#stop i'm being reminded of the fact that i'm only an adult on paper

[mishkakagehishka]

man this is just stressing me out ldfjidsjsdas

[thyandrawrites]

about the "Enji's atonement isn't genuine because he only changes after he becomes number one and not at literally any other point" thing..

I've seen a similar argument were some people will blame Touya for still wanting his dad's attention after the Shouto incident and Ray's hospitalisation. And that supposedly "proves" he didn't care about them!! (though this is probably just a result of hori fucking up the timeline of which incident happened first)

I'm not good with putting my feelings into words, I just know that I get a vague feeling of "the first one is right" and "the second is wrong" but I can't explain it beyond "Touya was a child"

So I wanted to see what your opinion is..

I don't think we can compare those two situations, because the circumstances are completely different. 

Enji turns to family to soothe his wounded pride and his guilt, and thus to find a way out from the consequences of his actions. It's a selfish deflection from his responsibilities as a father and a husband, and it's ultimately catered towards making himself feel better. But the fact that he feels guilt tells he's aware that he wasn't acting in their best interest; he's aware that he made his family suffer for his egotistical ambitions. Yet, he, an adult man fully in control of his actions, abused them with intent and purpose for years, knowing it was wrong and doing it anyway, because their well-being came second to fulfilling his ambitions. Separating Shouto from his siblings wasn't an oopsie, it was a deliberate decision to isolate him from the jealousy of his siblings (mainly Touya's). Locking Rei away in a mental hospital wasn't an involuntary action; he signed papers, so it was a choice, and he even tells us on screen that he did it because his wife "damaged" his masterpiece. Heck, Enji even knew that having more children after Fuyumi would crush Touya (and Rei reminded him of it too) but he went with it anyway. No one made Endvr abuse his family for years—it was always Enji choosing to put his ambitions over anything else, even when he knew he should've stopped a long time ago. 

How is that different from Touya? 

Well, for one Touya was born into a dysfunctional family, and had no other choice but to live with the circumstances he was saddled with. He did not choose to be the heir of Enji's ambitions, nor did he choose to be brainwashed from birth into having no sense of self outside of the "worthiness" he could glean from having a strong and "suitable" quirk. 

So, for one, saying that he didn't care about his family because he shows signs of dysfunctional relationships with them is an empty statement at best and a malicious misreading at worst. The entire Todoroki family is dysfunctional. Touya is not more responsible than anyone else simply because he abides by the broken dynamics and established patterns of behavior he sees in the house. It doesn't make sense to single him out like that unless someone is trying to attribute more faults on him alone and thus paint him as more callous than the others, which imho is just plain character bashing. The fact that Touya cares about family (and I'm saying family, not just Enji) is proven by chapter 350. When he wakes up from a three year long coma, his first thought is to go back home and apologize to everyone for the way they separated on bad terms. If he didn't care about them, he wouldn't be thinking of straightening things out. He wouldn't care about how much they must've been worrying for him in his absence. He would simply move forward and leave them behind. But he doesn't. 

Secondly, the argument that Shouto's accident should've changed Touya's opinion of Enji imho is rooted in a misunderstanding of Touya's character. A lot of people seem to forget that Touya always had a love/hate relationship with his dad, and that the feelings he had towards the man were often contradictory, layered and complex. He was aware that Enji considered him a failure and avoided him, and he still made excuses ("he must've been busy") for him whenever Enji didn't show up. He lamented to Natsuo that Enji selfishly made "all these children he doesn't need" while also spending countless days training alone and collecting scars to earn the man's love. He blamed Enji and Rei for staging his birth to have a perfect chimera child to beat All Might, and still wanted to be that child who would crown his father's ambitions. 

So. Considering how Touya knows his family is messed up, and how pain became such an everyday aspect of that fucked up reality for him that he's carefree in inflicting pain on himself to earn love… all in all, I don't see why anyone expects Touya to be the pinnacle of healthy and conflict-free relationships. It's almost like the fact that he was a traumatized teenager dealing with strong emotions he never learned to properly regulate goes completely over people's heads. 

[larisisig]

What's your "There I said it" about Harry Potter.

posting this here because I'm a coward who can't answer the question in quora.

1. James is an ego-centric prick, who can't accept a no for an answer. He's a creep who can't stop chasing after a girl who repeatedly said no to him. He's a bully, not a prankster. He never changed, he went behind Lily's back despite promising her to never bully Snape again. It showed how manipulative he can be. He only respects people who he thinks deserves it and isn't genuinely good. He's not even a feminist icon. He reminds me of the tiktoker who thought it'll be funny to repeatedly ask a girl out until she exploded.

2. POA Severus Snape is not in the wrong for telling the students about Remus wolfy issue. It also wasn't his fault Remus wasn't able to drink his potion, it's not his job to babysit Remus and make sure he drinks his potion. Remus is an adult he should know when to drink his potion without Severus watching over him.

3. Remus Lupin is a coward, and doesn't deserve Tonks or Teddy. He choose to not tell Dumbledore how Sirius is going around because he's a coward, who think that how Dumbledore sees him is way more important and a child-- than children's lives inside the castle.

4. Harry doesn't have a saving people thing. Remember that the first thing he does whenever there's a problem that arise. He tells a teacher. He asks other people to handle it, Hermione projected her "saving people thing" to Harry.

5. Ginny's only purpose was to be Harry's girl. I hate that she wasn't well developed, and became the female version of Harry Potter instead of being herself or the fact that she was only there so JKR can have her shitty parallels.

6. Hermione is way too harsh(that's no the word I want to use but too many will come after me if used the word) The birds, the scar on Marietta, and what she did to Skeeter. Some will say that they deserved it, Rita did. Ron and Marietta? Ron absolutely did not deserve a bunch of birds to peck him. Marietta is a more complicated case, Hermione is dubbed as the smartest witch of her age and her fans are always glorifying that. She should've been able to find any other spell that won't ruin someone's self-esteem/confidence and should've had follow up plans after they discovered who the traitor was. She did it to protect her friends, yes and I respect her for that. But it was confirmed that there were scars on Marietta's face right after, its Hermione's magic at work remember that. And also she could've told them the repercussions on signing at the paper, it didn't even need to be right before they sign it.

7. One does not and will never equate to four. Yes, Severus wasn't defenseless. He can protect himself but using "they're rivals" as an excuse or "they were pranksters and Snape was already a death eater." Does not justify the sexual assault, and constant bullying. His hate towards the marauders is justifiable, and is okay.

8. Snape had no business to be cruel, and harsh to his students. Given he didn't choose to be a teacher, but the way he insulted Hermione's physical appearance, always calling her a know-it-all, just generally is bad towards Neville, and is mad to a whole house of children who didn't know, and wasn't connected towards his issues. Except for the fact that they're in the same house as his bullies. They had no connections whatsoever with the Marauders who admittedly were horrible . Harry I'd understand, but at the end of the day. Snape is a 30 year old man who should've known better. He shouldn't have taken out pent up anger towards his students.

9. Hagrid should never have been a professor. "Danger" to him is different than other people's "danger".

10. I hate the ending of Harry Potter.

[marchioness-caprina]

You Like Me Not?

Pairings : Takami Keigo (Hawks) x Reader

Writing Style : 3rd Person

Warnings : Mild Cussing

Word Count 3290

3rd Person's POV

" Hawks. I'll ask you Nicely ok? Can you Please Please keep your distance from That New hero in your agency? That Foxy bimbo bitch what's her name again? " Y/n ranted narrowing her eyes towards Keigo who was casually lounging down on the couch with an amused look on his face.

" Now now Little Dove, I can't avoid her if you don't even know her name. But if I must say it then... Hmm" Keigo's eyes gleamed mischievously at the female in front of him as he uttered a word that made y/n go red with anger .

" Enchantress? "

" Keigo. " Y/n gave him a stern look and he just laughed at her face like it was a joke.

" Listen Kid. Looks like you gotta have another reality check. I can't avoid her because.... " Keigo paused his eyes never leaving y/n's angered face.

" Because? " Y/n growled impatiently as she crossed her arms.

" 1. We're Not even dating but here you are acting like you're MY girlfriend when you're clearly you're.... Not. " Keigo chuckled and y/n who knew that it was a fact flinched; feeling as if a million bricks were dropped on top of her head. The way he said it was like a harsh blow to the gut but she kept her usual strong expression.

" 2. We're working under the same agency so getting paired up with her isn't avoidable... Plus as her hero name states... She is enchanting " Keigo's smirk only grew as y/n's face became flushed with anger. Her eyes burning up dangerously as she gave a venomous glare at Keigo.

" And last but not the least... 3. I'm not interested in a first year kid. So chances of the two of us of ever dating is a Big fat No. Plus I think Enchantress is a lot more prettier than the average and if you ask me... I'd go after adults like her than Kids like you so stop acting like we're---" Although Keigo's Tone was indeed playful and the smirk on his face made it even more clearer. His words stung like hell.

Y/n who was visiting their agency and went straight up to his office to complain had taken in the harsh damages and blows. Yes she may be a first year brat in U.A but was it really terrible to love someone older than her by a few years?.

Apparently she was a little naive in terms of love so when Keigo saved her when she was still in middle school she fell in love. Who wouldn't? He's got undeniable charms, a pretty face , a well sculptured figure but most of all. He made her feel safe and protected, setting she never felt before so when she finally began studying in U.A she decided to pursue Hawks so it was very common for her to come by the agency. Almost everyone knows who she is by now.

So this was the usual; but it was the first time she walked out on Keigo who was still Talking.

Because it was honestly too much. After she confessed to him and started pursuing him, Keigo decided to be a Jerk and gave her a very hard time. When she'd come over to give him lunch he'd purposely fly away and call her to deliver it to a specific place but when she gets there he calls her again to either say that she was taking too long and left or he had 'accidentally' gave the wrong address and he needs her to send it on this one instead.

And he keeps doing that everytime. He even went as far as to go to another town to have her chasing him like a madman. Yet her determination never faltered. Something Hawks had came to acknowledge her for.

He sends her on wild goose chases and one time he gave her 3 wrong addresses even though he was only sitting in his office the whole time.

And if people think his wings are sharp then his words are sharper. He may be sweet to the media or the other people outside but when talking to her, his words are venomous, sarcastic, and over all it's just rude and pretty painful to hear.

How y/n had managed to stand strong until now was a mystery and everyone in the agency had grew to respect her for this but also carrying a little hatred for Hawks who purposely plays with her.

Keigo who was left in his office was speechless, he blinked a few times and even pinched himself to see if he was dreaming and when he found out that he wasn't he gave out a sigh.

It was quiet, far too quiet. His mind drifted off to y/n who had stormed out of his office awhile ago. Yes he was very much aware of the cruel treatment he was giving her but that's only because he wanted to see how persistent this girl was with her love for him, he thought she'd give up within the second time but when she never did he grew even more intrested and began testing her a lot more than intended and when he found out that her affection for him was too strong.

He didn't know what to do and began running away like a coward. It was wrong in so many levels. She was younger than him not to mention she's still studying in U.A, His job isn't necessarily designed to have a normal life and finding love and making a family IS normal, and he might die one day and he didn't want her to carry the burden of losing him so it's better to make her hate him.

But boy was he wrong when she kept coming back stronger than before. She was already forcing her way in his heart that he became distressed with his emotions.

And poof, he suddenly realized that he loved her back.

Something about her allured him to no ends and curse his animalistic instincts when it comes to mates because as much as he hates to admit it, he had already acknowledged her as a Mate. HIS mate. He can't help but be greedy and possessive of her, and the the mighty knows how many nights he had to lock himself in, restrain himself while his self control was being brutally tested on ; because with one wrong move he may have already infiltrated U.A causing a security distress, Crashed inside her dorm room , fucking bred her like a feral animal and claimed her like the pretty little mate she was.

Everytime he sees her, his control weakens and he had to hit himself and punch his face multiple times literally to remind himself that she was still a goddamn minor and he can't have his way with her yet.

She's not making it any easier for him so he developed a bad habit of taking it out on her because if his words can't do the talking then he might as well jump her bones and have her screaming his name.

Keigo groaned as he planted his palm on his forehead.

He was beginning to feel anxious. Like something bad was about to happen; something he didn't like at all.

He turned on the T.V and started reading through a few papers works but he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

He jumped out the window and began feverishly looking for the h/c haired girl.

" Fuck me and my Fucking Hormones... God.... Kid what have you done to me? " He mumbled but it came out as a growl instead. He was agitated, frantic and nervous, he couldn't get her out of his head even if he'd hit his head on a fucking billboard.

His eyes darting to every direction he knew she would take to get here. As creepy as it may sound but he knows every single route she'd take to get to his agency including the transportation she'd take to get there every time.

After some time he finally spotted her after dashing and flying at jet speed throughout the city like a mentally deranged patient he had finally spotted her .

A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he tried to regain his cool.

" Hey Kid" He yelled out once he was near enough and he got no answer.

Y/n had purposely ignored him. His words still rang inside her head and everytime she remembered. It made her heart clench in pain.

And when she heard her name being called out by the said Male . She wanted to turn around. hell she even wanted to run to him like a love sick little puppy but she can't let him see that she was crying.

So she ignored him and began walking at a faster pace.

" Oohh~ playing hard to get now aren't we? You know you gotta try harder. A little silent treatment isn't going to have me falling for you ya know" keigo casually stated with a hint of playfulness but he knew any better; he was desperate to have her attention back to him.

God, what did he do? Did she finally wake up and decided that she was sick of his bullshit treatment? Shit now what?.

After minutes of no answer Keigo began to feel frustrated and without thinking he landed behind her and grabbed her by the shoulder. only to whirl her around to face him.

" Kid---"

Keigo froze after seeing here blood shot eyes and tear stained cheeks.

He did it this time and he felt like a full blown jerk for doing this... For hurting her.

Y/n avoided any form of eye contact and placed her eyes on anywhere but him, lips quivering in a mixture of anger and sadness. She looked like a mess.

But Keigo thought otherwise though, he felt so sick of himself. The face she was making, teary eyes, flushed cheeks, quivering lips. It had disgustingly turned him on even though the situation screamed otherwise. His thoughts began to drift into the dirtiest part of his mind wondering if this face would be the reward he'd get if he'd have her under him, sprawled all over his sheets, sweaty and needy for him while crying-- no begging for him to give her more while he rearranged her guts. Damn he really was Messed up in every possible way.

He wanted to slap himself for thinking that way but a part of him couldn't blame himself because ever since she started coming over he had been so pent up it was a miracle he hadn't fucked her on the spot. And he didn't even have the guts to fuck another woman because he already acknowledged her as a mate; HIS mate.

He swallowed hard before forcing himself to speak.

" What's this? Now you're giving me a Sad and Pity worthy face? If you're making me feel guilty then it's working. I didn't think you'd stoop this low th---"

" Takami leave me alone. I don't want to see you right now, if you came here to insult me even further then just Go. " Y/n cut him off, she was unable to bring herself from listening to another one of his remarkable insults again when the wound was still fresh.

Keigo paused as his once playful stare began to change into a more intimidating and stern look.

' Leave you Alone? After what you've done to me? Oh~ what a naughty baby bird... No Never.... I'll keep this in mind when I finally claim you, I'll punish you for ever thinking of leaving' those thoughts circulated through Keigo's head as he silently stood there. Staring at her.

Y/n who was unable to handle the pressure tried to yank herself away from his hold but he had a grisly grip on her shoulders and his gaze managed to intimidate her enough to stop moving.

" Listen.... Y/n---"

" Senior Hawks! " Keigo was cut off from speaking and to top it all up he was taken by surprise and his reflexes kicked in; pushing y/n away quite harshly.

Their gazes were flung to the left where Enchantress, the new Hero in their agency was running towards them with a devious smile.

Keigo groaned and y/n rolled her eyes after seeing the pink haired female make her way towards them.

" Hey " Keigo muttered but again; he was caught by surprise when Enchantress had wrapped her arms around his while smiling proudly at y/n.

" Who's This Senior? " She asked pointing at y/n but the look on her face made it obvious that she already knew who y/n was.

" She's y/n...a fan" Keigo's persona shifted in a heartbeat and was now wearing his natural and charming smile.

" Oh? She's a Fan? Well nice to meet you. I'm the new Hero Enchantress, Say... You have a pretty face " Enchantress smirked making y/n fight back a scowl.

" Thanks " As much as y/n wanted to drop all the pleasantries and Immediately move to the part where she's ripping of Enchantress's left boob.... She can't.

So she decided to keep it neutral and gave Enchantress a small nod and a smile.

" You have a pretty face... But... Senior if you were given a chance to pick, which one of us would you choose? I wonder" Enchantress cheered innocently but her question got Hawks cornered.

She was doing this on purpose; placing him in a situation where he'd most likely fuck up and judging by the looks the two females were giving him... He can't smooth talk his way outta this. Not this time.

" Of course.... I'd pick you-- " Keigo's eyes we're settled on y/n but he pulled his gaze away from her and towards enchantress. " Enchantress" Keigo finished and The look of triumph on The pink haired female's face was floor-bash worthy.

Y/n stood in place, for a moment there she had her hopes up. Keigo was cruel enough to pull that stunt on her; giving her false hope only to bring her down and rub it in her face.

" Or course you'd pick me, miss y/n is still a kid and she's... Take no Offense in this miss y/n but Senior Hawks is a bit... Hmmm... Out of your league?" Enchantress smirk grew wider and Hawks who was already lying through his teeth was still fighting his Pride for dominance.

With a sharp glare sent towards Enchantress who didn't seem to notice only scooted closer towards him.

" Oh, Really? Ok then "

Keigo blinked at how nonchalant and uncaring y/n's reply was. He was genuinely expecting her to explode like usual but this time it's different.

Y/n was fighting back the new batch of tears, heartbreak was a real pain in the ass. Couldn't he just put her down slowly? Why is he taking pleasure in hurting her this way? Now he's rubbing salt onto the wound.

In which area did she lack in? Her face? Body? Skill? Intelligence? Now that she thought about it, Enchantress tray lived up to her Hero name. She was perfect in every angle.... Perfect for Hawks. Enchantress had a nice body, a seductive face and y/n heard of the achievements done by the Female Hero.

She can't beat her even if she tried. She's mentally, physically and emotionally drained to even give a reaction. She'd just get hurt even more.

Maybe this is a sign.

For her to finally give up, move on, shift her focus and concentration to something more beneficial.

This was hopeless and all she ever got was pain. She's not a masochist who yearns for the continuous and brutal impact of emotional pain. Heck even masochists needs a little love too.

She's tired and y/n knows better than to put herself down with her own insecurities. So she needed to make a move fast because she'll only get hurt again.

It's wise to forget him.

With a deep breath she pulled out a strong front with a genuine smile on her face as she gazed at Keigo and Enchantress.

Keigo wore an anxious look while Enchantress held a surprised expression.

" Well, you two do look compatible and you're right he is out of my league.... That's why I'll look for someone else within my reach. He's not the only fish in the pond.... I'm sure I'm holding you guys back.. Carry on with your hero duties, I'll go back now Bye~" Y/n turned around and gave them a wave before skipping away from the two.

Her tone along with her smile looked far too cheerful that it scared Hawks.

Did she just say she'd look for Someone Else?, she had the guts to say that right in front of him?.

He balled his hand into a fist, and for the first time in his life he had never felt this scared to lose someone. He was breathing heavily while throwing a mental tantrum.

" You know.... I thought you'd finally stop that bad habit of yours Hawks.... I learned from the rumors and wanted to see for myself and probably give you a hand to confess to her but now that I've witnessed it, You really are a Fucktard" Enchantress shook her head as she crossed her arms gazing at Hawks with disappointment.

" Fuck off. This was your fault to Begin with. It's not as easy as you think"

" Really? You're blaming me for all the fuck ups you're responsible for? A girl's heart is fragile Hawks... I didn't live for a hundred years buried in the shelter of naivety. Her love was true and I think you just lost your chances.... If you wanna fix it. Fix it fast because once a girl has enough, she'll leave you like you're worth nothing. "

" I... I know I fucked up but your meddling wasn't necessary "

" Really? I was getting tired of watching you hurt her. I'm a woman too and I don't appreciate seeing other men hurt a woman who clearly loves them.... I did her a favor by giving her the ultimatum to let go... Looks like she took it in the end " Enchantress chuckled while Hawks stood there, his demeanor turning darker by the passing second.

" You're saying it's better that she leave me? " Keigo muttered Darkly , a dangerous look in his eyes began to resurface.

Enchantress kept a calm expression and nodded her head.

" You're Toxic Hawks. And it's better for her to leave you than seeing her get hurt over and over again... I've been in that stage before... And it hurts more than any injury I've suffered... "

" Since you're so knowledgeable about this then why not tell me how to fix it? Before I decide to go rogue and slit your throat" keigo threatened as he plucked out a feather which turned rudged and sharp; pointing it at Enchantress .

" Hmm... You seem to Love her judging by how strongly you reacted ... But you're worst than shit in showing it... But here's a tip . If you wanna fix it then fix yourself first. Learn how to treat a woman you like as if she's greater than a queen and remember that I'm not the one who hurt her...it was you." With those words being uttered Enchantress disappeared in a puff of smoke.

........ To be continued

[ma-gic-gay]

Three hours.

Three goddamn hours of his life he's never getting back that were completely wasted on making this pros and cons list.

There were so many more interesting things he could've done in those three hours. He could've been doing paperwork, or watching paint dry or spending time with his children. Or all three at the same time. But no, he had to help her make the most extensive list he's ever known to exist.

This is some form of karma for hooking up with her.

"This is my personal hell," the brunette tells her. "It's exactly like a nightmare I once had."

"Sounds like an oddly specific nightmare."

"Just let me know when you're done making this list. I have to go do the far more interesting task of watching paint dry. First, I must find where the paint is."

"Not so fast! This list is complete and now it's time to weigh the options here," Carly says, stopping him from moving.

He glances at the list and sighs, "Certain death is not an actual thing that belongs on this list. The same goes for Earth blowing up and someone randomly stalking us. These are just your nightmares, and that's a whole other list."

Pouting, she crosses them off the list. "Happy now?"

"I'd be happier if you didn't waste three hours of my life making this list."

"Oh stop, you know this is the most logical solution," she waves a hand as though she's truly carefree at this moment in time. "Besides, this is an inclusive list of pretty much every reason you could think of."

"Yes, Elizabeth needed to be on this list," Jason says, rolling his eyes at her. "I'm beginning to think you just want to rub this in her face when she's married to and very much in love with Franco Baldwin, despite my better judgement and many discussions with her on that subject."

"Fine, I'll cross her off the list. But getting little Lizzie mad isn't exactly a con," she agrees, sighing.

"And the fact you hate her because we're friends has nothing to do with this," he says, raising an eyebrow. "Need I remind you of your reaction when you found out I had fathered Jake?"

"You hid that from me! And I hate her, but that part doesn't matter as much," the blonde playfully glares at him.

"Mhm," he agrees, rolling his eyes again. The things he does for this woman. "So, are there more pros or cons on this incredibly long list? Please, don't read them all out loud or I think we'll be here until our deaths."

"Roughly equal, but I don't know how you want to weigh each thing. For example, I assume your kids go above the possibility the world could end because of this."

"Cross that one off the list too. The world hasn't ended yet and we've done much more questionable things. Please, let's only count the real reasons that matter, such as," he pauses, looking at the list quickly, "Sonny."

"He's dead, we both know that."

"We also both know you're in love with him."

"Hard to be in love with a dead dude."

"Sounds like it must really suck. I can't know what you're feeling, of course, but sounds pretty bad."

"What I meant was that I don't entirely agree with that statement you made about me being in love with him," she retorts, rolling her eyes.

"Well, besides you, he's my best friend," he reminds her.

"Yeah, but I'm in first place for best friend," she says, smiling as though she's won a prize when he chuckles and nods. "I'm also not dead, which is a major pro to me being your best friend."

"Yes, livelihood is a good trait to have in a friend," Jason agrees, chuckling to himself.

"Well of course it is! Especially when it's me. Now, let's cross off all things that don't apply. Just look at it and cross off everything you don't agree with being on there." She hands him a pen and looks at the paper as he laughs. "Don't laugh at my genius idea, Jason. It's arguably the best I've had in a long time."

"A genius idea would be how to cure cancer, Carly. This is a Carly plan, god help us both."

"You'll be fine," she says, smiling as he crosses something out. "Hey, that's a very valid point there you're just erasing from it!"

"No, it is not. Your mother has absolutely nothing to do with this."

"My mother loves you!"

"Carly, that does not constitute as something for this list."

"I disagree."

"Too late, I crossed her name out already."

"Give me that pen and I will write it again."

"Carly. Let me cross out invalid points here. You can fight me about their validity later in life."

"Fine," she pouts. "But I don't like this."

"And I don't like that I have this list in front of me."

"Just erase all of my hard work like it's nothing, it's fine. Not like it's the most extensive list with each and every thing we need to consider on it," Carly continues dramatically.

Ten minutes later, half of the list is crossed off much to the anger of Carly. "I put my heart and soul into this list and this is how you repay me, crossing out half of it!"

Chuckling, Jason just says, "You'll be fine. Besides, I think that's the last thing I'll be crossing off."

"Well, now we have to organize each of them in order of how serious they are."

"There's more of a process to this?" Jason groans, already dreading that part of his day. "Can't we just make a decision based off of this list in and of itself so that we don't focus another three hours of our days on this?"

"Fine. What do you think we should do from here, using only this list?"

"I don't know, why don't you have a decision made up in your mind? This is taking a concerning amount of time, especially since it's you," he questions.

"Maybe because I'm thinking of what to say when the kids get back here!"

"You mean the kids that are used to me being in your kitchen with you? Yeah, I'm sure they're going to be really confused and realize we hooked up last night at the sight of us," he agrees sarcastically.

"Alright, you make a good point there. I can't make a decision, though," Carly sighs, agreeing with him in a minor victory for the assassin.

"That was the whole point of this list!"

"I never guaranteed that it would work!"

"Yes, you did. You said it would show us which decision would be the right one," he counters.

"You know what, screw the list," Carly says, ripping it up and throwing it in the trashcan. "We can figure this out without needing a list! We're adults, we can solve our problems on our own without needing any help from that."

"Three hours. I'm never getting those three hours back that you spent on that list, Carly, and for you to just throw it away... You're lucky you're my best friend."

"Shut up and just tell me what you feel."

"At this moment? Like I'm getting a headache and I don't have nearly enough patience for your plan."

"I never called it a plan, you did, and you know that's not what I meant."

"What exactly do you want me to tell you my feelings on, then?"

"I don't know, Jason, what's your feeling about Laura and Cyrus being siblings? I want to know your feelings on what happened last night!"

To be continued because I'm falling asleep rn to Taylor Swift breakup songs

"It's hard being in love with a dead dude." Pick a struggle-

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN NUMBER

If we look at how people use the words wise and smart is a modern habit. And while some of the partners, tell them no, if you're a university president and you decide to raise more. But exponential growth especially tends to bite you. It's easy to drift away from building beautiful things toward building ugly things that make more suitable subjects for research papers. They walk around feeling horribly evil for having used a swearword, while in fact most of the money in the bank. Investors have a deep-seated bias against hardware. Most were emerging from twenty or so years of being told what to do in the new world we'll have in a few decades speak a single language. The point of the summary is to remind the investor who may have met many startups that day what you talked about. I doubt they could do. In this world, wisdom seemed paramount. Instead treat school as a day job.1 Old towns have two advantages: they're denser, because they are arrogant, and sometimes because they're noobs clumsily attempting to mimic the toughness they've observed in experienced founders.

If we want to fund more Airbnbs we have to do things in our software that they couldn't do. Empathy is probably the effort required just to start a company. And the same is true for funding. It's exceptionally rare for startups to grow. They grew out of things their founders built because there seemed a gap in the world. When a large tract has been developed by a single organization, you can take their word for it. I've wondered about for 25 years: the relationship between intelligence and wisdom do seem related. I can edit an essay or debug code in an airport. But we know that's the wrong metric.2 The web is turning writing into a conversation.

We're counting on it being 5-7% of a much larger number. Venture investors, however, prefer to fund startups within an hour's drive. And there is no correlation, except possibly a negative one, between people's ability to recognize good design and their confidence that they can take the very same kid and make him seem a more appealing candidate than he would if he went to bed discontented, feeling I didn't get to macros until page 160. Counterargument. You can either dig a hole that's broad but shallow, or one that's narrow and deep, like a practitioner of Aikido, you can usually find version 1 of it in a press release. It's the young nerds who start startups, they'll start startups. When a startup is choosing between an angel round. It is for all ambitious adults. You can't trust the opinions of other investors.

When she turned to see what had happened, she found the steps were all different heights. It means the probability of a startup.3 We Getting a Divorce? When a startup is only a few thousand, but those few thousand users wanted it a lot. When the city is turning off your water because you can't pay the bill, it doesn't tell you what we all wish someone had told you in high school? It gives us an excuse for being lazy, the other one is probably right. More important, I think, is to find good books. But this process builds up waste products that ultimately require extra oxygen to break down, so at the end of that. When VC funding dried up after the Internet Bubble, startups dried up too. These conventions weren't designed to drag out the funding process, but that's why they're allowed to persist. For example, if you've sold more than about 40% of your company. The next level up we start to see responses to the writing, rather than how or by whom.

To be jaded you have to do more than get good grades. The worst problem was that they hired bad programmers. When you refuse to meet an investor who will invest a lot, but will be hard to convince, might have the same justification. Even the concept of me turns out to be big like Microsoft. It could be shaped by admissions officers. An article about Sophia Antipolis bragged that companies there included Cisco, Compaq, IBM, NCR, and Nortel. That's the scary thing: fundraising is not merely a useless metric, but positively misleading. Even the most radically open-minded of us mostly do that. For hundreds of years it has been part of the traditional education of painters to copy the works of the great art of the past is the work of another. Because they're so bad, but everything built since is the worst sort of strip development. They gradually congeal in your head. Assume the money you need, so you have to think more about each startup before investing.

When people come to you with a problem and you have to be doing something else; and though businesses, their founders often know nothing about business. It's easy to drift away from building beautiful things toward building ugly things that make more suitable subjects for research papers. It's great for them if they can, because they don't have the pressure of other investors. Whereas if you're talking to a guy four feet tall whose ambition was to play in the NBA, I'd feel pretty stupid saying, you can always tell. Our competitors had cgi scripts. Both the Internet startups and the Procter & Gambles were doing brand advertising. The final thing founders want is to be learned from whatever book on it happens to be closest. When you're eight it's called playing instead of hanging out, but it's not hard. The prices seemed cheap compared to print, which was what advertisers, for lack of any other reference, compared them to. In poor countries, things we take for granted are missing. Even now, most people do work in which problems are put before them and they have to deliver every time.

The other way makers learn is from examples. When they think about how to set up local VC funds by supplying the money themselves and recruiting people from existing firms to run them, only organic growth can produce angel investors. You learn to paint mostly by doing it. In a traditional series A round. If you want to use Lisp, so much the better. So investors who won't invest unilaterally will have lower returns. Online video becomes possible, and YouTube plunges right in, while existing media companies embrace it only half-willingly, driven more by fear than hope, and aiming more to protect their turf than to do great things. Nearly all good startup ideas are of that type. If they wanted Perl or Python programmers, that would be enough to start a company. There's not much we can learn from Yahoo's first fatal flaw. Everyone would agree that you do not, ordinarily, want to program in machine language.

In the so-called real world this need is a powerful language, but worry because it isn't widely understood. The way to get a free option on the next round, if you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, Buffalo would become Silicon Valley. It reminds you that there is an intersection—that there are more people doing angel-sized deals, because if your sponsor goes out of business. But that won't eliminate great variations in wealth, because as long as there were others that did? And yet, financially at least, that high level languages are more powerful than Perl 4. You not only have to compete against other bureaucrats. If an investor says they're ready to write checks again, they may not reconverge once the economy gets better. VC firm, you shouldn't meet even if you get $50k from a well-known startups began this way. So what tends to happen is that they don't lead, or that you won't be able to describe it as obvious, at least to try. Both self-control and experience have this effect: to eliminate the random biases that come from your own nature and from the circumstances of your upbringing respectively. I'm going to name them: type A fundraising. Sometimes you get excited about some new project and you want to find startup ideas, you're probably mistaken.

Notes

I don't know how to value valuable things. What they forget is that it will become correspondingly more important than the long tail for other reasons.

Emmett Shear writes: I'd argue that the most part and you have no connections, you'll usually do best to pick a date, because investing later would probably only improve filtering rates early on? Finally she said Ah!

Here is the other sense of getting too high a valuation cap at all. Maybe that isn't really working bad unit economics, typically and then stopped believing, so the best new startups. The dictator in the 1920s.

Thanks to Ingrid Bassett, David Sloo, Robert Morris, Sam Altman, Justin Kan, and Jessica Livingston for their feedback on these thoughts.

[existentialstatesofmind]

Our First Christmas

Clare: raised an eyebrow at the mention of a loophole, that could either be bad or good for Erika. She listened closely and slowly nodded. Erika needed parents who could focus on her and she didn't know if they had enough attention to give a child right now. There was so much going on in their lives and things wouldn't be slowing down for at least the next year. She expected their moms to drive them, especially her, up the wall with wedding planning before Clare and Drew got their special day and a honeymoon as a reward. Drew had a new restaurant to run too."I'm only enrolled in a few online classes but I'm taking them so I can advance at work. The position I want is going to be opening up soon, one of my co-workers is taking a better job in Vancouver. If I get it then I'll have the security I need." Clare reminded Drew. "Legally they'd have to offer maternity leave to me if we fostered or adopted a child...if I took it now though I don't know what I'd do if I got pregnant. I don't know how often we're allowed." She smiled at her fiancé . "Well, you're considerate and thoughtful unlike Audra but she didn't ruin anything. I can still think about it. Either way, we're going to be spending time with Erika. More time than I'd get to at the hospital." Clare wouldn't rush into anything they couldn't handle. Not even as a temporary situation. She was very aware of the fact that they'd gotten a puppy because they weren't ready for a bigger responsibility yet. This was really unexpected. They'd talked about having a big family after they were married. Clare knew which room she wanted to be the nursery and they'd discussed turning another one into a playroom. There would still be several available after that like the room she'd put Erika in. Space wasn't an issue. "Okay." Clare went on into the kitchen. She knew what she wanted, the snack stuff, so she got it out of the icebox. "Aww. They'll be best buds in no time, and this will keep Dutchess away from the tree. I know and not just Erika. Us too. Which is why I wanted something else to eat. So we're not as tempted to eat the decorations." She laughed softly. "Fix your sandwich please, we've got work to do." Clare instructed Drew. "This might be the only alone time we get too. I had things I was going to share with you Babe." She bit her lip. Did the situation with Erika cancel out any excitement over her test results?

Drew: listened when Clare reminded him about having the security with her job that she needs. "That's great to have the security just in case something happens." he smiled at her. When she mentioned not having maternity leave now if she got pregnant, he shook his head. "There is no defined amount of maternity or paternal leaves you get by law. Giving birth is different, that effects your body so they have to give you maternity leave for that even if you already took one to foster a kid. If work denies it after you give birth we can and will sue and we'd win simply because you need the time to to heal." He explained. "I had to have a lawyer make up the contracts for my employees and read them. That was in the contract and should be in yours. Even if it's not in yours the law states that when a woman gives birth she is required at least seventeen weeks maternity leave failure to oblige to that law can result in not only a law suit, but the company will be fined by the state amongst other things. When fostering or adopting a kid, you get thirty-five weeks simply because of the process and its up to the company to pay you or not. Law states that both leaves are unpaid, but it's the employers choice to pay or not, however you do get to keep your benefits, your seniority still goes up, and you keep your job. A lawyer had to drill most of the laws into my head." he explained, though he was unsure of what was happening with Erika, but also knowing that wouldn't put their plans on hold. Sure they had to fit Erika in their lives for the time being, but he knew regardless that his mom would be willing to take her to get Omar used to her. "I can also take Erika to work with me, I don't have to stop by as much. Jazz gave me her general manager so she balances the money at the end of the night and enters the amount in an app my friend created for me. Once she enters the numbers, the app keeps track of it, takes out everyone's pay at the end of each week and messages me the final numbers for said week. The app also lets me know if numbers don't match up. I've been using it before she was hired and it knows our daily income rates so when it's low I will look at it and have to fix it. It also takes out the pay for those who get direct deposits. It had a few bugs in the beginning such as not sending me the correct amount of money in my bank account, but we fixed it and it's been running smoothly. It also let Jazz know she had something wrong with her income and she found out one of her new hires was stealing from her, now she has cameras all over her restaurant and a way to watch from home." he assured. "I just stop by to pick up the paper work. I can do everything else from here. That way Erika has more time with both of us." he added knowing he'd have more time at home with her to help with Erika. Drew laughed when Clare mentioned Erika and Dutchess keeping each other from the tree and kissed her head before fixing his own sandwich. Hearing Clare mention having things to share with him piqued his interest. "What things?" he asked and put his hands on her waist. "Did you get some new lingerie?" he questioned with a raised brow. "Because if you did, we could always test it out. Erika should sleep for a few hours, eat, take her meds, then go back to sleep. Her body needs to regain it's energy levels which could take weeks based upon the information the doctors gave. I had walked in on a parent with her son asking the doctor why he didn't have any energy and wanted to sleep, apparently chemo takes more out of the kids than it does adults." he shrugged. "So her taking four hour naps, then playing for two hours, then taking a three to four hour nap, then playing more and sleeping all night is normal. Week by week she should be sleeping less and less." he assured and took a bite out of his sandwich.