#my ask box is open if anyone has questions

[phoebe-delia]

Tomorrow is my last day at a toxic job. Here's what I've learned:

Sometimes, loving the work you do is not enough to stay.

Toxic people are too wrapped up in themselves to care about being annoyed or pissed when you succeed, but they'll be the first to criticize when you mess up. Don't succeed to spite them; they won't notice, but they don't matter. Do it for you.

Don't assume everyone is your ally just because they're nice to you

Make close friends with those who don't have anything to gain by throwing you under the bus.

Don't take the blame when you didn't make the mistake. And try not to be defensive when you do mess up.

And when you do mess up, you don't need to apologize more than once.

They don't matter more than you.

You don't have to say yes to everything.

If/when it gets bad, quit if you can. If you can't, take care of your own mental health until you can find a liferaft.

Work is not everything and your job is not who you are.

[beehivian]

Also here's the build book I submitted at Anime Fusion for Anniversary Kaito if anyone here is curious

[macaroonkitti]

Haven't posted Val in a minute

[as-kind-as-summer]

I finally have a minute to sit down so I'm going to yell about the Lord of the Rings musical for a bit! I'll put everything under a cut so people can avoid spoilers! Pic of me in my cute hobbit-ish outfit first 😊

So disclaimer first, hopefully I'm remembering everything correctly but I recently started a new job and can't take any days off in my first 90 days but desperately wanted to see this show. So I worked a night shift, drove 6 hours, and by the time everything was over I'd been awake for ~21 hours. And also everyone who knows anything about this show is long. Like we were sitting in act 2 and I couldn't remember if they'd sang The Road Goes On in act 1 because it had been two hours ago by that point 😂All this to say, if I misremember please forgive me and feel free to correct me!

My friend and I had the most amazing seats for this show! I'd been debating whether or not I wanted to go through the trouble of going to see it with work and all but then I got an email because apparently I'd signed up for the Shakespeare Theatre's 30 under 30 program and that made everything worth it. I'll post a picture below but we sat second row in the center section on the end of the stage right side. In the picture you can see the stairs literally came down about six inches in front of my feet. I'm not usually a fan of sitting so close but with how immersive the show was it was perfect.

(Obligatory photo with the playbill because I will always be a theatre nerd at heart)

Starting at ~15 til, the actors all started coming out and wandering the audience, just talking to people and having a good ol' time. Again I'm such a sucker for immersive performances and despite being terribly awkward this was still very exciting.

With everyone wandering around and then the show just sort of starting with no big to-do, it really felt like you're a part of the story. Like 'oh I really am here at Bilbo's birthday party.' Again just a really good time, I think it added another really great layer to the show.

I know I just keep saying how fun this show looked but honestly it looks like such a great time and like every single actor on stage is having the best time. The choreography isn't anything terribly complicated but it just looks fun. Also we saw this on a Wednesday at the evening performance which means there would've been a matinee earlier and you never would've been able to tell. I've seen shows where you can tell the actors are going through it during their second show of the day(and rightfully so) but I wouldn't have had a clue if I hadn't known the schedule. Really just such an amazing cast.

The puppetry was phenomenal! I'm not typically freaked out by puppetry but I had a visceral reaction to those Nazgul puppets. Don't know what it was about them but I was legitimately unnerved. One came up next to me and I did not care for it at all. Pretty sure the people behind me were chuckling every time I cringed but like honestly so fair 😂

So I only found out about the existence of this musical in June and it was absolutely my accident. After seeing the trilogy in theaters, I fell back in hard and was just like 'huh I wonder if there's a stage version of this if not there should be' and googled it on a whim. Pretty much been listening to the London soundtrack on repeat since then but there were a lot of songs that I felt very eh about on the soundtrack that are loads better within the context of the show. Like a lot of the Elvish acapella songs being actually just background to the action that happened onstage felt a lot more natural than listening to them on their own.

Speaking of songs I liked more, Lament for Moria was absolutely beautiful. I hate to compare casts because I think every actor brings their own unique take to the role but that was just a song that I wasn't terribly fond of on the London soundtrack. But the actor that played Gimli in this version had an absolutely gorgeous voice. I was telling someone I always assume actors in a show will be able to sing because obviously they've been cast but there are still times where someone opens their mouth and I'm stunned and this was one of them.

I really enjoyed the set design a lot. I love the current trend of having a simple versatile set with smaller pieces that are wheeled on from time to time. Also, such a sucker for turntables and platforms. I don't know what it is but I think it's A+. Also the climbing wall grips in the back so Gollum could climb up and down were fantastic! Such a simple solution but I think it worked so well. I could see them since we were so close but the way they were painted, I'm guessing they blended in really well further back and the effect would've been amazing.

Obviously even at nearly 3 hours long this is still a wildly condensed version of these stories but I was still disappointed that almost all of Two Towers was cut out other than Treebeard. This of course isn't unique to this production, just the way it's written. I don't think it necessarily detracted from the story since most of the action and important bits do take place in Fellowship and Return of the King but Two Towers is still my favorite so this is a personal gripe mostly haha.

The costumes were all great, a lot of it felt sort of generic fantasy-ish but I love generic fantasy-ish costumes so I was happy. However, I thought the orcs costumes were so cool! Especially with the new(? I'll be honest with y'all I have not read the books(yet) and I feel like I heard about this being the ending somewhere. Not sure if they changed it for the movies and the ending of the musical is the actual ending? anyway) ending they were very neat!

I'm also such a sucker for instruments being played onstage especially when it's the actors doing it and especially when a lot of them are playing multiple different instruments. I just will never get over the talent.

I think I've said most of what I wanted to say so I have to talk about Now and For Always. Since my first listen, Now and For Always was my absolute favorite song. Like hyperfixated listening for hours on end kind of favorite song. I just think it's so beautiful, the harmonies are gorgeous, and it really embodies what these stories were about. I saw the snippet Chicago Shakespeare posted before I went and I was iffy about if I'd like it. I could not have been more wrong. The way it was so slowed down, having the rest of the cast standing around Sam and Frodo, the delivery of the last verse from Frodo to a sleeping Sam? I'm tearing up just thinking about it again. Like that's what it's all about, you know? The tenderness and kindness in the midst of horrors. The true power that friendship has to carry you through the absolute worst of things. I don't even have more words, it was just such a beautiful and touching presentation and it's going to stay with me for a very long time.

Oh no wait I did have one more thing to say, they tried to make me like Denethor and no one will ever make me like Denethor! Denethor hater for life, all my homies hate Denethor. I'm sorry, I know they used the explanation of 'he's too close too Mordor it's poisoning his mind' nope don't care. The best thing Denethor did was set himself on fire, change my mind.

All this to say, I had the most amazing time and I am forever grateful I found this production when I did and had the chance to go see it. I don't think it's for everyone, as like 'duh obviously' as it sounds I think you really have to enjoy both LotR and theatre. The people behind us were snickering from time to time because there were some things that were kind of goofy. Most of it was at the weapons, they're definitely on the cheaper side but it's a regional theatre and I'm sure they only had so much budget. You have to be able to suspend your disbelief when seeing any show but especially this one. Forget what you know from the books and the movies and just go in with an open mind. It's a spectacle, it's goofy, it's serious, it will absolutely wrench your heartstrings if you just let yourself be open to it. Everyone is obviously so passionate about what they're doing and it made for such an amazing show, highly recommend to go see it if you get the chance 💜

[which-qsmp-egg-would]

Who's excited about camp tomorrooooow?

[royalsea-art]

thinking of making a lil OC info sheet for tumblr so people can ask me stuff about my characters if they want to,,,

[starsh0cked]

OC design just dropped! (Idk what to name her. Maybe wisp????) Next time i show off my oc it will be on my blog. I don't want to keep bothering you 😓

STAR MOTIF MENTIONED!!! WE LOVE STAR MOTIFS IN HERE!! and her torn wing!! i wonder what happened to her?

and wisp sounds like a great name! i wouldn’t say i’m too reliable when it comes to names - i made up ‘mienna’ on the spot - but wisp fits her soft-looking disposition and the mystery behind her wing. still, if you do want naming advice (or suggestions) feel free to ask me!!

trust me when i say you haven’t been bothering me - in fact, i’m surprised you wanted to use mienna as inspiration! watching you make your oc and giving you advice has been a unique experience for me, goober! so thanks for having the bravery to ask your question in the first place, and for coming back so often!!

[astraeusastro13]

So I’ve worked in science communication for years, and I’m planning on going back to it full time after I’m done with grad school. I’ve been doing some career research and I really want to go back to working in planetariums and creating content for them.

So I’m looking up planetariums in the US and:

[its-toguchi-do-now]

i need to get back to teaching martial arts on god

[azikarue]

What are the eight different ships?

This is gonna put the pressure on me to actually finish them all lol But here's the current list:

Max/Mariam (finished, awaiting edits) Tala/Julia (finished, awaiting edits) Enrique/Queen (in progress) Ray/Salima (in progress) Tyson/Hilary Rick/Mariah Kenny/Emily Daichi/Ming-Ming

[sapphires-and-silver-linings]

Oh, I just came up with a very sad Alan Wake fic concept 😭

Made myself cry jotting down the plot points.

I don’t even know when I’ll be able to actually write it but wow, the ending I came up with punched me in the gut.

Like, it’s technically bittersweet? But also just… ugh. Why am I like this lmao

It’s also gonna be several chapters long cos I have a problem with keeping things short, apparently.

[sankttealeaf]

Hello there - I was wondering when did you first start liking durgetash? How did you get the inspo for your story? ps Im a huge fan ❤

hi anon!! thank u!! <3

the thing that dragged me headfirst into the depths of durgetash hell was the prayer for forgiveness! i went into the dark urge playthrough knowing very little! (started rue's run in early september but only got around to actually playing her in early october! (act 3 was lagging so bad on my first playthrough i needed to jump ship to simpler times)

seeing other peoples interpretations of their durge & gortash got me thinking a little more about rue & gortash and what they couldve been like! i went into rue's playthrough knowing i was going to romance gale and went woah, theres some similarities between the two there. rue has a type!

(fun fact: my first tav playthrough & the beginnings of my durgetash era overlapped so when i got to meet gortash as my tav, cassiopeia, i was only slightly taken in by him. did not trust him at all, though. stupid man)

i think i love the tragedy of it all. no matter what relationship your durge has with gortash, its still one of closeness. and to have someone you worked hard with ripped from you, only to return now wanting to destroy everything youve made? thats gotta hurt.

as for my fic it kind of started as a series of one shots i started writing, never really with the intent to publish them! i wanted to work out how rue acted before the tadpoling and how different she was then!

the original plan was just a collection of moments shared between rue and gortash throughout their time together. back then rue was still called rue, i hadnt given her another name to further separate her life before & after being tadpoled. i also really wanted to make little letters and notes that you find in the game to go along with the writing. however i only ever made gortash's initial request for a meeting.

(as u can see below. i thought it was a cool concept. no idea how i wouldve fully executed it though)

then it sort of spiralled from there! what if rue and enver were friends as kids? what if they keep finding each other over and over again? what if they always fall to the same fate? i love tragic romances, friendships that are doomed to fail, relationships that can only end one way, so it was very fun to explore all this with them!!

the title was originally a title from a one shot i started writing about them. i think the phrase "let sleeping dogs lie" is very them - after all, why disturb what is a peaceful alliance? why ruin it by admitting feelings or saying words they shouldnt? also dog imagery & rue go hand in hand (despite me saying she's cat coded)

i had key events planned from the start that i wanted to happen, the main thing being how rue lets down her guard over the course of their friendship & how that becomes her downfall!

i also wanted to use this as a way to not only explore rue and gortash, but rue and orin, too!! it meant i could write in their povs, get into their brains and work out why they do what they do! i love villainous characters and finding out the root cause behind their actions (im currently running a curse of strahd dnd game and did the exact thing for strahd - writing up his motivations and intentions to give me better access into his headspace & why he acts like he does!)

at the start i never really intented to publish it on ao3. i added the little prologue after writing the second chapter, and then i decided to bite the bullet and post it! i made this account to share my writing, why not do that!!

im still a little in shock at how many people have enjoyed reading it & especially how many people love rue. ive never written any oc x canon before so it was a little scary putting her out there for the world to see!! sometimes i get that little voice in my head that goes "gr. youre being cringe" and i have to bap it away before it can rot my brain. im allowed to have silly characters and make them kiss other characters - no one can stop me!!

this got a little longer than i intended, but thanks anon!! <3 i hope this has been a lil insightful about the behind the scene of my very chaotic brain behind this fic! its all ive been thinking about for 6ish months now (oh gods)

[sakurarisen]

Whooo, update time! <3 I've been working on Sera's carrd to get a bunch of stuff added and updated for the last few days, and I've gotten to most of it now I think-

-The phoenix lore has been added where it was most important! I'll be writing up a full page detailing the original mythos/legend in more detail later on, when I have a clearer head, but for now there's details and points to it in various places, along with nods to the fact that, 7 verse with materia or not, Sera is very much a natural with ice and healing abilities as a result of being part of the Snow Phoenix, Aria's, bloodline. How this manifests though varies by verse, with things like 7 requiring materia to help her use any kind of magic, and Genshin Impact verse requiring the use of her cryo vision, and the lore has seen minor tweaks to fit into each setting, detailed in the verse specific misc sections. I have yet to add this info to the Spellbound or Genshin sections, and will be doing so within the coming days.

-Also noted is that Sera and Shiva share a close connection in 7 verses due to this lore, though Sera herself can't tell you much about it, personally. Aria was an elemental familiar of Shiva's, and was hidden away by the goddess a long time ago - But as Shiva can still sense her old friend's bloodline, she's quite taken with Sera and even refuses her calls in an attempt to protect her. This connection is valid solely with the Shiva I write on Shinrarisen, and who will be seeing her own updates in the future.

-I've also rewritten some details among her misc sections to make more sense overall, and tweaked them where they needed, including a mention of Sera overworking herself or falling into a subserviant mindframe while dealing with trauma and PTSD related issues, and that @yoroiis's Thoma, her eldest brother, holds the bloodline of the snow phoenix's brother, the fire phoenix, Aelius, and is part of the reason why their relationship is so tight. Further tweaks have gone into her physical appearance and things like her occupation and hometown, as I've tried to make the main about page less FF-centric and more generalized with notes to what changed in FF.

-Also noted is how her bloodline has drawn her to lifesprings, one of which is the 'koi pond and community garden' in her backstory when it comes to FF7 settings.

-Also of really important but also longest note is a new, small section added to Sera's personality that will be shown more going forward: How she acts with those she trusts most. I've never made it a secret that Sera is very different with people she trusts, and that the more you earn her trust, the more relaxed and playful, even childish, she can seem, all with respect to those around her and their boundaries... But I've always been wary of showing her at her most relaxed, and that's changing going forward, too. Sera is always respectful of those around her and what they can and can't stand and will always present herself in a manner that they're going to be comfortable with, but a Sera that trusts is also an incredibly comfortable Sera, and one who's guard is completely lowered to show the woman deep within she usually keeps hidden from the world - And that woman is one who never had an actual childhood, and is still very naive and innocent.

A fully relaxed and trusting Sera is playful and silly, and will act childish... Because she was never allowed to be otherwise. She's only able to explore 'childhood' now, and she's doing it through those she's closest to; she's relaxed and playful because she has no reason to be afraid those those she's around. She carries a stuffed husky named Zax because it makes her feel better and is a connection to her husband, but it's also just her favorite stuffed animal, and a comfort. She'd wear light up sneakers and hop around in wonder and pure childish delight because they're super cool - But also because she was never allowed this kind of thing before. This is her first experience with it, and she's enjoying it, but she also knows how to be a mature adult when needed of her, or when to tone it down because someone around her doesn't care for silliness; ex. she's not going to run up to @azure-steel's Cloud and give him a stuffed animal if he's not shown he's okay with that kind of behavior around him just because she feels comfortable and safe with him first, but she's also not going to hide the fact she has her stuffed husky or how she lights up completely at a toy store, either. How much of this childish side shows depends on who she's with and how much she knows they'd accept and be okay with, and she'll never cross that line - and especially not act as such in public.

This is also the point where those closest to her will find her last line of defense; Sera has taken pieces of everything others have shown the see in her and treat her as, and used it to form a wall around her heart that, ultimately, is the last protection she keeps up around those she trusts to keep herself safe. Though she is relaxed, content, and happy with those she trusts, she's still plagued by trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and a nightmare deep down that has nearly claimed her life more than once, and this 'last line of defense' is Sera's ultimate go-to to cope with it all, a 'shield' of sorts to keep the nightmares at bay. The biggest example of this is the nickname @honorisen's Zack has given her of 'Kitten'; Sera DOES NOT actually think she's a cat, yet she's still prone to calling herself 'Kitty' with those who're comfortable with it, meowing playfully to get their attention if they're close by, and even viewing problems that creep up as her being a 'bad kitty' - Again, not because she thinks she's a cat, but because it's silly, playful, and makes her feel happy to be silly like that... But also because 'bad kitty' makes things easier for her to cope with, and prevents the nightmares and traumas from forcing her into a spiral that can quickly get out of control. "I've been a bad kitty" is easier for her to cope with when her traumas strike than letting the nightmares make her believe "Sera is a horrible human being nobody would miss". for example, because she's having a flare of her PTSD and someone happened to be minorly irritated with her at the same time.

As mentioned above too, this is all changes mainly made to Sera as an original, multi-fandom/multi-verse character and tweaked to fit into her current settings, as well as updates that were a long time coming anyway, and I'll be finishing up with these updates by working on the Spellbound and Genshin sides tomorrow and over the weekend, which should be much simpler to add things to given her primary, overall info has been updated here, and tweaking some of my rules to account for things in Rebirth and the new Phoenix lore. I'll also be updating again in the future and fine-tuning phrasing as I go through Rebirth (slowly-) alongside @honorisen / @yoroiis, as we get time and chances to play and build up our thoughts; I haven't wanted to add too much regarding it just yet given she's still in Chapter 2 and I'm in chapter 4 at the time of this post! <3

It's been a long, long time since I've been able to update my girl like she deserves, and I'm gonna make that up by getting as much as I can done over this upcoming weekend! <3

~Pom

[saritawolff]

More tags, adding on more length to this post (I hope this doesn’t become the new “do you love the color of the sky”)

You may be thinking of minks, which are another type of mustelid related to ferrets. Minks are bred in fur farms and fur farm minks are larger and softer than wild minks. Since they’re bred in human care, they do tend to be much tamer than a wild mink would be, however, they are not truly domesticated. They’re bred for size, color, softness, and ease of care in a fur farm setting, not for ease of care in a person’s house. Still, some people keep them as exotic pets. As they are semi-aquatic, they require access to water deep enough to submerge in at all times, a varied diet, and a rigorous enrichment program. These are things that can not be provided by a single household. I agree with your friend, if they were in fact talking about minks! If not though, ferrets are good alternative pets to keep but definitely require a specific type of person able to keep up with their enrichment needs and diet, as you’re probably not going to be using them to hunt rabbits.

No, it can take hundreds of generations for an animal population to have evolved enough to be considered domesticated. What you are thinking of is habituation. Habituation involves training an animal (whether intentionally or not) to lose its fear of humans. This is incredibly dangerous for the animal. Some habituated animals end up in zoos, but most end up needing to be euthanized for both the animals’ safety and human safety. It also leads to the spread of zoonotic diseases such as rabies and toxoplasmosis. I really hope you’re joking about luring foxes into your home.

Siberia is in Asia, and from what I read while researching for this, most can agree that dog domestication happened somewhere around there. I’m sure it would have been more Northern, as that’s where Pleistocene Wolves would have been ranging.

I don’t think we can truly ever get an exact area though. All the other animals on this list were domesticated during or after the advent of civilization. Dogs were domesticated when humans were still migratory hunter-gatherers, which is just wild to me.

There is actually a type of sheep called the European Mouflon, which were descended from feral sheep (similar to how wild hogs are descended from feral pigs). I worked with some at one point and they are insane. I can not imagine how the first round-up of truly wild Armenian Mouflon went.

Thank you for pointing this out it’s literally my favorite scientific name

I would be up for it as long as any educators contact me first, after which I can send them the high-res images. I don’t like my stuff being used without permission. I’d also want some time to correct issues I’m already noticing (I forgot to add blood sport for chickens and also the afformentioned misleading way I seemed to include spider ball pythons as a breed rather than an example of unethical breeding).

Phew. This one took, uh… a bit longer than expected due to other projects both irl and art-wise, but it’s finally here. The long-awaited domestic animal infographic! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough space to cover every single domestic animal (I’m so sorry, reindeer and koi, my beloveds) but I tried to include as many of the “major ones” as possible.

I made this chart in response to a lot of the misunderstandings I hear concerning domestic animals, so I hope it’s helpful!

Further information I didn’t have any room to add or expand on:

🐈 “Breed” and “species” are not synonyms! Breeds are specific to domesticated animals. A Bengal Tiger is a species of tiger. A Siamese is a breed of domestic cat.

🐀 Different colors are also not what makes a breed. A breed is determined by having genetics that are unique to that breed. So a “bluenose pitbull” is not a different breed from a “rednose pitbull”, but an American Pitbull Terrier is a different breed from an American Bully! Animals that have been domesticated for longer tend to have more seperate breeds as these differing genetics have had time to develop.

🐕 It takes hundreds of generations for an animal to become domesticated. While the “domesticated fox experiment” had interesting results, there were not enough generations involved for the foxes to become truly domesticated and their differences from wild foxes were more due to epigenetics (heritable traits that do not change the DNA sequence but rather activate or deactivate parts of it; owed to the specific circumstances of its parents’ behavior and environment.)

🐎 Wild animals that are raised in human care are not domesticated, but they can be considered “tamed.” This means that they still have all their wild instincts, but are less inclined to attack or be frightened of humans. A wild animal that lives in the wild but near human settlements and is less afraid of humans is considered “habituated.” Tamed and habituated animals are not any less dangerous than wild animals, and should still be treated with the same respect. Foxes, otters, raccoons, servals, caracals, bush babies, opossums, owls, monkeys, alligators, and other wild animals can be tamed or habituated, but they have not undergone hundreds of generations of domestication, so they are not domesticated animals.

🐄 Also, as seen above, these animals have all been domesticated for a reason, be it food, transport, pest control, or otherwise, at a time when less practical options existed. There is no benefit to domesticating other species in the modern day, so if you’ve got a hankering for keeping a wild animal as a pet, instead try to find the domestic equivalent of that wild animal! There are several dog breeds that look and behave like wolves or foxes, pigeons and chickens can make great pet birds and have hundreds of colorful fancy breeds, rats can be just as intelligent and social as a small monkey (and less expensive and dangerous to boot,) and ferrets are pretty darn close to minks and otters! There’s no need to keep a wolf in a house when our ancestors have already spent 20,000+ years to make them house-compatible.

🐖 This was stated in the infographic, but I feel like I must again reiterate that domestic animals do not belong in the wild, and often become invasive when feral. Their genetics have been specifically altered in such a way that they depend on humans for optimal health. We are their habitat. This is why you only really see feral pigeons in cities, and feral cats around settlements. They are specifically adapted to live with humans, so they stay even when unwanted. However, this does not mean they should live in a way that doesn’t put their health and comfort as a top priority! If we are their world, it is our duty to make it as good as possible. Please research any pet you get before bringing them home!

[rin-may-1103]

Just a Bite.

Master Post | Next

Danny stared out at the busy street from behind his dumpster.

or well, not his dumpster, but it might as well be his considering how many nights he's spent sitting behind it like some rabid raccoon.

Two months ago, he would have been sleeping in his own bed. His glow-in-the-dark stars vaguely lighting up his room in soft luminescent colors. The sound of Jazz snoring in her sleep just a room over, his parents still milling around in the basement.

he would have just finished fighting the box ghost and collapsed onto his bed, the sound of his home lulling him to sleep.

Oh, how things can change in a blink of an eye.

No, instead of sleeping on his bed with his cartoon ghost sheets and NASA poster covered room, he's out here in some random dirty city, sleeping behind dumpsters.

dirty, grimy, rusty dumpsters.

"did you hear?" some lady dressed in a light blue summer dress asked, turning to look at her friend as they started to walk past. "Mr. Wayne donated another lump sum to that charity." she huffed, shaking her head like she had just said the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard.

her friend stopped in the middle of the alley opening, her graying hair splaying in an ark as she twisted to face the other women. "my word! again? what the hell is that man thinking?"

the woman huffed, then smirked in amusement. "it's like he's shouting for the world to hear how desperate he is for attention. he thinks if he donates enough money to those scoudrails they'll love him or something. With how he's acting lately, it's like he wants all the street rats to barge into his home asking for money, food, and clothes."

her friend clicked her tongue in disgust, "I'd believe it. he has so many kids now, it's like he's running an orphanage. someone, anyone really, with black hair and some tragic story could walk right in and not even be noticed. they'd blend right in with the others."

"I heard it's genetic, his father was the same way before he met Martha. Bruce's blood son, Damian I believe, acts just like his father. the boy's been spotted taking stray cats and dogs inside. It wouldn't surprise me if the paper posted about him convincing his father for another sibling at some point."

the women then turned and started to walk away, their conversation slowly bleeding into the surrounding city ruckus.

Danny leaned back, resting his head against the crumbling brick behind him.

walk right in and not be noticed? wouldn't that be grand. He had heard of Mr. wayne and his gaggle of black-haired children. What were their names again? he could have sworn Sam told him before, in one of her rants about rich society.

Richard Grayson was the first, Danny remembered because Tucker had been making none stop dick jokes for a few hours. Danny didn't understand why the man would willingly go by Dick, but then again, who was he to question someone's name when he fights ghosts like Skulker and Technis on a daily basis?

Next was... Jason? Sam had mentioned there was a whole conspiracy theory of how his death was a cover-up. how all the unsolved crime community swore it was Bruce who killed the kid, that or the kid had some terminal illness that Bruce didn't want the media to know about.

thennnnnn-

Danny glanced around, trying to dig through his memories of Sam's rant. Dick: the orphaned circus act taken in the night his parents died. he's romanie? maybe, Danny wasn't too sure on that one. Jason: taken off the streets, one of his parents was out of the picture and the other one died of a drug overdose.

and then there was..... Tim! Right, Tim, the one who was Mr. Wayne's neighbor before his mother died and his dad went into a coma, then died later on. right, right. he was the known tech genius, the one who took over the company while Mr. Wayne stepped back for a while.

there were others? like, four others? Damian, the lady said he was the blood son sooo, that would imply he was the only bio kid.

who else was there? hmmmm.

well, either way, Danny's tired brain agreed with the women. someone, anyone, who looked vaguely like the other kids could walk right into the house and no one would notice.

it was a bad idea. a terrible one really. but. Danny was hungry.

he's been sleeping behind dumpsters for a few weeks now, he hadn't had anything good to eat in forever, and he was tired. (not as exhausted as he was back home, but still tired. who would have guessed he'd sleep more while homeless?)

he wasn't going to steal from people, his core wouldn't allow him to. and well, he's pretty sure Dan would have stolen already, so there was no way Danny was going to. not unless his life was at risk, and well? it wasn't right now, so no stealing.

but this? walking right into a house and blatantly taking food? right in front of them?

it wouldn't be stealing if he just flat-out didn't try to hide it. they'd be able to stop him and send him away. heck, he doubted he'd even make it past the front gate before they turned him away.

...

was he really going to do this?

...

yes, yes he was.

standing up, Danny started making his way out of the alleyway and over to the tall building with Wayne's name on it. It was a good place to start, maybe he could even find one of the kids and walk with them. or, even better, he could find Mr. Wayne and walk with him. he liked that better than following some kid around.

suddenly, a car honked right next to him, the window rolling down to reveal a tired and disheveled man behind the wheel. glancing up, Danny made eye contact with the taxi driver.

the man yawned and gestured for him to get in, already speaking before Danny could decline. "Mr. Wayne! Your father," yawn, "Father already paid for me to take you home. just hop in."

Danny blinked then glanced around, looking to see if the Wayne the man was talking about was around. nope. turning back, Danny spotted a green sticky note on the back seat.

well, alright then. guess he was getting into the taxi and doing this after all. Clockwork obviously approved if he messed with the timing of things.

Next

[wild-west-wind]

For anyone who may be interested, Summer 2025 Park Service jobs start opening on September 9th this year!

On September 9th, Recreation Fee Clerk and Technician jobs go live! These are fee focused jobs, usually at entry stations. If you have a high school diploma, and can work a cash register, you can get this job! The pay is usually not excellent (but much more than minimum wage in most states), but it has health insurance, and can take you to new and interesting places!

EMTs may also go live on that day.

On October 21, Interpretive Park Rangers and Park Guides will go live! These are educational and informational jobs, teaching people about parks, working visitor center desks, etc.

Around this time, Facilities/Maintenance, Backcountry, Resource Technician and Fire Jobs should go live as well.

Facilities/Maintenance jobs cover the gamut from running wastewater treatment plants, to custodial work, to repair to electricians. Pay is usually pretty good.

Backcountry jobs include trail work, checking permits, wilderness EMT stuff, Search and Rescue, etc.

Resource Technician type jobs generally do field work and research. Spraying for invasive plants, treating trees for parasites, collecting data, assisting researchers from around the world.

Fire jobs are pretty straightforward: fight fires, look for fires, initiate controlled burns. NGL you need to be kinda ripped for these, and able to complete a lot of training.

Park Service is weird, but if you have some time on your hands and you want an okay job in a cool place meeting lots of new people and doing stuff that will make you sound cool at parties for the rest of your life, it's a cool seasonal gig!

Also if you have any questions about being a park ranger my ask box is there! And I answer most of the asks I get that are normal, and I think really hard about it every time someone asks me to weight in on a major global issue, and sometimes respond to those too.