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rouiettes · 4 years ago

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raya and the ugliest fucking dragon i've ever seen holy fuck who the hell thought to give a dragon fuckiNG EYEBROWS WHY WHY—

aka the musings of a filo non-binary bisexual who feels victimized by the dragon designs of this fucking movie supposedly centred around THE LAST DRAGON???? MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE STAYED STONE GDI WHAT THE FUCK SERIOUSLY WHY DO THE DRAGONS LOOK LIKE THAT

let's get one thing straight.

none of the characters in this movie. rest assured. not a single straight person was in this movie. trust me.

raya and the last dragon had all the foundations of a good movie

IT COULD HAVE BEEN SO GREAT

BUT IT WASNT

AND HERE'S WHY

(in my humble opinion okay pls dont come for me)

a disney movie with sea culture at its heart and soul, i was so hyped to finally watch this movie

(not as hyped as i could have been tho bc let's be honest DISNEY DID SHIT WITH RAYA'S MARKETING)

(AND PERHAPS FOR GOOD REASON LOL I SWEAR I DONT HATE THIS MOVIE OKAY)

you had the amazing score, the amazing concepts for plot and characters, the solid solid worldbuilding???

if you just told me about how raya's setting and premise, i'd probably be "wow this movie sound like the whole package"

and then i'll actually watch the movie and have just as much trust issue as raya did :/

but i digress

A DISNEY MOVIE WITH SEA CULTURE AT ITS HEART AND SOUL

do you know how diverse sea culture is??? VERY

and one thing i was very happy to see was how raya handled it

it was by no means perfect but

the subtle shows of culture in the way the characters acted, and the environment of the movie was just CHEF'S KISS

not only that but the ideas the movie had in terms of its world and the people in it felt genuine, it felt alive

a dragon that isn't the typical fire-breathing lizard

characters who look like they could easily be my neighbours or children i've played with

instead of pandering to this movie felt like an actual homage to sea cultures

and for good reason bc seeing all those familiar names rolling in the credits had me feeling some type of way :")

also that fucking soundtrack gave me chills throughout my watch of the movie

okay now that we've got the things i actually like about the movie, let's talk about what i don't like

if there's one word i could use to describe disney's raya it would be: rushed

like i said in the beginning, all the groundwork for an astounding disney movie were already there

but all of it just goes to waste bc the plot and it's characters feel so Unfinished

the movie felt like a bullet-point presentation of the story

WHICH IS SO FUCKING DISAPPOINTING BC THE CHARACTERS SEEMED SO INTERESTING but all we got were shadows of what they could have been

cardboard cutouts of the archetypes they filled

i'm not asking for a bottomless well of depth, but i at least wanted more for the cast than just: angry misunderstood princess, angry misunderstood princess with an undercut, that one dancing kid from moana but with more spice, boss baby, and the mountain

and i get that they had to sacrifice some of their depth to keep the run time of the movie short but you have got to be better than this disney

i hate to compare but it felt like this movie tried to go beyond what moana gave us, and shot so far that it ended up back to where it started, and then stumbled back a few steps

AND IM NOT EVEN SAYING A DRAGON MOVIE WITH A BIG CAST IS IMPOSSIBLE

BC IT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON DID IT THREE TIMES

and you'd think the plot for one of the few disney movies with a non-western setting would have more than just a macguffin considering how batshit sea folk tales can be

but you'd think wrong folks.

GENUINELY IT FELT LIKE THEY WERE ATTEMPTING SOMETHING BUT WERE SHORT OF BRINGING IT TO FRUITION

sure moana had a macguffin too with the heart of te fiti, but the heart itself wasn't the heart of the movie

it was the journey of moana and maui

it was that BEAUTIFUL TWIST WITH TE KA AND TE FITI

ALL DELIVERED WITH A NATURAL FINESSE THAT HAD YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT

YOU WERE ALONG FOR THE RIDE OF THE STORY INSTEAD OF QUESTIONING EVERYTHING THAT WAS GOING ON LIKE I WAS

maybe this was just me but like, i felt so bad for the friend who watched this movie with me bc all i could go on and on was how the plot felt like it was getting in the way of itself

why didn't the different kingdoms (??) kept the gem in rotation or smth, when did they decide that heart would keep it and then get mad at heart for keeping it????

why didn't awkwafina dragon just show herself to the kingdoms bc everyone seems to be in agreement that dragons good right? that they would be the key to getting rid of the druun right??? SO THEY'D ALL AT LEAST HEAR HER OUT OR SMTH RIGHT????????

and yes raya has trust issues but it seems to only spring up at the most convenient times plot-wise, we didn't really see her learn to trust other people again OTHER THAN THE TIMES WHERE SISU WOULD HAMFISTEDLY SHOVE IT DOWN OUR THROATS THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE GOOD SOMETIMES RAYA

we see it with boun, but then she just trusts noi, her monkeys, and tong THE GUY WHO STRUNG THEM UP AND WAS THREATENING TO TORTURE THEM????????

i'm gonna be honest and say that if it weren't for namaari i'd have absconded the moment sisu came on screen

as far as i'm considered the actual plot of the movie is just the entire sword fight scene between her and raya

and finally

we get to the part i will be erasing from my brain for my own mental well-being

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT DRAGON DESIGN

WHY OH WHY TH E FUCK DOES SISU SOUND AND LOOK LIKE THAT

my friend said they looked like the ponies from mlp in 3d AND NOW I CAN NEVER UNSEE IT

THEY HAVE EYEBROWS THEY HAVE HUMAN FACES

HUMAN FACES ON MAJESTIC DRAGON BODIES

THE INTERNET HAS COLLECTIVELY DECIDED THAT SISU IS BASICALLY FURRY ELSA

every time we got a sisu close up i lost 5 years to my life

disney i am suing for damages

if you want me to drop the charges i demand raya 2: electric boogaloo but it’s just raya and namaari enemies to friends to lovers ark

and also for them to never say dragon nerds ever again

AGAIN. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON GAVE US BEAUTIFUL DRAGON DESIGNS. HELL IF YOU WANTED MORE EASTERN LOOKING DRAGONS FUCKING SPIRITED AWAY??? HAKU??????????

AND YKNOW WHAT. SISU WOULDN'T EVEN LOOK THAT HORRIFIC IF THE MOVIE WAS IN 2D

im not the first person to be side-eying disney's decision to keep pumping out these 3d movies but like.

no amount of added dimensions could ever make that dragon design okay

and there so many more points i could go off on to show how this movie was rushed

how the other dragons, and even sisu's siblings whom she had been missing for the entire movie DIDNT MAKE A SINGLE SOUND???? NOT EVEN A FUCKING GROWL DISNEY???? DID YOU EVEN TRY WITH THE DRAGONS AT ALL??? THE SUPPOSED CENTRE OF THIS MOVIE'S PLOT?????????

HOW THE CHIEFS OF THE OTHER KINGDOMS WERE BASICALLY PLOT DEVICES????

THAT ONE CHIEF'S SKELETON WAS MORE INTERESTING THAN ANY OF THEM COMBINED ALIVE

kudos to that one granny chief though

u can never have enough bad ass old ladies

AND GOD THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS JUST FELT SO FORCED

ALONG WITH WHATEVER LESSON SISU WANTED TO IMPART ABOUT TRUST

LOVE THESE CHARACTERS THEY ARE FUNNY THEY ARE FRIENDS FOUND FAMILY

TRUST PEOPLE IF U WANT THEM TO TRUST U

TRUST PEOPLE OR ILL LITERALLY FUCKING KILL U

children aren't stupid disney. if you tell your story well enough, they'll pick up on the messages you want to give them. YOU DONT HAVE TO THRUST EVERYTHING IN OUR FACES

i was exhausted by the time i finished this movie

bc i really wanted to love it. i wanted to feel more for it than just: well, it's a movie :)

i dont hate this movie though like it's not even worth the energy for that

i think that ultimately, despite all my issues with it, this movie was a step in the right direction when it comes to having non-western stories being told by non-western people in big name productions

i'm glad raya and the last dragon exists

i just can't help but be dissapointed though bc this movie put so much effort into putting my people and culture at its forefront but at what cost???

good characters and story for a good setting and design????

does it have to be one or the other?????

DOES THE DRAGON HAVE TO HAVE EYEBROWS??????

#disney #raya and the last dragon #raya #namaari #rayaari #ratld #♡ ☆#posted this without ranting in the tags #i jsut have so many feelings abt this movie okay like gosh #THATS WHY I WANTE D IT TO MAKE ME LOSE IT #AND I DID JUST NOT IN THE WAY I WANTED TO #FUCK YOU SISU

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angrylizardjacket · 6 years ago

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and then there was light [4] {Roger Taylor}

A/N: 5060 words. part 4? part 4. it’s a bit of a darker one and before you ask, there will be a part 5, you know i wouldn’t end it on a cliffhanger and do you dirty like that.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

The moment Roger steps foot into the meeting about the design of the shows for the upcoming American legs of the ‘Night at the Opera’ world tour, he’s pretty sure he’s already mentally checked out. Freddie’s doing all the talking, to literally no-one’s surprise; the man has big ambitions for his own costumes, and knows the other guys will pipe up about their own needs when they get to meet with just the costume designer. John Reid brings up the technical requirements, Roger’s got the ‘galileo’s from Bohemian Rhapsody playing on repeat in his head as he stares into the middle distance, and it’s Deaky who sits forward.

“We’ve got a pretty solid idea for the lights; Freddie and I have been consulting with a designer in America; she’s freelance, used to work for EMI, she’s reliable.” He assures, and Roger’s thinking ‘hey that sounds familiar’ but Reid seems satisfied and they’re already moving on to the staging and sound equipment needed.

Roger doesn’t connect the dots at first; it’s been almost four years since that fateful American tour, and they’ve had other tours come and go since, and as far as the others are concerned, they’re pretty sure he hasn’t spared you a thought since arriving home at the end of that tour. But he does, even if he doesn’t mean to.

The tour after you’d quit working for EMI, someone drops a parcan side of stage, and his heart is in his throat when he realises he was waiting to hear you yell ‘okay that one wasn’t my fault’ or something similar. All he hears is a faint apology, and a call from someone to get a broom. The scheduling’s different this time around, he can’t even have a cigarette in an empty theatre without some stagehand buzzing back and forth, or a band member trotting across the stage as they practice. It would be so much easier to lay on the stage if the rest of them were confined to one place while they played, like he was behind the drums. It’d be boring as shit, he would be the first to acknowledge that, but it would mean he would get stepped on less during lunch, and that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make with the toe of Freddie’s shoe poking at his waist.

Nothing serious had come his way in that time, or rather, he’d never found anyone who could hold his attention for more than a week or two. People became dreadfully boring when all they wanted to do was faun over him and fuck him; not that it wasn’t fun at first, it was always fun at first, but there was a lack of variety, a sinking sensation that these people were more attracted to the idea of him that left a sour aftertaste.

But now he’s here, new company, new album, second leg of the new tour, new chance to sample all different women across this great nation. He’s already a little tipsy from his multiple jack and coke’s on the plane when they land, and he’s passed out on the tour bus before it even gets to the first tour stop. Once in Conneticut, he’s dragged from the bus, and informed that as soon as the tech crew had finished their meeting, they could start loading in their instruments.

“How long have they been here?” Brian asks the stage hand, and the guy shrugs.

“A couple of hours; the Floor Tech wanted the drum risers set up before she gave the brief.” He tells them as he lead the band in to the theatre, where most of the crew were milling about on stage.

“She always did have a flare for the dramatic.” John says with a grin where his eyes were trained on the stage, and Freddie hums in agreement, which only serves to confuse Roger further until he sees an all too familiar figure climbing the drum risers with a clipboard in hand.

“Alright guys, can I have your attention, please?” Even after all these years, the sound of your voice hits Roger square in the chest. “I wanna make this as quick and painless as possible, so after today we can bump in and bump out without any hassles.” You addressed the crowd with an easy confidence from your place at the top of the drum risers, tapping your nails against the back of the clipboard in your hands, wearing the overalls he’d seen you in so many times before.

“You can call me Spotlight; I’m the Head Floor Tech for the tour, as well as lighting designer; those of you on my lighting team, you’ve got a copy of the lighting plan, and I’ll be talking to you about how we’re gonna run it after this. Next time, I’ll get some help from the stage hands to set up the drum risers, I had a few people help me today to get them set up early, but that’s just because I like being tall.” With a sharp grin you pause as a titter of laughter spreads around the group, “stage management team, you’re in charge of making sure side of stage is set up with anything the band needs, and that it’s clear of unnecessary clutter and people, and running cabling for the sound guys; they’ll tell you what they need.”

After a beat, you look around the gathered crowd, and nod firmly, a gesture which a few of them return.

“If you have any questions, remember; find your Light.” You point directly at yourself. “We break for lunch at one, but until then we’ve got a lot to get through; let’s get rockin’.” Grinning brightly, you hop down from the risers into the crowd of crew members, ushering a bunch, each holding a sheet of paper, off to the side, as the others scattered like cockroaches under light.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Roger finally finds his voice where he’s still standing, a little dumbstruck, alone in the aisle of the theatre where the others had left him behind.

“Didn’t you hear her speech? Spotlight’s our lighting designer.” Freddie calls over his shoulder, eyes wide and innocent, as if he hadn’t set this all up without thinking to mention it to Roger.

“Our what now?” He splutters, jogging a little to catch up to the other band members as they made their way towards the stage. He’s not quite sure what he’s doing, or what will happen when he gets their; the last thing you’d said to him was that you were stupid to think he was above his reputation, while you were in tears, and then it had been three years of nothing. He’s not going to run, at least he’s pretty sure he’s not; he’s self aware enough to know he was in the wrong last time you spoke, that he was an asshole, but he’s not going to be a coward. Not again.

“That was quite the speech.” John waits patiently until the crew who made up the lighting team had dispersed before addressing the familiar face at the centre. You turn, eyes bright and smile brighter, casually making your way towards him and the rest of the band.

“Yeah, I really feel in my element, you know?” It’s with an easy familiarity that you pull John into a hug, giving him a firm squeeze. “Good to finally see you again.” And then you’re hugging Freddie, and then Brian, and you stop short in front of Roger. It’s a stalemate, neither one wanting to be the first to look away, but both unsure of what to do. In the end, you don’t even offer him a handshake, just nod, and you turn back to the others.

“How’s Pippin been?” Freddie asks, and you’re about to answer, but Roger cuts in.

“Hang on, can someone fill me in here? Lovely to see you, by the way, just a little confused as to how you got here.” He says, and you’re lost for words, just blinking rapidly, trying to process the whole situation.

“Did you not tell him I was working with you guys?” Your words come out incredulous as you turn your gaze upon John and Freddie, who seem just as bewildered as you.

“I thought he’d cotton on when I mentioned an American designer who used to work for EMI.” John mused, turning his gaze on Roger, who frowned, thinking back to the initial meeting he’d just mentioned.

“I did,” Brian piped up, before casting a smile at John and Freddie that was just a little bit confused, “though I wasn’t a part of this little setup.” He tried to reassure the drummer.

“In my defense,” Roger started, before his gaze dropped, “I wasn’t paying attention, design isn’t exactly my forte.” He admitted, and you had to shake your head at that, exasperated and already a exhausted.

“Pippin’s good.” You go back to John’s initial question. Pippin isn’t so much a person as it is a touring version of a Broadway musical that had opened a year ago, to great success.

It turns out a written letter of recommendation from both the lead singer, and bass player of Queen goes rather far in the industry. After taking some time for yourself, you call up EMI to beg them not to fire you, however it turns out you needn’t have; both John and Freddie had given glowing reports of your work ethic and skill, and the man on the other end of the line is just eager to know when you were next available.

The moment you’re on site next, they tell you you’ve been promoted to Floor Tech; they hand you a roll of gaff tape and a drill and a whole new set of responsibilities, heaped onto your usual load. You don’t even remember who had been performing, the tour had only lasted a month, all you know is that they were calling you Spotlight from the moment you’d arrived; apparently it was what Freddie had called you, and John had to clarify.

John is the first to contact you again, through EMI of course, and he becomes something of a comfort when you consider taking your career beyond the company that kept you firmly in the one position on tour. Freddie calls you less often, and never about business; it’s John who gives you the courage to leave EMI, and he’s the one who helps set up as a freelance theatre and event crew member.

People had been head hunting you from tour to tour, beyond even EMI, some smaller acts even giving you the full Lighting Designer role. They expect you to sit back, let a stage hand or an assistant to take care of it, but every time you watch someone else focus a spot, your fingers itch to be doing it yourself. Dedicated to a fault, Roger had once called you, you think about it every time you climb an unsteady ladder, and think perhaps that he’s right.

The moment Pippin announces it’s tour, and puts out calls for crew, you’re first in line for the job, putting your hat in the ring for lighting, but happy enough to take any crew role. Not that you don’t love working with bands, but there’s a certain finesse that comes with theatre lighting that you can’t get anywhere else in the world. After two years, and the support of both John and Freddie, you find yourself as the assistant Lighting Designer, as well as Head Floor Tech, and once you step foot onto the tour bus, everything else becomes history.

Speaking of history, later in the day, after the rest of the crew have broken for lunch, you’re wedged under the drum risers, running some cables, when you hear someone climb up them, taking a seat at the drums.

“If you play one beat-” You’re cut off by Roger’s yell of surprise, as he’s so startled he almost falls off his chair.

“Holy shit, who is that?” He’s breathing heavily, voice panicked, and for a moment you take pleasure imagining clutching his hand to his chest like a delicate, little grandmother.

“Take a wild stab in the dark,” you mutter, unwedging yourself from beneath the structure, raising an eyebrow as you look at him. Almost immediately he’s frowning, and you’re thrown back to the moment almost three years ago where you’d been here before, looking up at him from behind the drum risers after you’d changed out the light mid-show. Clearing your throat loudly, you break the moment, getting to your feet and making your way to the side of the stage.

“What are you doing here?” He calls, watching idly as you go about counting out fly lines until you get to the one you’d been looking for. You’d gotten here early to go through the fly-line procedure with the Duty Tech for the venue, and now you lowered the LX bar it was attached to with ease after making sure there was no-one in the way. Your focus made something in his chest tighten, and he feels like he’s being taken back in time; you’re beautiful when you work, passionate and skilled, meticulous, that hadn’t changed. Roger has to look away.

“My job,” and you just sound tired when you say it, already securing the meticulously placed lights onto the bar you’d just lowered, going along and fixing them to the metal in a neat line. An uncomfortable silence spreads between you, punctuated only by the scrape of metal against metal, and the rattle of the safety chains.

“What are you doing here?” You don’t even try to hide the snippiness from your voice, not even turning to look at his as the accusatory words hang in the air.

“I’m having a smoke in what I thought was going to be relative peace, it’s something I do, okay?” Voice defensive, you hear the rustle of cardboard and hear the click of a cigarette, your annoyance growing with each passing moment.

“No, it’s what I do. It’s what I did three years ago, you just started showing up. You stole my relative peace.” You snapped, turning to him, a blazing fury in your eyes at his words, before your lip curled in disgust, “And you don’t even do anything with it.” You scoffed, and he went quiet, sulking behind his drum kit. Sensing he wasn’t got to talk back you turn back to your work.

The moment you turn away, he sees the way you heave a sigh, angry tension draining from your shoulders, a little hunched as you concentrated. Your hands shake a little as you fiddle with the safety chains. There’s still that confidence there, the ease with which you moved about the stage, but unlike around other people, when it was just Roger - though he suspected you were pretending he wasn’t there - you just looked... weary.

After that first town, he keeps his distance for a few stops, though the other band members look to keep you company on occasion. But then... he’s there again. Quiet this time, he just watches where you hold yourself like royalty at the top of a rickety ladder, so sure of yourself. He’d forgotten the sight of you in your element, and it hits him like a truck.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” You snap when you chance a glance down and see his awestruck expression looking up at you. The shock comes when he actually looks abashed, averting his gaze, picking up his drumsticks and tapping out a rhythm that you’re pretty sure you recognise.

You’re both too stubborn to give the other one the peace of the theatre at lunch, however, while you’re content with stewing in silence as you worked, Roger, to no-one’s surprise, is not.

“How’ve you been?” He brings himself to ask. You stop where you’re replacing a gel on one of the drum riser lights, taking a long moment to consider your words carefully.

“Busy.” Tired. The subtext comes through loud and clear, despite your short answer, and once you’d finished with the light, you stand, before taking a moment to stretch your back out from behind hunched over.

“Working a lot?” I can tell. He answers after a long pause, almost sympathetic, and you know he’s not really responding to the words you’d said out loud.

“Yeah, non stop.” No subtext, just responding at face value, before your eyes up to the mostly finished rig. Afternoons were for last minute fixes and focusing, there wasn’t much left you could do, unless you were willing to ask for Roger’s help.

“When did your last thing end?” He asks, and you click your tongue as you turn on your heel, burned out gel in your hand, heading for a bin.

“Two days before this one.” You admitted. When you’re met with silence, you turn, and Roger’s frowning at you, almost disbelieving.

“You’re not still sleeping on the tour bus, are you?” He asks, and you roll your eyes before you tell him your accommodation is paid for this time around. You’re the first to leave, for the first time since everything had started, you leave halfway through to actually eat lunch, leaving Roger to himself.

When he’s drunk after the show, leaning against some local pub, with a girl leaning against him, heavy enough that the two of them would have tipped over if it wasn’t for the counter, he can’t get you out of his mind.

“I didn’t ruin her career.” His eyes go wide as the words, with something akin to revelation, escape him, and the girl makes a noise of confusion, her fingers ghosting over his chest, but he can’t even bring himself to enjoy it.

“I didn’t ruin her career!” He announces, excited and pleased in his inebriated state, sitting himself so forcefully on the arm of Freddie’s chair that he spills part of his drink. Freddie makes a noise of confusion, looking up at the blonde, and Roger gesticulates enough to spill more of his drink, ignoring Freddie’s yelp. “Spotlight! She said I’d ruined her career!”

“When?” Freddie asks, just as John pops out from seemingly nowhere.

“Well you certainly didn’t help it. That was me.” Roger doesn’t care that John’s drunk, the way bassist says it, so serene and matter-of-fact, makes it sting just a little bit worse. His mood instantly flips.

“Can you piss off? Go be her best friend somewhere else.” Roger snapped, and he knew he’d regret being so sharp with John the following morning, but it seemed John himself knew that Roger was in a mood, and obligingly fucked off, seemingly not taking it to heart. “When we broke up, she accused me of ruining her career.” And he realises too late, when Freddie’s eyes go wide with realisation, that he’s said too much.

“Is this where you tell me exactly what went down between you two?” He asked, tapping Roger’s leg with excitement. The blonde, however, stood abruptly, glower on his face.

“No. Fuck off.”

Roger spends almost fifteen minutes banging on the door of the tour bus before he remembers that you’re not in there, and falls into bed alone, fully clothed.

“The fuck did you say to Freddie last night?” The moment he steps foot onto the stage at lunch, you’re waiting for him, already livid. He’s tempted to turn and walk right back out the door. “Apparently he doesn’t know the real reason that I went home last ti- !”

“Of course he doesn’t!” Roger snapped back, on the defensive without a moment’s hesitation. “It makes me look like a fucking wanker and he’d kick my ass; he adores you!” And that was enough to shock you into silence, grip loosening on the gaff tape in your hands. “They all do.” He said, and your expression turns unreadable.

“I know.” You finally said, a new, strange quality to your voice, it’s something akin to shock, but not quite, and Roger doesn’t know what to say next. “What about you?” You finally ask, voice a little defensive. It hurts to see you look at him with such a judgemental eye, though he’s well aware he deserves it.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? I could apologise a thousand times and you’d still be pissy.” He huffs, and you cross your arms, cocking your hip.

“At least once would be nice.” You level a cold glare at him and his gaze snaps back at yours, surprised. “You never once apologised, you know that?” And your voice is low, hurt and honest. “Are you even sorry for what happened?”

“It was three years ago-” He sighs, but you cut him off, shifting your weight to your other foot, swallowing thickly.

“So that’s a no. Glad to see where you stand.” And you turn to cross the stage to where you’ve already got the ladder set up, but he makes his way to you in three long strides, making to grab at your upper arm. The moment he does, however, you whirl around, slapping him, hard. “I told you to never fucking touch me; did you think I forgot?” And he sees why you were so eager to leave; there’s tears in your eyes, so close to breaking and streaming down your cheeks, your lip trembling. Something about your voice is so raw, it hurts worse than the slap.

“I am sorry.” And he sounds so fucking sincere, but you just glare at him, unashamed where the tears have begun to track down your cheeks.

“You had your chance to say sorry; you had your chance to beg for forgiveness, but you told me I could leave; so I did, and so did your fucking opportunity.” But you can’t bring yourself to step back, frozen in place where he’s less than a foot away. Every fibre of your being is betraying you, wanting to be around him, close to him, after what he did.

“I’m sorry what happened between us;” his voice is so level, carefully controlled, you know he’s think hard about what he’s about to admit, “I fucked up, I know that; I’m sorry. It was three years ago but I’m still sorry. I’ve been sorry for a long time now.”

“Since it happened?” You asked, and he didn’t drop your gaze, answering without flinching or hesitation.

“Since I started worrying I’d lose you; I know what I’m like, I knew what I’d end up doing.” He admitted, and the words clearly didn’t have his intended impact as you stumble back, free hand clutching your chest.

“And yet you still-” And quietly, so quietly you’re not even sure he hears it, the words come out as more of a defeated whimper than anything else; “How could you not tell I was in love with you?”

He’s in shock, and you barge past him, leaving as you can no longer contain your aching heart, and you head to the hotel you were staying at down the road, taking the rest of the lunch break to cry.

When you return, the rest of the crew has filtered in, Roger looks guilty, and Freddie and John look about ready to commit violent homicide, which was unsurprising for Freddie, but there was something comforting about Deaky wearing the expression too. In less than a week, the whole crew knows, and wherever you go, you feel yourself followed by pitying stares, which won’t go away, no matter how hard you throw yourself into your work.

“You’re working yourself into the ground.” Roger tells you a week later, watching the way your arms tremble as you focus a light, and it takes you a moment to blink blearily at him. “Don’t forget the security chain.” He adds, and you scowl, before looking at the light itself, and hurriedly affix the security chain to the rig. You insist that you’re fine, making your way down the ladder to scoop up another parcan, but you almost immediately drop it.

“I just need some food.” You try to insist, your hands shaking as you leave the light where it is.

You don’t come out after shows, and it’s not gone unnoticed. The rest of the crew think you’re just dedicated, personable for the most part but prone to bouts of standoffishness.

“Oh you should have seen her on our first tour,” Freddie muses to an enraptured crowd at an afterparty, a few crew members listening with a bright-eyed attention, “that woman risked life and limb for our show.” And he sounds so proud when he says it, but something twists uncomfortably in Roger’s gut.

Cracks don’t show around other people, Roger’s noticed; you’re smile’s bright enough and your voice is loud enough that they don’t see the way your hands shake. Or how tired your eyes are. But then there are moments, you stand as if in the eye of the storm, gaff tape and drill in hand, watching as people follow your instructions without question, and you look up to see Roger tweaking his drums, and the two of you share a look. It’s a little indecipherable, he’s concerned and you’re just... tired. He wants to offer to help, but as soon as the moment arrives, it’s passed, and you’re off to the next task.

The air between the two of you has lost it’s angry tension; after saying your peace, after hearing his apology, there’s no fight left. Just a lingering disappointment, a quiet like the moment after a world-weary sigh. You don’t have to pretend around Roger, you both know he’d see through it if you’d tried.

“You should come get a drink after; you look like you need it.” Roger laughs, but there’s no humour in it. Without missing a beat, you decline, you don’t even bother coming up with an excuse.

“I’m worried about you.” The tour is almost three weeks in, and you’re asleep against the proscenium arch when he walks in. You wake with a start at the sound of his voice, reaching out for the light you’d been fiddling with before you’d passed out. When you look to him with confusion, he repeats himself slowly. “I’m worried about you; are you sleeping okay?”

“As if that’s any of your business.” You snapped back, and Roger kept quiet. It only takes him a day to figure out that sleep isn’t really a luxury you allowed yourself; you were the last out every night after bump out, sometimes staying until two in the morning, and from what the crew said, you were always the first up, running through check lists, accident reports, and going over anything that needed maintenance.

When Freddie asks you to come out with them after a gig, you find it difficult to say no, he helped get you this job after all, but you’re there for barely half an hour before Roger sees you slip out the side door, drink untouched.

John asks if you’re okay one afternoon when you drop a stack of gel frames without warning, jumping almost a foot in the air and looking like you’re about to break into tears from shock, but seems content when you explain you’re just tired. Tired doesn’t even begin to cover how overworked you are.

The night you finally decide to relax a little, bump out having been miraculously fast, you’ve got the next day off. The others cheer you on as you down drink after drink, the alcohol hitting you hard and quickly, and the world gets blurry as you find yourself on the dance floor. It’s easy to drink too much, because for the first time in a long time, you’re relaxed, not worrying about the pretty, dickhead blonde who worries about you when he really shouldn’t.

You’re drunk enough to admit to yourself that part of you likes the attention he’s giving you, it feels like vindication for the heartache you went through all those years ago. Part of it’s not even vindictive, part of you just likes the way he looks at you, the way his smile made your heart beat just a little faster; you call that part a fucking traitor and have another drink.

You don’t remember leaving the bar, but you come back to your body when you’re leaning against a streetlight for support, halfway through telling someone to fuck off.

“Ya’ not my caretaker, Roger,” you sneer, “you don’t need to look after me or whatever this is. Go help groupies home or to hotel or whatever.” You spit, and push off from the light, turning on your heel, almost topple over, and right yourself.

“Light, that’s the wrong way.” He calls, exasperated, and you turn again, this time actually crashing to the ground and grazing your hand on the way, before you get to your feet. He’s come over to try and help you, but you swat him away.

“You don’t get to call me that.” You stalk ahead of him in the direction he had come from, back toward the hotel, and he follows only a few steps behind.

“Fine, Y/N; you’re legless, let me help.” And after a moment of intense eye contact, in which you try to weigh up your options, you begrudgingly loop your arm through his.

“You’re still on my shit-list.” You inform him, and he hums in acknowledgement. “Why are you doing this?” You follow it up with.

“I’m not the asshole who fucked you over three years ago, and I’m not gonna let you get yourself killed for this show.” He said through gritted teeth, and you just smiled, a little dreamily.

“But what a way to go.” And he came to an abrupt stop. It took you a moment to realise, and looking back, you tugged on his arm to keep him moving. He just frowned at you, a little concerned. “Fuck, I didn’t mean it.”

“If I have to fire you to get you to take a break-” He threatened, and you scoffed, expression turning bitter.

“I’ll drop a light on you.”

“You’ll drop a light on me by accident before then anyways!” He crowed, and your expression fell, contemplative. “Just let me help; what do I have to do to make you actually rest? What do I have to do to prove myself?”

#roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x reader #bohemian rhapsody #borhap #bo rhap #borhap imagine #bohemian rhapsody imagine #freddie mercury #john deacon #brian may #and then there was light #ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #the angry lizard writes

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vernons-laugh-is-my-aesthet-blog · 7 years ago

Note

Who else on svt (other than jeonghan and dk) do you think is genuinely close?

oooo00000OOOOh b you better grab a chair

I actually think a majority, if not all, of Seventeen is close. They’ve all trained and worked with each other as “seventeen” for so long it’s kinda impossible to not know each other well yaknow? This list is what I’ve seen lately, but I cant be the one to fully judge because I didn’t stan Seventeen from the beginning T-T

Hyung line (s.coups+ Jeonghan+ Joshua)- They have a system going on where S.coups has to make a decision and Joshua and Jeonghan aid in the right path. Kind like in OFD japan where Hoshi and Hyung team fought and Coups was a bit too heated to really make a decision and Jeonghan provided a push and Joshua provided reassurance that it’s the right thing to do to make a meeting and resolve the problem.

S.coups+all members- He needs to be able to know all the members well enough to lead the group. He doesn’t necessarily need to be with them all the time though, and that’s okay

Gamer buds (I think it’s S.coups+Wonwoo+Woozi or Mingyu???)- They play games together lol

Jeonghan+Dk-They’re each other’s favorite roommates. Their personalities clash well like a puzzle. Jeonghan yearns of love and appreciation and someone who can take his jokes well. Dk is just that dude. Someone who smiles through every situation and uses humor as his form of energy.

Americain line (Joshua+vernon)-Joshua talks to Vernon in English and aids him in learning the language and I bet Vernon helps him with writing Korean etc. They both know bits about America and customs there. They first bonded through that and now through their personalities.

Jun+wonwoo?- They are both the type of guys who say a joke that makes everyone uncomfortably laugh, but its okay because they have this thing goin where they tell fans that the other is bad at telling jokes and is unfunny, when irl they are just teasing.

Leader Line (Hoshi+Woozi+S.coups)- To be 3 leaders in a team you need a state of neutrality and know how to work well together. They lead differently. S.coups leads the team, he makes the decisions regarding the well-being of the team. Hoshi leads steps and position he makes sure they look well put together. He is also the hype man. Woozi is the “behind the scenes” man. He creates the music in his studio with no disruptions till its perfect. He doesn’t like the attention, but Seventeen/leaderline tries their best to tell everyone that he has a large role in the creation of Svt to rightfully credit him.

Hoshi+Wonwoo-Mocking each other 24/7. Same age friends. They like to play rough sometimes, but it’s a normal thing

Gag trio (Hoshi+Dk+Seungkwan)- Get together to make people laugh. They are the loud ones who just came to see a smile.I’m pretty sure they have a cheer too so…

Wonwoo+Mingyu-The solid ship. We got puppygyu and tsundere Wonwoo. They are sweet together. Though I heard a fan tried to force the ship irl and it made then drift apart for a while? I think they are coming back together

Woozi+Vernon- Teacher->apprentice. Woozi said he wants a mind like Vernon, the way Vernon thinks is so unique and different from what Woozi would expect. and Vernon said he wants natural talent like Woozi. Not many people shed light on it, but Vernon has a lot of credits alongside Woozi (but not as much ofc) in music production and lyric writing. Woozi appreciates that and they both share the same chill energy when they are not being memes.

Woozi+Jeonghan- Woozi only lets Jeonghan do things to him? But he doesn’t really threaten to hurt him afterwards. He just kinda lets it happen lol.

Mingyu+The8- Now that The8 is coming more out of his shell and isn’t as ‘cute’ as his near debut image, he can finally let out the fashionista inside of him. He roasts tf out of Mingyu and enjoys the same interest as Mingyu in style and designing to the point that they both said that one day they will come out with a brand together. I feel like Mingyu is legit about that, so I look forward to it.

Mingyu+Seungkwan- The relationship they have is funny to me. They do this thing where they tease each other and then the other one acts like he “had enough” and fights the other. They had a vlive together and all they did was “bicker” and it was great lol. That’s how I am with my friends. we just tell each other to stfu and fight all the time and it’s great. Goals amirite?

Chinaline (The8+Jun)- Legendary way of meeting (Jun rippin off The8′s cap and then proceeded to spit onto his face bc he had braces) Had to learn Korean together and know the struggles of leaving their hometown far away to pursue a kpop career. Rn its like a older brother to little brother situation where The8 is the older brother and Jun always tries to mess around with him.

Seungkwan+Vernon- So soft. so so so so so soft. Seungkwan watched his lil boy grow into a man, but still treats him the same. with the constant patpats on Vernon’s face and adoring him and appreciating him. And then vernon always looking at Seungkwan when he talks and laughs at his antics. This as a pure pair.

Seungkwan+Dino- bickering lol. Dino learning how to be sassy from Seungkwan. And Seungkwan being Sh00k from his clapbacks.

Vernon+Dk- Same birthday bros. They are memes together and apperently Dk really wants to meet Vernon’s lil sister. Vernon refuses. lol same.

Dino+Jeonghan?-Dino nugu aegi is a joke among Carats etc, but Dino wasnt much of a fan of it. He is grown now as stated by him which is a loss for poor affectionate Jeonghan. I’m not saying their connection is splitting, but it is sure being grinded down bc Dino doesnt like being babied anymore T-T

Dino+Hoshi-Same thing with Jeonghan kinda. I think Hoshi is trying to get the kid in Dino to come back out again. But Hoshi also respects his work ethic and ability to help choreograph.

If I were to condense the most within-group social members it would go:

S.coups-Everyone needs to be comfortable with the leader and he needs to now his members well in order to lead right

Jeonghan- Though he likes to joke a lot, members depend on him for advice and help in difficult times. And he is always there to listen

Hoshi- Seventeen’s hype man. When the members feel slow in energy they can look to him to find a push and strive for perfection with matching passion as him

Dk-Ability to make the room light and happy. He knows how to joke well and the members appreciate it

Seungkwan-pushing Seventeen to be more out there. With his amazing variety and Mcing skill, he always tries to get the more quiet members to show up on camera and talk a bit

Mingyu- Does a lot for the group behind the scenes like cooking and cleaning. The backbone of the dorm lol. All members know him well. He is also social outside of the group.

Vernon-Due to this kid’s slow and l o s t (lol) nature, all Seventeen members feel a need to protect him. They all agree that he is very unique and 4d. Always living in his own word that they need to pull him back to the real world to ge him focused sometimes.

The8- Before was pretty quiet, but as his Korean improves so does his social skills. He is now able to talk more freely to members and ask what a certain word means without being scared of messing up

Joshua-Joshua is the type to be quiet most of the time, but has bursts of randomness. I feel like, like myself, though he doesn’t talk too much, he is always listening and observing (thats why he is good help for s.coups when making decisions)

Wonwoo- Wonwoo is an introvert and has trouble showing a lot of emotion. He does have a bubbly side though and its seen in his nose crinkles.

Woozi-Woozi kinda chooses to be left alone. He prefers to work alone undisturbed and I think sometimes overworks himself. The members always point out his achievements bc woozi is not the type to shout it out himself.

Jun- Jun is really 4d and sometimes childish. The members love him of course, but sometimes his jokes can be too odd for everyone to grasp when he comes in and out of a conversation.

Dino- Dino is growing up and is finding individuality. So he will prob. not be playing along with the hyungs things like he used to before. But I hope he goes back to just joking around like that bc just bc you’re grown doesn’t mean you can’t be childish ^-^

There are many more combos I probably missed. I is overwhelmed my dude. Some of my stuff might even look full of shit to others. idk lol

#dammit anon you made me write a book #jk #Why do I do this to myself?#Seventeen #observations #I could of answered without explaining?#text #ships #kpop #there are typos #b e t

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baconpal · 8 years ago

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since ive been complaining about shit already tonight i might aswell just mention random crap that i’ve been thinking about, but ill spare your dash, feel free to read me rambling about absolutely random shit if you want

first some video game stuff i guess;

the good: I don’t have a switch and still definitely cannont justify getting one yet but woo boy does ARMS look good, i wanna try it, and also splatoon 2, i really liked splats when it was first out, and martyo kart, but its p spensive stuff and im a cheap-ass

the new thing code vein thing is simultaneous promising and incredibly boring to me, cus anime styled action game with the potential for cute girls to be wielding giant fucking weapons is like, my dream, and the boss designs looked pretty good, if a bit unrelated in the trailer, like the moose knight dude is fucking sick and i wanna use his armor, but then there’s also like, abyssal spear lady miku whose fucking cute, and they’re shown right after each other and it becomes a bit hard to follow, and the story seems to be just fucking dark souls “wah we go hollow and the world is a fuck”, i wish it wasnt that, cus dark souls alone made that setting overused, and while a modern-ish universe certainly sounds nice, it looks fucking bleak and they spend half the video in places that just look like bluer versions of DaS3 areas

the bad: so ive already complained about momodora 4, some people like it for some fucking reason but i dont, and now 5 is happening because they cant just make a new fucking series i guess, and it looks awful, like honestly horrid, its fucking shitty 3d when nobody asked for it, and it’s like, all the worst parts of something like dark souls, and none of the good parts and it angers me to no end that they keep dragging this sorta cute and okay free game series into the mud like this when they could make new games and try new things

the ugly: i never funded or thought about supporting indivisible because i had zero fun with the demo and i never really cared for any of the designs other than the redesigns of other characters from other games, and maybe the big fist girl, who didnt really fit in the style to begin with, but now they’re going and doing major redesigns and model updates that just look stupid and lifeless, like “wah wah diversity” drama aside, that cowboy guy went from a gritty, perfectly decent design to like, fucking nothing, he’s nothing now, i cant even identify him as something because he’s just nothing, and the entire cast seems to have been stretched up for no reason, and now a lot of the interestingly wide characters arent very interesting anymore, im not mad about it cus i never planned on getting it, but as an artist when i see artists take a very solid and nice character/design and just make it fucking awful, it makes me mad, especially cus i’ve seen some artists i used to know do it too, not starting drama or something it just seems pretty dumb to take things that are nice and people like and make them into different things when you could just make a new thing and have both

also uh like my friend showed me this jap band called uplift spice and at first i thought they were meh but i cant stop listening to them now its fucken cute rock stuff and it kills me

now art stuff. these are the things i really wanna talk about but they’re really just me problems so if you’ve already made it this far maybe you’ll care about this random shit

so like commissions have gone decently recently, not complaining about nobody wantin em or something, but for the longest time i’ve had people ask me about commissions, ask if there’s slots open or something, or even straight up say they intend to commission me, and then i’ll never fucking hear from them ever again ever, and like, if you just ask “hey got slots?” doesnt mean i expect you to actually get a comm, but it usually suggests there will atleast be a follow up response like “okay thanks but nevermind” or “ok cool ill be contacting you soon” and then actually following up on it, cus without any closure i just get stressed out thinking about why they never get back to me, are the prices too much? are they worried i won’t accept the comm? did they fucking forget i exist? did they get hit by a car? like even if you fucking told me “nevermind i dont want a comm you’re fucking SMELLY and i HATE YOU” i’d feel better cus at least i wouldnt worry about it for a week or something, none of the people reading this are likely the kinds of people who do this, most of them dont even follow me, but cmon man why you gotta make me worry about this shit

and last thing probably (hopefully jesus what am i even typing all this for) so like now that i’m doin comms more to support my own ass i’m really not pushing for requests in my inbox since a lot of them i’d never do anyway unless i got paid, but at the same time, i really liked drawin the ghost lady for that one ask, cus nobody is ever going to comm me for my own characters unless your one of my super good friends and youre just looking for an excuse to give me money, if you DID honestly comm me my OCs i’d fucking love you that’d be sick, but regardless i think that the only requests ill end up doing anymore are cute megalo1 and 2 ideas or stuff of my OCs, but i dont even know if you guys remember or like any of them, i actually have way more of them than i post because i like to design for fun sometimes, but like other than maybe neon idk if any of my OCs are know to any of my followers other than good friends, so idk if you guys would even care enough to request my OCs, but they’re mine and they make me happy so if you wanna see more of them or ask questions about them or anything, feel free to send me asks or messages or whatever, it’d be cool

so ye that’s all the shit im thinken about right now, if you actually could read all that you’re fucking weird and i like you

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supermlmsoftware-blog · 7 years ago

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Insider Secrets: How the Pros Build a Large MLM Group

Well it happened again today. I checked my e-mail, only to find a message from someone I haven't listened to in years. What does she ask me? If I desire to join her malaysia mlm software. (Sigh.) And can I give her the names and mobile number of my friends, family and employees who could buy her products? (Double sigh.).

And you ought to wonder ... will these people ever learn?

Its just like decisions I ascertain my office. They tell Lornette that they have an urgent consulting or training project, and must speak to me right away. I call them back to hear something like, Hi Randy, my name is so-and-so, we met a few years ago at the MLMIA convention. (Ive never been to an MLMIA Convention.) Im utilizing XYZ Company, and I just desired to touch base with you and blah, blah ...

And its always the same. The consulting project or business venture they want me to evaluate, means to induct as a distributor on their front level. They often say theyre returning my call, are old friends of mine, or some other outright lie to achieve past Lornette. Theyre worse then the dammed toner and light bulb salesmen. They just don't get it.

Badgering prospects ...

Individuals who make at least $10,000 a month in Network Marking on a consistent basis, never do such silly stuff. They never use dishonest or duplicitous means to reach people. They don't spam people over the Internet and theyre not sales call some idiots on a business opportunity list. They don't alienate everyone they know, and they aren't chasing skinny rabbits. They are talking to qualified prospects, and getting quality appointments to make quality presentations.

Lets look at the marketing process something I think a lot more people should think of a lot more. Heres why ...

Most individuals approach marketing as selling. And selling as getting the dumb prospect to buy something he doesn't need. They devote their career to learning NLP, sleight of hand, and a host of other manipulative techniques to coerce prospects into buying things they don't want or need. Anthony Robbins and a legion of little Tony wannabes have created an entire cottage industry teaching people to do this. Many MLMers have delved the fray, bringing these and other high-pressure sales techniques into Mlm.

These are the jackasses who call during your dinner hour, opening with lines like, Jim you have no idea me yet but Im partnering with an opportunity so amazing, blah, blah (Scream).

I approach marketing entirely different ...

I have no interest in trying to sell something to someone who doesn't want it, and I suggest you don't either. True marketing is based on a simple - yet quite profound philosophy:.

Were looking for people ... who are looking for what we have.

Put into more specific terms it means this: Our job is to identify qualified prospects then put our marketing message in front of them. Give them enough information to make the right decision for them.

If that means they join your opportunity or buy your product, good. If it means they dont, thats good too. Your job is not to sell your opportunity or products to those that don't need or desire them.It is to find the people who want what you have and give them enough information so they can decide if getting it from you is a fair exchange of value.

Sorting, not Selling ...

Network Marketing is much more a sorting process, than it is a selling business. It is this fundamental difference in philosophy that separates me from the multitudes of sales trainers, marketing gurus and book authors out there. I take no perverse pride in selling ice cubes to the Eskimos. I am not here to prove my manhood by demonstrating I can manipulate or trick a guy into buying something he doesn't want, or cant afford. Theres no integrity in that.

I do take great pride, however, in presenting my marketing message in the best, most effective manner possible to qualified prospects. I want to outsell, outmaneuver and out market my competitors, but I want to do it by offering a better value. Then I want to market that better value better than anyone else out there. And thats what I want for you ...

What the Successful People Do ...

For more than 15 years, Ive been studying what worked and what didnt, in Network Marketing. Learned what the long-term successful people did and why. Discovered the secrets of effective presentations, and what motivated prospects to join. And began the rudimentary forerunner of what became the system I teach today. It was only then that I began to achieve any degree of success. But it wasnt lasting ...

While I was able to conduct meetings, make presentations, and sponsor a large number of people ... most of my distributors could not. The more people I sponsored, the faster they seemed to drop out. What I did worked, but it didnt duplicate. I came to realize that success without duplication is merely future failure in disguise.

I changed to my system and fine-tuned it, simplified I, and made it easier to replicate. It not only worked, but it duplicated as well. It is that system (with continuous refinement) that has helped many countless people, across the world, reach higher levels of success in Network Marketing. It is that system which I shared in the first edition of my book, How to Build a Multi-Level Money Machine.

The book can save you much of the frustration and failure I faced. Building upon my success, you can cut many years off your growth curve and build your network much faster. Youll learn what attracts prospects to you, and how to present to them effectively. Youll discover the kind of people you want to sponsor, and whom you would be better to screen out in the pre-approach process.

Once youre well educated in the sponsoring process, you will learn steps to manageand keep growinga large network. The ways to spend your time, how to develop leaders, and how to counsel them. Most importantly, youll learn how to empower those leaders to develop new ones. By the time you finish reading the book, you will have a clear understanding of a fundamental, profound truth about Home based: You don't grow your network. You grow your people - and they grow your group.

My hope is that youll view Network Marketing as the professional career it has become, and will join me on my mission, which is to continue raising the standards of this honorable profession.

Unlike corporate Americawith its downsizing and rat-eat-rat competition Network Marketing offers you the opportunity to nurture and empower the inherent talents in all those you sponsor. In this business, success means the chance to develop spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and financially, while you contribute in a positive way to others.

As you undertake this journey of challenge, adventure and growth, you will attract others who share your vision and follow your example. You will lead them for a short timethen release them as they unfold into leaders and start the process all over again. You will feel pride, joy and a sense of accomplishment few ever experience. You will know that what you do means somethingand that your community is a little bit better place because you have contributed.

Building a large, exponentially growing network is not easyits not supposed to be. It is simple, however. If you are coachable and persistent; if you really believe in yourself, and are willing to follow a step-by-step systemyou really can achieve massive, lasting success in Network Marketing.

You wont do it with cold calls, Spamming and those other irritating techniques we talked about earlier. You do it with solid marketing, following a system that others can duplicate, and running your business in an honest, straightforward way.

What a System Looks Like ...

Your system should completely delineate and spell out the entire process that a distributor will follow: from where to find prospects, how to approach them, how to sponsor them, and how to train them to reach the higher pin ranks. (For the sake of simplicity and your understandingI use the term pin ranks to mean people who reach the top levels of your compensation plan, whether theyre called Diamond Directors, National Vice Presidents or Master Coordinators. The name comes from the fact that distributors receive a pin upon achieving these ranks.) Each stage in this process should be clearly defined and taught to the distributor at the appropriate time.

Heres a breakdown of the steps that might be included in a system. This is not meant to be the be-all, end-all. If fact, your system may be quite different. I offer this example, so you can see the kind of structure Im talking about.

Step One The Pre-Approach ...

This is the qualification step the one that determines whether you have a suspect or an actual prospect. This can be done simply with qualifying questions, or qualifying questions combined with a pre-approach packet. This packet would include materials designed to screen out people who are not good candidates for the business. (An example is my Lifestyle Freedom Pack.) Pre-approach means before the approach. In other words, this step will determine whether or not you would approach them about the opportunity at all.

Another way to do this is with a brief, mini presentation. This is a quick overview, usually 30 minutes or less, to see if your candidate is a serious prospect. This is usually done one-on-one in a non-threatening environment (example: in the prospects kitchen or at a coffee shop). When you first begin, this should be done as a two-on-one, meaning you and your sponsor together presenting to your prospect. This can also be done in a small group meeting in your living room.

The interested prospects would be given a specific set of materials to study, usually called a take home packet. This packet would have a break down of how money is made in the business and some supporting materials on the products, usually a brochure or catalog.

Step Two The Presentation ...

This is where the prospect takes a second look at the presentation, usually at a larger home or hotel meeting, but it can also be done one-on-one. Like all steps, there should be a clearly defined set of specific materials (the Follow-up Packet), which should be given to the prospect. This is usually more detailed information than the previous packet.

Step Three The Follow Up ...

This step might involve getting the prospect to another, bigger presentation (like a large hotel open meeting) or simply bringing one more packet of information to the prospect and encouraging them to make a decision. Check with your sponsorship line. In either event, the packet of information and the procedures followed should be exactly the same for every distributor on every level.

Step Four The Enrollment Process ...

This is the step that falls after the prospect nods and is ready to become a distributor. NOTE: This can happen at step two, or step three. Each prospect lands at his or her own speed. Its important that whether or not a prospect poises to join at step two (thats great!) you still expose them to the information in step three to preserve the integrity of the system.

Like our other steps, the enrollment process should be completely translated, step-by-step. The training that you receive should be the same, exact training that someone on your 25th level, five states away, will receive when joining your organization. (See my Learn more training materials).

These four steps are the foundation for your system. Whatever which program youre in, it should generally parallel this process. Again, though, check with your sponsorship line for specifics. The later steps of red tape will vary more greatly from program to program. They involve managing organizational growth and developing leadership skills. (I explore them more deeply in the Building Depth and Leadership Strategies chapters of my book.).

Overall, however, visualize a system as a complete, step-by-step process that anyone who joins your organization whether theyre a doctor or waitress, Ph.D., or high school dropout can duplicate. It means you should have the opportunity to fly to a city 3,000 miles away hire someone on your 50th level that youve never met and be teaching the same principles and specifics theyve been being informed the person whos on your 49th level.

Youll notice this doesn't involve one of the dishonest and obnoxious practices we discussed earlier. Your system should focus on identifying qualified prospects, educating them, and allowing them to make the right decision for them. A lot of people ask me how this variety of system works today, in a more competitive environment. The answer is, better than ever! In fact, prospects today are so jaded today, so assaulted, consequently skeptical, they are completely switched off by the high-pressure techniques. The kind of honest, easy marketing were speaking of is very attractive to them.

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topicprinter · 7 years ago

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Amazon FBA courses have been all the rage lately, with lofty promises of a lucrative digital nomad lifestyle. There are hundreds of courses to choose from, but 3 stick out from the crowd. It might be due to their high price tag, or maybe its the individuals behind the course. Either way, you cant scroll through any Amazon forums with seeing these courses being discussed. So I went ahead and took all 3 of them. I didn't really intend on dong a review, I just got them so I could learn. I started my journey 2 months ago and today my first product arrived, with 2 more on the way :D Here is my in-depth video review:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD58vSR2Pv4 I will also post the script for the review here in case you prefer not to watch the video at work, or you dont want to use data :) Please keep in mid that the punctuation might be weird because I write my scripts how I talk as opposed to proper English lol. I have fully completed all 3 of these courses. Now full disclosure, I did not pay for amazing selling machine, I had a friend lend me all the videos and files for it. It is however asm 7, so its the newest version. I would also like to add that before taking these courses I knew NOTHING about amazon FBA. Nick just told me how much he was making, so I jumped right into tanner course. So I have have the complete beginner's perspective on this. lets get to it. FIRST UP, Amazon Seller mastery.Price: $498 USDTotal Watch Time: 2 hours 11 minutes= $3.80 per minute So tanners course is the cheapest of the 3, but it is also the shortest. He’s had many successful students come through, including youtuber james bowen. However this course really just skims the surface. There are a total of 5 modules, but I felt like they were all bare bones. Especially as someone who knew nothing about amazon FBA, I finished the course with a bunch of questions. For example, module 2, titled “suppliers and shipping” only contains 2 videos, totaling just 14minutes. To be fair, after finishing that module I felt like I knew all there was to know on suppliers and shipping and I thought “seems easy enough”, it wasnt until I actually tried contacting suppliers that I realized I was still in the dark for some aspects. Overall, tanner does a good job at teaching the material. Its very obvious that he knows what hes talking about and he instructs pretty clearly. That being said, you can tell the production and time spent editing was cut short. He doest cut out beginings or ending of the videos, and some mistakes that could be edited out are just kept in. It feels like he was just winging it for the most part and didnt have too much of the structure pre-planned. Theres even a part where he’s talking about shipping terms, and he straight up says “you can just google what they mean”. Now yes, thats fine and its common sense if you’re making any regular youtube video, but it wouldn’t be that hard for him to google it first and then provide a PDF for student resources. And finally, this might not bother you guys, but for me me it was a little annoying.. None of the videos in the course were captured in full screen. His window was always minimized, so you could see his desktop background. Again not a huge deal, but for a $500 course it just didnt float my boat. So lets get on to Kevin Davids Amazon ninja materclass. Price: $1,250 USDTotal Watch Time: 9h 50min= $2.12 / Minute So Kevin’s course is much pricier than tanners, but as you can see its still a better value per minute of actual content. He also gives you the option to buy each module separately. Now I do like the idea behind separating the modules, but it causes a little bit of overlap for someone that has the full course. What I mean by that is, in some modules, he’ll re-explain some things that he already covered in a previous module. Im sure hes doing it to cover the bases just incase someone bought the module separately, but when you’re watching them consecutively, it just leaves parts to skip. Kevin also has a little underwhelming video production for a 1200 dollar course, some videos his cam is way too big and actually blocks important information. In this clip hes talking about the display ad on the right side, but you cant even see it because its under his webcam. However other than that the visuals arent bad at all. The biggest issue I had with this course was that it wasn't totally sequential or chronological. Yes the modules are in order from product research to facebook marketing, but the content in the modules were all over the place. They werent following (for lack of a better word).. A storyline. Thats actually one thing I liked about tanners course. He starts with the lockpick set and carries on the process for that product in a good step by step order. That being said, Kevin does do long videos to end every module that kind of put the pieces together, but overall its like has all these superb bircks of information on a topic, and then it just all goes into one bucket as opposed to laying them out piece by piece. Now lets get on to what I love about kevins course. First off, and probably the most important. Its loaded to the brim with super insightful information. He goes a lot into the actual mindest or thought process behind what he does and why. And what I like even more is that he doesnt just say “you should do this or do that because im the master”. His vibe is more open ended, like “this is what I suggest you do based on all my experience, but dont blindly take my word for it” which I appreciate. The course is also very practical and inspiring, he doesnt have any fluff, and he’s a great communicator”. On his site he says its the only course you’ll ever need, and I cant say hes wrong. He goes way beyond Amazon in the later modules. Covering in depth facebook ads, instagram, getting onto blogs, and even virtual assistants. With the Ninja Masterclass I’d say the pros heavily outweigh the cons, and its the only course I really refer back to when I run into problems with my new FBA business. But before I crown the champ, I have to talk about the biggest course of them all. Amazing Selling Machine! Price: $3,500Total Watch Time: 36h 53m= $1.58 / minute Now of course I left the big fish for last. Amazing selling machine is longest running and most expensive one of the 3 of courses, and probably of all fba courses in the world. Along with the video lessons, ASM has huge events every year with tickets ranging from $400 to $750. But lets talk about the videos. With nearly 37 hours of screen time, it is definitely a lot to take in. I believe the actual course makes you watch it throughout 8 weeks, but since I just had all the video files already, I decided to binge it. Now I did not watch all the coaching calls, but I finished all the other modules. And I do have to say, compared to the other two, these videos are very dry. They provide lots of info, but they do so with text. I’d say 50-60% of the videos are taken up by this blue screen with white text. As opposed to just showing the practical stuff, they have a lot of fluff. They spend a few minutes before every video explaining everything thats going to happen instead of just diving straight into it. Now you might be thinking “well that makes it great for notes”, but they already provide all these bullet points in the form of PDFs. And thats honestly what bugged me most. Every single video had a pdf to accompany it, which is great, but the guys in the video were just reading off of it. Its almost like they wrote an awesome amazon FBA book, and they’re just reading it to us, instead of a cut to the chase kind of course. Here you can see the PDF, and beside it the video. Its line by line. Now that may be appealing to some people, but for me it was just filler. With tanner and kevin, it felt like you were learning from a friend or mentor, With mike and Rich, its more of a classroom vibe, less passion more rules. And that another thing, their rules or guidelines are very firm. Unlike kevins who i said leaves it at “this is what I suggest, based on experience”. ASM is very much “this is what you need to do to be successful. Use the ASM criteria”. With all that said, there’s still brilliant content inside. The most surprising to me was their product research, being new to FBA, I really thought that jungle scout was the only way to do solid product research. However in ASM they use DS quickview, and a method that heavily relies on a products BSR. While it seems like a little more work than using jungle scout and 999 track, I thinks good to see another perspective on product research, and its something I will add in the future just to be extra sure on my products. They are also the best when talking about having a sequential or chronological order. Its VERY beginner friendly with everything laid out nice and neat. I would even say that you could jump into the ASM course without ever using a computer before, thats how comprehensive they get with their explanations. However the one thing that separates ASM from all the rest in my opinion his how they give you actionable steps at the end of every video. Just like homework. The intention is so that you actually follow along with them as they go to ensure you get results. Of course this can be hard if you dont actually find a product after the product research module. But like I said it was designed to be dripped throughout 8 weeks, not 8 days. So what would I suggest? Well I can starting as a beginner, I feel like I definitely got my degree in FBA after all these courses. They all have a different and unique spin to them, and all of them offer their own little gold nuggets that the other doesn't. However this is just like goldilocks, One of them is too little, one of them is too much, and the other is just right. So, with all things considered, I would have to give the crown to Kevin Davids Ninja MasterClass. Its not the cheapest per minute, but its the most practical, It doesn't have the most content, but it cuts the fluff, and id say he gives the greatest perspective on incorporating amazon into your everyday lifestyle. He talks about how gets great product ideas outside of amazon by just being more observant or talking to people. And its that outside the box thinking that I think sets a good seller apart from a great one. His course actually dives deeper into the facebook and marketing side than ASM does, he could have almost sold that as a separate course. He also has the best tricks in terms of keywords and ranking. As for me, I started watching these courses last month, and today I have 3 products on the way. I can't confirm yet if the products are any good, but one of them gets in tomorrow, so we shall find out soon and update you guys once sales start coming in.

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