El!
El has been with the site for nearly two years now and has continued to prove her value. Currently, she is heading up our site event, Battle for Liberterram, on top of keeping up with her own personal plots.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peggy Carter!
Lux's posts are all wonderful to read. She has done a wonderful job of grasping the new universe and incorporating Peggy into it.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peter Parker!
It's good to see Spidey back on the site. Watching him deal with the universe shift in his own snarky way has been nothing short of entertaining.
THREAD
SPOTLIGHT
Eight O'Clock on the Dot!
El and Lux are making magic in this thread. Straight up fireworks, and the way they've played with drawing out the reveal is top class.
Post by Z inactive alisonblaire on Jun 15, 2015 21:53:10 GMT
"It's a Machiavellian Swingers club, Jan." Alison spoke into the phone, voice weighed down by cigarette smoke and the cancerstick that dangled between her lips as she spoke. "Oh, yeah. Getting porked by the dude whose wife is porking my husband, that sounds like a fun time. While we're at it, let's throw in some backstabbing and scheming, just to keep us on our toes. Wouldn't want to stay as some peon in that shitty little club, would we?" Another pause, as clearly Jan had something to say on the matter. "They said what?" Alison's brows quirked at that. Alright, if that's how they were going to play it. "I dunno. Tell them to go fuck themselves. Better yet, make it a ditty." With that, Ali flipped the phone down and put an end to the call.
"Sorry about that." Taking her cigarette, she stamped it out quickly on the ashtray on the coffee table, and exhaled the last of the smoke out of her lungs and away from the nice assistant lady Amber that had been overseeing the equipment with her. "Third time they asked, and each rejection just seems to bring out the asshole in them." Grabbing her bottle of hard granny-smith apple cider off the table, she came to a quick stand and made her way out of the dressing room area (which she'd already given her opinions on), and through the hallways.
"Hallways are friggin' solid. Security will be a synch. Might be a bit tricky to move a ton of the equipment, but I'll shout at Marv' so the roadies'll take it the front way." Emerging out onto the stage, Alison did a quick, sharp-eyed survey. "Alright, sweetie, this is gonna be fast, so just elbow me or something if I get too heavy on the technical jargon." There were a lot of very, very specific things she was going to need, and that member brand names and model numbers.
"For the ceiling center we're gonna need a P6-32a. It's a 7 by 7 mirror. The curvature angle on that needs to be exactly seven degrees." Pointing to where she wanted it, she continued. "Most of the rest of the mirrors are alright, but we're gonna need four more. One here," she pointed to the left side of the stage. "And one here." She pointed to the far right side. "For that you're gonna wanna go with the R9-83s. 14 by 5, with a 9 degree curve. Those you're gonna wanna angle at forty-six degrees respective towards the center stage." Leaping down from the stage, she landed, sprang back up and kept walking while looking around.
"We're gonna need high, sturdy dividers. Tech geeks at expos might not seem like your die-hard rock freaks, but I've learned better. We'll want two rows. One five feet out from the stage, the other ten feet out with a compliment of big burly dudes." Rather than slowing down, she kept walking and finally came towards the far side of the seating area, where she motioned again to the ceiling. "X19-23c. 30 by 10 angled at 30 degrees to the ceiling, faced down. 5 degree of curvature."
At that she sucked in a quick breath, then turned back around, looking over the concert hall and the stage at a distance before she met Amber's eyes. It was only then that she noticed how young the other woman was. "Christ, you look like a fetus." She giggled merrily. "Although a very adorable one, for what it's worth." The plum-colored smile she offered was genuine, and surprisingly kind. "How'd you score working this high up for Stark already? You must got brains and chutzpah in spades."
If someone had looked at Amber a year ago and told her that she would one day be working for Stark Industries as the personal assistant to Miss Pepper Potts and that one of her many jobs would be to go down to the Expo and personally assist Alison Blaire, Amber would have rolled her eyes and insisted that the other person had finally lost their mind. But there she was, walking through the various sections of the Expo and the backstage area with her notepad in hand as she took down the list of things that Alison would need in order to perform later on. Alison freaking Blaire!!! Amber's head had been spinning madly since she had been given the news and placed onto an airplane that would take her from New York City into Washington where the Expo was being held, and even with the travel time in order to recover she still found the entire ordeal to be a little overwhelming.
She'd only listened to Alison's album and watched her movies a million times each. The older woman was amazingly talented, in Amber's humble opinion, and that talent was awe inspiring each and every single time that Amber sat down to give it a listen. That was how she had passed the time on the plane, listening to some of the very first songs that she had ever heard that featured Alison's voice.
And now she was standing in the very same room as the woman, taking down her notes and requirements so that she would be better able to perform at the Expo. It was utter madness! And yet somehow Amber managed to keep herself completely under control while her brain freaked about the opportunity that she was being allowed. The pen moved madly across the screen of her tablet as she continued to take her notes carefully, using a shorthand that she had come to find was incredibly helpful for making sure she didn't miss anything when she was taking notes for Pepper. After all, when she was working through her list of things, the last thing that she wanted to hear was her assistant clear her voice and ask her to repeat something because she couldn't write fast enough. And now that she had gotten the hang of her own code, it was much easier to keep up with people as they rambled. Occasionally there was a small nod from Amber to signal her understanding, a flicker of her eyes in the direction that Alison pointed to ensure that she was getting the correct placement, and a smart dot on the screen to add finality to her wording.
She dared not speak through the entire ordeal however, partly because she didn't wish to interrupt Alison while she worked and partly because Amber wasn't entirely sure that she could trust her own voice. What if it did one of those weird puberty type things when she tried to speak? She was supposed to be a professional, and the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself in front of someone as incredible as Alison Blaire. But when the woman turned herself around and seemed to truly regard Amber for the first time, she could feel her confident mask slip a little and the colour rise in her cheeks. How had she come to work for Stark? "It's a really long story," she offered vaguely, attempting a small smile despite her embarrassment. By this point she was rather used to people pointing out her youth when she entered a room and set about her job, but this situation was entirely different if only because it wasn't a group of middle-aged men who were pointing it out. This time it was a woman that Amber had great respect for - a celebrity that she admired.
Post by Z inactive alisonblaire on Jun 23, 2015 7:56:14 GMT
Al had to hand it to the girl--she really was good at what she did. A bit on the quiet side, but maybe she just got to enjoy the really outgoing brand of assistants. Kind of made sense, really, given what a loud mouth she could be, especially if she got embroiled in some kind of discussion on politics, religion or philosophy. And the swearing like a trucker-sailor hybrid, too. Yeah, she could see how most of the people she dealt with probably needed to be the more social, laidback types. She wasn't half-as acerbic as the media liked to make her out to be, but she definitely was capable of some wicked, frank conversation when the time came up.
So having a quiet one was unusual, but every now and again Al looked over her way, blue eyes twinkling at the furious way that the girls pen moved over her tablet, forming short-hand words that were basically another language in how indecipherable they were. Cool. As long as she had someone that could keep up, she didn't mind. And it wasn't exactly like it would be a big hassle for her to repeat herself, either. She wasn't one of those diva personalities that would throw her water bottle if the assistant fumbled over an instruction or two.
Once she'd finally made the list of pretty much everything she wanted, she'd been surprised at just how young the other woman was. Seeing the other woman fluster wasn't exactly a new experience. Sometimes she had that affect on people, especially the real young pups. But the loftiness of Amber's position and proximity to Tony Stark (who might as well have been a rock star), made her dismissive of that possibility when she'd first readied herself for the run-down. Seeing it now just made her grin, and wonder if maybe she shouldn't have pointed out the kid's age.
"Sorry, I didn't mean t'unnerve you, or, be rude or whatever," she never intended to be rude. It just happened sometimes. A lot. But that was the way it went. It was kind of a daily struggle to not say the first thing that came to mind. Thankfully, the fetus masquerading as a young woman didn't seem to take too much offense. Or at least not enough to clam up entirely. "Shit, I'm always game for a good, long story. Otherwise I'd probably just end up yakkin' t'myself all damn day." At that the actress grinned just a little broader, self-deprecating humor as evident on her face as in the tone of her voice. "But only if you're game t'tell it."
There was something about the idea of standing in front of someone you admired that just instantly turned people into nervous wrecks. She'd seen it happen countless times as the civilian world clamored to get just a piece of Tony's attentions when he was out and about doing his thing. And yet somehow she seemed to have maintained a sort of calm when she had first walked in the door and met Alison face to face regardless of how fast she could feel her heart pounding away in her chest. Of course, someone as famous as Alison Blaire certainly wouldn't have been fazed if Amber had come in with a starstruck look in her eyes. A little annoyed perhaps that she had been sent such a young and inexperienced assistant to relay her requests, but not fazed.
Glancing carefully down at her notes, Amber regarded them for a moment before lifting her head and returning her gaze steadily to Alison. "It's not a big deal," she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "You'd be surprised how many times I have people comment on my age when they find out what I do. It's kind of fun, actually." She laughed a little despite herself. It was kind of fun, especially when you had a bunch of people who were older than herself and probably much better qualified, who constantly talked down to her because they were unimpressed with having some of their orders from Pepper come to them through her. She didn't do it to patronize people. But she certainly had her own agenda to consider, and this was the best way for Amber to slowly make progress toward what she ultimately wanted.
But when Alison seemed to show genuine interest in how it was that she had come to obtain her job, Amber could feel her stomach twist a little. To tell her would mean ultimately confessing to the illegal thing she had attempted to do in order to get into Stark Tower the first time. Hell, she hadn't even been totally truthful with Pepper about it yet...not that she was likely going to be anytime soon. If for some reason she suddenly decided that she wanted to give up her job and therefore her plans entirely, then yeah, maybe she'd tell Pepper.
"Well..." Amber shifted her feet a little. "I sort of have a knack with electronics and computers. So I bypassed security one day and went to ask Mr. Stark personally if he would consider hiring me." That sounded like a fairly simple version of events, right? She didn't need to put in all of the other details like security and being busted halfway up before she was actually given the job. She'd have expected to be thrown out onto the curb with everyone else who had tried to make a break for the staircase and maybe out run security...though she supposed that getting into an elevator because you had temporary control over it was slightly higher than just your average joe's attempt. "Needless to say, I made a bit of an impression on him that day."
Post by Z inactive alisonblaire on Jun 26, 2015 7:06:26 GMT
"T'some people it might be. Just didn't wanna push your buttons'r anythin' like that." She slurred with a sideways bob of her head, like a lazy, unrealized shrug. "I bet." Alison offered the younger woman a single note chuckle of her own when she laughed. Her smile stayed a little broader for a few seconds after that. It was good to see that Amber had managed to keep everything in perspective and wasn't an ass about it. She remembered when she was that young, pursuing her dream and what an unrelenting dick she was about it. Kids had a way of being complete putzes until they were old enough to calm their shit and let their hormones level. By then they were usually a few years shy of a midlife crisis, though. Funny how things worked, sometimes.
But she seemed a lot more amenable. Which made sense. Didn't want a ticking timebomb of angst to handle valuable clientele and prospective business partners. Didn't mean Alison wasn't a little impressed, though.
Standing there made her want to go for another cigarette, but she decided against it and instead went to her side-pocket, finding a pack of spearmint gum which she offered out to Amber before she popped a stick into her mouth. Oral fixation and all that. But chewing gum was a lot better than blowing smoke into the girl's face while she told her story.
"What? Really?" Alison asked, doing a quick double-take of the girl in front of her. The full grin that followed conveyed every ounce of joy and elation she felt at standing in front of a pup who'd managed to crack into Tony Stark's security. "Shit, I knew you guys were startin' young these days, but fuck." She giggled. "When I was your age I was scrubbin' dishes an' couch surfin' with my guitarist." Or maybe still in college... or high school. Looking at her made it awful hard to gauge her age, but child labor laws hinted she was probably 18 at least. Unless Tony liked 'em real young, which wouldn't surprise her none. He had his reputation as a skirt-chaser to keep up, after all.
Except recently, when he apparently decided to take to dudes. She didn't put much stock into it originally, since she knew tabloid headliners were hit and miss most of the time. But then he'd made his fair share of public appearances with Captain America and the two seemed real chummy. Hands-on-crotch chummy. It was hard to argue with pictures.
"I can see why. You got skill an' moxy. Twice as much for a kid." She had to admit, next to a prodigy hacker that could crack into Tony Stark's mainframe, she felt kinda unaccomplished. Just a tad. Smacking her gum, she blew a bubble and let it pop before she pointed up. "And three right there. Ten by sevens, KZ-02s at 15 degrees." Eyes swiveling down, she looked over at the stage one more time and sighed. "Shit. We'll need new amps. Forgot--I'm under an exclusivity contract with Yamaha at the moment. I'll get my manager to hook you up with some appropriate replacements via text." The bigger Bedazzled got, the more people approached the record company with hopes of exclusivity contracts on all kinds of crap. The amp deal was too good to pass up, unfortunately.
"Alright, so I think that wraps up the business end. How's about you kick back a few drinks with the band? You... are old enough t'drink, right?"
