#from the enumerator

[tf2-data-collection-agency]

How it sometimes feels to reach out to dead or inactive blogs

(for legal reasons this is an exaggeration)

Also- statistically most likely to have blogs? Medics. And statistically most likely team to have blogs are REDs

[tf2-data-collection-agency]

Thank you for your co-operation, this is very helpful.

And yes, the 3 projects that the Bureau has ongoing do have data for the public to access. The "Most Attractive Mercenary" survey results, and the employment satisfaction and blog catalog survey (the results of the question I have just asked you) are both linked in our pinned post.

As for the 3rd project, a catalog of every map and TF Industries base, has some posted updates, but I can mail over a copy of the spreadsheet should you wish to see it.

Hello. The following is a message from the Teufort Census Bureau.

How would you rate your current employment?

Thank you for your co-operation.

@tf2-data-collection-agency

Brodie: I'm just so curious. We both handle in the transferring of data and information in a way if ya think about it. I share mine if yous share yours? :3c

[screwpinecaprice]

Just a silly guy, with silly silly thoughts.

@glowweek Day 2

Casual | Surprise

A casual surprise?😬😬😬

[tf2-data-collection-agency]

Here's the map of all the declassified base locations that sits behind my desk in the Census Bureau offices.

This isn't every Base, (and we ran out of space to put pins in the badlands) but it's a start!

[tf2-data-collection-agency]

Thank you for your co-operation. This is very helpful.

And if you're ever in Teufort you're welcome to stop by the Bureau's offices for a cup of tea.

Hello. The following is a message from the Teufort Census Bureau.

How would you rate your current employment?

Thank you for your co-operation.

@tf2-data-collection-agency

Janitor: Uh… well… I guess that's okay?

Even though I get my house destroyed two or three times a week by bombs, have to clean up bloody crusts and break my broom over the heads of some spies… I like it here. The guys are nice to me and the pay is pretty good.

I'm going to need to fix my hair… again.

[sinful-karateka]

let me be a bit serious for a sec: i've been observing a couple of sentiments here about how there's a lack of binary boyfriends art in circulation with season 6 upon us and the show's foreseeable end. while i agree on that front, and as one of the fellow artists who started making art for the ship in the early years of the show (sketches, full rendered pieces, gifs -- you name it), i would like to emphasize that fanart is not meant to be a one-time piece of "content" that passes by our dashboards. they take time. they take energy. the next person you follow has a life you may not know anything about, and working on these pieces are labor of love.

if you find something that makes you feel a certain and positive way, let the creators know! again: fanart is not fleeting content. they can be evergreen content, but never seasonal. and most often than not, you'd see an artist share these pieces as a love letter to the ship itself first, then everyfan second.

i hope we think twice about this before calling out a recession or drought, because the last thing creators need is to feel like what we make is subjected to scrutinizing numbers until it gets lost in the muddied waters, when it's really meant to be discovered if people mean to look hard enough. they're pieces of history that deserve to exist for as long as this hellhole is still alive. these are products of their time today, and hopefully for the next groups over who will love the boys as much as we do now.

scroll through the main ship tag. travel to different ones, to different places. commission your artists and maybe find an honest middle ground if you can't compensate! or better yet, make one yourself you know you'd be proud of anyway!

and look, not every piece of art is for everyone, but if any piece isn't your drift, that's understandable -- you can silently say that's very cool, like, reblog if you're even more generous, leave a few encouraging words, then move on.

i don't want this to come across as a sermon, but take it from a concerned fan to another who also wants to create and see stuff for these babies. you can't win them all, but your acknowledgement helps keep the ship and our craft alive.

[avirael]

Peace of Mind

There was something incredibly soothing about the daily business of the Silver Bazaar.

The same familiar friendly faces, simple mundane tasks he could help with, no unforseeable occurrences disturbing the peace. A’viloh loved this place and it’s people from the bottom of his heart. They had taken him in the way he was, like he had always been one of them, and he knew they would always welcome him back with open arms. And this was exactly what the townsfolk and Kikipu had done when he had appeared not only without announcement but also visibly shaken at that.

A’viloh had pretty much fled Ishgard. Hadn’t even bothered to return to his room at the inn. There was nothing there that belonged to him. The few things he possessed and wasn’t carrying with him still were at the room in Fortemps Manor and he certainly wouldn’t return there ever again. As late as it was he had gone straight to the place where the Haillenartes had accommodated Cid and his team for the time he spent working at the Skysteel Manufactury.

“A’viloh?”, the man had asked with a yawn, visibly torn from his sleep, as he opened the door.

“You have to take me to Ul’dah.”, the Miqo’te had demanded without any word of greeting, much to Cid’s confusion. Of course he had tried to question him but A’viloh hadn’t let him and in the end he had agreed to have Biggs and Wedge fly him to his destination early the next morning.

The few hours it took for the sun to rise he had spent at the chocobo stables. Yugiri had taught him enough so he was able to sneak in there unseen and so he spent the night cuddled close to the soft warm plumage of the black chocobo Haurchefant had gifted him, silently crying about how lost and alone he suddenly felt. The bird had made a low, almost purring, sound and nuzzled his head with her beak until A’viloh wrapped his arms around her long neck and buried his face in her dark feathers.

The airship departed as the sun rose and after wondering for a bit wether or not he should, he decided to take Chloé with him. The chocobo was rightfully his, so the caretaker at the stable did not protest, and yet it somehow felt like theft to A’viloh. But the bird seemed quite attached to him and for the Miqo’te she was a welcome companion now that he traveled alone again. He had left his other chocobo at the stables in Ul’dah on the day of the banquet and there he still was right now, as Pipin had assured him. A’viloh hoped that the two of them would get along well and also that they might be useful to help with tasks at the Bazaar.

The flight had been uneventful and quite fast for the distance. It wasn’t even noon, when he thanked Biggs and Wedge, who planned to stock up on a few materials before flying back, and said his farewell to them. Then A’viloh got his second chocobo from the stables of the Immortal Flames and soon was out of the buzzling city and only a short distance away from the next best thing he still had to a home.

As he slowly rode towards the small settlement he felt such a strong feeling of familiarity that it made tears appear in the corners of his eyes again. He had not noticed how tensed up he had been until now all the pressure fell off of his shoulders at once.

At first all the people curiously eyed the two tall chocobos before they quickly realised who traveled with them. As a few of them stopped in their tracks to greet him, the news of his arrival spread like a wildfire among the townsfolk. No one had expected him and his sudden appearance was like a special happening for this quiet small village. It only took a few minutes until an excited voice hurried closer and made A’viloh instinctively turn his head.

“A’viloh? Oh, it’s so nice to see you!”, the lavender haired Lalafell exclaimed as she ran towards him. Blinking away tears A’viloh knelt down to greet the woman with a smile on his face and a tight embrace. “Kikipu, I’ve missed you so much.”

Happily she smiled at him before observing the two chocobo’s and looking around for a bit. “Are you on your own this time? Where is Rael?”

A’viloh’s expression visibly soured. Like a sulky small child he claimed, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

For a few seconds the Lalafell quizzically stared at him. While it would have been just like her to scold him for such behaviour right away or at least pry the truth out of him, she must have decided to take a more careful approach to figure out what was wrong with him. Such a sudden visit, all things considered, and at that alone and despite his best efforts to hide it in a quite desolate shape, he should have expected for Kikipu to see through it all.

“You look horrible, my boy!”, she stated instead of insisting on the subject of Rael any longer and worriedly grabbed one of his hands with her tiny ones.

“I am fine.”, A’viloh tried to assure her but she simply made an incredulous face. “You look tired, A’vi!”

He shrugged. “I am…”

“Outright exhausted!”, she added. “Have you been eating properly. Come! I’m going to make you some food.”

“I am not hungry, but thank you.”, he claimed although he had barely eaten anything since days.

“No, no!”, Kikipu protested and pulled at his arm. “Come on! Tea and food for you! And then some rest! There’s still plenty of time for talking once you recovered!”

There was no arguing against her. There really never was. And so in a way everything was just like it always had been here at the Silver Bazaar. If there was any place where he would be able to find peace, A’viloh thought, it would be here.

Without too much protest he let the Lalafell woman coddle him for a bit until the accumulated tiredness of the last week overwhelmed him. As his eyes fell shut, after drinking tea with Kikipu in a comfortable sunny spot, a deep dreamless sleep finally embraced him.

***

To A’viloh’s surprise the first few days at the Bazaar were incredibly busy. Everyone wanted to hear from the faraway city he had visited and the other curious places he had seen. A lot of the townsfolk also asked for his help with some work or transporting thing back and forth to and from the crossing or city. He had been grateful for the fact that he could help at all and also keep himself busy.

All this time he had tried not to think too much about everything unpleasant that had happened lately and especially not about the way he and Rael had parted ways. And for a while this had worked perfectly fine. But the more time he spent here and the more he settled back down into this peaceful daily life, just as a certain calmness slowly returned to him his thoughts began to wander. Back to the events of the last weeks and months. Back to the people he had simply left behind in Ishgard. Not only Rael, but also Tataru and Alphinaud to whom he hadn’t even given a single word of excuse or goodbye.

But especially his thought returned back to that night where he had stood only one step away from the abyss, his heart and mind overwhelmed by grief and pain and fear. He still felt all of that, still understood what had led him there to that ledge and yet thinking about how all of this could have ended, now that he was here among the people dear to him, deeply shocked him.

If Rael hadn’t been there… Maybe the Viera had been right with everything they had said. As painful as it was to admit this, but maybe he had lied to himself all along. Of course he had gotten a little bit stronger in the last year but apart from this he still was the same person. Although he had tried to become someone else, deep down he still was just terrified little A’viloh pretending to be alright. Pretending to be brave and pretending to want a new life for himself. Pretending to everybody and himself too.

While in reality he still hadn’t made his peace with everything that had happened before he had even washed ashore at the Silver Bazaar, he had gone to Ul’dah wanting to make up for all the pain he had caused. Wanting to finally return some of the goodness that had been given to him by Kikipu and the others. Wanting to help people, who needed help like he had needed it.

As he had tried so desperately to be something more than he had always been, to finally be useful, ignoring the protest inside him, he had not even noticed how he slowly accumulated even more weight on his shoulders. More pain and grieve. More guilt and self-hate. With every little failure and loss he had encountered along the way. Instead of healing he had pushed himself closer to the abyss step by step.

Maybe it was the best, for himself and for everyone, if he just admitted that he was not made for such a life. Maybe it was for the best if he just stayed here, taking some simple jobs here and there, not much more than was necessary to keep himself and the people here alive and happy. A quiet uneventful life.

And yet…

With each passing day, he found himself wondering more often. Not in the busy hours but instead in the silent moments. When he sat down at noon to have lunch in the shadow of a canvas awning, when he went to bed and could not sleep until late at night, when he opened the windows early in the morning and felt the salty wind rolling in from the sea pulling at his hair.

Then he wondered. About all the unfinished business. A whole city in turmoil. All the people he had left behind there.

Diligent, caring Tataru, who had always remained optimistic and cheerful despite everything.

Young Alphinaud, who himself was struggling and yet tried so hard to improve and make up for his mistakes.

Rael.

A’viloh was not sure anymore if he knew who Rael was or if he ever had known. But he knew Rael had always been at his side this whole time. Whenever he had felt bad Rael had been there for him and he also knew he owed the viera his life multiple times already. So did it really matter that Rael had kept this secret from him? He had known all along that something was bothering Rael. He had known that here were things they could not talk about. An he also knew that this hadn’t been easy for Rael either.

Again and again he wondered. What were all of them doing now? What were they thinking of him? And more often than every other question: Were they alright? Or maybe in danger?

Silently he kept asking himself this over and over again. One day, after he had picked up a delivery at the Quicksand, he even wondered if he should walk over to the Hall of Flames and see if anyone there knew about current happenings in Ishgard. As his chocobo kwehed impatiently, A’viloh had vehemently shaken his head and told himself that Kikipu was waiting for him and that everything in Ishgard would be perfectly fine now that he was no longer there to make everything worse.

And still the thoughts and worries returned day after day. Until one morning he stared out of the window with a vacant expression, entirely lost in thought. Kikipu stepped beside him, a mug in hand, and looked at him for a moment. “What‘s wrong?”, she finally asked.

Her voice startled him. Nervously he continued to put some things into a small backpack, readying himself for another trip to the city. ”Nothing. I was just distracted for a moment…”

“I see.”, with a stern expression the Lalafell put down the mug and placed her hands at her hips. “And will you finally tell me now what you are doing here?”

“What I am doing here?”, the Miqo’te repeated as if he didn’t understand the question. “I am supposed to take these things to Ul’dah of course and buy supplies instead.”

The small lavender-haired woman didn’t move one bit and just kept seriously staring at him. “Don’t play dumb with me, A’vi. I meant why you returned here and are staying so long, while your friends are still in Ishgard.”

“I told you I am not needed in Ishgard any longer. You almost sound like you want me gone…”, he answered, keeping his gaze fixed on his bag instead of risking to look the Lalafell in the eyes.

“A’viloh…”, Kikipu said with a sigh. “My dear, you know that you are always welcome here. But we also both know, that you haven’t been telling me the whole truth. So you better spit it out now!”

With furrowed brows A’viloh looked at the small woman, who in return stared at him with a serious unwavering determination on her face. Yes, there really was no arguing against Kikipu. Yet alone lying to her.

“Something horrible happened.”, he admitted finally before adding, “And I fought with Rael.”

To be honest he was not even sure if this were the right words to describe what had happened. Probably not. And yet it felt like it.

“Oh no… Why didn’t you tell me ealier?”, Kikipu asked with worry in her voice.

“I didn’t want to bother you…”, A’viloh explained and while this wasn’t a lie, in reality he had just not wanted to tell her the whole truth. He still didn’t want to. How where you supposed to tell anyone you loved that you almost threw yourself off a cliff anyway? Neither did it feel right to him to just retell the secret Rael had kept so carefully, even though by doing so they had lied to him.

The Lalafell sounded and looked a bit reproachful, when she addressed him again. “You are never bothering me. Please, sit down and tell me what happened.”

A’viloh shrugged uncomfortably and suddely pretended to be in ahurry. “Maybe later, I should really go now…“

But Kikipu wasn’t going to let him evade her this easily. „Uh-uh, the delivery can wait! Now, stop running away and tell me what’s wrong.“

Stop running away.

Somehow the way she said that reminded him of Rael. Running away… Was this really what he was doing?

With a sigh A‘viloh put down his bag again.

Maybe he could tell her at least a bit. Maybe it would help somehow…

[four-white-trees]

i am so very bitter about Nintendo tonight

[tf2-data-collection-agency]

Thank you for your co-operation. This is very helpful.

Also, we're a subsidiary of TF Industries, we have access to all TFI bases so we can effectively and efficiently collect data. We crunch the numbers to help you do your job.

Hello. The following is a message from the Teufort Census Bureau.

How would you rate your current employment to TF Industries?

Thank you for your co-operation.

@tf2-data-collection-agency

“Census Bur— Wait a damn minute.”

Overseer paused, eyebrows furrowing.

“Who let you asshats in here?”

She looked around, making sure the Administrator wasn’t in the room before replying to the original question.

“Anyways, my time here has been good… Except I wish we had more breaks.”

[nightrae13]

Five times Tinker Bell and Terence hid their feelings for each other and once they didn’t.

Casually dropping this fic because someone is so amazing enough to fill in the void Tinkerence left in my heart. It's on Tink's POV, and details how they became best friends since the first film up until they finally get together with some nods to films when his presence was barely acknowledged (yey!) I just love how canon-compliant this is since past fics I've read just rewrites their dynamic which is major "bleh" since their friends-to-lovers potential is perfect the way it is.

[navree]

Do you think Jason would make a good Batman?

I mean, I think it really depends on what one thinks makes a good Batman? What makes any potential successors a good candidate for Batman? I mean, Hell, is Batman even a good Batman? Can there be such a thing as a good Batman at all?

If being a good Batman is acting identically to Batman, then maybe. I've always headcanoned Bruce and Jason as being very similar in spite of key divergences, I think I wrote somewhere in a fic that Bruce feels Jason got both the best and worst parts of himself, despite them not being related. I think it's very thematically interesting. So it's possible that as Batman they'd act similar too.

If being a good Batman is about being true to the spirit of Batman, to the philosophy of Batman that we've seen, then probably not. Jason and Bruce have very different ways of looking at the world, and very different ways of handling their vigilantism. Most notably, Jason is willing to kill and Batman never can, and that's an irreconcilable difference that puts a lot of pressure on their own personal relationship, never mind on if Bruce would make a good successor. This would even translate to a broader view of the spirit of Batman just being "person who deals with crime extrajudicially" because, again, they do that in very different ways, and with a different focus. Both of their views have their valid and invalid points in my head, and make sense for them as people and the lives they've led (Bruce and Jason are both victims whose victimization has a strong correlation with death, but the actual acts that haunt them are very different and affect them in different ways).

If being a good Batman is understanding the symbolism of Batman in Gotham, and of understanding Gotham itself, then yeah. Out of all of the kids, Jason's one of the view with a strong connection to actual Gotham proper. Dick and Damian are not from Gotham and did not grow up there and once they did start living there lived in Bristol, Tim's lived in Bristol his entire life same as Bruce; Jason and Steph and Duke are the ones who've actually lived in Gotham city and seen it at both its best and its worst, seen what it has to offer and seen the ways it really can improve. Jason is more intrinsically tied to that because of how his backstory ties into the ways Gotham has actually affected him, the way poverty in Gotham and the criminal element in the city but especially Park Row have affected him personally in a way they haven't with Duke and Steph, and he's also had the longest career out of those three doing vigilantism for the sake of Gothamites. Not to mention that a popular motive to ascribe to Jason being Robin is in wanting to help people in Gotham, helping people like him in a way he never got, so he's the one with the most understanding of what the overall Bat-mythos can mean for people on both sides of the equation. So in terms of being able to actually understand the weight of what Batman is, to both others as well as himself, yes Jason would be a good Batman. Through that lens and solely that lens, he might even be the best.

I think Jason could be a good Batman, if he put his mind to it and he wanted it, but here's the thing: I don't think Jason, at least a well characterized version of Jason, should want it (it's why Battle for the Cowl sucks ass), and more importantly, I don't think it should be in Jason's future. None of these people are ever gonna get finite ends to their stories because that's the nature of superhero comics and Bruce has literally been around for a hundred years with no end in sight, but if you are picturing an end for Jason, I do not think his life should include vigilantism for the rest of it. I think a satisfying ending for Jason, if one is making a story with a definite beginning and middle and end (like a movie series or television show or a fanfic that I'll get back to at some point it's just way on the back burner right now), is one where he leaves vigilantism behind. Not helping people, and not his family, I think he should always be a part of his family and I don't think Jason is ever gonna be the kind of person to walking away from helping people, but specifically from the night life. One, it's created a lot of issues for him. Two, it's dominated his life since literal childhood. Three, he's incredibly young (based on their age difference, so long as DC keeps Dick as a man in his 20s Jason is going to be either in his late teens or very early twenties, barely legally old enough to drink). Jason should be allowed to live life ordinarily, to the fullest, without the albatross of vigilantism around his neck. Go to college, start a career, be happy and free. A satisfying conclusion for Jason would be leaving Red Hood behind and helping people the way he wants in the light of day, and being able to live his life on his own terms after so many defining moments of his life involved his agency being taken away and his body being violated in some form. I think Jason as Batman wouldn't be a good ending for him. And again, I don't think he'd want it, knowing how it's changed Bruce, knowing how it's adversely affected people around him (Jason himself died because Joker wanted to kill Robin not just for Robin specific things but also to hurt Batman).

TLDR I think Jason could be a good Batman, depending on how one views a "good" Batman, but I don't think he should want it or that it's a good idea to take his character in.

[synesindri]

"character i hate who is my favorite also somehow" is actually very fun, it took me a while to figure out how to get into it but i'm finding that there's a sort of taffy-like experience of psyche twisting around this style of media engagement

[sob-dylan]

realistically i'm probably only happy with 30% of the dribble that comes out of my mouth.

[queerpyracy]

i've been reading a lot of het romance in the past year (here distinguished from m/f as a whole because i want to speak specifically to how straight people write*) and i really, really need straight romance authors to read how gay people talk about the people they're attracted to and learn from it.

(*which doesn't mean i think 'they're both bisexual' inherently makes an m/f couple more interesting but that's another post)

there's this way of writing that like, is very clearly making sure the characters actually Like each other and Enjoy Being In Each Other's Company which is fantastic i do love that. But, there's a real training wheels set of tropes to writing attraction between these leads that always highlights the same features (i don't have to enumerate the fixation on men having broad shoulders we're all familiar) without any sense of specificity. i do not care about this man being generic brand hot, i wanna know what insanely granular detail only our heroine has noticed that shuts off her higher brain functions.

now i appreciate that i, as a lesbian, am not the target demographic of het romance--but i also know that my mom (a certified 100% heterosexual) has been complaining about the protagonists of romance novels being generic brand hot for years. even As A Dyke, if you write with enough particularities about what your heroine is into about this man i should be able to see what she sees

specificity is the key to eroticism!!! straight authors need to be writing their characters like horny posts about alfred molina and i'm NOT kidding

[crk-kr-to-en]

Honestly tysm for making this blog because now we know on what the EN Community has been missing out on HARD

You're welcome!

Lemme enumerate some from memory for Episode 8 of Beast-Yeast and the recent events.

Everything they say and do Korean actually makes fucking sense.

Level 8-30 is actually named "The only one who understands" Emphasis on "only."

The first part of Black Sapphire's introduction was as short as "How are you tonight?" and NOT all of that.

Black Sapphire never mentions about "getting a raise" and in korean he just says he's very busy. And the way he delivers his lines beautifully shows how much he literally loves his job.

Black Sapphire doesn't just annoy Candy Apple for no reason. He annoys her so she doesn't get lonely when Shadow Milk is away.

Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla's "relationship" in Korean is "gayer." Narratively intertwined even. Everything about them is gay at this point.

It's heavily implied that the Sheep's clothing cake hound *falling in love* with the vanilla scented cream sheep is a metaphor for Shadow Milk's feelings for Pure Vanilla. (Another one for Smilk projection!) Link

There's no "submissive soul" and the reason Shadow Milk made the trials was to make PV's Soul Jam shake because it shakes the tower. (Smilk IS ALSO the Tower.) Link

Shadow Milk is more emotional in his Korean voice than any voice over. Link

It's been confirmed by his Kr voice actor Kang Su-Jin that he work's "lazily" because his body is fragile and could barely carry any of the equipment nor have the strength to swing it properly. That's why he likes entertaining in the plushie store more.

Korean Smilk's kingdom lines are more genuine, because "The Fount of Knowledge? A-who could that be?" In kr is "Cookie of Knowledge? I was once called that~" (He says this also as if he's irritated or a little mad.)

[tf2-data-collection-agency]

Thank you for your co-operation. This is very helpful.

Hello. The following is a message from the Teufort Census Bureau.

How would you rate your current employment?

Thank you for your co-operation.

@tf2-data-collection-agency

Out of five stars? I'd give it... ten! Haha! :-)

My job as an assistant can be... a lot to stay on top of, but I love my team and I love my work! You know what they say, find a job you enjoy and you'll never work a day in your life!!

I get along well with everyone, good pay, what more could I ask for?? I love my job :-)