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pixelfun20 · 4 years

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Flower Fields: Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Notes: Again, all credit to @give-grian-rights (hope you don’t mind the tag!) for the concept! Thank you so much! Also almost forgot to post this on Tumblr rip.

No fighting wars, no ringing chimes

We're just feeling fine

Tubbo started out by building his starter base.

It was a concept he’d learned about while living with Xisuma, and it was quite a good one, too. After all, megabases worthy of Hermitcraft’s admittedly lofty standards often took months to build, and he’d need somewhere to live in the meantime. In Season 6, he’d neglected that fact, and had suffered his fair share of mob deaths before he put up four walls and a ceiling to protect himself, back when he’d left to live on his own. And that was with a small, quickly-thrown together base, not the project he was currently planning.

Still, even setting up the basics of his starter base took a few nearly sleepless days. Finally, the framework for the build, a treehouse spanning more than a few trees at the edge of the forest, was up, and Tubbo was finally able to place a bed down in safety and sleep for a solid fourteen hours straight.

Xisuma dropped by, quite literally, a day or so later.

Tubbo had been sitting in his quickly-expanding living room, sorting through the loot he’d gotten from yesterday’s day-long mining session when he swooped down through the half-finished roof. While he was still wearing his bee-themed armor, now there were two glider-like wings, shimmering purple, strapped to his back.

“Heya, X,” Tubbo greeted the admin with a wave, closing one of his chests. “You got elytra already?”

“Tango and I defeated the Ender Dragon yesterday,” Xisuma replied, touching down softly. Tubbo made an ‘ah’ sound, recalling the achievement he’d seen out of the corner of his eye the other day. Right; he’d forgotten about that. Trust X to be as efficient as possible and defeat one of the toughest monsters in the world just for the ease of travel.

“I’ll have to go endbusting soon, then,” he said, more to himself than X. Before the elder man could protest (ah, he was getting good at noticing when he was going to), he added: “Stress and xB have already asked me to go with them, so don’t worry , alright?”

“Good,” Xisuma sighed. “It’s never a good idea to go out on your own, especially since this’ll be your first time seriously exploring the End.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes good naturedly. To be fair, he hadn’t gone out to the End before it had been conquered before. He’d had a fair few trips last Season, mostly with X, but it was generally for the XP farm once it’d been set up. He’d never left the main island before. Now that he had considerably more freedom at the beginning of the Season, he was excited to go exploring.

“Anything bring you over?” He asked, changing the subject.

Xisuma nodded. “Yeah. A bunch of the others are getting together for some sort of wrestling tournament this weekend.”

“And I’ve been invited?!” He grinned, clapping his hands together.

“As the referee.”

“Ah,” he pouted. “Darn.”

“Don’t worry,” Xisuma chuckled, setting down a shulker box. “It can be a lot funner to watch sometimes; I’m just going to be part of the audience, too. I think Doc wanted you because he thinks he can bribe you.”

“He can not !”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow. “Area 77.”

“Oh, that’s not fair. I am completely unbiased!”

“And that was why you became their lawyer and not for all the cool experiments they had. I don’t think Cleo has forgiven you for defeating her in court.”

“No one can defeat Big Law,” Tubbo sniffed, faux-offended, and Xisuma laughed. “Well, I’ll show him!” He declared, crossing his arms. “I’ll just have to make sure he loses, then!” Xisuma blinked, and he laughed. “Kidding! Kidding!” Mostly .

“So you’re going?”

“Sure! It’s nice to see the Hermits all in one place, anyways. What’s in the shulker?”

Xisuma tilted his head teasingly. “What do you think? Someone had to get the supplies for our honey farm.”

Tubbo gaped. “You’re ready to build farms already?! Man, and I thought I was ahead of the game with just having my base halfway done.”

The armored man shrugged, looking about the partially completed build. “Well, you’ve certainly put more effort into this than me. Truly, your building skills are already improving. I love how you’re styling the roof with peaks like you are; it looks like it took a while.”

“My last house had a roof like that, too,” Tubbo reminded him, glancing up as well. It had become a tradition, of sorts, to build curved, peaked roofs onto his builds. Last season it had been one of the few things he’d built slowly to make look as good as possible. In all honesty, it was his own way of honoring the person who’d made it possible for him to come here, to have a life worth living once again. Rushing through the technique just felt disrespectful.

“Yes, but you’ve definitely gotten better.” Xisuma bent down over the shulker box, checking its contents. “Do you have any good ideas for where to make the bee farm? I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit too busy to scout out a good area.”

“Really? Then where’d you get these guys?”

“Tree farming in the desert.”

Tubbo snorted into his hand, and he could practically feel Xisuma’s embarrassment. “Well, you did say you hadn’t scouted out a good spot.”

“Indeed I did.”

“I can take a look around here and see what I can find. Meadows are supposed to be excellent places for farming bees, right?”

“Indeed it is,” Xisuma agreed. “Do you have plans for your megabase, yet?”

Tubbo nodded, grinning. “And trust me, it’s going to be awesome .”

............

Two days later, a chicken appeared in his base. Tubbo found it laying an egg in what was starting to become the base’s storage area, with one of his shirts nearly ripped to shreds in what appeared to be a makeshift nest.

There was a nametag wrapped around its leg. After some chicken wrangling and a few feathers to the face, he got a good look at it and realized there wasn’t a name written there, but a set of coordinates.

A set of coordinates rather far away, but who was he to turn down such an intriguing mystery?

With the chicken now renamed Wilbur and placed in a pen (he’d needed a chicken farm anyways), Tubbo set out that morning with a few supplies to find the spot he was looking for. After crossing a fair bit of forest and ocean, by the next day he’d found himself cutting his way through the underbrush of an overgrown jungle and wondering why in the world Stress had wanted to wait a week before going to get their elytra.

He pushed a few low-hanging vines out of the way, checking his communicator for the upteenth time. He was getting closer, now. This better be worth going out a few hundred chunks in the middle of nowhere—hey, wait a minute!

There was smoke in the distance. He could just make it out through the leaves, and now that he concentrated, he could smell it, too. Tubbo rushed forwards, pushing through the brush to see several man-made wooden pillars sticking out. As he pressed forwards, he made out a semi-stone floor, several chests, and a small fire in the middle, explaining the smoke.

“What is this?” He asked himself, looking around the place. The coordinates were right, and yet no one was here. Just this outpost in the middle of the jungle.

Tubbo walked around. There were some papers pinned to the wall, and a few dispensers lying around. Idly he pressed the buttons on them, already starting to form a plan to enact revenge on whoever made him travel over a day to get this place.

He pressed the button on the dispenser in the middle of the build and nearly got an arrow to the face.

Tubbo yelped, his reflexes, honed from a half year of training, the only thing saving him from a sudden death. A bell rang behind him, but it took him a few more moments to calm his racing heart.

“Not funny! You nearly took my head off!” He shouted to the jungle. Still, he didn’t leave, instead turning to the bell the arrow had his, examining it. Huh.

There were some cookies in one of the chests, probably left behind by whoever had actually built the place. He nibbled on it, only half hungry, as he tried to examine the place better.

“HERMIT CHALLENGES!”

Tubbo shrieked , dropping the remains of his cookie as the voice rang through the forest air. He looked around, trying to find the source, but found that he couldn’t.

“INITIATION!”

A diamond-clad figure dropped out of the vines above, landing with a firm thud on one of the ground dispensers. He nearly lost his balance before righting himself with a huff.

“Mumbo!” Tubbo exclaimed, a little annoyed but mostly impressed.

“INITIATION!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “HERMIT CHALLENGES! YOU ARE BEING INDUCTED.”

“How long have you been up there?! It took me over a day to get here.”

“No matter, Mr. Tubbo! Congratulations! You’re in!”

“...Thanks?”

“Of course, my friend! You have been inducted into Hermit Challenges! Of course, you could have eaten the entire cookie—” he glanced down at the crumbs at Tubbo’s feet. “But besides that you have acted perfectly.”

“Wait, what is Hermit Challenges?” Tubbo asked, blinking. What? This version of Mumbo was almost nothing like the Mumbo he’d seen at Spawn a mere week and a half ago. Who used chickens to deliver messages? Or perch in a tree for supposed hours on end?

Okay, he had to admit, that last one was pretty funny.

“Oh, it’s a game I’ve made up,” Mumbo continued. “Iskall and I have already had a go at it, and I figured I’d invite you next.”

“...Alright, then. How do I play?”

“It’s simple! Write down three challenges and put them in the dispenser. Then we’ll pick one at random from each other.”

Mumbo reached into one of the chests on the ground, taking out a sheath of paper and passing three to him with a pen. Tubbo looked at him, and Mumbo grinned.

“Go on! I’m sure you’ll have something fun in that head of yours.”

Ah, he was right. Tubbo gave in with a smile, leaning back and thinking briefly about what he wanted to challenge Mumbo. A few ideas came to mind, and he quickly scribbled them down, pushing them into one of the two dispensers on the side of the small build, Mumbo doing the same.

“Alright, then!” Mumbo announced with a smile. “You go first.”

Tubbo stepped towards Mumbo’s dispenser and clicked the button, causing a slip of paper to slide out. He unrolled it, then read it out loud.

“‘Steal everyone’s front doors for the rest of the season.’ What? The whole season?!”

Mumbo laughed. “Oh, that one! Man, you got the hardest one from me!”

“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you’ll get from me.”

“We’ll see,” Mumbo said with a chuckle. He moved across the platform, and pressed the button the dispenser Tubbo had put his challenges in. The dispenser whirred, and then another slip of paper popped out. Mambo picked it up and read off of it, face contorting as he did so. “...‘Act like you don’t believe in the moon for the next two weeks, and claim the sky is a hologram put up by the SCA (Secret Chickens Agency) to keep us from seeing the real overlords- the sky chickens.’ What?”

Tubbo snickered at that, covering his mouth with one hand. Oh, he was proud of that one.

“No, seriously, this is awfully specific.”

“What? It’s funny!”

“Funny for you!” But Mumbo was smiling, and Tubbo grinned back at him.

“I’m going to be having a fun few weeks,” he giggled.

“So am I,” Mumbo agreed with a raised eyebrow, tucking the slip of paper away. He clapped Tubbo’s shoulder. “I suppose I’ll have to make up a good story to go with this prompt.”

“And I have some doors to steal!” Tubbo laughed.

“Whoever gets the first complaint in chat wins?”

“You’re on!”

#tubbo #tubbolive #hermitcraft #mcyt #xisumavoid #mumbo jumbo #hermit challenges #fluff #Hermit!Tubbo AU #watcher!tubbo #it took me like a month but hey I updated

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endlessdoom · 3 years

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Abyssal Speedmapping Session #10

By various authors led by Obsidian

10 maps

2014

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/abyspe10

MAP01: Dirge of the Blighted Ovum by Obsidian

The introduction to this new project throws us into a small, compact map that seems reminiscent of fireblu but in a more attractive way. The glitched visuals and the use of two-color textures remind me of Tron, creating an interesting environment that matches the square box architecture. With only a handful of monsters, the action unfolds quickly in effective single combat that works to keep us on our toes. With no secrets or further exploration, this map works effectively without needing to be extremely complex or bombastic. A solid example of a good introduction. 3/5

MAP02: Tyson Fun! by Darsycho

As short as the previous one but with a simpler style and more adaptable to the eyes. This is a classic map in terms of structure and design, without major revolutions or anything special to offer. The title indicates that it is designed for Tyson, but if we bring the shotgun from the previous map it is slightly faster, although doing it in Tyson is balanced enough to offer a good minute of fun. The combat is simple and the layout understandable, go left and then right and that's it, you have completed it. It's not bad, but it's not great either, it's just average. 3/5

MAP03: Jimmy Has An Essay Due Tomorrow But Instead He's Speedmapping With These Assholes by Jimmy

Jimmy is considered a master of the art of speedmapping, and here we can see that even in his early days he was able to handle the concept in a theatrical and fantastic way. This is a medium sized map with a more practical and classic design that shows us an interesting facet of the project. With simple but attractive visuals and a decent queue of enemies, the map follows half-traditional routes that create an environment quite attractive and entertaining to play, as well as slightly challenging at times. While my enjoyment was being quite high due to the map's great length, it is interrupted with a stupid exit at the end of the map that I still don't understand exactly how to overcome. A dozen Archies on top of you and I don't know what the fuck to do. Mind you, this is a common thing in A.S.S. so, anyway, how's that? 3/5

MAP04: Nazi Tittyflake Tornadoes by Unholypimpin

Such an extravagant title brings with it a map that is relatively simple. This map has an air of shovelware shit, and for some reason that gives me a charismatic charm that makes me feel graceful. It's a simple, straightforward map with no major problems or bugs. On the outside it looks pretty simple but as we go deeper we find some pretty hellish and rusty textures that remind me of Silent Hill, as well as a bunch of blue Nazi sergeants ready to attack us and a few more surprises involving Cyberdemons and a few little spiders. Not bad, very enjoyable and for some reason I can't get out of my head that feeling that I just played a hidden gem of shovelware from the 90s. That's good in my book! 3/5

MAP05: Cookies 'n Wine by ClonedPickle

Fairly square and open in the beginning, presenting a simple layout with bland combat without much complication. The map then changes to cave-like interiors and launches us into an adventure of hunting spectres and so on. It ends with an obligatory death-exit, in my opinion, and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a fairly simple map that is not complicated at all and follows a somewhat boring system at times. With quite simple visuals and without much work, it is probably one of the most mediocre of the WAD. 2/5

MAP06: Spatterblue 2: Mosh Galosh by Alfonzo

It is hard to believe that this map is a speedmap, but the truth is that it contains certain features that give it that air, but above all, it overcomes the restrictions and works perfectly well under its limits. The blue visual theme and the compact but excellent way of creating a well designed circuit layout make this a very enjoyable and challenging map under its own justifiable terms. It is fast, intense and has a good flow with no bugs or major problems. Even the little secrets feel like they blend perfectly under the established system. It may be quite small, but it's so much fun that it's among my favorites of this session. Pretty cool and done as it should be. Speedmapping done right! 4/5

MAP07: Industrial Butt Scream by Rottking

If you like Quake, this map will give you a good game. Quite brown, enclosed and with an industrial feel. Designed with a system based on a block layout, the map is simple in its flow but has enough touches to make it entertaining, attractive and fun in gameplay and action. Without major complications and with a basic closed layout. Not bad at all! 3/5

MAP08: Alfonzo and Gary Oldman Visit The Museum of Social Decay! by Tarnsman

Oh oh, I hope you like fireblu and pain. This map has a style that reminds me of the first one, but it opens its limits and shows us a more bloody and intense frontier. Plenty of chaingunners serve as the main appetizer, but things get even fatter when we're thrown into an insane room with dozens of archies and a Cyberdemon for company. With a super simple and compact layout, the real juice of this map is centered on its atrocious yet cool gameplay. A bit bland visually at times but interesting and engaging. 3/5

MAP09: Avoid by General Rainbow Bacon

More blue and red but in a style that reminds me of a dungeon. This dark map establishes an eerie atmosphere thanks to the silence and anticipation, but ends up being a traditional map with a few explosive surprises near the end. Simple, without much to offer and quite short. Not bad, not good. Decent. 3/5

MAP10: Half-Assed Fun! by Darsycho

The title gives us an idea of the type of map it is. Half finished, half fucked up, but decent by its own standards. Dark and full of Spectres, the real fun of the map lies in the BFG spamming and the pile of monsters we have to kill. Difficulty is almost nil, aside from the first room that features some fun combat, after that it's just point-and-click or fire-and-forget. I guess it's entertaining enough under ASS's own characteristics to say it does a good enough job. But it's meh in my opinion. 2/5

End.

Overall:

» Ah, speedmapping. We all love it, we all hate it. An art as old as the history of WADs itself, and one that has proven to bring with it both the worst mappers in history and the best. It's a difficult technique to acquire, but one that with time and practice can yield fantastic results. The very idea of limiting ourselves to a certain set time can be detrimental at worst, but at best, when we give the tools to an artist looking for a challenge, masterful work can result. Here we have a group of illustrious intellectuals who have come together to form a cooperation that is as unique as it is discordant. One where love and hate mix to enjoy one single thing: creating maps. Abyssal Speedmapping Sessions is all about speed, asses and Alfonzo. So, let's dive into this hole and see how deep it goes. After a somewhat long break from the first sessions, I suddenly had the urge to return to this iconic series that from time to time hides more than a few gems, or a total disaster. Luckily, session #10 seems to be a good balance between shitposting and good map design. Very entertaining maps, indeed! Mappers had the option to choose 3 textures from: Erratic Texture Pack 1, DrDoctor Texture Pack and Marcaek's Super Special FIREBLU Ensemble! So most of the maps are quite simple to look at but contain enough touches to establish a good visual rhythm. Considering there are no stock textures, that alone gives it some appeal. Especially striking are the fireblu textures, which create a rather techy atmosphere that reminds me of the original Tron movie. A certain visual touch, from a couple of colors that manage to create enough depth to establish a sense of place. Not all maps are entirely blue with red, and there are a few surprises that turn the color around and bring attractive designs. Quake-inspired maps and some that look like sapphires to boot. Undoubtedly, even if most of the maps have a rather simple and plain layout, no map is truly ugly and some even stand out for having a solid visual quality. The sessions stand out for being crazy gameplay as well. It's often hard to balance something if you have a time limit, especially if it's only two hours, but the guys here know what they're doing... mostly. Most of the maps throw you right into the action, trying to create a tactical feeling that tells you how to move and at the same time how to fight. The maps aren't fucking difficult but maintain a solid and balanced challenge that welcomes all types of players, in my opinion. While certain combat can feel a bit simple at times, overall, each map brings something different to the table and creates a nice variety of treats to try.

#doom #wad #review #gaming #doom 2

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loosescrewslefty · 4 years

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Squeaking By

Ever since she got her Miraculous, Marinette had picked up more than one peculiar habits.

This wasn’t a side effect, or something to do with the miraculous itself. Instead, it mostly had to do with the fact that she now had a near constant companion in Mullo, her sweet, shy and soft spoken kwami. Marinette adored the little immortal mouse. When she was nearly blinded by panic at the idea of going up against supervillains and protecting the citizens of Paris from the wrath of the man who was abusing the Ladybug Miraculous’ power as he scoured Paris for the Ring of the Black Cat, which had been lost during the invasion of Paris during WWII, Mullo’s calm, quiet confidence in her had been the only thing that gave her the courage to jump into the fray.

She absolutely trusted her kwami’s wisdom and judgement, and she wanted Mullo to feel as comfortable as possible as the two of them worked together to help Fu stop Scarab, and find all the Miraculouses that had been lost and scattered to the wind. And that desire lead to Marinette changing a few small things about her day to day life. Loud noises were kept to a minimum now, since Mullo preferred the quiet. Marinette now had an extensive collection of puzzles and little brain teasers, because Mullo enjoyed the challenge of them. And peanut butter cookies now had a strange habit of mysteriously vanishing from the bakery and finding themselves in Marinette’s room.

And there were other ways Mullo’s influence affected Marinette too.

Marinette wasn’t always fully aware of these influences, unfortunately. Because of that, they tended to come to her attention when other people noticed them, which could be a little bit embarrassing sometimes. Especially when Marinette wasn’t expecting it and it was the guy she had a crush on who noticed.

Which, of course, was exactly what happened.

“Marinette!”

Glancing up from her sketchbook, Marinette smiled when she saw Rose and Juleka approaching her, looking excited about something.

“Hey, guys! What’s up?” She asked as she closed her book to give her friends her full attention.

“You won’t believe what happened to us! It’s so amazing!” Rose said, almost bouncing in excitement. Next to her, Juleka was flushed pink with a wide smile. Marinette actually DID have a pretty good idea of why her friend was so excited, but she wasn’t going to rob Rose of the chance to spread the good news to others herself.

“What happened?” She asked, doing her best to look innocently curious and NOT like she had any hand at all in her friend’s glee.

“Kitty Section’s opening up for Clara Nightingale at the May Music Festival!!!” Rose almost screamed before dissolving into a fit of giggles. “And Multimouse is the one who recommended us to her! We’re one of Multimouse’s favorite bands! I can’t believe a superhero is one of our fans! Isn’t that amazing?!”

“Totally cool!”Juleka agreed at her side, looking more excited than Marinette had ever seen her quiet goth friend.

“That’s great!” Marinette said with a wide grin. “Congratulations, you guys! Kitty Section totally deserves this, you guys are all so talented,” Her friends both practically glowed at the praise, and Marinette felt a swell of happiness at seeing the pair so excited. Especially when she caught sight of Mylene giving a surprised laugh as Ivan swept her up into a hug and literally spin the both of them around as the small girl giggled breathlessly about getting dizzy. She was happy she could play a role in giving her friends this chance, and she was sure they would knock everyone’s socks off when the big night came.

“Thanks, Marinette! That means so much, coming from you!” Rose said, looking giddy. Marinette blinked a little at that.

“...Coming from me?” She repeated, a little confused. Why would her opinion matter so much to her friends?

“Well, you see, we actually wanted to ask you something…” Rose explained, fidgeting slightly, “See, Clara is actually gave us a budget so we could get the things we need for the show, and we were wondering if we could commission you to make us some costumes for our performance. But only if you’re not too busy! I know Lila mentioned that you’ve been designing for some contest and said we shouldn’t bother you earlier this week when we were talking about going to the movies, and I don’t want you burning out or anything!” Marinette frowned a little. So Lila was taking advantage of her friends attempts to be considerate to justify excluding Marinette from group activities as well as taking advantage of them so they’d wait on the little liar hand and foot, was she?

“Lila must have... heard wrong,” she said, biting back the temptation to accuse her of intentionally lying again. Her friends were happy right now, and she didn’t want to ruin that for them. She knew even if Rose and Juleka did ask, Lila would turn this into another he said/she said thing by claiming she heard it from someone else and Marinette had no evidence of Lila’s true nature to warn her friends away. “I’m not doing any contests right now, and I’d love to help Kitty Section make costumes.”

“THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOOOOOU!!!” Rose said, grappling Marinette into a spine shattering hug. “Oh, this is going to be so INCREDIBLE! Your designs are always the best, Marinette!”

“It’s no problem, Rose. I’m always happy to help,” Marinette told the blonde once she’d freed herself from the other girl’s vice grip and regained the oxygen her lungs had lost. “Is there a theme to the concert?”

“Midnight in Paris!” Rose told her, grinning widely. “Clara showed us the designs for it, and it’s going to look so romantic!”

“It’s awesome,” Juleka agreed, grinning. “All dark, with smoke and candles and stuff.”

“We can do something like that, with Kitty Section’s image and sound,” Marinette said, the creative wheels in her head starting to spin, “a kind of Phantom of the Opera sort of look. Rose, we can put you in a punked out ball gown, and Juleka can wear a tuxedo dress. Maybe Ivan and Luka can wear capes…!”

Fully lost in a cloud of inspiration now, Marinette flipped her sketchbook back open and began putting pencil to paper, sketching out rough concepts of the image she had begun to form in her head. Rose and Juleka eagerly took up seats on either side of her to watch over her shoulder as an image began to take shape under her pencil.

She didn’t know how long she sat like that, only half in reality and listening to Rose and Juleka give suggestions or excitedly praise the design details they liked while the rest of her sank further into the creative bliss. In fact, Marinette was so caught up in designing that it took her a minute to register the sound of someone chuckling in front of her. Blinking out of her daze, Marinette brought herself out of her head to focus on her surroundings once more, glancing up to see who was laughing.

And then promptly freezing in shock at the sight of Adrien Agreste’s green eyes less than a hand’s width away from her face.

Yelping in shock, Marinette flailed to put some distance between her and the model, but just ended up throwing off her balance and nearly falling into the rosebush planted behind the bench she’d been sitting on instead. Luckily, Juleka caught her before she had a VERY uncomfortable encounter with the thorn-covered plant, but unfortunately Adrien was standing right there and witnessed the entire thing.

Quick! Distract him from your total lack of grace! Say something!!! “Adrien! How you be?!” Marinette babbled out helplessly, cringing a little and screaming inside as Rose and Juleka shot her sympathetic looks.

“Oh, hey Marinette! Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to see what you were working on,”

“Marinette is making Kitty Section’s costumes for the May Music Festival!” Rose told the model happily. “We’re opening up for Clara Nightingale.”

“Seriously? Wow, that’s incredible! Congratulations, guys!” Adrien said, turning to give Marinette a grin and a cheeky wink. “You guys are gonna look AND sound amazing! I can’t wait to see you perform!” Marinette was in danger of passing out from all the blood that rushed to her face at her crush’s praise.

“W-what were you laughing about, anyways?” Marinette asked, suddenly remembering what had distracted her from her drawing and fearing the worse, “is there something weird about one of my designs?”

“What? Oh! NO! It wasn’t your designs, I swear!” Adrien reassured her quickly, looking a little self conscious. “I just thought it was cute that you kept making little squeaking sounds, actually.”

...What?

“Squeaking sounds?” Marinette repeated, perplexed. She turned to Rose and Juleka to see if they knew what Adrien was talking about, but found them both studiously avoiding her eye.

“Yeah. You kept making these cute little squeaks. Kinda like a happy hamster or something,” Adrien told her. Marinette gaped at him, mouth opening and closing soundlessly as she tried to process what he was saying. “Anyways, I’d better get going. Gorilla’s gonna start looking for me soon. Tell Kitty Section to break a leg for me!” and, with that, Adrien was off, oblivious to the fact that he had just tilted Marinette’s entire world on its axis.

“Wow, Marinette! You did a lot better that time!” Rose praised her. “Most of your sentences were completely coherent!”

“...Do I squeak?” Marinette asked her friends.

“Erm, sorry, what?”

“Do. I. Squeak?” Marinette repeated, already dreading the response she knew she was going to get. Sure enough, Rose and Juleka exchanged looks that told Marinette all she needed to know, and she buried her face in her sketchbook with a wail of dismay.

“You don’t do it all the time! Just when you’re happy!” Rose assured her hastily. “We didn’t want to say anything because we didn’t want you to feel self conscious about it. Right, Juleka?”

“It’s cute,” Juleka assured Marinette quickly at Rose’s prompting. Rose nodded aggressively in agreement.

“Adrien probably thinks I’m a nutcase!” Marinette moaned, curling into a ball.

“No he doesn’t! He even said he thought it was cute too!”

“What if he was just saying that to be nice? He was laughing at me about it!” Marinette said, curling further in on herself. Rose and Juleka exchanged uneasy looks, clearly stuck on how to make their friend feel better. Marinette gave a sigh, feeling a bit guilty for dumping her baggage on the two when they just wanted to be excited about the amazing opportunity that they had. Composing herself as best as she could, Marinette collected all her things and put them in her bag, giving her worried friends the closest thing to a smile that she could manage. “I think maybe I should head back home now. I’ll focus better in my own room. I’ll show you the first drafts for your costume designs tomorrow at school, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks again for helping out, Marinette!” Rose said as Juleka waved at her quietly. Marinette nodded at the pair before making a break for it, heading back home as quickly as she could manage without superpowers. She nodded absently at her parents when they greeted her in the bakery on her way up to her room, but didn’t stop and speak to anyone. Then, as soon as the trap door was shut, Marinette collapsed into a lump on the floor, moaning loudly in humiliation and self-pity.

Away from prying eyes, Mullo flew out of Marinette’s purse to give her teenage companion a concerned look.

“You okay, Pinkie?” she asked worriedly, brows pinching together when Marinette just groaned and curled into an even tighter ball.

“Is it really too much to ask that I go one day without making an idiot of myself in front of the boy I like?” she asked her Kwami miserably.

“Is it really something to feel so embarrassed about? Is it offensive? I squeak all the time,” Mullo reminded her, slightly confused. The rules of propriety among humans seemed to change with every new generation, and within each culture, so it was difficult for her to keep up with social taboos.

“You’re a mouse, Mullo. You’re supposed to squeak. Humans are not. Girls are not. Especially not in front of the boy they like.”

“Not even if you picked it up from spending time with me?” Mullo asked. That caused Marinette to unfurl, giving Mullo a confused look.

“...What?”

“Your squeaking. It’s something you started doing because I squeak around you all the time. Because I’m happy here. You just kind of… picked it up. I never said anything about it because I thought you were aware of it.”

“I… oh. Oh.” Marinette said, coming to a bit of a revelation. Mullo did squeak around her a lot when it was just the two of them and the little mouse kwami was happy. Marinette had never minded the little mouse noises- even thought they were adorable- but hadn’t realized that she had adopted the habit purely due to spending so much time with the kwami.

Suddenly, Marinette remembered something her mother had told her years ago, when she asked her why her mother had a habit of sticking her tongue out a little when she was focusing on something. Her Maman gave a little, embarrassed laugh at the question and admitted that it was just a weird habit she’d picked up from spending time with her Uncle, since he did the same thing.

“Sometimes we pick up little quirks from people when we’re close to them, sweetie. I guess that’s just human nature,” Sabine told her warmly. Marinette remembered feeling a little jealous at the time, wishing that she had people she was close enough to to ‘share’ habits with.

“Pinkie? Did you hear me?” Marinette was jolted out of her thoughts and back to the present at Mullo’s concerned question, blinking a few times to focus on the worried Kwami floating a few inches in front of her.

“H-huh?”

“I asked you if you want me to tell you when you squeak from now on. So you can break the habit.” Mullo asked patiently with a gentle smile. “That way, you don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself around Adrien again.” Marinette studied the kwami for a second, giving her suggestion some consideration, before flashing Mullo a warm smile.

“No, it’s okay,” she said, pulling herself off of the ground and dusting herself off. Mullo gaped at the teen as she pulled her sketchbook out of her bag and opened it up to the sketches she’d been working on before.

“But… you were so upset about it!” Mullo said, clearly struggling to make sense of the girl’s sudden change of heart.

“Yeah, but know that I know why I’m doing it, I’m okay with it,” Marinette said, giving Mullo a soft look as the Kwami puzzled over her actions. Maybe it was a little weird and yeah, doing it in front of Adrien was extremely embarrassing, but it was kinda nice to know she and Mullo were close enough that she was picking up new habits from the kwami. Trying to break those habits felt like a rejection of that bond, and Marinette didn’t want to do that for anyone, even Adrien Agreste.

“...You humans are so confusing sometimes,” Mullo said with a small huff of frustration.

“Yeah, but you love us anyways,” Marinette said, grinning teasingly at the mouse when she shook her head in fond exasperation and sighed before settling herself comfortably on Marinette’s shoulder. Giggling a little, Marinette reached up to give the kwami a small, affectionate pat on the head.

She just grinned wider when Mullo gave her a happy little squeak in response to the attention.

#Miraculous Ladybug #multimouseweek2020 #multimouse #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #ML Marinette #ML Mullo #Multimouse AU #fanfic

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alison-anonymous · 4 years

Text

flawsome bandits pt. 9 ♡ sonic

Flawsome Security

I AM BACK!!! This chapter may be a bit short, but it’s just because this is the second half of the story and I needed to introduce some new concepts!

I have brought you all some more Flawsome Bandits for you special little darlings <3 I got a little excited and wrote an entire plot line for the rest of this story in a day, and I just finished writing this part tonight! So the next update might come soon, the next chapter is a bit more complicated so I still have to figure out how to write it. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter, and please let me know if there is anything or anyone you would like to see in the chapters to come! I love you all and please let me know what you think!

Warnings - some hEaRtWrEnChInG fluff

♡♡♡

Five months later…

If Y/n had to pick one period of her life where everything was perfect, it would be this one.

It had been five months since the great attack between Y/n, Sonic, and Dr. Robotnik had occurred and no one had seen or heard a thing about the crazy man in ages. While Y/n and Sonic had been staying in isolation inside the Wachowski residence, the government was sweeping the streets and subtly interrogating citizens in order to see if they had any knowledge of their whereabouts. After a couple of months, they eventually gave up and plopped the case into the cold. Once things were finally deemed safe, and after a thorough inspection by Tom, Y/n and Sonic were able to roam about Green Hills freely again.

You would think that the people would freak out a little bit whenever they saw two alien hedgehogs walking down the streets, cracking weird jokes and singing or zipping around the place. But they actually saw the two as their own special town heroes; like they had their own unique Superman and Superwoman. Y/n was even asked to start helping Crazy Carl again in his notorious escapades of eliminating all the racoons, who he claimed were secretly geniuses and were rummaging through our trash to find anything valuable to power their supercomputers.

I mean… he was right about Sonic, so why not give him a chance?

Sonic was even asked to help around the bakeries and grocers with some doordash delivery services, making some extra cash for his Less Than 3 Seconds delivery service. He liked to brag about the fact that he could take literally anything from the store and hardly anyone would bat an eye. This also meant that anytime Y/n even mentioned that she needed something, he would disappear and then be back in a blink holding that exact thing. With Sonic and Y/n being able to make some extra cash helping around, it encouraged Tom and Maddie to work even harder at their jobs as well. Tom reclaimed his throne as Green Hills’ favorite cop, and Maddie went back to the pet hospital. The shared strange experiences that the four had encountered only proceeded to bond them together to form an even tighter family than they ever were before. Tom and Maddie had to admit that it did take them a while to get used to Y/n’s true form, but they loved every inch of her and were simply happy that she was happy.

Of course, enrolling them into public school was still a huge no, so they kept up the homeschooling as well. Knowing Sonic, he caught up to Y/n super fast, and it wasn’t too long before the two were helping each other Quick Study using flash cards and exercising at the same time. Speaking of their relationship, Tom had finally listened to Maddie and backed off a little bit to give room for their relationship to flourish. Because hey, if Y/n’s boyfriend was living under his roof, then he could control him like a puppet if he ever did anything to hurt her, right?

But… there was one teeny tiny, itsy bitsy little problem.

Y/n and Sonic never talked about… that night. You know. When they said “I love you.” Of course, they had always planned on it. But they were never quite able to find the right time. Just as they were about to get ready for the talk, Tom or Maddie would walk in or they would suddenly remember needing to do something and race off without even thinking. Maybe they were subconsciously intentionally avoiding the subject. It was a pretty intense conversation after all, and the damper as to whether or not the other had changed their mind always remained a prominent issue.

Fear is very debilitating, you know.

But their feelings were growing stronger by the day. Every second that they spent with one another was a moment that they never wanted to end. This evening was one of those moments.

Tom and Maddie had been invited out to dinner with some of Tom’s work buddies and their wives, so while they were out drinking finely aged wine and trying to figure out what the best angle was to bite on some cheese bread, Y/n and Sonic had the house to themselves.

Of course, Ozzy was their chaperone.

The two had planned an amazing afternoon of relaxation by plucking out a huge pile of movies to watch until they passed out from exhaustion. Most of them consisted of horribly rated horror movies so that they could make fun of them, while others consisted of action and romcoms that you just had to watch one more time. They had decided to take a break to make themselves a nice and healthy dinner, just like Tom and Maddie had wanted them to. It ended up looking more like an ice cream sundae, filled with (favorite ice cream), banana slices, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, waffle cookies, and a bunch of other stuff that Sonic had thrown in there.

“Oh, damnit,” Y/n sighed as she stood on the kitchen counter, arms holding the cabinet doors open. “We don’t have any Eggos.”

“Fret not, M’Lady,” Sonic cried dramatically from his spot on the kitchen island. His green eyes sparkled with excitement as Y/n chuckled, her cheeks turning red at the nickname. He had gotten a bit too into the fantasy movie they had just finished watching. “Your hero is here!”

And in a blue flash, he was gone. In the time that it took Y/n to blink, he was already back, holding three packs of her favorite kind of Eggos in his arms. He tossed two of them in the fridge and held one package out to her proudly.

“Why, thank you, Sonic,” she giggled, deciding to keep her mythical accent in order to please him. Her gloved hand brushed against his as she took the pack out of his hands, a little flicker of electricity excitedly floating across their skin at the contact. She quickly ripped it open and plopped two of the waffles onto the sundae, smiling proudly.

“Dinner!”

Another dozen switched positions on the couch and two more movies in, Y/n and Sonic finally ended up settling on The Conjuring. Their bellies were full of junk food and were covered up with soft blankets as they huddled together. There were a few jumpscared that actually got Y/n, but for the most part the only tension came from the decreasing distance between the two hedgehogs. Just as the credits were rolling across the screen, Sonic had wrapped his arm around Y/n’s shoulders in a totally casual manner. They listened silently to the eerie music as the actors went floating up the darkened screen. Ozzy lay passed out on the floor in front of them, next to the coffee table that held all of their dirty dishes. Y/n’s heart began to pound and her stomach felt like it was going to crawl up and spew out of her mouth as she finally turned her head to face Sonic.

“Hey, Son…?”

“Yeah?” He turned to her, the darkened screen making his emerald eyes grow paranormally in the dark. Hers were doing the same. They scooted away just an inch or two so that they were facing one another, Sonic’s arm still splayed across the back of the couch as he looked at her with curious, yet affectionate eyes. Y/n cleared her throat, trying to figure out how she wanted to begin this. It was now or never, right? And they had already waited for quite some time.

“I… I know that we never really talked about… um… you know,” she silently kicked herself for making things so awkward, but her nerves were getting the better of her. She could practically feel her tail shaking behind her. “I meant what I said. And I need to know if you did too…” Her heart was pounding so rapidly she could barely think over the sound, nerves skyrocketing through the roof. E/c eyes began to fill with a mixture of hope and fear as she looked up into Sonic’s emerald ones. His mouth opened and shut like a fish, void of any sound. She could only fear the worst… he didn’t mean it. He didn’t care about her the way that she did about him, did he? He secretly hated h-

“Of course I meant it! Y/n, I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember. I guess I just never really realized it until now,” He gave her a sheepish smile, his seriousness being a completely new side of him that only ever came out when he was sincere about something. Y/n felt the butterflies go nuts in her stomach, a blush rising across her cheeks. “I think we both know that we’re kind of entirely new to this, but I was just afraid to ruin things between us. We’ve been running for most of our lives, never really having a place to call our home. But throughout all of the hard times and adventures we’ve been through, you were the one constant. Whenever I look at you…” Sonic’s emerald gaze softened as a loving smile game across his lips. “I’m home.”

A huge grin took over Y/n’s face, her eyes beginning to fill with tears of happiness. “Sonic… you’re my home, too.” Before he had a chance to say more beautiful things to make her heart melt, she threw her arms around his furry neck and buried her head in his neck. Sonic was quick to return the gesture, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her tightly. It felt like cloud nine being there with one another, knowing that they felt the same. That they would make things work just like they always did. They fat together like two pieces of a puzzle; the one person that they could never get tired of. The one person that they loved everything about. The one person who was their home. Home never truly was just one place, was it?

It was them.

“Okay, okay,” Y/n slowly breathed as they finally pulled apart. She ran a nervous gloved hand through her quills and gave him a bashful smile. “We’ll take things slow? Since we’re so new to this and everything.” Sonic eagerly nodded.

“Yes! I mean, yeah sure,” he attempted to play it cool by leaning back against the couch, but his excitement remained ever present in his eyes every time he looked at her. “Slow. Oh, and um, how are we going to make sure Donut Lord doesn’t kill me?”

Y/n giggled, moving closer to her partner and snuggling up into his side. Sonic happily obliged by wrapping his one arm around her and pulling her closer into him. The warmth of his body heat made her never want to leave as she hummed softly to lift the TV remote over to hand.

“You let me take care of that. By the way, Conjuring? Yay or nay?”

“Oh my god, don’t even get me started! First of all, every single person in here is suffering from an extreme lack of Snickers. Like seriously. They just ain’t themselves when they’re hungry.”

♡♡♡

At around eleven o’clock, Maddie and Tom Wachowski quietly slipped through their front door. After the very interesting dinner with their friends, the gang had wanted to go out and get some drinks. Seeing no way out of it, they decided to tag along. It was only when Wade tried to strip and ride a mechanical bull at the same time that they called it a night. They knew Y/n and Sonic well enough to figure that they would have passed out on the couch watching movies, and their suspicions were confirmed when they saw the TV still flashing scenes from Dead Silence across the quiet living room.

The couple quietly made their way into the hall and peered into the room to see the two hedgehogs passed out on the couch. Sonic lay on his back with his arms wrapped around Y/n, whose head rested on his chest and her legs were splayed across the other half of the couch. The sight was so adorable that it brought Maddie back to her young love days as she pressed a hand against her chest. A smile formed across her face as she watched the steady rise and fall of their breathing. Unfortunately, Tom was not quite as happy.

“W-what the hell?” His grip on their leftovers tightened as he stared daggers at Sonic’s arm wrapped tightly around his daughter’s waist. “Please tell me I’m dreaming.”

“Oh, come on, Tom,” Maddie playfully smacked him in the chest. “They’re just kids. They’ve known each other their whole life, remember?” Tom let out a defeated huff, but his lips were still edged in a frown.

“But… that’s my daughter right there. And that’s a boy. With his arm. Doing things.” He turned to stare intensely at his wife. “Things I don’t like.”

Maddie laughed quietly at his expression, and grabbed his arm to tug him with her into the kitchen. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to take off these high heels that feel like nails and take a nice long bath while you put the leftovers away and raid the icebox to see if we still have those macaroons the kids got us for Valentine’s day.” She pecked him on the cheek, a warm smile floating across her lips as she looked him in the eyes. “Okay?”

“Y-yes ma’am.” Years of being married, and Maddie was still able to catch him off guard.

♡♡♡

A couple hours later, the house had fallen completely silent. Even Ozzy’s snoring had ceased to an open mouthed whistle as he lay on his stomach, belly exposed to the air of the living room. Maddie and Tom lay fast asleep under the covers of their bed, and Y/n and Sonic remained asleep on the couch. Everything was silent until a slow, melodic tune floated through the air.

Y/n stirred on Sonic’s chest. She unconsciously buried her head deeper into his fur in an attempt to float back into the REM cycle. But the tune came once again, this time more forcefully. Demanding attention. When it realized Y/n was still asleep, it wafted through the air, this time louder.

Y/n’s e/c eyes popped open. She gulped, recognizing the sound instantly. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Last time she acknowledged the sound, it shot her on a brand new adventure in which she almost lost the love of her life. She turned her head back to Sonic’s chest, pointedly glaring at the air around her in hopes that whatever it was would get the hint. A couple of moments passed in silence, and her heartbeat finally slowed. Her eyelids gradually fluttered closed.

Ah~, ah~...

♡ a.a.

#sonic #sonic x reader #sonic imagines #sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog x reader #sonic the hedgehog imagines #sonic the hedgehog 2020 #sonic the hedgehog 2020 x reader #sonic the hedgehog 2020 imagines #sonic the hedgehog movie #sonic the hedgehog movie x reader #flawsome bandits #sonic the hedgehog 2020 sequel

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stebeans · 4 years

Text

She-Ra Inspired Actor AU - III

Maya Sanchez as Catra

Taylor Cruz as Adora

Jessica Cho as Glimmer

Marcus Patterson as Bow

A She-ra Actor AU fic where She-ra and the Princesses of Power is a popular tv series and our lovable characters are played by actresses/actors. Inspired by the amazing fanart and concept by @sunzho and @hey_adora on instagram #cayaactorau, see link below and please follow them!

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/cayaactorau/

The Call/Cast Meet

The call that had changed her life had come months ago and even now it hadn’t really sunk in. Maya’s agent, a family friend, had called her with the good news just a few days after Maya’s graduation. She had been at the park, playing with her brothers and the neighboring kids in a game of pick-up baseball, if you could even call it that as it was pretty much a no-rules, all-out game of America’s favorite sport. Remi – Maya’s brother and the youngest of the boys – was catcher and a no-good cheat, who kept poking her in the side every time she went up to bat knowing full well she was ticklish.

Maya had managed to hit what looked to be an infield home run and had been rounding third base and was sprinting to home when her second oldest brother, Rafael, playing pitcher had caught her around the waist. Being much taller and stronger than Maya, Rafael had easily lifted her off the ground and held on tight, laughing loudly in her ear as she tried to squirm out of his hold. “Let me go Raf! You asshole!” she screeched, slapping her brother in the arms and back but Rafael had held on until the shortstop had fired the ball into Remi’s awaiting glove. “You guys suck. So much.” Maya snapped, pulling Rafael’s cap over his eyes when he had finally set her back down on the ground. “You’re so lucky I didn’t kick you where the sun don’t shine.” She hissed, ignoring the way her brothers celebrated the win with their obnoxious dance and their chanting of “Maya’s a sore loser! Maya’s a sore loser!”

Sulking grumpily, Maya had made her way to the bench where she had left her stuff. She had just finished gulping down what was left of her water bottle when her cellphone rang. Digging into the outer pocket of her backpack for her phone, and immediately her heart beat faster when she had caught the caller ID. She had auditioned for a variety of roles leading up to graduation after the epic fail of the She-ra callback. A few had been minor roles for TV, one was for a background character for a movie, but mostly they were commercial roles. Distantly, Maya wondered if she landed that shampoo commercial gig. The casting director had been kind and had even praised her for her natural, long and luscious hair. “Hello? Serena?” Maya answered, wiping the sweat away from her forehead with the back of her hand and hoping she didn’t sound too out of breath from her game.

“You got the part kiddo!” Serena had practically shrieked into her ear, forgoing the typical phone etiquette greeting.

The celebration on the field faded away at Serena’s words. “What?” Maya had landed a few minor commercial roles before but Serena hadn’t even delivered the news with half the excitement as she was now.

“Maya! You got the part!” Serena cheered. “You’re going to be in She-ra!”

“What?” Maya was stunned. “No way! Are you kidding me right now? Did Raf and Remi put you up to this?” Because there was no way in hell did Maya ever imagine landing the lead role in a TV series.

Dazedly, Maya noticed the curious looks her brothers shot her when they caught their names being said. “No Maya! It’s not a joke! You got it kid! You got it.” Serena asserted. “You got the part of Catra!”

Catra.

Not Adora than.

Catra may not have been the lead character but still. Catra was a significant role and was infinite better than any of her previous roles combined. Shock and disbelief was fading faster as excitement began to take over. “I got Catra?” Maya whispered delicately. “I’m Catra?” She repeated..

Maya could see the concerned looks her brothers gave her and were quickly trekking towards her. Serena laughed happily on the other end of the phone and Maya was guessing she might’ve been crying a little bit too. Happy tears though. Kind of like the ones gathering behind her eyes now. “Yes.” Serena affirmed behind a quiet sniffle. “You’re Catra.”

“Maya what’s wrong?” Remi asked worriedly as her brothers approached her.

Unable to form words, Maya shook her head and wiped at her tears. “Did someone hurt you?” Remi asked. “Who was it? I’ll quick their ass!”

At the threat Maya laughed behind a half sob-half hiccup. “No! No. It’s nothing like that. It’s Serena.”

At the information both Remi and Raf froze. their eyes scanning the happiness behind their baby sister’s eyes despite the tears and the smile that was tugging on her lips. “Aaaannnddd?” Rafael pressed, anxiety for his sister crawling underneath his skin.

“I got the part.” Maya replied faintly. “I got the part.” She said a little louder. “I’m going to be in She-ra!” She shouted in excitement, lifting her arms in victory.

There was barely a delay before Remi and Rafael whooped and hollered louder than they had when they won the baseball game. Remi had messed up her hair as he shouted out his congratulations but Maya was too happy to care and when Rafael had picked her up and spun her around the second time that day within the span of minutes, instead of kicking him in the nuts like she wanted to do the first time, Maya laughed and cheered. “I’m going to be in She-ra!”

“Yeah you are!” Rafael hollered.

“Ma-ya! Ma-ya!” Remi chanted, Rafael joining in quickly.

The chanting had caught the attention from the players on either teams and it only took one glance to notice the happiness and excitement emitting from the trio of siblings. It was contagious and it didn’t take long for the others to join in on the chanting as they gathered around the Sanchez’s. News spread quickly between the teams and soon they were all celebrating in Maya’s achievement to her delight and slight embarrassment. During all the commotion Maya had dropped her phone but somehow the call with Serena was set on speaker because Maya could hear her tinny voice chanting along with the others.

These were people who she had grown up with. Neighbors who hosted and attended their summer BBQ’s. Friends and classmates who played pick-up games with her. Kids who she helped babysat. Others who had babysat her. They were a small yet tight-knit community and Maya was happy she was able to share the news with people who cared for her and vice-versa.

“I’m going to be Catra!” She shouted to the darkening sky, now lifted on her brother’s broad shoulder and a wave a cheers followed her exclamation, echoing throughout the field.

That call had been months ago but Maya could recall it as if it was yesterday and it was easily one of the best days of her life. Today, was a different story. Today might just take the cake for being the most anxiety-filled day she had ever experienced. It was infinitely more stressful than any of her past auditions and all those first days of school she had endured.

Her mother had dropped her off with a kiss on her forehead and a genuine “have a good day” at the gates of the studio where the security had been strict. With her bag slung over her shoulder she was quickly directed to one of those golf carts where one of the assistants would courier her to where the cast was meeting for the first time for a table read. Approaching the cart she noticed she wasn’t the only one getting a lift. A short Asian girl, with the coolest rose gold ombre colored hair that Maya had ever seen, sat in the back with her eyes glued to the phone in her hands. She didn’t even seem to notice when Maya approached, taking a seat next to her. “Hi.” Maya greeted shyly, anything to break the awkward silence.

The intimidating girl spared her a quick glance before turning attention back to her phone, scrolling through what Maya guessed was Twitter. “Hey.” Was her blasé reply.

Well. Can’t say she didn’t try. Maya drummed her fingers against the jean-clad thigh, taking the time to take in the scenery around her. DreamFlix wasn’t one of the bigger film production companies but they were certainly gaining popularity in their recent years and their studio lot was the bigger and grander than any lot she had ever stepped foot in. The golf cart weaved past various bodies, buildings, onsite sets and Maya couldn’t help but be amazed. One of the sets they drove past had a hose mounted to a crane where they were testing a rain pour. So. Cool. Her face must’ve betrayed her dorkiness because “First time?”

Maya rushed to close her slacked jaw. Grinning she shrugged. “Yeah. I’ve never been to a studio this big before. It’s amazing. Magical.” Maya added when they passed a group of people dressed up as mystical creatures.

The girl beside her let out a chuckle. “Yeah. It is pretty magical.” She agreed before holding out a hand. “But the novelty kind of wears off when your running late and you’re stuck behind a stampede of trolls and hooved centaurs. I’m Jessica by the way but everyone calls me Jess.”

“Maya.” Maya introduced with a warm smile, taking the offered hand with a gentle shake. “I’m guessing this isn’t your first time here then?”

“I’ve been doing this for a few years now and I had a couple small roles before. I’m mostly in the recording studio as the lead for an animation series but this is my first big gig on a live action series. So I guess I’m seeing things differently this time around.” Jess noted, pointing out where a few guys were heaving a wagon dolly carrying a ten-foot half-built mechanical dragon. “It’s pretty cool looking at everything with new eyes. Though I do know my way around the studio lot. Stick with me and I can show you were they hide all the cookies and the best place to throw a tantrum without anyone knowing.” Jess said with a laugh, her eyes crinkling at the edges and Maya couldn’t believe how she thought this girl was intimidating before.

Maya joined in on Jess’s joke. “Looks like I got myself a tour guide.”

The two of them made small talk, pointing out cool and unusual things from their vantage on the cart as they zipped past sets, giggling and laughing as if they were long lost friends before the they came to a stop in front of a non-descript brown building. It was smaller than the others they had passed but Maya guessed nothing fancy was needed for a table read. After jumping out of her seat, Maya smoothed down her grey oversized t-shirt, making sure it was tucked neatly into her black jeans at the front. She ran a hand through her hair, making sure there were no knots and breathing out a big sigh when she followed Jess to where the cast and crew were gathered.

Just before the assistant can knock on the door and leave them to fend for themselves, Jess reached out and gave a Maya’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry too much. You’ve already gotten the part. You’re going to have to screw up big time to lose your role and something tells me you aren’t the diva type. So just go in there and have fun okay? Today is about meeting the cast members and the production team. Then we’re just going to do a little reading. No big deal right?”

“Right.” Maya nodded, shooting Jess an appreciative smile though she could feel her hands trembling slightly.

The door opened and Maya was ushered in, noting that the room was already filled. She hoped she wasn’t running late. The director, casting director and the producer were easy to pick out as they smiled at their entrance. “Welcome Jessica and Maya. So glad you could make it to today’s table read. We are very excited to have you on our team.” The producer said, smiling kindly while shaking their hands. “Looks like we are just waiting on our star and then we could get this party started but why don’t you ladies help yourself to some refreshments in the meanwhile.”

A fold up table topped with snacks and drinks was set up at the far end of the room while the middle was occupied by a conference table with chairs set up on all sides. It looked barely enough to sit the amount of people in the room. There were maybe thirty people in the room already – and easily this was the largest cast meet Maya ever attended – who were huddled in small groups around the snack table and at the front of the room where it was left open.

Helping herself to a water bottle and some chips Maya took the chance to survey the occupants in the room and was honestly surprised at the diversity of the cast and crew. A good chunk of them were women and of various skin colors too. Am I in the twilight zone or what? This is so amazing. Maya thought, happy to know that she wasn’t going to be one of those “token” characters again. This was already shaping up to be a good show.

It was when Maya had a mouthful of chips did one of the rare guys in the group approached her and Jess. “Hi! I’m Marcus!” He introduced, a cute dimple appearing when he smiled and wow, did he have the nicest set of teeth and softest looking skin ever.

Like the majority of the cast, Marcus was a person of colour, he might actually be the darkest skinned person there, with a hipster afro buzzcut, broad shoulders and a muscular physique that even Maya could appreciate. “How cool is this?” Marcus continued as he stared wide-eyed around the room. “I’ve never been on a show with this much diversity!”

Maya nearly choked on her chips when she laughed earning a concerned look from Marcus and Jess as well as a couple others around her. Thumping her chest, Maya had to practically force the water down her throat. “Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh. It was just…I was thinking the exact same thing!”

Marcus laughed, patting her on the shoulder. “Well what do you know, great minds do think alike. Or maybe it’s because of our instant connection.” He joked, wagging his eyebrows up and down in exaggeration.

“Okay Romeo, that’s enough.” Jess rolled her eyes before introducing herself and Maya.

Marcus chuckled good naturedly and shook their hands. They fell into a comfortable conversation, talking about their last gigs and past horror stories they had endured and Maya earning baby-cooing noises when she mentioned how she graduated high school before the summer officially started.

“Aww you’re just a baby!” Jess tutted and Marcus busted out laughing.

Pouting and knowing full well it didn’t help out her case, Maya whined out “I am not a baby! And look!” Maya pointed to a nearby cast member. “That girl is like…twelve!” Said girl whirled around to level a death glare at Maya who stammered out a “ But like also, good for her! Very, very impressive.” Which only set off Jess and Marcus again, with the latter legitimately having to wipe tears from his eyes he was laughing so hard.

“That little girl is Mei Lin and she is probably the greatest child star in the business right now. She isn’t just a baby. She is The baby.” Marcus explained through his bout of laughter.

Maya shook her head. “Fine. Whatever. I’m still not a baby.” She grumbled under her breath as she raised her bottle up to her lips to take a long pull of water only to have it come spluttering back out when she instantly recognized the newest addition stepping past the door threshold.

Coughing and gasping, Maya did her best to wave off Jess’ and Marcus’ concern as she tried to breathe through her choking. Way to be subtle, Sanchez. “Dude! Are you okay?” Marcus inquired, patting her firmly on the back. “Even I know babies don’t choke half as much as you do.”

Blinking back the tears in her eyes from the burning in her nose Maya offered a flimsy thumbs up. “Sorry. Just...wrong pipe. I’m fine.” She lied, cursing inwardly at the look of alarm she was garnering from the majority of the room seeing it was hard to ignore someone who was choking to death.

She met Taylor’s surprised eyes from across the room. “Just peachy.”

#she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #spop #catradora #catra #adora #Maya (plays Catra) is a nerd #Taylor (plays Adora) is a big grump #live action au #myfic #also posted on ao3

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cave-of-the-owl-witch · 4 years

Text

Changes

((Under a cut for length.))

The air in the meeting hall was tense and confused as the gathered volunteers murmured amongst themselves. The crowd was small this year; not as small as it had been in years prior, but it still left a lot to be desired. Hushed conversations echoed off the candlelit walls and diffused into the room as ambient whispers as the gathered Elves waited for Topaz and Ivy to enter. What was going on? The First of December had come and past more than a week ago...

Jubilee was among the crowd this year, just as she had been every year for over a century. She was joined by Anise and Melody as usual, but not by Harmony; she was too busy for Wish Duty, ever since she had signed on with the Tin Soldiers. It was a choice the whole family had resented at first, but over these past few years, she had proven herself capable and they had all come to terms with it. Still, it hadn’t felt quite right showing up for Wish Duty without her.

Of course, nothing about this year felt quite right, as the minutes ticked by and the Elders responsible for the raffle-- and this meeting-- still hadn’t appeared. Jubilee’s ears twitched as she rocked on her heels, casting anxious glances at her sisters. They returned hers with equally anxious glances of their own. She frowned, chewing at her lip, and faced forward again. A few more minutes crawled by at subsonic speed.

“If I leave, will you guys fill me in later?” Melody muttered. Anise half-heartedly swatted her arm with the sleeve of her sweater.

“Stop,” she chided. Mel stuck her tongue out at her like a child.

Finally, two ancient-looking Elves took the stage: a round-faced little man with sparkling eyes, wispy white hair, and deep smile lines-- Elder Topaz-- and a sharp-looking woman with horn-rimmed glasses, and steely grey hair done up in a bun-- Elder Ivy. The two shared a final glance with each other as the rest of the Elves went silent.

“Good evening, everyone,” Ivy began, her voice magically amplified, “and thank you all for coming out tonight. We’re sure you have a lot of questions regarding this year’s Wish Duty.”

There was a murmur of consensus throughout the crowd, and Jubilee’s ears twitched again in anticipation.

“Now, I know you’ve all been waiting too long already, but we’re going to have to ask you to hold those questions until we’ve finished.”

The crowd seemed less enthused about this.

“The thing is,” Topaz added, “Ivy an’ I have been talkin’, an’ we’ve decided to make a few changes to how things’re done. The first o’ which bein’-- now don’t lose yer heads when I say this-- the first o’ which bein’ that we’re doin’ away with the raffle.”

Despite his plea, there was a chorus of gasps and muttered words of disbelief. Ivy gave him a look.

“Yes, we’re doing away with the raffle. But Wish Duty is not going anywhere. We’ve decided to test out a new system this year.”

The crowd shifted, almost seeming to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

“See, volunteer numbers have been... up an’ down the last few years, an’ sometimes that means there’s only a few dozen raffle winners. Imagine, a few dozen out of the thousands o’ folks on the Nice List! So we got to thinkin’, why don’t we try an’ grant wishes for as many o’ them as possible? Instead of spendin’ the whole month with one person in one place, why not wander around an’ see how many people we can help?”

“So what we’ve done is put together an R&D team to create these.” As she spoke, Ivy produced a smooth, white stone, roughly the size and shape of a snowball. “I trust that many of you have seen the humans’ Christmas specials, yes? And the one in particular where The Boss keeps an eye on things with a magic snowball? This here is more or less the same concept. It was hewn from the depths of the Ice Caves and enchanted several times over, allowing us to check a person’s Naughty or Nice status in real time. We have one here for each of you, and if things go well this year, we’ll have even more in supply to meet future demand!”

Another chorus of gasps and murmurs swept through the crowd, this time very much awed and excited. Ivy shot Topaz a somewhat smug smile, which he returned with a genuine grin.

“That’s why this year’s announcement took so long; we needed to make sure there were enough o’ these to go around!” he chuckled. “Can’t very well send ye out with no way o’ knowin’ what’s what!”

“Indeed, we can’t have you out there under prepared. Which brings me to our next point: this should probably go without saying, but don’t forget to travel with a glamour up. Even with the Snowballs, accidents and misunderstandings can still happen. Use your best judgement.”

The crowd sobered a little, and there were some murmurs of agreement.

“Good. Now we will open the floor to questions.”

A dozen hands shot up, Jubilee’s included. Topaz pointed to a squat, stocky Elf near the front. “Yes, Flint?”

“So... we can go anywhere? Just pick a point on the map and start from there?”

“Well... yes. That’s pretty much what we’re sayin’. Places ye’ve been, places ye haven’t been-- just don’t everybody bunch up in the same places. I don’t wanna hear that all o’ ye wound up in New York City or the Bahamas. In fact, it may be best if no one stays in the same place for too long.”

A few hands went down.

“Next question,” Ivy called. “How about... Lingonberry.”

A doe-eyed Elf beside Anise asked, “Um... are we allowed to visit people we’ve granted wishes for before? That is, um.... if maybe we know they could still use the help...?”

“I don’t see why not. Although, I would still suggest that priority goes to somebody new. It’s fine if you want to visit and catch up, and help out where you know help is needed, but if you linger too long, that sort of defeats the purpose of the new model.”

A few more hands went down.

“Yes, Briar?” Ivy said, gesturing to a lanky Elf with glasses.

“How exactly do the Snowballs work?”

“I’m glad you asked. We were actually going show you after questions. That is... if that’s all of them?”

All the other hands went down, Jubilee’s included.

“Splendid! That’s just lovely!” Topaz said with a wiggle, rubbing his hands together.

Ivy motioned to someone backstage, and a cart full of Snowballs was wheeled out. “If you’ll all line up stage left, we’ll pass these out and show you how to attune them.”

None of the volunteers needed to be told twice, and with a bit of fumbling and disorganization, eventually managed to form a line along the wall. Like many of the Eves around them, the three sisters were all grinning from ear to ear.

“Har’s going to be so jealous! First place I’m headed is Brazil, then maybe Hawai’i, Costa Rica-- oh! Christmas Island! How funny would it be to spend Christmas on sunny Christmas Island?” Melody tittered, earning another-- albeit more playful-- swat from Anise.

“Maybe she’ll finally take time off and come back to Wish Duty next year,” Anise laughed. “Especially if you bring her a souvenir.”

“I’ll send her a postcard from everywhere I go,” she replied wickedly.

Jubilee laughed at the both of them and rolled her eyes. “What about you, An? Anywhere jumping out at you immediately?”

“Yeah, anywhere special you want to take Lingonberry?” Mel chimed in. Anise flushed bright pink.

“Hush! She’s right there, you know,” she protested, gesturing a couple spots ahead of them. “Just because you’re excited is no reason to be a brat.”

“Why not? I bet Jubi’s off to that Wasteland place to see Copernicus!”

“Hey!”

“Well, aren’t you?”

“...Probably, at some point,” Jubilee begrudgingly admitted. Melody crossed her arms in satisfaction. “Not immediately, though. I was thinking I might go someplace new first.”

“Like where?” Anise pressed.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just close my eyes and point to a place at random.”

“That could be fun. I was thinking maybe Finland or Canada; someplace that’s still close enough to the Arctic Circle that it’s mostly dark, that way even as it gets closer to the new moon, I’ll still have a bit of extra power left.”

“Oh, good thinking!”

“You sure you don’t want to go to Paris? It is for lovers, you know,” Mel teased.

“I swear, if you don’t cut it out I’m going to dunk you like a cookie.” This earned Anise a few giggles from the both of them.

As they chatted away, the line grew shorter and shorter, and they came closer and closer to the stage. Jubilee watched Topaz and Ivy walk her sisters through the attunement, practically wiggling with excitement as she waited for her turn. The process went quickly, and soon she was standing in front of Topaz, her new Snowball in her hand.

“Now, what yer goin’ to want to do, Jubilee, is hold it in both hands. It’s dead simple, really; just let your magic flow from one hand, through the Snowball, an’ into the other. Once it glows with yer colour, that’s it! You’ll be able to activate it just by holding it up an’ thinkin’ about the person in question.”

She did as he instructed, and found he was right; it was dead simple. It only took a moment for the Snowball to glow her signature light blue.

“That’s it! Wonderful! Now go on an’ head out; there’s only fifteen days left until Christmas, y’know!”

“Will do! Thanks!” she called over her shoulder as she went to join her sisters. Just as she got there, Melody vanished ins a swirl of violet sparks. Before she could ask, Anise explained,

“I told her that you guys can go on ahead. I’ll let everyone else know what’s up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! Besides, I do want to talk to Lingon and see about meeting up once or twice.”

“Right, gotcha,” Jubi laughed. “Tell everyone I said bye, then.”

“Will do.”

And with that, Jubilee did as she said she was going to. She closed her eyes, pointed to a spot on the map that hung on the wall, and that was where she headed.

#A Little Bit of Cheer; Jubilee #Owl Witch's Grimoire; Drabbles

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kookie-for-you · 5 years

Text

Royal Flush

Summary

BigHit, who started taking female trainees again in recent years, decides to debut a new female group with five members. Kim Yeji is 20 years old and has been a trainee for only a couple years. Despite this, she finds herself selected as a member for this new group. Will she make it to debut? And will the group last beyond that point? And what on EARTH will she do when a member of BigHit’s most legendary group takes a more personal interest in her—and she in him?

Chapter One

“Why do you think you should be in this group?”

This was more intimidating than when I had auditioned for the company. I tried not to show my nerves as I adjusted my seating position, attempting not to cower under the gaze of the PDs. Instead, I gathered myself to give a confident answer.

“I know I’ve only been a trainee for a short time,” I began, glancing between the three professionals sat before me. Three people who were responsible for forming the best group possible. Three people with my entire future currently in their hands. “And I’m far from the most talented trainee here.”

“Not quite selling yourself yet,” the one lady PD said, raising an eyebrow. She was so pretty, she could be an idol herself.

I took a deep breath. “What I do have is passion,” I said, and the PDs looked interested. “I’m 19. I’ll be 20 next year. I didn’t come here for a childish dream of fame. I know what I want. And I know that BigHit can help me get it.”

“What is that, Yeji-ssi?” the man to Bang PD-nim’s left asked.

“To make music. To make art. BigHit doesn’t make cookie-cutter stars that they work to the bone until they’ve rung out every last dollar. BigHit makes artists.” I took a breath, feeling shaken when putting these things to words, things that I wanted so deeply. “If you look at the practice times you’ll see how much time I spend in the studio, in lessons, in the gym, even in my free hours. I’ll be the hardest worker in any group you can make.”

The room was quiet except for some scribbling on the PDs notepads. I kept quiet, having said everything I could. That near-silence seemed to last forever before Bang PD-nim looked back at me with a smile. “Thank you, Yeji-ssi,” he said. I took the message, standing and bowing respectfully to the producers before leaving the office.

That was several months ago now. Today, I found myself in a studio ready to take an array of pictures for our debut in the next few months. After the hours and hours of dance rehearsals and recordings we’d been having all day the past few months, this honestly felt like a vacation. Of course, I hadn’t stepped in front of the camera yet.

I glanced away from the mirror to see Jahyun smiling charmingly for the camera. She seemed like a natural, shining in her inherent cuteness—even playing it up a little, peeking from behind her fingers, flower-cupping her hands beneath her chin, and widening her eyes in a look of surprise. The managers wanted her image to be especially cute and innocent, being the maknae and only 16.

“This one first,” one of the wardrobe eunnies said, holding out a fluffy skirt and long-sleeved cropped sweater, along with a pair of white fishnets. It was cute, but not too cute, which went along with our concept. BigHit didn’t want to pigeon-hole their girl group into all the other schoolgirls and aegyo overload traps that debut girls had a tendency to fall into.

Once I had changed, I sat down in the makeup chair, closing my eyes and allowing the stylist to take control of my makeup. It hadn’t been long that I suddenly felt a presence beside me, and a pair of lips right by my ear. “Happy birthday, Yeji.”

Delighted, I opened my eyes to see my own reflection before me, accompanied now by Li Haneul standing behind me. “Haneul-eunnie!” I said happily. “How did you know?”

“I wouldn’t be a very good eunnie if I didn’t know your birthdays,” she said, and I filed away the idea to learn my younger members birthdays quickly. I couldn’t rely on Haneul to always know. “When did they finish your hair? It looks so nice! Did you come home like that last night?”

Guiltily, I shook my head, sending my new bright red locks swinging. “I slept in the studio last night,” I admitted. “I was working on the dance break for ‘Deck of Cards’ and then I wanted to write a few more lyric ideas for next album, and then it was too late to think about coming back.”

“You have to stop sleeping on that sofa, it’s not good for you,” Haneul scolded, and I meekly nodded. “Minji will say the same.”

“Minji is only 18, she can tell me all she wants,” I joked, but both of us knew that even if Minji was younger, she was the leader and we’d listen to her if she told us something related to the group. “I know, eunnie, I’ll stop getting so caught up.”

“Good,” Haneul said, hugging around my shoulders quickly while the stylist looked for some more colors on her vanity. “You need to be at your best for debut and we already work so hard. You need good sleep and good food.”

“Did Jisoo make something very good last night?” I asked, mouth watering at the thought of what leftovers might be waiting in the dorm refrigerator.

“Just chicken and vegetables, but the soup she made was even better. There’s some left over for you, we made sure to set some aside. I assumed you’d eat it when you got home…” Haneul shook her head again. “I wondered why I didn’t hear you come into our room. Did you even eat at all?”

“I had some of the crackers from the studio. I wasn’t that hungry anyway.”

“What am I going to do with you?” Haneul demanded, looking equal parts amused and worried. “I’m serious, Yeji, be sure you’re home at a reasonable hour tonight, or I’ll march to the studio myself and drag you back to bed.”

Even as Jahyun was led away to change and the managers started calling for Haneul to take her place on the set, my eunnie still stared me down until I answered.

“Yes, eunnie, I promise,” I assured her.

I broke my word, of course. Truly, I hadn’t meant to, but once again the time had gotten away from me. Just one more practice, I kept telling myself. One more run-through of the song.

We would be debuting live in only two and a half months. There wasn’t enough time to become perfect. As I critically eyed myself in the mirror, I kept comparing myself to Haneul or Jisoo. I’d never be as good of a dancer as them. Haneul had a way of making everything seem effortless, and the swag that Jisoo had in her rap also extended to her dance.

And yet, I constantly found myself being placed at the center. “Yeji-ssi has such a strong visual.” That was what the managers and choreographers had said. I wondered if my looks were what had gotten me into the group. Had my hard work spoken for itself, had my talent put me here? Or did they just need a center, a visual?

Exhausted after another round of rehearsing, I plopped to the floor right in the middle of the studio. I fumbled for the remote for the music in my pocket, turning it off before it started itself over again. Laying flat at my back, I squinted up at the bright lights. How was I going to keep up after debut? The members always reassured me when my fears came to surface, saying I was just as good as them and we all needed each other for the group to be a success.

Absent-mindedly, I started humming a tune, one that I’d invented in my head and had been stuck there for weeks. All the songs for the debut album were written and mostly recorded. But, like I’d told Haneul earlier, I’d already found myself thinking of new songs for the next album.

Slowly, I sat up, turning away from the mirror. I didn’t want to look at my exhausted reflection any longer. I was pretty sure I had sweat so much that my new red hair would bleed onto my skin. The tune in my head kept playing and so, almost unknowingly, I began to sing.

This song was different than the ones that were for debut. The ones we had were poppy and happy, things to make you dance. Even the one ballad was about having fun in the sun at the end of the day. But this song, the one that my heart seemed to be demanding I write, was more personal to me.

The studio had great acoustics, and I found myself singing louder and louder, basking in the sound of the words echoing off the practice room walls. It felt freeing, honestly; to sit here and sing something that didn’t have to be perfect just now. It was something that was just for me.

“And I’ll fly,” I sang. “I’ll fly. But like petals tossed in the air, am I flying or floating or falling?” My own lyrics hit me harder than I thought they would in that moment. I really didn’t know whether I was flying or falling right now. What if everyone hated our group? BigHit hadn’t put out a new group since Bangtan—what if we couldn’t live up to them? They’d had the benefit of not having such high expectations when they debuted. The whole world would be watching Royal Flush.

“It’s a shame you never know, until you land or hit the ground,” I finished, letting the last note reverberate around the space and then fade away. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for just a moment.

And then they flew open again, hearing applause from the doorway. One set of hands clapping. I whirled around, expecting to see Haneul or Minji, ready to scold me and drag me back to the dorm.

What I didn’t expect to see was one of the most handsome and most famous men in all of South Korea leaning against the doorframe.

Next Chapter

#bts #Bangtan Sonyeondon #bts scenarios #bts fanfic #angst #fluff #romance #idol #oc x bts #you x bts #royal flush

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belladonnablake · 5 years

Note

All odd numbers 🖤

1: Golden mornings or peachy sunsets?: boston summer sunsets are always peachy but there’s something about the morning sky after it snows that is just as good? sunsets for summer and mornings for winter3: Do you wear scarves often? do you have a favorite?: i’d like to wear scarves more often than i do but i don’t know what to do with the back of my hair when i do? so maybe i will more often once it’s styled if i ever go to a hairdresser before the next time i die? but i do have a fave! i bought myself a tottenham hotspur scarf in the north end more than a few years ago and i’ll. try to take pictures of myself wearing it. i’ll try to take pictures of myself this year because i didn’t last year lol5: Is there a food you’ve never had but always wanted to try?: there’s a lot of things but i can’t think of too many right now! a lot of it is regional food you can’t find in new england or you can but you have to go out of your way. i’ve tried both rabbit and gator in the past couple years and i want to try more meats. caribou would be nice too. this is one of those questions i could talk forever without ever answering it completely so i’ll cut it here you’re welcome7: Do you listen to ASMR?: not too often but i’ll listen to rain or like moving water in general when i write on occasion, otherwise the music i’m listening to influences the music i’m writing. but nothing more than that9: What’s a little thing in life that you love?: i answered this but because it’s a question that can be answered more than once so i’m gonna do that. i love winter jack jack daniels. it’s like apple whiskey. i love my new pink and green joycons and i love the green and pink colour scheme in general. i love my new hoodies too. one is a powell peralta hoodie with a small logo on the front and big on the back, of the bones skeleton with the red hood. and the other is a thrasher hoodie with green font and a pink jellyfish11: Wobbly lines or using a ruler?: my hands are shaky and have always been shaky so my straight lines, they’re straighter than i am but they’re still bad. i don’t even think i own a ruler but if i were going to draw a straight line i’m going to need one lol13: Do you have any candles? what scents are they?: one of them is apple something and the other two are sparkling icicles and sweater weather which like. i don’t know how to describe either but it’s not the same as lighting a sweater on fire or sticking an icicle up your nose15: Do you have glasses?: another one where i’ll try to take pics for later but i have green aviators, red aviators, and purple aviators. all sunglasses off of rainbowoptx dot com17: What’s your favorite season and favorite month in that season?: winter autumn tie but my fave months are october, november, and december, and all but ten days of that are in autumn? 19: Favorite Ghibli and/or disney movie: it’s been years since i’ve seen either so forgive me if my memory fails me but i remember princess mononoke, kiki’s delivery service, and spirited away the most out of all of either ghibli or disney? and i should probably rewatch them soon as well as the others to see if that still stands21: What snacks do you usually get at the theater?: i don’t think i’ve ever actually gotten snacks at the theatre? i haven’t been in years, but there are a few things either out or coming out that look like they’d be worth going even if the concept of theatres is something that i don’t really understand? ...i’m thinkin bout once upon a time in hollywood baby! the best candy for theatres is reeses pieces and like any of the bites candy? cookie dough bites etc23: Would you fill your house with plants if you had a green thumb?: i keep my liquor bottles around to use them as vases tbh. there really isn’t a place for plants in our apartment, or maybe there is and i haven’t found it25: Do you have a favorite type of art style? (eg: soft looking, no to little color, sketches, crisp and clean, minimalist, pixel art etc.): my style varies all the time and i try to do all of the above, i’m very inconsistent myself. but i’m very fond of 3D modeling atm!27: Do you like nicknames?: i like nicknames if i like the person using them? i’m a person with a lot of names because i’m a dumb kinnie and hate using one name exclusively and i guess all my names are nicknames but like. i don’t like how nicknames for most people are shortened names or how they think shorter names are nicknames for a longer name idk like i’ve got a cousin named liam, that’s not his nickname. his legal name might be william but that’s not his name. his nicknames have nothing to do with that. and like there’s nothing wrong with nicknames that are shortened versions of a name but i hate how that’s what most people think of them as29: Do you still like old memes? (tell the truth): i don’t like how meme formats are the same and the reaction image changes. i like reaction images but i don’t like how some of them become memes and then it changes to a different image for the same format. i like the new wave of doge memes and i still like pepe and i love how stupid dat boi was 31: Are you a fashionable person?: i’m a crusty folk punk that wears the same flannel every day but doesn’t know how to make crust pants33: Cookies or brownies?: i don’t love either and would rather just eat raw cookie dough. i think there is such a thing as too much chocolate and brownies do have too much and cookies are often borderline but i do like a baller macaron or cheesecake cookie35: Do you find the crickets chirping outside your window relaxing?: i live in a city so... replace crickets with drunks screaming anything from the lyrics to everlong to i need you! we need you! we need you! we need you! we need you! fucking idiot! i don’t have further context for either but ya that’s relaxing to me37: How often do you doodle?: not as often as i should because of the perfectionism thing giving me this fear of practice? i blame public school for killing off as many artists as they can tbh39: What’s your favorite random piece of decor in your house and room?: mr. durdam... he is a hollow plastic penguin around kneehigh next to the tv stand / amiibo shelves. we also hung waluigi from the ceiling for a while.41: Any birthmarks?: i got two dots on my wrist, one larger one smaller. looks like an exclamation point !43: First video game you ever played?: it was either one of the early zelda games or one of the ps1 games? i was too young to form memories but i know it was one of the two. i know i played arcade games at some arcade on hampton beach when i was that young too. qbert that orange FUCK45: Do you use gifs/ memes a lot when replying to people?: i’m trying to get better at remembering to save reaction images and remembering to use them. i don’t even know how people use the gifs when replying to people because i was stuck with a phone that couldn’t update its operating system for years and now i have a new phone with an up to date operating system and i’m still figuring things out47: Ideal temperature outside?: so it’s either gonna be below freezing so it’s able to snow or like... around 50 or below and literally feels like nothing at all. because i hate when it’s too hot to wear beanies. i like when it’s cold and i like when it’s not hot or cold. but i hate hot49: How often do you hear airplanes outside?: if i were to go outside and lie down on my back i could watch airplanes all day long. it’s a little different than being on castle island but it’s still close enough to logan to where planes are near constant but not too loud. i hear the train every ten minutes too. and the cars are always

#love you <3 #icyhot-ingenium

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leefelixs · 6 years

Text

childhood best friend to crush hyunjin

genre: fluff

pairing: hwang hyunjin & you

word count: 3463 words

summary: hyunjin spends his childhood taking care of you and watches you grow by his side

notes: thank you for your request anon! <3

even at a young age hyunjin had a special presence that caught the attention of most people

especially yours

he had been your neighbor since you were both four years old and spent most of his days playing outside along with his cars and dirt

you would sit against the window and watch him with a lot of curiosity until one day you decided it was your time to go and make a friend

your little feet carried you in front of the boy and he looked up at you while you waved your stubby hand awkwardly

“hi. what’s your name?”

“my mom said i’m not supposed to tell strangers my name.”

“it’s okay, we’re going to be friends so i’m not a stranger.”

“oh okay. my name is hyunjin.”

an awkward silence passed as you both studied each other, trying to decide if it was worthy of befriending the other

and finally after a few minutes he gave you a small toothy grin and motioned for you to sit down next to him

“since you’re my friend, you can play with me.”

and from that day on you found yourself following the poor boy around

everyday at 3 pm to 5 pm you found yourself stalking outside to meet him and he would be expectant of your arrival

and as more time passed by you just became his shadow

every step he took, you took one behind him

but he enjoyed your company greatly and allowed you to stay by his side

he would come over every afternoon to play with you and your dog...mostly your dog

but thats okay because he was a good friend to you and made you happy

“look, i brought you cookies from the jar in my kitchen. but don’t tell my mom i got them for you.” and he would cautiously dump a handful into your hands

his mom always noticed but pretended that she didn’t because it was cute and he was being nice to yo

even if hyunjin would knock over 500 things in the kitchen trying to get to the jar

because he was an only child and his mother worried about the lack of friends he had and having you come around was really nice

and in return you would sneak some of your toys to his house and play together

on the first day of school your parents agreed to take turns taking both of you to school together

and every morning before school he would be sitting on your couch watching tv waiting for your mom to finish dressing you while chewing on a bunch of fruit

“good morning you rotten egg.” hyunjin would smile and stick his tongue out at you before getting up and racing you to the car

and at the gates of the school he held your hand and led you in so confidently

and thats how you both grew up

you were extremely inseparable

every milestone of your lives were spent with each other

if he wasn’t tugging you around by the hand, he was constantly taking steps and stopping to make sure you were behind him

even when you guys got to school together

seriously all the kids would throw a fit because in the middle of the playground he would stop and turn around to find you and be sure you were there

“shut up meanie.” would be his only response to a bunch of angry kids flailing their arms and whining for you both to move

hyunjin is an only child so he doesn’t have company

but he saw you as his sibling

you were there when hyunjin got his first pet dog and helped him shower the little puppy and learn to take care of him

“no hyunjinnie, you can’t put him in the tub! the tub will get dirty.”

“but then what’s the point of a tub!”

hyunjin was there when you broke your first bone and instantly picked you up and dragged you to your parent’s house while you sobbed your eyes out

he kept shushing you

“stop being a baby! you’ll be fine”

and you would just blubber and sniffle

and every time you wailed he would get so mad and you couldn’t understand why

until you got to your parents and they instantly took you to he hospital..he turned around and started crying

hearing you cry made him so upset that he wanted you to just stop

you were there when his voice cracked for the first time and you both broke into laughter at the moment

“are you going through puberty?”

“hey, you can’t be asking those types of questions!”

“aw come on. i tell you everything hyunjin. it’s only fair.”

you manage to barely dodged his pillow flying at you 50 mph

he’s mumbling to himself and patting his throat gently as if it’ll help his voice somehow

“yeah, but there’s some things we just can’t share.”

he helped you pluck your eyebrows for the first time because you were too nervous to do it by yourself

honestly you weren’t sure if you could trust him to do a good job what if he leaves you looking bad-

“ow! ow it hurts hyunjin it hurts-”

“stop moving. you told me you wanted to pluck your eyebrows and i’m doing it.” he mumbles and grabs your face to keep you in place

he’s so focused on it and has his tongue out slightly while he squints and moves your head around

“okay, i’m sure you don’t have to move me so much.”

“stop questioning my work!”

there’s never been a moment in your life where you aren’t together

when he tries out for the basketball team you’re on the side cheering and recording him to tease him later

you guys walk to school together every morning just like when you were kids and he refuses to let it change

even when you wake up late he’s there to tear the blankets off of you and open the curtains to your room

“c’mon. you’re not leaving me alone now. you signed up for this.”

whenever he comes over and you’re sitting, not realizing he entered, he’ll come up behind you and roughly ruffle your hair

and if he’s feeling extra annoying he’ll give you a noogie

“do you have a crush on anyone yet?”

“ew, what type of question is that hyunjin?”

“i don’t know, i just wanted to see! you’re growing up and suck at telling me things now. just wanted to remind you that boys suck is all.”

he’s still ever so playful with you as you guys slowly get older

in fact he’s still the same hyunjin you knew

but

hyunjin’s gotten a lot taller..a lot more handsome..and it seems like each year it just becomes more apparent

and the people around you begin to notice it too

at first you grow fearful that maybe...just maybe hyunjin will start to outgrow you and no longer chase after you

and you grow paranoid whenever a cute girl comes around to speak to him

he’s polite and brief in all his conversations but it seems like he misses the point at their flirting

“hey, you really suck at taking a hint you know?”

hyunjin looks at you with a weird little eyebrow furrow

“i suck? no way, i just don’t really care. i have other stuff to focus on.” he shrugs before tugging you along to your next class

and it seems like maybe you two should be more distant as you get older..both of your parents start to fear the idea of one cutting the other off slowly but it seems like you’re even stronger than before

he’s constantly pushing himself into your life and barging into your house like it’s his

“hey, how was your day?” you can hear the door being slammed close and a bag being dropped as the boy looks around for you in the kitchen

“it was good! how was yours?”

and the whole rest of the afternoon is spent doing homework together or watching tv together

when you get sleepy you yawn and lean into him

it’s nothing new it’s something you’ve always done

but this time around he flinches and awkwardly pushes you off and you just blink at him in confusion

“did you just push me off?”

hyunjin is visibly shooken awkward

“no. i just got an electric shock is all. go on.”

"aw, hyunjin’s scared of contact!”

“no i’m not!”

“you sure?”

“really. i’m not. are you gonna lie on my shoulder again or what?” he seems huffy and embarrassed and slouches into the couch the slightest bit while focusing his attention back on the tv

but nonetheless you still adjust yourself back onto him

after that event you find him lingering around you a lot more than usual

if that’s even possible

seriously even his parents are like okay buddy...you have to chill

“don’t you think they have things to do too? i know you guys are best friends but distance is always nice too.”

“you don’t get it, we’ve always been like this. really.”

“if i didn’t know better hyunjin i would think you have a crush on them.”

those words hit him like a bag of bricks

his mind stops and tries to register it

“oh my gosh, do you?”

“wait...no mom don’t say that. that’s weird.”

“my baby has a crush on his best friend!”

hyunjin can only drown her out in his mind while he tries to process those words

a crush...on you? his best friend?

no way...you’re too much of a dork...too dependent on him and he just feels the same way is all.. he likes being near you is all it is

and he likes how you follow him around

and hold his hand to keep him company

and how everything he says is important to you

and the sound of your voice and the way you smile at him

and how close you both are and how there isn’t anything to worry about with each other

and-

oh shit.

oh shit

OH SHIT

“mom, i think i’m gonna go take a nap.” hyunjin can barely drag himself into his room and drop himself on his bed as he rummages through his pile of unknown objects in the corner of his room

he reaches for his backpack and looks through the smallest bag in it and pulls out a picture of you both in one of those cheesy effect photo booths at the park

“do i like you?” he asks himself but it seems like hes asking the picture as he looks at your silly expressions and fingers forming bunny ears behind his head

the words sound so weird but it feels so right

but oh my gosh? what would happen if he admits he likes you

you’re his best friend and you were practically raised together like wow what a weird concept to take in

but the thought of holding your hand in a different way then usual is so nice to him...

and all he can do is smother his face into a pillow and GROAN

you know...the frustrated teenage boy groan we all know and love

he has to do something about it but he can’t dare imagine possibly ending your amazing wonderful friendship because you don’t feel the same way

the whole night is absolute torture for him and his thoughts until he falls asleep

and when he wakes up the next morning it hits him in the face while he gets dressed

he has a crush on you

dragging himself to your house in the morning is so hard he’s so nervous even if he’s done it every single day of the year since...forever

“morning.”

“hyunjin you’re here! i was worried you’d be late.” you wave with a big grin and nearly fling yourself onto him

he’s used to your hugs

it’s nothing new

but it feels so much softer and warmer than usual and he clears his throat while lightly tapping your back

“i’d never be late. are you ready to go?”

the next few weeks are awkward from his side

it’s obvious from his side that something is up but he seems to brush it off whenever you worry or ask him about it

his hugs become a lot longer and his eyes stay on you more than usual and you can’t help but think what if he’s sad?

“hey, you know if you need to tell me anything you can always trust me.”

“i know.”

“i’m serious hyunjin.”

“i know you are but there’s just some things you can’t say. it’s nothing, really, i promise. i’m fine.” he gives you a big grin and a thumbs up but you couldn’t help and frown

“seriously. don’t worry.” he mumbles before pressing a soft kiss on your forehead to keep you from worrying

it feels nice

and you wouldn’t mind for him to do it again

but you smile and nod at him

“if you say so. i won’t keep pushing it.”

after that day he seems to distance himself a lot more entirely

he stops coming by for you in the morning and when you ask him he looks at you for a moment

“it’s not what you think, i promise. things are just weird. i’m sorry.”

and it seems to hurt a lot more than you ever expected but you know he doesn’t mean for things to hurt you

he’s just got a lot on his mind

so you accept it and spend the next few weeks alone

you miss having him nearly drag you out of bed

and hyunjin trying to force feed you because you’re too lazy to get yourself food

or having him tangle his fingers with yours

all the little moments you both shared are gone and you miss them so much

you can’t force yourself in but you want him to be back with you

and while you shove your hands into your jar of cookies, crying and eating.. the light bulb in your head goes off

your hands grasp the jar and you find yourself nearly running down your stairs outside

its cold out but you don’t mind at all

you probably should have put on shoes

as you jump and squeak and groan at the sensation of rocks pricking into your feet you manage to find yourself in front of the door of hyunjin’s house knocking impatiently

the lights are off in the house except for the living room and you can hear the loud audio of his favorite tv show

but there’s no answer

knock knock knock

no answer

knock knock knock knock knock

“HYUNJIN!”

with the sound of your voice the boy drops the control and jumps up

why the hell are you outside of his house at 10 pm in 50 degree weather? you’re usually tucked away in bed at this time just scrolling through your phone

“what are you doing here?” it’s not like he doesn’t want to open the door..but there’s something that makes him scared to open it

“please. open up.” your voice has shrunken so much and you sound so confused that it pangs his heart and he quickly unlocks it

and when he sees your face scrunched up in worry and your eyes wide and gentle, his heart swells up

even with your hair all messy and your ugly sweatpants and hoodie you look absolutely precious and it seems like now he remembers why he shouldn’t have opened the door

“here.”

you shove the jar of cookies into his hands and hyunjin just stares at you in confusion

“i don’t eat cookies.”

“but you’re going to now. because you’re my friend and you used to give me cookies to confirm our friendship and i’m doing the same thing you idiot.” your words are viciously rushed together and the way your hands move are worrying him and you seemed so stressed

“hey wait, calm down-”

“don’t tell me to calm down when you ditched me! take the damn cookie.”

he looks at you and the jar for a moment and it feels like he’s looking at you as a kid again

and his hand reaches in and takes a bite of the cookie in front of you

“ew.”

the sight of him munching on the treat puts your heart at ease and you tear the jar out of his hands

“now why are you avoiding me?”

“i’m not avoiding you.”

“yes you are, i haven’t seen you in so long and whenever i text you it’s always so half-assed.”

“but i’m not doing it because of you, really.”

“hyunjin?”

“yeah?”

“if you don’t like me anymore just tell me so i don’t feel pathetic standing here fighting for you. and i’m cold.”

it’s annoying to him how you could even think he would leave you

but he knows very well he’s been failing you out of his own selfish fears and he deserves your doubt

“i don’t dislike you. i could never dislike you.”

your grip on the jar loosens at his words and you look back up at him

he tugs you into his house and closes the door behind you before motioning you to the couch

“you really came all the way over to my house just to harass me into eating your junk food for some emotional confirmation that i don’t hate you?”

“can you blame me?” the way you look at your feet in shame and embarrassment makes him smile and the little stray hairs that cover your eyes are so cute

hyunjin lets out a deep sigh before moving your fly aways to the side and scooting in closer to you.

“look at me?” your head moves up to see him and his eyes seem so bright and nice

you missed him so much and it must have been getting to you bad

because he seems a lot more special and handsome than usual

and the way your heart feels finally being around him is pretty wild itself

like really your heart is beating 120 mph and this is not healthy

“i’m not avoiding you because i hate you. i don’t know why i’m doing this. i mean i do, but i can’t justify it to myself so i can’t justify it for you.”

he sighs and grabs your hands while rubbing his thumb in circles on your skin

“maybe if you told me what was bothering you. i could help you hyunjin, it’s not just your problem.”

“i know it’s not. everything that happens to me concerns you too.”

“exactly. so why do you suck so much and not tell me important things?”

“theres some things left better unsaid.”

“not really hyunjin. you can at least give me a hint or something.”

“a hint?”

you nod as he begins to think

“like, you can show me instead of tell me. draw it out or something. do charades even, hell i know you’re awful at it but if you need to...”

hyunjin nods and thinks to himself for a moment

“okay. i think i can show you. just don’t freak out.”

his hands let go of yours and hyunjin looks you in the eye while moving in slowly

the distance between you both is non existent and it’s not new...

but it feels different

very different

“are you sure you want me to show you?”

you nod meekly while he clumsily presses his lips against yours

all the blood seems to be rushing to your head and everything around you is practically non-existent

because all you can focus on is your best friend just nonchalantly kissing you

no biggie right?

and for some reason

you find yourself kissing back too

oh shit

“do you get it now?” hyunjin puffs as he pulls away and looks at you with a shy smile

“yeah.”

the lack of response and eye contact from you sends him into a frenzy and hes terrified of what you’re thinking

did he mess everything up

nice going hwang hyunjin now you’re going to have to explain to everyone you messed up the best thing in your life because you had to fall in love with your best friend

how much does it cost to find a new identity? what country has an easy to learn language for him to run away to?

“i hope you’re thinking up ideas of how to ask me out over there. or else this is going to be really awkward.” your hand brushes against his with a smile that comforts him entirely...just a little too much

“i don’t know. maybe if you kiss me back it can be arranged?”

#hyunjin #oh man this was long it probably SUCKS too #stray kids scenario #scenarios #kpop scenarios #hwang hyunjin #hyunjin scenario #kpop imagines #stray kids

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stevenuniversallyreviews · 6 years

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Episode 75: Steven’s Birthday

“Looks like you stagnated there a little bit, buddy.”

My brother is nearly two years older than me, but due to his summer birthday we were only a grade apart in school. My sister is exactly two years and eight days younger than me. One of the many things you get as a middle child, particularly when the ages are so close together, is a sense of innate value in being slightly older.

There have been several moments in my post-high school life when, for various reasons, I’ve assumed that certain peers were older than me. Whenever I learn that these age impostors are actually younger, it rocks me to my core. I just have this semi-conscious deference to people who are a little bit older, and I swear my internal reaction to learning that I’m the older one is always “Well then why the hell was I respecting you so much?”

I acknowledge that this is absurd, especially because I don’t expect that kind of deference from my younger peers (this could be due to my sister’s low tolerance for my BS, I dunno). In practice, I’m not even consciously nicer to people I think are older; as far as I’m aware, it’s all in my head. But there’s still a tiny sense of rank that comes with age order that I'm not sure I’ll ever shake.

This is all to say that I've never related more deeply with Connie Maheswaran than I do in Steven’s Birthday.

I mentioned in my post on Nightmare Hospital how much I appreciate the specifics we get on this show, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we first learn Steven and Connie’s exact ages (as well as Greg’s age at the time of Story for Steven) in another Connie-centric episode. The Gems don’t care about specifics, because they live so long that everything just kind of goes together. But humans—especially the kids in the audience—care a lot about detail, and this is ultimately an episode about Steven’s humanity.

And yeah, it’s weird that Steven is 14. Or rather, that he was 12 and 13 for as long as we’ve known him; considering Steven’s Birthday is after the second Beach-a-Palooza we’ve seen on this show, I assume he had another birthday that we didn’t get to see. If this kid was going to school, this show would be taking place from seventh through ninth grade. Yikes!

But this reaction is the point. We’re meant to be shocked. 14-year-olds tend not to act like Steven, for better (they tend to be savvier) and for worse (they tend to be terrified of earnestness and hide their insecurities with attitude sassier). Despite the character development we’ve seen from Steven, he’s still firmly in kid mode. Part of that is the realities of a show with set character designs (cue the fandom complaints about inconsistent sizes*); note that he still doesn’t physically grow until the time jump. But in-universe, it also has to do with a continued mindset that he’s pursuing equal footing with the Crystal Gems. If his life is defined by pursuit, he’ll never actually reach the goal.

*In regard to character sizes: I see characters like I see language. If you say a word that’s slang or dialectal, and someone fluent in that slang or dialect immediately understands you, then that’s a word, regardless of what a dictionary says. If I look at a character I’m familiar with and immediately recognize that character, then that’s the character. Moreover, there are characters in Steven Universe who care as much about size as the fandom, and spoiler alert, they’re the villains.

As I’ve maintained since all the way back in Bubble Buddies, Connie is an agent of change. She’s Steven’s prompt to start growing up for real, and Steven’s Birthday has nice little nods to many of the ways they’ve developed together so far. They toast with durian juiceboxes, the same gross fruit drink that caused An Indirect Kiss. Greg offers Connie a ride home in the van, which is the bulk of Winter Forecast, and in that same ride Connie talks about the training with Pearl that began in Sworn to the Sword. There’s a big dancing scene a la Alone Together. Connie even broaches the possibility of skirting movie theater law, and despite retracting the suggestion, she was all about sneaking food in Lion 2: The Movie (her vision of Dogcopter in the stars is icing on that cookie cake).

After Nightmare Hospital’s friendship episode, we jump right back to romantic subtext here. I don’t know too many platonic friends who slow dance until one does a vintage foot pop, or who assume they’ll be married when one of them is president, or who just blush this much in general. It makes a ton of sense to go for this angle in an episode about getting older, but more importantly, awww.

This is the first time subtle relationship angst has been introduced to their dynamic: unlike Connie freaking out about Steven’s family in Fusion Cuisine or Steven trying to ice Connie out in Full Disclosure, the tension between these two spends the whole episode simmering but never surfaces in a big way. It just manifests in awkward discomfort, which does manage to convince me that Steven is 14 now. While they don’t dwell on it too much, Connie is clearly more attracted to Tall Steven than Regular Steven, and I think he knows it. If you’re not a young teen already, imagine being a young teen again and knowing you could make your crush like you, but it caused physical pain. Yeah, not too surprising Steven goes for it.

(If you’re younger than a young teen, get off Tumblr right this instant and read a book. Love, a children’s librarian.)

On top of looking taller, Zach Callison drops closer to his regular speaking voice to complete the illusion of Steven’s growth; like companion episode Too Many Birthdays, he gets to show off a vocal range that Steven usually doesn’t have. While Too Many Birthdays does show that Steven has some control over his age, and didn’t actually have to stretch it out here, I like the implication that despite wanting to look older for Connie, he still doesn’t feel older quite yet. And he gets a nifty (if unsubtle) lesson about being himself at the end when his mature decision to stop altering himself is rewarded with his first puny facial hair. (As someone whose father could grow a full beard in high school but who himself had nothing but peach fuzz until after college, I feel you, Steven.)

Lamar Abrams and Katie Mitroff thread the needle on Connie, who has to balance the role of being a good friend against being the root of Steven’s body issues. She easily could’ve delved into Fusion Cuisine levels of unsympathetic, but it’s clear that her feelings about Steven’s appearance stem more from concern than anything else. Yes, she does like his taller form, but she never intentionally pressures him to maintain it, and accepts his regular form without question. She even wants to hang out with his baby form! I wouldn’t have even minded if her worry manifested in getting a little upset with him, as this would be a natural reaction to Steven’s condition and Connie isn’t perfect, but she cares more about who Steven is than what he looks like, which is just the kind of friend/crush he needs.

Connie also gets a nice amount of bonding time with Greg, with an explicit reference to their roles as the most important human beings in Steven’s life that we got from We Need to Talk. I love how Greg’s doting fatherhood is something that Steven is probably still super into, but is only embarrassed by because Connie is around; he’s right at the cusp, but he’s still a kid. But through Greg’s interactions with Connie, we see that his Dad Mode isn’t restricted to goofy shows of affection, and he’s willing to get serious when a kid that isn’t even his is upset. Just as we could’ve had an episode where Connie was more of a jerk, Steven’s quiet abandonment of his cape and crown could’ve made for some painful interactions with Greg. I’m so glad that Abrams and Mitroff are content with how uncomfortable the core premise of the episode is and don’t feel the need to shove in additional drama.

Also, while it’s clear from the extended theme song and implied in other Greg episodes, this is the first in-show confirmation that Greg raised Steven on his own for a significant portion of his life. It comes with yet another callback, this time to Laser Light Cannon as we crank up Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart, and it’s heartwarming to think about those early days of Greg and Baby Steven in an episode that’s so focused on the question of Steven’s humanity. Three Gems and a Baby will show the sorts of challenges Greg actually faced, but it also reinforces what we learn here: that for all their cosmic wisdom, Steven needed a human to raise him first. Not even Garnet pulling faces can do what Greg does.

The method by which Steven adjusts his form turns Steven’s Birthday into something of an Amethyst Episode (I love how this show is willing to pick certain Gems to focus on even when all three are still background characters). Garnet and Pearl don’t have the body issues that Amethyst now shares with Steven, especially concerning the use of shapeshifting to combat a feeling that they’re too small. Amethyst introduces the concept while stretching to hang up a banner with a pointed caveat that she can’t stay stretched forever, and when she confronts him after catching his secret (aided by him helpfully stating aloud what his secret is), you get a sense that she knows all too well how much it hurts to try to permanently hold a bigger form. In a true Amethyst Episode, this might lead to a reveal that she once attempted what Steven’s doing now (which we do see a bit of in Reformed but not in the “stretching of a base form” sense), but here, it’s left to the imagination.

Amethyst also gets that great reveal as a car seat, which I can’t unsee now but was surprised by in my first viewing due to the focus on Connie and Greg. It’s not only a fun little joke, but it gives Greg a reason to have a baby seat handy. Considering he’s a hoarder and the barn is full of old junk, we could’ve seen a regular seat without comment, but the crew doesn’t waste the opportunity for a sight gag.

There is one missing thing from Steven’s Birthday that surprised me a little. Considering our last episode (which takes place mere hours before this one) was a story about, among other things, how Garnet met Rose, it’s interesting that nobody points out the other anniversary this day represents. Steven’s birth directly correlates with Rose’s death, but neither Greg nor the Gems (not even Pearl!) seem to care. This isn’t a criticism of the episode at all: Abrams and Mitroff wanted to tell a completely different story, and there’s no way to do justice to “Gems think about Rose’s death on Steven’s special day” without making that the focus of the episode. I just think it’s an intriguing indicator of the show’s priorities. Rose is important, but in the moment the Gems see Steven as more important, and that’s pretty neat.

Anyway, it’ll be a couple more seasons until Steven and Connie get another big dose of teen-specific angst with the devastating Breakup Arc, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that their reconciliation in Kevin Party comes with Steven’s pink button-down. Still, in retrospect, the awkwardness we see here primes us for a different relationship: Lapis and Peridot’s. The latter is awkwardness incarnate, and when we finally get to know the former outside of crisis mode, it turns out she’s a surly teen. Together, they sate the show’s new appetite for adolescent drama between Steven’s Birthday and Dewey Wins, culminating in Lapis dumping Peridot (because as I literally just said, the Breakup Arc is devastating).

Shifting the teen relationship to another duo is such a smart path for the show to take, because it lets us retain focus on Steven’s identity as a growing child without abandoning the new storytelling possibilities that Steven’s Birthday suggests. It’s not as if Steven doesn’t gain any maturity until Dewey Wins—Amethyst’s arc is all about how he’s more or less caught up with her, and she’s a bit of a surly teen herself—but there’s enough Gem drama at the moment that Steven and Connie’s relationship still works best without tremendous complications.

Future Vision!

Maybe Pearl doesn’t want to hold Baby Steven because of that time she almost killed him in Three Gems and a Baby?

Steven’s facial hair might not have many new appearances, but Jungle Moon teaches us that Stevonnie gets full stubble when they’re fused long enough. And we do see it briefly in Reunited, complete with the shaving kit that explains why it’s rarely on his face. Gotta keep that chin smooth!

If Steven’s entire look after the time jump counts, then this is pretty good foreshadowing.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

Steven’s discomfort expands to the viewing experience as well, and while it’s good to portray awkwardness well in situations like these, I’m not huge on rewatching it. Also, I hit my major growth spurt between fifth and sixth grade (and by major I mean I was six feet tall in sixth grade and just stuck with that height), and you don’t grow that fast without some serious back aches, so this one doesn’t just bring an intentional cringe factor, but memories of acute physical pain.

But I mean sure besides that it’s pretty good.

Top Fifteen

Steven and the Stevens

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Winter Forecast

When It Rains

Catch and Release

Chille Tid

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

No Thanks!

5. Horror Club 4. Fusion Cuisine 3. House Guest 2. Sadie’s Song 1. Island Adventure

#steven's birthday #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

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samuelfields · 3 years

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[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality

Imagine landing your dream job with all the unnecessary doubt, indecision, and effort removed from the process.

Imagine making it happen in just one-fifth of the time it might normally take.

Nope, we’re not suggesting a miracle cognition drug, cybernetic brain implants, or an aggressive juice cleanse. Instead, we want to draw your attention to a simple idea known as the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 Rule. This odd quirk of human experience posits that roughly 80% of a given activity’s meaningful consequences come from just 20% of the causes.

So, imagine sitting in a movie theater (remember when that was a thing?). The 80/20 Rule suggests that around four-fifths of your enjoyment will come from just one-fifth of the movie — all those climactic scenes most of the story builds up to. The rule applies to bad stuff too. Think of all those annoying candy wrapper crinklers chowing down on Junior Mints during those same memorable scenes. Again, this rule would tell us that around 80% of that annoying noise was caused by just 20% of the movie-watchers.

It’s a generalization of course, but it sounds about right doesn’t it?

We don’t live in a neat universe where results always happen in a straight line. More often than not, just a few critical factors make all the difference, whether for good or bad. If you geek out on efficiency theory you can grab a coffee along with your cookie of choice and learn all about the 80/20 rule here and how it applies to all manner of corners of industry and productivity science.

In Ramit’s video, ‘The 80/20 Guide to Finding a Job You Love,’ he’ll grab on to this concept and zero in on you, your career, and one pointily practical question…

Can the 80/20 rule help you land your dream job?

Or let’s put it another way. Can we just get rid of the 80% of largely unimportant stuff, and focus right in on those few critical turning points that can land you a richer working life?

We’re convinced the answer is yes … if you’re willing to ditch unhelpful mindsets that lurk in the 80% unproductive zone. Let’s look at a few examples of how just a few changes can make a huge difference as you look for your dream job.

1. Ignore broad and vague career advice: Get specific

We’ve all had that person in our lives who offers pointless encouragement because they’re trying to help.

“You can do it!” Gee, thanks. How?

“Get well soon!” Great idea! My plan was to get well slowly.

These people mean well, but platitudes like this come from those who want to help but have no clue how. Unfortunately, conventional career guidance is littered with the same vague solutions. These fuzzy directions mean next to nothing and get you next to nowhere.

You know the deal:

Find your passion! Cool. But what does that process actually look like?

Renegotiate your salary! Genius plan. How?

These are time-wasters that’ll consign your approach to the unproductive 80% of the 80/20 equation.

Watch for these broad statements, and recognize them for what they are: a well-meaning impulse. What they’re decidedly not is a blueprint. You can waste a lot of time flailing about, trying to interpret, and act on these career advice equivalents of a “get well soon” card or an awkwardly executed fist bump.

Here’s the important part though. Don’t just reject broad and unhelpful advice when it comes from someone else. That’s the easy part. The tricky part is to systematically reject a cookie-cutter mindset.

So, how do you approach career-hunting focusing on the critical 20%?

Commit to defining exactly what you want

Conventional career-hunting advice is to send your resume to every job opportunity you see — and that might actually make sense if you’d be happy taking any job. But that’s not your goal. Your goal is to get up in the morning eager to clock-in and do your thing.

To find your dream job you’ll need to get specific:

What job do you want? Name it. Have the courage to exclude the ones you don’t.

What size company? Where is it located? Be grittily granular.

… And here’s the really important one …

What kinds of skills and experience do you need to land it? Quantify how you get there.

Everything in your resume and pitch should be hyper-focused on the answers you give to these questions. If you can do that, two things happen. First, you save time by no longer applying for dodgy jobs you don’t want anyway. Second, you make yourself look like a better employment prospect to the companies that actually count.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get specific:

Grab a sheet of paper and split it into 2 columns. In the first column list everything you know about what your dream job looks like. In column 2, bullet out the key characteristics of the kinds of jobs you don’t want. Stick this paper somewhere prominent as a daily reminder.

Grab a red pen (OK purple will do if red ink is scary). Go through every line of your current resume and scratch out generic, hedging, or vague statements. If it isn’t about the job you actually want, ditch it.

Congratulations. You just shifted your energy to that critical 20%.

2. Discard self-sabotage: Believe you’re right for the role

This might sound a bit “Dr. Phil” at first glance, but hear us out. We’re not suggesting something quite so asinine and patronizing as the idea that great self-esteem and chutzpah is all you need to land you a dream job. That’s dumb. Also, see point 1.

What we are saying though is that many job-seekers accidentally absorb a defeatist mindset. In fact, it happens to the best of us. Here’s the kind of self-sabotaging thoughts we’re talking about:

“I’m not qualified. Before I can even think about a new job I need to go back to school.”

“I’m lucky to have any job in this economy.”

“I should wait until COVID-19 and murder hornets go away before any big life changes.”

Don’t get us wrong. These thoughts aren’t stupid.

Skilling up is good! And of course, macroeconomics and other unpredictable variables are all real things that affect how your dream job search will play out. But none of these considerations (along with the myriad other excuses out there) need stop you from taking meaningful steps in the right direction … right now.

These ideas all have one thing in common. They push you to reflect on all the reasons why now isn’t a good time; why you’re not ready yet; why the world is just too scary a place to do something bold and daring like pursuing your dream.

Believe change is possible

OK, OK, we’ll throw the obvious mind shift out there first.

You do need to believe in yourself to make good stuff happen. There. Satisfied, Dr. Phil? It’s on a billion fridge magnets for good reason. Whatever you need to do to get inspired that you can and should pursue a career that’d make you happy and enriched, go out and get that thing, stick a magnet on it, and slap it on your fridge.

Life’s too short.

But don’t just get inspired; get aspirational.

Time constraints, economic downturns, and yes, even venom-spitting murder hornets will always be out there. Either you aspire to find a job you love despite these and a plethora of equally sucky things, or you resign yourself to a permanent state of waiting.

At least door one goes somewhere. Door two leads to the eternal thought-muzak of life’s waiting room. That serendipitous 20% zone can only happen when you abandon a resignation mindset.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

So you want to stop polluting your brain and your approach with self-defeating ideas? Got any spare paper lying around? Grab it!

Jot down every excuse or statement of resignation the self-defeatist side of your psyche (we all have one!) can muster.

Now write a response to each of these naysaying urges. Where you feel an obstacle is real, write down how you can overcome it. Start making tangible plans.

3. Reject passivity: Pursue crucial situations and people

This all circles around to the absolute importance of kicking passivity to the curb.

Think back to the 80/20 Rule for a moment: The idea that most of the biggest changes that’ll happen in your life boil down to a relatively slim sliver of critical crux points.

If you buy into this particular quirk of the universe, being awake for those moments suddenly becomes vitally important, right?

Yet the vast majority of people that are searching for their dream job hand the responsibility for delivering those all-or-nothing flash-points to someone else. Career-hunting passivity is everywhere, and takes many forms, like:

Trusting a job search algorithm to guide your job search.

Sending out a resume and desperately hoping the HR team gets back to you one day.

Relying on a recruiter to convince your dream company to give you a shot.

Laziness of this ilk squanders not one, but two of your most valuable resources.

One: Obviously, you’re wasting your time. We probably don’t need to offer too much exposition here on why metaphorically cramming filet mignon into a Mcdonald’s meat-grinder is unlikely to produce optimal results.

But you can’t overlook the negative knock-on effects on your motivation. You’re spinning headlong into a negative spiral here — where a perfect storm of rejection emails, lack of actionable data, and no real clue about what to do differently next time robs you of any desire to continue.

Why do this to yourself?

Passivity breeds failure, which in turn leads to the slow and abysmal process of … well … just giving up. The “80-percenter-zone” is a gray realm of mental laziness — of endlessly doing the same thing while expecting suddenly different results to miraculously manifest from miasmic mundanity. No.

So, what does “different” look like?

Zig when they zag

An active and engaged process of finding your dream job isn’t just about being smart — although, no big surprises here — smart people are generally better at finding useful shortcuts. It’s also about using your creativity and your passion to zig when other folks zag.

What do we mean by that?

Testing your approach: So you threw your metaphorical filet mignon into the algorithmic meat grinder and you got a dry and tasteless meat patty and an unconvincing dill pickle for your pains. If you’re switched on, you’ll chalk that up as a failed experiment and learn from it. Testing your approaches and efficiently learning from mistakes will help you avoid wasting a “rare” opportunity.

Looking beyond the low hanging fruit: The best jobs aren’t advertised. They’re made and won behind the scenes, far beyond your reach if you’re confining your hunt to generic online search tools. Like Poirot (or Angela Lansbury if you’re seeking employment in the Cabot Cove metropolitan area), dig deeper. Keen detective work may be in order.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Recognize you have a bit of a passive streak as a job hunter? Good news: no red pens are required for this one.

Can you find employees and HR managers of places you’d love to work on LinkedIn? The best time to begin assembling information about how your dream employer operates is right now — yep, before an interview is even a glimmer on the horizon.

Think of three companies where you’d love to work and follow them on social media. Do some online detective work to learn their lingo and build a clear picture of who they’re recruiting for and why. Make Angela proud.

“Why should we hire you?”

That’s exactly the question we intend to help you answer when you find yourself sitting in the interview hot seat for your shot at the career you’ve always wanted.

At this moment, when that crucial question hits, the next few words out of your mouth will need to show (not tell) your interviewer why you’re ideal for their company. These words will need to prove (not plead) your case. These words have to be steeped in the company’s language and be rich with strategy, foresight, and seasoned introspection.

Imagine feeling calm, the perfect answer spilling out of your mouth as you seal the deal on a career path you were made for.

We can help you shine in that pivotal, all-or-nothing moment.

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/80-20-rule-for-finding-your-dream-job/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

mcjoelcain · 3 years

Text

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality

Imagine landing your dream job with all the unnecessary doubt, indecision, and effort removed from the process.

Imagine making it happen in just one-fifth of the time it might normally take.

It’s a generalization of course, but it sounds about right doesn’t it?

In Ramit’s video, ‘The 80/20 Guide to Finding a Job You Love,’ he’ll grab on to this concept and zero in on you, your career, and one pointily practical question…

Can the 80/20 rule help you land your dream job?

Or let’s put it another way. Can we just get rid of the 80% of largely unimportant stuff, and focus right in on those few critical turning points that can land you a richer working life?

1. Ignore broad and vague career advice: Get specific

We’ve all had that person in our lives who offers pointless encouragement because they’re trying to help.

“You can do it!” Gee, thanks. How?

“Get well soon!” Great idea! My plan was to get well slowly.

You know the deal:

Find your passion! Cool. But what does that process actually look like?

Renegotiate your salary! Genius plan. How?

These are time-wasters that’ll consign your approach to the unproductive 80% of the 80/20 equation.

So, how do you approach career-hunting focusing on the critical 20%?

Commit to defining exactly what you want

To find your dream job you’ll need to get specific:

What job do you want? Name it. Have the courage to exclude the ones you don’t.

What size company? Where is it located? Be grittily granular.

… And here’s the really important one …

What kinds of skills and experience do you need to land it? Quantify how you get there.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get specific:

Congratulations. You just shifted your energy to that critical 20%.

2. Discard self-sabotage: Believe you’re right for the role

What we are saying though is that many job-seekers accidentally absorb a defeatist mindset. In fact, it happens to the best of us. Here’s the kind of self-sabotaging thoughts we’re talking about:

“I’m not qualified. Before I can even think about a new job I need to go back to school.”

“I’m lucky to have any job in this economy.”

“I should wait until COVID-19 and murder hornets go away before any big life changes.”

Don’t get us wrong. These thoughts aren’t stupid.

Believe change is possible

OK, OK, we’ll throw the obvious mind shift out there first.

Life’s too short.

But don’t just get inspired; get aspirational.

At least door one goes somewhere. Door two leads to the eternal thought-muzak of life’s waiting room. That serendipitous 20% zone can only happen when you abandon a resignation mindset.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

So you want to stop polluting your brain and your approach with self-defeating ideas? Got any spare paper lying around? Grab it!

Jot down every excuse or statement of resignation the self-defeatist side of your psyche (we all have one!) can muster.

Now write a response to each of these naysaying urges. Where you feel an obstacle is real, write down how you can overcome it. Start making tangible plans.

3. Reject passivity: Pursue crucial situations and people

This all circles around to the absolute importance of kicking passivity to the curb.

Think back to the 80/20 Rule for a moment: The idea that most of the biggest changes that’ll happen in your life boil down to a relatively slim sliver of critical crux points.

If you buy into this particular quirk of the universe, being awake for those moments suddenly becomes vitally important, right?

Trusting a job search algorithm to guide your job search.

Sending out a resume and desperately hoping the HR team gets back to you one day.

Relying on a recruiter to convince your dream company to give you a shot.

Laziness of this ilk squanders not one, but two of your most valuable resources.

Why do this to yourself?

So, what does “different” look like?

Zig when they zag

What do we mean by that?

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Recognize you have a bit of a passive streak as a job hunter? Good news: no red pens are required for this one.

“Why should we hire you?”

That’s exactly the question we intend to help you answer when you find yourself sitting in the interview hot seat for your shot at the career you’ve always wanted.

Imagine feeling calm, the perfect answer spilling out of your mouth as you seal the deal on a career path you were made for.

We can help you shine in that pivotal, all-or-nothing moment.

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Money https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/80-20-rule-for-finding-your-dream-job/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

kennethherrerablog · 3 years

Text

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality

Imagine landing your dream job with all the unnecessary doubt, indecision, and effort removed from the process.

Imagine making it happen in just one-fifth of the time it might normally take.

It’s a generalization of course, but it sounds about right doesn’t it?

In Ramit’s video, ‘The 80/20 Guide to Finding a Job You Love,’ he’ll grab on to this concept and zero in on you, your career, and one pointily practical question…

Can the 80/20 rule help you land your dream job?

Or let’s put it another way. Can we just get rid of the 80% of largely unimportant stuff, and focus right in on those few critical turning points that can land you a richer working life?

1. Ignore broad and vague career advice: Get specific

We’ve all had that person in our lives who offers pointless encouragement because they’re trying to help.

“You can do it!” Gee, thanks. How?

“Get well soon!” Great idea! My plan was to get well slowly.

You know the deal:

Find your passion! Cool. But what does that process actually look like?

Renegotiate your salary! Genius plan. How?

These are time-wasters that’ll consign your approach to the unproductive 80% of the 80/20 equation.

So, how do you approach career-hunting focusing on the critical 20%?

Commit to defining exactly what you want

To find your dream job you’ll need to get specific:

What job do you want? Name it. Have the courage to exclude the ones you don’t.

What size company? Where is it located? Be grittily granular.

… And here’s the really important one …

What kinds of skills and experience do you need to land it? Quantify how you get there.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get specific:

Congratulations. You just shifted your energy to that critical 20%.

2. Discard self-sabotage: Believe you’re right for the role

What we are saying though is that many job-seekers accidentally absorb a defeatist mindset. In fact, it happens to the best of us. Here’s the kind of self-sabotaging thoughts we’re talking about:

“I’m not qualified. Before I can even think about a new job I need to go back to school.”

“I’m lucky to have any job in this economy.”

“I should wait until COVID-19 and murder hornets go away before any big life changes.”

Don’t get us wrong. These thoughts aren’t stupid.

Believe change is possible

OK, OK, we’ll throw the obvious mind shift out there first.

Life’s too short.

But don’t just get inspired; get aspirational.

At least door one goes somewhere. Door two leads to the eternal thought-muzak of life’s waiting room. That serendipitous 20% zone can only happen when you abandon a resignation mindset.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

So you want to stop polluting your brain and your approach with self-defeating ideas? Got any spare paper lying around? Grab it!

Jot down every excuse or statement of resignation the self-defeatist side of your psyche (we all have one!) can muster.

Now write a response to each of these naysaying urges. Where you feel an obstacle is real, write down how you can overcome it. Start making tangible plans.

3. Reject passivity: Pursue crucial situations and people

This all circles around to the absolute importance of kicking passivity to the curb.

Think back to the 80/20 Rule for a moment: The idea that most of the biggest changes that’ll happen in your life boil down to a relatively slim sliver of critical crux points.

If you buy into this particular quirk of the universe, being awake for those moments suddenly becomes vitally important, right?

Trusting a job search algorithm to guide your job search.

Sending out a resume and desperately hoping the HR team gets back to you one day.

Relying on a recruiter to convince your dream company to give you a shot.

Laziness of this ilk squanders not one, but two of your most valuable resources.

Why do this to yourself?

So, what does “different” look like?

Zig when they zag

What do we mean by that?

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Recognize you have a bit of a passive streak as a job hunter? Good news: no red pens are required for this one.

“Why should we hire you?”

That’s exactly the question we intend to help you answer when you find yourself sitting in the interview hot seat for your shot at the career you’ve always wanted.

Imagine feeling calm, the perfect answer spilling out of your mouth as you seal the deal on a career path you were made for.

We can help you shine in that pivotal, all-or-nothing moment.

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

0 notes

andrewdburton · 3 years

Text

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality

Imagine landing your dream job with all the unnecessary doubt, indecision, and effort removed from the process.

Imagine making it happen in just one-fifth of the time it might normally take.

It’s a generalization of course, but it sounds about right doesn’t it?

In Ramit’s video, ‘The 80/20 Guide to Finding a Job You Love,’ he’ll grab on to this concept and zero in on you, your career, and one pointily practical question…

Can the 80/20 rule help you land your dream job?

Or let’s put it another way. Can we just get rid of the 80% of largely unimportant stuff, and focus right in on those few critical turning points that can land you a richer working life?

1. Ignore broad and vague career advice: Get specific

We’ve all had that person in our lives who offers pointless encouragement because they’re trying to help.

“You can do it!” Gee, thanks. How?

“Get well soon!” Great idea! My plan was to get well slowly.

You know the deal:

Find your passion! Cool. But what does that process actually look like?

Renegotiate your salary! Genius plan. How?

These are time-wasters that’ll consign your approach to the unproductive 80% of the 80/20 equation.

So, how do you approach career-hunting focusing on the critical 20%?

Commit to defining exactly what you want

To find your dream job you’ll need to get specific:

What job do you want? Name it. Have the courage to exclude the ones you don’t.

What size company? Where is it located? Be grittily granular.

… And here’s the really important one …

What kinds of skills and experience do you need to land it? Quantify how you get there.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get specific:

Congratulations. You just shifted your energy to that critical 20%.

2. Discard self-sabotage: Believe you’re right for the role

What we are saying though is that many job-seekers accidentally absorb a defeatist mindset. In fact, it happens to the best of us. Here’s the kind of self-sabotaging thoughts we’re talking about:

“I’m not qualified. Before I can even think about a new job I need to go back to school.”

“I’m lucky to have any job in this economy.”

“I should wait until COVID-19 and murder hornets go away before any big life changes.”

Don’t get us wrong. These thoughts aren’t stupid.

Believe change is possible

OK, OK, we’ll throw the obvious mind shift out there first.

Life’s too short.

But don’t just get inspired; get aspirational.

At least door one goes somewhere. Door two leads to the eternal thought-muzak of life’s waiting room. That serendipitous 20% zone can only happen when you abandon a resignation mindset.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

So you want to stop polluting your brain and your approach with self-defeating ideas? Got any spare paper lying around? Grab it!

Jot down every excuse or statement of resignation the self-defeatist side of your psyche (we all have one!) can muster.

Now write a response to each of these naysaying urges. Where you feel an obstacle is real, write down how you can overcome it. Start making tangible plans.

3. Reject passivity: Pursue crucial situations and people

This all circles around to the absolute importance of kicking passivity to the curb.

Think back to the 80/20 Rule for a moment: The idea that most of the biggest changes that’ll happen in your life boil down to a relatively slim sliver of critical crux points.

If you buy into this particular quirk of the universe, being awake for those moments suddenly becomes vitally important, right?

Trusting a job search algorithm to guide your job search.

Sending out a resume and desperately hoping the HR team gets back to you one day.

Relying on a recruiter to convince your dream company to give you a shot.

Laziness of this ilk squanders not one, but two of your most valuable resources.

Why do this to yourself?

So, what does “different” look like?

Zig when they zag

What do we mean by that?

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Recognize you have a bit of a passive streak as a job hunter? Good news: no red pens are required for this one.

“Why should we hire you?”

That’s exactly the question we intend to help you answer when you find yourself sitting in the interview hot seat for your shot at the career you’ve always wanted.

Imagine feeling calm, the perfect answer spilling out of your mouth as you seal the deal on a career path you were made for.

We can help you shine in that pivotal, all-or-nothing moment.

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/80-20-rule-for-finding-your-dream-job/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

paulckrueger · 3 years

Text

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality

Imagine landing your dream job with all the unnecessary doubt, indecision, and effort removed from the process.

Imagine making it happen in just one-fifth of the time it might normally take.

It’s a generalization of course, but it sounds about right doesn’t it?

In Ramit’s video, ‘The 80/20 Guide to Finding a Job You Love,’ he’ll grab on to this concept and zero in on you, your career, and one pointily practical question…

Can the 80/20 rule help you land your dream job?

Or let’s put it another way. Can we just get rid of the 80% of largely unimportant stuff, and focus right in on those few critical turning points that can land you a richer working life?

1. Ignore broad and vague career advice: Get specific

We’ve all had that person in our lives who offers pointless encouragement because they’re trying to help.

“You can do it!” Gee, thanks. How?

“Get well soon!” Great idea! My plan was to get well slowly.

You know the deal:

Find your passion! Cool. But what does that process actually look like?

Renegotiate your salary! Genius plan. How?

These are time-wasters that’ll consign your approach to the unproductive 80% of the 80/20 equation.

So, how do you approach career-hunting focusing on the critical 20%?

Commit to defining exactly what you want

To find your dream job you’ll need to get specific:

What job do you want? Name it. Have the courage to exclude the ones you don’t.

What size company? Where is it located? Be grittily granular.

… And here’s the really important one …

What kinds of skills and experience do you need to land it? Quantify how you get there.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get specific:

Congratulations. You just shifted your energy to that critical 20%.

2. Discard self-sabotage: Believe you’re right for the role

What we are saying though is that many job-seekers accidentally absorb a defeatist mindset. In fact, it happens to the best of us. Here’s the kind of self-sabotaging thoughts we’re talking about:

“I’m not qualified. Before I can even think about a new job I need to go back to school.”

“I’m lucky to have any job in this economy.”

“I should wait until COVID-19 and murder hornets go away before any big life changes.”

Don’t get us wrong. These thoughts aren’t stupid.

Believe change is possible

OK, OK, we’ll throw the obvious mind shift out there first.

Life’s too short.

But don’t just get inspired; get aspirational.

At least door one goes somewhere. Door two leads to the eternal thought-muzak of life’s waiting room. That serendipitous 20% zone can only happen when you abandon a resignation mindset.

Get started in 15 minutes or less

So you want to stop polluting your brain and your approach with self-defeating ideas? Got any spare paper lying around? Grab it!

Jot down every excuse or statement of resignation the self-defeatist side of your psyche (we all have one!) can muster.

Now write a response to each of these naysaying urges. Where you feel an obstacle is real, write down how you can overcome it. Start making tangible plans.

3. Reject passivity: Pursue crucial situations and people

This all circles around to the absolute importance of kicking passivity to the curb.

Think back to the 80/20 Rule for a moment: The idea that most of the biggest changes that’ll happen in your life boil down to a relatively slim sliver of critical crux points.

If you buy into this particular quirk of the universe, being awake for those moments suddenly becomes vitally important, right?

Trusting a job search algorithm to guide your job search.

Sending out a resume and desperately hoping the HR team gets back to you one day.

Relying on a recruiter to convince your dream company to give you a shot.

Laziness of this ilk squanders not one, but two of your most valuable resources.

Why do this to yourself?

So, what does “different” look like?

Zig when they zag

What do we mean by that?

Get started in 15 minutes or less

Recognize you have a bit of a passive streak as a job hunter? Good news: no red pens are required for this one.

“Why should we hire you?”

That’s exactly the question we intend to help you answer when you find yourself sitting in the interview hot seat for your shot at the career you’ve always wanted.

Imagine feeling calm, the perfect answer spilling out of your mouth as you seal the deal on a career path you were made for.

We can help you shine in that pivotal, all-or-nothing moment.

[Video] 80/20 Rule: Making Your Dream Job a Reality is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Surety Bond Brokers? Business https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/80-20-rule-for-finding-your-dream-job/

0 notes