#colossal.task

how long has your muse been working at their current job?

merritt started at spaghetti warehouse at sixteen as a hostess, eventually moving up to server. she's always loved it there - while she doesn't seem like she'd be an excellent fit in the "upscale" environment, something about being around all that pasta pulls an incredibly professional persona out of her. she did do a brief stint at tantrum on top of her warehouse duties when she turned eighteen and wanted extra cash, but she couldn't stand the attitudes there (or the smell) and quit after a single summer.

how does your muse commute?

she has a 1995 ford explorer that she put WORK into buying... granted she's never had to pay rent a day in her life and also in general has low-expenses but she had to save!! and work hard!! and she loves her big ol' car!! it's red and it always smells like patchouli and vaguely like cigarettes. theres a mess on the passenger seat at all times (no trash, just items) and she keeps a knife in the center console<3 and do not ever ask her for a ride because she doesn't want to give you one<3

what’s in your muse’s work locker? how about the break room fridge?

work locker. a bottle of perfume, a book, gum, half a pack of cigarettes that she shares with kitchen staff, and whatever "gifts" she gets from the kids at tables she's serving: stickers, happy meal toys, hair bands. she's always a hit with little ones. break room fridge. spaghetti warehouse doesn't have a break room - merritt just keeps her water bottle in the walk in and grabs a diet coke from the fountain when she needs refreshment. she survives off salad scraps or bites of chicken pieces until it's time to go home; her favorite shift meal is the chicken parm but she has to be really careful about how often she gets it because it starts giving her stomach aches.

which shift does your muse prefer?

do notttttt give merritt the last shift of the night PLEASE she can't stand waiting around for her tables to finish because the late diners always take eighty years to wrap it up. she prefers getting first cut of the night but all the servers rotate for equality, especially since first cut doesn't always make as much money. she's suuuch a brave little soldier fr

would you consider your muse to be a good employee?

very much so. she worked her way up from host to server lead in a pretty short amount of time and she knows everything about that job - she could probably do every single role in the building, line cook included. does she complain the whole time? absolutely. she's first in line to bitch about a customer in the kitchen. but she also is serious about cleaning up after herself and helping the bussers clear plates, and when someone calls out she's there to take their place no matter what she had going on. merritt doesn't want to be in service forever but she also doesn't really know what she wants to do, so she's happy to work hard as long as she's there.

how is their relationship to their authority? do they get along with their manager? how about the owner?

merritt respects her bosses as long as they respect her, and she's never going to step down from arguing with them if she knows she's right about something. she gets along with her manager well enough but they do butt heads - he'd never fire her though. she's too valuable! and she knows that<3

how long has your muse been working at their current job?

mila has been working at portal since she was twenty. i think how it went down was: she dropped out of college when she was nineteen, and shortly after, the dixie opened for the season, so mila worked there. it wasn’t until the dixie closed for the year that mila had to find another job. it’s a pretty reasonable transition to go from working at a drive-in to working at a movie rental, and in my mind, the dixie and portal have kind of.. a working relationship. they’re both committed to preserving cinema in their small town. they’re sisters <3

how does your muse commute?

she drives her 1987 blue ford ranger! though technically, it isn’t hers. it’s belongs equally to her and her two siblings, she’s just the only one that still lives at home. basically makes it hers. noah changed his mind about the truck and wanted something smaller to drive around boston, and reyna hates the truck, so she has no interest in keeping it after she graduates from college. mila is lowkey embarrassed of driving a truck, but it gets her where she needs to go.also, if any portal employees ever need a ride, mila will be happy to pick them up! or take them home. or drive them somewhere else after work. and honestly, this doesn’t just go for portal workers. if you’re at the strip you can hit mila up and she’ll chauffeur you around. you can even pick the music, she doesn't mind.

what’s in your muse’s work locker? how about the break room fridge?

mila's locker acts as a supply closet for her coworkers. they can all have the combination, if they need anything, and it's filled with a first aid kit, granola bars, pads & tampons, hair ties & claw clips, lotion, wet wipes, gum, annnnd various other snacks. she doesn't typically keep much in the break room fridge, but once ever couple of weeks, she'll make some kind of treat for the staff. if needed, that'll go in the fridge. she's brought cakes, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, and banana breads.

which shift does your muse prefer?

she prefers the morning shift, not that anyone knows this. she prefers to get work out of the way, and a lot of her extracurriculars take place in the evening. so realistically, it’s better for her to get off work before all of that. however, mila has never once complained about her schedule and has the ability to “make it work” no matter when she has to show up. she is definitely the first person anyone would ask about covering for them or switching shifts, because she’s always going to say yes.

would you consider your muse to be a good employee?

i do not like being nice to mila, but yeah, i would. she’s really friendly and warm, so i think she suits customer service. she’s no petey, easy, or the snob, but she’s always loved film, and grew up watching basically everything that came out (especially during the summer), so she’s knowledgeable. i’d also say that it helps that when she needs to step in for a customer, it would be about finding something they would like rather than asking her to give her opinions. and besides from just the social element of the job, mila has no problem with any other aspects of the job. she’s happy to clean and organize, and is always ready to pick up anyone else’s slack with zero complaints.

how is their relationship to their authority? do they get along with their manager? how about the owner?

how long has your muse been working at their current job ?

a little over a month now ! as it became increasingly more clear that the situation with his bike was more dire than he thought, shane knew he needed to get a job to not only to fund repairs, but also to not be a complete burden on the stone family's hospitality. thankfully, his aunt is a goddamn saint and had no problem slotting him into the schedule at fast breaks. the rest is history.

how does your muse commute ?

i imagine that red fern lane, or at least the specific neighborhood the stones reside, is a little too out of the way for everyday walking, so while shane's bike is out of commission he unfortunately has to rely on the hospitality of others to get him to and from work. that said, if the weather is fair, he'll sometimes opt to walk anyway, if just to spare himself from merritt raking him over the coals for asking for a ride. that has tragically stopped being an option since it started snowing.

what’s in your muse’s work locker? how about the break room fridge ?

locker : nothing, really. he'll hang up his jacket when he arrives since they insisted on giving him a locker, but he really doesn't see the point in decorating it or making himself overly comfortable when he'll hopefully ( god willing ) be leaving soon. fridge : shane enjoys cooking, so i think he usually has a packed lunch of leftovers to chow down on when he gets hungry. if not, he'll tag along with dario and easy for some gordito's.

which shift does your muse prefer ?

afternoon. it's not as busy as morning and not as dead as evening. he does like it when there are people there, especially since it gives him and parker people to make up stories about, but he wants it to be a good number so that nobody is bugging him specifically. he also enjoys the pockets of quiet that allow him to snake a book from paperweight and read it over a shift or two.

would you consider your muse to be a good employee ?

in some ways yes and in some ways no. he's got a decent memory for which drink order goes to which regular, and an observant eye for giving people a good recommendation if they're unsure what to get. he also has no problem carrying around the heavy bean bags around and getting things down from the tall shelves in the back room. unfortunately, he's not really passionate about the job, merely seeing it as a means to an end. this can make him quite careless when it comes to actually making the drinks themselves and then when dealing with subsequent customer complaints. has and will spit in someone's drink for demanding he remake it to exacting specifications. also the second it hits his clock out time he is GONE. someone on the morning shift absolutely hates his ass because whenever he works closing, he almost always leaves work for the opening crew to deal with.

how is their relationship to their authority ? do they get along with their manager ? how about the owner ?

how long has your muse been working at their current job?

he’s been working at sit & spin since he was eighteen—but honestly? it feels like he’s been orbiting that place his whole life. before he was officially on payroll, he was volunteering whenever they’d let him, and when he wasn’t volunteering, he was hanging around the aisles like it was sacred ground. it was one of the first places where he felt quiet inside. music gave him something steady when everything else felt loud or uncertain—same way film did. it became a place where he didn’t have to explain himself. dario’s always been a little afraid of standing still, of not becoming something, of being forgettable. working at the sit & spin makes him feel useful, like even if he doesn’t have the whole future mapped out, he’s at least surrounded by sound and stories and people who get it. the shop feels safe in a way he doesn’t always know how to be. and maybe that’s why he stuck around so long. some places don’t just give you a job, they give you somewhere to belong. the sit & spin did just that for him.

how does your muse commute?

mostly by skateboard. everywhere. rain, shine, questionable sidewalks—if it’s within town limits, dario’s probably rolling there with headphones on, his latest burned cd blasting, dodging pedestrians and getting way too close to traffic cones while he’s lost in his own world. sometimes he’ll bum rides from friends if it’s far, but nine times out of ten it’s just him and his board against the world. he’s got a couple of favorite routes memorized, knows which sidewalks are smoother, which shop owners yell at him, and where to slow down so he doesn’t get taken out by someone walking their dog. in his defense, it’s faster than walking, cheaper than buses, and way cooler than admitting he doesn’t actually own a car. also..he had a bike. but when easy's bike was destroyed dario "accidentally" left his in the middle of the street later on that week in solidarity and he's been on his skateboard ever since.

what’s in your muse’s work locker? how about the break room fridge?

dario’s locker has a couple polaroid pics of friends that are taped crookedly inside the door—some candid, some blurry, all sentimental. the walls are layered with band stickers and certain lyrics from songs. there are a couple cds tucked into one corner, extra batteries for his cd player shoved into the back, and a small collection of prank items he absolutely does not use responsibly: a joy buzzer, one of those pens that zaps you when you click it, invisible ink, and a single fake peanut can that pops out snakes (just in case the ones he has on the floor get taken by management or a customer) the break room fridge is where he's usually got a couple yoo-hoos chilling, lunchables stacked like tiny meals of survival, plus random grab-and-go stuff—granola bars, fruit snacks, maybe a pack of pudding cups or string cheese if he remembers to get some when he hits up campbell's. and he always makes a point of telling everyone it’s fair game. if you’re hungry, it’s yours.

which shift does your muse prefer?

closing shift, hands down. there is something about the store winding down that he loves—maybe the softer foot traffic, the way the lights feel warmer once the rush fades, the freedom to actually play music instead of just background noise once the doors are closed. by the end of the night, he can lean on the counter, reorganize a few racks that don’t really need reorganizing, and sneak in mini listening sessions while tiding things up. plus—there’s something comforting about locking up after everyone’s gone, headphones on, last track fading out, tuning into his own world, board tucked under his arm. and, okay....it might also be because he's not much of a morning person (dear god do not expect him to be up before noon on his own accord)

would you consider your muse to be a good employee?

yeah, just…in his own way. dario shows up. that’s the big thing. he’s on time more often than not, knows where everything is, remembers regulars’ tastes, and can recommend albums off pure instinct at sit & spin like it is muscle memory. he’ll stay late if someone needs help, cover shifts when he can, and he genuinely cares about the space—about the music, the people, the feeling of it all. he treats the shop less like a job and more like a home and his co-workers like family. buuut...he’s not perfect. he gets distracted, talks too much when he’s excited, pulls pranks, and sometimes disappears into whatever’s playing over the speakers like the world just…fades. but at the end of the day he just everyone to feel welcome. he wants people to find their place the way he found his.

how is their relationship to their authority? do they get along with their manager? how about the owner?

how long has your muse been working at their current job?

it's probably been a little less than three years since fallon started at sit & spin. after she moved back to colossal, she spent a few months not really doing anything besides casually taking classes at the community college. fallon likes structure in her life though so she caught on pretty quickly that she was gonna need a job soon to stop herself from going stir crazy

she originally got a job at velvet moon because she used to casually help out in high school and juno would pay her under the table, but being a real employee under juno as an adult was not her vibe lmao she worked at a few other places around colossal but never lasted that long because she didn't like working there for one reason or another and then eventually got hired at sit & spin yippee <3

how does your muse commute?

fallon and juno have shared a 1989 maroon jeep cherokee (margaret, duh, since juno obviously named it) since always basically. it's "shared" in the sense that maybe once or twice a week, juno uses the car to run errands or something, but for the most part, it's really fallon's. if the car's not available, fallon will bike. she doesn't really offer rides to anyone else and honestly, who would ask fallon for anything? though if anyone did, fallon's more likely to say yes regardless of who it is.

what’s in your muse’s work locker? how about the break room fridge?

her work locker's what you'd expect it to be. she keeps a couple books in there that she cycles through depending on her shift. some other small necessities: hand cream, spare earphones (for the rare occasion that she bikes home rather than drives), a brush for her hair. no snacks really because she just steals from dario but sometimes she has rice crackers <3

fallon doesn't tend to keep things in the break room fridge unless she packs a lunch. she's particular about creamer in her coffee so on occasion, she'll keep some in the fridge.

which shift does your muse prefer?

early shift! it's more conducive to her schedule because although fallon's definitely a night owl, she also doesn't get much sleep so she like a mid-day nap. early shift means she gets to go home and take a quick hour power nap before she can do fuck all.

would you consider your muse to be a good employee?

hmm. if you asked fallon, she would say she's a good employee in all the ways that matters. she's punctual, good at organizing things, doesn't really slack off at work, and knows music. she's good when she's on the clock. that said, there are the other parts.

for one, it's impossible to get fallon to cover a shift she isn't already scheduled for unless she owes a favor. and of course, the obvious attitude problem. fallon doesn't have a customer service voice so she's definitely lost a sale just from being rude to the customers. the attitude also extends to her coworkers, and when she's in a pissy mood, it disperses through the whole store and makes the environment bad </3

how is their relationship to their authority? do they get along with their manager? how about the owner?

fallon has no obvious issues with authority in that someone being the boss doesn't automatically inform her opinion on them. her relationship with any of her bosses mostly comes down to whether or not she respects them. fallon's mostly neutral on booker. she knows hiring her was a tough sell so at the very least, she makes an effort to be polite when he's around. she always listens when he talks music though <3

how long has your muse been working at their current job?

Devon has been a loyal Tantrum employee for three years now. She has never been one to job hop. Her first job wasn't until after she graduated high school, when sports didn't eat up her schedule, and she only left to work at Tantrum because she wanted something with hours that wouldn't infringe on her work out schedule.

She also really likes working with Milo.

how does your muse commute?

When the weather is nice, Devon has been seen hopping on her bike to ride to Tantrum. Otherwise, she will drive, windows down if she can get away with it, and letting the wind tousle her hair.

She might also be blasting Eminem with the blown out bass on her way.

what’s in your muse’s work locker? how about the break room fridge?

Work locker is very basic. The typical necessities— hair ties, a pack of gum, sanitary products, deodorant, etc. Anything she might need in a pinch that she doesn't always carry around, or she might've forgotten. She also has hydration packs stowed away and hand lotion.

The fridge might have some of her yogurts stocked up, and homemade protein bars that require staying cold. Other than that, she doesn't leave a lot of food behind.

which shift does your muse prefer?

Opening shift works best with Devon's normal routine. She likes to be up earlier in the day, and if she works opening shift, then her evening is free for active recovery. I.e. a brisk walk around town, stretching, etc. She does also like to take the evening to balance her social life.

would you consider your muse to be a good employee?

I wouldn't say she is the above and beyond employee, shooting for the stars, or anything like that. She is a bit jaded with how moving from Chicago has seemed to steal away all her opportunities. She shows up on time, never stays past her time if she's told to punch out and avoid O.T., and she will complete the tasks given to her. Never with argument or resistance, but she doesn't hustle through it, either. Her job gets done by the time she leaves.

how is their relationship to their authority? do they get along with their manager? how about the owner?

Milo is no issue to get along with, so that's a no brainer. He is one of Devon's closest friends, and having a malleable, easy personality makes him a soft place for her to land. It's why if he asks her to get something done, she does it without push back. She aslo respects her manager, Birdie.

does your muse have any short or long-term goals? what are they?

victor has a pretty broad picture of what the future looks like. currently it’s less about goals to reach and more a life to maintain. whatever. i go more into this and his lack of goals in another answer.

what is holding your muse back in life? are they aware of this? are they doing anything about it?

he’s holding himself back and he’s very aware of it, but he doesn’t have time to unpack that. his lack of time to do just that is obviously self-induced… he works so much so that he doesn’t have to consider any of it. problem solved!

 i’ll give him some credit and say he’s made minor strides. however, it has all been situational/prompted by an apology he’s had to make. other than that? no, he’s not doing anything.

what steps could your muse take to make headway on what's holding them back?

he could put a stop to seeing his actions in black and white or thinking that behavior is purely “good” or “bad”. he could admit to himself that while his past actions were bad, most of the time they were also out of survival. even though he doesn’t bat an eye at other people’s indiscretions because “you did what you had to do”, he doesn’t subscribe to the concept of nuance when it comes to his own life which is lame.

where does your muse want to be in one year's time? is this feasible?

ideally? right where he is now. he wants everything, including himself, to stay as it is. he likes his jobs, he likes his apartment, he likes colossal and the small community he's built. he even likes the way his life looks on the outside looking in. unfortunately for him with the answer to the next question, that’s not feasible.

what is something that needs to happen to your muse before they can make any realistic growth?

he needs to be arrested. 🙂 i feel like it’s probably one of the more extreme things that could happen, but he lived most of his life dealing with extremes and realistically, it’s the only thing that’s going to stick. i do think for it to work it has to be because he takes the fall for someone else. wrong place, right time situation. he hasn’t made a conscious decision for himself in years and say what you will, but that was a positive trait of his while living his old lifestyle. it was a horrible circumstance to be in, but it did force him to go after things he needed, as well as form goals for himself (ie. put roots down somewhere, turn his life around, etc).

really he needs to be put in a position that has him grappling with going back to his old ways. he needs something external that forces him into making decisions that have to do with him and the life that is beneficial to what he needs AND wants, not the life he’s trying to cage himself into by simply wanting things to look different than they were six years ago.

does your muse surround themselves with people who help or hinder their growth?

does your muse have any short or long-term goals? what are they?

what is holding your muse back in life? are they aware of this? are they doing anything about it?

what steps could your muse take to make headway on what's holding them back?

where does your muse want to be in one year's time? is this feasible?

what is something that needs to happen to your muse before they can make any realistic growth?

does your muse surround themselves with people who help or hinder their growth?