#muse: Joetta

[fossilsandfeathers]

Starter for @celestial-dragonpriest

Joetta glanced guiltily down at her sickle-shaped toe-talons, counting the old scars and fresh scrapes on the cracked and scaly skin around them. Before long a warm sadness came onto her face, like a watered-down version of regret.

“We can’t keep doing this,” began the raptor in an uncharacteristically empty tone of voice. “It will only end badly...”

[theprehistoricrealm]

She finally arrived! Tommy’s newest friend finally arrived!

Presenting Joetta - a vintage Dankin plush JP velociraptor I bought on eBay. She’s just like the one I had (and then sadly lost) as a child.

Personality-wise she’s a Cancer (based on her unboxing day) who comes to us from NYC. She’s a little confused and anxious, but my custom made raptor, Tom (a European Gemini) has been tasked with being her adoptive big brother and helping her acclimate to her new home. Even though he looks a little more scientifically accurate, he’s overjoyed at the idea of getting to spend time with Jo, as am I.

And I’m sure in time Jo will come to love us both as much as we love her!

[fossilsandfeathers]

“Enemies are approaching from the West,” the little raptor said in a snarling whisper. “I saw them from my perch in the tree. They’re armed, and judging by how fast they were moving, I figure they should be here in less than an hour. Do you want to run, or mount an attack?”

💤 for my muse Joetta to wake up your from their nap.

A low snort escaped the flare’s nostrils as Kro opened their eyes to see the raptor before them. { What is it? } they asked, huffing tiredly before they shook out their wings begrudgingly.

[fossilsandfeathers]

(starter: @m-for-mischa)

From the hallway came a low hissing sound, like an angry snake, and after that a small collection of snorting and snuffling. Then the silhouette of an animal appeared below the lintel of the kitchen doorway. It was small, bipedal, with a reptilian face and a long, stiff tail.

Slowly, cautiously, it crept forward into the kitchen, silent as a ghost except for the hissing of its breath and the sound of its toe-talons clicking across the cool tiled floor. At one point it stopped by the island-counter, drew its self up to its full height (which was only slightly larger than that of a common hen), and scanned its new surroundings in the same, calculating, almost mechanical way a hawk might scan a field for mice. When its golden eyes fell on the stranger by the table, it let out a low snarl. Not a threat, but an appeal.

It was asking the stranger to toss it a scrap of fresh meat…

[fossilsandfeathers]

“And what, pray tell, must I do to be considered *worthy*?”

My muse Joetta (another JP Raptor) wants a 💚relationship with you, please! :3

Relationship Meme

  “Only if I deem you worthy enough…”@fossilsandfeathers​

[fossilsandfeathers]

(starter for @the-beast-of-fire​)

Joetta was halfway across the field when the earth began to rumble and teeter beneath her talons.

Her head whipped up. She scanned the field with mounting dread.

Another earthquake? No. Worse. A stampede.

Reacting quickly, she leapt into the air and landed cat-like into a tuck-and-roll, skidding behind a fallen log in an attempt to dodge the incoming herd. But no herd came. As she settled on the ground again she saw a great shape rise up before her. An animal bigger even than a brachiosaur. So huge, so incomprehensibly big, that the little raptor could only look at it in pieces. She saw a wide, shining wing as red as blood. A chest covered with jagged scales as black as volcanic glass. A long, coiling neck adorned with jutting frills. And a head, massive, monster-ish, possessing a nightmare version of her own snout and eyes, tipping down toward her.

Without intending to she pictured a pteranodon plucking a bug off the ground and swallowing it whole, and thought –

It’s going to eat me. This thing I’m looking at now is going to eat me.

Her mind pulsed with sudden, screaming fear. A fear too big and too primitive in it’s roots to be articulated. A fear so big that it pushed away every other thought in her head. She curled her claws against her chest like a terrified mouse, hitched in breath, and screeched at the top of her lungs:

“DON’T EAT ME! I’LL SLICE YOUR THROAT ON THE WAY DOWN!”

[fossilsandfeathers]

(starter for @caution-beware-of-dog)

The small velociraptor stood bull-like under the shadow of the big dog with her head lowered, projecting an obvious aura of hate and fear. She had tucked her sinewy arms tight against her chest, and now her slim shoulders were hunched up to her ears. Out of the corner of her eye she caught glimpses of the security team, shuffling uneasily on the other side of the electrified holding-pen fence. They were waiting to see what would happen. How she and the dog would react to one another.

“Don’t come any closer,” the velociraptor growled softly, menacingly, at the dog. “I don’t know what those Keepers over there told you, but no one can keep me from trying to escape again.” 

[fossilsandfeathers]

(starter for @kroxn)

The raptor spends several long seconds eyeing the sprawled bundle of fur in front of her with cold delight. The predatory part of her mind knows she’s found an opportunity here – a large (and otherwise threatening) animal now incapacitated, reduced to an easy meal. But at the same time, another part of her views the idea of feasting on this poor, defenseless giant as distasteful somehow. Without honor. It’s a backwards thought for a carnivore to have, but an influential one nevertheless.

Ignoring basic instinct, the raptor advances slowly toward the creature, keeping her head close to the ground in a submissive display that says – 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to examine you, maybe see if I can help...”

[fossilsandfeathers]

“You can’t be serious...”

@savior-of-humanity

[fossilsandfeathers]

This is probably a very dumb idea. Still, a water balloon lands just a few inches from Jo and pops open, releasing the chilled liquid within. A miss? Or a warning shot? (idk what the fuck im doing hi there 👋)

Jo glances down at the spreading puddle of water, then arcs her head up and around -- following the invisible path the balloon took until she reaches it's origin point.

She hisses.

"Was throwing that at me an accident, or do you have a death-wish?"

@pixelgamer07

[fossilsandfeathers]

Thomas was sweating, his hair was stuck to his face in unlovely spikelets, his legs were crampy and trembling — but his voice wasn’t. He was calm.

He was calm because, bloody hell, at least one of them had to be.

“Someone on my team? That’s preposterous,” he argued, keeping pace with Vex as best he could. She was moving very quickly for a woman with a leg wound. “If InGen had planted a man on my team I’d have known about it.”

Only Thomas wasn’t entirely sure about that. But he didn’t have the will of mind to entertain the possibility that his own negligence had put them in this situation. Not now, when his concentration was needed elsewhere.

“And anyway, it doesn’t matter,” Thomas went on, swallowing back a fresh wave of fear. “All that matters is what we do next. So please tell me you have something resembling a plan.”

No answer.

“Well would you at least tell me where we’re going? You broke my compass so it’s not like I can figure it out for myself,” he added sourly.

~~~~~~

“Or maybe they're on the river,” Keen was saying into his satellite radio.

"I can't imagine they'd be on the river,” the voice on the other end replied. Captain Joetta June’s voice, no-nonsense and knowledgeable, as always. “The banks are very narrow. It's impossible to walk along there.”

Keen thought about it. “But they’re at least following the river. Right?”

“Thats what the compass readout indicated before we lost the signal.”

Keen rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He liked June. She was as tough and practical as he was, but that didn’t change the fact that she had allowed the specimen to slip out from under her and the rest of the Recovery Team’s noses.

“You said you lost sight of them in the visitor center?” Keen questioned.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, if that’s the case, maybe they’re using one of the old underground maintenance tunnels to get around. Might explain why you lost the signal.”

“Maybe,” June said thoughtfully.

There was a brief pause followed by a shuffling sound.

June said “Our map shows the northern maintenance tunnel leading out just north of the aviary.”

Keen cringed. The old Jurassic World aviary. Or, as he and a handful of other InGen lackies now considered it, Masrani’s crash site.

“Looks like there’s a building out there,” June finished.

“A building?”

“Yes, sir. It’s within a half-mile of the aviary entrance gate.”

“You think it’s still intact?” Asked Keen.

“Ought to be.”

“What is it? A maintenance shed or something?”

“Probably the old visitor lodge. The one they used for private tours during the theme park’s hay-day.”

Keen frowned. “You think it’s possible Ashford and the specimen intend to hide out there?”

“I would,” said June. “It’s probably pretty secure, what with the flyers and all. That’s their primary roosting spot.”

Annoyed: “Of course it is. How do you feel about going in after them? Heading them off?”

“Honest answer? Not good. Flyers, especially the big Dactyls, are fiercely territorial," June told him. "They fight among themselves for territory, and they'll attack any other animal that comes into the area they've marked. My team goes in on the ground, there’s bound to be casualties, and there’s a high chance the asset would escape again, too.”

Keen swore under his breath. “Can you get into the tunnel? Trap them before they can get to the aviary?”

“No. The only other opening is in the aviary. And if we go in after them, we’d just wind up chasing them into the aviary faster.”

“Well shit,” said Keen. “What the hell are we supposed to do then?”

Some silence. Then: “I may have an idea. Are those canisters of modified EZ-4 still on board the ship?”

“No. They’ve been moved to Ashford’s base. Why? What are you thinking?”

Keen could practically hear June’s shark-like smile as she spoke. “I’m thinking it’s time we did a little crop dusting...”

@ingenslabrat

( continued from https://ingenslabrat.tumblr.com/post/621760368192192512/fossilsandfeathers-ingenslabrat )

It was seven o'clock in the morning. Oliver Keen (gaunt and awkward in new khaki safari clothes) had been traveling for the last fifteen hours, much of it spent on a company-owned military transport reefer that had been repurposed for “emergencies”. He was exhausted, and his skin felt grimy. He badly wanted a shower, not to mention a change of outfit. But there was no time. The enormous reefer had anchored not fifteen minutes ago and both the Strike Team and the Recovery Team had been sent out into the jungle to perform their respective tasks.

Now Keen stood on the deck of the reefer looking tensely out at the island through a pair of expensive binoculars. Watching. Waiting. Feeling increasingly put-upon and inpatient.

Behind him, a group of workmen bustled to and from the cargo bay, carrying boxes and barrels down the long metal docking ramp. Their manner was preoccupied and tense. They didn’t want to be there any more than Keen did. The island’s reputation was synonymous with danger, and the men — hell, just about everyone on the planet nowadays — knew it.

Peering through the binoculars, Keen saw the dock spread out below the bow, stretching toward a strip of pebbled beach which smoothed out into a broad grassy plain. A half-mile away was a small campsite — only two trailers and a helicopter.

Ashford’s campsite, thought Keen.

The Strike Team had already made quick work of the men the nosy ornithologist had brought with him to the island. Now that their equipment had been secured, all that was left to do was patch into the mobile network. Then they could use Ashford’s nifty little lab setup however they wished.

Keen swung the binoculars away from the campsite and landed his view on a herd of apatosaurs several yards to the east. Irritated, he swung again and saw a cluster of triceratops browsing to the north. Nearer the water, some duck-billed dinosaurs with long crests rising above their heads moved forward to drink.

“Christ, what a waste,” muttered Keen.

Just then a voice flickered fitfully on the satellite-radio clipped to his belt. Keen brought the radio to his ear and listened. He could just make out various snippets of conversation, including something about an “acquired target” and what sounded vaguely like “recovery team move in when ready”.

Keen lowered the radio, his face curling into a sweaty smirk.

Good. The sooner the specimen was captured and brought back to Ashford’s campsite, the sooner Keen could begin — and then finish — this ridiculous little experiment of InGen’s and get back to the mainland and the work that really mattered. His work…

~~~~~

Thomas Ashford had only a second’s worth of time to glance at his campsite before Vex fled with him back into the protection of the trees. He’d been expecting the worst, but what he saw instead was far beyond anything he could have ever imagined. Splashes of blood along the ground. Men with automatic rifles storming in and out of the trailers. One of his laboratory assistants (Gellar, only twenty-seven), limp and glassy-eyed with a small hole in his forehead, being dragged roughly behind the helicopter by a muscular figure in Kevlar fatigues.  

Then the gunfire had begun — harsh, compact explosions that sounded like angry thunder — and Vex had taken off. It was only after they had arrived at the Visitor Center that Vex had thrown Thomas off and shrunk back into human-shape. 

Thomas lurched forward on legs that felt like stilts, almost falling over his own feet. He sat down heavily on the floor. It felt like a case of sit down or fall down. Like being punched hard in the stomach. Despite the fact he was indoors he felt terribly exposed. 

”Vex, what’s happening here?” It came out in a helpless sort of cry. “My team. They — they were —”

A cold and terrible certainty rose in Thomas’ mind.

“Dead. They were all dead, weren’t they…”

He hardly noticed when Vex thrust his belongings into his arms and yanked him to his feet. A moment later, and Thomas found himself looking nervously over the edge of the opening Vex had revealed. It looked like a cross between a manhole and a submarine door. Below was a tunnel leading down into blackness. Small slabs of curved metal decorated one side of the smooth shaft. He turned to climb down —

Could be anything down there.

— and then hesitated. Caution fought with the terrible need to get somewhere– anywhere – safe. He looked to Vex for guidance and saw fresh blood on her leg. 

Have to.

There was a sudden KAPOW, as deafening as dynamite, followed by the sound of glass exploding. Thomas whirled around. From some other part of the building came the sound of men shouting to one another.

“—getting readings from up ahead—”

“—ot her cornered—”

“—itch to tranqs, everybody switch to—”

The voices seemed to advance, drawing rapidly closer to the back room.

Thomas glanced again at the hole in the floor — it looked like a big startled eye — and then at Vex. Without another word he quickly shouldered his rucksack, fitted himself down the hole, and began to descend…

@ingenslabrat​

[fossilsandfeathers]

( @abbythemewtwo requested a horror-themed starter )

“I smell blood. A lot of it...”

[fossilsandfeathers]

( @dino-king-rex asked for a touch starved starter)

“Ugh, I hate February. It’s cold and gray and lonely and could we just cuddle, like, until spring comes?”

[fossilsandfeathers]

( @abbythemewtwo asked for a spooky starter 🎃🦇 )

“Did — Did that scarecrow just M O V E?”

[fossilsandfeathers]

[OPEN STARTER: panic attack]

“It’s just a panic attack, I’m fine, I’m used to it just — just give me a moment.”

[fossilsandfeathers]

👩‍⚕️ > Loki putting pressure on your muse’s wound ( non verbal rp starters )

Loki’s touch was gentle, but even so, it hurt. The wound in Joetta’s shoulder was deep — deep and raw and dripping and clotted with blood — and the sudden jolt of Loki’s fingers trying to pinch it closed made Joetta hiss and sway with pain.

Slowly, despite her determination not to, she sank down to sit haphazard at Loki’s feet. She felt sick, like she was floating outside her own head. She licked her lips, panting thickly, and noticed out of the corner of her eye that the room was growing weirdly dark.

She moaned, her face pressing drunkenly into one of Loki’s muscular legs. “Mmgonna faint...”

@trickstr