made the first conversation.

You couldn’t picture a future without that light’s company, but you didn’t want that light to stay in the darkness either, because the darkness is forever while light is fated to fade out soon if it didn’t return to where it belongs.

So, you hold his shoulder firmly with an optimistic smile. Odasaku stopped walking midway too, looking at you in anticipation. The sensation of your grip on his shoulder was new to him.

“I’m very happy for you.” Your smile reached your eyes. You’re genuinely happy for him.

Odasaku smiled, his hand reaching up to touch yours on his shoulder. His palm was rough, but it was warm on your cold hand. “Thank you,” He smiled tenderly. “I mean it.”

Your smile doubled as you removed your hand from him. “This is the end of the time I’m borrowing from you.”

“Sorry?”

“Look at the other side of the road,” You gently pushed his shoulder so he’d turn forward to look at where you pointed.

At the other side of the crossroad, a young man in black, his right eye hidden under the bandages, stood and smiled at Odasaku, energetically waving at him and calling his name like a boy. Next to him was a taller and lean man, dressed neatly in a suit with gelled down hair, wearing circular glasses. Only then Odasaku realized that he and you stopped right underneath the traffic light that shone red, mingling with ordinary civilians who waited for the light to turn green. In this crowd, neither of you bore any significance.

“I took it upon myself to bring you to Dazai-san and Sakaguchi-kun.” You suppressed your laugh from the expression Odasaku made. Washed in red light, you can’t tell if he’s confused or surprised. Despite his manly appearance and age, he looks so innocent when dumbfounded like this. “It’s been a while since you drank with them, right?”

Odasaku turned at you. “You… were bringing me to them?”

“What’s wrong? Is there something you don’t like?”

“No, nothing, everything is perfect.” he shook his head. “I’m just grateful for you.”

You muffled your giggle to smooth out the tingles he made you feel. ���Don’t mention it.” You patted his shoulder twice, turning on your heel to walk the other way, further from the crowd. “See you later,” You waved.

Odasaku watched your figure walk away before joining the crowd of pedestrians. He turned forward where he could see Dazai and Ango waiting for him. Ango was calm and collected as usual, while Dazai was being fidgety, impatient for Odasaku to cross the road and join him to make the group whole again.

Meanwhile, you sighed as you walk to the emptier side of road. Odasaku will leave in several years, you ought to plan some memorable activities to do with him so he can have a good memory of you when he departs. It would be good for your side too, you’d have pleasant memories to outmatch the bitter loneliness that is to come.

Your mind spiralled for ideas. You thought about taking Odasaku to a cat cafe where he can read novels while playing with cats, or to a Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant for a change of scenery, until somebody caught your hand from behind.

You swirled, fist ready to meet your intruder, but you froze when you see the man.

“Why are you here?” You asked Odasaku in pure confusion. “You’ll miss the green light.”

“I can’t leave yet when I haven’t spend proper time with you.” He answered, slightly panting.

You wondered if he ran to catch you here, you haven’t even walked far. You look back at the traffic light behind him. The red blinked green, and people made haste to cross the road while there’s still time.

“Would like to drink together?” Odasaku proposed. “Just for a moment.”

written on February 21, 2021

[generic-sonic-fan]

One Ultimate Latte, Please

Summary: This is the story of how Shadow's Starbucks order went viral.

(Crack fic! Inspired by this post made by the lovely @chaos-and-the-emeralds and I!)

3452 words

Emily worked at the Starbucks next door to the GUN headquarters.

To say it was an unusual job would be putting it lightly. During her short time here, she’d learned that anything could walk out of the doors of that government complex and into the coffee shop. Soldiers in full tactical SWAT gear. International politicians. Four-star generals. Sonic the Hedgehog, once, apparently- Emily’s supervisor had printed out a photo of a selfie she’d gotten with the Blue Blur and hung it on the bulletin board in the storeroom. 

It was a Tuesday afternoon. Business was painfully slow at this hour- all of the usual government meetings had finished, but it wasn’t quite the end of the workday. Emily cleaned off the front counter with a rag and spray bottle. She stopped scrubbing when she heard the door chime.

In stepped Shadow the Hedgehog. 

The Shadow the Hedgehog. 

He was. . . shorter than Emily expected. She set the rag and spray bottle aside and stepped behind the till. Only now did she realize that someone else was with him, too. 

“What kind of coffee do you want?”

“We should be going.”

“It’d be rude if I didn’t let you get something too, hun.” The white bat jabbed her elbow into his side. “We’re gonna be late anyway, might as well get something good on the way.”

Shadow the Hedgehog stared up at the menu with a blank expression.

“Can I help you?” Emily offered. 

“Sure!” The bat replied. “I’ll take a venti iced soy caramel macchiato, upside down, with one pump of vanilla and cinnamon dolce syrup.”

Emily entered the order into the register. When she looked back up, the bat was handing her a credit card. Behind her, however, Shadow the Hedgehog stood, eyebrows furrowed, doing the best “Dorothy-landing-in-Oz” expression Emily had ever seen.

Not in Kansas anymore? she thought about saying for a single second before deciding she would never, ever say that under any circumstance. She looked over her shoulder and disguised her laugh as cough. 

“What’s so funny, hmm? Got a problem with my order?”

“Nothing. Sorry.” Emily took the credit card from her and rang up the transaction. “What’s a good name for that?”

“Rouge. Shadow, you decided?”

“How am I supposed to order when I can’t understand half the words on the menu?” Shadow scowled. He then glared straight at Emily. “What kind of establishment is this?”

“Okay, relax, hun, I’ll order for you. He’ll take a honeycomb lavender latte- what size do you want?”

“The small one.”

“He’ll have that tall.” The bat, Rouge, finished. She stepped aside and waved Shadow forward.

The hedgehog gave a cutting glare as he fished a wad of cash out of his quills and slammed it on the counter. Emily waited until he’d removed his hand and stepped back before counting it. She was grateful it was exact change. 

“And what’s a good name for that one?” Emily asked. 

“The Ultimate Lifeform.”

She grabbed the cup and pen, and to her credit, she wrote the title without much hesitation. “Alright, we’ll have that out in a few minutes.” 

The pair walked to the pickup counter. Shadow looked pissed, and remained pissed as Emily prepared his friend’s complicated order. Maybe “friend” was a strong term- Emily certainly didn’t know anything about these two, and the hedgehog didn’t look pleased to be with her right now. 

“One venti soy caramel macchiato with vanilla and cinnamon for Rouge?” Emily called out. 

The bat sauntered up to the counter. “Upside down?”

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Good woman. Mmm.” Rouge sipped her drink. “Perfect.”

Shadow rolled his eyes. 

Emily was able to make his drink much faster, and soon emerged out the other side with the short cup.

“One honeycomb lavender latte for the Ultimate Lifeform?” She set the drink on the counter. 

Maybe it had been a little dumb to have taken their names, since they were the only ones in the store, but Shadow’s face actually lightened a bit when he heard the title called. He walked up to the counter and grabbed his drink, swirling it around in his hand. 

“Well?” Rouge asked.

He took a sip. Then another. Then a long swig. 

“Good, huh?”

He nodded. 

“I told you.”

“This is the Ultimate Latte.” He gripped the cup with determination. 

Rouge gave an agitated sigh. “Sure, weirdo. Watch my drink, I’ll be back.”

She set her drink down on the counter and walked to the bathroom. Shadow watched her go. When the door shut behind her, he covered his mouth with his hand and started shaking. Emily realized he was snickering, and this was enough to get a laugh out of her as well.

“What are you laughing at?” Shadow whipped around to her. 

“Nothing, sir.” She straightened. 

“Are you laughing at me?”

She shook her head before pointing toward the bathroom. “She thought you were serious, right?”

“Don’t ruin it.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good.” His glare softened, but not by much. He took another sip of his latte.

The bathroom door opened and Rouge returned. She grabbed her drink from the counter, muttered something about “ultimate vanity”, before the two left the store. 

Emily would’ve had one hell of a story to tell her supervisor, but the last thing she wanted to do was break a promise with Shadow the freaking Hedgehog. . .

—

Two weeks passed. Emily got very good at preparing “upside down” orders, and she wanted to strangle whichever Instagrammer decided to make that popular. Shadow the Hedgehog’s bat friend must’ve been ahead of the trend. 

This meant Emily was prepared when the two walked back through the doors. This time it was mid-morning, and they weren’t the only customers in the shop. Heads swiveled as Shadow the Hedgehog joined the line behind an old woman. 

“My my! Aren’t you one of the fine young men that saved the world from that wicked Robotnik a while back?” The old lady exclaimed. “Why don’t you go ahead of me?”

Before Shadow could answer, his bat friend interjected. “Thanks, lady, we’re in a bit of a rush.”

She stepped up to the counter. “I’ll take a venti iced soy caramel macchiato, upside down, with one pump of vanilla and cinnamon dolce syrup, on the double if you can.”

Emily entered the order. “Name for that?”

“Rouge.” 

“And for you, sir?” Emily asked.

Shadow snapped to attention. 

“An Ultimate Latte for you?”

She didn’t know what possessed her to say that. She really shouldn’t have- she'd promised.

“Are you making fun of him?” Rouge asked. 

“. . . why yes, actually, I’ll take one of those.” Shadow replied. 

Rouge did a double take at her companion as Emily entered the order. She wrote the names on both of the cups before accepting Rouge’s credit card. The transaction completed, and the pair moved along. Emily stayed at the register to take further orders, but she could hear her coworkers making the drinks behind her. 

“One upside down venti soy caramel macchiato with vanilla and cinnamon for Rouge?” One coworker called out. 

The bat retrieved her drink. Emily paid only half attention to the customer in front of her, waiting. 

“One honeycomb lavender latte for. . . the Ultimate Lifeform?”

Shadow waltzed forward and snatched his drink from the person who’d called his order out.

“Say it with more respect next time.” He growled, before returning to Rouge. 

Emily’s coworker looked like he’d just peed his pants. Emily, meanwhile, could only slap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud to the entire store. 

—

Shadow came alone next time, one week later, in the dead of the afternoon. He had a paper with an order on it. He mumbled halfway through it before throwing it away and ordering two “Ultimate Lattes” instead. 

“If she wanted her stupid frilly drink she could’ve come here herself.” He grumbled.

“I agree. Same name as usual for that order?”

Shadow glanced around to the empty shop around them, before a small grin teased at his lips. “Sure.”

Emily made sure to say it loud and proud.

—

If it was somehow hard to miss Shadow the Hedgehog, it was even harder to miss the giant robot that entered with him. Okay, maybe “giant” wasn’t the most apt descriptor, given that it was only about five feet tall- but that still towered over Shadow and every other mobian in the store. 

And it wasn’t about height, but presence. “WHAT SUSTENANCE DO YOU REQUIRE?”

“Caffeine. Forgot my coffee beans this morning. This will only take a few minutes, you can wait outside.”

The robot stared at the menu, before staring at Emily. 

“The usual?” She asked quietly.

“WHAT IS ‘THE USUAL’?”

“Yes. One Ultimate Latte, please.” Shadow ignored his companion and handed the money to her. 

“I WANT ONE.”

Shadow looked at the robot. “Why?”

“I WANT ONE.”

“Don’t be foolish. You won’t be able to drink it.”

The robot swiveled, then leaned forwards, until its eyes were level with Shadow’s. 

“Fine! Whatever. Two Ultimate Lattes.” He slapped more money on the counter. 

A few minutes later and the drinks were ready. Emily walked them to the pickup counter.

“Two Ultimate Lattes for the Ultimate Lifeform!”

The regulars didn’t turn their heads anymore, but a few newbies did. Shadow retrieved his drinks and handed one to the robot. 

The robot stared at the drink, before stomping back to the counter. Emily fought the urge to hide beneath the counter or take off running.

“I AM NOT AN ‘ULTIMATE LIFEFORM’.” The robot blared. “I AM THE ULTIMATE ROBOT. GET IT RIGHT NEXT TIME, MEATBAG.”

“Sorry, let me try that one again: one Ultimate Latte for the Ultimate Robot!” Emily replied without missing a beat. She’d have to thank whatever ghost of bravery that had possessed her later. 

The robot stared at her, before giving an approving nod. She flashed her best customer service smile as it stomped off. Shadow trailed after it, but before he left, he gave her a tight-lipped smile and a shrug. 

—

The next time Shadow came with company was right at rush hour, when the usual crowd of government agents got off work or were heading to their night shift. Emily wasn’t sure which one applied to the three that stood before her. Shadow, regardless of everything, looked happy to see her. 

He cut in front of Rouge. “One Ultimate Latte, please.”

“Rude!” Rouge chimed. 

“RUDE.” The robot chimed. 

“Sure thing,” Emily finished doodling up the cup. 

She took the money from him shortly after, and he stepped off to the side. The robot stepped forward next. 

“ONE ULTIMATE LATTE.”

“For the Ultimate Robot, right?”

“CORRECT!” The robot pumped its fist into the air. It then turned to Shadow. “SHE REMEMBERED. I LIKE THIS MEATBAG.”

“You’re kind of hard to forget.” Shadow replied. “Emily, you can put Omega’s on my ticket.”

Emily froze. Whatever ghost of bravery or quick thinking or whatever that had helped her last time was completely absent.

“That is your name, isn’t it?” He gestured to the name tag. 

“Right, of course.” Emily turned to Rouge. “And what can I get for you?” 

“Ugh, about time. I think I’ll try something different- how about a venti half white chocolate, half regular mocha frappe with two pumps raspberry and whipped cream?”

“And the name for that?”

The bat pouted. “And here I thought we knew everyone’s names here?”

“Just ‘Rouge’ is fine?” Emily clarified. 

Rouge paused thoughtfully, before grinning. “Actually, how about ‘the Ultimate Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire’?”

“Perfect. We’ll have those right out for you.”

Emily completed the payments, punched everything into the register, and then frowned at the huge line that had formed while the trio had ordered. She caught one of her coworkers walking by behind her, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him behind the till.

“Switch!” She whispered in his ear, before jumping into the order line. 

It was hell to try and figure out what her unfortunate colleague had been in the middle of, but she threw together the orders well enough. Then it came to the three important ones, and she took her time with these. When they were finished, she went up to the counter and readied her best calling voice.

“One Ultimate Latte for the Ultimate Lifeform!”

“One venti half-and-half mocha frappe with raspberry and whip for the Ultimate Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire!” 

“One Ultimate Latte for the Ultimate Robot!”

What followed was a scene out of a movie, slow motion and all. The crowded store parted, bewildered patrons creating the perfect walkway for the three to swagger down. Rouge led the formation, wings spread wide, with the grace of a supermodel on the runway. Shadow followed on her right, a look of cool arrogance in his eyes. Omega followed on her left, practically preening under all the attention, if robots could preen, that was. 

They grabbed their drinks in unison and then walked away in the same formation. Rouge blew a kiss to the crowd before they went out the door. 

Everything and everyone in the store seemed to freeze in place for a moment, as if reality itself was reeling from the amount of “cool” it had just witnessed.

And Emily was beaming. 

—

“It’s only a quick stop.”

“Coffee, Shads? Frou-frou coffee?”

“Shut up. You can wait outside if it bothers you.”

“No no no, I’m not bothered or anything, just weird.”

Being the barista that Shadow the Hedgehog knew by name prepared you for all sorts of unexpected, intimidating things. Emily liked to think that she could handle anything at this point. 

But having THE Sonic the Hedgehog walk into your store was something else entirely. 

“Hello, Emily.” Shadow said. “The usual.”

Really, she should’ve expected this. Shadow the Hedgehog hadn’t saved the world alone, after all. They might even be friends. . . though perhaps that was pushing it, given the way Sonic rolled his eyes. 

“One Ultimate Latte, coming right up.” Emily began writing the name on the cup. 

“You’re kidding.” Sonic said. He then cleared his throat and did a poor imitation. “An ‘Ultimate Latte’?”

“Shut up!”

Emily scribbled out what she’d written on the cup. “And the name for that?”

Shadow gave her a strange look. “Same as always.”

She shot a glance at Sonic, before looking back to him.

“Did I stutter?”

“Got it. Be out with that in a minute.”

Making the drink took only about as long as it took to heat the milk up at this point. The unique recipe was now as thoroughly engrained in her brain as a typical mocha or caramel frappuccino, so she didn’t have to think much about it anymore. She put the lid on and walked up to the counter. 

Her throat went dry as Sonic looked over at her. As usual, no one else was in the entire store, and for the first time in a long time, she felt a little dumb for taking a name for the order at all. 

But then Shadow met her gaze expectantly, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“One Ultimate Latte for the Ultimate Lifeform!” She called out and set the cup on the counter. 

Shadow retrieved his drink and took a sip. “Thanks.”

“Wow. Just wow, dude.” Sonic shook his head. 

Shadow turned around. “What, too afraid to try it?”

“Wha- no, of course not! Gimme a sip.”

Sonic was over in an instant. No, faster than an instant. The wind slapped against Emily’s face and her mouth fell open as her brain failed to register how someone that was over there could now be fifteen feet closer seemingly without taking a single step. 

Sonic, meanwhile, grabbed the cup and took a swig. 

And he immediately spit it out. 

“It’s hot, you moron.” Shadow said. 

“. . . Mhmmm, figured that. . .”

Shadow grabbed the cup back and took a small, reasonable sip. “I’m not giving you any more.”

“Come on. One more taste. I’m not getting defeated by some dumb drink.”

“Order your own.” Shadow turned and gave Emily a look. 

She froze, for a single moment, from the weight of expectation upon her. She then gave her best customer service smile and asked, “Would you like an Ultimate Latte, sir?”

Sonic threw his hands in the air as a look of utter bewilderment crossed his face. Shadow covered his mouth and locked eyes with her, and they shared in the valiant struggle of containing their laughter. 

“Fine. Ring me up.” Sonic zipped over to the till. 

She walked back and punched in the order again. Her customer service smile helped delay the giggles but she knew she didn’t have much time before she totally lost it. 

“What’s the name for that?”

“Sonic. Just Sonic, none of his nonsense.”

“Coming right up.” 

Making the order this time around felt like an eternity, but soon Emily returned to the counter.

“One Ultimate Latte for Sonic?”

She didn’t even set the drink down when it was taken from her hands by a blur of blue. Sonic skidded to a stop next to Shadow. 

“Now drink it. Slowly.” Shadow lowered his hand from his mouth. 

Sonic set the cup down on a nearby table and popped the lid off. He blew on the top of the drink for a minute or two, before picking it up and taking a sip. Then another. Then another.

“Well?” Shadow asked.

“. . . okay, that’s pretty good. Very sugary. Didn’t take you for the type.”

“Rouge got it for me the first time. I didn’t expect it either.”

“But it’s nice.”

“Yes. It’s nice.” 

Sonic took a longer sip, before setting the cup down again. He popped the lid back on. 

“Heh, guess it is a pretty ‘Ultimate’ latte. That’s a good name for it.”

And that’s when Shadow snorted. 

“Hey! What’s so funny?”

Emily laughed before she could help it. She doubled over behind the counter. Shadow’s own quiet giggles floated in from above. 

“I said it’s pretty ‘Ultimate’! That’s the name, right? Why are you two laughing?”

Giggles turned into guffaws. Emily stood up behind the counter again to see that Shadow’s smile spread wide out from behind his hand as he laughed uncontrollably. Sonic smiled and put a hand on Shadow’s back. It took him minutes to calm down enough to speak again. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh like that before, dude.” Sonic said. “You should do it more often!”

“Tsch.” Shadow brushed his hand off.

“I’m going to assume this is some kind of inside joke?”

“Maybe?” Emily said. 

“Maybe.” Shadow repeated. 

“You can’t tell anyone.” Emily said.

“Oh really now?”

“Don’t ruin it.” Shadow pointed at him. 

“Sure won’t- if you can beat me back to your stupid boss’ office!”

“But we’re carrying drinks!” “So? What’s wrong, Shads, don’t know how to not spill everywhere?”

Emily dug out a pair of coffee cup stoppers. “These might help.”

Sonic ran back and stole them from her hands, before sticking them in his and Shadow’s drink. He then disappeared, the door slamming shut giving the only indication of where he’d gone. 

“Bastard!” Shadow shouted. “Chaos control!”

There was a huge flash of light, and a shockwave strong enough to shake the glass of the windows. Emily flung her hands in front of her eyes. When she lowered them again, he was gone. 

—

One week later, in the thick of rush hour, Sonic the Hedgehog came tearing into the store. He weaved and dodged his way around the line, sliding to a stop in front of the till just as the last customer walked off. Not that anybody minded, and if anybody did, they weren’t going to say it.

“Hey, Emily, is it? How’s it hanging?” He grinned.

She could only give a shy smile. “Can I take your order?”

By this point, multiple patrons had gotten their cell phones out and were videoing the whole exchange. 

“Sure! One Ultimate Latte, please.”

“And the name for that?”

“You know the one!”

Sonic slapped a wad of cash on the counter and took off to the pickup line. Emily counted the cash, only to find that he’d way overpaid, but any attempt to get his attention again was fruitless- he was busy taking selfies with a group of kids waiting with their mom. She threw the extra change in the tip jar. She then waved the next customer forward, a teenager with her phone out. 

“What’s the ‘Ultimate Latte’?” The teen asked. 

“Uh, it’s a honeycomb lavender latte.” Emily said. 

“Sure, I’ll give it a try. Make it a grande, please.” 

By the end of Emily’s shift, the coffee bar had run out of lavender syrup. 

By the end of the week, so had the storeroom. 

[the-nysh]

well the persons closest human connection ( when they dont have that much) would be a good way to manipulate someone

And see, by using this tactic, opm's 'god' actually bypasses consent. Cause normally when people become monsters, they willingly abandon their humanity (requiring some mental line they choose to cross), but this? It's like he's found the perfect loophole to exploit through the backdoor. 'God' traps and ensnares unwilling victims by virtue of their very humanity! (where perhaps your only lingering strength - the natural anchor to your sanity, as human, becomes your very doom) Which is something a predator or parasite would do to ensure its own survival, not some all-powerful 'divine' being who'd have no need for such underhanded, cruel tricks.

Now, if 'god' was direct and upfront about what he was actually offering, like how he first made contact with Homeless Emperor without needing to exploit or fabricate any connection, then ok that'd be one thing (as a 1:1 acceptance and transference of power; all risks, rules and terms apply.) But now, since 'god's apparently changed tactics (why? was his previous method not stable, successful, or sustainable enough? or perhaps it lead to too much information leakage to fully reveal himself) it means there's no true 'transaction' or 'deal' involved if the target was never a willing participant to that offer in the first place. Now, by manipulating a false, forced contact, 'god' simply mindrapes you into becoming his next agent through the visage of the closest person you love/trust most. And what's more, to still treat that 'exchange' as the pretext for sealing some binding contract, where your 'life becomes forfeit' if you fail to adhere to his rules or meet 'god's standards anyway....nuhuh (you can't bind victims to a fate they never willingly agreed or consented to) that's absolutely foul play. >:[ Man, I can't tell you how satisfying it will feel when that thing finally gets destroyed. Kill it with fire.

Ahem. But did you know ONE played with this precise type of cosmic horror in the REIGEN spinoff manga? Where Reigen instantly knew he was fucked (facing down death itself) when the Evil Spirit trapped him in the form of Mob coming to his aid? Unfortunately, most opm characters aren't privy to that kind of knowledge (or even 'god's existence) to know when their most trusted person is actually a trap. Beyond having the 6th sense that something is uncannily off...hopefully before it's too late. So it's just as Tome states, there's probably nothing more sinister [evil] than being betrayed by the person you [trust most]. And now ONE's basically ran with this idea of evil personified in the character of 'god'(no ID) who preys on chosen, even outright heroic, humans this way.

[hcfiles]

Henry Cavill didn't look miserable after his first pap walk with his latest PR, because of Viscuso. These PR contracts are a legal way actors find to practice pr**t***tion without having to, later, deal with its consequences or to avoid gay rumours. He's a single escort, the woman is promiscuous with no dignity nor self respect, there's a contract regulating the transaction. Why wouldn't he get sexually involved? At least, that's what they want us to think.

As soon as the first bad publicity reaction came up, he made a video with a biodiversity speech, which was actually an attempt to "defend his choice". Henry Cavill was miserable, because he was exposed as a hypocrite who defends the speech that "dignity comes before fame"; that he's a family man interested in women's social media profiles that are closed, in which women don't expose themselves, while, he goes on a PR stunt as a real date with a promiscuous PR he intended to get sexually involved with, who had her IG profile open, was an exhibitionist being exposed as a h**ker on the internet.

He was miserable because, as long as no one knew his real preferences, the kind of man he truly is and what PR deals really are to him, he could stage and play the character of the prince bachelor who is fond of a different kind of woman. He's miserable for being ashamed and exposed by the "unenlightened fans (who didn't want to keep their disappointment limited to their echo chambers)" and for having people knowing the real man behind the persona: hypocrite and greedy, a jerk who actually puts fame before dignity.

He's not miserable because of Viscuso. Someone else wanted to expose him and this farce, someone with easy access to the media. So, was this confusion created by The Me Too movement? Apparently, what led to this circus was: First, the apparent misinformation on the media about her ID, indicating that the professionals responsible for media promotion had screwed (How is that possible?).

Later, the pedo rumours started circulating, the page @exposing_henrycavil appeared with supposed hot tea, which was taken off IG a few day after appearing and had two more pages following its format to deviate attention: one about Viscuso, the other, about DG, which miraculously, were NOT taken down and remain inactive on IG, indicating that the person behind the first might not be the same behind the other two or, that his team was worried the page could screw with his image. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

What went wrong? Someone clearly wanted to expose his hypocrisy, humiliating him and generating content against him. And, his lack of reaction to it, indicates fear of more exposure, but also consent, that he might have a reason for not reacting to it, a reason he prefers to keep away from the spotlight. Viscuso was the perfect opportunity on both sides. At first, the reason to destroy his rep and on his side, to be supportive and help his damage control. When all you have are lemons, make a lemonade.

It is said (Candace Owens) that the Me Too is a movement created, apparently, to expose abuse/crimes committed by disgusting (famous) people. But, it is also a movement that focuses on celebrity scandals, for visibility. That the awards given to the reporters involved in the movement were, actually, a kind of an encouragement and enforcement so their, researches and articles could have more credibility. It doesn't seem like a very serious movement if seen that way. So, was the intention here to have the Me Too movement expose him from a content created as of a planned scandal?

Is the Me Too movement still with his speech (one they considered sexist) stuck in their throats? Do they want to make Henry Cavill their next example based on fabricated rumours? But, that wouldn't justify the continuation of the circus. Fear of having something exposed, maybe. But, the couple apparently, intends to mock and gaslight. He apparently, wants to show he's being obligated to be a part of this shenanigan. But, is he, really? Or just staging? Because he DOESN'T SEEM to have ANY problem with Viscuso.

She was promoted to Godsent, because she agreed to sacrifice her meaningless and insignificant life so HE could keep staging this shenanigan for vanity and stubbornness, because he is addicted to the spotlights. This circus wasn't supposed to be about Viscuso. She was supposed to be a secondary character in this PR. If so, she would have been in talk shows giving interviews and would be named as part of a cast in any production. What happened was that, other facts occurring during this PR stunt, demanded they promoted her as the main character of the plot, while they try to protect his integrity without success.

She's being paid to be a diversion, a shield. And it fits the reason they brought up recent pics of her wardrobe. They want you to address your attention to her, not him. While she's portrayed as a bitch (who abuses him, whom he dislikes), you address your criticism on her, not him and he becomes a poor thing, a bird with two broken wings. Viscuso is being paid to have her meaningless life shattered for him, to avoid his reputation from being ruined even more. This sick plot, with unethical narcissistic strategies has the intention to hide a truth: the truth of the man Henry Cavill really is and it was the only way his team found to save their client from scrutiny. And it, clearly, shows how pitiful and disgusting all the involved are.

Henry Cavill is sweet, polite, a gentleman in manners, but his Character, apparently, deviates from the image he stages, which he will do ANYTHING not to lose. He is FAR FROM being the respectful, honoured and dignified man he portrays. A respectful, honoured and dignified man would never accept being part of this circus, which is actually serving to hide his truth.

[bigbuxbolds]

ok so since ohtani gave his first statement about whats been going on, heres my understanding of the timeline based off of what he said and whats already been reported:

mizuhara first met this illegal bookmaker in 2022, he bet on several different sports, but never baseball. he accumulated a massive amount of debt because of bad gambling decisions. he somehow got access to ohtanis bank account and used the funds in there to help pay off his debt, coming to around $4.5 million. these payments are spilt over time, including two payments that are $500k each

the illegal bookmaker is being investigated, and ohtanis name is uncovered on transactions to this guy.

ohtanis representatives organize an interview last tuesday with espn talking to mizuhara, who says that ohtani knew about his gambling debt and loaned him the money to help pay it off. this is why these transactions have "loan" included on them for their purpose. this interview is apparently 90 minutes long and detailed

however, on wednesday, ohtanis spokesperson, before espn can publish the story, says that everything mizuhara said the previous day was a lie and theyr now accusing him of massive theft from ohtani

the opening day game in seoul happens later that day. there are pictures of ohtani and mizuhara talking and laughing in the dugout

after the game, mizuhara tells ohtani that he wants to speak privately with him after a team meeting. during the team meeting, while mizuhara speaks english to the rest of the team, ohtani gets the feeling that something is off

after the meeting, mizuhara and ohtani speak privately. this is when ohtani finds out about mizuharas gambling problem and debts

later that same day, mizuhara is officially fired

on friday, its confirmed that both mlb and the irs are investigating the matter

on monday, when ohtani spoke to the public, he said mizuhara lied about speaking to him before the espn interview which led to the conflicting stories, and that he was completely in the dark until that wednesday meeting. he is adamant that he has never been involved in anyway with sports betting and he never helped mizuhara pay off his debts

now one of the big questions left after all of this is how exactly did mizuhara even get access to ohtanis bank account, and how was he able to steal so much without it being noticed? of course, its no secret that ohtani has a lot of money (i mean, just look at the $700 million 10yr contract that he just signed), but one would think that missing $4.5 million would be noticable, even if it was spread out over some time.

i also wonder, if ohtani really didnt know about anything until after the game on wednesday, how did his spokesperson know that mizuharas initial story was bs? since the theft allegations came out before the game. what discovery was made between that initial interview and before the game that told them for certain that ohtani was being stolen from without any kind of word from ohtani himself? did they find some kind of evidence that contradicted mizuharas story? did he himself confess to lying? why lie at all, then, in such a supposedly detailed manner to the press?

these answers might not come to light, however, until both the mlb and irs investigations are over

[geekthefreakout]

One other thing that is kind of bugging me about Lucifer (I promise I only complain this much if I care) is how often people's "deepest desires" seem to boil down to just sex. Specifically to sex with Lucifer. (It's not *every time* but it's often).

I understand that Tom Ellis is hot. I'm asexual, not blind. But... Really??? I have two reads on this.

One- The show is trying to... Idk, make sex a sinful thing that everyone wants but can't admit to wanting as much as they do because it's just so sinful, and Lucifer, being the master of desire and temptation plays on that because it's easy. Which... Don't love that read.

Two- Lucifer has only been topside for 5 years, from what I understand. And his best understanding of humanity, from his time in hell and his few years up top, is that sex is a commodity which he happens to enjoy, and is also the only way he knows how to actually connect to humans and make sense of them. In this case it might not be their *deepest* desire, but instead *a* desire which is strong enough for Lucifer to play on and the easiest one he knows how to satisfy.

He seems to stay on quite good terms with the humans he's slept with and cared to keep contact with after. It's a time when he can truly say "this person wanted ME, and is not invoking me as the villain here," something that seems to actually bother him. Hence why he persists in trying to sleep with Chloe- he's perplexed by her apparent lack of desire for him and by the way they connect even without having had sex. He really wants her to want him.

He's very confused in one episode by a "player" dude who objectifies women for a living but also legitimately fell in love and didn't get over the girl after having sex with her a few times. He's thinking "but the transaction was finished? Why still feel feelings?" Which is a really depressing way to look at everything.

Or, the secret Third option: Studio said "Lol Lucifer sluttin his way through life is funny. How many people can we make him boink in an episode?" And it's nothing deeper than that.

[burnwater13]

Grogu couldn’t believe that Cobb Vanth had managed to have Mandalorian armor for so long and no one knew about it. But then according to Peli, almost no one knew about Mos Pelgo either. Apparently there had been different towns and villages on Tatooine that had just been consumed by the desert, so it was easy to lose to track. 

Grogu was just grateful that Cobb had been on hand to help them prevent Mos Pelgo from being consumed by a Krayt dragon. Of course the drawing he’d made showing the marshal using his rocket launcher to try to distract the huge critter wasn’t based on reality.  Grogu was using a thing called ‘artistic license’ to express the capabilities that he felt the marshal displayed, even though his dad, the Mandalorian, was the person who really saved the day, and the town, and the armor.

One of the things that Grogu liked about Cobb Vanth was when they first met Cobb noticed Grogu right away. Most people didn’t. Especially not humans. They had a real tendency to ignore things that weren’t like them. It was kind of pity in a way because Grogu was friendly and he was happy to help folks out… as long as they hadn’t stepped on him a couple of times before they noticed him. 

Of course he’d also noticed Din Djarin right away, but then so did everyone. The armor was notable in general, but the Mandalorian kept his bright and shiny so you couldn’t help but see it. The Tuskens that they had met before they even reached Mos Pelgo had said they noticed something shiny in the desert. The fact that Tatooine’s three moons weren’t out that night gives you a feeling for just how shiny Din’s armor was from just starlight hitting it.  Very shiny. 

The other thing Grogu noticed about the Marshal was how talkative he was. A regular chatter box compared to the real Mandalorian. That made Grogu wonder if that was a Mandalorian thing too? They just weren’t that chatty. But if that were true, then Din Djarin should have figured out that Cobb Vanth wasn’t a Mandalorian just from talking to him. Huh.

But the spotchka really hit the air oscillator when the Marshal took his helmet off. Din got all freaked out about that. Which was really too bad. Grogu had been hoping that Mandalorians could take their helmets off and that he just didn’t know what circumstances allowed for it. Maybe if they met another Mandalorian it was okay? At least that was what he had been hoping for about a split second. Then Din rained very effectively on that little sunny dream. Oh well.

But the Marshal had really taken that pretty well and when more important issues came up, Cobb focused on those issues without forgetting that he and Din had other business to transact as well. Grogu was pretty impressed. When most people were threatened by the Mandalorian that’s all they thought about. And then the blaster bolts started flying around and Grogu just stayed the heck out of the way. 

Yet, the Marshal was calm. He didn’t back down, but he also didn’t egg the Mandalorian on or pretend that he was the one who was going to win. That just wasn’t going to happen. If IG-11 couldn’t beat Din Djarin, a regular human wasn’t going to do it either. But Cobb Vanth didn’t let that get under his skin. You had to respect that. 

The only real problem Grogu had with Marshal Vanth was that he didn’t like the Tuskens. The people Grogu had met with the Mandalorian had been quite nice and they had shared a meal, told some stories and then went about their business without any problem. To say that was unique while Grogu traveled with the Mandalorian would be an understatement. It was almost unprecedented. Sure, he and Peli got along but she she never tried to shoot him or anything like that. Even Greef Karga had to be reeducated by Din Djarin. 

Cobb Vanth complained that the Tuskens had done bad things to the folks of Mos Pelgo and it was unprovoked. Grogu understood that the provocation was that Mos Pelgo existed and the Tuskens weren’t keen on sharing if people were unappreciative. It wasn’t an easy problem to solve and Grogu was pretty sure you’d need a bunch of Jedi to help with it or maybe one Mandalorian.

Not a pretend Mandalorian, mind you. It would take a real one, but that’s the way most things were. Maybe Cobb could learn to be a real Mandalorian one day, just like Grogu.