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parachutingkitten · 11 months ago

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Plastic Women: So, what is my point?

A note for those who somehow would like to hear more from me about the video

The mega video started out as a final essay assignment for a children's media college class. The prompt was ten pages on a topic related to children's media that tied into one of our weekly discussions. Being as obsessed with ninjago as I am, I was obviously going to write about it, and one of our weekly topics had to do with children's media's relationship to gender. I had a lot of thoughts on the female characters of the show, so I decided this essay would be a good opportunity to get those off my chest. Plastic Women: Female Representation in Lego Ninjago was the end result. It was a good essay- maybe I'll post it some time. The only problem was that my initial first draft was nearly a dozen pages long- and I had only just finished my thoughts on Nya. I decided that a paper analyzing the arc of the central female character would be perfectly adequate for the assignment, tightened things up a bit, and submitted it. I knew as soon as I did that the rest of my thoughts would have to come out- and that's what the four hours you've(presumably) watched is.

Being that the original point of the essay was to fulfill an assignment requirement, pinpointing the end goal of the video was a weirdly difficult struggle in the production process. I knew I had a lot of thoughts about the women, I knew it felt important that they get out into the world, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Why is this so important? What's my point in making this? Why do I have this drive behind things? I offer up a couple explanations in my video. Part of it was to help improve consciousness of these issues, to stress that female representation is actually important in male targeted media. To help encourage better practices for the show's future, to get people think analytically about the media they consume. These explanations seemed to satisfy me, and I still think they're all very important and valid, but even as I sat down to record the outro, there was this nagging feeling that I hadn't quite gotten to the core of why I was making this. What was driving me to put in a year and a half of effort, scripting, refilms, and endless, endless editing in order to get this out? Because while I do care about all of those things, it doesn't ignite that same passion source of where this video is coming from.

Unfortunately, the realization only really hit me after posting the video- after reading the comments. Unfortunately, the negative ones. I don't want to overstate how much hate the video has gotten, it has been widely well received, but I have my fair share of suspected (or self described) children and pre teens calling me an idiot for overthinking things in the comments. Some of these are obviously only responding to the title and thumbnail, and it's quite fun to scroll through the comment section and point them out. But of the people who have the most plausible deniability for actually watching at least part of the video, the most common criticism was by far the run time. Why am I dedicating this much time to a show which is obviously not a raging hate letter towards women? I'm labeling this thing as sexist when there's a whole season of the lead female fighting sexism. There are so many worse things that might deserve this run time, but ninjago can not be that bad. This is obviously ridiculous.

Now there are a couple of responses I have to this sentiment. First of all, the series is insanely long. I have to not only analyze, but explain all 15 seasons for those who (understandably) haven't watched it all or aren't as obsessive as I am. That's gonna take some time regardless of what angle you're doing a deep dive on. Have you seen the length of some of the show recap videos alone? Second, the video as a whole is a retrospective, not purely a criticism. I spend quite a bit of the run time praising the things which I do like and shrugging at things I think are passable. Third, I state up front that I am purposely looking for all interpretations of the text, because they are all interpretations that a young audience could potentially take away. Even if it's not surface level, if it's one or two layers down, I'm still interested. That means it's not logical to blanketly call the show sexist, because it's not openly promoting these ideas, and that was never my goal, I think I made that clear. In many ways I believe that if this were a "Ninjago is sexist" video it would be a lot shorter. Part of why the runtime is so long is because there is a great deal of nuance to how this show treats its female characters, and nuance takes time. If it were as simple as "Ninjago is obviously misogynistic" I would point to the problem spots and we wouldn't need a discussion. I wouldn't have to analyze. It would just be a statement of fact. But that's why the video's title is much less specific and accusatory. "More misogynistic than you remember" is a lot more open ended. It has some misogyny in there, and it's more than your child brain likely noticed. That doesn't mean it's necessarily overwhelming or defining for the series, it just means that it's there- and that amount is going to differ depending on the viewer and their personal interpretations of the text. I for one thought that the Racer 7 plot line was an obvious dismissal of female struggle, but apparently it's not as clear a universal a reading as I thought. Maybe it's my life experience as a women in a male dominated field that put that front and center under a undeniable spotlight for me, but that doesn't mean that's the universal experience of the show, nor should it count against the show so strongly as I feel it.

But this criticism is finally what made it click for me. I'm not criticizing the show because it's obviously sexist. Quite the opposite. I'm criticizing it because it is trying to not be sexist. I'm criticizing the show because it wants to be progressive, it's trying to include female characters, it is including messages and plotlines specifically to try and uplift women- and it's failing.

I am past the point of feeling the need to point out that andrew tate is wrong for seeing women as lesser. That's not an interesting take, that's not a new idea, and if you need that told to you, you are likely beyond help from a youtube video. I am not here to dabate if female representation is valuable, I am taking that fact as a given because it is a conclusion which I feel is inherently correct. If you have not yet come to this same conclusion, the purpose of this video is not to convince you that it is. That can be someone else's job. This is not a 101 class, it's got some prerequisites, because without them, you aren't going to appreciate my points. I am interested in giving ideas to people who already know their basics. It's not my fault if you're a few decades behind in your ideas on film theory. The efficacy of what constitutes positive female representation has already been debated and outlined for decades by people much smarter than me. I am not here to make their points, I am here to make my own.

I'm not here to point out the problems of blatant sexism, because that has been litigated to death; I'm interested in the problems of sexism today- because yes, even when sexism isn't blatant, it's still a problem. I am interested in breaking down subtle sexism. Accidental sexism. Systemic sexism. Sexism from people who are trying to be inclusive, because they are the ones who will actually take feedback. The sexism that is baked into our media culture, so deeply ingrained that it seems rather acceptable to show sexual assault on a kid's show. I am interested in why a show which so obviously repeatedly tries to incorporate feminist ideas into its plot can so easily rid its female characters of agency. It's not that I made the video to say something about ninjago, it's that I made the video to say something about sexism in media, and used ninjago as my example. It. Is. Everywhere. And perhaps even worse, it is ridiculously easy to accidentally end up in your work.

I do hint at these ideas throughout the run of my video, but I really wish I had known this was where my drive was coming from at the outset, because if I had, this idea would be pressed constantly. Tropes older than the film medium seep into the most basic of plots and position females in passive roles by default, and if you don't know that, you are going to ingrain these ideas into your work. It might not be blatant, it might be quite subtle, but it may also snowball into something egregious, like happens in skybound. It was supposed to be a season (partially)about fighting sexism, but ends up framing our lead female as an object, removing all her agency, and turning our leading man into an extremely objectifying character who never grows out of his possessive behaviors. Like I say at the beginning, this is a cautionary tale. It's active proof that doing the bare minimum in not being offensive in female representation requires an amount of effort that many people don't realize is necessary. It is almost never that the show outright says something sexist, it's that the plot structure and character progression do not think to include its female characters. It is not the text, it's the subtext. And you might not think that subtext is influential, but the very fact that you think it's not is the most terrifying thing about it. Our brains absorb so much more than we know, and the fact that these patterns and stereotypes are seeping in subconsciously without our recognizing it, is perhaps even more dangerous than outwardly sexist media in some cases. Consistency in these patterns is bound to rewire your brain- and you won't even notice.

That's the point I think I failed to emphasize throughout the run. How easy it is. How ridiculously easy it is to fall into these problems. "it's like you see sexism everywhere!" well, yes. It is everywhere. That's the point. It's baked into our culture. It's a corner stone in our media. It's systemic. That's the problem- that it's near impossible to find something that doesn't have it because it's a founding principle of most of human culture. That's why reverse sexism is not nearly as big a deal btw. Sure, shows aimed at little girls have a lot of underdeveloped male love interests, but they also haven't been stuck in that position for centuries upon centuries of human storytelling.

I don't feel the need to prove that the label of misogynist or sexist is befitting of the whole series, because for one, it's not, and for two, that wouldn't do anything. Ninjago is a symptom of the problem. It is not the problem in and of itself. Blacklisting it for being bad doesn't help anything, and I think I made it abundantly clear that was never my intention or desire. My intention was to show you just how prevalent this casual sexism can be. How this subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) undercurrent can be found in something as unexpected as a children's show which actively brags about the strength of its female characters. The goal was to open your eyes to how consistent it is, even if it's not potent. It was to lay out how the patterns tend to present themselves, so that maybe you'll be able to better identify them elsewhere. Because they are elsewhere. They're everywhere. It may not be in as high a dosage as it used to, but collectively it is still a staggering, saturating amount. And if you are an artist looking to make something that doesn't have this subtext, I'm here to warn you that it is likely a steeper up hill battle than you initially presume.

Misogyny is everywhere. I just happen to know a lot about ninjago, so that's where I chose to go in depth in breaking it down. It's a case study- and I think a quite interesting one with a lot of nuance at that. It's what I felt I could contribute, and I have to believe that's enough to justify its existence.

#ninjago #mega video #parachuterants

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to-the-stars8 · 1 year ago

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Vigilant Coffee

Batfamily and Reader Chapters AO3

15-Batburger

“God, I’m starving,” Steph said as she laid back on the rooftop ledge. “What’s open this late?”

Dick sighed as he pushed himself up to walk over to her. “Batburger might be, and I could go for some fries.”

Jason piped up. “Fries sounds good, not gonna lie.”

“Who’s buying?” Tim asked, jumping down from a rooftop nearby.

Jason instantly touched his helmet where his nose would be, declaring himself not it. Stephanie was quick to follow, and soon after it was Tim who stated that he wouldn’t pay. Dick, disappointedly, said he would just cover the bill.

“Fuck it, let’s do it,” Jason was already hopping off the rooftop. The rest followed, yelling in almost unison thanks to their eldest brother who was less than impressed with them.

Batburger couldn’t compare to the golden arch shithole down the street as the fast-food restaurant stood there in all its blue neon-light glory. Between the greasy fries that tasted like fatty heaven and the burger that was more than often cooked to perfection, Batburger was the haven to all Gotham vigilantes. On the window, the open sign flickered in red light, letting everyone know that they were in want of money deep into the night.

Tim was first to enter, declaring that he wanted a cheeseburger with a large fry along with a milkshake. The guy at the counter, who didn’t seem in the least phased by Red Robin standing in front of him, typed in the order. The others soon followed along with their orders and the cashier took them all with ease. It hadn’t been the first time the guy had been ambushed with orders by them, and he doubted it would be the last.

“Hey, look who it is,” Jason said to the rest of them in a low voice. He nodded over to the booth on the far side of the restaurant to see you sitting there in the middle of shoving a cheeseburger in your mouth.

You had noticed them when Nightwing cautiously called your name, and you nearly choked on your food. It took you a second to recover, trying to appear unbothered despite having a near-death experience.

Nightwing strode over to you first, as confident as ever in his steps, before lazily laying himself against the side of the booth. He smiled as he said, “It’s weird to see you outside of the coffee shop.”

You were quick to respond with, “Looks like we both got lives outside the uniform.”

He laughed. “You here all by your lonesome?”

You nodded, poking at your fries as he then went on about how he was paying for everyone, trying to sound as dramatic as he could. It wasn’t until Spoiler was walking toward the two of you that he stopped talking.

“He botherin’ you,” Red Hood asked as he handed Nightwing a milkshake.

“No,” You said tiredly. It had been a long day, and, despite your affection for all of them, you rather not be reminded of work. “He was just telling me about his day.”

“Hm,” Was all Red Hood said before nodding his head at Nightwing, letting him know wordlessly that it was time to go. After some shared, and tired, goodbyes they finally left. You let out a sigh of relief because any longer and you would have gotten a little mean as a result of the sleep deprivation you had been suffering through.

You wondered for a second what they did during the night, thinking of what life was like for them before quickly deciding that it would be too much to dwell on. After throwing away your trash, you started to tell the guy at the counter to have a good night.

“Hey, hold on,” He said. Curious, you waited and watched as disappeared into the back only to appear with a bag of food and a note. “They told me to give you this before they left. On them, of course.”

Taking the bag, you looked at the note, smiling.

Have a better day! We love you, barista friend!

Your bat-friends

Staring down at the note you felt a bit guilty for thinking of them as nothing but an extension of work. They were people who had been good to you一No, they were friendly toward you. Treating you as if they had known you for years. Suddenly, you had forgotten the hard work day leaving the restaurant smiling.

#jason todd #dick grayson #stephanie brown #tim drake #red hood #nightwing #spoiler #red robin #dc batman #batfam #batfamily shenanigans #batfamily x reader #batfam imagine #batman #batfamily and reader #Vigilant Coffee

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ghoulfuckersincorporated · 3 months ago

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Do you think it'd be possible to rehabilitate Marked Men? If so, how do you think it'd go?

You guys ask such good, interesting questions!

I've been thinking about this one for a bit. Summed up, my answer would be that you could probably rehabilitate them physically enough to remove them from The Divide without them dying, given enough time, but I think that mentally/psychologically they're pretty much gone, so the ethics of doing so are questionable at best.

With the Marked Men, it's established in Lonesome Road that these guys are basically existing in a sort of perpetual "living death" where they consistently have these major traumatic injuries that would otherwise kill them, but they're kept right on the verge of life and consciousness by the insane levels of radiation in The Divide/along the Long 15. They're literally being flayed alive by the high-speed sandy winds kicked up by the storms that plague the area, as in "skin sliced from muscle", and they're constantly getting into skirmishes and tearing strangers (as well as one another) limb-from-limb, which would only result in more injuries.

The root of the issue is that these ghouls are basically radiation-dependent, right? Other ghouls benefit from the presence of radiation (increased healing rate, overall better feeling, energizing effect), but Marked Men need high levels of radiation to even stay alive. Maybe if you slowly, and I mean over a matter of weeks or months, moved further and further down the Long 15 back towards Vegas, really taking your time, you could acclimate them to the lower levels of radiation as well as allow their wounds time to heal enough to no longer be fatal.

But what are the implications for you if you have to remain immersed in all those rads for that long? Who's to say you wouldn't begin to turn into a ghoul yourself? At the very least, you'd be incredibly sick and flying through Rad-X and Radaway at a genuinely concerning rate. And it's not like you can waltz up to one of them and say "Hey, buddy! You wanna come to Vegas with me?" or tell them "I have to leave the canyon for a few days or I'm gonna die from radiation poisoning. Stay here!". They're gonna fight you the whole time and be genuinely quite dangerous when they do it, and the second you turn your back, they'll flee or kill you because they feel instinctually that that's what's best for their self-preservation.

Even if you could get them to a point of medical stabilization, it would by no means be an end to their physical pain (which can literally send you into shock and kill you itself) or the fact that none of them seem to have control of their mental faculties anymore by the time you encounter them. Sure, they demonstrate some minor ability to coordinate themselves, but I see that as more of a "terrified animals desperately defending the fire that saves them all from the dark" than something that teases at more complex thought processes. They don't even use words. Even completely feral ghouls outside of The Divide will sometimes use individual words (granted, those words are things like "Pain!" or "Kill!", but even that conveys some level of ability to understand what they're perceiving and to communicate that; Marked Men don't even have that as far as I recall.)

My theory as to why they would not recover mentally is that, like with the rest of the body, there will simply eventually be pieces of you that can no longer regenerate/heal properly, and they will age and rot as they should, even if ghouls are basically incapable of dying from non-trauma. This would include the grey matter that makes up the brain, and once a certain percentage of it is gone, you will see irreparable changes to that person's demeanor, behavior, and reasoning skills. Marked Men and feral ghouls in general, in my opinion, basically have a form of severe dementia that only occurs in people who survive ghoulification/live longer than the natural human life span.

I think these poor people are tired beyond a level any of us could ever comprehend. I think they're victims of something that should have ended a long, long time ago, and I think all they really know now is fear and pain. In my personal opinion, it's best to quickly and compassionately relieve them of their suffering.

#marked men are up there with centaurs and robobrains for most fucked-up existence IMO #lonesome road #courier six #courier 6 #marked men #fallout ghoul #ghoul biology #fallout lore #submission

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not-5-rats · 5 months ago

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I love being goth in Scotland /sarc (these people are so mean, like bro let me be creative-)

Bug Question/Scenario times <33333

1) Modern! AU

Be honest, ever taken an 'Am I Gay?' quiz? (Also what's ur Bugs sexuality/gender identity? I got a stupid doodle idea (it'll make sense when I show y'all))

2) Uh oh, Bodie worked hard and cooked your Bug a meal without knowing they really dislike one of the ingredients! Does your Bug tell him or just suffer through it?

3) Are they good at keeping track of their possessions or do they often lose things?

4) Bloodmoon Swap! AU

How do they hunt/kill people? What's their strategy?

5) Scenario #1 (this shit is super long I'm sorry bros)

Bug had been looking for Chester round the house for like 15 minutes, yet they couldn't find him. That was until they saw him coming out of the room his younger sisters were staying in.

He was clearly exhausted, his pasture was slouched, his eyes half-closed...he looked as though he was about to fall asleep right there. They asked why he looked like shit, he chuckled

"Daisy's sick, she couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, just kept throwing up- been watching her since like 9 last night and only now has she gone for a nap"

He dragged himself through to the living room then threw himself onto the floor beside the couch. He sat on the floor, his back resting against the couch as he sighed out of relief, finally free for a couple of minutes. Bug went and sat on the opposite side of the couch.

"...do you think I'm an alright guardian?"

Bug looked at him, clearly a bit confused by his question. They asked him to elaborate

"Y'know to Daisy and Fran. Out of all my siblings I'm the one least...suited to taking care of kids. Felix is social, caring, always got the energy to play with them, Audrey is organised, knows how to manage kids, can afford to get them the toys and shit they need! Whilst I...I'm just a grump, a sad asshole, who barely ever has any energy"

He pressed his face into his hand, rubbing his forehead as he went on

"They deserve somebody who's gonna be more involved in their life...more than I can give them. But there's no other fucking choice. Mum and Dad ain't in the equation anymore, Felix doesn't have the space for them and Audrey is so busy...they have nowhere else to go...but I'm not fit to be a parent, I'm not fit to take care of them, they need so much more. I just want them to be happy, but I don't think they are happy"

He let his head fall back on the edge of the couch, he didn't look upset, he just seemed blank. Dead even. The only hint of emotion they could see on his face was a shimmer of anger in his eyes..and that anger was towards himself.

What does bug do?

6) Do they enjoy celebrating their birthday?

7) Scenario #2 (ik I'm talking alot rn! It's the holidays I have nothing else to do rn lol)

Most of the Bugs had went out to town in order to collect some new resources, but Chester has stayed back to take care of the baby bugs. Bug had overslept that morning so by the time they woke up the Bugs were already gone...so they bad to stay behind with Chez and the little ones.

Bug and Chez had been talking bout how everything had been going the past few weeks, how the recent town visits had gone, Chez made some sort of joke which resulted in Bug giving him a rough flick to the forehead, this made him chuckle.

Suddenly Chez had to quickly run off as one of the young ones had gotten themself stuck in the top branches of a tree

As soon as he was gone though Fran appeared in his place, an unusual smile creeping on her face as she started quickly signing to Bug

'you know he really cares about you, he isn't very good at showing it but he really cares about all of you'

Bug smiled and questioned Fran on how she was so sure that he cared, she giggled before responding

'cause if he didn't he would've shut down completely when you poked him, he doesn't like people being anywhere near him let alone touch him at all'

Fran kept smiling as she looked over at her older brother, struggling immensely to get the little kid out of the tree. (Like comically on his tippee toes, arms stretched right up as the kid clung to the branches.)

Bug thought about all the times Chez had hugged them, not even just them, all the Bugs! He was always offering a hug, patting them on the back, poking them, etc...and all of it was just a big show of how much he trusted/ cared abt them

*hands the mic to you* here ya go

☆---------------☆

Tags -

@rozeliyawashereyall @willowve01 @asmrbrainrot @kaiamtt @iistxrmyskyii @insignificant-anarchy @stxph-artist @aspenm00n @keyaartz @fangsshadow @rustycopper4use @piffany666 @dreamyshape @idontevenknow7878 @lunaritychuwolf @littlesiren79 @castbracelet240 @strayharmony943 @proxdragon @tiefling-chaos @threeweekinsomnia @recated @wilderrorcard @diamondzoey @fennaboysenberry @lunnats @lightdragon789 @pinkcocopuff-aqualoid @itsargyle @astralbulldragon13 @ccstiles @puffin-smoke @fruity0salad @takashishihoin @reefhastoomanyaccs

#not projecting throughout this thing #nope-#maybe-#i feel like i've eaten a rock rn #ow #bug army #asking thingssss #the bug army #gator boys #obsidian lantern #capital m audios #mage bunkshelf #daysprite

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 6 days ago

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This is such a wild season.

Omni-Man Vs. Bardock was a matchup people thought was gonna be balanced...at least more then Omni-Man Vs. Homelander, turns out it wasn't the case and its been one of the most controversal results so far.

Joker Vs. Giorno was a matchup everyone thought would result in all out war between the Persona and JJBA fandoms but yet when the results came out, both sides were more civil and chill then everyone expected. (Probably also helps that Persona 5 and Golden Wind have been out for ages now so a lot of the hype around them has died down.)

Bowser Vs. Eggman is the best argument that going indie doesn't mean a decrease in quality as its easily one of the best fights ever. Amazing all around and it manages to get better and better.

And now we have the most wtf matchup as we have Fall Guys vs. the Imposters. The game which had a flashpoint in during 2020 but then was ursuped by the other who stormed ahead.

No I don't know what's gonna happen next.

//Firstly, I actually didn’t mind Omni-Man Vs Bardock because I never had a problem with the scaling. Like, there WERE feats in there that didn’t make a lot of sense, sure, but I still thought the result was accurate. It is still my least favourite episode of 2024 though.

//Joker Vs Giorno’s fallout worried me not necessarily just because the Persona and JoJo fandoms are intense, but mostly because the fallout for the debut episode was pretty bad. For me personally, it was kind of like Gojo Vs Makima to me where the build up was so intense, and the episode itself ended up just being alright. I mean, it is I think within my top 15, but I had such high expectations for this matchup, and in the end, it was satisfactory.

//For Bowser Vs Eggman, I think I said this already, but I think MORO is either an alien or a god, because everything about the animation, as well as the rest of the episode, was spectacular. I think I can confidently say at this point, after rewatching it over the course of the last few days about 50 times, that it’s my favourite DB of all time. And no, that’s not because of recency bias, it’s because it’s just an absolute cinematic masterpiece.

//As for Fallmong Us…Among Guys? Regardless, while I’m not AGAINST this being a thing, because it’s really funny, AND I’m fond of both these games, truly, but my biggest problem is this isn’t a fight. It’s not ANYTHING. You get a packet of M&Ms and you took a packet of jellybeans you put them in the oven and you shake it, and that’s what this fight is. HOW in the HELL are these fucking loose brain cells supposed to kill each other?

//My legitimate prediction for this matchup is that it’ll be a stalemate, because the Fall Guys can’t kill, but they also can’t die.

//Genuinely though, the only prediction I’m going to make going forward is that Mahito Vs Shigaraki will be the 2025 debut. As for Among Guys fight, the hell if I know, lol.

-Mod

#mod

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kursedmayo · 9 months ago

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Story time. I think Donnie would also hate most lipbalm. They're so fucking greasy on the lips and good lord, I would rather feel the pain of dry ass lips than have it plump and moisturized but feeling like I just put cooking oil on, so with the power of headcanon on my side I'm inflicting this annoyance to him too.

I bet he takes like an obscene amount of time researching on lip products before realizing that there's no guarantee that they'll help all too much because he's half-turtle, his skin is different than a human's, which eventually compels him to go on a sort of lip care pilgrimage trying out all sorts of lip balm, like a lot of them. A LOT of them. He jots down the results in a fun little spreadsheet before he manages to narrow down to one brand which happens to be from a smaller, more ethical company than the rest. Even if that brand was much more expensive than others, its not as if he didn't have money that he stole to spend on quality products, so he managed to put his cracked lip woes to rest.

Unfortunately for him however, his brothers keep stealing from him so he barely even get to use the stuff he buys.

Mikey's the biggest culprit of this of course, he's one hell of a yapster (/pos ofc I love Mikey) his lips dry out easily, and he doesn't usually carry a lip balm with him (because he forgets to/keep losing them/keep eating them) so sometimes he just swipes on those bad boys off Donnie's pouch and he doesn't even notice and well, its not as if Donnie wants to take it back anyways. Its already got his lil bro's cooties all over it.

Meanwhile, Leo mostly just steals for funsies. He doesn't even use the ones he steals from Donnie, He's got like, a whole stash of flavored lip balms because he's the face man, he doesn't want chapped lips it'll ruin his gorgeous face! Anyways he gets a whole different bunch in case he loses one (which he never does) and keep buying some until he amassed a whole ass collection (which Mikey also steals from, not that Leo minds). He doesn't need to steal Donnie's, but its REAL fun to figure out how to. He'd literally figure out a whole ass 8 step plan in his head and even learn new tricks with his portals because Donnie literally had to resort to locking his lip balms up in a multi-password protected vault, only to end up not even using the damn stolen things because like Donnie, ew his twin's cooties.

Donnie's extra offended because of that cuz like, at least use the damn thing like Mikey does you heathen he paid 15 dollars for a tube!!

Anyways, since Donnie's no pushover he schemed to get revenge on Leo and begun to steal his chapsticks too, much to Leo's (hypocrital) annoyance and amusement, so now there's an unspoken war that's happening in the Hamato household at the moment which they both refuse to back down on.

Meanwhile, Raph's at the corner just shaking his head in exhasperation. He doesn't really care much about lip balms in the first place because he didn't really use those, but Donnie got disturbed seeing him walking around with El Niño on his lips one winter and begrudgingly gave him one to use, which Raph does use but only sparingly so he doesn't run out, though it's not like he doesn't have money to buy his own cuz he does off jobs in the hidden city then and again. Also he kinda gave up trying to stop the disaster twins from fighting over lip balm because they're gonna keep doing it anyways, so he kinda just kinda tune them out when something inevitably explodes in Donnies lab and Leo comes out running holding a lil tube. Mikey gets let off the hook though, lil bro priveledges you know?

So yeah.

Even if there's a huge L in Leonardo there's still two Ls in Donatello. He's gonna be having PTSD flashbacks whenever someone mentions chapsticks near him for sure.

#text #kursed rambles #rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt leo #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt raph #rottmnt headcanons #man i love making shit up

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zanyzendraws · 4 months ago

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JULY 22 2024 ZENLOG: First Time's the Charm!

Hihi everyone! Welcome to my first ZenLog! Er, first official one! If the layout's a bit rough, apologies! We'll learn as we go along.

This one's a bit of a doozy so here's a neatly color coded table of contents! Depending on what you wanna read, please look for the following colors as you scroll! (Unless you wish to read the whole thing -- in that case, be my guest!)

CONTENTS OF THE ZENLOG

PERSONAL UPDATES

PROJECTS

WHAT TO EXPECT

BEFORE I GO...

With that being said, click "keep reading" to read all of this!

PERSONAL UPDATES

So, unfortunately, I got sick. It's really funny because I didn't feel anything at first, so I didn't think of it.

Turns out that compared to the rest of my family members, I had the most swollen throat out of all of them. I didn't feel anything for a couple of days, so I luckily managed to get some stuff done.

Unfortunately, the symptoms somehow worsened despite taking the antibiotics and mouthwash-gargle thingy. It's hard for me to speak, and I get tired hella easily. Which is inconvenient.

As a result, I've been cooking significantly less, RIP.

I mean, I've managed to cook. Just not as much as I wish I did.

On another note, here are some pics of food that I've been eating...

Salivate!

PROJECTS

There have been multiple projects I've been working on left and right due to my brain being unable to focus on just one. These will be blunt lists of what I've accomplished (accomplishments are in pink).

Hanashima's Advanced Class

Ongoing interviews with discord mutuals and contacts are being conducted to ensure the accuracy of certain scenes. I'm aiming for approx. 15 at least to be included alongside findings from online research. 2/15 have been completed).

Working on character sheets regarding character writing to ensure consistency in the work and I've finalized names for characters I've previously struggled in naming.

Working on bits and pieces of the actual document where the full story is being written. A scene for later down the line has been completed.

[Unnamed WIP Psychological Horror]

Concepts have been written down so I know what I visually want, alongside some sketches of character designs being completed.

I have a rough idea of what I want and the routes I wish to take but I still need to work on an outline- other than that, I have a list of all important characters. More will be added later down the line but they will be minor at best, irrelevant otherwise.

[WIP audio project]

Lists of characters have been completed.

Three characters excluding the main cast (who I plan to redesign) have been drawn in my sketchbook (uncolored but I have a rough idea of what the color selections will be in my noggin).

MISC.

A short comic strip has been completed.

Another comic strip has been in the works; the inking process is completed, though it is yet to be colored and shaded.

Lineart for an animation asset has been completed.

Songs have been compiled and edited for a music-based video.

WHAT TO EXPECT

More updates on said comic scripts and Hanashima's Advanced Class.

Upcoming animation involving a character I've previously shared on this blog.

Playlist video based off of characters I've previously posted about on my channel.

I really wish to focus on Hanashima's Advanced Class so I'll do my best to further buckle down and write, and hopefully I'll message some more of my discord mutuals for the needed interviews (as this interview is for one of the first scenes in the series). Expect a word or page count regarding the writing I've done for the series next time, if not a list of how many scenes or 'episodes' i've written.

I'm reluctant to post about the psychological horror project that's been on my mind admittedly. I don't wish to give too much away (and at the moment, I have no way of coding it... or any coding knowledge).

BEFORE I GO...

I'm gonna do my best to update weekly while I'm on this gap semester, and even once I start going back to college/university/wherever I get my education!

And I'll be fully honest: I hype up these projects from excitement but the reality is that me making them is hella slow despite my attempts to be efficient. So it'll probably be a while before I release anything.

But I hope you guys will have some fun in reading these ZenLogs and will stick along for the journey! If you're not interested, that's okay too! Just enjoy your time on the internet and come back soon!

Take care! <333

-ZanyZenDraws (Zen)

#weekly zenlog

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borisbubbles · 10 months ago

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Eurovision 2023: #15

15. SPAIN Blanca Paloma - "Eaea" 17th place

youtube

Decade Ranking: 42 / 116 [Above The Busker, below Circus Mircus]

A journey has finally come to an end. Like, idk, I have all the opinions and feelings and no idea how I'll express them. So let's pen them down and figure it out as we go?

So first, let's adress the pinned post: Yep, I was right about Blanca. I am also not particularly happy about it. I didn't just suspect Spain would come top three in the final going into the show, I was actively convinced it would happen and looked forward to it. The result we got aligned only with my first instincts so maybe the problem is allowing myself to be gaslit instead of confidently believing in my divining abilities? Or maybe the problem is just the Spanish Fandom, who can tell.

Secondly, as for why we got there, well: consider this little statement i made pre-show:

That has always been the crux of my opinion on Eaea. The problem was the song. It was never bad but always unvoteable. From the moment I first heard it for Benidorm reviews, all the way to five points, you just knew it was too out there to have mass appeal. When I then saw the staging at Benidorm, it confirmed my suspicions really. In order to get televotes, you need to stage literally, not laterally. Eaea was the Jezinky of Spain.

However, I always kinda sorta liked it overall anyway?

As we saw with Mae even if you have one big "drawback" (and it wasn't that Eaea was bad, it was just too pedantic to compete for televotes, something its obtuse fans failed to understand) but do the rest right, the net result is still a net positive. Foremost, Eaea was a visual treat that I loved to look at. Not just "more than i enjoyed hearing it", no backhanded compliments like that. It's just what it excelled at: Blanca was a performer of exceptional charm and talent, and employed her skills to their optimum. There's a reason why I thought Spain would win the jury vote going into rehearsals, and that's solely because I trusted Blanca's expertise would be enough to EAT.

And honestly, she at least... moderately gobbled? Like THIS:

and THIS:

Is all great? I never thought Eaea was the masterpiece (can we please STOP using that term for any offbeat Eurovision song we like PLEASE) others deemed it to be, it was a quirky little fusion of flamenco traditions with modernist staging, by a great singer who nailed the difficult vocals. For better or for worse, Blanca understood the assignment that Eurovision is foremost a Live Performance Contest and made an effort to be as good as possible.

So yeah, I did vote for Blanca on the night. Twice. Even if one felt like the song was too much Piece and not enough Song, she had earned a high spot up the scoreboard for her performance and determination, so I cast a vote for her in support of that cuz you know, nature is healing. Then I fatfingered a second one by accident, making me one of ten people in Belgium who voted for Spain, and the only one to vote for them more than once. AND YOU THOUGHT, I WAS A HATER, DIDN'T YOU?

Okay, so the results. Five points SEEMS really harsh but Käärijä really was a force of fatal attraction and natural devastation that we've only truly seen once before under normal circumstances, and anyone else should have been pleased to have had any scraps left after his cultural reset. Blanca was never gonna get much of that, we already went through why.

But what about Juries? Well, they flocked to Sweden and Italy like we all suspected they would, which is a boring outcome, but both Loreen and Marco nailed their lives so w/e fine. If I wanted the juries to reward Blanca for her grit, why be angry when they did the same for Sweden and Italy?

However, to once again beat a dead equine, that *other* one in the jury top three being there, and over Blanca specifically, has to be the worst jury decision since their re-implementation. Like worse than Fade to Black qualifying into three jury twelves. Worse than Baby Eats You scoring 82 points over Blackbird. The juries exist specifically to reward layered art like Eaea and quirky outsiders like Blanca and they erred. 10th in jury, what the shit? The argument that Eaea wasn't good enough a song doesn't hold up because Ewnicorn was the worst composition in the year.

So in the end, I am back where I started: at mild like. You'd expect me to feel smug, but honestly, I mostly just feel melancholic. Eaea truly was a unique Piece and its result made me realize that, should Eurovision revert back to full-televote which is what Österdahl seems to want (🙄), it's the Eaeas that will become extinct first*.

THE RANKING

you have NO idea how much anxiety "Veronika" is giving me rn. 😬

you also have NO idea how much i'd kill for an Eaea in 2024's Benifest.

#Eurovision 2023 #ESC 2023 #Eurovision #ESC #Eurovision Song Contest #Liverpool 2023 #Spain #Blanca Paloma #Eaea #Youtube

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stokesy55 · 5 months ago

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anon who sent in the ask about wanting to have a discussion about the vk-jos debate here. thank you for answering that!

yeah, you're right it pretty much boils down into what you consider the definition of impact! to me there isn't really a standard definition, because so many external factors come into play, but what i usually do is take a certain player's innings out of the equation while keeping the rest of the stats the same and see what the scores look like after that. also what my broadcast often shows is stats like "x team won this many percent of times when y batter from their team scored a certain no. of runs or y bowler took a certain no. of wickets. and that stood out as very interesting to me, there's some water in that argument there.

which is why i rate vk so high, because more often than not, take vk's runs out of the equation and india 9 times out of 10 wouldn't have won that match. this final is the prime example of that, reddit dudebros were at vk's throat to up the ante, but imo he played exactly as the situation required. in that scenario, vk getting stuck in was the best bet for us to be able to win that match, and we did! imagine instead of scoring 76 off 59 he scored something like 50 off 20 or a 30 off 15. yes he scores at a higher rate, but then we end up with a 20-40 less runs to defend, which is a more difficult job, and dareisay a different result for us.

also I feel like the debate about take vk out of the equation and we lose might be influenced by team combination? this is absolutely not an insult to england or jos, in fact it's a compliment. jos has rarely been needed to be a one-man army for england, because his teammates have hardly ever left him in that situation. vk, on the other hand, has dragged the team to wins with almost no support, and that honestly reflects worse on the other players on our team. i promise you, rohit wasn't always the batsman you've seen in this world cup 🥴 back in 2014/16, he used to be veeery hit and miss, and very often the openers would depart on ducks, and leave vk with a job to do. and madlad actually did get it done most of the times.

that's why i often get annoyed when people call vk selfish or a stats merchant or a statpadder. like yes, he plays slow, but the others didn't really give him an option apart from conserving his wicket? if he too gets out searching for the big shot, who's gonna bat deep and take us home? also, not to mention that vk is probably the best pacer of an innings of the current generation; he's so ruthless at the death, and can find the boundary at will. mohali and melbourne was proof of that.

and again vk is so devastatingly consistent and reliable in t20s. it's like whenever i watch rohit, or surya or even jos play, i have no idea whether they are gonna score 0 or 20 or 30 or 50 or 100, but whenever vk is batting, 9 times out of 10, i can count on him to score at the very least a 20. the big-hitters aren't really as consistent as him. jos definitely is one of the more consistent hitters, as are gayle and guptill, but to me, personally, nobody comes close to vk's consistency in t20s.

i think for me, the consistency is what cements vk as the best T20 batter of this generation to me, because i can't recall anyone else who has sustained their form and their ability to come clutch when necessary the way vk has.

(side note: i hadn't thought about this until this debate came up, but thoughts on a vk/jos opening partnership? it would really work out in my opinion, they complement each other perfectly 😋)

Yeah agree with a lot of what you said, and to reiterate I’m not denying he’s one of the best white ball batters to have ever played the game. I would still say Jos is more impact than VK though, but that’s all down to what I believe is an impact player.

Like I said before, VK sits with Joe and Steve and Kane as the Big 4 for a reason, but to me they’re not impact players. As you’ve said, you want them staying in, batting deep, holding their end of the wicket, slowing the game when it needs to be slowed or speeding it up when it needs to go faster, having that match awareness and that confidence that they’re not going out even when they get set.

That’s just not an impact player to me, that’s a high order batsman or an incredibly good batsman. Impact players, as you said, are a bit more inconsistent with what they score because of the way they play. Jos gets a solid 80 odd against USA with an incredible destructive innings so much so we didn’t even really need a second player, but in other games playing the same way he goes for 10 or less. Ben is the same - if he gets his eye in he’s an absolute machine but he can just as easily score 10 as he can 110.

A Jos and VK opening pair… yeah I’d pay good money to see that 😮‍💨

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friendcorp · 2 years ago

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FriendCorp Session 2! I swear I'm just gonna start making parody anime episode names for these because they deserve it.

We left off on Day 12 and I want to update you on all the nuggets we hired!

Your Control Department Employees:

Dia, Geminiano, Kanna, Rain, and Marx!

Your Information Department Employees:

Julian, Yuri, Tori, Archer, and Merry!

Your Safety Department Employees:

Reinhardt, Maki, Epsilon27, and Xavier! (We're waiting on Lunas)

and last but by no means least, your Training Department Employee:

Foosball!

With introductions out of the way let's get into the meat and potatoes of Session 2 shall we?

Day 12 starts like any other the only problem being that we currently have few people who can actually work with our Abnormalities. Most of our associates are level 1, so we go ahead and use some of those saved up lob points to boost some stats; finally with everyone more or less ready to go we're ready to properly start the day...

Side note: I refuse to bump Epsilon27's stats with lob points, I feel like they wouldn't want that being a clerk and all. I am becoming hopelessly attached to Epsilon27 because of this, so let's get into how day 12 actually goes:

We learn that Dia can work just fine with Funeral and the two seem to get along just fine! This is a huge development for us since it means SOMEONE can handle that fancy butterfly man. I also immediately start each day sending Epsilon27 to pick up the Heart of Aspiration which has earned them the title "Bearer of the Heart" in my notes (yes I have notes) I then send them to go read the flesh book to slightly boost their prudence stats; this allows them to survive working with abnos. Our Dawn Ordeal is Doubt and I have no Doubts about our employee's ability to handle this.

I group everyone into the Information Department main room and selectively send our rangers to handle the threat. That is until one of the robots get slightly too close to the department and...

We easily finish up by noon, but seeing the Red Noon again I was curious. I wanted to know if our employees could handle it yet...

The answer was a terrifying no. Not yet, but that's okay they survived much better than anticipated. The damage output just wasn't there yet.

We end the day and pick up Red Shoes (trust me it was the safest choice) and we're off to Day 13!

Day 13 is mostly uneventful though I do get a kick out of Geminiano having to deal with Old Lady's isolation and just remarking "Perhaps we could befriend the abnormalities?

Even when taking severe white damage Geminiano never lost faith in the mission. The rest of the day is genuinely uneventful we continue to work with the abnos and boost our nugget's stats, outside of Marx becoming our resident Red Shoes attendant and occasionally switching off with Rain when Marx clearly needs a break or when no one else is able to handle the meltdown; there's nothing too exciting for the rest of the day...

We do get to see a mechanical friendship forming between Marx and Rain here in which the two have possibly the highest stats aside from Dia being the first two hires to work alongside Dia. The result being that any time I need something handled they're the two who always get picked first to make sure it's safe, I like to believe they've bonded over essentially being the two who are called in when there's an emergency.

Day 14 is used like a training arc, I spend the day patiently training the Prudence and Fortitude stats of all our lower level staff until I know everyone can handle themselves against a Dawn ordeal. We grab yet another tool type abno, this time Behavior Adjustment!

But it was Day 15 where we see something that we haven't seen before in this Facility...

During the Dawn Ordeal Fragment of the Universe escapes! And who do I find at the scene other than a few familiar faces, of course it's members of the "We can befriend the abnormalities" movement with none other than Julian among them lol

Hey Information Department I know you want to befriend the Abnormalities and all but PLEASE DO NOT LET THEM OUT OF THEIR CONTAINMENT!

Not knowing how anyone would respond to such a threat I made the best call I could... If I could trust anyone to handle Fragment of the Universe I knew it would be the very individual who knew the Abnormality best

But this is FriendCorp, no way am I about to send Julian in there alone; I trust that Julian could handle it... but that's not how we do things here, so I called for a little backup

Was this sorta overkill? Absolutely.

The squad swept in with all the expertise and professionalism I expected. (Sorry for the poor gif quality the gif was huge for some reason so I had to compress it)

And of course we made sure all was well by sending Julian to do some quick attachment work after the fact,

It seems they're still friends, that's a relief

On Day 16 we open the Training Department, welcome Foosball to FriendCorp, and pick up All Around Helper!

and then something amazing happens, we're preparing for Green Dawn, I'm not too worried but I want anyone on the weaker end somewhere safe so I sent Epsilon27 off to work with One Sin my thought process here is that it will take them so long to get there that the threat will be eliminated by the time they even finish their work! I mean take a look

They trigger the Green Dawn when they enter the room and we're off to the races! I immediately send everyone to swarm the targets knowing full well everyone can hold their own, I'm no longer worried, I trust they can handle this without any fear.

But then, I fail to notice the Doubt lingering right outside Safety! Not to mention Epsilon27 JUST finished their work!

I'm too focused on the other threats to notice and then I see this happening, and my brain just goes... HEAVEN OR HELL! DUEL 1! LET'S ROCK! GET EM EPSILON27! GET EM!

Have a really bad edit (this is literally just "Cryptid Vision" of exactly how this looked to me) AND THE BEST PART IS, EPSILON27 KICKS ASS

Of course, when they got low on health I removed them from the threat, and just in time for some good friends to sweep in and lend a hand! Now that's the true power of friendship! Epsilon27 Protection Squad had this one covered.

I'm noticing a really weird graphical glitch happening regarding weapons and I don't know why but I think we can call it the power of friendship, in the gif above when Epsilon27 actually engages in combat they pull out One Sin's EGO weapon despite not being given it, you can even see that it still deals red damage despite being a white damage weapon? So it's still the Baton despite showing up as the One Sin EGO. Similarly we saw this happen regarding Fragment's weapon turning into Beauty's a bit earlier during an ordeal, despite us not even having that EGO weapon!?

I gotta say, I know this update is a little less content than the last, but I hope the excitement for the development of these silly nuggets is still there for you. Things are going to be ramping up as we face new challenges. I was only able to do about an hour this session since I'm actually busy today (my partner and I will be going out to an expo together as a valentines date) but I wanted to give you guys something since it's been a little while since we've had an actual update on the facility itself!

Since I still have some images I can post here, have some casual nugget socializing, I just noticed Geminiano missing some SP here (that's what we call social anxiety, it's okay friend!)

It's really cute to me to see who all pairs off when they have to go places. Everyone becoming friends, looking out for each other and forming their own little inner friend groups. I'll have to get you guys more casual gifs of the whole facility just hanging out.

As always here's how the facility is looking, I just got confirmation on Lunas so you can expect the additional hire for Safety soon! Let me know if there are any Abnormalities you'd like to see in the future, remember you get a lot of sway in how this facility goes!

-Cryptid

#FriendCorp #Friend Corp #Session 2 has been a blast despite being a bit shorter than the first #Sorry it's not as much as the first I'm on a bit of a time constraint right now but I hope this is still exciting and fun for you guys #Trust me I put just as much effort into it as the last!#I'm going to keep trying to roll out these session updates for you guys as we go #FriendCorp plot

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sourlemonsz · 1 year ago

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4th of July brance ficlet? More likely than you think🫡

Vance says he knows a spot, Bruce agrees to go with him. Bruce has been meaning to confess for well over a year now-but just hasn’t found the courage yet. Tonight feels like the night, his heart flutters in excitement, Vance picks him up in his beat up red pickup truck.

Bruce bounds down his stairs after hearing Vance honk for what feels like the millionth time, he’s breathless as he reaches his door and pulls on his teams baseball varsity jacket. Vance smiles as Bruce clambers into his truck, “Didn’t you hear me the first ten times?” Bruce elbows him with a smile, “Yeah, asshole.”

They talk on their way to the baseball field, where the town gathers every year to watch an hour long fireworks show. They’re the last ones to get there, by the time Vance backs into a grass patch outside of the field so they could have some privacy-and maybe because Vance somehow got himself banned from the field for an entire year.

Vance had outdone himself this year to Bruce’s surprise, in the bed of the truck he had a ton of blankets acting as the bed with a couple of pillows near the back of the bed. It was surprisingly comfy as he laid down and watched Vance as he grabbed the pack of beer and another blanket from inside the truck.

Now Bruce had a plan: first wait at least 30 minutes before confessing, then wait for an answer. Ok, he had to admit that wasn’t much of a plan but it was the best he had damnit. As soon as Vance sat next to him his heart hammered. Vance was cool as usual, talking about nothing and everything at the same time.

“When are these damn fireworks gonna start?” Vance said as he popped open a beer, they were still cold. Bruce guessed he stole them from his dad. “Don’t worry they always start quickly-” as he was explaining, a large firework bursted with brilliant green and purple lights, “See?” Bruce said rather smugly. He settled onto the pillows grabbing a beer and popped it open.

One swig later and he was coughing, “Aw! That tastes terrible!” Vance was laughing, “Yeah my old man isn’t really known for his taste.” He says as he also settled next to Bruce, albeit a little close. His shoulder was resting against Bruce’s. Another firework went off, a big and bright one with golden shimmers falling back down to the earth and the crowd in awe with loud claps and laughter.

Bruce sunk lower into the blanket and laid his head on Vance’s shoulder, sighing watching another one go up. Vance laid his own head on Bruce’s as they watched for a while drinking the terribly tasting beer down. About 15 minutes had passed and the smaller fireworks were out and the main show was to start, the real big and maybe illegal ones were getting set up.

Bruce practiced this a million times before, just tell him. What’s the worst that can happen? The worst he can say is no right? Vance lifted his head off of Bruce’s to grab another beer, “Want another?” Bruce made a sour face which made Vance laugh, Bruce wanted to hear that laugh forever. Vance got back to his spot and, now or never Bruce thought.

“Hey Vance- I like you a lot,” he regretted the words as soon as they came out but he trucked onwards, watching Vance’s face very carefully which yielded no results as he kept his face even while his own was on fire. “Like-a lot. I-” He got cut off with a kiss, Vance’s lips on his own, he froze but quickly melted into the kiss as they both eagerly responded to each other.

The bigger fireworks went off as they pulled apart, and the brilliant bright hues of the golden fireworks lit Vance’s face and most importantly his eyes. Bruce wanted to kiss again, “So you finally got all of my hints?” Vance asked breathlessly, “Hints?” Bruce blanched.

Vance looked at him with surprise written on his face before it morphed into a wide smile and a laugh, “Of course. I thought I was being a bit obvious.” Bruce’s cheeks warmed as he buried his head into Vance’s neck, “Oh my god.” He said in disbelief. Vance just laughed.

As the fireworks went off Vance lifted Bruce’s head now fully facing him, “Wanna go on a date?” Vance asked with a smirk. Bruce smiled back, “Aren’t we on one already?” Vance laughed once again, “Fine we can count this one as the first.” They returned back to their positions beforehand with just a bit more stolen kisses and tenderly holds.

IT WAS A BIT CORNY BUT IT WAS CUTE SO SHHHHH

#black phone #the black phone #movies #finney blake #robin arellano #tbp fandom #tbp fanart #tbp robin #brance #ficlet #fanfic #fourth of july #ITS CORNY IK #also kinda rushed sorry

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spaceclefairy · 2 years ago

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The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, Ch. 16

Pairing: Michael de Santa/ OFC; Trevor Philips/OFC; Michael de Santa/OFC/Trevor Philips; Michael de Santa/Trevor Philips

Summary: Los Santos is a hellscape, but if you’ve got brains and a little determination, it can be a real hell of a playground. Michael needs money, Trevor needs whatever Trevor wants, and Franklin’s moving up in Los Santos. Jen’s just along for the ride.

This is gonna be fun.

Author’s Note: I’ve been writing this beast of a thing since 2013. It’s been through a thousand different incarnations, but it’s been in my drafts for the last six years. I realize this fandom isn’t as popular as it used to be, but I might as well have a little fun and finally start posting it.

Also, not to be that bitch, but this is on Ao3. I would very much appreciate kudos/comments, if you’re so inclined!

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10 || Part 11 || Part 12 || Part 13 || Part 14 || Part 15

--- --- --- --- ---

Lester’s contacts came through beautifully.

When Jen arrived at her office the next morning, the only people in the office were her own employees, peacefully doing their jobs. There were no IAA interns rummaging through her files, no IAA agents stalking her employees through the halls, no IAA agents sniffing and smirking or lauding their hierarchy. Possibly better still, absolutely no sign of an FIB agent could be found.

Jen grinned as she strode through the office, clicking away in her tall, tall heels - there would be silence today, for at least a brief little while. Mary at the front desk handed Jen a stack of mail as she entered the office, smiling politely. She’d seen the news that morning, pleased that she no longer had to keep tentatively looking for a new job. The rest of Jen’s employees waved and greeted her as she walked by each office heading to her own.

Absolutely beautiful.

Wonderful, beautiful silence for a brief little while. Brief, being the operative word.

Jen had no sooner sat down to begin her day when her phone started ringing. She grinned as she looked at the glass screen - Dave Norton, right on time.

She answered. "Howdy, Dave."

Dave's voice crackled out as a scandalized huff. "What did you do?"

Jen stifled a chuckle. All the years of maintaining decorum despite immense displeasure had given her a stellar poker face. "What are you talking about, Dave?"

"The shitstorm going down on Weazel News? Breakdown of election results being published? Covers blown? Ring a bell?"

"I haven't turned on Weazel this morning, so that’s news to me. Come to think of it, though, it's awfully quiet in the office for once," Jen observed. "Look, Dave. I've got a massive murder trial in a few weeks. It’s all I can do to get out of bed in the morning some days. Where would I find the time to do all that? Or get the resources?"

"Oh, stop. I know who you know," Dave snapped. "Good Lord, Jen! We told you we would handle it!"

“Well, it’s been handled now,” Jen replied simply, stifling a giggle with the back of her hand. "What are you complaining about anyway? I’m watching Weazel now. Looks like it was only IAA info that got leaked, not FIB."

"Be that as it may," Dave huffed, "But now the higher-ups are talking about a government-wide review of all personnel."

"Wouldn't hurt, I'm sure."

"Need I remind you that if I get tapped, so does your boyfriend?" Dave grumbled.

To be fair, Dave had a point. His career-making takedown of one Michael Townley hadn’t come without a price.

"More threats, Dave? Come on, we’re on the same side. That’s not your style."

Dave sighed. “It’s a warning, Jen. You should have let me handle it."

"I had nothing to do with it,” Jen lied. “Check your sources."

"I will,” Dave snapped. "Now, I’m going to go clean up this mess. You better pray Steve doesn’t start snooping around in my files. And be careful, please."

"I'm always careful."

Jen hung up the phone and cackled while she dialed Lester’s number. She really liked Dave, truly. If he put half as much work into actually being a good agent as he put into pretending to be a good agent, he might have had a shot at being director once upon a time. But Dave, deep down, wanted glory without putting the work in. And that mindset, in Jen’s experience, was easily exploitable.

Lester picked up on the first ring. Jen could hear the crackle of Weazel News in the background. No doubt the nefarious little nerd was enjoying the spectacle that was the product of his handiwork.

"Lester, I could kiss you!"

He snorted. "Keep it to yourself. I don't want your boyfriends beating down my door."

"You'd let me if I tried."

"Probably,” Lester conceded, “Oh, and you’re welcome."

“As always, my friend, I appreciate our time together,” Jen replied in her sweetest voice. "Also, I'm sending you the recording of the call Dave Norton made just now in case we need a little… insurance. Thanks again."

Jen hung up and tossed her phone onto her desk. The pleasure of silence was golden. She could focus on actually doing her job now rather than monitoring agents and babysitting her staff. She could get ready for all the cases coming up, get this mess of a murder trial off the ground… She might even get to go home on time today.

Huh. Now, there’s an idea. Getting home on time meant Jen might be able to get Michael to come over, maybe even spend the night. He had been back in Los Santos for a week, having successfully gotten the price on his head rescinded. He hadn’t come over yet for want of a little relaxation.

Jen grabbed her phone and texted him, asking him to come over tonight. To her surprise, he responded in short order with a quick sure (Michael wasn’t known for his texting skills).

Excellent. Jen could get everything ready for tonight. A little wine, some candles… She could get that whiskey Michael likes and order some movies, relax for a while. Wonderful.

MaryAnn threw open Jen’s office door, yanking Jen out of her euphoria. Never let it be said that MaryAnn practiced proper work etiquette.

MaryAnn’s manic grin was contagious. “What did you do? How did you get them out of here?”

Jen shrugged, matching her grin. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Bullshit,” MaryAnn laughed, taking a seat in one of Jen’s cushy office chairs. “I know you better than that. Did your creepy old boyfriend have someone killed?”

“There are so many things wrong with what you just said.” Jen shook her head, but the grin never left her face. “Wasn’t me - pinky swear. Some internet do-gooder pulled the records and leaked them last night. Check Weazel.”

“And you didn’t even point them in the right direction?”

Jen shook her head. “Nope.”

“Well, I’ll be,” MaryAnn said, crossing her arms. “Someone really likes you.”

Thanks, Lester.

Jen snorted. “As much shit as I get on the daily, I’ll take any win I can get.”

“Well, that means we can get down to business prepping for this trial.”

Jen eyed her whiteboard over in the corner. It was covered in notes and crime scene photos - a gruesome collage of a trial plan. “Finally. I’ll be glad when it’s over.”

“You and me both,” MaryAnn agreed. “Well, as much as I’d love to let you bask in your victory, we need to get started.”

“You pull the file, I’ll start calling witnesses.”

“Done.”

--- --- --- --- ---

Michael spent most of the week following the fertility idol debacle moping in his sedan. A week after yelling he loves Jen, he sat in the Burger Shot drive-thru, moping in his sedan. One full week of Burger Shot Depression Specials, blitzed out of his mind at 11AM on the good cognac, while Franklin shakes his head at him from the driver’s seat of the sedan.

Michael had texted Franklin maybe an hour before requesting Burger Shot, not for the first time this week, after downing about a hundred dollars’ worth of good cognac for breakfast. He was resolutely ashamed of himself, but too depressed to stop. Franklin, bless his soul, agreed to drive him, if only to ensure Michael wouldn’t drunk-drive himself to Burger Shot in Los Santos lunch traffic.

“Jen calls the sedan the Saggy Balls,” Michael hiccuped from the passenger seat while Franklin contemplated his life choices. “She says it makes me look old.”

“You are old, dude,” Franklin replied, accepting the reeking, greasy bag of double-doubles that will surely incite The Widowmaker, the final heart attack that will send Michael to an early grave, from the window cashier. “Why don’t you just call her?”

Trevor had already given Franklin the run-down of what happened on the beach, from the fertility idol right down to Michael’s duh-moment revelation. Therefore, he already knew why Michael wouldn’t willingly call Jen. It’s not like the man was an expert at dealing with his feelings in a healthy, sensible fashion.

“I’d rather fuckin’ die, Frank,” Michael moaned, taking a bite of his double-double cheeseburger with bacon. Grease beaded up in shiny specks on the bun, and Franklin wished Michael would eat a salad, for his own sake. “I got a plan. I’m trying to get my life back. I want my kids back. I want Amanda back.”

“You sure about that last one, man?” Franklin asked. He really shouldn’t complain about what Michael eats (why was he even concerned about it in the first place?). He was chowing down on greasy ass fries while idling at the red light.

“I want my life back.”

“Whatever you say, bro.”

Not a moment later, Michael’s phone vibrated. He groaned and laid his head against the headrest. “It’s from Jen.”

“Why are you complaining? Don’t you love her?”

“Yes,” Michael said flatly. That much has been established. He flicked through his text messages. “She wants me to come over tonight.”

“Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t understand what the problem is.”

“I can’t keep seeing her if I want to get my life back.”

“Ain’t you been seeing her for, like years? Just go-” Franklin stopped, huffing. “You know what - you’re not gonna listen to whatever I tell you. You’re gonna drunk dial me at 2AM and ask me to come get you from Tequila-la’s and take you to Cluckin’ Bell.”

Michael was lost in his own thoughts. “You know what, I’m gonna go see Jen tonight. I’m gonna go tell her I can’t keep doing this.”

Franklin shook his head. “You’re gonna be diggin’ your own grave…”

--- --- --- --- ---

Jen answered the door dressed in a black button-down and her underwear, a glass of wine clutched in her hand and a grin on her face. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and she'd tied her mass of puffy orange hair up out of the way. An empty bottle of wine rested next to another full bottle, belying that she’d already started enjoying her night.

She had to be drunk. She wouldn’t have answered the door in a button-down (his button-down, one he’d left here before) and her underwear if she wasn’t at least tipsy. He’d surprisingly never seen her drunk before. Or, at least, she never let on that she was drunk.

It was… nice. She looked happy, kind of like the morning after the first night he’d stayed here, like she’d actually been able to let loose and relax. She wasn’t often this happy, always stressed about everything and exhausted and even more harried and harassed than usual with the election issues hanging over her. And that trial she’d mentioned - the serial killer one. He’d followed that story himself - seen some of the crime scene photos on her computer once, too - and it looked like a doozy.

Looking at her made Michael’s heart ache. He was going to ruin a perfectly good night by just being himself.

Or, at least he was, until she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Oh, fuck him. Michael’s hands were latched onto her waist in half a second, kneading her soft flesh with the tips of his fingers. She tasted like bad decisions, like he was about to really fuck up his life if he stayed here any longer.

The button-down was a stupid idea; she should have just answered the door naked and put him out of his misery. He’s got it so fucking bad for her, and there’s not a thing he can do about it.

Jen pulled back with that wicked grin on her face that let Michael know, in no uncertain terms, that she had his number. Guiding him over to the couch, she sat him down and shoved a drink in his hand. "I bought that good whiskey you like, the entire Richard's Majestic catalog, and snacks, Mike. Snacks. So, get cozy because we're celebrating!"

Michael reclined back against the couch, crossing his legs. The glass of whiskey in his hand was cold and sweating lightly. "What are we celebrating?"

Jen flopped down onto the couch next to him and slung a muscled leg across his lap before curling up against his side. "The death of my IAA annoyances - not literally, of course. Lester leaked the election results and blew all their covers."

He instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Good enough reason to celebrate, I guess."

Jen tipped her glass in salute. “Any reason to celebrate is a good reason. But this reason is an especially good one.”

Michael had to agree - any reason to celebrate was good enough for him. He’d never been one to turn down a good time, for whatever good it did him.

Jen snuggled closer into his side. "Plus, it's your first night back here since Madrazo called off the hit. Figured we could have a night to ourselves."

That’s what was killing him. Michael knew he shouldn’t have come over. No matter what the situation, no matter what time it was, any time he walked into Jen’s apartment, he didn't want to be anywhere else. He should have asked her to meet him for dinner or something - made it easier for both of them. He could have called things off, let her blow up and leave, gotten drunk and forgotten all about the past… seven years.

Yeah, that totally would have worked… He totally, under no circumstances, would have ended up right back here in Jen’s apartment, in exactly the same position, completely brought to his metaphorical fucking knees.

There was no scenario in which Michael wouldn’t fuck this up in some way or another. He’s just gotta do it. He’s just got to open his mouth and do it.

Twenty years ago, this wouldn’t have been a problem. He’d never had a problem telling a girl to get lost (except for his wife, Amanda, who he married because he got her pregnant, in some chivalrous attempt to own up to his choices). Never had a problem being the asshole, the bad guy, the jerk… He could sweet talk right up to the point where he wasn’t interested anymore, when he got what he wanted (ass), and would tell them to get lost.

Not this girl. Not Jen. Michael knew good and well he couldn’t do it because Jen was Jen, and she was his. He just didn’t want to acknowledge he knew it.

Before Michael could blink, they’d finished the first movie. He couldn’t even remember which one they’d watched - he’d been lost in his own thoughts. One of the shitty action movies, probably, that comprised most of the Richards Majestic catalog. Jen crawled out of his grasp to grab the remote and press play on whatever movie was queued up next. The loss of heat next to him was jarring after being so comfortable for so long.

The next movie in the queue was a romance. Michael preferred action movies all day long, but he wouldn’t turn his nose up at a decent romance. Especially not a Richards Majestic romance - they had just the right formula of hot and cheesy.

Jen crawled back up under his arm, another full glass of wine in one hand and a refill of his whiskey glass in the other hand. “I remembered you like Some Like it Hot - figured you wouldn’t mind watching this one next.”

“It’s one of the best, as far as rom-coms go.”

“Rom-coms aren’t so bad,” Jen teased, taking a healthy sip of her drink.

“Says the woman who almost exclusively watches mafia movies and B-horror.”

“I don’t want to hear shit from you, Mr. Action Movie.”

Michael pinched her side, earning him a gentle slap on the thigh. He shouldn’t be encouraging this, shouldn’t be playing with her and teasing her like he always does, but he wants to. And her lips are so soft when she kisses him, and she feels so warm against his chest, he just can’t make himself stop.

The minute Jen straddles his lap, he's done. Lost. No hope of holding out. She tastes like liquor and a lost cause when she kisses him, like communion at church, and he's the damned sinner clinging to the hope of salvation.

Michael damn near rips the buttons off of the shirt she's wearing - his shirt his shirt his shirt - just to get it open. He doesn't care to push over her shoulders or even try to get it off of her completely. He lets it hang open while he grabs her tits, pinching and pulling blindly while she kisses him. Fuck he loves these tits, these soft, heavy tits that make him forget how to think-

She didn’t have underwear on - how had he been sitting here half the night and not noticed?

Jen takes him by the throat. He fucking loves when she does that. She doesn't put pressure on his windpipe, it's just to force his head back so she can leave deep purple bruises on his neck that won't even be close to hidden by his shirt collar. He groans deep in his chest, and he swears he feels her smirk against his skin. He’d never admit out loud he likes being handled like this, loves when she leaves those dark bruises where everyone can see, loves when she puts him in his place. He can’t function like this, reduced to a groaning mess with every kiss and lick and touch.

She grinds down in his lap, stroking her naked pussy along his still-clothed cock. He could scream, he really could, but he doesn't. He lets her use him to work herself up, use him to get herself wet for him.

Michael’s searching fingers find her wet little cunt grinding down in his lap, and he wastes no time plunging his fingers into her. He crooks his fingers against the spot that makes her shake, and she howls against his neck. He can feel the muscles in her legs tense from the effort of hovering over his lap. Her nails dig into his shoulders, and it’s only the thin barrier of his shirt that saves him from red little half-moon bites in his skin.

Jen pulls at the buttons of his shirt with shaking hands while he fingers her. “Get- get this off.”

“Get it off me, then.”

The way her eyes flash at him, that dangerous little warning of don’t test me, makes Michael’s cock twitch. He twists his fingers, adding a third finger to stuff her full, and the shaky whimper she lets out makes him grin. She works faster, though, almost ripping a couple of his shirt buttons right off.

“That’s right, princess - you don’t want to be the only one naked, do you?”

Jen yanks his shirt open so she can get her hands on him, and Michael just lets her rake her nails down his chest. He loves testing her like this, loves when she gets rough with him. It doesn’t matter how much he likes to be in charge. Jen is Jen, and he wants this any way she’ll give it to him.

Michael can feel her starting to tense around his fingers. "Come on, princess, you know you wanna come for me."

Jen stops him with a hand on his bicep. "Don’t get mouthy. Stand up."

Michael is damn near bewildered, but he does as she commands and stands. His jaw hits the floor when she turns toward the back of the couch, knees in the cushions, hands resting on the top of the couch.

Jen doesn't do this. Hasn't done it, not once, in the seven years they've been seeing each other. She likes the dominant role, and Michael is more than happy to take the lazy route and let her use him any way she wants. Vulnerability and submission are not her preference - she likes to be in control, and getting fucked from behind isn't enough control.

And, for a long moment, Michael finally forgets himself. Forgets he wants Amanda back, forgets he tried to keep himself from getting in this position in the first place. This vulnerability throws him for a goddamn loop.

And Jen is impatient. "You gonna stand there all night or are you gonna fuck me, Mike?"

Michael’s pants hit the goddamn floor like they're on fire. He lines his hard, leaking cock up with her cunt and thrusts, and thank god he fingered her for as long as he did because she's tight and dripping wet and rocking back against him and-

He squeezes her ass and gives it a sharp swat before pulling her back onto his cock as hard as he dares. He's not gonna last like this - not by a long shot, but damn if he's not gonna get her to scream his name before he does. He leans over her, chest to her back, and guides her upright, knees buried into the couch cushions, with one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand squeezing her tits.

Michael's teeth nip at Jen’s earlobe, his tongue tracing the outer shell of her ear. He thrusts up hard, pinching her nipples. "Gonna come for me, princess? Gonna come for Daddy?"

Oh, he knows she wants to sass him, wants to fight him, wants to shove him back down on the couch and take back control for that comment, and he fucking wants her to, but he can feel her hot cunt start to tighten and flutter around him. No, she’s not going to fight him for control. She wants him to fuck her stupid, take her like he wants to take her.

"That's it, let Daddy make you come."

“Don’t-” Jen jerks the hand squeezing her tits down to her clit, where he circles her presses and dips his fingers between her folds. Her nails dig into his forearms, searching for stability and balance while she falls apart in his hands. "Fuck, Mike-"

"Try again."

And Jen plays his game. To his amazement, she plays his game. "Come on, Daddy, make me come-"

He does. With quick, rough strokes, and his fingers pressing down and circling and teasing her swollen clit, he makes her come. Long, and hard, and slow, until Jen is howling his name like he’s never heard her do. It breaks him, and he comes in hard spurts, twitching and rocking up into her.

“That’s it, princess,” Michael groans into her neck, “love your cunt, love you, baby-”

Michael grabs Jen’s chin, twisting around so he can kiss her. She’s still fluttering around him, still coming all over his cock, and he feels like he’s never going to be able to stop.

And when Michael finally softens enough to pull out, Jen collapses down on the couch in a sweaty, satisfied little heap.

From that moment, it takes approximately five seconds for Michael to freak the fuck out.

Because he said it.

Michael had never gotten dressed so fast in his life. His hand is on the front doorknob before Jen even really realizes he’s leaving. He doesn’t know if she comprehended what he said, and he’s not sticking around to find out.

“Michael, where the fuck are you going-”

The door slammed behind him, and he could hear her yelling. He’s in the elevator and on the way down to his car before Jen can even grab a robe.

He let his phone ring and ring as he climbed into his car, and he ignored every call.

#grand theft auto #Grand Theft Auto 5 #Grand Theft Auto V #gta #GTAV #GTA5 #michael de santa #michael de santa x oc

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thecandywrites · 2 years ago

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Monster March 2023 Day 15- Humanoid Bird- Rito/Kenku

Of course I couldn't help but use moura too. And of course I couldn't resist but go back to The Switch as well as Souja to help me with this particular prompt. And with the research I did on Ritos and Kenku's specifically, I couldn't help but sympathize that in a fantasy setting these would be very much marginalized species of beings.

Also, do you have ANY IDEA how many hours were spent manipulating those damn feather pictures? DO YOU?! Because apparently, metallic mauve/lilac feathers with a rose gold sheen/iredescence- without even a paisley/mandella pattern superimposed on it- is not apparently a thing that exists. Well now it does. On my phone. In my picture manipulation apps. Because I had to use TWO OF THEM to get those results. So enjoy this photoset. Please. I worked longer and harder on it than I did on the story itself. Because the imagry in my head as a wrote it was one thing. The task of finding and creating anything even remotely what was in my head? Damn near impossible. Because all my stories, are basically movies that my brain makes up for me to watch and I simply write it down as it plays out inbetween handfulls of buttered popcorn.

But I am a very visual person and I wanted everyone to at least get a glimpse of the visuals themselves to piece together what I see in my own head for this story and the rest you're just gonna have to use your own imagination. Good luck.

So thanks to @borealwrites for their Monster March 2023 prompts. I'm now 6 days behind. Great. But still had fun nonetheless. Enjoy.

Monster March Day 15- Humanoid Bird- Rito, Kenku

Hidden Potential

“How’s it going there Whomper?” The barmaid, Violasciousia, who simply went by Viola, asked as Whomper came into Souja Inn and Tavern and took up an empty barstool right in front of her. It was the off-season so only the locals here in Fitsdale were currently in port right now and could come into the place without having to deal with the constant influx of travelers and tourists. So the place was pretty empty besides the locals. And the other barmaids were talking with the other patrons down the long bar that could hold dozens of barmaids, but in the offseason could get by with only a fraction of that and even the barmaids who didn’t have a patron were off socializing and running their own steins to various patrons throughout the tavern to at least get the added tip to do so themselves. But Viola was the only avian behind the bar tonight and was finding the regulars still thought of her as too new to really know her way back behind that bar. Which Viola found rather patronizing and downright, insulting. She had earned her place back here. And because of her wings, she could actually get to stuff the others had to use actual ladders to get to. But it still left Viola to simply perch herself on a stool and do some light cleaning as she did so, to pass the time. But the moment Whomper came through the door she was happy to hop down off the stool and smile brightly as the crest of feathers on top of her head stood as tall and high as they could. Catching the light and showing off her darker, more irrdescent feathers atop her pretty head.

Viola was a moura and aarakocra hybrid. Her more aarakocra features were much prettier than most, and while her brothers looked practically full aarakocra, and even her other sisters did too. She was the only one who took more after her mother who was fuller human avian moura. Her very delicately curved little beak let her use most soft lipped beings cups. Her voice was still downright gorgeous and practically divine and her avian clicks and churs were practically melodic. Most females of either rito, kenku or aarakocra or any other anthropomorphic or humanoid avian bird species or subspecies and types, were dull just like their full avian brethren.

But not her, nor her sisters or her mom.

Viola was a prime example of what exceptional qualities could appear when moura interbred with the avian humanoids. She had these gorgeous rose gold color and sheening to her otherwise metallic mauve plumage. Whereas her other sisters were shades of plumb, purple and violet, whereas her brothers were much more indigo, royal blue, turquoise, green and red.

But her coloring, for being “drab” comparatively, only accentuated her gold moura collar denoted by the pretty ring of pure gold feathers that grew around her neck. And her feathers had the most enchanting pattern. Almost like a paisley or a mandella in design among her plumage that showed on the feathers that showed on her form that wasn't covered in the prettiest clothes, even for a barmaid in a tavern. She looked like she could be there as a guest from any great house or gentry alike. And there was just something about her that made her seem like she was an exceptional jewel in an otherwise ordinary jewelry box.

Or so Whomper thought.

Whomper and every other avian humanoid nearly swooned when she and her family moved to Souja Tavern and became part of the Souja Family, on part of Salgria Shipping and specifically The Contessina Order of said venture and enterprise. Now while Fitsdale was a pretty big place that saw most of the beings in the supersphere, with Salgria Shipping and especially The Contessina Order, the “fancier” folk were coming in droves, specifically to start their training and to help make Fitsdale’s skyports, both from the Salgria Shipping and especially The Contessina Order Skyports, stand out and really become the landmarks they were sure to be.

Viola had many siblings, her mom looked pure angel because she liked to keep her wings out like her husband and her kids especially. And her dad was by far, the most handsome aarakocra any of them had ever seen in their lives. Since he too was an aarakocra moura hybrid himself, and while his looks were purely eagle, his coloring was damn near peacock in bright colors and only accentuated his gold collar that much more. Her dad, Kwarl, and her brothers were working in the Salgria Shipping Skyport and more specifically- The Contessina Order Skyports. And currently- specifically the crew accommodations so that those that worked at either skyport could live there, work there and help supply and service the ships that would be passing through there easily. But that couldn’t happen until the crew cabins were done first. And done right. And done so that a wide variety of peoples could eat, sleep, live and work there pretty seamlessly.

Her Radiance Supreme Contessina Salgria herself- had hand picked Viola and her family to be the first to make sure avian species who could easily man and inspect the sails themselves as well as do quick mail deliveries as well as attend to other avian guests could be accommodated well and comfortably.

Viola and “Tessa” as she liked to refer to Contessina as- had gotten along swimmingly. Tessa liked the fact that Viola wasn’t so eye-catching that she would and could be a distraction or have to deal with too many guests flirting with her and then giving her bad reviews when she would professionally decline their advances. And with Viola being a barmaid for the timebeing- that was coming to be an invaluable skill she was learning to hone. Tessa truly admired that Viola had a keen mind and keen senses and an eye for the details. And wasn't afraid to get in there and do the work herself and lead by example.

And by now, Viola had especially good customer service skills. Tessa wanted Viola to manage the Avian Guest Department of the entire Contessina Order Skyport. It was going to be a very big job with very big and heavy responsibilities that Viola was learning to delegate. Viola, in the meantime, even being a "lowly" barmaid- was gaining invaluable experience in doing so. She was getting better at spotting good guests, and which ones could be trouble or which ones would be especially demanding and how to handle each one accordingly.

Unfortunately- Tessa had already hired Viola’s cousin who was in Dorierra to get the avian clients and handle the orders and finetune the Contessina Order ships to suit their unique needs. And Viola's cousin- Khlaqui, was giving all kinds of heads up to Viola on all manner of avian guests she would be dealing with in the future.

And while Khlaqui and the other moura/aarokocra hybrids in Khlaqui's friends and family circle were raking in commission sales, Viola felt like she was drowning in paperwork. Viola already needed to keep a separate large family room just to keep it all in and was needing to rent a second and possibly a third. Viola got boxes and crates full of paperwork by the day in the mail from Dorierra because Viola needed and liked physical paperwork and a physical "papertrail" so to speak because she had learned the hard way, sometimes data transfers via messengerari weren't as reliable as she would like.

In plain truth, Viola was downright overwhelmed. And Tessa urged Viola to find a Chief Filer and someone to help her in the moment so that it wouldn't build itself up to be a mountain that Viola felt she needed to scale all on her own on top of everything else.

But Viola didn’t want to use any of her sisters, who thought such work was “beneath them”. Since it was all “behind the scenes” work and not front and center where they would be seen and interact with any number of guests and potential mates who would be wealthy enough to elevate them from cook and maid or receptionist or whatever, to travel the world with them in style or many of her cousins or other friends with the same mindset.

Which left Viola just plain frustrated. Because she had all this work, that Tessa was paying her a retainer salary for her to deal with. And while she didn't need the income from being a barmaid, she felt she still needed to gain the perspective and the experience of it. But other than to stack the damn crates of paperwork on top of each other to cram them all into the rooms until there was barely any room to move, let alone breathe in those rooms- there was little she could do right now.

But Viola also knew that she would need to choose and fill this position of Chief Filer- very carefully and give it to someone trustworthy and dependable. Who wouldn't think the work was beneath them, but be happy and grateful to have the work to do in the first place. And someone who could do it well without getting bored or feel ignored or feel unappreciated because they weren't in the spotlight but would be content knowing that they were key in helping Viola and the other managers run The Contessina Order Skyport well. Because Tessa was counting on her and the others she had already hired and stationed there to do so. And do so well.

So ever since she came here, she had her eye on several potential candidates, only for them to prove with their behavior that they weren’t as trustworthy as she at first thought they could be or what she felt she needed them to be.

All, except one. And he just came into the bar. And honestly, he was her last hope. And she could only hope tha this own past experience as well as her own, along with her own desperation wouldn't scare him off of it either.

Plus of all the local avians, Whomper was one of the few that had proven that he was so much more than what he seemed and she could see the potential in him. And she had urged him to at least try to apply to work with her dad and her brothers at the skyport but the second he even got to the base, he was practically chased off because the others took one look at his kenku looks and assumed he was there to steal building supplies and "sell them back" later at a higher price. Which both infuriated and frustrated and humiliated them both. And by the time Viola heard of it, the damage was done and she couldn't talk her dad or her brothers into trusting her and her instincts enough to see past his own kenku heritage to see him as an individual and give him a chance to prove what kind of person she already knew him to be. And Kenku never approached those skyports again after that.

So that simply left Viola and her sisters and her mom to work and wait while the skyports were being built. So to supplement their income, Viola and her sisters and her mother worked here at the tavern and were being trained to work the Contessina Order Skyport when it would be finished. But until it could be built, they figured they could still jumpstart their income and experience by working here and were happily welcomed into the fold so to speak and with Viola and her family being here, Souja Tavern now got more and more avian clientele. But usually only when her much prettier and brighter sisters were cooking and serving the food. Which left Viola to feel unseen and unappreciated by anyone except for Tessa. Despite her own gifts at making a damn good ale and an amazing lager and an astounding stout, all on her own. And while all of that spoke for itself. And while she raked in the sales of the steins for her ales. Most non avians were content to accept steins full of her ales from others they had already known for years and were more comfortable with.

But Viola was determined to prove that the potential that Tessa saw in her was well founded and wanted to prove that such a hefty responsibility could be handled and handled well in her capable hands. Even when there wasn't much to do in the moment but accept the crates full of paperwork and have them stored away safely until they could be unloaded and filed away properly.

Plus, Viola's sisters worked in the kitchens making some of the spiciest foods the kitchen could churn out because while most avians were fond of chilies because their tongues didn't really have that many spicy receptors- everyone else thought the spicy food was damn near addicitive and practically drugged because even as they were sweating and even crying while eating, they couldn't stop themselves from having and wanting more while washing it down with Viola's brews.

All while their mother, Nautisia, worked specifically with the soap company to get a soap specifically to wash and preen feathers and the skin beneath them. As well as have a variety of cleansers and conditioners specifically for the avian guests and their many types of feathers. She used her own kids and husband as well as her own wings to test out which ones would work best before they could receive either the Salgria Shipping stamp or the very coveted Contessina Order stamp on the bars that Tessa had entrusted her with.

Viola’s family was by far the most handsome avian humanoid family in all of Fitsdale. And they had come here by way of another moura colony that was pulled into the Contessina Order, both the ships and the sky ports. And word was that more were coming. And many were waiting to see if the others would be as pretty as Viola or her sisters or as handsome as her brothers before they made their move so to speak.

But Whomper, no such waiting was necessary or even warrented. Once he saw Viola, he was instantly smitten and already head over talons crazy about her. He scrimped and saved to come in here on the days she worked as much as he could. And he was happy to come in and simply take up a seat at any part of the bar she was working from. And just listen to her talk. Talk about anything and everything she wanted to. And Viola really appreciated Whomper's patience in letting her vent and talk her own frustrations out. As they both much more in common than most might at first assume.

But because he was kenku, he faced the reputation that he and his kind were particularly predatory, crafty and sneaky and if things went missing, it was usually found in their possession or if they were selling things, that they were stolen in the first place. Which Viola found completely unfair that an entire peoples would be judged like that, and not seen as the individuals they were and should be seen were. Because sure, there were some, she didn't trust as far as she could kick them. But Whomper was one of the few she felt she could trust and could depend on and had already proven what kind of person and what kind of man he was.

Because aarakocra on the other hand, had the opposite reputation. Which was, to say, same as moura usually. Upright, honest, dependable, trustworthy and tight knit community. And many aarakocra had made colonies all over the world and even moura served as a bridge between the avians and the dragons which from the homeworld, had been mortal enemies. But Viola knew there were vast differences in culture and upbringing between "mountain moura" and "Dorierran moura" or even among the aarokocra. Some of who were the lonelest of lone drifters. And would be seen one moment and dissappear the next without a trace or care in the world. And it wasn't fair that aarakocra were given that kind of reputation when it wasn't well earned by the outliers.

But that still didn't change the fact, that to Whomper especially, and in his own humble opinion- and the opinions of most of the others at Souja and Salgria Shipping and The Contessina Order- that Viola was just and fair. She was also very nice and sweet and practically had a heart of gold. She gave everyone a chance to prove what kind of person they were by their actions- before she ever thought of judging anyone, especially by looks or kind or whatever and Whomper wanted to prove that he was worthy of her attention and worthy of her grace and kindness.

Besides having a wonderful personality, Viola had much more vibrant and beautiful features and plumage than Whomper had ever seen before in his life, even among the female peacock avian people. And it didn’t matter to Whomper if she was drab in comparison to her sisters. If anything, it helped her stand out that much more in his eyes. Because she was humble and unassuming and much more approachable and he felt the most at ease around her. Which Tessa always claimed was the most important parts that she admired about Viola and why she chose Viola to do what she hired her to do.

Of course, it was most likely the moura heritage that gave her all her better than average looks and gifts. Including the fact that she had arms with fingers and wings that folded beautifully on her back and clawed feet that she usually put into special.sandals and shoes and even boots when she walked.

But as much as Whomper wanted to dwell on that, she had asked him a question and he needed to answer her.

“Good, got a good find today on shore, I was able to clean it up and sell it for a good price.” He answered as he offered her some of the coins in his possession to exchange for a stein of ale.

“I'm happy to hear it and I'm happy you could do that and come in tonght and see me. Well tonight I have…” She began to list off all the ales and stouts and other spirits they had in his price range of the coins he offered as she picked them up and counted them to be sure they were right.

“Ooh, that last one.” He decided when she chose to list off her own ales, stouts and lagers last when she listed them off.

“Let me get that for you then.” She smiled as she then poured him a stein of it into a special stein Souja Tavern made just for their beaked clientele. She placed it before him before she got a small plate and put a few pieces of seasoned bread and a small dish of oil and spices and herbs to dip it in and handed it over to him with a wink.

“On the house, I know how rare it is for you to find the good stuff on the beach.” She offered sweetly.

“Thank you.” He offered gratefully.

“Did you make enough for a full plate tonight?” She asked hopefully.

“Not quite.” He admitted, but this would tide him over until she would work again, hopefully.

“Well then let me get you a bit of something more substantial then. It’s not every day you get to come in here to celebrate a good find.” She offered before she left and came back with a small plate of food for him. He could tell she took one of the smaller appetizer plates but still piled it high with what she could manage to get on there in a few moments in the kitchens.

“You’re too good to me.” Whomper admitted before he was slow to eat and really savored the food, despite his hunger.

“Well, I think kenkus and ritos and all of the corvid avian types get a bad reputation. I know you try really hard to do what you can. So what did you get today?” She explained as she began washing the other dirty steins behind the counter.

“It was a wine bottle, still had good wine in it.” He answered.

“That is a good find. Most bottles you find on the beach have messages in them.” She nodded with a smile her petite parrot beak let her have as her eyes pinned, showing off those. Intensely gorgeously amethyst eyes.

“Who’d you sell it to?” She asked.

“A man who got thrown out of Glockies.” He answered.

“Glockies is close to the coast, but you have to be pretty drunk and pretty disorderly to be kicked out of that place.” She appraised honestly.

“He was happy I was there and had the wine and paid me what he could.” Whomper explained.

“Uh-huh, I see. The right person at the right time. Perfect. I'm really happy you could find it and sell it for what you could.” She smiled proudly once she finished with washing and rinsing the steins and started to dry them.

“So, I wanted to ask you, I know you do odd jobs here and there and try to get by here in Fitsdale. But, I was hoping you’d at least be willing to try to apply for…” Viola began to try to say before Whomper cut her off.

“Viola, I know you mean well, but one look at me, and no one will hire or trust me with much of anything. Not without others watching over me constantly to make sure I don’t mess up stuff or to make sure other stuff doesn’t go missing or…” He tried to excuse because Viola had asked him to at least apply to work on the skyport and he did, and he got a hard ‘no’ when he did and he didn’t feel up to asking again, only to have another door slammed in his face for even trying.

“But I would. I would hire you and I trust you. I talked with Tessa today. And she said that I get to hire who I find most suitable for any number of positions. And the work I want to hire you for, isn’t that hard. It’s just mundane and it’s repetitive as hell and most would go nuts with boredom but I know that- that kind of thing wouldn’t bother you. And that you’d be good at it. You know your alphabet and your numbers. The job I want to hire you for is to literally stand in a special room behind a wall- behind the front desk and hand and recieve files through a special slot in the wall itself. You would have to be in a uniform, and organize the guests’ and their paperwork and stuff and file it according to their name and country of origin. Tessa has already okayed it and gave me the power to fill and pay a variety of positions how I see fit. And with so many people from my colony coming all the way here and all of them already using their family ties to mine and their social standing at the colony to try to sweet talk me and are banking on all of that- for me to give them cushy jobs where they get to do so little work for a lot of money. And I hate it and I hate their presumptuousness. Which you don't have any of.": She explained as she leaned across the counter and dropped her voice so most wouldn't overhear her conversation with him.

"I know, you go to the beach at sunrise, every day. You comb through every inch of that shoreline, every single day, rain or shine, or snow or sleet. Especially after storms. And you look through everything, just to find something valuable, just to find something shiny or something you can use to fix up other things just to sell to whoever you can to put food in your belly and keep a roof over your head and the clothes on your back. And I know that once you leave that door, you’re going to have to swallow your pride and go to the back where we have the soup kitchen for less fortunate in Fitsdale. Please. Take the job I am offering you.” She begged as she leaned across the bar and fixed him with those big gorgeous eyes and he was near tears that she would even ask or invite him to do such a thing.

“But surely, someone else would be better at…” He sheepishly murmured.

“Whomper. I don’t care if someone else would or could be better at it. I want to vouch for you and I’m willing to vouch for you to whoever I have to. To Tessa and Kragan if I have to. I have seen you give the valuable food that I know your own stomach hungers for- to the little ones who do the same thing you do at the beaches. I know you go without just trying to give others a leg up. I’ve seen you drop off more kids here at the orphanage than anyone else who works at the beach. You’ve never taken advantage of any of them. You’ve never hurt any of them. In fact, I know from when I've talked to them myself, that you’ve drawn any dangerous people away from them, just so that they could escape to here or to their homes safely. That says more to me about your character than your fathers or your beak or anything else about you ever could. You do have a great eye for details. And you use it both to look to see if you can find something good among garbage to see others the way they really are. And I see the same thing about you. Whomper you have all the skills and all the potential. All you need is the chance to prove it. Just like I was given the chance to prove what I’m capable of. Please Whomper, please don't turn this offer down, I need you for this and I trust you with this. And I have full faith that I can have full confidence in you to do it, and do it right.” She firmly insisted.

“Of all the other avians in this entire city. When Tessa told me about all the positions she wants me to fill, you were the very first one I thought of for this. Most avians, especially the prettier they are, they all want the spotlight and they want to show off their fancy feathers and special talents and if anything, all of my sisters and all of my female cousins are hoping and praying some rich avian will sail through here and sweep them off their talons and they get to live such lavish lifestyles with them for no other reason than they're pretty, which they are so vain for thinking and assuming about themselves." She complained before she reached out and grabbed his hands with her own.

"But you are content with little, while still taking pride in using what you have for your benefit and the benefit of others. You will literally just be in a room, filing paperwork away. There will be nothing for anyone to ever think or suspect that you would ever try to take. If children of all kinds trust you not to hurt them, and if I can trust you to tell me the truth. About anything and everything, then that’s all the trustworthiness you should ever need. And I trust you that even if you would accidentally make a mistake, that you would be honest about it and be quick to make it right. I’m not asking you to be perfect. I just want you to be competent. And if Tessa trusts me and my judgment, she’ll happily accept you as my choice as Chief Filer. We already know how we want the room and the files to go and be ordered and arranged. And Tessa already has a system she’s designing to put it all into place. The papers are being made as we speak, the filing cabinets are being built as we speak. The very stamps we would use, are already being carved and so far it’s all pretty basic and simple and easy to do and easy to follow and if I get any more crates, I’m gonna have to build and keep a whole storehouse for it all. It’s gonna be a damn library of filing cabinets is what it’s gonna be. All you have to do is follow the system and follow the protocols that will be spelled out in such fine detail that there would never be a question about what to do or how to do it. And for that work, you’d get paid very well. And because you’d be working for me, others would have no choice but to respect you and the job that you would do. There is no door for me to shut in your face. I am here, I will get on my knees on that stool back there if I have to. Whomper, come on. I believe in you, and I see and believe in your own potential and your ability to do the job and you’re my friend and I want you to have the job. I want to be with you, and work with you, and be close to you. And show how trustworthy and dependable you can be.” Viola insisted.

And for once, Whomper was speechless, as he just stared in awed amazement at her.

“What would it take for you to say yes?” She asked before Whomper just pushed up on his elbows to bring his beak next to hers to make a kissing noise.

And the whooping chur she made was both exciting yet exhilarating and she practically leapt up over the counter to the other side and almost tackled him to the ground but he managed to get off the barstool so they wouldn’t crash onto the floor and make themselves even more of a spectacle than they already were.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Se thanked him as she just hugged him and pressed her beak next to and all around her and made the kissing noise back as if she was pressing kisses all around his face that she could reach.

“How could I ever say no to you?” Whomper asked rhetorically as he felt like the luckiest man in the world at the moment.

“Well, get whatever you need or want from your place. Because when you come back, you’re gonna come back to me right here. And you’re gonna stay here and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the Souja family as well as mine. You’re gonna get your own room and you can eat as much as you want from the family dining room. I’ll even have dinner with you tonight, cause no one else will use me on that damn bar tonight.” She insisted before it was his turn to kiss her all over her face with his own beak before he left to do just that as she quickly quit the bar for the night, and got to work getting him a good room and a spot on the Souja Family roster.

And when he came back, she was right there, with key in hand to a single room he’d have as well as a desk with it’s own messengerari and numbers to call Tessa and her network as well as all the other Chief Filer’s to make sure he learned and would know the job and the expectations.

To his surprise and delight, Tessa was just as nice as Viola was. Granted she was human, but she didn’t look down on him or treat him with anything other than professional courtesy and kindness because Viola had already vouched for him. And with a few questions, including a few trick ones, which he surprisingly got right, he was accepted and welcomed into The Contessina Order. His wages were automatically sent to be paid out as well as orders for the uniform he would be wearing as well as a sign on bonus to get some good decent clothes to wear when he wasn’t in his uniform which Viola assured Tessa she would see to personally. Which Whomper was sure Viola enjoyed much more than he did.

At first, he expected the weariness and reluctance from Viola’s family, but it was Viola’s mother who seemed to warm up to him the quickest. Then, slowly but surely, he was earning each person’s trust in her family as well as the Souja Family as a whole, and with the other kids vouching for him too, came much easier. And as soon as he could, he made Viola his mate and then they adopted any and every rito and kenku orphan there was at the Souja Orphanage. And with their combined income, it paid for them to live very comfortably as he was proving his own worthiness to everyone. Once he proved he was more than compitent, he was given more responsibilities and given another raise and given the chance to prove that he should be taken as an individual and not judged based on his kind both in public and private. Especially when Kragan had to agree that orcs often had a lot of the same bias and that if Tessa trusted Viola, and if Viola trusted Whomper, then that was good enough for anyone.

And by the time more from Viola’s colony came to Fitsdale, particularly to the Souja Inn and Tavern to stay while their accommodations were being prepared for in the Salgria Shipping Skyport and especially The Contessina Order Skyport. With Whomper, simply going by ‘Mr. Womper Ompre’ per Viola’s insistence, he was welcomed rather warmly by the others. He found he carried himself better. He walked taller, took better care of himself and before he knew it, what he always thought were dull black feathers, soon glossed and even sheened subtle but pretty hues of greens and blues too and the fact that he was kenku was never an issue. And just as he was doing this for himself, and those he adopted, he was slowly but surely, getting more and more kenkus and ritos to get the same treatment. Especially the ones that he knew- were also fighting against a bias. And trying to prove that they were good people. And suddenly he wasn’t the only kenku or rito around, soon he was simply grouped in with the other aviaries as an equal, which was all he could have ever wanted and asked for.

And when The Contessina Order Skyport had been built enough and the crew quarters completed, he was delighted when he and Viola got moved into one of the bigger and better rooms because of the very important positions they both held in The Contessina Order. And when the skyport’s reception area was built and got finished, he was thrilled to finally get those blessed filing cabinets, set up how they were supposed to be arranged and already getting files and boxes of special folders to populate them all. And while it was a lot of work. It was, by now, a tried and true system. And one he found he could easily and happily manage and keep clean, neat, orderly and organized.

And he had never been more happy that Viola saw this much potential in him. All along and from the start. He was happy to keep proving her right and then going above and beyond every chance he could. So that Viola never once had any reason to doubt him or have second thoughts about her choice and decision to hire him and be with him and raise a family with him and stand by him and support him as much as he was happy to do the same.

#Monster March #Monster March 2023 #Monster March 2023 Day 15- Humanoid Bird #Monster March Day 15

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