#but I also don’t want to apply to this industry job and not get it

[fractallogic]

I’m going to apply for a job with a FAANG company and I finally told my PI and had to actually say out loud (on slack) that tbh I would probably take it before the academic job market even started if I could negotiate a late enough start date (“hi yeah can I start like a year from now?”)

But it makes me want to die a little having said that because I still haven’t totally let go of finding a tenure-track position because maybe this year will be the year!! My CV will look the best it’s looked so far, and there are places (well, at least one) that should be hiring someone like me in the near future!!

I wish this job would have come out like, next March so that I would know if i have a TT offer or not. I am very much dragging my feet on applying to it. I know I’m not likely to get a TT offer, because NO ONE is likely to get a TT offer in this climate. I should just cut my losses and enthusiastically apply to jobs that sound appealing and/or where I have an in, and this one fits both of those conditions.

Also I found out from my friend that I could be making something like 250% of my current salary as a BASE so like. Imagine how many burritos I could afford even in LA with that kind of money.

[estrellogy]

Astro Notes Pt. 4

Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll!

- Both water and air signs, especially risings here, are good at mirroring others. But they often evoke different responses. Water signs are often projected on because like water, they reflect directly what energy others are giving out. Water deals more with subconscious emotions and energies that others may not even be aware of themselves. Air signs, on the other hand, mimic and adapt. They are social chameleons who know what’s expected from them. That’s why they are often well-liked.

- Scorpio placements, especially sun and rising, if underdeveloped, can pride themselves on their manipulation skills and how good they are at lying. They are extremely emotionally intelligent, observant, and aware of their environment. These are the keys to be a good manipulator. However, when they mature, they’ll use these natural abilities in much more productive ways. They grow to value truth and integrity above all else because they’ve experienced the other side of it.

- Personal experience: I have Moon in 9th house and traveling is so intertwined with my life. Two out of three siblings on my dad’s side (my dad and his sister) work in the airline industry, so they travel all the time as part of their jobs. My mom is a Sagittarius moon and she loves traveling. She would let me skip school sometimes to travel. It’s so interesting to see how astrology is not only reflected in an individual’s chart but is connected through generations.

- Speaking of 9th house. I have a theory that if you want to improve your social skills and charisma, work with your 9th house energy. People usually focus on their 1st, 7th, and 10th house because they are social/relationship houses. Maybe 3rd house since it focuses directly on communication. But 9th house is the house of higher learning, philosophy, and hope. I think we often connect best with others when we discuss about our own life philosophies, our live experiences and lessons, and our hopes and dreams. 9th house represents such an interesting and expansive part of us that’s often overlooked. I think 9th house is where our human spirit is stored.

When you’re deeply connected to this well of positivity, wouldn’t you naturally become charismatic and interesting and fun? That’s why Sagittarius is such a charming sign. Even though it’s not ruled by the beautiful Venus or glamorous Neptune, it radiates light. Work with your 9th house to unlock your own charm. It is that which attracts people.

- Sun sextile Pluto women have a very subtle way of getting people to do what they want. They don’t try to dominate or force, but they play into their natural strengths. For example, if they notice that people respond well whenever they come across as innocent/childlike, they’ll play more into it. They don’t alter their authentic self but more like, they add spice to it. Sun trine Pluto does this more naturally, sometimes without even realizing. But sextile is much more intentional.

They’re usually quite playful and flirty individuals. They gain power without people noticing. Sometimes, they even give up a little bit of power, become intentionally vulnerable, while gaining the upper hand without the other person knowing. They truly understand power = influence, not control. Fascinating people to observe.

- Taurus will take their time. That’s why they’re master seducers. They don’t make their suitors wait simply to play games. They are genuinely picky and know their worth. Like any earth sign, they know the value of time, especially theirs. So they would rather wait to see if the other person is worth it than jump blindly into it and have their time wasted. It also helps that they are so sensual and tempting, which comes from being deeply connected to their physical senses and body. They radiate feminine power. Venus in 2nd house also applies.

[55sturn]

✮ SNAP OUT OF IT: CHAPTER 0.01

series masterlist!

pairings: matt sturniolo x fem!reader [eventually, in this chapter, they are not friends]

synopsis: in which y/n receives the news of her life and she feels on top of the world, as if nothing could bring her down, until she meets her dorm mate, rather, until she re-meets him.

warnings: swearing, mentions of death, cigarettes, drug usage [weed], alcohol consumption, cocky!matt, flirting, bitchy!reader.

important notes: i’ve been so excited to post this! this is going to be slow burn, and updates will be slow as well while i’m in the process of deciding what i want done with back to december, povs will change regularly between reader’s pov, matt’s pov, and third person pov, each pov is vital to the story and each character’s internal battles throughout the series.

playlist for this series! song below for this chapter below!

READER’S POV

my hands shook as i held the letter that determined whether or not i’d have a chance at landing a job in screenwriting or directing, or literally anything the film industry would give me. landing a spot in this course, was extremely tough. it was only open to twenty five students, and there were thousands of applicants to rifle through each semester. it was a prestigious course, and if you excelled in it, the professor would consider sending out a letter of recommendation to any companies he knew were offering an internship. it was such high demand because the professor had a lot of sway when it came to massive filming and production companies, and would often land one of his students their big break.

but in order to apply, at least three years of training under some sort of local theatre was mandatory, the applicants needed to prove that they understood how screenwriting, production, and set or stage management worked, and there was still more that we needed to cover but those were top three areas of experience this course looked at. each applicant needed to prove that they were completely fit for this course and that they genuinely wanted to pursue a career in this field, and if you didn’t show it well enough, you weren’t even added to the consideration list.

it was a tough spot to land, and i would give anything to land a spot in this course. i had fought tooth and nail throughout all of high school to get grades that proved determination and hard work, the only university i ever had in mind was harvard, and if i didn’t get in, i wouldn’t know what to do with my life.

so here i was, freshly twenty-one, and finally holding the letter that led to the rest of my life, good or bad.

“come on you pussy, open it already.” jocelyn groans, she had been my rock throughout the entire application process. she’s been my best friend since we were six and bonded over having the same pencil case when she moved to boston in first grade. however, she’s been a bit callous to the idea of me being nervous about reading this letter. she was the type that barely scraped in high school, and she had decided pretty early that she didn’t want to go to any college or university. she excelled online and had amounted a huge following.

“joce, i love you but please shut up. this is the most important letter i’ve held in my entire life. i’m scared, what if i don’t get in?”

“please bitch, you’ve worked harder than anyone i know, i’m sure you’re going to get in.”

“thanks joce, but i genuinely don’t trust your judgement after the last guy you hooked up with. so i am going to take a shot and then open it.” i laugh, walking over to the cupboard above the fridge, grabbing the bottle of tequila we had bought in preparation for this very moment. i also grabbed two shot glasses from the mini bar-cart we had beside the fridge of our shared apartment, and began pouring a shot for the both of us.

“oh my fucking god. oh my fucking god!” she gasps from behind me, making quickly turn around, only to see that she held the open letter in her hands.

“what?”

“you fucking got in!” she exclaims, causing goosebumps to rise along my skin as i stand and watch her eyes dart back and forth along the page, reading the words aloud.

“dear miss l/n, i am pleased to inform you that the committee on Film and Visual Studies has voted to offer you a place in the Harvard class of 2025. dude you did it!” she beams, her voice full of pride and excitement, causing tears to well along my waterline as i stare at her.

“oh my fucking god, i did it.” i sob, feeling genuinely accomplished for the first time in my life.

“however it does say that the only available dorm situation is co-ed, since you had applied for on-campus living.”

“that’s fine with me honestly.” i shrug, wiping the tears, unable to rid my face of the smile that resides on it.

“alright, let’s take some shots and then start packing the rest of your shit. i can’t believe i’ll be living without for so long, i can finally walk around naked.” she hums, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as i sigh, my arms winding tightly around her waist.

i let out a loud laugh as i grab the bottle of tequila, followed by the two full shot glasses, sliding jocelyn hers as i stare at her.

“you’re acting as if you don’t already do that.”

“touché, however, here’s to my bitch starting her dream career.”

the next few days blew by in a blur as jocelyn and i finished packing everything i wanted to take. she was going to help take my stuff from boston to cambridge. the eight hour drive was going to be brutal, but it was completely doable, especially know that she’d be along the way. instead of driving sixteen hours total, she was going to spend the first night with me, she also wanted to scope out my dorm mate to make sure they’re not a total freak.

“i can’t believe i leave tomorrow.” i sigh, resting my head on jocelyn’s shoulder, the two of sitting on our balcony while she puffed her joint. jocelyn stifles a laugh before straightening out her expression, and turning to me.

“your mom would be so proud of you.” she says, her face blank as the absurd comment leaves her mouth.

“as fucking if.” i snort, rolling my eyes, taking the joint from her fingers, taking a small hit as she laughs.

“she’d probably ask why it took so long to get a response and then tell you that you didn’t try hard enough and that your acceptance letter was a pity letter.”

“probably.” i whisper, handing the joint back to her as i watch the setting sun, feeling a strong tinge of hurt swelling in my chest at the mention of my mom.

her and i never really had a steady relationship, when i was younger she was never really around, she was a big part of the film industry, quite the requested screenwriter, and was always in high demand which meant she didn’t take time to nurture me.

when she was alive and around more during my high school days after she was forced to retire from the spotlight due to her cancer, she was constantly berating me, the high ninety grades and constant participation in local theatre was never good enough. she always said i wasn’t shooting high enough. but she fell deathly ill my senior year, and that was a rough patch for us. i had snapped and told her that i hope she regrets the way she’s treated my entire life, and that i won’t be found at her deathbed. but when that time came, i was the first one to hold her hand and tell her i love her, but the reply never came from her, she just stared at the wall blankly until her boyfriend showed up and then suddenly she was lively as she could be while dying.

but i’ve moved on from that year, and it took a long time and shit ton of therapy to realize that i was never going to be the daughter she wanted, but my dad and my step-mother, melissa, have been as supportive as they could. they’ve been with melissa’s mom in maine for the last two months, helping her with everything after her husband’s passing.

i sigh again as i look at jocelyn, leaning my head back on her shoulder.

“we should probably head back to bed, we’ve got a long ass drive tomorrow.”

“yeah, wanna eat some ice cream first?”

“sure.”

after our ice cream, we finally crashed, both of us only getting about four hours of sleep after having to wake up at nearly six in the morning. we quickly got dressed, and grabbing the last few bags and boxes that needed to be packed into the car before leaving to grab food and drinks. after that, we finally started on our way to cambridge.

the drive was full of numerous stops, causing to get at the dorms around four in the afternoon.

“alright you stay with the cars while i go to the admissions centre and grab my key and i’ll go unlock the door and then we can start.” i hum in joce’s direction through her open window, grabbing my bag off the front passenger’s seat while jocelyn nods, climbing out, and stretching.

“i hope you get a hot roommate, you need a boyfriend.” she calls out, rolling my eyes, and flipping her off.

“i’m walking away i cant hear you!” i call back, following the signs that direct me toward to admissions office, as i enter i nervously approach the lady at the front.

“hi i’m here to pick up my dorm keys, room 496, y/n l/n.”

“here you go! so you’ll want to turn right, then take two lefts and follow the numbered plaques on the wall to the co-ed section of the dorms! and lastly, welcome to harvard!” the older woman chirps, flashing a warm smile that eases my nerves just the tiniest bit as i begin following the directions that she had called out.

as i reach my door, i fish the key from my pocket, quickly shoving it into the keyhole, wanting to get into my dorm as quick as possible. as i’m about to turn the knob, someone clear their throat from behind me, causing me to turn around. and once i meet the eyes of the person standing behind me, i immediately wish that the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

“what the fuck are you doing here?”

“this is my dorm?” he coughs, making my skin crawl at the idea of sharing a dorm for a year with the one person that i genuinely wish didn’t exist in my life.

“there’s no way in hell i’m sharing a dorm with you, matt.”

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© 55STURN 2024 ! REBLOGS NOT EXPECTED BUT GREATLY APPRECIATED ! [ you do not have permission to copy or save or share my work to other platforms and devices! ]

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Happy National Zookeeper Week!

I’ll admit, I’m feeling a little spicy about it this year (well, every year) because zoos use the celebration for lots of positive facility PR, yet staff don’t often get the support and respect that is claimed in those posts.

So I want to share this great article written by a zoo industry consulting group last year looking at the reality of what happens when a workforce ends up conflicted between their passion (zoos and animals) and pragmatism (paying rent, existing in a capitalist society). They assessed AZA compensation rates by region against things such as a living wage and rental rates in the area. (All text formatting within quotes, such as bold and italics, is original to the article text.)

I cannot give the Canopy Group enough support for the way they framed this research:

“By observing the economics of keeper compensation, it’s no secret that keepers land on the lower end of the wage spectrum. Like all other wages and salaries, the market value of keeper compensation is driven by several economic factors – including the size of the labor pool, the rigor and danger of the work, the technical ability required, and the educational requirements. However, there is one factor that artificially lowers the market value of keeper compensation more than any other: passion.

In this article, we’ll take a look at why passion lowers the market value of animal care worker wages. More importantly, we’ll consider many factors that have emerged in recent years that are making people reevaluate the value of following their passion – a trend contributing to The Great Resignation, especially as it applies to zoos, aquariums, and similar organizations. (…)

The argument here is passion versus pragmatism: the unknown versus the sure thing. It is a decision all zookeepers and animal care technicians have made. Working with animals is immensely rewarding, but this passion is also very popular. This, historically, has meant that the keeper candidate pool is very large. Therefore, if the wage is livable and working conditions are reasonable, the pool should remain large. In a very real sense, a passion for animals drives down the market value of keeper compensation. Anyone who has been through an Economics 101 course will recognize this as a fundamental market principle: supply vs. demand.

However, many zoos and aquariums are having a more difficult time filling positions than normal and have started to see higher turnover rates in recent years. This begs the question – is the current keeper wage too low?”

Their findings?

Here’s their graph of “the median wage of keepers from organizations in different AZA-defined regions” from an AZA survey done in 2021. (Median is the type of average that looks at the middle of a data set’s range).

The median wage for AZA keepers in the South/Southeast was just over $15/hr at the low end, and the median wage for AZA keepers in the Far West / PNW was a little under $26/hr. That’s pretty dang low everywhere, especially when you factor in the increased cost of living in places like the West Coast. Also consider that looking at the median wage doesn’t mean this reflects just entry-level compensation - this data indicates the the compensation middle for all keeper positions, including people who have built their careers as keepers in those places long-term.

Then, they compared those wages to the “living wage” in each region - which they defined as “a calculation of what it takes to live in a particular area, without any other income. A living wage calculation takes into consideration how many earners are in a household, how many children are being supported, etc. The living wage includes the costs of all the basic items a household needs to be self-sufficient.”

“If you receive a wage for a job that is below the living wage, then you are essentially taking a negative net income. This is unsustainable for the long term, and essentially defines where wages start to exploit passion.”

Here’s a figure they provided using the MIT Living Wage Calculator showing the average living wage for each of the AZA regions. The chart on the left shows the living wage for a single person with no kids; the second, for two parents with two incomes and one child to support.

“By comparing the two graphs [to the earlier graph of the AZA median compensation rates], we find that median wages in the Southeast/South and Southwest regions are lower than the living wage for each household configuration in those regions. In other words, if you are a single person household or part of a two-income household raising 1 child in the South, a starting keeper salary will likely leave you with a negative net income. While many people work at this level, it increases the risk of accumulating debt, lowers a person’s ability to afford a home, set a much later retirement age, and can lead to many other negative, long-term effects.”

Big yikes, right?

Next, they looked at living wage vs. compensation for single parents.

“The single-parent living wage exceeds the average keeper wage in all AZA regions. In fact, the living wage required as a single parent is double the average AZA keeper wage in some regions.”

And then they did housing, specifically, being able to purchase a home.

“In many places, even a two-income household at an average keeper salary would not purchase a mid-level home. This means that keepers have to wait far longer than their peers to purchase a home. While paying rent in the meantime, this rent will account for a larger portion of their income than their peers. All in, these effects can set hopeful homeowners back years or decades.”

Canopy’s conclusion was something anyone involved in the field knew was coming.

“Companies like Chipotle, McDonalds, Best Buy, FedEx, Home Depot, Publix, and Walmart are all offering similar starting wages near starting keeper wages – plus many fringe benefits (like tuition reimbursement) and ample advancement opportunities. Many potential keepers in younger generations are putting their passion on the shelf so they can meet basic standard-of-living concerns.

To attract and retain quality candidates, an organization must consider the journey each new employee would have to make over their career. If the journey is fraught with massive debt, decreased disposable income, and limited career opportunities, then you are limiting your potential candidate pool to the small group of people who have decided that following their passion is worth significant lifelong financial hardship. There are many potential candidates out there willing to sacrifice and arm and leg for animals and conservation, but they wouldn’t dare jeopardize the financial future of their dependents and families.”

This is something I’ve heard about for years, and seen first hand. The low average wage at zoological facilities has been damaging their ability to hire and retain skilled staff for as long as I’ve been involved in the industry. I know so many zookeepers who still have roommates into their 30’s, or work multiple jobs, just to be able to make ends meet.

There’s a mythology about zookeeping jobs, a narrative that seeps into the field and actively exploits people’s passion for the job: it tells people that they’re so lucky to be able to work with these rare and cool animals; that they’re greedy and ungrateful when they ask for more compensation because they’re privileged to get to have the job at all. It says that most people would give anything to have these opportunities, so current zookeepers are interchangable and easily replaceable. Ask for too much? Push for a living wage? There’s always someone willing to take your spot. Not all facilities perpetuate this mentality - some places do treat their staff well without intentionally manipulating them to stay them in unsustainable jobs, and there can be legitimate financial reasons that limit staff compensation (mostly at smaller facilities, afaik) - but it’s a reality in the field.

For a long time, this type of mentality towards staff was sustainable. There really were always more people wanting to work in the field. But now, after three years of pandemic stressors and inflation, it’s starting to be a problem. A lot of staff left during the last few years, and facilities are having a really hard time hiring people and retaining them for any duration. I think a large part of that is low compensation rates. People are prioritizing long-term financial stability and recognizing when their passion is being exploited.

When I first started on tumblr back in 2011, there was a whole group of us within the United States who were baby zookeepers or volunteering as industry hopefuls. We all became friends, and I’ve stayed in touch with, or at least aware of, most of them as their careers progressed. Of the 10-15 or so people in that cohort? I can think of three who are still employed in the zoo industry. Everyone else has moved on into other fields - often with great grief over the loss - because of the extreme emotional labor, the physical exhaustion, and the lack of appropriate compensation.

But I guess that annual pizza party, being featured on social media, and maybe getting additional snacks all week makes up for it all?

[vanrouchu]

stained colours

ace model au i fear

Being an ambassador for a makeup brand was something new for Ace. Despite being a highly sought-after talent in the industry, there was no denying that his refreshing vibe came from the fact that he was still fairly new when it came to modelling. Perhaps his vibe fit the brand’s image, or at least the new makeup line they were about to release in a few weeks. They asked Ace to create his interpretation of the slogan—Find your colour.

As the current ace of his agency, he was determined to create a look that would make the even camera’s shutters pause in awe. However, it was a little difficult to determine which way would be the best to go about it.

Find your colour.

That was a little subjective—Ace assumed that it would be the colour that suited him the most. In that case, it’s always been red. Although if it was the colour he liked the most, it would also be red. There’s not much of a variety when it comes to his preferences in colours. He needed to get a little bit more creative if he wanted to catch eyes.

He threw his head back and groaned, tired from all the thinking. He had a little less than 15 minutes to think of another concept he could go with than the same dull poses almost every model defaulted to whenever they modelled lipsticks. As his manager, he was relying on you to throw ideas at him—hoping that he could catch one of them and be able to use it.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t rub your face, you’ll smudge your makeup.” You sighed, running your hand over the plethora of lipstick tubes the brand gave for Ace to use. A lot of them were unopened; Ace already told you to put them aside after looking at the swatches alone. You grabbed the lipstick Ace was planning to use and stepped in front of him, finger hooking under his chin to tilt his head.

“Isn’t this supposed to be smudge-proof?” He grumbled, parting his mouth slightly to let you apply the lipstick on him. He did a good job not letting it show but there were more than a few thoughts running inside his head with every swipe and with every touch your finger left on his jaw.

“No. Maybe you’re thinking of another brand.” You let out a hum, letting go of his chin before taking a step away and putting the lipstick tube aside. You stared at his face, trying to tell if he looked his best or if there were some changes to be made—sometimes he made this step difficult by staring right back at you and it slowly became a staring contest.

You tilted your head, your hands coming back to the stash of lipsticks thrown to the side. “Are you sure you don’t want to make use of the other colours? There’s too much red… I think. Isn’t the slogan about finding your colour? It would make more sense if you used different ones.”

“What, like, making a gradient lip colour?” He grimaced. Clearly, he wasn’t even trying to comprehend your idea despite his desire to create a unique look. He crossed his arms and thought about it carefully, trying to think of ways he could see your suggestion working.

“No, silly. Not like that.” A chuckle escaped from your lips as you picked up a random shade, uncapping the tube before applying a stroke of colour to your lips. Ace stared at you curiously, trying to figure out what you were trying to do. Were you showcasing the colours for him? If that was the case, then there was really no need to do that—

“Do you mind if I kiss you?”

That single question made him pause. Cutting off any sort of action or thought he was doing at the moment.

“Excuse me?”

You threw your hands up immediately, trying to clarify your words. “Not on your lips! I just had an idea about the sort of look you could do, so I might use the rest of your face.”

That made him nervous. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have faith in his reliable manager, it was just the fact that you had to be in close contact to pull that off—your lips on the skin of his face? He had to calm himself down, urging him to keep his act together. He can’t make it obvious that he was more than a little flustered.

“Go ahead.” He muttered, following up with a louder-than-he-liked “It better look good though!”

With his approval, you stepped closer and wrapped your fingers around his jaw, whispering a small “close your eyes” before pressing your coloured lips against his skin—leaving lipstick marks. Pulling away, you took a step back to take a look at your work before smiling.

“This colour suits you. Let's try other colours too, shall we?”

Before he realized, he was stained with different colours. One on his forehead, one on his cheek, one on his jaw, one his neck, and one on the corner of his lips—barely a kiss. Each one was a different shade, but Ace found himself liking the one near his lips the most. Perhaps that was the color the slogan was talking about. Maybe he found it.

Walking out like that raised some questions from the staff, mostly wondering who did the lipstick marks on him but Ace just brushed them aside. He was far too embarrassed to give a proper answer; he hoped that the flustered look on his face wasn't too visible on the photos but the final results said otherwise.

But in the end, he got what he wanted. A unique look with a little bonus—he wanted to make it a habit to ask for your help if it meant he'll get little treats in between.

[drizzledrawings]

CONGRATS ON THE JOB 🥹🥹 do u have any advice for someone who is also trying to apply for jobs in the industry? 😭 like what was it like ...

EEEE thank you so much!!

Here’s a list of what I’ve found:

-have a clean website portfolio, don’t make it too complicated

-have a cover letter ready

-have a one page CV/resume that is neatly organized, even if you don’t have a lot of experience list your skills, they want to see what programs you can use

-make sure that no matter what they’re looking at (LinkedIn, social media, cover letter, resume) there is a link back to your portfolio website

-for gaming jobs, I’ve found that they want to see your fanart (as long as it’s not too weird y’all)

-literally always be looking for postings, i swear I’ve applied to over 50 jobs

-reply to emails immediately, and follow up when you don’t hear back for awhile, that shows you’re engaged and want the job

-focus on quality over quantity for your portfolio, the stronger your entire portfolio is together the better, you don’t want a weaker piece to throw them off!

Anyways that’s all I got so far, be yourself in interviews, from what I’ve found people are very kind, and genuinely want to get to know you

[littlemisstired]

something that has always fucked me up is the frankly terrifying exponential skill acceleration in the creative field. so many of the young artists I know now, even myself, are at a skill level that 25-30 years ago could have gotten them real jobs in animation or game design, even lauded as being top of their line of work, but are hardly even a blip on the radar in today’s industry where the skill ceiling is now miles above achievable for so many.

I look back at the kinds of art that was being made by the professional artists back in the 80s and 90s for comics and animation and some of it is downright amateurish compared to today’s work. It was roughshod, silly, scratchy, experimental. It wasn’t preoccupied with fitting into the bland Triple A standards or warping to fit what huge corporations expected, because those expectations simply didn’t exist yet in a world where video games and animated film and fantasy illustration were still in their infancy. The art in concept art felt so much more alive, more human. Nowadays I see people trying to get their feet in the door slaving for years trying to learn rendering techniques or portfolio tricks to even get their work in front of a recruiter, making stuff they don’t even care about just for the chance to be taken seriously. Strange how now more than even bigger studios are being ridiculed for their bland and uninteresting design/writing choices, where smaller studios with more creative control and more ready access to independent voices and visions are cranking out wildly popular, original titles left and right.

this sort of ended up longer than I expected, and rambling, but it’s something I’ve felt for so long as an artist who spent 15 years desperately trying to “get good enough” for a professional studio. The problem is that in the corporate capitalist hell we live in here in the US, “getting good enough” is almost never achievable, because those goalposts are always moving. You want to be a background artist? Well you need to learn how to do 3D modeling, texture mapping, physics simulation, how to use lighting in game engines. You want to be a character designer? You need to know rigging and clothing simulation and how to apply animation in X software. Also you need to do every style known to the world plus more, except in the end the studio will probably just ask you to photobash three dozen designs that all look the same anyway.

I understand there’s more to this than I’ve mentioned, that the world has changed in the 3 decades since the mid 90s, that there are millions of artists and only a few hundred thousand jobs in any creative field at any given time, that it’s reasonable to expect people to learn new things to better work as technology advances… but it seems so particularly crushing to artists, who oftentimes pour so much of their own heart and soul into what they do, and who are still expected to monetize, adapt, and distribute their skill like it’s some corporate tool and not a gift from evolution for us to record and express ourselves. Art and design are the building blocks for humans to understand and capture beauty and pain, joy and sorrow, and it’s disheartening to see that vulnerable creativity stripped away in favor of producing sterilized, corporate friendly “products”.

[what-even-is-thiss]

If you’re debating whether or not to get an MFA in writing here’s some points of interest from my experience.

If your only goal is to get published you don’t need the degree if you don’t want it. There’s ways to meet people and contact agents and self publish outside of the types of connections and knowledge you’ll get from a masters degree

If you want to teach creative writing in North America it’s technically possible to get a job without a masters but it’s extremely difficult. There’s also usually an opportunity to get practical teaching experience in the MFA program.

It’s difficult to get in these programs because the classes are usually really tiny. My program only admits 6 people a year. It’s also expensive to apply but once you get in they usually have funding available to you through work.

Making connections with other writers is a huge reason to get in a writing program. You often get the opportunity to meet visiting writers in addition to your classmates and professors. Socializing with people is actually a really important part of most arts educations. It gives you a support system of people in the industry and some people to hopefully write blurbs for your books

A lot of the work done in academia is literary writing. There’s still a potential place for you if you write genre fiction and people will likely support you in that but it’s an important thing to keep in mind.

Some schools might try to push you towards adapting a particular sort of style or mostly pick people or have faculty with a certain style. Other schools will generally have a more diverse array of types of writers and not have a distinctive style. Neither of these things is inherently better but it is something to think about when asking questions and investigating. I purposefully applied to schools with diverse and different types of work coming out of them.

If you just want a degree or don’t want to move a low residency MFA is probably the choice for you. Those are mostly online and you generally visit campus in person once or twice a year. High residency MFAs are the ones where you live and work there and are a full time student. These are generally either one or two year programs. The length of program you want depends on you and what you want out of the program. I chose a three year program because I wanted to take more classes.

You get a lot of unstructured time to write even when you’re working. If that’s important to you it might be a good place to figure out your process. It’s a lot of work but you usually decide how much you get out of it and how much work you get done.

You may be expected to teach or TA classes, give public readings of your work, or give presentations to your classes. It’s not a degree free of public speaking.

If you want to get experience in publishing a lot of masters programs run literary magazines or have relationships with local magazines and publishers you can get involved with. If you’re interested in this that’s something to look into when deciding what schools to apply to

[notsoattractivearenti]

Wherever You Are (Mason Mount x Reader)

Song Inspo: Wherever You Are - 5 Seconds of Summer (I recommend you to listen to the song while reading this fic!

Word Count: 1392

Warnings: Angst, maybe a little fluff

A/N: This is my first fic after I stopped writing for almost 7 years so apologies for possible crappy storyline and ending or any mistakes I might've not realized! Also this one is for my girls in Puli gc (I just found out some of us are also 5sos fans 🤭) – UPDATE: PART 2

“Mason! I got THE call! I got the job!!!” You said loudly as you were jumping up and down out of happiness like a little child. Mason’s eyes widened when he heard you and came running to you to give you a hug, then he picked you up, swung you around, and gave you a sweet and passionate kiss on the lips. “See!? I knew you’re going to get it Y/N! I’m so proud of you!” His excitement was crystal clear and you loved to see how he reacted. The day you’ve been waiting for has finally come. You got your dream job in your hands. You’ve always wanted to work in fashion industry. You went to college and earned a bachelor’s degree in Fashion, and you basically have prepared your life for this career. You’d applied to multiple companies and landed some interviews but you never got an offer call... Until today. But the thing is... You had to move to America. The company you’re going to work for is in New York City, and now that you’ve got accepted meaning you had to relocate there. You suddenly felt your mood shifted, you were incredibly happy before and now you weren’t sure what to feel anymore. Your boyfriend for 5 years is here in London, and obviously since he's a football player who is currently playing for Chelsea he has to stay in London. You now realized you have to talk about your relationship’s future with Mason because you two are about to live in two different countries, thousands miles apart.

You grabbed a chair, sat down quietly and tried to find the courage to have a (possibly) difficult conversation with Mason. “Mase, I think we need to talk.” “I know what you’re about to say,” he said as he sat down next to you then held both of your hands, “you know I love you so much and I know this job is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you absolutely deserve this more than anything in the world. I will always be yours no matter where you are, you have nothing to worry about.” “But are you sure? We’ve never done this long distance thing before. There’s going to be actual distance between us. We won’t see each other every day and also the 5-hour difference... Those things don’t sound easy to me at all.” You kept looking down because you were afraid you would start crying the second you saw his eyes. “It’s obviously won’t be easy Y/N, but don’t you think it’s worth to try? I don’t want to give up on us and I hope you don’t too.” You could hear his voice was breaking when he said it, and of course you didn’t want to give up as well. “Hey,” he said softly as he touched your cheeks and leaned down a bit “look at me. We’re gonna be okay. Nothing has to end, right?” You looked up, locked your eyes with him, let out a little smile and replied “You’re right. We’ll be just fine.” He kissed your forehead and your lips, and you heard him saying “We don’t have to say goodbye.”

---

Two weeks had passed and it was time for you to leave. You knew this day would come but you still didn’t feel ready. You spent most of these past 2 weeks with Mason; you both did everything you could together before you move away. You two were pretty much in denial about your relationship situation and just wanted to focus on spending more time together. Since most of your belongings had been packed and shipped to NYC a few days before, for today’s flight you only brought one backpack and 2 suitcases with you. Mason helped you packed your things and he was the one who drove you to the airport. On the way, you two acted like nothing big was happening; you had a fun little carpool karaoke and laughed at how horrible you both were when singing, told stupid jokes to one another and were talking about other things but you both were clearly trying to avoid anything about the future – your futures, separately. You finally arrived at the airport and Mason walked along with you until the front gate. “Well,” he said as he held your hands tight, “I guess it’s time for you to go M’Lady.” You laughed a little, tried to hold back your tears. “Yes, yes it is, M’Lord. I’m so glad you’re here, Mase. I uh, I... I’m sorry I have to leave.” You started breaking and before you know it your tears had fallen down, you could no longer pretend this wasn’t happening anymore. You saw how Mason’s big smile – which is and will always be your favourite smile in the entire world – just disappeared, now replaced by a frown, and you could tell he was trying so hard not to cry. “Y/N...” “Mason, I know you said we don’t have to say goodbye, but I don’t think I can do that. I love you...” you paused because you had to catch your breath from all the crying. “Y/N, please sto-“ “I really, really love you Mase. I don’t want to say goodbye, but it seems like the right thing to do. It is the only right thing to do, no matter how hard it may be but you and I both know it’s for the best...” You could feel how his hands were cold and trembling because he was still holding yours, then he let go and wiped his tears off his face. You saw his red, puffy eyes filled with tears, and it broke your heart even worse. He didn’t say a word for a minute as he was trying to calm himself down before saying anything. “Y/N, I’m not... I’m not ready to let you go. I’m not ready to let us go...” He took one deep breath before continuing, it was really hard for him to say what he felt at the moment. “You are the only girl I’ve ever loved, Y/N. You are the most special girl in the world and I don’t know if I will ever find another woman like you. But as much as I hate saying this, you’re right. It’s time to...” he paused then he bit his bottom lip “uh, to say... Goodbye.” You felt like you were so close to falling down on your knees when he said those words, you knew it was coming but you didn’t know how badly it would hurt you. “Maybe one day we’ll be together again, who knows?” you smiled a little when he said that. You and Mason then gave each other the longest and tightest hug, none of you wanted to let go. You both whispered to each other “I love you always”, he kissed the top of your head and released the hug after you heard the boarding call for your flight. You both wiped the tears off each other’s faces, then leaned in for one final kiss. “Okay,” as you fixed your backpack “I have to go now. Goodbye Mase...” as you waved at him. Still crying, he forced a smile and waved back at you. “Goodbye Y/N.”

---

It has been 3 months since you left London. You love your job so much and you’ve settled well in NYC. You obviously miss everyone in London but you wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe one thing... Since the last time you saw Mason you still couldn’t stop thinking about him. About the what ifs, should’ve beens, could’ve beens, everything. You couldn’t help but wondered: has he moved on? Or is he still waiting for you? You don’t know and you don’t want to know. Checking out his contact on your phone has become your before-bed routine. You wanted to call him to hear his voice, to tell him everything, to hear about his day like how it used to be. You really wanted to tell him how much you still love him but you don’t have the guts to. You’ve heard about how nothing lasts forever, yet your love for Mason is still strongly there within your heart. Every night, you would look at old photos of him on your phone and you always told yourself: “Mason, it will always be you... Wherever you are.”

[neptunedivine]

midheaven observations pt. 1

hi everyone! I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to talk about some midheaven observations I’ve made mentally. I know these aren’t all of them, but these were on my mind at the time. I hope you enjoy the read! :)

aries midheaven ✧ People with this angle either want to be/are the first to do something in their profession or the best at their profession (actually I feel like this could be said for all prominent Aries placements, but I digress). As someone with the placement, I feel like it’s very important for natives to be passionate about their career. Unless they will not want to pursue it.

ex: Celine Dion ✧ Celine Dion has this midheaven and she’s regarded as one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Also, have you heard her sing other songs other than My Heart Will Go On? There’s nothing wrong with that song, it’s a classic for a reason. But I don’t think it displays how fiery her voice is when she sings. Listen to Treat Her Like a Lady, she sounds incredible.

taurus midheaven ✧ Those with Taurus ruling their midheaven will most likely find careers in beauty/beautifying, the arts, and finance. Sidereally, people who have Taurus placements are commonly Aries placements in sidereal astrology (as someone who has her moon in Taurus tropically, but her moon in Aries sidereally). I think the passion and “all or nothing” attitude Aries midheavens have toward their career comes through for Taurus midheavens, but instead of translating as impatience, I see it as stubbornness. Like they won’t get up and storm off if they don’t like what they’re doing careerwise, instead they might do it but they’ll complain the whole time. They also won’t put as much effort into their profession as if they cared about their work.

ex: Tyler the Creator ✧ Have you seen the Jimmy Kimmel interview where Tyler talks about his two jobs before fully committing to music? (I’ll link it below). Not only is it hilarious, but Tyler also explains that he wasn’t happy at either of his jobs. At most he did the minimum to make an income, but he didn’t really care for it. Comparing this to how he talks about his music career, there’s a wild difference. He looks so happy and not only that but excited for the work and projects he gets to do not only in the music industry (which in itself expands past making albums and singles as he scored for a fashion show and for The Grinch film in 2018) but for his brand Golf le Fleur that expands into beauty with fragrances and fashion with the apparel and shoewear he creates (he also has some collaborations with Converse I believe). And, he’s very invested in his collections. I think I saw him geeking over this very rare Gucci or Cartier watch that’s really hard to get but he was gifted it. He’s very proud of his collections and he cares about them a lot (makes sense with Taurus not only being the traditional ruler of the 2H which rules over personal wealth, finances, self-worth, possessions, etc but is opposite Scorpio in the natal chart which in my opinion, I view as very possessive and those traits can be seen in its sister sign). It warms my heart tbh.

scorpio ascendant + leo midheaven ✧ How much do you guys like the spotlight? Like actually? (no, I’m not talking to the Sagittarius risings with a Leo midheaven, I know you guys want that limelight 😂). I feel like it’s not too much, though you always end up getting the attention. I wonder if this is more of an emphasis on the Scorpio Pluto generation than the Sagittarius Pluto generation. I’m not saying this still won’t apply, but I question if it’s to a lesser extent since the Scorpio Pluto generation would have Pluto in their first house rather than their second house. That air of mystery and isolation could be stronger. I feel like I only see you guys when you’re pursuing your profession, almost to get it over with? Like “dang I got to walk this red carpet it’s a part of my job”, you could mask it well but I don’t think you guys really want to be there. As much as you guys may not like it, you’re very talented at what you do.

ex: Frank Ocean ✧ This man casually dropped diamonds (not gems, DIAMONDS) and then he dipped. I feel like his “prime” (I don't like using that term because I have hope he’ll release something again) is regarded so highly. All of his very limited performances, releases, and interview(s?) are put on pedestals and watched over and over again. It almost doesn’t feel right to say he’s one of the greatest in the music industry, in my opinion, because his career lives in its own domain. I haven’t seen a songwriter really compare to him since, other than SZA (i love them both so much it’s insane).

aries ascendant + capricorn midheaven v. capricorn ascendant + libra midheaven ✧ I think all cardinal midheavens have the advantage of having their placement because it allows them to stick to their plans and achieve their goals (the same can be said for fixed midheavens too). But to what extent, depends on what sign is ruling.

ex: Ariana Grande ✧ If we were to look at Ariana Grande, for example, she has a Libra midheaven and a Capricorn ascendant. So she’s set up well for career success and achieving her goals (which is true, she doesn’t have that many fame indicators in her chart, but she does believe in manifestation and has put in the hard work to achieve a lot of her success in the music industry and the perfume industry. Yes, I know she has well-off parents, but do you know how many nepotism babies have the money and still sit on their a**? Yeah…). But, I don’t know if being a businesswoman is as strong of a desire for her as presenting a beautiful aesthetic (which there’s nothing wrong with that!). This can be seen recently with how people feel about R.E.M beauty. Yes, it’s pretty, I’m a sucker for the space aesthetic. But I’ve seen on many occasions where people are not satisfied with the quality of her products.

ex: Rihanna ✧ Now if we look at Rihanna, she's also a very successful woman in the music industry. (I looked them both up on Spotify and Ariana sits at 4th in the world for the number of monthly listeners she has and Rihanna sits at 10th, that’s amazing omg). I think other than Fenty Beauty, she had one perfume launch and a clothing brand that she abandoned…anyway. Fenty Beauty is the most commercially successful celebrity makeup brand, with revenues grossing $570 million. I think with Aries in combination with Capricorn here, paired with the business mindset and goals, there’s again the need to be the first and/or best at what you do. Rihanna shows this with Fenty Beauty and the Fenty brand not only with its massive success but with its inclusivity, from the models she chooses and the shade inclusivity of her makeup products.

✧ I think the difference in these ascendant and midheaven combinations is that with Aries and Capricorn, if the first goal doesn’t work, they’re quick to realize that, ditch it, and move on to the next plan for their success. I feel like that’s what Rihanna did with her fashion brand. With the Libra and Capricorn combination, there’s still a high rate for success, but I don’t think the need for success and winning especially is as strong. I feel as long as everything looks pretty and is going well to their standards, these placements are content.

that’s all for now. if you want to send me a placement that you’d like my observation on, you can leave your requests in my ask box! Please only send three placements per ask, but you can send multiple asks. It just makes it less overwhelming for me. see you later! 💕

[seat-safety-switch]

Dump trucks have a lot going for them. They’re trucks, for one thing, so they’re inherently practical, even when they’re the size of Scotland and have tires big enough to park another truck inside. There’s proletarian charm for days; remember how your uncle once told you that “blue collars make ‘em holler.” They have lots of little gadgets, like power-take-offs to lift the dump bed, and levers to tell it what to do. And of course, dump trucks are slow, which infuriates people into making risky passes, at which point you run them the fuck over.

Now, you may ask yourself: why are enormous construction vehicles that can’t reach the speed limit allowed to coexist with regular commuter traffic? And to that I say, that’s a very good question. That dump truck driver’s boss expects to make good on his investment, so he puts pressure on the local authorities to not apply restrictive road-use laws that would force his employees to take slower, but less dangerous routes while on the job. He may also do some shitbag union-busting, we don’t know for sure, but what we do know is that eventually that dump truck is sent to auction, at which point it can become my dump truck, free of its previous connotations of labour abuse.

Sure, you need a more advanced drivers’ license to operate a truck such as this, but let me let you in on a little secret. Plane tickets are real cheap right now, and you can fly to a country that doesn’t even have dump trucks, pass their dump truck exam with the help of twenty dollars cash, and trade in your new dump truck driver’s license for a legitimate one when you get back to this country. That’s where they get new brain surgeons from, after all: just costs too much to raise ‘em here, and they don’t do anything nearly as cool as driving a seven-ton industrial vehicle to work at an office.

And speaking of that office, that brings me to the only real problem I’ve had with the truck so far. Parking it is a pain in the ass. All the spots are way too small for my gargantuan steed. When the other idiots from your department want you to take them to Wendy’s because it’s your turn on the lunch rotation, it takes an hour just to get out of the spot and another hour to explain to the cops why you had to destroy half the drive-thru in order to pick up your order. At least you can easily get rid of the evidence.

[feckcops]

Mental health diagnoses are capitalist constructs

“Mental and physical diagnoses aren’t objective facts that exist in nature, even though we usually think of them this way. While the experiences and phenomena that fall under different diagnostic categories are, of course, real, the way that we choose to categorise them is often influenced by systems of power. The difference between ‘health’ and ‘illness’, ‘order’ and ‘disorder’ is shaped by which kinds of bodies and minds are conducive to capitalism and the state. For example, the difference between ‘ordinary distress’ and ‘mental illness’ is often defined by its impact on your ability to work. The recent edition of the DSM, psychiatry’s comprehensive manual of ‘mental disorders’, mentions work almost 400 times – work is the central metric for diagnosis.

“When we look across history, it becomes even more obvious that diagnosis is tied to capitalist metrics of productivity: certain categories of illness have come in and out of existence as the conditions of production have changed. In the 19th century, the physician Samuel A. Cartwright proposed the diagnosis of ‘drapetomania’, which would describe enslaved Black people who fled from plantations. While we might think of drapetomania as a historical outlier among ‘true’ and ‘objective’ diagnoses, it is underpinned by the same logic as other diagnoses: it describes mental or physical attributes that make us less exploitable and profitable. In the 1920s, medical and psychological researchers became interested in a pathology called ‘accident-proneness’, which was applied to workers who were repeatedly injured in the brutal and dangerous factory conditions of the industrial revolution. Dyslexia, a diagnosis I have been given, also didn’t emerge until the market began to shift from manual labour towards jobs that relied on reading and writing, when all children were expected to be literate. Despite having problems with reading, I understand that in a world where reading and writing weren’t so central to our daily life, there would be no need to name my dyslexia, no need to diagnose it.

“As a system of state power, many of us rely on diagnosis to get the material things that we need to survive in the world. When illness or disability interferes with our ability to work, we often need a diagnosis to justify our lack of productivity – and for some, diagnosis is the necessary pathway to getting state benefits. If we want to get access to medication, treatment or other healing practices provided by the state, diagnosis is also the token that we need to get there. This is made all the more complicated by the fact that doctors have the power to dispense and withhold diagnoses, regardless of our personal desires. When it comes to psychiatric diagnosis, most of us know someone who has had to fight or wait for years for a diagnosis that would improve their quality of life – particularly in the realm of autism, ADHD and eating disorders. The internalised racism, sexism, classism or ableism of doctors often gets in the way of our ability to access the diagnoses that we want and need. Then there are those of us that are given diagnoses that we reject, a process that we also have no say in ...

“When we understand that psychiatric diagnoses are constructed, contested, and aren’t grounded in biological measures, the idea of ‘self-diagnosis’ starts to feel less dangerous or controversial. Self-diagnosis is grounded in the idea that, while the institution of medicine may hold useful technologies and expertise, we also hold valuable knowledge about our bodies and minds. I know many people who have found solace and respite in communities for various diagnoses, even if they don’t have an official diagnosis from a doctor. These spaces, which respect the wisdom offered by lived experience, can be valuable forums of knowledge-sharing and solidarity. Self-diagnosis also pushes against an oppressive diagnostic system that is so centred around notions of productivity.”

[shebben]

Shrinkydink earrings :) there are two of each of these. I traced them tho so idk if it really counts as my own stuff.

I got my ears pierced in November and they’re still healing (I swear I’ve done everything right 😭). I’m very excited to be able to wear earrings. Tbh I’m glad my mom didn’t let me get my ears pierced when I was really young bc that would have been a giant hassle.

Also I had my first full cup of coffee today. We’ve been a coffee free household until a few months ago since drinking coffee is heavily frowned upon in Mormonism. My dad and sister really like it but I think it tastes like absolute ass. They say it’s an squires taste but boy idk how I’ll get used to it. I’m all jittery and nervous now so idk if I’ll have any positive affects from the coffee anyways.

My sister got a job interview at Deseret Industries and it seems like she’s gonna get it. I may want to apply there since they usually look for neurodivergent people to hire since they’re cool like that. And there’s a lady that works there who we know from church and she’s pretty nice. She still talks to my mom when she sees her in the grocery store so I guess she isn’t too bothered by how my mom is pretty upfront about sexism in the church. Idk if the lady knows we don’t go anymore tho lmao based on how chill she’s been I doubt that will upset her but idk.

Thank you for reading this. Have a good day.

Update:

Holy fuckijg shit I feel restless like in a bad way. I have to move around or it will feel really weird. It’s not the normal fidget it is almost uncontrollable. Bro this feeling is ass. I feel like there are bees in my legs lmao. I’m also having trouble breathing. Safe to say I’m never having coffee again. This is horrible. Idk how I’m gonna take a shower with my legs feeling sturdy but floppy at the same time. My sister says it makes her feel calm. I am jealous of her lol. I am not enjoying this experience.

Update 2:

The shower wasn’t bad at all and it didn’t take a million years to get in (or at least it didn’t feel like it). I washed my hair three times and my face in 20 minutes and usually it takes me 20 minutes to wash my hair twice. This is actually really nice. I am not a snail anymore, I’m a turtle. It still feels like there are bees in my legs and I’m still restless.

Bye

[greentrickster]

One of the things I find interesting about Maxwell as a character, especially as we find out more about him, is, as someone with a decent background in theatre, how real he seems to me. Not as some great, grand villain, but as a performer who wanted and who got in over his head as a result.

A little explanation: when I say, “I have a background in theatre,” I don’t mean anything big or grand - I’ve only been paid for I think three of the jobs I’ve done, the majority of it was lessons and volunteer work for more niche stuff. Which is important, because that’s the level of stage William seems to have been at originally. I’ve actually met a lot of Williams in the course of my acting experiences - you’d be surprised how many of them there are. And, I cannot stress this enough, they are not bad people.

You’ll hear people say that the performance industry is cut-throat, and it is, but that means it’s also shockingly rough on the performers in it. There’s a lot of performing in school gyms, having to provide pieces of your own costume even if it’s not a school activity or a lesson, hours like you wouldn’t believe in regards to both practice and performance, and pay such that there’s a reason it’s a trope for actors to have side jobs. And that’s once you’re already in, and getting there is hard enough. Moving up is even more work, and often requires you to be skilled in multiple areas. Injuries happen, and you don’t work? You don’t get paid. Heck, I’ve stopped acting, just because I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want it enough to put up with the conditions getting to do it put me through.

Thing is? There are people out there who do want it that much, who’ll go through a performance with a taped-up leg or a head cold that’s making it hard to think. People who heard the phrase ‘the show must go on’ and took it to heart. People who are constantly looking for some new edge, some way to stand out from the crowd of other skilled, talented people they’re in because they want to be the one on the stage, in the spotlight, getting those applause from the crowd. And, as often as not, it’s easy to get an ego on you once you get there, and also to become incredibly jealous of your place in the spotlight, wary of anyone else taking what you’ve worked so hard to gain.

And all of that feels like it applies so well to William Carter. The man who left his home and family to try and make it as a stage magician in another country. Who was working hard to make it in a tough industry but couldn’t quite find that spark he needed to make it. Who finally found the edge that gave him the leg-up he needed to finally step into the spotlight he’d been seeking for so long. Who guarded the edge he’d gotten jealously, for the same reasons all magicians and many performers guard the secrets of their trade so carefully. Who presumably realized a little too late that he’d gotten in over his head, and didn’t know how to stop.

Now, replace the Codex Umbra with drugs, alcohol, medications, or any number of other things, and William’s isn’t a new story at all - it’s one we’ve seen play out over and over in the performance industry, and I’m sure we can all name at least one star we’ve seen rise and fall in our own lifetimes. It’s not new, strange, surprising, or even unusual. It’s just a case of bad luck that the edge William found cost him in such a strange, horrific manner.

And that’s why Maxwell, once William, is so interesting to me. Because he’s turning out not to have been some great, grand figure, a powerful schemer or clever conman. Heck, as Wes’s story showed us, he’s not even that great at getting back at his enemies. He was just a guy, a really average, normal guy, who really wanted to be a performer. Because, no matter what he became as the King, he doesn’t seem to have started out bad, and the worst he seems to have become in the regular world was something of an egomaniac. Which, again, extremely normal in performers. That’s where the thrill comes from. He was a regular, unassuming guy who got handed the key to his dreams... and didn’t realize the true cost until much too late.

Because I’ve seen how much many performers are willing to pay and put up with for that moment in the spotlight, how much more they’re willing to pay and put up with to make that moment last... and I can’t help but wonder how many of them, if offered the same chance, would make the same choices as William, and also not realize it until much too late.

[obstinaterixatrix]

I read all of The Honest Life of a Game Studio and now I am obsessed do you have recs for anything like it.

I wish. I FUCKING WISH. but it’s really one of a kind. higefusa really just wrote mundane slice of life office drama with the level of detail that could only be provided by a gamer who has worked in the industry AND he threw in some life or death stakes as a treat. how often do we get an incredibly normal office worker stuck in time prison??? and it’s ONE ARC??? not often enough.

none of these are gonna be just like game-ya but in terms of romances with attention to detail for industry/niche fields… ok all of these are gonna be kind of weird so bear with me.

double section is a BL about an auditor for an insurance company and an insurance salesman, I wouldn’t necessarily give it a blanket rec but I liked how Passionate the main characters were about audits and workplace regulations. a lot of heated drama for the most normal office setting possible. in the author’s note the artist talks about interviewing health insurance salesmen.

ginmokusei is more of a conventional BL but it’s about a guy who inherited his grandpa’s tailor shop and an ex maître d who shows up and demands to help him before he goes bankrupt. there’s a little bit about branding and marketing and bank loans. what has Always Stayed With Me is when the love interest basically goes like ‘you’re using all these flashy ads and being really pushy with discounts. are you selling beef bowls.’ every time I pass a clothes shop that goes really flashy with the discount banners I think ‘are they selling beef bowls…’

panel x magic. okay I said it was going to be weird. so this yuri is about a recent graduate who applies for office jobs and ends up doing image editing for… I guess a brothel? it doesn’t go into critiques of the sex industry, but I thought it was interesting how it takes a really logistical perspective in terms of marketing, advertising, and image manipulation… one of the chapters has the main character going like ‘oh god I’m trying to edit this risqué photo by making the thighs thinner and giving the face a glow-up but I keep making the model look like a weird alien this looks like something from a photo booth’ and gets advice from her coworkers like ‘hey why don’t you look up makeup tutorials to get a sense of what to touch up.’ hasn’t been translated in a while but it kind of hits that… really in-depth look at the logistics of a job.

I think there’s more I’m not remembering at the moment, at one point I think sundry made a joke about rating office romances by how much office work is shown. there’s a couple ones that *kinda* fit but not really… wait. wait wait wait. WAIT. oh my god it has such a h•rny title. okay. so I’m being 100% sincere when I say that the main story for hammered and pounded is a BL with interesting office politics. it’s also incredibly h•rny, but game-ya gets pretty h•rny so whatever. but yeah there’s a whole subplot where the love interest, who works in sales, has actually always wanted to work in R&D, and it becomes A Whole Thing where the head of R&D is in conflict with the head of sales over whether or not a transfer is gonna happen and there’s no romance involved with the conflict it’s all office politics

and in a similar vein, to your right, you will see my boyfriend is about a guy who’s working as a tour guide in kyoto and at the artist talks about how she used to work as a tour guide. I think it’s fun, though I have my qualms. the main character does do studying about how to be an effective tour guide and goes from being like ‘ugh I’m saying all the facts but no one’s listening’ to ‘haha check out this extremely long name of the temple we’re about to see! make sure to remember it, it’ll be the password for getting off the bus ;D’

I have another category of vaguely similar vibes of genre bending mundane office work + fantastical situations

tokusatsu gagaga is a gen series that’s a BIG fave of mine, the main character is an OL who loves tokusatsu so she imagines a lot of scenarios with that sort of vibe. it’s not diagetic, but it’s really fun when it’s stuff like ‘I’M AT KARAOKE WITH MY COWORKERS BUT I CAN’T OUT MYSELF AS A TOKUSATSU OTAKU THIS IS JUST LIKE BEING ATTACKED BY A KARAOKE-THEMED MONSTER EMERJASON HELP ME!!!!’ the eng tl hasn’t been updated in a while but there’s a live action adaption that’s really good

magilumiere co. ltd. is a gen series that’s basically ‘what if magical girls were like… sanitation workers for monsters’ so it’s a lot of company logistics in a fantastical setting. I don’t think I got that far into it before getting distracted, but it was interesting (though perhaps overly generous/idealistic about start-ups as a concept).

[vodika-vibes]

I love your Griffyn Industries AU! It’s so cool and I think it’s all really cute. The clones get a shot at a happy ending. ^_^

But I imagine Anakin is slowly losing his mind (well, he already is, but put that aside) as more and more of the clones of 501st end up MIA, allegedly killed, or willingly look at the industries and are like “yeah this is a better deal.” And then you have Ahsoka who gets hired too.

Anakin: “You’re taking all my associates away from me! I’ve had my suspicions ever since this company prevented me from catching the clone suspected in the assassination attempt against Palpatine. What kind of evil schemes are you planning?! I demand you give me back my men and let me investigate!”

Employee, messaging to Ahsoka to go hide Rex, Fives, and Dogma: “Sir, this is a Wendy’s.”

Anakin: “. . . What?”

Employee, giving Anakin the good ole customer service smile when Ahsoka texts a thumbs up: “Sorry. It’s an old meme from my home planet, Earth. I apologize, but we don’t have to submit to an investigation without substantial evidence against us. You are not allowed to search the premises until you have a warrant.”

Anakin: “I’m a General-!”

Employee: “I am aware, sir, but your status does not nullify the fact you are on the brink of getting banned from the premises. Now, I must ask you to leave before I am forced to call the Corusant Guard and report this infraction to the Jedi Council.”

Thank you! It's one of my favorite AUs, tbh

But this. This is exactly it.

Like, canonically, Anakin cares less about the clones than the droid his wife gave him, so you can't even really call him friends. So Anakin sees this company taking the clones, and taking Ahsoka, and barring him from investigating and he loses his shit.

And he can't do anything about it, because in the grand scheme of things, keeping Gryffin Industries happy is better for the Republic than one Jedi, and even the Chancellor knows it.

Plus big expensive companies tend to come with big expensive lawyers who can smell blood in the water and have been slowly circling the Jedi and the Senate since the war started. They're really just waiting for someone to make a mistake so they can swoop in.

Anakin has been warned away from the company not only by the Jedi (poor Mace has a ulcer and his hands haven't stopped shaking since his first meeting with Dre Gryffin), but also by the Chancellor (who thinks he's playing chess with the company, but Gryffin Industries has switched out the gameboard and keeps adding more and more Queens to the board and he hasn't noticed-).

But Anakin can't keep himself away, and in the end is barred from Gryffin Industries, and even ends up slapped with an Order of Protection keeping him away from anyone who works for Gryffin Industries.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is considering applying for a job (he never wanted to be on the Council, but there's the war and he's the famed Negotiator and it wasn't so much a choice as an arm-twisting-) and Cody has already sent his, and Obi-Wan's, applications to Gryffin Industries and is just waiting for the first interview-

Wolffe didn't even wait that long. He's already dragged Plo, and the Wolfpack, to Gryffin Industries and camped out in the lobby until they were all hired.