text; un: fireprince

[rediscovering]

1. what do you know about job interviews?
i didnt know you have to interview to get jobs. even if it's just at a restaurant!! regardless of whether the job itself involves talking to people at all!!? stupid

[ Guess who's been bombing interviews as a part-time busboy all over town. And who's only bothering to ask about proper employment beyond random quests, um, now, after several months of just getting by...? He must be getting tired of stealing hotchips from the cornerstore. ]

2. what do you know about going to school as a full-time student here?
i heard you can make a living like this
insight about going to school in other worlds could be useful too. i was homeschooled....

[ But at least he's thinking in terms of solutions. ]

Comments

[rediscovering]

oh ive heard of lions
i dont know what it is exactly but one of my friends' friends has a lion as a... sort of like a familiar.... back in their world. he told me about it. my friend's is a leopard. so i know what that is, i met it but it was small. theyre like big cats right?? kind of like a tigerdillo without the shell??


why are birds mean??
what do they say......?

[ Now he's curious, omg. ]

[whatsamada]

Wait, you never heard of a lion before? What even is a tigerdillo anyway?

[Because what is going on? How does someone not know what a lion is??]

As for the birds, let's just say they're very demanding when it comes to food. Either I give them bread at that moment or they peck me.

There's no in between.

[rediscovering]

no ive heard of it ive just never seen one!!
we don't have lions in my world
well we do but..... not just a lion. that's weird. other worlds have like.... half-animals from mine. it's hard to explain.

[ He doesn't like being shamed for his lack of lion knowledge. He feels it. He has run into this with so many different types of flora and fauna and it drives him mad forever. He's never going to get used to it, it's always something new. ]

sounds like birds just dont like you

[whatsamada]

Then tell me, what is a tigerdillo?

[Because seeing a tiger and an armadillo mixed in together is sure a strange concept.]

Trust me, they don't but be prepared when talking to them. They are scary. And they're picky about bread.

Either they like white or rye. Don't ask how I know.

[rediscovering]

another big cat creature
smaller than an eelhound but much bigger than a crococat
theyve got armor on their backs and theyre very dangerous and strong but easily frightened
you see them in zoos a lot....


i wanna know how you know, im asking.

[whatsamada]

You sure god a lot of interesting creatures in your world. I'm not even sure how to get an image of a eel and a dog together.

Actually, don't. That sounds kind of scary to me!

As for the birds, I went on a mission to to someone get some bugs out of their garden. And the only way to do that was to get some birds but they were being picky! I had to get them some bread to help out.

But can you see how things got out of hand from there?

[rediscovering]

an eelhound isn't a dog and an eel!!! it's its own animal! it's big, you can ride it like a komodo rhino, but it's amphibious

birds will eat whatever you give them i thought
even if the bread is stale
we used to feed stale bread to the turtle-ducks in our garden when i was a kid
they were always nice unless you hit them with it by accident.....

[ How would that happen!? ]

[whatsamada]

Wait, you can? I don't know if I should be amazed it's that big or weirded out. And whoever named the animal needs to name it better.

How was I suppose to know it's not an eel or a dog together?

But just curious. Did those turtle ducks or whatever bird like animals ever attack you? It just can't be me, right?

[Right???]

[rediscovering]

it's named just fine!!
it's these other spliced up half-animals that are weird!!
like which part of an ostrich-horse becomes an ostrich and which part becomes a horse

[ Oh god this is getting worse ]

when i was a little kid a turtle-duck bit me once, yeah.....
but it was fair.
it was a mom protecting its babies..
our mom used to feed the turtle-ducks bread from her hand but my sister and i used to throw our bread at the water for them to get it instead
and one day when i showed my mom how we did it, i missed and threw the bread at the baby turtle-duckling and hit it by accident
so the mom came up and bit my foot......

[whatsamada]

There's an ostrich and a horse like animal too? What other animals am I suppose to know about in your world?

[All the possibilities were endless!]

I see. But doesn't that prove how birds are secretly evil and demanding?

[rediscovering]

i dont know there are tons of animals!!!
komodo rhinos
platypus-bears
poodle-monkeys
badger-moles
cats


and no
that proves that all mothers are fierce and loving
even animals

[whatsamada]

Cats. And no dogs.

[Just saying. Although, his next words did gave him a pause or two about what he wanted to write back.]

I'm guessing you must have really loved your mother too?

[rediscovering]

we have dogs too...!! normal animals
not half-things


...and yeah. i loved my mom. and she loved me.

[whatsamada]

[There was an even longer pause on Ken's end.]

I'm glad, I really hope that your mother knows that. A son should always let their mother know how much she is cared for.

Otherwise, you might end up regretting it.

[rediscovering]

...yeah.

[ Oh man, this got more personal than turtle-ducks. He's uncomfortable talking about his mom. ]

you sound like you speak from experience

[ But intrigue takes hold, too. ]

[whatsamada]

Let's just say that I have a lot of regrets for not being nicer to my mom when I should have.

[Pause]

Not that I wasn't but I really should have let her know how much I loved her.

[rediscovering]

yeah..... you never know when you won't have the chance to.
i haven't seen my mother for many years. even before coming to these other worlds.

[whatsamada]

[Again, a long pause on his end.]

I apologize if I'm intruding but mind if I ask what happened to your mother?

[rediscovering]

she left.

[whatsamada]

[Once again, there was a long pause on his end before he responded back]

I hope that she left for a good reason.

It must have been difficult seeing her do that.

[rediscovering]

there was. i don't know the whole story. but i think i get the gist.
i was eleven. it was hard.
...thanks

[ He so seldom talks about his mom. It's disarming to have some internet stranger comment so frankly, earnestly, and tenderly on the matter. He'd rather redirect, touched as he is... He's uncomfortable. ]

what happened to your mom?

[whatsamada]

[There was a long pause on Ken's end. He wasn't sure if he should discuss it with someone he barely knew but at the same time? It was only fair when the stranger disclosed his own experience.]

She died protecting me. It's strange to think it's been 6 years now.

private;

[rediscovering]

[ Zuko is feeling similarly conflicted. But hearing that... it’s too uncanny. They’re already this far in, after all. He does make it private, though. He’s not tryna air this about himself necessarily, either. ]

....my mother did what she did to protect me too. i don’t know if she is still alive or not. she was banished. she may well be dead.
it’s been about six years for me since then as well though


how old were you when she died

private;

[whatsamada]

[Ken was shifting his weight a little after he just wrote about his past to a stranger. Was it a good or a bad thing, he didn't know but hopefully he would be able to help this person out.]

I hope that she isn't! I'm sure that she just has to be somewhere out there if there's no evidence of her death!

But I was about 8. I guess I've been taking care of myself since then?

[rediscovering]

it's possible.....
when i return
i'm going to look for her.
i don't know how but i need to know what happened.


eight.
im sorry.