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simsadventures · 4 years

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Duties: Chapter 1: The Naughty Prince

Summary: Thor is the oldest son of Odin, king of Asgard. He should be coronated a king, as his father is losing his powers, but Thor seems to care about one thing only: all the women in the court and outside of it. He needs to realise what being king means and that he has some duties he must fulfil.

Warnings: a/b/o dynamics, Medieval AU, implied smut, Thor is a piece of shit here, basically, historically inaccurate language (can’t seem to get a hang of it), no reader in this one, we will have to wait for that

Word Count: 1754

A/N: It’s finally here! So excited to share this story with you guys, even though I know that Thor does not have as much love here as Bucky. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This is just an introductory chapter, more action coming in future parts. If you’d like to see something happen in the future parts, let me know and I’ll see what I can do :) REBLOGS and COMMENTS are always welcomed :) xx

Series Masterlist __ Masterlist

The sound of laughter could be heard from Thor’s room. Loki, his brother, stood listening behind the closed door, trying to determine how many were in his brother’s room this time. So far he could count 3 women and Thor, although he could not be too sure about the number of women. Loki remembered all too clearly the last time he had to fetch his brother he thought it was only Thor and one woman, but when he entered his chambers, there were actually 4 beautiful girls laying spread on the furs, Thor in the middle of them.

Loki sighed heavily and knocked loudly, but no response came from behind the doors. He braced himself and knocked again, this time with more power so that his brother could hear him from the maze of laughter and whispers coming from the chambers. Still nothing. Loki regretted the day he was born, and with that thought, he opened the door. The sight in front of him disgusted him severely, and he was sure he would never get the image out of his brain.

His brother, the mighty Thor, the person who was likened to the God of Thunder, for his famous battles won with his worthy hammer, was now surrounded by tangled limbs of multiple women. Thor was on his back, and his body was sticky with some liquid- Loki presumed it was honey, and the women (Loki counted 5, that was a record) were sucking on his skin and laughing and giggling. Loki almost gagged at sight and turned around swiftly, wanting to do nothing more than to run away and never to return. But he had to deliver his father’s message, just like always.

“Loki, brother! I am delighted to see you! Have you come to join us this beautiful evening?” Thor was smirking, the Omegas around him still latched onto his skin.

“Firstly, it is already morning, my dearest brother. And secondly, I would rather cut off my own hand than to join you in bed. Anyway, I came here for our father sent me. He wishes to speak with you.”

“Ha! And he sent you to tell me? Don’t we have thralls anymore? Or guards? Does he have to send the prince to tell me that he would like to have a heart-to-heart with me? This is getting ridiculous, seriously.”

Loki rolled his eyes but refrained from comments. He knew it would be useless to say anything to his obviously drunk brother. Loki did not give his brother another look and walked out of his chambers. He was not too sure if Thor would follow, but Loki was sure of one thing. He was not returning to his rooms. Hopefully, ever again.

—-

It took another three hours for Thor to finally appear in front of his father’s office. He knew Odin would be there, he always was. He would think of all the great battle plans there, and when necessary, he would even hide there from the wrath of his wife, Queen Frigga. Odin loved his wife, but there were certain moments in marriage when he knew it would be better if he cleared away from her sight for some hours.

Thor had a smug smirk splayed on his handsome face as he knocked on his father’s private chambers. When he heard the silent “enter”, he threw open the door and waltzed in. Odin was sitting on his mahogany chair, facing away from Thor, scribbling something down.

“You wanted to see me, father?” Thor asked as he sat down on the nearest chair. But Odin did not answer. He kept to himself, which only made the ever impatient Alpha grunt.

“I think I shall come later, you are too busy, oh mighty Odin,” Thor said, picking on his nails, kicking his boots on his father’s desk. If only Thor cared a little more about his surroundings, he would feel that the atmosphere was growing thicker by the second. Odin, Alpha himself, might have been old, but he was still the king of his kingdom, and nobody, not even his son, would disrespect him.

The low growl that left Odin’s throat, however, did nothing to Thor, who still acted oblivious. It was when he dared to kick off the dirt from his boots on his father’s papers that Odin lost it. He abruptly stood up and grabbed the collar of Thor’s linen shirt in his fist, bringing Thor to his level. Odin’s eyes were glowing angrily, and for the first time in a long time, he did not have any funny comebacks to offer.

“Who do you think you are? Last time I checked, I am still the king of Asgard, and you’re still nothing more than a prince. How dare you disrespect me so? How dare you disrespect your whole family so?”

Thor wanted to roll his eyes at his father’s overdramatic behaviour, but he felt that it would not end well for him. “Does our family care for a little dirt on your table, father?”

Smack. The slap Odin delivered on his son’s cheek could be probably heard even outside of the chambers. “Quit speaking, you brat! What I mean is your constant orgies, or what should I call your encounters with multiple Betas and Omegas. The whole country knows of your activities, and it keeps putting a bad light on the whole family and the whole kingdom. It needs to stop immediately.”

“Father, you cannot be serious, I-“

“SILENCE! I have had enough of your constant replies. You’re the heir to the thrown, and still, you act as a farmer’s son. You have duties, Thor, which you obviously still do not realise, but they are here, lurking, and you can no longer ignore them. I solely wished to punish you by sending you to negotiation with Midgard, but that would be insufficient. If you wish to be the king, you will have to find a suitable Omega and marry her. Otherwise, I still have the power to pass the thrown to you brother, who, might I assure you, looks and acts more like a king than you ever have!”

This was an unexpected turn of events. Thor believed his father only wished to pester him for his behaviour, a thing he did quite often lately, but this seemed to be much more serious. And the image of marriage scared Thor more than any battlefield he ever had to fight on.

“But father, I thought you insisted on us finding our true mates? And I’m doing so by eliminating women from our kingdom. And I do it thoroughly,” Thor said with a smirk, remembering all the times he laid with women from his country, enjoying all they had to offer.

“Oh, I’m aware of your thoroughness, do not worry about that. My order stands, do not argue with me. You can go around the country, hell, I will speak to all our neighbouring kingdoms to ensure you could travel through them and maybe your mate resides somewhere behind our borders. I do not care. But true mate or not, you have 3 months to come back with the future queen on your arm. Do you understand?”

And Thor could do nothing more than to nod and walk out of the chambers with his head hanging between his shoulders. This had to be the worst day of his whole existence. He was sure of it.

—-

Thor was sitting in his chambers, thinking of his life’s decisions. He was suddenly very aware of every time his father called him to remind him of his duties, but he never (well, until now) took him seriously. He always felt like he was his father’s favourite and, therefore, could get away with much more than his brother. And it seemed to have been the case for a long time.

When the two brothers used to play, breaking something in the process, it was always Loki was punished more. And for the longest time, Loki was pulling tricks on everyone around him, trying to get at least some attention of his father. But that changed when he met his true mate, an Omega called Sif. She was a fierce worrier, despite her presentation and the moment Loki saw her, he was smitten. It took his lady a little longer, but now, after 2 years of being mated, they were inseparable.

They still did not produce any offsprings, enjoying their alone time, as they used to say. Thor would not admit this to anyone, especially not his brother, but he was sometimes jealous of what Loki found in Sif. Their love blossomed, they could count on each other, both in life and on the battlefield, and Thor had to admit that were they to become the King and the Queen, Asgard would thrive.

Thor sighed heavily and looked out of the window. He could see multiple Omegas in the gardens, and he recognised them as the women who were caught in his chambers earlier that morning. They were all looking his way, and they waved at him, smiling. But Thor could not reciprocate their smiles. His heart suddenly too heavy.

Growing up, he always thought he’d be the good son, the one his father could be proud of. But lately, he lost his way, and he was not sure whether, or how to turn his act around. He knew that he would have to do so, eventually, but the idea of marriage set a weird dread in his bones. He has slept with so many women during the last few months that he could not imagine being faithful to just one. And maybe if he didn’t marry his true mate, binding him to her, he wouldn’t have to be faithful.

An idea sparked in his mind, but as fast as it got there, Thor knew he should get rid of it. He thought of marrying the first girl that would stumble his way, letting go of the idea of true mates, the forever love, and all of that. But something deep inside him made him uneasy. He did not know where his mate was, or even if his mate existed, but the idea of some Omega, waiting for him to claim her and the disappointment coursing her veins when she would realise that he already claimed somebody else made him let go of this dream.

He would have to do as his father said, even if he hated the very thought of it with his whole being.

/Next Chapter >

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larrykozin · 7 years

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What’s wrong with the Mattress Industry? (everything)

Welcome to the Mattress & Furniture Revolution!

A GrassRoots effort is being spearheaded by the Furniture Chamber of Commerce to bring together Entrepreneurs and educate and empower Local Consumers to put a stop to the greed & corruption taking place in the Mattress Industry.

Becoming an expert on what is happening behind the scenes will empower you with all the ammunition you need, to educate your community on why a mattress should NEVER be purchased from a retail store. Knowledge is POWER and this POWER will enable you to increase your closing ratios and build long term relationships with every consumer in your community.

WallStreet Retailers and Name Brand Manufacturers are in bed with Media Moguls and Government Lobbyists, to confuse, frustrate and con consumers with the intent of extracting the maximum dollars from their hard earned wages. Their fiduciary responsibility, by definition is to the shareholders and NOT consumers, who they “claim” they want to help. get the best deal.

Unethical Practices

1). Price Guarantees: Just about every WallStreet Mattress Firm, BigBox Furniture Store and even smaller wannabe stores ALL Guarantee the Lowest Price and use various tricks, to make it sound like this is something real & valid. We have seen everything from double your money back, to your Mattress is FREE...if you can find for it less and many other scenarios. The problem is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to even find the same mattress at any other local store, due to the phenomenon of requiring manufacturers to sneakily change the names and disguise spec sheets, to eliminate price comparisons and protecting the profits of this unholy alliance, as described in the original premise.

2). Unethical Advertising: There are 2 main components of the WallStreet Firms practice unethical advertising. They stay in a very gray area, but are protected by special interests, lobbyists, who also coordinate with the MainStreamMedia Conglomerates, who want the BIG advertising dollars and turn their heads and take the money.

The most common display of unethical advertising, is to focus on the cheapest priced mattresses, say something that they could offer for $200 or $300, and make it seem that it is of very high quality, just to get you in the door. Salesmen are then taught a multitude of tricks and coercion, to subtly move the consumer to the $1000, $2000 or even $3000 price point. This tactic is known as bait & switch and governmental agencies turn their heads, since consumers have not complained enough (until now).

The second common way of unethical advertising is the utilization of the concept of “ON SALE”. Consumers are programmed into believing that buying something on SALE is better than buying it, when it is not on sale. Certainly, on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you can find “real” sales, however, the Retail Mattress Business is notorious for having SALES, every single day….yes, they run sales 365 days per year and use this unethical practice to exploit consumers to purchase now or leave a deposit, since the “sale will be over tomorrow”. This leads into the next area of Unethical Practices.

3). High Pressure, Deception, Insincere Community Outreach & Lying: The unethical advertising practices feed into the training and brainwashing of mattress salesmen, who are probably good people at heart, but need a high paying job to support their families and are forced to compromise their values for the almighty buck and to avoid being fired. Mattress salesmen, have a fear of being fired daily, incumbent on their closing ratios and profit ratios. If they let customers walk out, without buying or leaving a deposit or they do not sell the correct percentage of $2000+ mattresses, they will be shown the door and replaced by the next guy (please note, I use the term salesman over salesperson, since over 90% of the top mattress salespeople are men, although we have met some women, that are just as devious and evil, in how they take advantage of customers).

In terms of the Mattress Revolution, the salesmen are taught psychological warfare and we have received their training manuals, from disgruntled employees that came on board with us. Upon analyzation of the materials, in the simplest terms, the most important part of the equation is to use insincerity to become a good friend of the consumer (even though they are taught the consumer is actually their adversary). We know it is insincere, since the salesman knows unequivocally that they cannot give the consumer the lowest price, that their price guarantee is bogus and they will resort to coercion, guilt, or outright lying, if they feel the sale is slipping away, and this is not how you treat a real friend. Since the training manual is in writing, the high priced lawyers worded things in a way to avoid liability, but the pressure and verbal training conducted by managers leave no room for misinterpretation and the salesman will be fired, if they are not able to extract cash, credit card or long term financing from a high percentage of every customer that walks through the door. I believe the pressure on the salesmen to perform is almost equal to the pressure they put on customers to buy now.

Employees, in many Firms, are also REQUIRED to volunteer time or something to a local cause to help boost their credibility in the community, but it is often done with resentment and half-hearted efforts, since the threat of dismissal is always over their heads, and the PR department over-exaggerates any good that is done to try to create false goodwill in the community.

Outright lying takes place, when the desperate salesman sees that the sales is just about lost and will promise things that they cannot honor and hope to wiggle out of at a later time. Also, to protect their profit margins, in the case of a consumer insisting on purchasing the promo mattress, since it would be in an extra room and rarely used, the salesman will claim that they are sold-out, as it is actually better to lose the sale completely than sell a promo mattress and hurt their profit numbers (and they actually can be fined, if they cannot bait & switch the consumer).

4). Misleading Sleep Guarantees: Medical Experts agree that the Bed Bug Epidemic in urban areas is fueled by illegal Black Market Sales of used mattresses. Companies like MattressFirm and hundreds of others have been caught in sting operations, selling used mattresses, as new and also re-wholesaling thousands of beds every week to disreputable liquidators, who flood the market with used mattresses. These mattresses were found to have human DNA, larvae, eggs and nasty bed bugs, that spread illness. The only reason why these Firms are selling the used mattresses, is due to their “Sleep Guarantee and Exchange Privileges” they incorporate, once again to trick consumers in paying too much for their mattresses.

Besides the health ramifications, let’s examine the financial and lifestyle ramifications of doing business with any company that offers a one time exchange privilege.

The first factor is the cost. WallStreet Firms are not stupid and they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with mathematicians (called actuaries) who crunch the numbers and figure out exactly the percentage of people that will elect to a one-time exchange and how much money they will lose in the transaction and then they add this amount (and more) to the cost paid by the consumer.

There are a number of fallacies associated with this exchange privilege. The most obvious it that it takes 4-6 months for a mattress to be “broken in”, yet the exchange period is generally 1-3 months, which means getting an exchange may be something you dislike even more, you paid more money and now you are in the same boat of frustration.

If you never tried to redeem an exchange, you would not be aware that this process can be and often is a nightmare. Fighting with managers who try to coerce you into keeping the mattress longer, total inconvenience in coordinating the logistics of the exchange and paying inflated prices for the new upgraded mattress, and even having to pay additional fees and costs that are buried in the fine print.

NOW HERE is the WORST PART

Over 50% of the people that received an exchange, were also dissatisfied with the replacement mattress and a high percentage regret even exchanging and you cannot exchange again.

Why is this true?

As previously discussed, mattress salesmen are known to lie and embellish during the selling process. In our aging society, millions of North Americans are experiencing pain, sleeplessness, anxiety and many other ailments. Certainly. A good mattress will help to not exacerbate any medical condition, but it is NOT going to heal anybody, so many consumers take the exchange, since their back, neck or legs are still hurting, so what happens is that another used bed is dumped into the Black Market, more money is paid, more frustration and inconvenience is incurred in the exchange process and the replacement mattress will NOT be any better in healing them or making them more comfortable.

I fully disclose these facts to my clients and use the analogy of a new pair of shoes. It takes a certain amount of time for them to break-in and over the months and years, they get more comfortable. The same is true for mattresses. I suggest they find something that they really like on my Showroom Floor, but in 4-6 months, they will absolutely love it and do not get sucked into the try-before-you-buy mattress, as it is a fallacy.

What Determines Prices

When you add up the costs of the raw materials that go into a mattress (cotton, foam, ticking, springs, stitching, glue, etc) and you add the cost of unskilled labor and factory employees, a high quality mattress may cost $100-$150 to produce. Memory foam costs even less, yet by the time it gets to the consumer, they end up paying anywhere from $1500-$4000 for a high end product.

Below is a broad overview of how manufacturers, retailers, media moguls and special interest groups formed an unholy alliance to usurp the hard earned money of consumers to feed the greed of the WallStreet Mattress Firms and Big Box Stores.

1). National Brand Awareness: Each name brand company spends tens of millions of dollars on name brand recognition, with many spending over $100,000,000 per year and gets added to the cost paid by consumers.

2). Retail Overhead: WallStreet is locking up the most expensive retail locations to capture walk-in business. In many larger markets the WallStreetFirms will open up stores within walking distance of each other, in an attempt to monopolize the market and drive competition out-of-business. Since the manufacturers are deliberately producing products that will deteriorate quicker and quicker, at any given time, 10-20% of the entire population is in the market for a new mattress and people are impulsive. So even though, each store may be paying $20,000 or more per month in rent, these costs are added to the price the consumer pays and it only takes less than one mattress sale per day to cover the rent and everything else is gravy for them. Stores that do not sell at least 30-50 mattresses per month are eventually closed up and the personal fired or moved to another location. As an example, just in the Chicago market, MattressFirm alone has over 200 stores.

3). Tradition Local Advertising: We have already discussed the unethical advertising practices of WallStreet Mattress Firms, but let’s now examine the amount of money spent on local advertising (this is on top of the hundreds of millions spent each year National Brand awareness advertising by the manufacturers). Typically, the formula is to spend 10-15% of monthly sales on local advertising and this cost is passed on to a consumer. So a store doing $200,000 per month in sales (about 5 mattresses per day), they must recoup $20,000-$30,000 back from consumers to cover this expense.

4). Specialty Advertising: Capitalizing on the Baby Boomer phenomenon, additional advertising is targeting seniors with health issues, and giving them false hope that a mattress or electric adjustable bed will heal their ailments. Certainly, a great mattress or an adjustable bed, can bring great relief and comfort, but targeting these folks and gauging them for higher prices, we find repulsive and despicable.

5). Fallacy of Internet Pricing: We know that Amazon and other Internet sellers of mattresses are having a hard time cracking the 10% mark, as 90% of people would rather pay more and try a mattress locally first. Let’s say, however, that Amazon had a level playing field like they have with Electronics, Dog Food, Books and most other items that you can shop locally and then save money buying online. Amazon does not actually sell mattresses. They rent their platform for top dollar...15%, the maximum a retail store pays for advertising and entrepreneurs that try to sell mattresses on Amazon have to add in very expensive logistics costs, since shipping a mattress LTL could cost more than the actual cost of the mattress. Some e-tailers carved out a niche of selling blocks of foam online at reasonable costs, since they compress them in a little box and can ship cheap. HOWEVER, they are selling cheap, inferior goods to unwary consumers who want an alternative to walking into a retail den of thieves.

6). Employee Costs: One of the biggest expenses borne by WallStreet Mattress Firms is the cost of Employees and we are not just talking about salaries and commissions. Besides the floor sales staff, there are many different levels of managers, warehouse personnel, delivery drivers, human resource, credit managers, administration, customer service and on and on. Regulations are ever changing on benefits, insurance, sick pay, etc. Many employees have a conscience, and when they begin to have trouble sleeping themselves, due to the unethical practices they are perpetrating, they always have their eyes open for a more ethical occupation, and the regular firing of salesmen that are not able to extract the required sales minimum, create a revolving door of turnover and an incredible cost of doing business. Millions of dollars are spent annually, just on training new employees at some WallStreet Firms.

Of course, just like everything else discussed, all of these costs are passed on to the consumer and then bumped up as much as possible on top of that to satisfy the unfathomless greed of their officers and shareholders. Another issue with employees is that they STEAL. Their best salesman are thieves by definition and often get away with selling mattresses for cash out the back door and other creative strategies of illegal behavior. Warehouse personnel also steal, and all these losses are passed on to the consumer.

PerfectDreamer Solutions

Before we empower you with all the solutions PerfectDreamer Mattress has for consumers, let’s begin with an important discussion on the topic of:

Name Brand Fallacy

Companies like Serta, Sealy, Spring Air and Simmons have each been around over 100 years and have maintained an illusion of Identity that is really smoke & mirrors.

So a consumer might ask, “who makes a better mattress, Simmons or Serta”? The fact is that both companies are owned by the same WallStreet Venture Capital Firm, and are made in the same factories, by the same employees and utilize the same materials. These companies do not even manufacture the spring systems or produce the raw materials...they all buy components from the same WallStreet Firm, Legget & Platt, which is currently trading at over $45 per share on the New York Stock Exchange and product designers make slight variations of different components to develop cheap mattresses, mid-level mattress, good mattresses and top-of-line mattresses. In reality, the Brand Name is completely irrelevant and has absolutely no bearing on being good or no good.

With that being said, as iDealFurniture expanded their distribution and manufacturers started seeing that the Retail Model is on the decline in so many industries, despite the threats and protestations of the WallStreet Mattress Firms, one innovative company, Spring Air, the 5th largest Mattress manufacturer in America, decided to support the Local Entrepreneur and the PerfectDreamer iDealist line became a reality.

The PerfectDreamer iDealist line is EXACTLY the same as the Spring Air line. Same exact materials, same employees, same factory and even delivered on the same trucks as Spring Air. The only difference is the label, the cost and the enhanced warranty. At PerfectDreamer we do not spend a single penny on National Name Brand Advertising and we only sell through Authorized Independent Owner Operators and Dealers, and tremendous savings are realized by the consumer, based on all the other topics we previously discussed. We also have added our exclusive Lifetime Warranty, which includes a substantial period of absolutely NO CHARGE for service.

PERFECTDREAMER MATTRESS ADVANTAGES

1). No Local or National Traditional Advertising

2). No Name Brand Misleading Labels

3). No Inflated prices for Exchanges~No Used Mattresses

4). No Bait & Switch~No Unethical Advertising or Sales

5). No Employees~Saves Clients hundreds of Dollars

6). No High Retail Overhead

7). Deal with Owner~Support Local Community

If all things were equal and a PerfectDreamer Mattress was the same exact cost, as what they sell at the WallStreet Mattress Firm, we believe that most people would still rather support their Local Economy, than a WallStreet or Foreign Firm (in fact MattressFirm was recently sold for billions of dollars to a foreign company). BUT, our prices are substantially less (see comparison chart below).

The Mattress Industry is over $100 Billion just in North America and the way they are making them to wear out faster, that number is going up annually. We are at a Turning Point and getting close to a Tipping Point, of eliminating the cancerous, greedy Mattress Firms from our society...we are seeing so much change in this NewEconomy and based on the tremendous efforts of the Furniture Chamber of Commerce, Local Entrepreneurs and the masses of consumers who are sick and tired of being lied to and taken advantage of, the time is nye for their demise.

All we need to do is be be bold, get the word out, build our Teams and educate consumers and furnitureBROKERs to get involved in this Crusade and take back the profits that WallStreet Mattress Firms are stealing from the Public.

Please review the PerfectDreamer Mattress Comparison Chart, as the better quality iDealists are where you want to focus your sales efforts. Selling promo mattresses is not suggested. The profits are low and you are actually doing a disservice to your client, if you do not educate them properly. NEVER PAY RETAIL AGAIN & JOIN the REVOLUTION

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