<Snipped quote by Legend>

Stories from who? Again, their parents' opinions don't count, neither do those of the people working for those parents.

<Snipped quote by souleaterfan320>

*Walks over to investigate*

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*you see a pan with operating tools scattered on the ground*

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Do you perceive it worth the cost?

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I believe I wouldn’t be here with you if it wasn’t.

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Did you lie about all the stuff you accomplished? All the stuff they did?

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I did not. I probably embellished stories about them
*says under my breath*
and probably me too
*in a normal voice*
because I'm proud of them, just like I'm proud of you. But your view that they were perfect is only true in my eyes and probably your mother's as well. Objectively speaking, nobody's perfect. And you have your whole life ahead of you to do whatever you set your mind to. You don't have to do everything immediately.

<Snipped quote by Yatagarasu>

Then is mom lying too? Are all these stories about where you came from and who you are, are all of them just fake? Was there ever any darkness, or Codii, or even some kind of scale? Do our brothers and sisters even exist?

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Well, that last one is debatable, to be fair. But just because I wasn't necessarily the actual strongest there was at the time, doesn't mean I wasn't up there. That's all I meant; embellishing things to make the stories more interesting for a young imagination. We didn't fake anything whole-cloth, at least, I promise you. Heck, there's observable evidence of most of it, and I'll gladly retell you whatever you want, as well as my memory holds up, at least. You can ask your mother the same things. She knows a lot I don't, and our subjective experiences might conflict, but I've never purposefully lied to you. Er, well, except about Project T.O.K., but I think you knew that already. I wasn't great at hiding that they weren't around to help out around the house, heh.

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*Furrows my eyebrows in visible frustration*
If anything you’ve told me is true, then you have to see that where we are is so much different than them, or you, or mom.

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*Nods, leaning against a wall*
And who do you have on your side backing you up?

<Snipped quote by Legend>

Yes, different. Not lesser. Not weaker, or slower, or dumber. Just different. There's no "winning" in terms of a life, Stella. There's no "losing" either. There's just "living" and improvement. To quote a once wise man, "strive to be better, always better... but never perfect." All I'm saying is that you shouldn't hold yourself to the standards you set on other people, that's a recipe for frustration and heartache. I'm sorry that I'm not giving the most poignant or instantly useful advice, but all I can give is my opinion and what I know.

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…

<Snipped quote by Melodious>

Maybe a better question: Who do you want in your corner?

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No we would’ve been caught by now, not that we were really being sneaky in the first place.

<Snipped quote by Techspert>

…Friends. Which I like to think I’ve at least made progress on making some, but it’s one thing to make a friend with someone and another thing to ask someone to back you up in situations so dicey that they’re putting themselves in harm’s way too.

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*Nods, and brushes off sand from my clothes that dissolves when it hits the ground*
It is indeed. Can you make friends close enough that quickly?

<Snipped quote by Zealz>

Then I look forward to seeing you reap the benefits of that approach. How is your personal training?

<Snipped quote by Techspert>

Who could?

<Snipped quote by Memory>

*smirks*
Although I do not see this as an event that will take place, if Gajeel and/or Grace need to be taken down I will be able to do such task.