The pageants for males and females was often a big part of every Lunar New Year celebration that Animalia had put on, and the Year of the Dragon would be no exception. There were often complaints on that the concept objectified the Animalians that participated, and much of this wasn't helped that there were often comments left on the videos that covered the pageants that DID objectify at least one of the contestants in some way, if not more than one. But for the Year of the Dragon, there was one segment that went for both pageants that would go beyond just those looking good in formal and swim wear. This was largely the closing question that was asked by a panel of judges, who had come down from Lyre/Animalia as the contest was set up, that would then offer a hypothetical scenario, often a crisis, and would then ask the contestant on how they would respond to that scenario... much of which relating to the fact that the "dragon" was often heavily associated with imperial rule, and per the rules, this question and the judgement on the answer actually for the most points within the pageants, and as the females got ready, some of it did come up in conversation.
"I'm still not getting on how they're judging that question," Tyra commented, "I mean... they pick a random crisis and ask how we would respond as the "ruler..." Isn't all of that going to be subjective?"
"A lot of it probably is," Heather answered, "my guess is that a lot of what they're really basing the score on is more on how we can explain the response. It's more a test of reasoning and not of a right or wrong answer."
"And that's probably what raised William Tarr's score when it was his turn," Sora commented as she finished putting a sort of flowered pin as she sat beside her sister as the group conversed in the locker room at the Dino Dome. "His answer wasn't necessarily something one would associate with the sort of rule that would come from a monarchy... particularly when considering that the Chinese Empire, under its various dynasties, held pretty firm rule from the top down... but he also explained his reasoning quite well."
Sophie wasn't too far away and turned her head at the mention of the male Parasaurolophus and his entry. He hadn't necessarily done as well as many of the others in the Dragons of the Earth contest, but he did win the male's pageant with some ease. A part of her wanted to say something, but a different voice and Candace coming around the edge of the rows of lockers provided an answer to Sophie's unasked question.
"A lot of his reasoning is based on how he "runs" Dino City," Candace spoke, "and it's something he's stayed fairly consistent with... and has often kept him from wanting to sign up for these things."
"He didn't want to sign up?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah... I had to twist his arm," Candace gave a small smile, "some of it, I think is a certain level of shyness that he doesn't want to show. He's quite content to be a good husband and family man... work hard, all that sort of thing. But there just isn't the desire for the spotlight. Which hides what a wonderful man he his."
"And no one bopped their sibling with their tail this time," Tyra laughed.
That raised a few chuckles as everyone returned to the main efforts at getting ready.
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Meanwhile, JC and Pauline were ready for the introduction and the start for the female's pageant. A lot of their role would be more to serve as the main introduction for start of the pageant and reading off the list of those that were participating. From there, things would be turned over to the judges that sat at a desk not too far from where JC and Pauline were seated. Each contestant was to then come out onto a raised stage that was set up for the pageant, though there would be some segments that would have some differences from others. For the camera men were still filming things and the judges had some computer devices that were there for projecting pictures onto the big screen, and this was something that was often used for pictures and other aspects of the pageant.
"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen," JC introduced things to start the pageant, "tonight we will pick up from last night, where late entry William Tarr came out of nowhere to win the men's pageant and taking him up into the top ten in the overall standings..."
There was a brief pause as a resonant "daddy!" echoed from somewhere in the crowd, guessing that one of the three youngest Tarrs had something to say.
"Tonight, we will be working with the female Dinotopians as they move to keep up with Regina who presently holds a relatively narrow lead over Heather Green and Tyra Ramos and with Sophie Albers right behind them," Pauline picked, "a lot of the formula will follow the same pace as last night, with each contestant coming out to show how they look... and can hold themselves with dignity and grace."
"They will also have the chance to act out their talents or show them if what they have is time sensitive," JC picked up, "before finishing with the question on how they would rule... and let us begin with the first contestant."
And from there, things went in a reliably stable pattern. Some contestants came out multiple times, once in an evening gown and once in a bathing suit. Others only came out once and offered thumb drive to the judges who would then check it and then uploaded the images to the big screen for all to view. It was something that worked, and it fit with how a lot of the males pageant had gone the previous night. Some also had good reason for that use, and among them was Heather.
"My best real talent is in my art," Heather said slowly as she looked to the judges while making sure the green dress she was wearing didn't bunch or do anything that would risk accidentally flashing someone. Occasionally she looked up to the big screen where they were showing a picture of her in a swimsuit, a rather tasteful red bikini. "It's not just what I do for work to promote Horizon's business, and obviously its connection to Animalia and its colonies... but also for hobbies and some of my own enjoyment. But high-quality art is not always something that is quickly done. So the added file is a time lapse video of some work on a recent oil painting I've finished."
The judges then closed the file that showed Heather standing at the Dino Dome's pool in a bikini and then opened the other file, which was a video. The video then showed the studio that was set up at the Horizon Office in Dino City for her and with a piece of blank canvass. Heather then appeared to come into the screen holding a large pencil and began sketching out onto the canvass what she wanted to paint. From there time elapsed fairly quickly as the Heather on the screen worked on the art project, and time progressed as the judges noted Heather's clothing changing over time as the painting took shape. Eventually, things went from sketches to where Heather had paints and brushes and was working through the image, and it progressively came more and more into view. Colors came in and the subject of the picture came ever more into focus. When it was finished, the Heather on the screen gestured to a finished family portrait that showed her on the left side of the picture with Anna-Poly and Masons seated at her feet while looking over to Jonah and Manuel seated opposite them. Jeremy was painted next to Heather, wearing a shirt that read "science" on it, though he also had Polly hanging from his neck over a shoulder and rubbing her black triangular nose at the end of a white muzzle into Jeremy's cheek. Next was Rex and then Tyra, who were standing behind Jonah and Manuel in the painting and were nuzzling their own muzzles together. The family was painted to look as though they were all in one of the parks in either Dino City or Glen Rose. It showed a lot of work and effort.
"That's quite impressive," one of the judges spoke, "and you drew all that from memory?"
"I had some pictures for reference, but the poses and placement of everyone in the painting was all on my own," Heather answered. Heather looked around the arena, and noted where Jeremy and the hatchlings were seated. They were all looking up to the big screen and eventually Jeremy gave her a thumb's up, which made Heather smile. Though, she had to keep her attention on the judges as they were to build up for the final question.
"And so, Mrs. Green... for the final question," the first judge spoke, "you are tasked to deal with a rash criminal activity, and it comes with both good and bad news. The good news is that pretty much all of them only turned to crime because of adverse circumstances that they didn't think they could avoid criminal activity to survive. In a way, they are the very sort of "criminals" that could be easily rehabilitated into society. The bad news is that you would only have a limited staff and limited time to actually work on this sort of rehabilitation, otherwise some will have to go into the standard punishment for the offenses committed. What would you do? You could send some straight for the required punishment to buy time or resources for the others... or would you change some methods or checks to try and rehabilitate them all."
Heather inwardly cringed, as this was a test that mirrored a lot of what she went through. Frustrated and angry over the loss of a scheme that had been designed to help her aged grandmother, she had worked through the bits of fossils she'd smuggled/stolen and the Animalia Virus that Jeremy had secretly mailed to her in Latin America. It was there that she became the first Dinotopian, but found herself overwhelmed by strong predatory instincts that fed on her anger, which lead on her march north and threatening Sophie and Roland outside of Lyre High. From there, she went through Animalia's punishments and went into their rehabilitation program, which ultimately found herself making friends with Sophie. It'd thus make sense that the crisis she was to solve was one that mirrored what she went through.
"Well... to start with, I would want to look over the list of charges and what they would be facing," Heather spoke, "as if the punishment is something minor... like a fine or community service, I could then arrange for a way that would work for them. I would either work out a way to pay the fine for them or see to it that the "community service" would take them back to the same sorts of rehabilitation that would be offered in helping each person get back on their feet and understand what they'd be learning."
"So, you would actually pay their fines?" the second judge asked.
"Yes," Heather answered, "for if they are the sort that didn't want to break the law and are looking to set things right... they deserve every opportunity for a second chance. And if the bureaucratic system is creating ways to limit the time needed to help them get back on their feet and get started with an opportunity to succeed on their own, then why not use the system against itself. Offer the people that there would be a way to start things that may provide some initial challenges but would also open up the opportunity to go through the rehabilitation program fully and without constraints. It would show that there is care and kindness toward those that may have had a hard go in life and are looking for a way to succeed without repeating those mistakes."
There were a few nods from the judges they then posed up Heather's score. She looked up to the big screen that was in her line of sight and found that it was a very good score. How much of that score came from the talent portion and from her answer to the "how would you rule" question, she didn't know. But it was a good score, and that left Heather to only move off to a side and a series of other seats that were set aside for the other contestants. Many of the others went through similar performances that showed how they looked, both in a gown or in a swimsuit. Sophie and the female Pterosaur Dinotopians flared out their wings as they did so, regardless of what they were wearing. There was also a variety in the color of dresses or swimsuits that were worn. Tyra managed to wear something a bit racier, but it was still tasteful. Miki, Kumiyo, Molly, Nessa, and Nellie wore the one-piece swimsuits they wore for the Dragons of the Sea contest. It all made for good variety.
The talent portion was often pretty repetitive in some ways. Racheal Stega and Courtney Domini both put on displays of their sports skills that showed their form and function for their ability to box, and included some sales pitches for some of the preliminary Mesozoic Fight Club matches that would be held after the Year of the Dragon contest finished. Various members took on some of the other things that were typical parts of skills of talent, provided that it was something that the contestant could largely do on their own. Sora and Yuki both showed their fashion designs for clothing for Animalians and specifically with the ideas that were there for Dinotopians and some of the unique pieces of anatomy that made most clothing near difficult to wear. Heather also noted two cheers for Sora and Yuki from a pair of people in the stands, Zeke and Francois Proquiet, the bond mates for the two Velociraptor Yurikazis. Zeke with Yuki and Francois with Sora.
On the musical side of things, Sophie sang, "What the World Needs Now is Love" and that ultimately soon drew competition with Candace who played part of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A Major on a large wooden fife that had been specially built. It was well played and fit with what William had played out the previous evening. It made for a good comparison and there wasn't much that was said negatively about either sets of performances. The big test was still in "how would you rule" question, and that was often where the biggest differences were, and often came as many contestants often had some difficulty in trying to explain how their decision would work or why they made the decision that they did. These sections were the thing that Heather the most on edge, because it was this question that had had the BIGGEST impact on the score and who would win the pageant.
And JC and Pauline watched all of this as well and then noted on where things stood as the last the contestant finished. From there, the judges then signaled over to the two Microraptor Dinotopians.
"And there we have the conclusion to the female's pageant," Pauline spoke, "with Heather narrowly eking out a win over Sophie and then Candace for the first three. And the points here will then reshuffle the overall standings going toward the race up Zodiac Mountain, with it's special parts to play for all the different abilities for the Dinotopians."
"But before that there will be the Fire Breathing Curry Contest... to see if anyone wants some extra points that may help them try to catch up with the overall leaders in the overall contest," JC spoke, "With Mr. M, Rex, and Roland in the top three for the males and Heather, Regina, and Sophie for the females. And keep in mind that the point differences, particularly within the top ten are not by all that much."