DE: That thing you do

[bjornwilde]

 Good morning folks! Going a bit serious with today's topic. How does your pup feel about their occupation? Note, I am looking less for how they make money and more what they have chosen to do with their lives. I know those two sometimes are the same but not always, being a vigilante doesn't pay very well after all.

Comments

[protect_and_survey]

Jemma is Very Very Proud to be a SHIELD agent - this job suits her right down to the ground. ... Except for the part where she can't tell anyone about it, that's a bit tiresome.

Katya... if asked this question, she wouldn't know how to answer. It's like being asked if you're okay with being human. She is Other, she's been Other pretty much as long as she can remember, and she long ago passed the point where she harbors illusions that Light can conquer the world for the good of all. She does enjoy being a battle mage, but she does get frustrated when she tries to use her more natural leanings towards the healing arts - she's just no good at it thanks to a complete lack of practice.

Sam loves being a driver, loves working with the Hastings police force, and when people aren't being absolutely horrid actually doesn't mind the restrictions of wartime.

... aaaand the rest will have to wait until I'm on break.

[camwyn]

Gordon was never really happy about the fact that he turned out to be the Destroyer of Worlds, nor about the whole messianic One Free Man thing. All he ever wanted to do was non-catastrophically-world-ruining science. He is now stuck with politics and civilization-rebuilding as an occupation because if he doesn't do it, and do it visibly and well, other people will start taking his name in vain and then it'll just get ugly. He's quite happy with the 'father and husband' part of his occupation, though.

Shephard, on the other hand, is happy as a pig in shit with his occupation. It's more responsibility than he was originally looking for, but he'll deal, and he's working like hell to get other people to the point where they can take some of the load off his shoulders.

The only problem Edward has with his occupation is that he hasn't found the damned Observatory yet. Otherwise he's really into this whole 'pirate' thing.

Varric likes what he does even if Merrill has the survival instincts of a concussed nug, necessitating him regularly diverting some of his info and influence broker resources to keeping her from getting jumped in a dark alley.

Stacker Pentecost does what he does because damn the council to Hell, somebody has to. He's also good at it. I don't know that he allows himself to be distracted by the idea that liking it or not liking it would somehow be relevant.

Santo enjoys his occupation immensely, both the publicly famous professional wrestler part and the masked crime/alien invasion/supernatural horror-fighting part.

Medic adores his job although he probably doesn't do as much science as he should, since people keep needing to be rescued from their own stupidity. But oh well, that's fun too.

And Ellen is all right with her occupation; she's trying to decide whether actually doing the day-to-day work she was trained for in the Vault is as satisfying as she'd hoped or whether she'd really prefer to be on field missions on a regular basis, like Knight-Captain Colvin. She's only just turned twenty-one, so I think she's entitled to a little uncertainty.

[genarti]

Enjolras: ...Do I even need to answer this one? It's what he's dedicated his entire life to doing. He can't imagine himself being anything else, regardless of what pays the bills, and neither can I.

(The "regardless of what pays the bills" comment is glossing over a lot of stuff about economics and necessity that Enjolras is pretty darn aware of. He would not necessarily get to be a class-skipping university student with an allowance and lots of free time. But there were a lot of working-class people involved in the same movement, historically and in the Les Mis sidestep-of-history AU both.)

Thor: In the opposite direction, ditto. Everything about Thor has been shaped by growing up Odin and Frigga's son and a prince of Asgard. It's an interesting thought experiment to consider what kind of person he'd be if he'd grown up in other circumstances, but as it is being a prince goes bone-deep. Whether he ever rules, and regardless of what else he's doing with his life, that remains true -- and so does the protector-of-others role, which is very much informed by his upbringing.

Trowa likes the circus a whole lot. Going with that, rather than trying to find a way to continue to be a soldier in peacetime or working full-time for the Preventers or whatever, was very much a deliberate choice about what to do with his life. (How he feels about being an (ex-)soldier is somewhat more complicated.)

Clare has pretty mixed feelings about being a Claymore. She chose that because it was the only way she could see to achieve certain goals, and she does care about saving humans from yoma, but she has no loyalty at all to the organization itself.

More probably later! More now:

River is satisfied with being a gunslinger. It took her some coming to terms with, but a lot of that was coming to terms with Academy stuff tied up with it -- although not all. River was not raised to kill people. But still; she's proud of her purpose, and confident of it.

The whole Serenity odd-jobs-of-variable-legality thing she doesn't have strong feelings about, really. She cares about the people. And if they did more stuff that she considered more morally dubious, this would be a more complex thing. But Mal and Zoe both try to keep on the side of the angels, and that's good enough for River.

Regan has some mixed feelings, and of course she has some regrets. On the whole she's happy with her life, and feels that shat she's done is important for her family and her society, but there are definitely some mixed feelings.

Cosette is just sort of growing into the idea of choices about what to do with her life. I mean, she's never had to worry about money, and now she's getting married and she still won't have to worry about money. But she will at some point have to more consciously think about decisions of what to do with her time besides taking walks with her father and reading novels and talking philosophy with Marius. So I'm postponing this answer!

[1nv1nc1ble]

Mark gets to fly, something that he loves to do. (Headcanon states that there's a non-powered Mark Grayson out there in the multiverse that joined the Air Force. Sadly, given his father's true occupation, it's likely that they end up on opposite sides of the invasion conflict.) He's not fond of some of the baggage that comes with being a superhero, but he loves the job. Of course, he doesn't really have an idea of what he'd do if he wasn't a superhero. (It's been something of an assumption th0at he would inherit his father's powers when he got old enough since he was about 10.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

Hanging around in Paris with your best friends? Working, fighting, and dying for the French Republic? Hell yeah, Bossuet's happy with it.

Studying law? Hell no. Give him some laws that don't suck and a system that's not miserably corrupt and maybe he'd see about getting that degree. Too bad we never find out!

[i_am_your_host]

The Master of Ceremonies didn't have much of a choice. He was a rent boy for most of his life, but he could sing and dance a little and had a charming personality, so he would catch the eye of those who could give him a chance to be onstage. He does enjoy being in the spotlight and entertaining people. And while he isn't in a position of true authority as the Emcee, he still has command over his audience, and that sense of power and influence where he never had any before is definitely a perk. Another perk is the luxury of getting to pick who he has sex with and when; and instead of needing to seek out paying customers, they come to him. Yes, I think he likes his job.

[bjornwilde]

Jessica Drew loves making bad guys look like idiots and the side of expressing frustrations through violence is a definite bonus!

Hank is very proud to be part of keeping America safe. Eventually, he will be more proud of working towards mutant rights and teaching.

Brimstone would prefer his work weren't needed. He truly hates the work he does but he knows it is vitally needed.

Lady Trent's work as a dragon naturalist will consume her life, to the point that she doesn't care for public opinion. She even is accused of caring more for it than her own child, which is partially true. She leaves him behind often and gets herself into situations that might leave the child an orphan. But from her point of view, the child is better cared for by nannies as she lacks the all consuming maternal instinct that other woman seem to posses.

Quin loves working as a smuggler and a hidden rebel. His only wish is that it didn't risk him family.

Andrea Nash knows her purpose in life is to make the world safer for those who cannot protect themselves and firmly believes in the Order's mission, though not in its practices. She is frustrated at the present time since her boss refuses to let her do her job properly.

Ethan is a challenge. After all, his occupation is obscured. I think he enjoyed the opportunities being a sharp shooter will present him in the future; a means of escape from the US, pay, and adoring ladies. But I think his true calling is something different. I think it means a lot to him to be able to sooth the pains of others, be they spiritual, emotional, or physical. We'll see in season 2 if I am right.

Mulan takes great pride in being a warrior. I can't say it's given her much joy though.

Sam Wilson (who will join the bar someday, really) loves his job and couldn't imagine doing anything else. Saving people is his truest calling and even if he wasn't working for the VA, he'd find some other way to do it.

[singthesong]

The Balladeer wouldn't entirely know how to answer this question? He does what he's supposed to do, what he's always been there to do and always has done. There isn't really any level of choice for him. Nonetheless, he doesn't resent it or anything; he handles it perfectly well on the whole, and certainly wouldn't want to dump the whole job on someone new.

[student_of_impossibility]

Only Tavi today, because I'm tired, and he's complicated.

If asked, he'd say his occupation is serving Alera, and that... well. As much as he would have liked devoting his life to archaeology, frankly I think he would have eventually gotten bored with it. He needs a purpose, at some level, because that level is pretty much genetic and serving Alera is quite literally bred into him. As a Cursor, he'd've admitted it suits him--though he dislikes some of the choices he has to make--and he really can't imagine doing anything else...

Until you asked him how he'd change Alera if he had the power, because honestly leading and ruling is how he was basically bred and educated to serve Alera. How does he feel about that? Well, he only just stepped into his role as heir, and it's still a little overwhelming; the prospect of actually being responsible for the whole Realm is something he's avoiding for the moment. Ultimately, of course, he was made for it, and he knows it. He can do the most good for his people, short- and long-term both, as First Lord.

...Because then he'll just tell people what to do and they do it, for the most part, because politically arguing with him will be very hard. Being a not-quite-but-nearly-absolute dictator of a multi-species empire suits him right down to the ground, and he gets a lot of satisfaction out of a job well done.

Also, honestly the job perks are pretty sweet, but he doesn't think about that. Usually. Except sometimes. (The downsides do suck as much in return, of course...)

[hey35andholding]

Juliet, Pinkie and Dixie adore their jobs and are damn good at them.

For Clem, being a cop pays the bills. It's better than being sawed in half.

Eponine would rather be a scholar than a thief.