#backlog of clients (queue)

[sicklewxlf]

Joke anon!

My boss told me to have a good day. So I went home.

"..."

"Where's the punchline to this?"

[saint-end]

EDIT: THIS SALE IS NOW CLOSED!! THANK YOU! I am now working through the list of requests, if you have sent a comm request you will be contacted as i work thru the list! If you feel unsure that you've made the list, please email me in the same chain and i will confirm with you there! ^^ Any new requests will be deleted and regular comms will reopen when I'm done with the backlog! The sale was extremely popular so if it takes a while to be contacted i apologize and thank you for the patience! ✦ st24end@gmail.com ✦ Hello!! I'm doing a sale as thanks for all the support this year and for xmas money! (help) This sale will go on until November 29 2024 and will be my 1st priority for fast completion. Unlimited per person. ✦ Reblogs and shares are very appreciated! ✦ read below before contacting me!

I will assume you have read this in its entirety when you contact me! Headshot will be something in between a rough and full render, in 1:1 ratio. Base price is 20 euros. add-on prices: ✦ additional character +50% price ✦ +5£/per big edit (you will receive the commission after payment) ✦ no refunds, minor adjustments are free. Full payment upfront via ko-fi (This is for personal use only, you are not allowed to resale, use for commercial gain in any way, or use for AI + NFT.) ✦ Please provide clear references for your character. Photo references + insp boards + written descriptions is OK!! ✦ Preference for posing, color palette, motifs is very welcome! ✦ In order to speed up the commissions there will be no mid-checks unless i feel unsure about something. If this is something you want, please feel free to ask for it! ✦ I accept new comms in batches as i finish up the previous ones. I will call out what day i respond on my tumblr and bsky. ✦ Once we have agreed and it's been paid in full, i will start the commission. ✦ I work in order of payment, if you want to know where you are in the queue, email me! In an effort to speed things up i will minimize contact as much as possible, but will always answer any questions from paid clients. Don't hesitate to ask! will do: fanart, ocs, dnd, vampire, rpg, ship art (queer and straight), self-ship, slight gore and nudity, mostly anything is OK! will not: anything explicit, furry, mecha, (<-i do not have the skillsTvT) anything bigoted Please note that if you have AI in your references you will be ignored and automatically denied. If you think you have been denied and know for sure you do not have AI in your references, you have to provide proof.

✦ First time commissioning and unsure of the process? Send me an email with the commission request of what you want including character + refs -> we both agree -> payment -> i create it and send it to you! If there are any anxieties or confusion, please let me know and i will do my best to explain and make it a safe and fun experience for us both. I'm a very nice person and my fists are only for creeps and bigots! Cringe is not real!! I love making art for people and anyone is welcome here! <3 st24end@gmail.com For any questions or inquiries, feel free to email me! Yay!

PEACE AND LOVE MY FRIENDS!!!!!!!! thank you!! Here you can browse completed commissions from this sale!

[britishmuffin]

Okay! I’m gonna begin posting my backlog with some pieces for a mini Art Event I ran on Patreon last month. It was a little Valentines Day commission batch where all the cuties were drawn in this tender YCH pose I made, and the client could pick the border decals!

I really enjoyed making this set, it felt so indulgent. Gonna queue these up to post singularly since there are only seven <3

[venusmage]

Commission/Life update for 2024

EDIT 4/30/25

Progress is still happening! I've finished several large orders since the last update. As always, feel free to reach out to me with concerns and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I'll be taking May 2025 off completely from coms as I'm finishing the school semester. Thankfully I'm not taking summer classes THIS year so commissions work will start again on June 1st.

The best days to reach me are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the moment. Otherwise it might take me a day or so to get back to you. I work on my own projects on the weekends to preserve my sanity, lol! Just know if I'm drawing something else, I haven't forgotten my queue!

------

Original post:

Just want everyone to know I AM okay now and life has gotten better recently. However the past year and a half have been extremely difficult and I'm only now getting back on my feet. I generally don't like sharing life details publicly, but as a freelancer with clients that have been waiting for a while I feel like transparency is key.

If you don't want an explanation for the delays and just want to know my completion timeline, that's totally okay. Here is all the info up front. I'm going to continue updating my commission queue as usual and will not be accepting any more orders until ALL of the queue is completed. I'm working on finishing the half and full bodies first since they've been the longest waiting in queue. Then the rest. I don't have a set date in mind for when they'll be all done for good but the goal is by the end of the year. I think that's more than doable for me now. If you're a client of mine and have questions/concerns, please message me either here or on Discord and I'll do my best to help you. My username on discord is the same as my Tumblr username. Twitter and Ko-Fi are also options but I don't check them as frequently. I usually work Monday-Thursday so that will be the best time to shoot me a message or expect an update to the queue.

Information on what's been going on is below.

CW for mentions of death, financial hardship and homophobia.

As a few of you might remember, in 2019 I was disowned by my mother for being a lesbian. I made the choice to go no-contact. Since then, up until LAST YEAR, she's routinely harassed me or had other family harass me, stalked me on social media, tried to get to me through the website I take commission orders, and threatened me multiple times. I was forced to move across the country both because I felt unsafe and because my partner had family elsewhere that were more accepting. I've had to change my phone number twice.

It's been extremely difficult both financially and mentally to keep my head above water. In 2021 my grandfather died and I still haven't felt like I've been able to properly grieve. I wasn't able to see him due to her and I wasn't invited to his funeral. We were very close and he meant the world to me. In 2023 my grandmother passed away very suddenly as well, and my mother used it as an excuse to harass me over ko-fi/my professional email. It was such a horrific experience that I fell into a months long spiral that I only just now feel like I'm climbing out of. This is when commissions first stalled. I was also starting to get overwhelmed, as I had to take on more work than I could realistically handle in order to pay bills and rent. That's really it - I just had to take more orders so we weren't kicked out of our apartment, and as my mental state deteriorated I couldn't keep up.

The good news is that my wife and moved earlier this year we're living with supportive(!) family now and our financial burden is much lighter. This gives me time to work on my backlog without re-opening. I'm also going to school again, back in college starting this summer for a second degree. For my own health after commissions are finished I'm likely going to take a break on opening them for a good while, even though I really enjoy doing them.

In the past two months amazing and not-amazing things have happened. The amazing thing is I got an ADHD diagnosis, something I didn't even know had been ruining my life for years. I'm still getting used to the proper medications but I'm already seeing a big improvement. It's as much of a relief as it is frustrating. My mother also reared her head again (like she usually does at least once a year) - this time, though, I learned she'd had a stroke. While I'm not involved with her anymore, I think most people could understand how it would still be a very weird and upsetting situation. As of right now I'm free of her once again, she seems to be making a good recovery and will hopefully continue to live a happy life far away from me. Still, those two things back to back have been a LOT to deal with on top of just trying to get better in general. I stepped away from the internet for a while for my own sanity.

The downside to being a freelancer is that there's not always a safety net. That's what happened to me. Thank you all very much for being kind and patient, I genuinely have had nothing but polite interactions with all of you and I really appreciate it. I'm sorry my personal bullshit got in the way of getting my work done for you. This is the longest I've ever taken to complete commissions and it's something that I'm deeply ashamed of. I promise they will get done. Being medicated and starting to recover from the family drama has revitalized me a bit. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out.

[fuck-customers]

fucking so sick of clients man. THE FACT THAT YOU WAITED LAST MINUTE TO ORDER YOUR SHIT MEANS NOTHING TO ME. YOU GO LAST IN LINE. OTHER PEOPLE WITH MORE SELF AWARENESS THAN YOU ASKED FIRST AND SO THEY GET THEIR SHIT FIRST. god DAMN. several times in the last few days and i am so tired. don’t order in the morning then call me in the afternoon asking when you can pick up. I HAVEN’T EVEN REVIEWED YOUR REQUEST YET. THERE IS A BACKLOG. I DON’T GIVE A SINGLE SHIT THAT YOU HAVE NOW RUN OUT. THIS IS YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT. don’t email me THIRTY TWO TIMES back and forth and then get pissy when your stuff isn’t immediately done. your original email was last week, sure, BUT YOU APPROVED YOUR TENTH PROOF TWO HOURS AGO. AGAIN. IT IS YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT YOU ARE A WISHY WASHY BITCH AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. stuff gets put in the production queue AFTER. YOU. APPROVE. THE. PROOF. A. F. T. E. R. there are like fifteen jobs ahead of yours god i am going to lose my fucking mind.

Posted by admin Rodney

[thesimblrofficedirectory]

Welcome to The Simblr Office Directory

This blog is an archive of the submissions for the office-centric OC prompt posted by the light of Simblr, @kashisun.

Here you can browse all the amazing creations submitted by your fellow simblrs. Feel free to scroll to your delight or click one of the links under the cut to see who's on roster under (or over) a particular bureau or delegation.

Want to be added to the directory or confirm that you've been queued? Just include a link to your post in an ask off anon and it will be queued within 48 hours. Until we get through the backlog and can queue at a more leisurely pace, all ask submissions will receive a confirmation. You can always mention us, but we won't be able to provided confirmation for that method.

Leaving the company? If you'd like your post removed, just include a link to the post in an ask off anon and it will be removed. Sideblogs may require additional verification. Please allow, at most, 48 hours for the request to be honored. Removal requests will not be confirmed, only acted upon.

Every company's hierarchy is a little different. Designations for this directory are based on some of the companies I've worked for, but especially on the multi-media marketing company I work for now.

Bureaus and Their Delegations

Delegations with an * currently have low or no headcount (posted and queued). Excludes leadership.

Bureau of Client Engagement

Leadership

Billing*

Escalations*

Product Support*

Quality Assurance*

Sales*

Bureau of Compliance (Bureau-specific Internal Affairs and Auditing)

Leadership

Client Engagement*

Facilities*

Finance*

Human Resources*

Information and Technology*

Legal (General)

Legal (Leadership)

Marketing*

Bureau of Facilities

Leadership

Catering*

Environmental (Janitorial, HVAC, and Plumbing)*

Mechanical (Electrical, Elevators, Equipment Maintenance)*

Premise* (Grounds Maintenance and Real Estate)

Purchasing* (From pushpins to pallet jacks)

Security

Warehousing* (Shipping, Receiving, Mail room, and Inventory)

Bureau of Finance

Leadership

Accounting

Asset Management*

Investments*

Travel and Accommodations*

Vendor Relations*

Bureau of Human Resources

Leadership

Career Development (Internships and Internal Role Transitions)

Dependent Care*

Employee Activities Committee (Members are volunteers)

Employee Benefits*

Floating Delegates (Administration) (For profiles that list a nondescript secretary/admin/receptionist/assistant role)

Floating Delegates (General) (For profiles that do not list a position)

Floating Delegates (Leadership) (For profiles that list a nondescript managerial role)

Health Services*

Payroll*

Recruiting*

Training*

Union Relations*

Bureau of Information & Technology

Leadership

Data Security*

Infrastructure*

Public Relations

Research and Development*

Systems and Devices*

Telecommunications*

Bureau of Marketing

Leadership

Copy

Design

Planning and Implementation*

Board of Directors

Chief Officers

CEO - Chief Executive Officer/President

COO - Chief Operations Officer/Vice President

CCO - Chief Compliance Officer/Vice President

CFO - Chief Finance Officer/Vice President

CITO - Chief Information and Technology Officer/Vice President

CMO - Chief Marketing Officer/Vice President

Executive Administration* (Admins that report to chief officers)

[hjeojeo]

Burn out news!

I’m getting close to burnout again so I’m currently shelving the quickturnaround type. That type is going to have to be reworked slightly due to both the quality of each of those pieces continuously getting more detailed and time consuming (a bad habit of mine with commission types honestly, i keep unintentionally putting more into each piece than I should be) so the self-imposed turnaround time and price is not sustainable for me.

I am going to leave my commission forms open for the other types since orders are coming in slow enough that I think it’ll be safe to do so. I won’t be scheduling any new orders until my current queue is cleared out. I’ll be taking longer on my current queue so as to not exasperate my burn out.

I’ll be switching gears to working on adopt designs to make ends meet while I’m clearing out my current queue!

Once I clear my queue, I’ll probably start scheduling in new commissions again but dispersed between adopt design work.

Backlog queue will resume the same schedule since that work pace still works quite well with me.

If any clients have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me! Either social media dm’s or email (i check deviantart, twitter, tumblr, bluesky, and furaffinity regularly and my email is hjeojeo(at)gmail(dot)com )

For any new clients, I just wanna assure that. At this point hitting burn out is kind of regular for me, so rest assured that I know how to balance my work during burn out to ensure that quality is maintained in your commission piece. It’ll just take me longer to deliver.

I am of course gradually adjusting my work structure and prices and whatever I can to try not to enter burn out so regularly, and I do see the frequency decreasing thankfully, I hope to one day completely eliminate regular yearly burnouts!

[venacoeurva]

Once I get through some stages on these comms, I plan on opening some queued/waitlist comms. I also plan on bringing back the woodcut style too in limited numbers since people really liked those.

I'm not a fan of a larger queue than like. 5 unless they're really simple. but my health insurance is $70/mo again and is going to kick my ass, given that gig work isn't constant either (and a short term project I was on just ended), so I think (shorter) backlogs will be a thing with me for a while. I don't intend on it breaching 20 slots like I had recently, that was way too much for me :| I'm guessing closer to about 10 piece backlogs unless it's a dire financial situation

I admittedly feel kind of bad doing backlogged work, but at the same time nobody has complained, there's a low number of cancellations, and it's normal for a lot of artists to take months to even START on a waitlisted comm, so I suppose it's more normal than I think it is.

I think my pride of being able to blast through comms super fast in the past has kind of set my brain up for unfair expectations and the impression clients want comms done IMMEDIATELY despite that fact most realistically are fine to wait and are used to it if they buy comms regularly, and in the past I ended up with a lot of younger first-time commission buyers who had unrealistic expectations of speed muddying my expectation of clients' expectations

[beardedmrbean]

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — For more than two hours on a Sunday afternoon, the Rev. Gustavo Castillo led the Pentecostal congregation he’s been growing in this Minneapolis suburb through prayer, Scriptures, rousing music and sometimes tearful testimonials.

But it all may end soon. A sudden procedural change in how the federal government processes green cards for foreign-born religious workers, together with historic highs in numbers of illegal border crossers, means that thousands of clergy like him are losing the ability to remain in this country.

“We were right on the edge of becoming permanent residents, and boom, this changed,” Colombia-born Castillo said as his wife rocked their 7-month-old boy, a U.S. citizen by birth. “We have done everything correctly, from here onward we believe that God will work a miracle. We don’t have any other option.”

To become permanent U.S. residents, which can eventually lead to citizenship, immigrants apply for green cards, generally through U.S. family members or employers. A limited number of green cards are available annually, set by Congress and separated into categories depending on the closeness of the family relationship or the skills needed in a job.

Citizens of countries with disproportionately high numbers of migrants are put in separate, often longer green card queues. Currently, the most backlogged category is for the married Mexican children of U.S. citizens – only applications filed before March 1998 are being processed.

For faith leaders, the line historically has been short enough to get a green card before their temporary work visas expired, attorneys say.

That changed in March. The State Department announced that for nearly seven years it had been placing in the wrong line tens of thousands of applications for neglected or abused minors from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, and would now start adding them to the clergy queue. Since the mid-2010s, a surging number of youth from these countries have sought asylum after illegally crossing into the U.S.

This change means that only applications filed before January 2019 are currently being processed, moving forward the Central American minors by a few months but giving clergy with expiring visas, like Castillo, no option but to leave their U.S. congregations behind.

“They’re doing everything they’re supposed to be doing and all of a sudden, they’re totally steamrolled,” said Matthew Curtis, an immigration attorney in New York City whose clients, like an Israeli rabbi and a South African music minister, are running out of time. “It’s like a bombshell on the system.”

Attorneys estimate so many people are now in the queue that the wait is at least a decade long, because only 10,000 of these green cards can be granted annually.

Curtis’ firm advises potential clergy applicants that “there is no indication when you can receive a green card.”

That’s likely to dissuade religious organizations from hiring foreign workers precisely when they’re most needed because of the growing demand for leaders of immigrant congregations who can speak languages other than English and understand other cultures.

“There’s a comfort to practice your religion in your native tongue, in someone close to your culture celebrating Mass,” said Olga Rojas, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s senior counsel for immigration. The U.S. Catholic Church has also turned to foreign priests to ease a shortage of local vocations.

At one Chicago-area parish that’s been helping with this year’s surge of new arrivals from the border, two Mexican religious sisters have started ministries for women in the shelters as well as English classes, Rojas said.

“These two sisters know they won’t get green cards,” she added, and they expect to lose other religious sisters and brothers who are teachers, principals and serve in other key roles. “That’s catastrophic.”

Those from religious orders with vows of poverty, like Catholic nuns and Buddhist monks, are especially hard hit, because most other employment visa categories require employers to show they’re paying foreign workers prevailing wages. Since they’re getting no wages, they don’t qualify.

Across all faith traditions, there are few options for these workers to continue their U.S.-based ministry, attorneys say. At a minimum, they would need to go abroad for a year before being eligible for another temporary religious worker visa, and repeat that process, paying thousands in fees, throughout the decade – or for however long their green card application stays pending.

“A big concern is that leaving is not really viable. The church will replace the pastor or shut down, it’s too much instability,” said Calleigh McRaith, Castillo’s attorney in Minnesota.

Being in limbo is challenging for the affected religious workers, including Stephanie Reimer, a Canadian serving a nondenominational Christian youth missionary organization in Kansas City. Her visa expires in January.

“I’ve done a lot of praying,” she said. “There are days when it feels overwhelming.”

Martin Valko, an immigration attorney in Dallas whose clients include imams and Methodist pastors, said many rely on their faith to stay hopeful.

But realistic options are so few that the American Immigration Lawyers Association and faith leaders, like Chicago’s Catholic cardinal and coalitions of evangelical pastors, have lobbied the Biden administration and Congress to fix the problem.

Administrative solutions could include allowing religious workers to at least file for their green cards, so they can get temporary work authorization like those in other queues awaiting permanent residence.

The most effective and immediate fix would be for Congress to remove from this category the vulnerable minors’ applications, attorneys say. Despite being humanitarian, they make up the vast majority of the queue they share with religious workers, said Lance Conklin, a Maryland attorney who co-chairs the lawyer association’s religious workers group.

“They shouldn’t be pitted against each other in competition for visas,” said Matthew Soerens, who leads the Evangelical Immigration Table, a national immigrant advocacy organization.

Back at the Iglesia Pentecostal Unida Latinoamericana, Castillo said he has ministered to a family with two young children who survived the Darien Gap, a jungle in Central America favored by smugglers that’s among the most dangerous parts of migrants’ journeys, and a mother and daughter who said they came “through the hole” in the border wall.

“Some of them are in a better migration situation” than himself and his wife Yarleny, Castillo said. But he added that his call to minister to them is undaunted. “I serve God. He will take charge of these affairs while I lead those he has entrusted to me.”

That’s why, even as they face having to leave the country when their visas expire in February, the Castillos are fundraising to buy the building where they now rent worship space. They also regularly drive 10 hours to South Dakota, where they’re establishing another church.

“In this work, one is constantly helping destroyed migrant families,” Yarleny Castillo said. “And they need a space like this.”

[piotrtymcio]

Krysia

Fuji X-T3, Takumar 55mm f/2

[EN] No post yesterday—I hit a rough patch. Felt worse, thought I was getting sick. My throat still hurt in the morning, but half a head of onion with tomatoes and mozzarella for breakfast knocked that pain right out. Gave me enough energy to keep going all day.

The morning was all about prepping for Tymon’s birthday—this time at a play center with his preschool group. Then, supervising a loud pack of little kids. After that, 7.86 km of walking. Of course, there were a few short breaks between all that.

Between both birthday celebrations, I now have a ton of photos waiting for editing. The batch from my Warsaw trip is also still sitting in the queue. If these were for a client, they’d be done by now, but they’re not. And after years of sitting at a computer, I know my limits. I do what I can without overdoing it—health matters. I should clear this backlog before my next trip. No rush.

This week, I’m shooting with a very impractical setup—hard to carry anywhere, even harder to use. I might just mix things up again with shots of the girls.

Honestly, this blog would probably benefit if I just uploaded phone photos daily. Something to think about.

[PL] Wczoraj nie było posta. Miałem kryzys. Czułem się gorzej, myślałem, że się rozchoruję. Rano jeszcze pobolewało mnie gardło, ale pół główki cebuli do pomidorów i mozzarelli na śniadanie skutecznie mnie tego bólu pozbawiło. I dało siłę aż do teraz. Trzymam się, a dzień leci na pełnych obrotach.

Rano przygotowania do urodzin Tymona – tym razem na sali zabaw z grupą przedszkolną. Potem doglądanie rozwrzeszczanej gromadki maluchów. Następnie 7,86 km marszu. Oczywiście po drodze były jakieś małe przerwy między tym wszystkim.

Po obu urodzinach mam sporo zdjęć, których nie mam kiedy obrobić. Po wypadzie do stolicy też czeka kolejka fotek, a czasu brak. Gdyby to było dla klienta, pewnie już bym skończył, ale nie jest. A ja, po latach siedzenia przy kompie, mam swoje limity i robię tyle, żeby się nie przemęczać. Szkoda zdrowia. Do następnego wyjazdu powinienem zejść z tej górki. Spokojnie.

W tym tygodniu fotografuję bardzo nieporęcznym zestawem – trudno go gdziekolwiek zabrać, a jeszcze trudniej robić nim zdjęcia. Najwyżej wymiksuję to znowu ze zdjęciami dziewcząt.

Zresztą, ten blog w ogóle by zyskał, gdybym codziennie wrzucał fotki z komórki. No cóż, mam temat do przemyśleń.

[kilosch]

Journal Entry 10/30/2024

Starting the Day with Teamlet 2’s Deep Dive Meeting Today began like a typical workday at 8 a.m., tuning into the Teamlet 2 deep dive meeting while I got dressed, grabbed breakfast, and took my coffee on the go. The meeting was still going when I headed out for my drive to DTLA—the usual L.A. traffic but chill enough, and I had my headphones on for the tail end of the meeting since my car speaker’s still busted.

Halloween Costumes and OT Team Vibes Once I parked, I saw Stephanie, the OT Director, in this bright costume. I was baffled and asked, “What the hell are you wearing, ma’am?” She shot back with a spooky grin and said, “Come play with us…” Turns out, she was dressed as a character from The Shining. I haven’t seen the movie, so I just went along with it. I helped her carry food for the OT team to her cubicle and noticed she didn’t have her ID badge. I asked, “How the heck do you plan to get in all day?” She shrugged and said she’d be camping out inside.

Vaccine Queue and DHS Catch-Up After settling in at my cubicle, I worked on some backlogged tasks before heading downstairs to get my flu and COVID shots. The line was packed, so I ended up waiting 30 minutes. I saw some familiar faces from our agency and even ran into Dr. Heidi, the Medical Director of IHOP. She gave me a hug and a pep talk, asking how I was doing—she’s aware of some of my personal challenges, which is honestly reassuring.

Lauren, the OT supervisor, showed up in line behind me, and we kept in touch by text while she attended a meeting. When it was finally my turn, I asked the nurse if it mattered which arm got which shot. She mentioned that COVID can make your arm sore, so I got the COVID shot in my left and flu shot in my right. Surprisingly, I felt fine for hours while others talked about headaches and muscle pain. Maybe it’s the caffeine and dehydration masking it.

Medication Pick-Up and Road Rage Drama Later, I drove to LA General to pick up meds for a client. Valet took forever and ended up losing my ticket, so I had to point out my car. The drive to my client’s location was short, but when I got there, neither the client nor their case manager was around. I dropped the meds off with security, then dealt with a road rage incident on the way back. Some guy backed out of his parking spot into the middle of an intersection, blocking my lane. After honking, he flipped me off, and I let him have it, shouting, “HEY, READ A DMV MANUAL NEXT TIME, MOTHERF---!” He fired back, but I sped off—wasn’t worth more drama.

OT Costumes and Quick Catch-Ups Back at the office, more OTs were in costume. I noticed Nessa and Adam weren’t dressed up, but it’s their choice. I stopped by Nessa’s cubicle to clarify a referral message, and we kept it light. She looked tired and said she’s ready for her upcoming break. She’s heading to New York to see her sister, and I hope she gets a true break without me dumping any of my stuff on her.

One-on-One Meeting with Vanessa I met with Vanessa to go over referral management and upcoming changes. We’ll be streamlining certain processes, which should make things smoother. Wrapped up the day at the office, drove home, then joined the 3:45 p.m. meeting from my computer to close out work tasks for the day.

World Series Game 5: Dodgers Clinch the Title Game 5 was a roller coaster. Dodgers were down 0-5, but we rallied and tied the game thanks to Yankee errors. By the 9th inning, we were hanging on with a 7-6 lead, and Walker Buehler closed it out with three straight strikeouts. Nate FaceTimed me for the final out—we watched the Dodgers make it official: World Series Champions! The whole city went nuts with fireworks, and texts poured in, including one from Lauren: “F--- YEAH!”

Freddie Freeman took World Series MVP after making history in Game 1 with that walk-off grand slam. There’s going to be a parade, and I’ll probably go since it’s only a 20-minute walk from the office.

Reflections and Final Thoughts Today felt great. I didn’t feel any depression creeping in, maybe because of the good vibes and the Dodgers’ win. Both arms are a bit sore from the vaccines, but it’s manageable. Ready for tomorrow!

[sicklewxlf]

So judging by your analogy... you can be cursed? Supernatural or not you didn't say you couldn't.

"What gave you that Idea that I can be cursed?"

[deepslumbrrr]

DROWNING IN THOUSANDS OF WORDS

(Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Queue System)

Ah, commissions. Commissions!

According to my backlog, the first commission I ever took—and completed—was back in March 2022. I've been doing this for over a year already. I can't believe it. That's fucking bananas.

Before March 2022, people would often ask me why I didn't have commissions open. To them, it made perfect sense. Not only did I love writing, I was evidently really good at it. In their eyes, the logical progression was monetization—making money doing the thing I love.

Fast forward a year and some change. I've only ever turned down one, maybe two commissions—only because I didn't think I could do a very good job with what the clients asked of me. I always want to be honest with people, especially when said people are throwing dollar bills in my direction. If I don't think I can do something to the ability the client requests of me, I make a point to mention it always.

Other than that, however, I tried to take every commission that came my way. Usually, it was for one or both of these reasons:

I think it's a great challenge to hone my writing skills.

I like making people happy.

Ah, that second one, though. That's where I get into trouble. That's where I ended up in the situation I'm in right now. Approximately 100,000 more words to go until I clear my commission queue, and I have no one to blame but myself.

SO WHAT'S GOING ON?

Okay, let me rewind a little bit.

From March 2022 until about July of the same year, I had a slot system. This meant that up to eight people could commission me at any one time until slots were CLOSED and no one else could reach out to make a request. I'm sure you're aware of how it works. I know you're smart like that, baby.

But here's a secret: I'm not very smart myself.

Somewhere along the way, I made an absolutely stunning realization: if I don't use a slot-based system, then MORE people could commission me. That way, I could make MORE people happy with my work!

So I tried it out. Instead of a slot-based system, I went with a "word count" system. That meant, for example, that my budget for writing commissions per month was somewhere around 70,000 words. Once I reached that amount—whether two people wanted 35,000 word stories each, or seven people wanted 10,000 word stories each—I would be closed for business until the queue's completion.

This didn't really pan out. I was unable to say No to a few last-minute commissioners, because I like making people happy. As a result, I went over my 70,000 word budget to around 90,000 words in one and a half months.

Horrifying, right? Don't worry, it gets worse.

Because one year after I first opened commissions, in March 2023, I had another genius idea. My best one yet. It sounded like this: commissions are always open! Yippee! Wow! Great job!

The logic made sense at the time. Altogether, it looked like this:

Commissions are ALWAYS open,

No more than 15,000 words per person,

Because of the above, please allow UP TO two months for delivery.

In my head, this was something of a "writing rolodex." I would always have something to write and work on, because I would ALWAYS have a commission, and I would ALWAYS have a commission, because slots were ALWAYS open, and because slots were ALWAYS open, I had two months maximum from the date of payment (a rule I insisted UPON MYSELF!) to get 'er done.

Well let me tell you, dear reader, I am the biggest damn fool on dog's green earth.

Not only did I end up with almost 150,000 words to write within two months, I could finally detect the strain and toil that I had managed to keep away for so long. I was getting tired and people could see it.

I love writing, and I love making people happy. I love both things a little too much. I thought if I always said Yes, then everyone would be satisfied with me. Everything would be just fine.

Well! Things! Are! Not! Fine!

I'm not collapsing or anything, but the strain is there. I will complete every last commission, of course, and I'll do my utmost to ensure a (relatively) speedy delivery. But by God, my commissioners are patient people. I'm truly thankful for them, and my readerbase. You inspire me every day of my life.

I like putting smiles on people's faces, especially with my writing! But this always-open-commission-thing is gonna have to... not be a thing anymore. It's unsustainable. I see that now.

It's difficult to sound modest when the reality is that my writing is in high demand. If it wasn't, I would be in this mess—up to my eyebrows in vowels and consonants. Once again, I'm truly grateful to all my readers and the people who pay me to put words in front of them. I'd love to continue writing for a long, long time.

TL,DR: THE LIMITED SLOT SYSTEM IS COMING BACK!

This unfortunately means that some people won't get commissions each month. There will be less smiling faces. I'm picturing a line of people waiting outside a lemonade stand. Only some of you will get lemonade, because I only have so many lemons. Sorry in advance, but maybe the guy down the road has fruit punch or something.

Unlimited Comm Works is taking its toll, so once this queue is done and dusted, I'll return to using a proper slot system—maybe with a bit of a spin on it. I'll definitely need a bit of a break, nothing too long.

As I wrote out this long post, someone messaged me asking when commissions are opening again. Commissions WILL ONLY OPEN AGAIN once I've cleared my present queue, which you can always find on my public Trello board linked here.

It would be irresponsible of me to take on more work when the saintly commissioners I have now have been immensely patient with me.

One more thing: commission prices will be increasing...somewhat.

I'd like to point out that I still charge below the average of two cents per word. I myself, at present, am only comfortable charging 1.75 cents per word, because I'm, like, y'know, umm, quirky like that :3

Here is a tabled breakdown of how much commissions will cost when they properly open again.

Once again, everyone, thank you for your kindness, patience, and attention. It's silly to think this all started when I wrote some very naughty words in an—apparently—pretty swell manner. What isn't silly is just how blown away I am by your support.

Love ya. ✨

[theevilnae]

Commission Progress

I had a rather massive backlog of commissions from conventions last year that I am finally make good headway on and getting shipped out.

These two were really special. The client wanted memorial pieces for someone who had passed in their style of their favorite animes: Neon Genesis Evangelion and Haibane Renmei.

I told them my style isn’t typically anime leaning and I don’t consider myself to be much of a style mimic, but they really liked my work and thought that she would have too.

Honestly these were the pieces in my commission queue that I was most nervous about and we’re holding me up. They had a lot of meaning tied up in them and not only did I not want to disappoint them, but I also tend to have a hard time starting on things that are emotionally complicated.

But as always for me, once I get through the sketch, things get easier.

I’m very pleased with how both of these turned out with a nice mix between an homage to the styles and still definitely my work. And the client was very happy as well.

I forgot to take pic of the 11x17 prints before shipping them but the colors turned out lovely printed out which is always a worry.

[aristocraticvision]

Chapter 32: Consular Results

The next four months went by very quickly. Cicero exhausted himself, dealing with his clients and a backlog of casework in the mornings and appearing in court or the senate in the afternoons, depending on which was in session. Of course, that was in addition to actively canvassing for the aedileship.

On the twenty-third of Quintilis – four days before the consular elections – the jury in the extortion court, to Cicero’s delight, finally voted to acquit the former governor of Achaia, and Glabrio announced that he would begin hearing the case against Gaius Verres on the fifth day of August.

All that remained was to select a jury, which was accomplished the following day under a grey midsummer sky. Thirty-two senators, drawn by lot, was the number laid down by law, and each side was entitled to make six objections. Despite using all of his challenges, Cicero still faced a dauntingly hostile jury, including several members of the boni and a number of back-benchers who would surely sell themselves to the highest bidder.

On the morning of the consular election, Cicero was so dispirited he could hardly bring himself to appear on the Field of Mars to vote. Hortensius and Quintus Metellus, of course, were favored, while Marcus Metellus and Palicanus – Pompey’s stooge – were favored for praetors.

As the centuries moved through the queues to cast their vote into the large earthen pots, Cicero knew the result even before it was returned. Ultimately, as expected, all the favorites – supported by the gold of Gaius Verres – easily won the day.

Cicero watched the red-headed Verres, smug as could be, slip onto the dais with the day’s candidates and shook his head.

“The puppet-master comes to take his bow,” Cicero muttered.

One might have thought that Verres himself had won the consulship by the way the aristocrats shook his hand and pounded him on the back. One of them, the former consul Scribonius Curio, went so far as to say (loud enough for all to hear), “Today’s election officially marks your acquittal!”

On every side, one now heard the same opinion: Cicero was done for. He was finished. The aristocrats were back in charge. None would even meet his eye as we walked toward the city gate.

Finally, Cicero stopped in despair, and I reached out instinctively to comfort him.

“I can’t say I have much hope left for our chances, Tiro,” he said, looking up. “I truly thought fortune was with us.”

BEGINNING | PREV | NEXT

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Temping Thing

There are few things in the world more satisfying than turning off your alarm because you have a whole week off. (Actually a week and a day; I’ve been burning stockpiled annual leave.)

However, there is possibly one thing more satisfying, at least on the work front.

Now, you may remember the other day, where I said that I’d had a really delicate, non-accusatory word with Temp about her tendency to cherry-pick the typing? And how she’d basically told me to step off, “It’ll get done; stop thinking about it”, sort of thing? And how I got an email from Scruffman immediately after that saying, “I’ll have a word with [Temp] ‘cos what she did there was rude”? Well, I tried to keep eyes and ears off that section of the office that afternoon because no one wants to have witnesses to a telling-off. So honestly, I wasn’t even sure that the talk had happened.

Next day? Talk had apparently happened in a significant godsdamned way because she was taking things scrupulously in chronological order. Today? Same thing.

Now, not sure if she’s going to fall back into bad habits while I’m having my week off or if it’ll be easier to stick to when she realises that I’m not there to offload the complicated stuff onto anymore. I guess we’ll see. Still, it’s made the last couple of days a lot easier. Sure, I’ve still had to do some of the complicated stuff, but having kept a weather eye on the typing queue, I at least know that I haven’t been saddled with all of it. It helps.

And, while I know it’s a nasty thing to think about someone ... it helps slightly more to know that it’s entirely possible that she won’t be with us much longer. She’s been shifted to the desk behind me, normally reserved for one of our other part-timers when she’s in, because we’re having a new full-on permanent member of staff joining us. I kind of expected something along those lines, since Head Honchesa Office Manager has been having interviews for yonks, but ... y’know, that could have been for anywhere ‘cos we’ve got at least two work sites. Turns out at least one of them is here. And because temps are more expensive than permanent staff members (because wage plus agency fees)... Well. Permanent staff is better. Apparently agency fees are worse than health insurance and the pension plan.

...Given how some agencies have treated me over the years, I’m actually offended that they make that much off of temps’ suffering. I mean, some of you remember some of my temp agency horror stories. Granted, the stuff the people I was assigned to were worse, but that’s kind of the point. I mean the ones who said they’d call but didn’t. Expected me to chase up information that was entirely in their bailiwick. Dropped the ball on my timesheets so that sometimes I was late getting paid. The guilt trips when I got so physically ill I couldn’t move, much less work. But the most memorable was them shooting themselves in the godsdamned foot. I was assigned to a hospital orthopaedics department and my job was supposed to just be as a typist, to help clear a backlog. (I have had a lot of assignments like that; with my typing speed, that’s probably not surprising.) Thing is, when I arrived, it turned out that they wanted me to basically do the full-on secretarial thing - book appointments, man the phones, filing, the works. That on top of clearing the backlog. So, since I know that secretaries are in a higher pay band than typists, and also knew that I was on a typist-payband salary, I called the agency. Not to give them shit, no - quite the opposite. The tone was, “Hey, you should know that your client misrepresented the job so they didn’t have to pay you as much; just so that you’re aware”. What I got in return was, “Just suck it up and cope”. So either they didn’t care about being short-changed so long as they got money at all or the client wasn’t the one misrepresenting the job. Honestly could have gone either way, because that was the one where the chair was an ergonomic torture chamber, I asked if there was a different chair (not a new one; just a different one that wouldn’t hurt me so much), they yelled at me to “suck it up and cope” (there’s a theme forming here), and one day I woke up with a backache so bad I could barely walk - I called in sick for what I hoped would be one day, just enough to soak in a hot bath or two until my back felt less like it was made of barbed wire and pain ... and at 3pm that very afternoon the agency called and said they were terminating my contract for being off sick for one day because of something they could have prevented if they’d fucking listened to me.

And yes, I do see the irony of an orthopaedics department crippling me through bad ergonomics.

Anyway, week off. I am going to play so many video games and do as little as possible. Temping did have some perks sometimes, but nothing beats paid annual leave except for maybe paid sick leave.