honestly, normalize quitting. it's so okay to drop a course, quit a job 3 weeks in, leave a relationship when it isn't giving you what you need. quitting isn't a sign of weakness, isn't a sign that you're not trying enough. a lot of the time, it's a sign that you are prioritizing yourself and your values, and that should be honoured.

Imagine being Azula’s favourite friend who she recruits first. The two of you have always had an unspoken attraction which neither of you were brave enough to acknoweldge...until you save her life and Azula decides to reward you

Background

You and Azula attended the academy together and had initially started as rivals. You were an above-average fire bender and because she didn’t know you Azula saw that as a threat. So she made it her mission to ruin your life when one day she found you arguing with Zuko. You didn’t hesitate to yell at him or point out his faults and from that moment on Azula knew she’d misjudged you. Azula be-friended you and you became a part of her group. Over time you became her favourite. She trusted you and could feel your loyalty to her, which was something she grew to respect more and more as Mai was compromised by Zuko and Ty lee became even more whimsical. You soon became inseparable and as the friendship grew it began to feel like more...you realised you liked Azula as more than a friend. You enjoyed every second you spent together and thought she felt the same. The tension between you grew and although Azula would grow flustered around you when you flirted with her she never reciprocated your feelings openly. You were heartbroken but understood that falling for the princess of the fire nation hadn’t been a very smart decision on your part. So needing some space to mend as soon as you graduated from the academy you joined the army. It hurt to be around Azula every day and to know you could be something great together if only your nation was more progressive. So you ran away from the situation and didn’t see Azula for years. You managed to stop thinking about her constantly after a few weeks and soon your heart didn’t feel as broken anymore...but you knew deep down you still cared about her. The princess would always be your first love. 

Your POV

The army was tougher than the fire nation academy for many reasons. For one your name, reputation and grades didn’t matter once you passed through the doors. They didn’t care if you'd sparred with the best fire benders or got the highest grades in combat skills for ten years, you were reduced to a number and treated as one. You hated every second of it but the alternative was to return to your family and you’d take anything over that so you stuck it out. 

One day all the recruits were ordered to wear their best clothes and report to the large training hall which could only mean one thing. Someone wanted to buy troops. High ranking generals or rich businessmen could hire trainees for missions or any jobs they needed completing. The buyer could choose who they wanted after watching you all in training and you would then decide if to accept or not. You took every opportunity you could and so stared straight ahead for inspection, trying your best to look hirable when a voice broke your resolve. "I’m looking for something in particular" Azula told your trainer and you only just managed to keep your head forward but a small smirk broke out on your face. Azula spotted you and walked down the line slowly before stopping in front of you. "Well, well who do we have here?" she asked. You looked up at her and matched her smile "long time no see huh?". Your trainer was horrified at the way you addressed the princess and rushed to yell at you when Azula cut him off with a laugh. She took your arm and you hugged her tightly. Your stomach exploded in butterflies and you clutched her tightly, you’d missed Azula dearly. "Your highness i don’t know what...i’m sorry for this one’s behaviour" the trainer started obliviously and Azula rolled her eyes "are they all as dumb as you? Obviously i know y/n". You smirked and Azula was spurred on by that beautiful expression she’d missed. "You really have no idea who she is?" Azula asked laughing "this is y/n l/n, her father is friends with my father and she is a personal friend to the royal family. To hear you haven’t treated her appropriately is very displeasing" Azula frowned and you smiled as your usually cruel and horrible trainer shook. "I’m sorry we had no idea who she was! We will treat her better, promote her actually" he babbled. "No that won’t do" Azula said "and that wont be necessary, y/n will be leaving with me for a job and won’t be coming back here". The guard hesitated "i...you can’t just take a recruit". "I’m not but i could" Azula growled "i think you’ll find it’s more y/n quits". "She can’t quit" the guard replied “she made an oath” and Azula raised an eyebrow in response "are you tell me what i can do? Are you telling a noblewoman what she can do? Any debt she owes you will be wiped by my command, understand?" Azula barked. The trainer paled but nodded "yes princess" and bowed his head. "Good" Azula nodded and she strode with you right out of the front doors. 

Azula brought you to the lodgings she was staying at in the nearest town and you were amused to see it had been given the royal treatment. Red everywhere, freshly polished surfaces as far as the eye could see, gold and silver decorations lay on every available service and of course a large portrait of the fire lord hung on the wall. Over a lavish dinner Azula told you the mission making you realise you’d accepted and left the army without even asking for any details. You were fine with hunting the avatar and Zuko with Mai and Ty lee but you also recognised you would’ve accepted almost any mission Azula gave you because you’d been so happy to see her. Azula had always had this effect on you and time apart hadn’t done anything to lessen that. You were as much in love with her now as you were the day you left two years ago. 

After dinner Azula led you to your shared apartment, it contained two bedrooms with ensuites and a large living room which you were pleased to see and you sunk into the sofa happily. "Your hair’s shorter" Azula commented suddenly and you nodded touching it self consciously "yeah it was a target in sparring". Azula scoffed "seriously? Don’t they teach the other recruits proper fire bending moves as opposed to childish tricks?". You shrugged "they told us to win by any means. That it doesn’t have to look good so long as you win". Azula laughed again "amateurs all of them! Of course it should look good". You smirked "well when it comes so easy to you" and glanced over her. Azula shrugged but had a large smile on her face "well I suppose I have been blessed in that aspect". You laughed again and smiled "this is nice". Azula smiled too "it is" and you locked eyes for several seconds before she looked away slowly. Azula stood up abruptly "we should get some sleep we’re moving on foot tomorrow to go get Ty lee and then Mai". You were excited at the thought of seeing your old friends and grinned "great! Also don’t think i didn’t notice you came for me first" you called as Azula made her way towards her room. She halted and you smirked "I always knew i was your favourite but really Azula to make it so obvious" you grinned and Azula paused. You walked to your own room and Azula finally responded "i always made it obvious you’re my favourite, it’s nothing new" and went into her room.

You stepped into your own room and leant back against the closed door blushing vividly from the encounter with Azula. You’d spent all your time in the army trying to convince yourself your relationship with Azula was purely platonic. That the fact your heart sped up whenever you thought of her or how you dreamt of her often was just because you were close friends. You managed to convince yourself you weren’t in love with Azula and that she didn’t feel anything for you either but less than a day with her and you knew that was a lie. You couldn’t deny the way she made you feel and how she smiled at you in a way she never did with anyone else...as much as it made you nervous your realisation also excited you. You couldn’t wait to be around Azula again and felt a happy glow spread over you. You settled in your bed, a smile still on your face and burrowed into the exquisite cushions. You expected to fall to sleep easily but a while later you were still awake. You frowned confused as to why. You were happy, you were with Azula and the bed was comfy so why couldn’t you sleep? You figured maybe the bed was too soft compared to what you were used to in the army so went into the living room to try the sofa. You laid down and realised this was better, more like the beds back at the military. You had just closed your eyes when Azula’s door opened. "Trouble sleeping?" she asked and you nodded "i think the bed’s too comfy". Azula laughed "i thought the opposite, really y/n your taste has worsened in our time apart". You shrugged "it’s better than what i’ve been sleeping on for the last 9 months". Azula lay down on the sofa next to you and you looked at her. You didn’t ask why after finding her own bed soooo uncomfortable she came to lay on a sofa barely a foot from where you were and just enjoyed the silence. “So, anything else i missed you didn’t put in your letters?” you asked. Azula hadn’t written to you much at the academy and honestly that had been a good thing. You’d have just missed her more than you already had but she did send brief updates once a month. Azula nodded "probably tons, i couldn’t write often". You didn’t point out she wrote to you on the first of each month religiously instead you turned on your side to look at her. Mai and Ty lee had also written to you but you’d noticed compared to their letters and the changes in their lives Azula’s had been...well boring. You felt almost sorry for her, you’d all moved away to different things but Azula had been stuck at home with a father who was cruel, the ghost of a cold mother and the memory of a banished brother. Azula quickly discussed some events that had happened and then also turned on her side to face you. "What about you then? How was military life really?". You shrugged "not as i expected". "I knew that job would be awful" Azula commented "why did you stay so long then?". You sighed "well i liked some parts of it, the physical training was similar to what we did in the academy which i liked, the mental tests were better, they made me use all my brain". "That’s a first" Azula chimed in and you rolled your eyes "i liked those parts of it...could’ve done without the abuse from the trainers, food restrictions and ban on leaving". Azula raised an eyebrow "remember what i always told you y/n no self-pity, you could’ve left at any time. You chose not to". You thought Azula sounded a bit angry when she said that but you shrugged "i could but that would have meant going back home not coming back to the capital and I’d rather fight all the trainers at once than that" you said through gritted teeth and Azula saw you’d tensed. She recalled you never got along with your family but she hadn’t realised they were part of the reason you’d taken such an awful job so soon after graduation. "They hated my move to the capital and said if i failed at all they’d have me back and married, i had one shot to escape them, there’s no way i’d give it away because i didn’t actually like what i’d chosen". Azula didn’t comment she just watched you conflicted, she hated self pity and weakness but you were so like her, she’d have done the exact same thing in your position. "But you did leave" Azula commented “you left to come with me” and you looked down "i did...". Azula saw the way your face changed, filling with worry and she actually felt slightly guilty. You’d left instinctively for her when she asked, no matter what it might mean for you in the long term. You did all that for her and it proved to her again why you were her closest ally.

Azula laughed and you looked at her confused "y/n do you really think i’d make you give up your job for a small mission?". You frowned "what?". "Your parents won’t be angry because this a much better job, you’ll be paid more and you’re working with me" Azula said pointedly. "They can’t say anything against that, as long as you’re with me they can’t touch you" she smiled and you grinned at Azula "you’d vouch for me?". Azula nodded "of course, i want you with me and that’s what i’ll get, i don’t care who your family are they’re not taking you anywhere ever". You were equally touched and shocked "ever?". Azula nodded "well obviously you might not be here forever but they’re never taking you back to tie you to a marriage, i’ll just keep coming up with excuses to keep you in my company until you’re too old and then they’ll have to leave you alone with me" Azula explained and you smiled "sounds perfect".

Azula laughed and met your eye, seeing how intensely you looked at her gave her chills. Azula had missed you greatly in the capital but honestly she’d let you leave without a fight. She sensed a growing attraction and longing for you which she knew had to stop. So she let you go figuring some distance would be good but as soon as she needed allies the first face in her mind was yours. The second she saw you she knew she’d made the right choice but she also felt the attraction just as suddenly. Laying here staring at you made it more apparent than ever and it scared Azula. She blushed and turned away from you, facing the back of the sofa "try and sleep" she commanded "we'll be up early". 

You didn’t comment on how much Azula was blushing or how she’d chosen to sleep out here with you. You just smiled and closed your eyes basking in the feeling of all she’d said and the safety of her. “Good night Princess” you whispered and you fell asleep almost instantly.

The next day you reunited with Ty lee and then Mai. Ty lee had launched herself at both you and Azula when she saw you and the same occurred for Mai. Mai grunted and hugged Ty lee begrudgingly. "I thought you ran away to the circus?" Mai asked Ty lee and she nodded "i did but y/n and Azula showed up and well they called louder than the universe" Ty lee smiled. "Wait y/n and Azula, isn’t the circus closer to the capital than the military?" Mai asked looking from you to Azula. "Yeah so?" you said confused and Mai shrugged "nothing just seems like it’d make sense to go to the circus first then military but hey i’m sure Azula had her reasons for coming to get you first" Mai smirked slightly. You didn’t look at Azula but Mai and Ty lee exchanged a look at the matching blushes you were both sporting, some things never change. Azula recovered first and pretended Mai hadn’t said anything about the two of you and began explaining her plan. You joined in after a few seconds of recovery but still felt giddy at Mai’s words.

Throughout your trip you and Azula grew closer and closer just like you’d done at the academy. Although neither of you spoke about it you felt drawn to one another and Azula acted differently around you. She sought you out more than the others, always kept the closest proximity to you and paired Mai and Ty lee and you with herself whenever you had to split into teams. As you fell into old habits all the past feelings came back and you began to worry at all the dangerous situations Azula was putting herself in just to please her father. She’d infiltrated Ba Sing Sei without any backup besides you, Ty lee and Mai which terrified you. Of course her plan worked but still you were so grateful Azula had been unharmed and managed to take over the whole city without any mishaps. You hoped it’d be smooth sailing from there but of course she wanted her brother and the avatar too. You did exactly what she said to try and help her but you couldn’t escape the feeling something would go wrong. Azula had left to go and face the avatar all alone apart from her dai lee agents and you couldn’t get her out of your head. Azula had put you in charge of making sure the earth king and his bear were looked after but you wanted to ensure she was okay so left it to Ty lee and Mai. You followed the secret passage you’d seen Azula take and found your way into a massive cavern filled with people. You spotted Azula fighting the avatar and saw her shoot him with a lightning bolt. He fell to the floor and you gaped at the fact Azula had likely just killed the avatar. The water bender with the avatar then went into a rage and flew through the air using a massive wave to catch him. Azula smirked ready to engage with her and you saw Zuko standing beside her. You were surprised to see Zuko beside her, never thinking she’d actually manage to get Zuko on her side but of course she was a master at manipulation. You smiled at all she’d achieved when you noticed Azula’s uncle Iroh was approaching them. He had flames in his hands and was looking right at Azula who was fixed on the water bender. You gasped at Iroh’s intentions and how nobody was aware of what was going on behind them. You broke out into a run and leapt down the cliff as quick as you could. You were getting closer but you still weren’t close enough. Iroh raised his hands and you went into panic mode. “Stop” you yelled and threw your own fire as Iroh released his own. Your strike managed to hit his off course and it hit a rock beside Azula. Azula and Zuko both jumped and Iroh turned to you. You were now stood blocking his path to Azula and you sensed he still wanted to take her down. You anticipated his attack and blocked it instinctively before firing back your own. Iroh was much stronger than you so you were heavily outmatched when suddenly two flames burst onto the scene. Azula sprang in front and began attacking her uncle savagely while Zuko helped. You were again slightly surprised by Zuko but quickly joined in. With three on one even the dragon of the west couldn’t last long and with a final hit from Azula he fell to the floor. “Seize him and throw him in a cage” Azula spat and walked past him to you. “I thought I told you to wait upstairs” she said fixing her intense gaze on you and you shrugged “I wanted to help and I think it’s a good job I did”. Azula shot you a look at your boldness but you could tell she was more amused than annoyed. “You appear to be correct” she replied curtly before walking past you. You smiled after Azula, admiring how happy she looked and why wouldn’t she? She’d taken over Ba Sing Sei, possibly killed the avatar, brought down her uncle and convinced Zuko to ally with her, all in all it had been an excellent day and Azula had proved herself a force to be reckoned with. You began following her when you saw the guards walking Iroh in the opposite direction. You were going to look away when you noticed he was still staring at Azula. You could feel his anger and knew what his intentions were, he meant to finish the job. In the blink of an eye Iroh burst out of his restraints, threw his guards to the side and took a stance. “Azula get down” you yelled sensing the electricity in the air but he had an excellent shot at her and she had nowhere to go. Instinctively you threw yourself into the path of the lightning. 

Azula also responded instinctively. She conjured her own lightning to meet her uncle’s when she saw you running into the fight, You tried to raise a wall of fire but there wasn’t time, you got hit by the bolt and collapsed. Azula only just managed to direct her own bolt away from you and felt her heart beating rapidly. As the smoke cleared Azula saw your body on the floor rage consumed her. She conjured a huge amount of electricity and sent it all at her uncle. He tried to block it but Azula’s bolt sliced through his defences hitting him square in the chest. Azula didn’t even check to see if her bolt had met its mark, she knew it had so rushed to your side. “Y/n” she yelled and she knelt beside you staring at the smoke coming off your back where the bolt had hit you. Your uniform was partially melted and Azula could smell the burning flesh strongly. "I need water” Azula yelled grabbing you and trying to feel for a pulse. She felt one and felt her own breathing somewhat stabilise too. "Now" Azula yelled and people rushed forwards. Azula poured the water over you "it’s okay" she told as you winced as she poured more. "We need to get her into the pool" she called "someone help me get her to the water". Zuko appeared and helped Azula carry you to a fountain. You were semi-conscious which made Azula hurry even quicker, she wanted to reduce your pain as soon as possible. Azula climbed into the fountain first and told Zuko to pass you to her. She took you carefully and laid you on your back floating. Your eyes closed as you passed out and Zuko called for a doctor. Azula clutched your by your arms keeping you close to her in the water "you will not die y/n" she snarled "you will be fine do you hear me?". You didn’t respond. 

Later

You woke up face down on something soft and tried to move your face away from it when shooting pains erupted along your spine. You felt like your back was cracking open and groaned loudly. "Careful y/n" you heard someone say and saw it was Ty Lee. "Ty lee? What happened?". "You got burnt" she explained "on your back..luckily Azula cooled you in time to stop any long-term damage but it’s still really sore so be careful". You reached for your back and flinched at the slightest touch of it. "Stop" Ty lee told you "Azula said i’m to watch you and make sure you rest, apply more soothing cream on it every three hours and just basically always make sure you're okay!" she told you cheerfully. You shook your head "Ty lee i’m fine you don’t have to sit guard over me" you tried to sit up and went pale from the pain. "Don’t do that" Ty lee cried rushing to your side "if you want to get up i can pile some pillows in front of you for you to lean on. I don’t think you can sit up for a while". You pouted annoyed but asked Ty lee to bring you said pillows and managed to pull yourself up onto your elbows "so what happened? Tell me everything". "Well thanks to you we managed to stop Iroh escaping and hurting Azula, we took Ba Sing Sei and the avatar is dead". "Wow" you said surprised "That is... a lot". Ty lee nodded “Ow and Zuko’s back on our side". You nodded and smiled "I bet Mai is happy". Ty lee grinned too "she is i haven’t seen her since we started for home". "We’re on our way back?" you asked and Ty lee nodded "yes but Azula said me, you and Mai are to stay with her even after we arrive back in the capital, she said she still has a need for us". You smiled laying your head down blushing slightly, Azula had kept her promise, she wasn’t letting you go. You sighed happily and Ty lee smiled "y/n?". "I’m just glad to be going back" you smiled "i think we'll have lots of fun". You had been dozing when the sounds of the door made you jolt awake sending shooting pains down your back. You winced but prepared yourself for an attack until you saw her. Azula raised her hands as she saw you jump and she smiled "just me". You relaxed "Azula, sorry i was asleep". "Don’t apologise you need to rest after what happened, i just wanted to come check on you. We'll be in the fire nation in a few hours". "That’s good news" you smiled and Azula nodded "how does the back feel? Ty lee says you’re doing as well as can be expected" Azula’s eyes drifted to your back and you froze. You were now very aware you were laid on your front with only a blanket covering your bare torso from Azula’s eye. Azula stepped closer and you rushed to explain and stop her inspecting you. "I’m fine" you told her "the burns aren’t too bad, they hardly hurt at all". Azula raised an eyebrow "then you won’t mind me having a look?" and stepped beside you. She reached for the blanket and you grabbed her hand with an uncomfortable strain "wait, i lied...i don’t want you to see it, Ty lee says it looks bad. It’s in the blistering stage and yes it hurts but everything has already been done for it and me so you don’t need to see it or check on me". Azula titled her head to one side as you couldn’t meet her eye and she sighed sitting on the floor beside your bed. "It will scar but unlike Zuko you can wear yours with pride" Azula said forcefully and you looked up at her shocked "with time i’m sure it will simply resemble a tattoo" Azula explained. You turned on your side to look at her, something you’d practised with Ty lee and could now manage. "Ty lee told me you did as much for me as you could...i can’t really remember it but..". "Do you remember jumping into the path of lightning for me?" Azula said "without protecting yourself or even any concrete attempt to do so, and what for?". You sighed thinking Azula was angry at you "i...i know it was reckless and stupid, it went against everything we were taught at the academy but I don’t know Azula, i did it without even thinking. I saw it heading for you and you weren’t ready! It would hit you and i just did it without hesitation, i know it seems stupid and emotional but i don’t regret it Azula i’d do it again" you told her sighing, feeling she wouldn’t understand. "I know that might sound stupid...why i’d do that for you but Azula i..." you started as Azula cut you off "y/n". Azula gently raised your head with a hand helping you to look at her. You were confused by Azula’s gaze, it was soft but at the same time intense, you couldn’t recognise the emotion, was she angry? Happy? Excited? Apparently it was somewhere in the middle. Azula leant down to you, hand on your cheek as she ghosted her lips over yours. You felt a sensation like water being thrown over you as Azula kissed you softly and quickly before pulling back "i don’t completely get it but i understand" she smiled blushing softly "i think I can imagine why you did it" she said looking away from you "thank you for saving me". You were speechless, Azula was thanking you? Azula understood why you did it? Did that mean she liked you too? She’d just kissed you so of course she did! Or was that what she thought you wanted? Azula had been used all her life, did she simply think you did this in order to make gains with her? 

Azula smiled slightly to see your brain short-circuiting at her actions and stood up. "i just wanted to make sure you were okay so now I know you are i’ll let you go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when we’re there". You nodded still confused and watched Azula walked away. You weren’t sure what had just happened but you knew you had to make Azula realise you didn’t do this just to use her. "Azula" you said suddenly "is that...what you just did...if that was my reward or what you think i wanted from you after today...i didn’t save you because i was expecting a reward or anything from you so what i’m saying is you don’t have to compensate me if you don’t want to. I didn’t do it for any reason other than to keep you safe". 

Azula blushed suddenly and felt her emotions swirling, she realised she was happy. To hear you express openly your desire for her safety filled her with excitement and she realised nobody had ever cared for her before like you did. Azula nodded slowly "that is welcomed news y/n" she smiled "but i didn’t reward you like that as a forced compensation either" she told you "although my intentions were personal and selfish i suppose”. 

You smirked slightly and nodded "good...i mean fine with me". Azula nodded "i’m glad we understand each other, good night y/n". "Good night princess Azula" you said savouring the words and Azula’s eye twitched but she maintained her calm expression and bowed leaving. You lay back giggling as realisation (and the medication you were on for the pain) set in. Azula had kissed you and told you she didn’t do it because she thought she had to but because she wanted to! For selfish reasons!!! You wrapped yourself in your blankets and didn’t stop smiling even in your sleep.

____

Is it just me who loves the idea of being in a secret relationship with the princess of the fire nation? I feel like Azula would excel at sneaking around the palace and would like rebelling against Ozai for once

who do you think is the most dateable dark matter thief?? i know you have an opinion and i need to hear it

sorry for the late response anon i honestly had to think abt this one for a few days lmao, but yeah i have opinions. below the cut bc fr i have opinions, all of them have major pros and cons (based on my characterization at least) and really i just have to break it down for u

Boros, everyones obvious first choice, but certainly not mine.

Pros: rich, tall, pretty, fun af, passionate, will kill for you np, give you anything you want, literally anything.

cons: has a god complex, doesnt respect you, not his number one priority at all, will forget about you once its not interesting for him anymore, probably argumentative/combative af, is very very smart and has no problem manipulating you in all the worst ways, is very entitled so he will never feel bad about anything, cant win arguments either bc he’ll want to settle it with combat, will get offended over little things just to argue bc he thinks thats fun

this is a relationship you’d get into if you literally have nothing to lose and dont care about your mental health. like hes hot but this shit would be toxic af and he will ruin your life and leave you to go fuck around and fight someone on the other side of the universe. this will be the best of times and the worst of times for you and you will never be the same afterward mentally or emotionally. the only way i would even consider it is if i lost my damn mind. The only way a relationship with him would ever work long term is if you were physically stronger than him and were capable of putting him in his place OR you were smart enough, suicidal enough, and interesting enough to him to engage in some psychological warfare and reject him if he asked you. Make him chase you for years, say yes, then decide that /he’s/ boring /you/ and leave him for another member of the squad to just destroy their established hierarchy and humble him to the point that he’s obsessed with you.

i dont have the energy for all that, so i’ll just smash and pass.

0/10 completely undateable

Geryuganshoop, also a probable second choice for many:

pros: cute, nice, tentacle alien (obviously), will respect you np, will also give you anything you want, not antagonistic at all, telepathic communication so no risk of miscommunication, emotionally intelligent and available, loyal to a fault,

cons: horrible boss/best friend that you will have to listen to him vent about for at least 3 hours a day, complete yes man as well so he will not tell boros no or cut him off and you will be stuck dealing with this no matter what, severely mentally ill and wont go to therapy bc he thinks hes handling it well, workaholic, needs a lot, and i mean A LOT of attention

this relationship would be great if not for boros lol. boros sabotages his social and romantic life but geryu has been friends with him too long to either cut him off or establish boundaries. he has no backbone (figuratively and literally) and wouldnt even consider it. he’ll ignore you in favor of his job too, to a massive degree. also i think that while the telepathic communication would be a major plus in most cases, here i feel like i’d have no less than 16 different, never before seen on earth, mental illnesses projected right into my brain just from being within a certain radius of him.

im already fucked up enough in that sense so pass unfortunately.

it would be a yes without boros in the picture tho lmao

so prob like 4/10 iffy datablillity, 1 level increase with each decade of therapy he gets tho so a lot of potential :D

Groribas, my fav girl:

pros: straightforward, realistic, very clear expectations, will not fuck around with you whatsoever like there is no mind games or anything here, will kill for you, rich and non materialistic so she’ll basically just let you do whatever with her money since she doesn t care about it, cares about her job but like...a normal amount. she absolutely has a good work/life balance, highly organized so she will not forget important dates, loyal af and will defend your honor under any circumstances, mean but in a funny way, a ton of fun to hang out with if you’re into that, no eyes so i dont have to worry abt eye contact ever

cons: extremely high expectations, like exhaustingly high, and not even a bit of flexibility there, if you dont meet the cut its a no, she’ll let you know and leave same day, she will also bully you, you need a thick skin and great sense of humor to survive, bad at feelings if you need emotional support???? go elsewhere, shes mega emotionally unavailable, will probably want to share bodies as a form of intimacy

overall its a solid 6.5/10 dateability for me i love the directness and no bs approach, we would def get along well. however, while im not sensitive, shes def gonna hit on some insecurities at some point and it will cause an argument lol. but i mean whatever. it happens. the body sharing would be an issue though, same reason i wouldnt be chill with having a symbiote despite being a major venom fucker. i need my space i cant deal with that. so thats a possible deal breaker if she couldnt get over that lol. and she wont, so we wouldnt work out. i wish it fuckin would tho😭😭😭 i would take whatever crumbs of attention she would be willing to give me

Melzalgald, my fav they/them bastard:

pros: amorphous and shapeshifting aka extremely attractive according to my taste in monsters, tall af but could chose to be a more reasonable survivable size lol, self contained and self-entertaining so they dont need a ton of attention to be happy, funny af, rich, will give you whatever you want and probably a bunch of shit you didnt know you wanted, very fun, built in friend group if you didnt already have friends, extremely emotionally intelligent and great people skills due to living in a collective, stupid af by choice, like some of em are very smart, but they dont claim that, will say fuck work and tell boros to eat shit to spend time with you, will kill for you as well, but only if you ask them to bc their first inclination is to just bother someone to death, very loyal, once they like you they like you really forever, it would take some pretty extreme circumstances to make them dislike you

cons: annoying af and its unavoidable, will talk over you, all of them at once will talk over you and do so loudly, no respect for personal space, they dont even know what that is, will probably accidentally manhandle you, they act stupid but arent so they can be manipulative, even if it isnt bad and they dont really mean to be, impulsive, forgetful of the needs of organic creatures so they will bother you at all hours of the day and night if you arent firm with boundaries, disgustingly extroverted and will bring randoms to your place without asking, or just...make new cluster members and you have to roll with it, will eat or absorb literally anything you have, will antagonize and bother you for fun, major jump scare risk since sometimes the forms are....fleshy

this ones hard for me like theyre hot af and i feel like they’d be super fun and good partners, but god....the noise. idk how long i could deal with that lol i dont like people in my house. it would drive me up the wall, but then again...i can simply kick them out when ive had enough. they arent projecting mental illness directly into my brain or requiring me to share a body sintelligento major plus. creepy thing/symbiote style hot monster without any of the invasiveness so tbh 8/10 dateability

some people date loud annoying extroverts who dont understand personal space that /arent/ rich, loyal, or emotionally intellegent so i’d be winning on a few different fronts lmao

Haikyuu HC to COVID-19 (Karasuno edition)

This is horrible 💀 im just so bored so I made whatever this mess is KFJSJDMSK enjoy

Hinata Shouyou

huh? isn’t it just the flu?

“No, hinata. People have died from it-“

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH-

goes bananas

whenever someone sneezes or coughs, his soul leaves his body as he runs away to sanitize/wash his hands for a miserably long time.

eats an expired can of peaches thinking it’s his last resort

lowkey happy school is closed because homework sucks

but also highkey hates it because now all volleyball tournaments are closed

then gets all angry when he realizes he’d have to do online school???!!?? like wtf he got jipped.

thinks they could still do volleyball if they did online calls cus if the school can do it,, then vOLLEYBALL CAN

will probably miss half of the class calls from oversleeping/forgetting anyway.

sheepishly ask yamaguchi, yachi or tsukishima for help on assignments/notes. (he will NEVA ask kageyama. he’s always in competition with him here!)

still practices volleyball 24/7 in his backyard or room (maybe even with his baby sister??)

He’s really good at practicing all by himself from practicing all alone in middle school—

but will probably go crazy being alone all the time with his family. he just wants to play volleyball with the team again.

looks up “what to do when you’re bored” or “what to do at home while in quarantine” on youtube

Kageyama Tobio

probably says he’s immune to the corona because he’s just better than everyone else

doesn’t really think it’s real until school shut down because of it

When he sees that corona is airborne he wont know what that means so he’d probably think it’s produced by air itself?? which makes him think air is trying to kill the human race?? and will be so confused as to why it decided to pop up now???

DESPISES online school. He had enough trouble understanding it from the gecko, so now he has to learn it basically all by hiMSELF?!?

And no way is he just gona email the teacher for help. If he does it’s gonna be only once in his lifetime. Anymore than that he thinks he’s doin too much. He doesn’t want his teachers thinking he’s dumb 😭

he says literally nothing during the calls he just tries to pay attention? and fails because he’s on a computer. in his room. alone. he’s bound to daze off or stare at a pen for 5 minutes.

Obvi still practices volleyball. Very much misses it. At least Hinata had his sibling to practice with him. tobio is a lone wolf in his household.

When his mom goes out to get groceries he gives her one of those doctor masks so she doesn’t catch corona.

Few moments later through the internet he realizes that corona is smaller than air molecules so if you can breathe through something you could still get it so he struggles for an hour thinking he just killed his mother

When his mom is back he keeps his distance in case she’s carrying the plague

omg did she just cough or am i imagining things no she definitely coughed she has corona oh oh god

In reality she was just clearing her throat.

is lowkey worrying about everyone and how they are 🥺 (yes, maybe even hinata).

thinks he’s science smart by calling it covid-19 than corona.

Asahi Azumane

He just worries about everyones health

like he just imagines the worst case scenario’s and starts to get really worried if people got it. Always checks on everyone and asks if they’re feeling any symptoms of corona ❤️

He’s either not gonna get it or he gets it and dies there’s no inbetween

but he’s jesus himself so theres no way he nor anyone in his bloodline can get it

is very happy to know that dogs can’t get it.

Takes online school seriously and tries his best

And is honestly so sad school just ended??? even if it’s temporary, he could be learning, playing volleyball, and going about his day instead of staying in a cage. he’s a third year so—how would graduation even go..?

always is up to date on the news !! and notifies everyone if anything important is added/changed.

Always tells everyone to stay safe! Whether through text or before ending a call.

only buys a lot of toilet paper from the fear of there being no toilet paper in stock since evERYONE IS BUYING IT-

Starts to try new hobbies that he put off for the longest time cus quarentine is rlly getting to him.

Is all out a family guy so he doesn’t mind the extra time with his family.

Nishinoya Yu

OAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOA

420 blazin’

thinks going outside means you’re instantly gonna die from corona attacking your white blood cells (????)

but also probably doesnt care as he goes outside like everyday to run around and get rid of energy (and to practice volleyball, of course).

also why is it called white blood cells when blood is red ☠️ smh

Buys 101611018320129 bags of chips because that’s his comfort food

yay more gaming time!!!

Noya🐒: Tanaka do u wana play minecraft 2getr latr?

Tanaka🍌: HELL YEAH!!

doesn’t shower for three days straight because screw personal hygiene!! No more school!!! Can do whatever he wanted!! It’s basically summer!!!

until he’s forced to do online school.

Is def the class clown. Probably somehow kicks the teacher out of the call through a little bit of hacking.

“alright guys so i’ll be you’re substitute teacher for the day-“

tbh acts the same as he would in school. maybe a little more rebellious because, i mean, what is the teacher gonna do? send him to DETENTION? call his mOMMY?

Calls/spams literally everyone in his contacts because he’s so bored and lonely. Answer him!! Y’all will be on facetime for hours!!

He’s fun to facetime.

Will call you a loser if you don’t have an apple iPhone because then he can’t facetime you and facetiming is one of his favorite things to do to pass time (besides gaming)

HE A TRUE GAMER

Okay but he lowkey still tries at school for the sake of his grades and his future ;-; maybe calls asahi or sugawara for help??

always looks up his homework on the internet to see if he can get an answer key or something (he did that anyway even before corona but)

will do one subject for 3 hours thinking he’s finally done with everythinf till he realizes he has like 4 other subjects and needs to do those too.

Sending memes all the time

Tsukishima Kei

oh, what about corona again?

honestly could give NO fucks??. like ABSOLUTELY ZERO. nonxistent.

doesn’t even remember it’s still happening half the time.

is surprisingly very knowledgeable about corona.

he’s just smart and sciency¿ so he understands the ins and outs of corona like how it works and how its spread.

so if you tRULY want any update or background info on the corona virius, ask Tsukishima.

bitch don’t touch me you have rabies.

doesn’t care that he’s obligated to stay at home because he would have stayed either way. he very much likes being alone.

might go a little crazy cooped up in his room so he’ll hang with his brother/family or go outside before he says ‘okay that’s enough’ and goes back to his room.

isolation? oh okay *puts on headphones*

he rlly gonna be rocking it out in his room cus he can listen to music all day any day

developes a really bad sleep schedule since he had no way to get rid of the energy he got rid of at school.

still a huge tease so he says everyone has the corona virius.

is never online on social media which means he’s never up to date with his frIENDS. Doesn’t have a clue what those dipshits are doing and could care less (besides yamaguchi,, they probably facetime or call thru skype or something).

I bet the whole volleyball squad has a groupchat and honestly he puts all notifs on mute cus his phone keep goin DING DING DING DI DING ID DID IDKNG DING DIG

Brother: Omg why are you getting so many text messages?

Tsukki: Shut up

if he is online on the gc and he texts it would be simple replies like “Hi” “Okay.” “No.” “Goodbye.” and then he’s gone for another week

every first year is begging on their knees for tsukishima to give the answers or help them out and he obviously says: go do the hw yourselves idiots

besides yamaguchi!!!! again!! cus theyre gay for each other

maybe practices once in awhile with his brother or alone in his backyard but he doesn’t care

Tanaka Ryuunosuke

buys 101817 pounds of toilet paper because everyone else is? but not because of the same reason as asahi. he thinks toilet paper is the cure to corona.

GO STUPID AAAAAAAAA GO CRAZY AAAAAAAAAAA-

probably has a part time job at a grocery store so he still has to go to work 😭 i dont even know how he could have a job in the first place he’s probably always late-

still gamin with noya of course

GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM IM PLAYING MINECRAFTT

also buys like all the junk food thats in stock. and since he works at the grocery store he gets a ton of coupons and deals.

texts Kiyoko everyday goodmorning ❤️❤️❤️ and goodnight 😘😘 texts just to be left on read.

“i love it when she ignores me !!!”

scrolls through tiktoks for 1000 hours to pass time

School Is For Losers!!

similar to noya, he thought it was basicaly summer until he realized they were gonna be doing online school. literally had a fit and said he didnt wanna do jack squAt

Laughs so hard when nishinoya somehow kicks the teacher out of the call he’s like laughing so loud and hard he starts crying

all of the sudden has a better view on school

gets excited when he sees nishinoya on the call

makes funny and ugly ass faces when the teacher isn’t looking. everyone laughs and the teacher’s like 🤨

probably uses the green screen effect so he can change hus background (somehow) and accidentally misclicks a file so a girl wit a bikini becomes his background for .5 seconds before changing it to a cursed meme:

doesn’t get half the shit the teacher is talking about

but it’s okay because the half he doesn’t get is the other half noya gets

and the half noya doesnt get is the orher half tanaka gets

they’re two peas in a pod 🥰

until they try explaining it to each other and suddenly get confused?? mental malfunction ¿?

yeah im SMART!!!

s -

m -

a -

r - penis

t -

Daichi Sawamura

quite calm about the whole coronavirus

like he knows it is serious and understands how it is spread but he’s still calm about it??

tells everyone to sanitize and wash hands on a regular. and social distancing!!

honestly still wakes up like he does on normal school days and does all his academics just fine.

he even does gym activities (besides volleyball) for 30 minutes to an hour!!!! he be running on that treadmil! getting stronk!

does each subject on his own for 20-40 min each day. he’s really good at self discipline

makes sure sugawara and asahi are up to date on school work and will gladly help.

sadly can’t help the first years (and probably second years) because that info is deep in his brain and basically forgot how to do it after a year or two of not using it.

VERY VERY VERY sad that volleyball nationals are cut off. this is his last year and for it to be??? gone??? just because of some flu?!?! hates it.

he wishes school to go back and still has hope that school will go back to normal in a couple of weeks (even though it’s a slim chance).

asks the teacher questions whenever he has questions. He’s also vv considerate so he’ll ask questions he knows the answer to but asks them for anyone who’s confused ab it/wants to ask but is too shy. (literally i lov daichi sm)

Eats a healthy amount of everything

asks asahi for any updates on corona even though he’s quite up to date himself. he just wanna make sure he didn’t miss anything.

also doesn’t mind being around his family. he’ll do more chores around the house to help his parents out :> he’s literally perfect wtf

def does worry about everyone in the volleyball gc and anyone else he has contact with. Will also email classmates and ask if they’re doing all right. Even away from volleyball he’s a team player ☺️✌️

Is happy for the rest of the day when asahi tells him dogs can’t get corona.

Yamaguchi Tadashi

oaoaiquqhdkoaiaagadjsiwi?

doesn’t know what to believe anymore

keeps in touch with everyone!! always online 24/7 on social media, vball gc, you name it.

Literally everyone is acting so normal why are people so calm am i the only one worrying about this and the worlds future like this year has been really bad so far for not just me but the whole nation actually the entire world honestly like war almost broke out in january and now this corona stuff is really buttering my crissont the wrong way-

Even though tsukishima literally gives No Fucks, yamaguchi is the complete opposite.

like tsukki and yamaguchi call on skype and eVERY TIME yamaguchi starts with ‘how have you been? do you feel sick at all? have you drank enough water today?’ and so on

“What are you even worrying about?”

“Well...what if you get the corona virius?... it can be deadly, you know!! Thousands of people have died from it!!! The fact school is shutting down and people are panicking is making me feel like i should be panicking-“

Tsukki will then snarkily reassure him it’s fine and people their age are the least likely to get it bad.

Yamaguchi will feel a little better afterwords

“Thank you, Tsukki!”

Tsukki will ‘tch’ it off

Even though he gets really good grades he has triuble finding motivation to do any school work?? doing school work in his own home? 😐

His home was kinda a place he can chill whereas school is a place he can be fully focused

but now his home is ALSO school??!!?

Luckily he understands the work, at least.

When he sees tsukishima on the call, too, he instantly says hello.

“Tsukki!! Hey!! 😁”

“Shut up.”

“Gomen, Tsukki.”

Yeah. Even when they aren’t at school, he’s still the same as always.

He takes extra care of his family and always stays in touch with other relatives. Especially grandpa and grandma. THE SECOND he learned elderly people are at more risk you bet your ass he’s calling them making sure they’re okay. He checks up on them everyday now.

He peobably practices volleyball a little, too. He’s more focused on schoolwork though.

Sugawara Koushi

Have you guys ate dinner yet? 🥺

obviously checking up on everyone

he would fail as a mother if he didn’t.

Actually reads in his free time?? He finally has time on his hands to read these books so.... here we are!

Wakes up at a scheduled time everyday (minus weekends. Maybe sleeps for an extra hour or so).

He dresses in pjs rather than actual clothes because he’s not going anywhere with this social distancing thing.

Always tries to lighten the mood when all the students are on the online call. Maybe crack some joke or innocently play around with the effects.

He still pays close attention in class and does quite well on his own. No help from his parents! He can do everything on his own! He a big boi!

Does homework really well, too. Probably does extra work or more work than needed just because it makes him feel good afterwords.

Honestly i can see him cooking in his free time. If he doesnt feel like reading or scrolling mindlessly through his phone, he gonna cook.

Will make the best cookies in the universe.

HAS A HECK OF A SWEET TOOTH. NOT A DAY GOES BY WITHOUT HIM GETTING HIS PRETTY HANDS ON SUM TREAT

Honestly isn’t too good with exercise so he might gain a few pounds or grow the smallest chub 🥺🥺🥺 he would be so cute omfg.

is realy involved with his family!! they play a board/card game every friday night and have the best time.

if he has a dog, cat, or literally any animal you know he’s gona be hanging with them since he has more time.

Still! Playing! Volleyball! I mean by now every boy is practicing at least a little bit. He would probably be in his backyard playing volleyball with his family. Theyy’d set up a net and everythin! They’re all rookies at it but he still cherishes the moments with them.

It’s honestly still practice. Better than nothing

He talks about how his family plays volleyball and everyone is so jealous like 😭😭 makes him more grateful hearing half the volleyball team saying they have to practice alone.

Watching youtube videos of random videos/vines making him giggling.

“Hey, Dachi, look at this video.”

IS A SWEETHEART STFU !!!

FIVE SONGS

list five songs associated with your muse and its meaning to them as a character, or to you as the writer. this can be applied in-character or out-of-character. it can go as deep as looking at the song’s real-world origins or meaning along with the themes it carries to the muses’ story, values, or experiences, or as simple as if your muse would listen to this kind of music, or even if you just listen to these pieces for inspiration.

TAGGED BY: @dansiere​​, who did such a good detailed job they even included an “honorable mentions list” ? i am embarrassed to type mine out now TAGGING: @blossomingbeelzebug​​ @zhrets​​ @dirtyfilthysunshine​​ @prcphesise​​ @hyakiru​ @foxcharmed​

01. kaun komsott - ros sereysothea

this song actually lyrically has absolutely nothing to do with ziggy !!!!  kaun komsott /  កូនកំសត់ actually just means “poor/pitiful child” it’s just a khmer dub of a song from a taiwanese movie lol but i feel like this is the kind of music he would listen to that made him fall in love with, like ... humanity, as dumb as that sounds. it’s time period appropriate (late 60s/early to mid 70s), the song is really good and it’s SO emotional.  i could see him sitting in the apartment of his bandmates after being “found” and they teach him how to use the record player and he sits there going through each and every record they have and listening to this and its like the fucking scene in ratatootie where the goddamn rat can visualize tastes as colors but he would be so enamored with the song he would see it in colors or something i dunno.  something has definitely fucking happened to my brain because ever since nat and alex and i rewatched ratatootie we keep referencing it for our characters. anyways i ended up using an instrumental of kaun komsott in the final film i made as the song that plays during the end.  so this song just also means a lot to me because it’s part of how i made this character and the film/story i animated to go along with him, i am sure you are all absolutely sick of hearing me talk about it <3  

02. who can i be now - daveed booweyywywy now you found me, now can I be real?  can I be real? if it’s all a vast creation / putting on a face that’s new someone has to see / a role for him and me someone might as well be you

one of z’s most obvious character motifs is figuring out self identity through adopting different guises.  he markets himself as being so overly confident and almost arrogantly certain of himself -- rock god space idol whatever -- as his own way of learning who he thinks he might be underneath it all.  i think at first it started off a little innocuous, a ‘ fake it till u make it ’ thing at the least and maybe more obviously a ‘ im not a human so i have to pretend to be someone else ’ deal, but over time it became almost all consuming and just obliterated all his previously held sense of self in favor of some weirdly demented version of who he wanted to be.  683 starts off with the same core personality traits as ziggy: maybe he’s a little vain, a little selfish, but he’s very interested in creativity/self-expression and he wants to be thought of as a unique individual and appreciated for his differences.  but the difference is that 683 isnt an arrogant asshole who has no regard for other people in the slightest.  so yeah ... who can u be now ... is it worth it to adopt a different guise or should he go through the effort of figuring out what parts of his personality were corroded by human influence and what parts are genuinely him?  my big endgame thoughts for his story would be that he eventually just decides to retire from the public eye and fucks off entirely.  this would be over the course of a long long long time -- maybe he has a good 20 yr run in the industry -- but there are some things about him he has to deal with (mental health issues, drug addiction, also the fact that you’re a freaky alien creature who doesnt age like a human so you’re physically like 46 and you still look like you’re 25?) so he inevitably decides he doesnt need the horrible pressure of fame and he ought to just live his life for himself.  i think this would be a nice final song for him to sing/perform -- then he goes into the dressing room and cuts his hair and just vanishes. bye.

03. sunny afternoon - the kinks Help me, help me, help me sail away Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay 'Cause I love to live so pleasantly Live this life of luxury Lazing on a sunny afternoon

1. i think this would sound A LITTLE like the kind of music he would write/play albeit i feel like his would be more exciting and have more samplings of like laser noises or pewpewpew or weird spaceship sounds BUT.  its also pretty time period appropriate.  even in “modern” verses ziggy is inexplicably obsessed with the 1970s, he likes bell bottoms and thinks groovy patterns are neat and he owns too many lava lamps.  anywayz. 2. just the general idea of feeling unfulfilled with luxury -- even if ziggy enjoys his fame and wealth and the absolutely insane amount of pussy/dick he gets at some level he is still cognizantly aware of how weirdly empty he feels.  he ditched atomina and came here because he felt unfulfilled and bored and unwanted.  now he feels wanted (clearly, everyone loves him) and he feels entertained (earth is So Good at fun distractions) but his fulfillment still isnt quite there.  he’s getting there -- but in exchange of being able to live this life of fame, he’s had to kind of change everything about himself and live this almost caricature version of himself, and he knows he cant keep it up forever.  the luxury will run out one day and he’ll be a washup and no one cares about celebrities once they stop being hip.  it is literally only a matter of time before ziggy has to find out who he is because no one can be a “rockstar” forever.

04. i hate jimmy page - mindless self indulgence SUCKAS CAN REACH OUT TOUCH ME EAT ME BITE DA FUTURE & FUCK DA PAST  I'm lower than most animals and fear what might be weird and all those voices in my head have every right to be there i ain't a girl just cause i rock the boat i ain't a boy just cause i rock your world

i mean he does hate jimmy page but that’s beside the point. its just a good song about being a crazy rockstar and has the same Craziness that i feel like accompanies his character ... just go listen to it you will understand. there is nothing to explain here.  even the lyric “ill show u how official midgets jack me off” like just accept it. it’s whatever  but yeah i aint a girl i aint a boy ... i guess his gender (or lack thereof) never really comes up in rp but its still an important part of his character.  if any of u guys ever call him a man in prose again ill kick ur ass.  gender is like an accessory to him and he just takes whatever aspects of masculinity/femininity he prefers and discards everything else.  to him he’s just as much a “man” or a “woman” as he is a “human” which is to say he isnt, at all, and he just pretends to be because he feels obligated to.  also ziggy’s brain kind of sounds like this...just Noises.  his brain sounds like a microwave that’s been going off for 26 years.  i think his brain is a single uncooked pinto bean rolled in glitter that’s been left in a box with a cobweb

05. ghostride - crumb daydreaming I stay in the backseat / the slow beat rocks me back to sleep keeps me on automatic  press my face up close against the glass i see the people when they pass they move so automatic you wake up when I go down / the radio reminds me I'm alive we've been hearing it all night

i care more about 683 on atomina than i do about ziggy on earth sometimes (BUT I CARE THEM BOTH. DO U?) so ... 683 feeling aimless and drifting but trying to find purpose through passion, a person, some sort of concrete meaning -- going through the motions of life makes him feel empty he spends almost every day going through the same toil while feeling guilty or like a burden and also feeling like he’s ultimately nothing more than a replaceable cog in a machine. his species had a near extinction = bottleneck which made them so genetically similar they’re almost clones of each other.  no one ever seems to do anything wrong except him, he finds no joy or fulfillment in anything at all.  all he ever wanted (which isnt a selfish desire at all) was to feel purpose, or feel wanted, or appreciated. inevitably he leaves because of his own imagination -- he yearns for something More, and he doesn’t know What, so he figured he ought to at least Try instead of waste his life away. also atomina is supposed to sound like “automatic.”  do NOT make fun of my bad scifi.  i am trying to mimic the way 1970s scifi is endearingly cheesy.  come here.  i just want to touch you with this knife.  gently tho it wont go inside of you. bro you are bleeding. bro we are bleeding and i keep putting the knife in your soft parts.

i got rlly butthurt abt that starlight comment so i went to that persons blog and the posts they reblogged abt mlp r full of cold takes so i went on an incoherent rant detailing y those ideas r wrong. rant under the cut, its v long and probably hard to read bc of my typing style// maybe ill come back and properly format it later

cold take 1: starlight couldve been a better character

no she couldnt unless we downplay her crimes or change her entire design. i dont care what her reason 4 forming a cult was, whether it be the stupid canon reason that her friend hit puberty and moved, or the stupid fanon idea that she never got a cutie mark and is resentful (i rlly hate this idea) LITERALLy if u want her to be a better character then dont redeem her. dont try to write a season-long arc of her trying to earn forgiveness from the village ponies bc her actions r beyond forgiveness. lets call a spade a spade: shes a monster who mutilated their bodies, minds, and hearts 4 her own stupid philosophy that she doesnt even believe in, and we dont even KNOW how long she was doing that or when the village was established. those ponies could have been in that cult 4 YEARS as far as we know--night glider herself admitted that the village was her home and that she couldnt/didnt want to move when given the chance, bc where else could she go? where else could any of them have gone? they explicitly say starlight targeted them bc they were vulnerable, or smthn to that effect. would YOU have a story abt a crazy abuser going back to their victims after who even knows how long of abusing them, and writing it so even one of them 4gives the abuser? would u write a story where the victims of jonestown 4gave jim jones? u wouldnt bc i expect u have at least 2 brain cells, and if u wouldnt, then i would hope u wouldnt like the idea of redeeming starlight at all, too. at this point in the series life, where weve seen all the redemptions and whos gotten them, i dont care abt the nuances of 4giveness, bc the writers and fans clearly dont when they have poor ideas and lack the skills to properly execute them. abusers and bullies dont deserve 4giveness, tyrants and fascists dont deserve 4giveness, terrorists dont deserve 4giveness, and the fact that diamond tiara, stygian, starlight glimmer, and tempest shadow ALL were anywhere between bullies or literal fucking terrorists, and they ALL got to be 4given and redeemed, while characters who have done way less heinous things (trixie and the flim flam brothers) r still treated with suspicion and distance by the main characters, is fucking disgusting to me. the only one ill give leeway to is diamond tiara bc even tho she was horrible to the cmc, she is just a kid and its possible to step back from bullying when ur that young. it rlly rlly isnt easy or possible to step back from mindfucking and mutilating an entire village of ponies bc ur bitter and entitled

cold take 2: cutie marks make no sense

less of a cold take and more of a gripe i have, bc they make perfectly fine sense to me. a cutie mark doesnt determine shit, its literally just a physical manifestation of what ur good at. rarity is good at finding gems, but her job isnt geology, its tailoring. rainbow dash is good at racing and being fast, but her job isnt initially stunt flying/racing with the wonderbolts, its weather duty in ponyville. in the later seasons when they start talking abt cutie marks being ur Destiny is when i admittidly start to get a little annoyed bc i dont personally believe in destiny or teaching kids that there is a predetermined path, but even still, u dont randomly get a cutie mark that determines what ur destiny is, u get a cutie mark that REFLECTS what ur desitny is. so no, a pony wouldnt get a random cutie mark of a computer 20 years b4 computers become available at home, AND THEN they discover thats what theyre talent/destiny is. cutie marks cant predict the future, theyre reactive to the individual. i dont understand how this is a confusing concept, even with the stupid destiny stuff thrown in

cold take 3: slice of life is the funniest episode of the series

no it fucking isnt JESUS the last roundup is the funniest episode, not bc of derpy, but bc of pinkie and raritys interactions. "rarity catch me" busts me up every fuckin time, as well as when pinkie and rarity r on the little handcar (hoofcar?) at the end and pinkie wont shut up and raritys like "when i get back, ur gonna GET IT rainbow dash". slice of life is a bunch of nothing and, wouldnt u know it, the best parts of the episode r the parts that include characters we actually KNOW (celestia and luna arguing over gifts, matildas anxieties, cadence consoling a crying shining armor at the wedding). even discounting the fact that the target demographic--kids, yknow, children and preteens--likely dont have forum accounts or the time/energy to scroll through those forums and wikis and blogs to understand all the inside jokes of the episode, its boring and kind of annoying if ur as disillusioned with the fandom as many ppl r, including myself. also lyra and bonbon werent confirmed stop projecting and giving praise where none is due. coy looks and 'best friends' sentiments dont mean shit, say explicitly that theyre girlfriends or wives and then give me a call

Smoke & Mirrors ch 2

Pennywise x Beverly

summery: a confused Beverly suddenly realizing she's in a house with no memory of her past 5 years. dating a strange man named Robert grey and a voice warning her in her mind to not trust him. informing her a frightful list of rules to keep her memory from the man. don't let him know you're scared, don't look him in the eyes. easier said then done while she dates and lives with him.

status: In progress

rated: M - fowl language and gore

previous chap: Smoke & Mirrors ch 1

next chap:  TBA

_____________________________________

~ch:2  Eye for an eye~

Her next awaking had her fury build. She hated how she had no control over what happened. No knowledge of it either that left her feeling hopeless in enjoying her life. Where was she now?

“juniper hills for some help he said.” recalling the last thing she could remember. Taking in her surroundings confirming it by the small cell room. Only a small window allowing some light in broken up by the large bars in front. The small view over looking the small outdoor grounds. A few other patients dressed in matching white outfits wandering around.

The lone door to the room making a click noise as it was unlocked. Opening slowly for a nurse to greet Beverly. “good afternoon miss marsh. Are you ready for your noon meeting with your doctor?” the young women asked nicely.

Beverly stood quiet for a moment in thought. “should I bother? I cant grab any sort of control. Now I've ended up here.”

“go.” spoke the voice in her head. She hesitated a moment longer when the voice repeated itself. “go.” convincing her to follow along in seeing what could happen.

nodding her head “yes.” following the nurse after she was gestured to. Walking down the halls past a few other staff down to an office. Entering inside to sit at a table opposite to a welcoming doctor.

“ah, Beverly. How are you? Do you remember me?” the doctor asked.

Beverly thought back to recall what she could of her whole hospital stay so far. Coming up with the doctors name. “Dr. Benjamin.”

“yes, very good.” he smiled. “i wanted to check in on your progress. The therapists have been happy about the great progress you've been doing these past few weeks. No faults so far and tests have seen nothing out of the ordinary.”  Setting various test papers in front of her to show the good marks. How do you feel?” he asked.

“... great.” she shrugged, like her answer would matter.

“at this point miss marsh we feel you're fine to head back out into the world. I just want to check and see if you feel that way too.”

about to say yes when that strange voice spoke up. “not yet.”

she wasn't sure what the voice was, but she was sure now it was something else talking to her. So far it seemed to be trying to help her away from Grey. “not yet.” she repeated to the doctor.

“oh? May I ask the particular reason why?”

hearing the voice whisper answers to her, she repeated them back. “i need more time. To make sure it wont happen again before going out into the world.”

“ah, understandable.” the doctor nodded. “your boyfriend Grey mentioned this happened a few times and your sudden hostility toward him.” pulling up a keyboard to be closer for typing. “I'll set you up to continue with the same schedule you've been on. We'll go on until the end of the month then check in again to see if you feel more ready. Hows that?”

“that sounds nice.” breathing a small breath of relief she wouldn't have to face Grey so soon again.

“you can head off to breakfast now.” the doctor letting her leave.

Off on her way to breakfast she thought of the strange voice filling her head. Questions of who it was and how it was connected to Grey. Why and how they become involved in her life. Picking up her food to sit somewhere quietly by herself. She picked at her food between small bites to chew through. About to rip open a wrapper surrounding a muffin decorated in sea creatures like crabs, turtles, and starfish. The voice speaking up to her when all was quiet during her delicate chewing of food.

Helping her to develop a plan for the next few weeks before meeting outside with Grey. “he knows when you're scared. You can't show it when around him.” the voice informed her. “if you're not afraid. He can't do anything.”

from that day she knew what to work on. She had to not be afraid which was easier said then done. Alone in her room offered very little in the way of practicing toward a lack of fear. The voice giving tips the best it could for her to learn how to act around Grey. “Look him in the eyes despite how dangerous it is. Don't flinch, don't jump, and stand your ground.” reminding her during each memory test the doctors put her through.

Herself attaching the no fear response to the small puzzles. Remembering cards faced downward to create pairs off memory and guesses. How quickly she could recite codes shown for only a split second. Speaking sentences back in repetition. When away from the doctors she would repeat her own words back to herself. “no fear. No fear. No fear.” coloring pages with sea turtles in her free time to not be so bored in between.

The final days having her change from practicing no fear to planning how she would permanently solve the issue. She couldn't pretend to not be scared forever after all. The mystery around who Grey truly was and how he could do this. Was he drugging her or committing some hypnosis? Did she have to avoid accepting food and drink from him from now on? That wouldn't be possible as he would surely catch on to her being aware. When she gets back maybe she could snoop through the house.

“try to find old papers to read through. A photo album not on my phone could give me better clues. Photos taken from friends not trying to hide anything.” sighing. “god, hope I can even navigate the house. It felt so … different, but the same.” what little she saw of it brought recognition while a part of it drastically changed. Feeling Déjà vu all over the place without a solid reason why. Guessing it was because she lived there for years, but like everything else couldn't remember anything. Asking her friends could also fill in a lot of the blanks, however she would have to reveal her “condition” was still around. Could her friends be trusted not to tell Grey to “help” her? It would end horribly if she passed under greys radar, only to be exposed she managed to do so after confessing to her friends she was still “sick”.

When she got out shed have to weigh her decisions carefully. While juggling around Grey to stay under his glaring eyes. Her days were coming to a close in her hospital treatment. Her test results coming out how she expected, completely normal. No sign of foreign drugs in her system unless doctors were hiding that.

“i sound like a conspiracy nut.” chuckling to herself. The theory of Grey having every hospital staff and her friends working for him seemed far too out there. “then again I am hearing voices in my head. Maybe I am turning into a nut job.” getting up from her seat to head for dinner. A light meal of mashed potatoes, a lasagna square, and another muffin with a sea themed wrapping made more for kids.

Then the big day came of her official release. Awoken by a nurse coming to escort her to the front of the building for all her things. Talking along the way down the long white halls. “your boyfriend Mr. Grey is here to take you home. How are you feeling?” the nurse asked.

putting on a fake smile for the staff. “uh, fine.” while on the inside she was anxious. “been a bit since I saw Robert. I hope hes been doing fine while I was in here.”

that inner voice correcting her. “don't call him Robert.”

the nurse working to reassure her. “i am sure everything will be just fine. Hes been asking about how your doing everyday. Even through all of this he still really cares for you.”

“yeah.” was her simple response to keep a smile on. Following the nurse into a side room where another worker asked for her name. After receiving it the worker went off then returned with a cardboard box with her name on it. Inside was all her clothes from admittance day along with a small bag containing her wallet and cellphone. Being informed she can change her clothes out in another nearby room.

Switching out into non hospital clothes she was ready to come face to face with Grey. Taking a deep breath before exiting the changing room to follow the nurse out. Heart pounding faster along to how close she was in approaching the waiting room doors. Stepping out behind the nurse passing through the many locked doorways. Locking eyes with the intimidating Mr. Grey standing in waiting for her. She didn't have to step to far into the room before he was looming over her to stare her down.

Him speaking to her unsettled her stomach. “how are you feeling?” he asked calmly. Voice smoothly gentle that hid something sinister behind it.

Keeping her blue eyes locked to his silver blue ones. “fine.”

“how was your hospital stay? You stayed longer then I expected.”

“fine. I wanted to be sure I'd be okay …. out there. So no repeats happen.”

his calm demeanor shifting toward suspicion of her. Those perfect Grey blue eyes developing bits of gold. “no … we don't. Are you sure nothings wrong?”

she had to make up a good reason to explain she was. A simple yes she felt would not convince him she was unaware. “i am sure. The doctors did more tests and everything seems fine so far. … are you okay?”

knowing her answer satisfying him in some way off the golden flecks fading away from his eyes. “fine, darling. Stress has been getting to me a lot lately.” shifting from his cold stiffness to more relaxed friendliness in mannerisms. Smiling as he wrapped an arm around her to escort her home. “lets get you settled back at home in time for dinner. I went shopping and got everything to make your favorite meal to celebrate you're return.”

putting on a fake smile. “sounds amazing.” walking beside him while holding back on flinching away from his arm around her shoulders. Letting out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding when he let go. Moving around the side of his … their, car to sit in the drivers seat. Getting in after him in slightly higher confidence that things were going well so far. Gazing out the window on the way home in figuring out where everything was. She didn't have the luxury of recognizing things slowly. She had to be on top of bluffing the knowledge before she even remembered.

Arriving back at their home he was quick to get to cooking in the kitchen. “you go relax and I'll make everything and call you when its ready.” he smiled off to the fridge for the ingredients.

faking a smile. “thanks Grey.” Heading off to secretly explore the house a bit. Her eyes caught by a large sign above their fireplace.

The large words good cheer, good friends carved into the wood paneling. That Déjà vu boring into her skull causing her great annoyance. Even more so knowing shed be experiencing it so much at this point. Moving on to look over the various photos hanging up on the wall. More photos of her and Grey happily together, more camping photos, the same kind that didn't get her closer to knowing what was going on. Heading deeper into the house she saw a door she recognized as leading into the basement. A tugging sensation pulling her to go down and look around.

Cautiously opening the door to walk down the creaking old wooden steps. Brushing a lot of cobwebs out of her way she stopped by a huge blockage of wood. Boards forming some kind of round blockade against something. Nails mashed all over the blockade out of some obsession for it to stay together for all eternity, but why?

“no way I can pull this apart without him noticing … or without some tools.” looking at the mangled nails twisted in all sorts of ways from improper straight hits. The tugging picking up to pull her to some boxes. Finding large books. “photo albums?” surprised to find such. Looking through them still offered little help.

“what is this suppose to do?! Nothings coming to me from these!” whispering angrily at the air for that voice to possibly hear. Shutting the book causing something to slip out from the pages.

It was a yellowed page covered in smeared ink scribbles. “a check list?” looking over a list of strange items. Listed across it were:

humancy, job, money, house, car, move him, get her

a messy note at the bottom barely readable “he wont shut up. Why doesn't he shut up.”

questioning what this paper was for and where it came from she searched back through the photo pages. Ending up at the back of the book not knowing where. About to comb through it again when some papers slipped out from under the books leather cover binding. Gently pulling out a stack of yellowed pages covered in smeared ink. Sloppily written things with one in particular looking like a child wrote on the page. Even stranger was what was written.

The name Robert Grey written sloppily having crooked or backwards letters scrawled repeatedly. The name covering the page slowly transitioning. The horrible writing to something curved and smooth that finalized into what most expected of a adult signature. The next page had more scribbles that made no sense to Beverly. Ink smearing all over words saying:

“it'll work.” “he says it wont.” “he wont shut up.” “it'll work.” “she wont know.” “she'll never know. She'll never leave.” “i have everything.” “she wont leave if I give her everything.” “she'll be too happy to leave.” “it'll work.” “it'll work.” on the back having more refined signatures of the name Robert Grey.

“okay, but why?” thinking over what the papers could mean. Why they were hidden in the back of a photo book in the basement. Nothing else she could gather from the room she left back up to the living space. Sitting on one of the couches to debate on her next move. A particular worry creeping into her mind at seeing it turn dark outside. She'd have to go to sleep with him tonight. Could she manage to pull that off? What if he wanted to …

“dinners ready.” he called to her from the kitchen. Walking by with dinnerware to set at the dining room table. A large solid one of carved dark wood having the perfect white plates standout even more. Setting up silverware on napkins next to each plate. Setting it up for them to sit across from each other. “you can sit. I'll get the food, don't worry about it.” gesturing her to go to the table.

Following along to what he wanted she sat down at the table oddly set up. It was far too neat and perfect compared to how most would set up for dinner. This was like a fine dining set up with plates, multiple eating utensils on a folded cloth napkin. A little empty bowl off to the side next to a smaller square plate that held a stick of butter along side a butter knife. Closer to the plate was a crystal clear wine glass. His side being set up exactly the same down to the last centimeter of space between everything.

Grey returned to set her low edged bowl down onto the plate. He was definitely right in knowing what her favorite food was. Beverly perked up at seeing the tender crusted lamb forming an arch against each other over a bed of finely chopped greens seeping into a red sauce. Setting aside a wooden board that had fresh bread buns still steaming between the both of them and a medium pot full of hot vegetable soup. Scooping a small amount for her into the little bowl.

“thank you.” she spoke honestly toward him. Actually excited about the fine meal made for her.

“welcome darling. Want wine with the meal?”

“mm, no, water for now. Don't want to get drunk on my first day back.” being somewhat truthful in that she didn't want to get drunk around him.

He nodded in taking both their glasses to the kitchen. Coming back with clear ice water for her and a red wine for him. She nervously looked at the water in consideration that she didn't watch him make it. Therefore he could have drugged it without her noticing. However it seemed how he did these things never involved drugs, only his eyesight. Taking a roll with a little butter to eat between sips of water. The dinner went perfect between the finely made food and the fact Grey really didn't talk too much. Asking simple questions about what she did in the hospital. Her playing that she was worried about another black out and getting a will together. Then him reassuring her it probably wont happen again.

Now it was time for them to head to bed. Beverly brushing her teeth after Grey and changing into pajamas in the bathroom as Grey did in the bedroom. Making sure he didn't see any part of her naked while not being too suspicious. Laying down next to him in the dark she couldn't relax enough to sleep. Managing to do so only after the voice reassured her nothing would happen. Sleeping for a few hours when she woke again.

She was alone in bed in the middle of the night. Hearing some loud noises from down the hall.

Her mind answering to where it was most likely coming from. “the study.” getting up to sneak out and down the hall to the study room. Hearing Robert arguing with someone, but hearing no one else talking back before he replied.

“why are you doing this?! You're ruining everything! … no, I cant! … no! You don't understand! … no! … no! No! No! .. I cant! It wont work! … no she wont! Never! … stop doing that! I finally have it and now you wont let me keep it! … I am doing fine! Keep your damn nose out of my business!” he snarled, growled, and roared in the empty room. Going suddenly quiet  inside for a few minutes aside from heavy wheezing. Stepping out of the room he ran into Beverly, startling her.

She almost locked up defensively again when the voice in her head spoke to her. “act normal, don't act scared.” it warned. She forced her body to relax and slapped on the best poker face she could.

“why are you out of bed?” Robert questioned a little more aggressive then his usual calm demeanor.

“i was thirsty … you okay?” facing his gaze.

He gave her a look of suspicion and looked into her eyes. Like staring into her soul for the truth. Some small flecks of yellow developing in his eyes that almost had Beverly flinch away, but she managed to hold her stare. “you should go back to bed.”

she nodded. “i just need a drink.” her actions seeming to have bluffed past him.

He looked away. “alright.” he spoke before walking back to the bedroom she was once in.

she breathed a sigh of relief. Now what to do? Looking toward the closed study door then back toward the bedroom door before cautiously entering the study. Looking around for who, or whatever he was talking to. Seeing not even a phone set up somewhere. She looked all through the drawers of the desk. No phone in there and things strangely pristine. No notes written anywhere or papers saved. The desks containing straight empty note pads and untouched pens. Sitting as if they were just put there to fill the empty space then be of any real use.

Moving on from the desk she checked the book shelf's. Seeing many random popular picks or duplicates of the same line up. Appearing to her to also be a strange alignment reminding her of a school play background that repeated. “who needs 20 copy's of hamlet?” picking one up to flip through.

Seeing that the whole book was made up of vast white pages. Not a single word was in the book she grabbed. Curiosity bringing her to check the rest of the books. All the same with not a single thing in any of them. After flipping through random books she started grabbing all of them out. Suspicious that they must be hiding something more like a false door. After pulling almost all of them she lost steam on going over them all again. This set up reminded her of fake play sets with everything for looks and no practicality to work.

She looked around the room for anything else out of the ordinary. Spotting a small spot on the ceiling darker then the others yet reflective. She grabbed the ladder meant for grabbing books off the high shelves. Setting It under the dark spot to climb up in investigation. Looking close she could see a small build up of water.

“a stupid roof leakage?” feeling she climbed up for nothing and smoothed her hand across the spot. She still rather not have a leaky roof even with far more serious things going on. Feeling the water stick to her fingers it pulled away when her hand moved off the spot. The water touching her finger tips sliding off, but not to fall down. They flew up to land back into the small collection.

Catching her off guard that the water was floating. “what?!” she whispered to herself.

Touching the water again to gently pull it down. The water hanging onto her fingers before dripping again back to the ceiling spot. “what?” she questioned again. Unsure of what to do with this information. Remembering she was told to return to bed and her taking so long may draw attention to her. She can investigate further tomorrow. Stepping off the ladder to place things back like she was never there. Swallowing her nerves on the way back down the hall.

as she entered. Seeing Robert sleeping in bed with his back toward her. Liking that he wasn't staring toward the door in waiting for her to return. She anxiously slipped into bed next to him. Laying still as possible to not wake him or worse catch his attention to do something. Falling back asleep to wake in the new morning by the alarm clock sounding. She felt him stretch on the other side of the bed. Rising up out of bed the same time he did.

“i am going to take a shower, do you want to shower first or after?” he asked.

“you can go first.” thinking it a chance to look things up on the computer. Maybe she'll find more on Grey that way. Where he was born, a family tree, some history if he somehow made the news.

He nodded and went with a handful of clothes topped by towels into the master bath. Beverly rushing out of the room as soon as the door was shut to the small closet holding a large computer. Waiting impatiently for it to boot up to start surfing the web for his name. Finding many Robert greys across the world popping up in her searches. None involving the one she was searching for.

About to click on another post when a pop up blocked her mouse. A image of a smiling turtle around some coastal news sweeping her away after a mouse mis-click. “dammit! Not now!!” trying to force her way back or stop the page from loading. Sucking away important investigating time she couldn't afford to lose right now. Halfway loaded the page turned out to be more useful then she thought.

There he was in a olden yellowed photo at some circus. Robert Grey the performer at the traveling circus before the great storm destroyed much of it while visiting Derry. She could see it was definitely him, but it couldn't be.

“the storm hit the area back in 1852.” she read off the article. “Robert cant be 150 years old. Maybe this was an old relative.” scanning down to find more info on this traveling circus when she heard him exiting the room. She shut the pages and forced the computer to shut off before rushing out to look like she was starting on breakfast. “anything you want for breakfast? Eggs, pancakes, or some coffee and just a little bit of bacon?” asking him while he came down the stairs.

“i am actually going to make an omelet. You want one?” taking out some bell peppers from the fridge.

“no thanks.” starting her own little meal of eggs and bacon. She couldn't keep this up day after day. Acting as a couple when she felt anything but. She couldn't kiss him, and wouldn't stand for trying to fake sex with him. She had to run before he started getting more intimate as a normal couple would. He was only holding back because she was “recovering” from a hospital stay.

“I've been thinking of taking a camping trip with the girls. Maybe getting outdoors with fresh air will help me better then staying indoors.”

“sure, could help you relax after all the stress.” Grey chopping peppers not too far away. “i can shop for anything you need to help it be less stressful. If you'd like I can pack everything, although I know you prefer packing yourself every time.”

“thanks Robert, that'd be great.” the name slipping out before she could realize her mistake. Freezing her cooking when it hit her and hearing him stop behind her.

He let out a frustrated growl and loudly set the knife aside. Mumbling under his breath. “he did it again.” then turning to Beverlys back. “Beverly, look at me!” getting straight to the point in what he wanted.

“no!” keeping her eyes bared down at the counter top in front of her.

“i will not let our family fall apart!” she heard him stepping closer. “i will keep this going for as long as I can! I worked so hard to get this far!”

Beverly tensed in a panic at what to do. She couldn't face him again and accidentally catch his eyes. Who knew if shed awake again from the dark fog. Her eyes speedily looked around before settling on a set of kitchen knifes. Lunging for one and without thinking swung around to attack. Feeling the blade slice through him. Her tightly shut eyes opening a smidge to see where she hit. Relieved so see she had slashed both his eyes. Holding his hands over them as blood seeped between his fingers. The blood seeping floating up against gravity to burn away.

“what have you done?!” he snarled. Voice warping making Beverly tense. “why did you do that?!”

“i am fucking leaving!” she shouted back.

“no you wont!” his voice warping further. A lump catching in her throat as he physically changed in front of her. His human appearance shedding to the clown she faced so long ago. His eyes were injured but he still faced her directly. “i wont let you leave after all I've done!” Robert, now revealed to be Pennywise the dancing clown, roared.

When relevancy goes too far

Relevancy is a bit of a complex topic the more you think about it. How far do you push it? Which parts of a story are needed to know the other? How should something define the follow up? These questions have widely different answers depending on the person and especially depending on format.

Hell, if you wish to nit pick it further, even the series in question is a factor. Some series’ thrive on whats done while others drown in their own scripts. I believe Kingdom Hearts is one of the latter.

That said, I am not someone who hates KH’s expanded stories simply for existing. The “side games” in of themselves aren’t bad nor is the idea of using such things to expand a world. The same could be said for game novels or comics in my opinon.

However, these things can be a slippery slope or a lazy exist. For example, Assassin’s Creed threw out it’s whole Juno arc into a comic just to get it out of the way which completely shattered my investment.

In turn, Nomura himself isn’t at fault for as much as we bash him for. Something he’s admitted himself as seen here;

So, the new Days is one of the three titles announced in the Autumn of 2007 as new projects in the KH series.

Nomura: Those three titles were all announced at the same time, but in reality the opportunities for the projects were raised in a disjointed way. Birth by Sleep is a project that was raised within our company, but Days is from Nintendo, and coded is from Disney, so we started by talking to each of them.

-source <--Link btw

And anyone that’s read interviews out of curiosity will know that there’s also factors like how ‘Birth By Sleep’ was shifted from PS2 to PSP or that ‘Chain of Memories’ wasn’t a planned title either. (seen here)

So if these things aren’t inherently bad or planned that begs the question of why it’s a problem here? At least in my opinion of the series.

The answer is simple and it lies solely on Nomura’s shoulders for it as a fault, relevancy. The man goes out of his way to make each and every game, concert, or otherwise is attached to the series in some meaningful way going forward.

Naturally, any expanded media is tied to the main narrative in some way. I know this, I am not that foolish. The problem is that Nomura makes them plot relevant going forward.

These titles can’t be true “side games” because they dictate the story going forward in some way. It’s for this reason the more radical fans hate to hear the terminology “side game” to begin with.

This problem was especially bad for years because of how spread out the series became among other gaming systems. And while some like to say it’s fine now due to the collection discs I dont think this will last long given the “phase 2″ images released for KH’s near future.

Hell, I’d even argue this problem isn’t even fixed in truth because the current KH story involving Foretellers, Luxu, and so on is all things spun from a mobile game. Yes, you have to sit through scenes on YT or play a mobile game to fully grasp that cat creature (Chirithy) you saw in KH3.

Naturally, it’s much easier to watch the scenes on YT these days but that also feeds into the loop of not paying for the game itself. I personally see no issue with it but companies are much worse in recent years for shutting down Youtube channels over loose definition of “piracy”.

No game series is worth several consoles. Of course, I’m just speaking from experience, with KH now on the Xbox this may be a moot point in a few years.

I am rambling, off track, lets focus. “Why is this an issue?” is what you’ve read this far for me to explain. The biggest issue with this poor decision making is how it harms the main narrative you’re telling.

For comparison, look at Sora in KH3. He’s often confused by people he doesn’t remember meeting or events he doesn’t remember nor took part in. This is roughly close to what it would be like for someone that’s only played KH1, 2, and 3.

Sora has that same level of insight including what he was told about others like Roxas or Aqua but other characters in-game. This feeds into KH’s misconceived air of complexity.

Kingdom Hearts, as a story, isn’t that complex. It has deeper themes it throws to the wayside but it is easy to follow if you play most games in some form. This ties back into how the series was handled up until the PS4/KH3.

Ever want to know who Roxas was in KH2? Well you had to play Days or you can sit through that horribly boring 3 hour movie on the Remix disc. Even then, the Roxas you see in Days wont be like the one in KH2.

Wish to know who Xehanort was? Play Birth by Sleep! All three campaigns with little variance. Then once you’re done get ready to sit on YT or download a phone app and play Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.

The Foretellers, Luxu, or the Master of Masters? That’s another set of hours, if not days, with the KH Union X Cross, KH Dark Road, and should you choose you can even watch the Back Cover movie which answers nothing at all but shows you the Foretellers in Kh3 graphical glory.

You wish to know how Namine knew who The Lingering Will was? Well dig up a fan translation of a script the Japanese voice cast read for a music concert event. (yes that happened)

You can see where this is going I assume and this is just scratching the surface by the way. You wish to know the finer details like Keyblade types, the inconsistent time traveling, “recompletion”, and so on then be prepared to read word of god interviews, in-game dictionaries/journals and always be ready for a few to change.

Whether it’s a true retcon or just an ambiguous statement, the series is ongoing, Nomura heads the ship, and he is by no means obligated to stick to previous statements if he can make a new one to alter those events.

Then again, holding too much weight in words said outside the game itself is a faulty way of doing things that most fans (like me) have fallen victim too at least once.

At the same time, all of these things are relevant by Nomura’s decision. Sure, the remixes have fixed this to a degree but it’s anyone’s guess for how long. Better yet, at what cost did the remixes fix anything?

The best example of what I mean is Coded. It was originally a game for phones. At the time, only Japan had a phone capable of playing it. Feeling that a shame the game later found it’s way to the DS for all fans to play.

At this point in time Coded was the only true example of a “side story”. It was by no means necessary. The whole datascape plot was more convoluted than it needed to be despite data!Sora being far better than the original at this point, and easy to miss.

But...well that was good. The DS version of Coded was fun as hell to play. The only version of the “command deck system” I’d consider worth any semblance of praise. It did it’s job of getting some level of fans invested such as my friend @blackosprey​ and it’s story was missable.

You did not need to play Coded to understand Dream Drop Distance or further. This was perfect. This is what games like Days, KH Chi/UX, 0.2, and DDD should’ve been.

Games that reached out to grab new people, games that played around, and games that expanded on the main narrative without dictating it’s direction. A side game is something that exists alongside or outside your main story.

However this isn’t what we got. 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage was a short sequel to BBS but also a pretty tech demo for KH3. Dream Drop Distance was there to show the real Sora that people needed help and to show us that Xehanort was back.

KH Chi was a browser game meant to show the Keyblade War and how it shaped Sora’s era. Now it’s an ongoing curse on the series with time traveling plot that affected KH3 directly.

Coded was made into a movie you needed to sit through thanks to one small newly added scene. Days lost many small interactions it’s fans loved in the transition to a movie that is hard to sit through.

I’ve also heard KHDDD and 0.2 were “shaved off” KH3 in a sense to be their own titles...this...this makes so little sense.

Nomura calls KH “Sora’s story” but this is a lie. If it truly was Sora’s story then your main narrative would be BBS, KH1, CoM, 2, and the original combined form of KH3. That’s the titles he’s relevant, those are the titles he stops Xehanort’s plans.

These other titles could’ve been so fun but none of them were truly allowed to breath and be themselves. They were weakened and limited by Nomura deciding to prop the ongoing story upon them like they’re stilts.

Then as a result you can’t close out KH3 without resolving all of these other events and characters which drags it’s own story down. KH3 feels all over the place because it is. It’s trying to tie as many knots as it can from threads created in titles that were way more relevant then they needed to be.

Kh3 can be seen as a clean break for many but I see it as a matter of time. KHUX and now KHDR are still there casting a shadow, dictating what comes next. Melody of Memory is one of several games planned for an unknown but hopefully more thought out direction.

I worry I haven’t explained what I meant well enough but moral of my story is that making things too relevant hurts not only your main story but these new stories you wish to explore.

You can’t have a story and it’s cast breath if you’re tying a knot of mythos too tightly around their necks and this is a tragedy to me. KH began life with such potential but it constantly holds itself back because so few entries into it’s story are truly just an entry.

And I am not saying games can’t follow up one another nor that they shouldn’t. What’s needed is a clear idea and some breathing room. A good example would be to save people in Days with the game DDD. DDD could’ve wiped away some clutter to focus on the final Xehanort battle in a sense.

Nomura has a huge problem with wanting connectivity without letting games be connected by the name alone. It’s like he wants to do the opposite of what Final Fantasy has done but to detrimental results.

This harms so much but worst of them it hurts development. Because Days was made so important, we had a movie made. Because Coded was elevated, a movie was made. Because the keyblade war was so popular, Union Cross was made.

The Remixes would’ve been better to consolidate lore not waste time trying to appease every whim. KH’s relevancy is a huge problem and I doubt it’ll stop any time soon.

 i didn’t want to make a post like this because i dont a pity party or anything but i have to get this out of my head before i end up bottling it up and making it worse like i’ve done before.  //tw: body shame, verbal abuse, suicide mentions, racism (small mention) , long text in general tbh//

over the past couple of months, my life at home has been completely all over the place, every day when i wake up i feel like it’s just a cycle of nothing, all i do is sit at home doing online classes and finishing massive amounts of homework, some even due the next day. my back is so tired from just sitting down and typing and it has just made me so bored and stressed out. more so these days, the only reason i even bother to do my homework is because i can also talk to my friends on discord while im doing them, which makes me slightly feel better, sometimes i even give up on doing homework just to talk to them because it gives me a better reason to wake up than just do the same thing over and over again. it’s a horrible feeling that i hate but im very thankful i have my friends to make me feel a bit better. but my situation with my parents is more worse than this and sadly my friends cannot help with it, but they also help me stay somewhat happy while this shitstorm goes down every day. my parents have been getting more and more angry towards each other also, which makes my situation even worse, my father (who doesn’t live with me anymore) is so fucking horrible and stubborn, he makes racist jokes which i hate and i always tell him how he should stop being a fucking idiot and a jerk but he wont listen and just tells me “it’s a joke” but it’s fucking not, or at least its a fucking horrible disgusting joke, alongside that, he also makes me feel like i cannot do anything, i hate being with him and i dont even see him as my father anymore, nowadays i just see him as a random man my mother makes me go with only because he’s related to me in a way. his wife is also a fucking bitch who hates the living hell out of me and my sisters, she always complains about us and how we’re “uneducated” or “bad-behaved”, well bitch guess what at least im not a fucking prick who ruins peoples lives am i??? i cant even pretend to be happy anymore, im just so done pretending to be fine with this. I just came back from staying with him and i’m just so glad im home, the 2 days i spent with him after a whole 3 months were the worst of my life basically, i pretended to do my homework just so he could leave me alone, i began crying myself to sleep while drawing because that was the only thing that made me feel better somewhat. i dont want him to even stay in contact with my mother, all the time he just argues how im doing things wrong and that my mother is a bad example and teaching me wrong things, he blames her for the reason i have a rather thick body and it makes me so mad. my mother isn’t that great either but at least she tries to understand me, unlike my father who always thinks he’s right. i cant even wear dresses or skirts because all he does is tell me how ridiculous i look and how i should be skinny like every other girl, and every time he tells me that all i do is just ignore him but when i come home, i just want to vomit until all i see is blood. i’ve stopped eating for weeks one time because of this, im too afraid to even wear anything beside jumpers because it’ll reveal what my body type is. i hate how i cant even like myself, some times i feel like i should start cutting myself or try to kill myself again because whatever i do, it’s wrong to him, maybe if i die he’ll think i did something right. what i did right was not exist isn’t it? i dont want to though because i have such good friends on here and i dont want to leave them. my friends are the one of the only few reasons i even am here anymore, if it wasn’t for them i wouldn’t even bother. i would probably just cry and hope the next day i get run over or something like that.  my father also always complains about how im doing a stupid hobby and i wont get anything out of drawing and sometimes calls me a mistake because i dont want to have a “real” job like everyone else in out family, but guess what idiot, drawing is a real job and one day i will prove it to him that this isn’t some stupid hobby, but now this has also taken a toll on my art and confidence to post any of it, im too scared to post my art because im afraid people just think it’s stupid or im annoying them by posting too much or too little.  i haven’t gotten many complaints about it but every time i post anything i overthink and worry for a while hoping they wont hate it. so far i think i’ve been getting better managing the anxiety of it but another thing that worries me is the thought people might get angry of me drawing 4 all the time.  the reason why i draw 4 so much is because she’s sort of like a comfort character to me, she was made out of my feelings and was a persona for a short amount of time, i put a lot of myself into her and i love drawing her but i worry people will get bored of seeing her all the time, so thats why i might stop posting content for a bit. 4 is something special to me, whenever i get upset or feel happy, i feel like she’s making me feel happy, it sounds stupid but 4 has helped me overcome many of my bad thoughts and feelings, she’s also one of the reasons im still trying to be happy. thats the reason why i draw her so much. and i wont stop to draw her, and im sorry if you dont like to see her so much but i will not stop to do so, if it bothers you that much please unfollow me. im so sorry i rambled for so long thank you for reading and i love you ((also to devon and soapy and mel, if you’ve read up to here, i love you guys with all my heart i love you too much thank you))  💕

Cat Pee Just Outside Litter Box Unbelievable Tips

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THE 9 REASONS MOST PEOPLE WON’T BECOME MILLIONAIRES

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http://theattainer.com/the-9-reasons-most-people-wont-become-millionaires/

THE 9 REASONS MOST PEOPLE WON’T BECOME MILLIONAIRES

I met a girl in an elevator and asked her out on a date. This was between marriages.

The first thing she asked me on our date was, “How much are you worth?”

I had made and lost millions but nobody knew at that time what I had. I lied. I said, “$1 million.” But I was worth less.

“Not good enough,” she said. Still, we dated for awhile but then it ended. Like most things, it ended horribly.

I had made and lost so many times at that point that I had to ask myself: “Why can’t I keep the money?”

There’s three skills to making a million:

Making it.

Keeping it.

Growing it.

Sometimes I was good at #1. And sometimes I was bad at it. And, at that point, I was always bad at #2… keeping it.

Like the time I blew it all on bad investments, or bad tax decisions, or bad house decisions, or other bad spending decisions.

But it wasn’t any one decision. It wasn’t someone ripping me off, or me being irresponsible.

I catalogued all the reasons I would fail to make or keep $1 million. The reasons were never on the outside world. The reasons were always inside of me.

Every failure to become a millionaire will boil down to these nine reasons.

A) Sickness

If you are sick all the time, you won’t be successful at a business. When I was a venture capitalist, I would never invest money to a guy hooked up to a ventilator.

Or even if I suspected they were clinically depressed (which I often was).

Many people avoid second dates if they find out on the first date the girl has late-stage terminal cancer. This is sad but reality.

Put good things in your body. Exercise. Don’t drink. Sleep eight hours a day. That’s it.

Then you probably won’t get sick as much and you’ll have a lot of energy to do your business. If you’re sick in bed all the time, your business will fail.

Sometimes sickness might also be telling you something.

When I worked for a private equity firm I fell once for no reason and could barely walk for a week or so afterwards.

My body was telling me something. I should’ve been fine but my body fell.

I quit the next day and had energy for the next opportunity.

B) Inertia

I went out for dinner a few months ago with people who couldn’t stop talking, eating, and drinking.

One person had business ideas. The other person wanted to write a novel.

All night long drinking, eating, talking about business ideas, talking about writing novels. Talking, eating, drinking, talking, walking, drinking again, talking more. Then you sleep. Wake up at 10. Bloated, sick, heavy.

If you want to succeed, you first have to get up and start. You can’t watch Shark Tank — you have to be the shark.

Don’t waste time. Start NOW. No more stuffing your face. No more parties at high-tech meet-ups with lots of social media experts.

You know you only want to have sex with a social media expert. Stop lying about it. Start your business.

C) Doubts

You need to have a real passion behind the product you are creating.

Would YOU use the product? If you wouldn’t, or if you are not sure, then you have doubts. Steve Jobs WANTED an iPad, an iPod, an iEverything.

Doubts will make you fail because you won’t be able to make critical design decisions.

With one business I started, Stockpickr, I was obsessed with putting in new features. But EVERY single feature had to be something that would make me personally want to use the site more.

With Reset, the first business that I was able to build and sell, I only created websites that I would want to use.

D) Laziness

I am lazy. I admit it. I like to watch TV and play games. I like to hang out with friends. Everyone is lazy some of the time.

If I am bored with something, I’m lazy.

But with a startup, or if you are trying to move up in the corporate world, or if you are falling in love with someone, you can’t be lazy. She wants to go tango. You want to watch Jay Leno. You’re a lazy pig. Go dancing!

Treat your money like you love it. Don’t be lazy about it.

Or she’ll find someone else to tango with.

This doesn’t mean work 100 hours a week. This doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself to succeed.

But it does mean you have to work on all aspects of your life that give you energy — physical health, emotional health, creative health, spiritual health — so you can make smart, creative decisions when you need to.

So you can sell with enthusiasm. Negotiate with conviction. Manage the details. Constantly have new ideas.

And when you have put in the time, rejuvenate with good downtime. Go tango dancing!

E) Carelessness

If your programmers present you a final product, you still have to check every page, click on everything, click on everything fast and twice, don’t forget a birthday or an anniversary, don’t forget everything your boss told you or everything the client wanted.

Be detail oriented.

Persistent carelessness equals consistent failure.

F) Vacillating

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Always wondering: Is this the right business? Or should I back up and start fresh with a new idea?

Don’t be constantly stuck in the middle of a decision. Then you are blocked.

If you’re stuck in too many middles, you get sliced up into bits of broken glass.

Your businesses implode, your relationships have to start back at zero. You vacillated and ended up with nothing. Congratulations.

G) No progress

You start your business. You launch your dating site. A few people sign up. But there’s no excitement. People stop signing up.

Traffic stays at a few dozen people a day. OK, no progress. You buy some Google ads. They sort of work. No progress. By the way, failure is not a stigma. It’s OK to fail.

Its just that having “no progress” might be an indication you need to move to another idea or business.

One business I once started didn’t seem to get any traction. I had no signups. Very few people were using it. Nobody cared.

I raised $1 million. But I was physically shaking the next day. My body was again telling me this was not going to work.

[My dating site for Twitter users was getting no signups.]

Nothing bad was happening. I just knew that no progress meant this business idea was not going to work.

I returned all the money. At first I felt like a failure. I failed “yet again!”

But ultimately returning the money on the eve of failure created much goodwill and led to greater success later. This is not about the success of one business or failure. This is about the success of you.

Even profitable companies sometimes have no progress and have to be rethought. This happened to me with my fund of hedge funds. This has happened to me with some podcasts I have started. This has happened to me with books I started writing, even when I was 200 pages in.

But “no progress” is ultimately a great signal to take a step back, and even another step back, and go in a totally different direction.

Persistence will get you nowhere if you keep running into a wall.

H) Delusions

People start a business, and they think it’s the best geo-locator mobile dating discount app in the universe.

“It’s called ‘6th Circle’ because its a play on Foursquare and the sixth circle of Dante’s Inferno. We’re going to do five deals with major sidewalk companies in China to get the word out. The market is $18 billion in profits if we get everyone in Shanghai to pay 10 cents a day.”

Blah blah. Always look back. “Am I smoking crack?” “Am I smoking crack?” “Am I smoking crack?”

Every day check the ashtray. Is there crack in there? Delusions will keep you from making progress.

There is something called “optimism bias” but I call it “smoking crack bias.”

We always think the project we are doing is the BEST. We become delusional.

Then suddenly, no money, no friends, no more PR, and you’re on your bed smoking your last piece of crack hanging onto the lonely panties of the last hooker who left you by yourself, not even bothering to dress as she slammed the door on the way out. This is your mind on crack.

I) You fall backwards

You’re losing clients. Your best programmer quit. Your traffic is going down. Your girlfriend is not returning your calls. Your boss promoted someone over you.

Time to get creative now. You need to think out of the box. Again, this is just an obstacle. Not a failure.

Learn from it. Adjust.

Experience is curriculum. Always.

—

Consistently meeting ANY of the nine criteria above will prevent you from making $1 million.

And if you avoid these nine items, you will succeed. It may seem basic. Some people might answer, “Millionaires work 100 hours a day! Millionaires have 10 streams of income!”

I don’t know if that’s true. But I do know if you have some or all of these nine items working against you, then you WILL NOT make $1 million.

Be vigilant. Every morning ask if you are falling into these nine categories. Every afternoon. Every night.

Catch yourself when you first hit the obstacle. If you can clean the obstacles out, you’ll have success. Guaranteed.

How do you build the inner strength to avoid these nine obstacles to making $1 million?

Focus on these four items every day:

Physical health: Eat, move, sleep well.

Emotional health: Avoid toxic people. Be around people who you love and who love you.

Creative health: Write down 10 ideas a day. Exercise the idea muscle. Within six months you will be like a super hero. An idea machine.

Spiritual health: Every day, never obsess over the things you can’t control. This saves enormous energy.

TRUST that this daily practice works. It works for me.

I finally stopped going through this painful, depressing, unrelenting cycle.

I started a business that built up to millions in profits. I started doing more and more of the things I love rather than giving up on things I love to do more of the things I hated.

I started being honest with myself about what was costing me energy.

I made better friends. I fell in love. I exercise the idea muscle every day.

Sometimes I get stressed, anxious, scared.

Sometimes I get doubts. Or I get a little too lazy. Or I get “smoking crack bias.” But then I get back to that daily practice and it works. And I see it work with other people.

Businesses might fail, relationships might not work out, your old boss will be stuck yelling at the dead pieces of meat that sit in his office sucking up to him.

But no longer can anything stop you from succeeding.

What do you think?

New Step By Step Map For New Houses For Sale Dublin

CHAPTER 6: THE CLIENTS CHAPTER 3: LICENSING Just how do you create matters? You get the condition involved! At different occasions a week, then you are going to receive a couple 2 hour stints answering your telephone number. The point is the fact that customers will call in looking for an agent since they've a house they would like to get. I'd guess that that has happened the moment at the history of real estate. The majority calls into the old timers. If you should be fortunate enough to get you to definitely say they will use one to market their own house, you need to be aware of now that their house is worth far more than the one three doors down which is exactly the same. Exactly why? I don't understand. Maybe they're delusional. They're stupid. They're covetous. Maybe they're upside-down on the house. Perhaps they simply want the income. It's probably each one of the aforementioned. • Tuesday. In-house training, or "just how exactly to squander 3 stable hours of prime job period." • Automobile. They will pay for the vehicle! No, they still will not. If you're one of the very best two producers, and would be happy to put a god awful giant sticker over the sides and back of your own (correctly colored) automobile, they will cover a nominal amount to youpersonally. Why shouldn't they? It.

CHAPTER 8: "SUPPORT" (note quotation marks) All you have to do is get the telephone, tell the organization telephone number and their name and where they are looking. The irony? NOW it's cash back. I understand individuals who left on referrals than I did as a real estate agent, Take a look at the site here many occasions over. Naturally, there's a payment to be in the app, however, you didn't think that was liberated, did you? And to stay in "citizenship standing" you need to simply take ongoing education. CHAPTER 4: Costs FEES and FEES • Name label. Great news, the title tag is totally free. The bad thing, it's necessary for you to wear a name tag. Straight back after I had a real project, I knew a gentleman who'd consistently said "In case a man must wear a name tag during his job, he is not too profitable." They despise you. • Wednesday. "Twilight" spacious houses. This implies that your night is shot. This usually means that in the event that you have a person which wants to offer their house to $330,000 nevertheless, also you personally and everyone else understand that it wont fetch £250,000, then you inform them that you will set it to get his or her price tag, and after that slowly and gradually enable the purchase price decline when people laugh at the house. • Tip 1): There is a whole lot of funds currently being made from real real estate. It really is simply not likely to be all made by you. In fact, much of it is actually going to emerge FROM you. The real estate businesses themselves earn an obscene quantity of profit a part by screaming individuals through their "programs" and spitting them out using emptier pockets. CHAPTER 7: Your Daily Life AS a Real Estate Agent • Business cards. They are free! Very well, sort of. The most basic, crappy models are liberated, those that shout "I'm brand new for this!" You have to pay for, to find nice ones, using a picture, also you have to spend money on the picture. This is my own story. Don't let it change your mind if you want to enter the world of residential property estate. But I had a property agent tell me what a horrible idea that it had been and I went with my plan that is dumb. I'd a lovely Ford Mustang GT once I got this "job". I purchased it as I had been told that you need to take all of your clients over the area to see houses. Outside together with the sport car or truck, in with the Volvo station wagon (in the dreadful company colour, naturally.) As it turns out, no one wants to ride with their real estate agent; they want to follow you around. This will be for many good reasons: so they really are able to escape you whenever they need, so that they may talk about the houses without you hearing them (even though you are their trusted adviser)...oh, plus so they hate you. I miss that Mustang. CHAPTER 10: AFTERTHOUGHTS • Friday. Mailings, client hunting. • real estate agent fees make you the "real estate agent" trapdown. This may be the priciest trap you are ever going to hate donning. CHAPTER 1: SOME Fast Starter 'S TIPS Keep in mind, however, that you have 2 choices here: you can either become a Realtor or you can become a Realtor. It's true, you see that right. I'll make no conclusions regarding the worth of the organization, except to say that sitting through the most boring training ever nets you a tiny R pin. Almost nothing says I am a triumph much better compared to a pin using an R on it...right next to your name tag. • Cardkey. Now you need this to access into almost any house which is up for sale. It's true, it's necessary for you to cover it. Plus it can't be shipped by them; you require to drive 30 miles to pick it up. It really is weird to participate in a considerable financial project for someone you understand. They will use you to buy or sell a house, but no 1 wants you to know their personal business, so it's complicated. Your family and friends might need little favors, such as...they'll want all of their cash. Yes, seriously. I'd a comparative ask if I'd give back them all of my commission if they utilized me to buy a house. I dropped, and the request was the nail which secured my real-estate coffin closed. • Monday. Mandatory meetings and house excursions, all day. The assembly is futile, and that's the reason you'll rarely find old-timers there, they veer off after the very first house and end upward God-knows-where. They're probably in the pub. The excursion is pretty fun, though. You have to hear everybody complain of everything that they work with and what in those houses. You have to walk through a stranger's house and hear that your co-workers (proudly showing their name badges) criticize the homeowner's choices in everything. Examples: What exactly were believing with this carpeting? Have they ever cleaned this room? Wow, those are a few children in that picture. I can't believe they left Paxil AND Prozac . Their perfect broker is someone who's miserable and blessed, sitting down on a heap of money funds or a available line of charge, also simply needs something to keep them occupied. Then would be somebody who is unhappily married, sitting on a pile of cash or a available field of charge, and just needs something to keep them out of the house and far from their spouse. If you're not 1 of these 2, that's OK - you'll be taken by them. •The Multi-List System. You just can't be a real estate representative without even access to the MLS. It must be liberated? No. When I state "old-timers", I am speaking for the representatives which have been at office for more than a year. They are going to make eye contact at first mainly because they expect one to really be gone in a month or two and they don't desire to waste their time. When you have been there for 2 weeks, they'll start offering you the "possibility" to sit in their own receptive houses to allow these. What they're actually asking you to do is sit in a house for three hours that no 1 will visit, and basically sell it for these, to the off chance that you can receive a client out of it. When there aren't enough beginners in your office, they'll battle over your house-sitting attempts, and might even supply you with funds (do not get excited, so I am speaking around $20.) Get paid very first, I never did receive covered helping someone out. • Tip 3: Everybody you realize will soon feign support while questioning your choice along with making fun of you personally. I am significant, also you also also know that already. You have despised with, did you not? • Office Help. You are hated by them. That I met Travis, the very first day, he had been in the middle of the full-fledged hissy fit because some one had murdered his Cross pencil. As it is not like they all sell them pharmacies for a couple dollars, it is understandable. Yes, they are really sold by them . Even the hissy fit lasted one hour, and contained that our manager sending out a phone communication to each agent in the office to please return the pencil when they'd it. Travis kept a watch that one would use to send out these mailings. To get them, then you had to request the exact quantity. You will find 25 on the sheet and also you wouldn't have three sheets, if you were printing 68 labels. They hate you. Referral Position usually means which you have ceased the mill of trying to sell/buy houses. You eventually become inactive, but in the event you stage someone who wants to buy or sell a house for the property company, you obtain a percentage of their commission. • Mailings. I lucked out with Company Y, so they pay for mailings. This implies that they supply the marketing stuff plus also they pay the stamp for some amount to be sent out. A Rottweiler protected the database of all addresses you might send email to at our office, a man I'll phone Travis. Travis was tan with own hair, also then he was dressed as a 1970's JC Penny mannequin daily. I bet that his boy had been, although if he had been homosexual, idon't know. This provider that "hired" you will now send you to a training "college" (all these are companies that, to get a price tag, teach you all about the actual estate business and help you pass the condition required evaluation). This will be 2 weeks of lessons which have very little to do with the livelihood. • free of charge trips! 5 years from today, should you overcome work hours ALL your odds and sell whatever you buy close, you may possibly get a completely free excursion. Do not hold your own breath. I'm one man. Even the Realtor's Association is a conglomerate that has attorneys about the payroll. My brother in law is legal counsel...but that I still feel out-numbered. So you're going to see I describe real estate agents, not Realtors. Say goodbye to pleasure and leisure. Here's your own week: • Thursday. Nothing is demanded. This really is your weekend, love. Tend not to spend money, however, you don't have it. Property offices are list positions, therefore that it's simple to obtain an job interview. Avoid being overly anxious, because guess what? You are hired. This isn't an interview, it truly is a Peptalk. You inhale at the reception and could walk inand you are probably even now hired. You didn't think such a thing was liberated, did you really? Here is the rundown about charges: • Saturday. Mandatory teaching...all freaking day. Done with the mandatory 15 week instruction? Start out instruction that reproduces what they instructed you at the 1-5 week's training! Ethics rule #1 is "just find the listing." • Associations. The County Realtor Association. You have to join it. It charges dollars...each yr. Their State Realtor Affiliation. It's mandatory that you combine it. It charges money...each calendar year. The Nationwide Realtor Association. You have to combine it. It charges money...every yr. Join this company. Join that company. You are going to find even, and possibly a journal a trapdown. It is absolutely mandatory, and it all costs money. They have complimentary cookies in the meetings. • Your internet website. The organization has set a page up to you in their site, you need to fill it with futile things that no one cares about, like "resident of (our overall location) for umpteen decades" and Realtor and also "person in (Our County) realestate Club. Not one of this helps them or youpersonally, however, it does fill the webpage, even although no 1 can look at it. You're able to set a picture up there as well, if you don't ugly or hideously disfigured. • Evidence. Enormous signs, indicators, vinyl signs, metal signs for sale signs, open house signals. You have to have them, you have to cover these, and so they cost hundreds of bucks. CHAPTER 5: THE "Old Timers" I am sure it's totally different in YOUR area, however, plus they truly are suggesting the truth when they state so... You will be requested to basically alienate everyone else by begging for referrals, you understand and create situations embarrassing. Functions, church, school, the gymnasium - anywhere...that you require to be fishing for house buyers or house sellers. It's horribly awkward for those worried. Do not neglect to utilize the runciman snare that is small everywhere you move! • Sunday. No more football games, family picnics, etc.. because you need to sit in Open Houses. • Licensing. They will cover that class in the event you speak with a real estate firm before you Conerney Estate Agent choose the course and get licensed. Well, sort of. They will cover this, and then take the fee straight. Wait patiently, who's paid for this? Yes, you did. You didn't think that was liberated, did you? And keep in mind, exclamation points are used by prime producers! Tons of these! In whatever they do! Just an FYI. I suggest an FYI!!!! CHAPTER 9: "ETHICS" (note quotation marks) CHAPTER 2: THE Job Interview • Hint two: There is not any wages. Make certain you have money in the bank to eat and pay your bills for six months. And get started looking to get a occupation NOW. By the moment you get it, you are going to be from money. I landed a position at an organization 6 weeks and one day out of the day of my lay-off. When it was not for Unemployment, I would have now been surviving in a cardboard box awaiting for the real estate profession to blossom. • Computers. Do not know a computer? Do not stress, no one else does. I don't know just why, however everybody I worked with was horrible with any software that is technology-related. They needed help with all the computer, and the personal computer's were down using a virus of some type. There are regulations that say that while your licensing training is still occurring at a realestate office, which no 1 from that office may "amuse" you. Expect you'll get recruited. One of those instructors was a Company X manager also took a exceptional interest. He required me to open houses at costly homes during the weeks of training, introduced me to every one in any office, took me and took me out. The full time, he spoke about how Company Y (who'd delivered me into the practice) was horrible, and why Company X was much superior, and definitely the location for me. Ethical? No. Interesting? Sure. I went together with the organization that delivered me because it was the correct matter to really do.