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[lordofthefries]

[Excuse the shaky view as Sasha sets the gear up on the floor in front of her, giving the public as large a view of her sitting on the floor by her bed cross-legged. She rubs at her nose a few times, glancing off screen anxiously before she turns back to the 'gear and addresses the public at large.]

How do you make friends? [A pause.] I mean, real people friends, not Pokemon friends.

[Which makes this post a whole lot more pathetic. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!]

Like I don't know a lot of stuff because where I'm from we don't even have lights or water on the inside or schools or those car things. Just horses. And mountains. And lots of trees. So a lot of the stuff people talk about here, I never heard of and...

[...she feels too stupid, too much of a hick to bond over familiar things. Growing up people laughed at her for being so backwoods. That's something one doesn't shake off easily.]

But I want friends even though I don't know stuff. I don't mind learning! I... just don't want people to laugh at me about it.

Comments

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[isleavepossible]

I won't laugh!

And making friends is hard. I got lucky and had one since I was a kid when were too little to know better and he's been stuck with me since then....or possibly the other way around....we can't decide.

But yeah, I'll totally help if I can.

Oh right, my name's Alex.

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[lordofthefries]

[Oh, she didn't expect any replies, much less one willing to take on a pity case, so if Sasha looks a little surprised, that's why.]

There weren't any kids in my village when I was little. It's different there now, but when I was a kid it was only me. I don't know anybody for that long that isn't my dad.

[Seems like having a built-in friend is something easy, something Sasha has from serving in the military, but everybody has their own lives now and she's left in search of hers.]

I'm Sasha.

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[isleavepossible]

Nice to meet you.

[Alex is happy to meet any new people honestly. So it's less a pity case then mutual gain. /she wants the chance to make friends here. Honestly it's a miracle she didn't pop in just waving a hand going, I'll be your friend!...okay she pretty much ALMOST did that, but still.]

Wow. Yeah that would hurt the getting friends from childhood part.

I'm not like an expert on how things work but my world was pretty normal to a point. And it sounds more high tech then where you're from. So yeah, ask me anything. Promise I won't make fun of you.

And honestly I find the best way to make friends is to start talking to people. So I think you're on a good first step.

[tookashirototheknee]

Hey, wanting to learn things is awesome, no matter what you know or don't know.

I'd never laugh at someone who wants to learn.

What're you interested in? I could probably teach you some things. Or just talk and answer questions.

[lordofthefries]

I wish everybody thought like that, but they don't.

[Ah, but that million dollar question. Something Sasha never really thought about because who has time to have interests back home?]

Um... I don't know. [Her mouth twists in thought.] I like food? I grew Pokeberries for a little while. I knew someone who wanted to make sweaters for Pokemon with me, but she's gone now so... I guess that's it.

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[sassymaru]

Why would someone laugh at your attempts to make friends? It seems a perfectly good-hearted sort of endeavor, Miss.

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[lordofthefries]

Because people laugh at you when you don't know something. It's just what they do.

[No matter how good-hearted a try is, there will always be jerks out there. Sadly, Sasha's lived a life where there were more jerks than not and that's left her a little insecure about what she has to offer other people.]

I mean, there are nice people, but... some things stick.

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[sassymaru]

What fools they are. I see nothing here but a sincere effort for companionship.

[Thank you Shadowmaru that will surely help her.]

How may I, the Great Ninja Shadowmaru~!! [He... totally strikes what he thinks is a dramatic pose right there. With his Froakie in the background doing the same.] -- be of assistance?

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[shiro2hero]

Sasha, if someone doesn't want to get to know you because you don't know something, that's their loss.

... which is easier said than done. But --

[He pauses, thoughtfully.]

I know there are pokemon ranches around here. You said you know about horses... what about looking into helping out the people there? Or helping people with their pokemon horses?

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[lordofthefries]

[Their loss, sure, but she's still feeling lonely at the end of the day, especially today after waking up with other people's Pokemon in her box. Anybody she had close to being a friend she made on her own is gone and starting all over seems like a daunting task. How did she manage it in the first place?

Shiro's idea is a good one, though directly, Sasha doesn't know one person with a Ponyta.]

Is that going to give me friends?

[Such an innocent question, like she'll just show up at the ranch one day and walk away with a friend, but she's dying to make a connection with someone her age.]

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[shiro2hero]

It might.

[He really wishes he could be more sure of that. But it's worth a shot, isn't it? Anything to help her out. Sasha's already really important, as far as he's concerned.]

You know horses, and there's... probably a lot of people here who don't have any idea how to handle their horse pokemon. I sure wouldn't, if I had one.

And if you're helping someone out, you get closer. You end up as friends, more often than not. [Or family.]

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[protectshope]

I-If people make fun of you for not knowing, then they aren't good friends in the first place! ... Is what my mother would say.

To be honest, all of this Pokemon stuff is really going over my head. I've never even had a goldfish before... B-but! Is it true you know about horses? That's so cool! I've always wanted to see a horse up close..!

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[lordofthefries]

Everybody else is saying the same thing your mother would.

[Sasha wonders what her own mother would say, but that's a line of thought that doesn't go much farther. She doesn't remember the woman and the parent she does remember, her father, isn't the type of man who can give her advice on modern teenage living. Social life skills really wasn't his forte.]

Yeah! I had one at home. I mean, he wasn't mine and he really belonged to the military, but I was the one who brushed him and fed him and made sure he had water when it was hot.

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[agent3]

Why laugh though? Y'don't know somethin'...lotsa people don't know stuff. Someone laughs, jus' means they're not good t'be friends with.

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[lordofthefries]

[Sasha is seeing a common thread in all of these responses and while she knows they are all logical and completely correct hot takes on her situation, it still doesn't solve her problems in a way that's logical to her. Don't be friends with the meanies. Got it.

But that still leaves her original unasked about question of how to make good friends before they leave.]

Well, people laugh because they think I'm stupid and don't really know any better. [And apparently stupid in their eyes means she's too dumb to have feelings which is anything but true.] At least that's what I think.

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[starry_forehead]

[Probably not the person you'd expect to see after that last post of his, but he likes Sasha. More importantly Mabel REALLY liked Sasha and she would have said something. So yeah.]

Anyone who laughs at you for not knowing stuff is dumb. You probably just know different stuff then them.

[He and Mabel kind of learnt that lesson. You can be smart in different ways. Also also jealous because the other person is smart like that and you're not. Which is just dumb in the long run but hard to shake.]

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[lordofthefries]

Maybe, but that still doesn't stop them from doing it.

[Granted, no one here has laughed at her, at least in her face, about it. Sasha knows all about feeling envious of others. She's doubtful anyone felt envious of her ever; there's nothing in her mind to be jealous over.]

I do know different stuff than them, but that just makes things harder.

[Hence the root of all her issues connecting. Her knowledge bank is nowhere near anyone else's. Not even a little bit.]

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[schachmeister]

I think I am probably not the best person to ask this...

[Cause. Well. You know, Sasha. He's Armin. When has Armin ever been super good at making friends?]

But I think finding an interest you have in common is probably a good way. That way you'd have something to talk about.

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[lordofthefries]

[True, but Armin still has his smarts and his fancy book learnings and his bevy of whales and his rightful place in the Attack on Voltron house. Sasha's still seeking her place to fit in.]

That's the problem. A lot of the times I don't have anything in common with them. And the times I do, they keep leaving.

[Which brings her to making this post. Mabel is gone. Noctis is gone. She fought hard for those two, made plans to do super cool things together, and just like that Sasha is back at square one before even getting started.]

This would be easier if Connie was here. [One built-in best friend, please.]

[forsaintcecilia]

If someone laughs at you for not knowing stuff, they probably wouldn't make a very good friend.

[That has to be said first. Kazuki don't tolerate no bullies.]

But what you're saying is... You don't feel like you have much in common with other people?

[lordofthefries]

I know, I know, but...

[Sometimes something is better than nothing. Like eating spoiled food means you're still having something for dinner rather than going to bed hungry. Just pick off any mold and chew as little as you can if you can't swallow it whole to lessen the time spent tasting it. That's Sasha's principle for anything in life.

Or, in short, beggars can't be choosers.]

Yeah. People start talking about things they like to do or things they did at home and I never ever understand a thing they're saying so I can't really talk to them about it. And if they ask me about myself, whatever I have to say isn't as... [She's searching for the right word here and it takes a moment to get there.] ...cool.

[Gods, she just wants to be one of the cool kids. What teenager doesn't?]

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[charcoalfeather]

Where I'm from, we didn't have a lot of things either. No vehicles, or television, or mountains... but we did have forests, and there was some electricity...

[She had a point to this. Oh, right.]

...Uh, what I mean is, I wouldn't laugh at you! Not at all! I'm sure you would be great as a friend!

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[lordofthefries]

[Oh, god, finally someone who understands her behind the times predicament. Well, mostly, but mostly is better than nothing.]

Where are you from?

[She wonders if she was wrong for mentioning people laughing at her. No one has here yet, but after years of it back home, expectations are hard to kick. So far everybody is understanding. That's nice.]

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[lionroll]

Sometimes making friends is just something that happens. One moment you're just two guys who sit next to each other in class, and then the next he's luring you into sneaking out of your dorm after hours to go pick up girls in the town near your school.

[That is most definitely not a particularly close to home example at all.]

Other times it's realizing you have things in common with someone, who you might not know very well, and you work on getting to know them better on your own terms. There's tons of ways you can end up as friends with someone. I think asking like this is a good way too. Although, anyone who makes fun of you for not knowing about certain things totally isn't worth your time at all!

[Hunk makes a bit of a frowny face at that, because Sasha seems like a nice person. And anyone who makes fun of a nice person isn't definitely not worth anyone's time. The frown fades away though, and is replaced by a smile as he adds-]

I come from a place that has lights, and water in buildings, and all those other things, but your world sounds really interesting to me too. So, maybe we can share stories about our home worlds and become friends while doing that?

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[lordofthefries]

[That sounds oddly specific. Like as if Hunk experienced that himself! Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one looks at it), the implication flies right over Sasha's head so she doesn't call him out on it. Lucky duck.]

Oh, well, I'm a girl and I stayed in the girls' dorm so that wouldn't have happened for me.

[Sasha, you dear sweet child. There's a whole undiscovered world of girls picking up other girls out there for you.]

I don't really have a lot of good stories of my world. I'd rather hear yours. [Really, Hunk. You don't want to hear how a lot of her friends are dead.]