#the price i pay to get a degree so i can get a job and afford tickets and merch etc

[deathnguts]

Sugar daddy Moonwater AU where neither are aware of it at all.

Like, Regulus is so rich that he’s never even looked at a price tag before because it’s guaranteed he could afford it and he naturally continues to not do that when he gets gifts for Remus, leading poor man Remus to just have a ton of luxury items out of nowhere. And Regulus has just kind of always been a big gift giver with those he loves so Remus learned early on that being humble or self conscious about regulus spending money on him made Regulus sad so he stopped trying to fight it. And that only made it worse because regulus just starts paying for literally everything he can now, because he has the money and he thinks his boyfriend deserves the best anyway so why hold back? Like, they move in together in either a huge apartment where regulus pays rent or he straight up buys remus’ dream home out of pocket, regulus pays on dates, regulus pays for groceries and gifts and house items and clothes and it takes Remus a while to realize, wait he hasn’t paid for anything in months what the fuck-

And then after he does realize this he can’t stop seeing it and it’s so lovingly embarrassing. Like, he’s 6’5 and the older and less attractive one in the relationship… and he just sits there like an idiot while his pretty little boyfriend pulls out his fucking platinum card. Like, they go out and waiters give Remus the bill because he looks like he’s the ‘man’ in the relationship or whatever and Remus awkwardly slides it to Regulus. And I imagine getting a job is hard for Remus because as either a werewolf for magic aus even just a disabled person in muggles ones he can’t really sell himself or guarantee a schedule or do much hard labor and he also can’t afford college so he’s kind of stuck. But then here’s regulus who’s telling him he actually doesn’t have to work at all, regulus has enough to fund him for life, and if he’d like to get a degree then regulus can either pay for it or if it’s an Ivy League the Black’s have probably donated thousands so if he just puts in a good word then Remus will be fine either way.

And regulus still doesn’t have any bells ringing in his head that this is strange because it literally isn’t to him, why is Remus looking at him like he just answered a prayer or something.

[chipjrwibignaturals]

I know that US scale and European scale are pretty different but like…. listen

European/non-US ppl, Would you accept this as your daily drive to work? like. one-way.

[aouiaa]

INTRODUCING

barista!abby x trainee!reader

warnings and disclaimers included the following

## content of sexual wlw content [mdni 18+], a slight cameo of ellie williams and joel miller, a classic frenemies with ellie pie and abby bear, a mention of parental death, a mention of male genitalia, smut with somewhat plot, softdom!abby, sorta loser!abby (cutie pie), sub!reader, public sex (break room of coffee shop), usage of petnames (pretty girl), praising, orgasm denial (once), fingering, nipple play, cunnilingus, face sitting, cum eating, aftercare (fucking finally i write some), strong language.

barista!abby who’s also a student in business dreams of opening her own coffee shop in aspiration of honoring her father and love for books.

barista!abby who argues that she’s killing two birds with one stone since she’s building skill and working for her degree.

barista!abby whose such a SHOW OFF in front of girls she finds attractive, it so feeds into her ego when it works, and the girls are all ogling over her mastery at coffee art. yeah, it’s totally not the arms that are doing it for them.

barista!abby who hates that little red or whatever color haired fuck, ellie. the two have curated non-verbally a competition on basically whose dick is bigger. who makes the best batch, who makes this, who makes that. it’s never ending with these two.

barista!abby who’s convinced ellie in another lifetime was a king’s jester with her profound tricks that amused no one, but herself. the tricks themselves could threatened the woman’s head off alone, finding herself in a fetal position, in a pit of her own laughter. when abby eagerly sits on a unsuspecting “prize” during lunch, only to hear what can be described as a gust of wind. her flushed countenance instantly transformed into anger when the palm of her hand held a whoopee cushion.

barista!abby who went so warm when she saw you talking to the manager after ellie confirmed you were a new employee that if you stuck a thermometer under her tongue in that moment, it’d earn a hospital visit. and with ellie on sidelines teasing her for the state she’s in wasnt helping, unnecessarily quoting if she’s under weather, then rain on your home.

barista!abby who at the end of your shift on your first day surprised you with a free pastry as a warm, warm welcome. a small gesture, unfortunately, came with the price of a dispute with her boss, and money taken out of her week’s pay. amidst said scolding, a surprising opportunity came up. a good one at that, to train you at the expense of ellie’s days off of work to visit in her father, joel in their hometown, wyoming. despite the fact that she hardly listened after the inviting words of you, buzzed her mind with endless possibilities. it had her practically salivating at the numerous scenarios swirling around in her head.

barista!abby who’s a few weeks into training you, was losing her MIND over the taunting questions of you flirting or not. the causal strokes of your fingertips against her biceps alone were making the job harder. she had to get to the bottom of this, and like a detective corner you and have you plead for mercy.

barista!abby who, with an ironic twist, was usually consumed with thoughts, now found her mind solely preoccupied with you. her gaze fixed on the firm grip you maintained on the wooden handle, watching how your movements harmonized with its every swing as you rigorously mopped the floor. the purpose once held by the rag now seemed inconsequential as she leaned against the counter, arms folded, absentmindedly chewing on her lip. she imagined those hands of yours grasping onto her with the same unwavering hold they wielded when she stretched you out.

"take a picture, it'll last longer." you quipped, confidence resonating in your tone, and looking over your shoulder to show off the smirk that truly sells it. you knew she had been watching the entire time, and now had the satisfaction of catching in her act. she scoffed lightly, attempting to cover up her evident embarrassment, clearly trying to play it off.

“my phone’s in the locker, care to help?” she taunts.

barista!abby who watches you, utterly mesmerized by your frenzied movements against her fingers, pinned against the locker, using your hands as support to hold yourself up. the sounds you emitted resembled a blender running at full speed, loud enough to reach the nation if anyone had been nearby. thank god, it was just the two of you for the closing shift, dissipating the risk of scaring any customers away.

her ring and middle finger slid diligently in and out of you, while her right hand teased your hardened nipple between her pointer and thumb. her chin rests on your shoulder, leaving a trail of kisses on the bruises that dotted your neck. the gorgeous blues remained fixed on your mouth, agape to let her hear the sweet sounds of your pleasure. the corners of her lips curl into a satisfied smirk as she watched you tremble at the touch of her curling fingers on your g-spot.

abby's precise movements brought you closer and closer to the brink, the sensation was almost too much to bear. but just as you were about to succumb to the pleasure, her fingers slipped from your grasp. confused and frustrated, you’re flipped onto your back against the metal, meeting the gaze of the master puppeteer.

"you think i’m was gonna let you come and not see this gorgeous face?" she teased, admiring your disheveled state.

you frowned in protest, "i was just about to cum, asshole."

"careful, or you won't at all." she warned, taking your hand and leading you to a bench nearby. "sit on my face, pretty girl. no holding back." she commanded, her eyes filled with anticipation.

this time, with no complaints, you willingly complied with this new plan. abby's capable hands gripped the plush of your thighs, guiding you down onto her waiting mouth. the moment her tongue made contact, a moan tore itself from your larynx as a newfound sensation washes over you. your hand streams through her mane, tugging at the strands as she laps through your petal soft lips.

your hip, limited to their range of motion, rut back and forth against her prominent features, your body orchestrating itself towards it’s imminent. it wasn't long before the tension building in your abdomen snapped, sending you through the throes of your orgasm. your release painting the lower half of her face.

talk about a clean up in aisle seven!

barista!abby who makes sure you’re beyond comfortable, delicate caresses and praises when taking care of you. she, even going the extra mile, makes you hot coco, watching the liquid slosh within the mug, as she approaches you with a soft “there you go.” in response, you flash a smile and gratitude. she stood there, hands on her hips, observing you savor the drink. a grin tugging at her lips as she took in the sight of her oversized jacket draped over your shoulders.

intrigued by her smile, you raise an eyebrow and playfully inquire, "hey, what’s got you smiling over there?"

she chuckles softly, a light hue of pink painting her cheeks as her gaze momentarily wavers. looking everywhere but you, she brushes it off with a scoff, scratching her cheek. “nothing, just…” there's a brief sight of contemplation before she inevitably hesitates, shaking her head with a sigh. "nothing, forget it.” she dismisses.

you let out a hearty laugh, setting your mug aside. leaning forward playfully, you tease gently. "are you really going shy on me? like werent you just eating me out a second ago.“ a smirk adorning your features as you tilt your head.

her smile grows nervous, scratching the back of her neck as her blush deepens. mumbling a curse under her breath, she gathers the courage to ask, "i was just wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me?"

i’ll let you be the judge of that. part two?

REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED !

PERMANENT TAGLIST, @dyk3ang3l, @elliesprettygirl, @les4elliewilliams, @r3starttt, @slut4mascss, @marsworlddd, @bready101, @abbysleftbicepp, @airenaa, @caraphernellie, @astralnymphh, @whore87, @kaiilectric, @sapphicontherun, @mikellie, @nihilisticangelbby, @be3flow3r, @ppuussyyy, @clairoscharm, @lvlymicha, @brackishkittie, @loveyru, @drunkonnatasha, @leosw0rld, @visupremacysstuff

[girlbossagenda]

HOW TO GET THE PERFECT SUMMER JOB(EVEN FOR MINORS)

๋࣭ ⋆｡ °✩

Some people are getting ready for their next exams and others are seeing an end to their summer, but it still has to finish, and you might want to make some side cash to support yourself! So here's a list of some summer jobs that you can do!

If you lost it here's a list of jobs you can do even as a minor under 17 yo

୨୧Cashier୨୧

On summer more people go to vacation and there's always a need for more workers, on market there should be fresh hair and you might like to chat also with your coworkers, I know that LIDL pays you a lot of you just work for 8 hours on Sunday, which is great for students or people who are not searching for that career type of job, plus you can gain WORKER DISCOUNTS if you work in certain shops.

୨୧Lifeguard୨୧

If you know how to swim and tend to be really attentive, this is a job for you, a lot of people stay at the pool or at the beach

୨୧House cleaner୨୧

Some people go to vacation and still want to keep their house clean, an agency might hire down to 15/16 yo! It would be better if you knew someone inside that can help you get you in!

୨୧Travel sitter / babysitter in hotel୨୧

Dream summer job for real! You basically travel with the family or watch the kids while the parents are off! It's so cool cause most of the times the people doing this are richer or higher up in society! To get a job like this try

୨୧Cart girl୨୧

I saw how this just became a trend, is not available in all countries(mine for example), but it's a great way to pass the day, and it's really nice if you want to have some conversations or network a bit

୨୧Barista୨୧

I know sometimes they ask for a degree, bit it's not for all of them, it can be a funny job, and the ideal if you like drinks and mixing

୨୧Bottle girl୨୧

This is actually a fun job, but you still need to stay safe, this is not for minors and the age really changes, from country to country and from state to state. Just like the barista you will serve clients, but you also have entertain them, it can become sketchy pretty quick which is why you need to be sure, especially because it's mostly a night job

୨୧Model୨୧

This is harder to obtain, but it's really worthy, there are a lot of podcast that explain you the 101 regarding the modeling world and how to start!

୨୧Tutor୨୧

You have a subject you're really good at? teach it to little kids or people of your age, if you're really good woth technology you can teach it to older people for a resonable price!

୨୧Amusement park୨୧

This is also fun! I would avoid working for the main attractions(as you need to be more responsibl), it's better to focus on simpler not so main attraction stuff like stands etc...

୨୧day camp conselour୨୧

This is really easy you don't need much of experience and you might end up having fun while playing with kids!

୨୧summer intern ship୨୧

This is great if you want to dedicate some time to your studies or understand what you want to do on the future, you do something you're interested into and love, plus you get paid for it? That's great!

Hola bonitas, this is a very late post that I'm publishing really late, but you know, summer still has to fully end! Soo if you still want to make some cash during this season then, this is the post for you, you might want to save it for the next year too! I hope I helped and stay pretty gorgeous

Xoxo

-𝓐

[nhl-stories]

Indoor Cat– Jeremy Swayman

Summary: Jeremy is excited to show his girlfriend Alaska, but she's not exactly an outdoor person

Author’s Note: Had so much fun writing this for @bqstqnbruin for @wyattjohnston's 2k24 summer fic exchange! Definitely made me want to write more Sway in the future

Word Count: 2.2k

“Sorry I was too lazy to fish my keys out of my backpack,” Catherine apologizes when Jeremy opens the door to his apartment.

“I wasn’t expecting you, so this is a nice surprise.”

She rolls her bike in and leans it up against the wall. Rubbing her hands across her face.

“I meant to text but I have a million exams to grade and my roommate was being a bitch and our air conditioning broke and I just had to leave.”

When she moves her hands away, Jeremy is standing in front of her with a sympathetic smile. He pulls her into a tight hug that makes her tension dissolve.

“You’re sweaty babe.”

Catherine gives him a shove, “Of course I am! No AC at the apartment and then I biked here in a million-degree weather with 50-pound backpack. I’m MELTING.”

“Sorry, my little ice queen can’t handle the heat.”

She levels a look at him that screams she’s not in the mindset for his little jokes and he bites his lips to hold back his smile.

After she takes a cold shower, she feels more like a real person. She throws on an oversized Maine t-shirt and makes her way to Jeremy’s dining table with a stack of papers.

Once she has a fresh red pen and her answer key, she gets into a sort of trance while grading. She doesn’t quite notice how far the sun has sunk when Jeremy comes behind her and wraps his arms around her kissing her right under her ear.

“Want me to order dinner?”

Catherine leans back into his touch, “Can we get Thai food?”

“Green curry and Pad Kee Mao?”

“Yes, please,” she kisses his cheek then goes back to focusing on tests.

When the food arrives, Jeremy moves her papers despite her protests.

“Stop, I have like so many tests to grade and only like two days to finish them and then enter the grades online.”

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a break.” He moves the tests to the coffee table so they’re out of reach.

This is the price she has to pay if she works at Jeremy’s, which is a pretty nice trade off even if she fights it. Every. Single. Time.

“So, school’s out in a week… any big plans,” he wiggles his eyebrows at her.

Jeremy is clearly hinting at their upcoming trip to Alaska, which Catherine has been actively avoiding planning specifics. She’s not exactly against seeing where he grew up and his parents, it’s the rest of the Alaska Experience™ that’s making her apprehensive.

She tries to be casual about what she says next.

“I’m moving in August.”

Jeremy stops with a forkful of noodles halfway up to his mouth, “Um- what?”

“Yeah, I mean I don’t get along with my roommate and our lease will be up then,” she takes a drink to stop herself from grinning, “And my boyfriend asked me to move in, so I thought I’d finally take him up on the offer.”

It’s a tactical distraction from Alaska, but also an announcement she’s excited to finally share, now that she’s informed her soon-to-be ex-roommate.

Jeremy is around the table and practically straddles her to wrap her in his arms around.

“Seriously?”

He doesn’t wait for the answer before kissing her.

Then he’s pulling back again, “Seriously?”

He goes back in for another kiss, it’s not very good. They’re both smiling too much for their lips to really meet, but soon they get in a rhythm.

 Then Jeremy starts to trail kisses down her jaw and neck. Catherine indulges him for a bit before gripping his hair to pull him back.

“I love the excitement, and I’m excited to move in too, but none of this tonight,” she kisses the tip of his nose, “I still have to be a responsible teacher.

He buries his face in her neck and mumbles, “No you don’t, just quit your job.”

“You say that now while you’re not working, but come fall when you’re back to work and I have nothing to do, you’ll be evicting me,” she rakes her nails through his hair.

“Is that why Taylor is being a bitch?” He says once he comes up for air.

“I mean, it’s not helping, but it’s also just her natural state as a roommate,” she gives Jeremy a gentle push, “Now let me eat my dinner so I can finish my work.”

“Then we can finish this later?” A quick, but filthy kiss follows.

“Maybe, no promises,” Catherine gives him her best stern teacher face, so he knows she means business.

She doesn’t finish all of her tests, mostly because Jeremy is determined to be touching her at all times. So, to keep him from moving around, Catherine holds him in place; leaning back on his chest on the sectional. His hands have free reign and she’s within kissing range. It appeases Jeremy, but greatly slows her grading speed.

Eventually, she just gives up and lets Jeremy rush her to the bedroom. Claiming they need to ‘christen their bedroom’ as if Catherine hadn’t already christened it every which way.

And it’s enjoyable and wonderful until her alarm goes off extra early to make up for the work she didn’t finish. Normally, she’s actually a morning person, but at the end of the school year, her body and mind are ready to call it quits.

Jeremy calls it teacher playoffs. A stupid joke that never fails to make her laugh. She’s soft for his goofy side, even when it’s telling the dumbest jokes.

“Need any help before school?” Jeremy comes up behind her in the shower, wrapping his arms around her waist, hands dipping dangerously low.

“Not that kind of help, that’s for sure,” Catherine giggles while she turns around then moves his hands back to his side.

“You’ve already done enough with this,” she points to a mark where her collarbone meets her shoulder, “this is almost ‘have an awkward conversation with my students’ visible.”

“Consider it payback for you putting off the Alaska talk again.”

Catherine clenches her jaw.

“You thought I haven’t noticed, but the trip is in 10 days and you keep ignoring me every time I bring it up.”

“Yeah, cause you’re gonna talk me into exploring the Alaskan bush or something crazy, when I can explore an Alaskan bush any time I want,” she playfully gropes Jeremy.

He lets out an involuntary groan, before backing away, “See! You’re doing it again! Although great joke, babe.”

Catherine steps back into the spray, rinsing out her conditioner, “Fine. I’ll stay late to finish all my grading and stuff and then we can talk after.”

“Thank you,” he gives Catherine a peck, “And afterwards feel free to explore the bush if you want.”

Catherine rolls her eyes and gets out of the shower.

She gets dressed, thankfully the outfit she packed covers the hickey even with her hair up.

Jeremy is waiting for her with a towel around his waist, a bowl of yogurt and fruit waiting for her and a to-go thermos of coffee.

“Want me to drive you in? So, you don’t have to bike there and back.”

“Sure, but you’ll have to drop me off a few blocks away. Cause if my students see me with you, I’ll never get them to focus, and they’re squirrely enough this time of year.”

◊◊◊

Catherine finishes her grading sooner than she thinks, even enters all the grades online. Now there’s two things to not look forward to; planning with Jeremy and annoying emails from parents about final grades.

She checks the weather on her phone, the heat doesn’t seem to be breaking and won’t until the sun sets a couple hours from now.

She debates her options for a few minutes before deciding to ask Jeremy for a ride home. The deciding factor being she’d rather have an uncomfortable talk without first having a sweaty bike ride. The less time out of the comfort of AC, the better.

“And this isn’t embarrassing for me to pick you up out front?” Jeremy snarks when he pulls up to the curb.

Catherine rolls her eyes and starts to load the bike in the back, “I should have just dealt with the heat.”

When she slides into the passenger seat, Jeremy grabs her hand intertwining their fingers and giving it a squeeze.

“I’m just buttering you up before I tell you about all the Alaskan adventures I have planned for us.”

“I’m already exhausted.”

Jeremy squeezes her hand again, then points an air vent more towards Catherine.

When they get back to the apartment Catherine flops onto the couch, “Okay lay it on me.”

Of course, Jeremy takes that as an invitation to drop right on top of her, barely catching himself before his whole weight lands on her.

He leans in to kiss her. Once, twice… he pauses like he’s trying to figure out if he can get away with more. Instead, he decides to sit up and pull Catherine up with him.  

“Why are you so anxious about this trip? You’ve met most of family and friends, and you’ve agreed to move in with me so I don’t think this is a commitment thing…”

She throws back her head and takes in a deep breath, “No, but it’s gonna sound stupid and miniscule in comparison.”

“But I like the sound of small rather than something more fundamental to our relationship.”

Catherine takes a moment, trying put the words the right way in her head.

“I’m worried that you have not spent a lot of summer time with me so you have not seen how much I wilt in the sun and heat and generally want to die. It’s a very ugly side of me both because of my sweat and my attitude and I spend a lot of energy trying to avoid it.”

Catherine feels like she has to avoid eye contact while she gets this off her chest. Mostly because she can feel herself flush with embarrassment about her confession.

“And then you’ll want to climb a mountain or something and you’ll see that we are not on the same outdoorsy level and realize we just aren’t compatible,” she looks down at her lap in shame.

“Oh sweetheart,” Jeremy cups her face, “that is stupid. Alaska rarely gets over 70 degrees.”

Catherine lets out a surprised laugh.

“I already know you’re a bit of an indoor cat,” he smirks at the play on her name.

“I’m being vulnerable here and you’re making fun of me!” She doesn’t mean for it to come out so whiny.

“And if you had talked to me before this, you would know I’ve already thought about all these things.”

She cocks her head in response.

 “I would never make you face your least favorite thing, temperatures over 80 degrees, if there was something I could do to stop that.”

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said.”

“And that’s just the start,” Jeremy can’t help but grin.

“I’d love to show you the top of a mountain but everything there is so beautiful we don’t need to climb thousands of feet of elevation to see something great. I have so many options you can choose from, I made you a spreadsheet.”

“This is might sound sarcastic, but that weirdly turns me on.”

Jeremy pulls her into his chest, “If I really needed to do some crazy, difficult hike, I know people who like that. I’m going on this trip to spend time with you and if that means a flat, short hike, I’m going to love it.”

“Most importantly,” Jeremey untangles himself and leaves the room.

He comes back with a suitcase, “I bought you a suitcase just for books you want to bring. So, when we go out on the boat you can just read and look pretty if you don’t want to fish.”

“Oh my god, I love you.”

She gets up and jumps into his arm.

“So, you’re excited for our trip now?”

Catherine smiles and decides to show him with actions rather than words.

◊◊◊

Catherine has never been happier to be proven wrong, Alaska is honestly her ideal summer vacation. Not too hot, too gorgeous to describe with words, and the almost never-ending daylight made it seem all seem like some kind of dreamland.

The view right now is proof.

Book in her lap, Jeremy looking hot driving the boat in the foreground, and a glacier in the background.

The boat slowly comes to a stop.

“See something you like?” Jeremy smirks from the captain’s seat.

She shrugs, “this book is kind of dragging and I was thinking, you know I’ve never had sex on a boat?”

Jeremy raises his eyebrows.

“And we happen to be on a boat… in this very scenic… fairly romantic location,” she tries to use her best innocent, doe eyes.

In a flash, her book is on the ground and Jeremy is on top of her.

It’s something Catherine can see becoming a summer tradition.

[55ludovicoplace]

So today I got given a pretty stern ultimatum about being just outright cut off from medical care, which is always fun!

Hello, internet! I'm disabled by a host of chronic medical issues including autoimmune disease, dysautonomia, cognitive disorder, and seizures, I have little to no support in getting treatment, and I am several thousand dollars in debt! I am having an amount of money demanded of me that I literally cannot afford!

Without anticonvulsants, painkillers, and other medications I simply cease to be able to do just about anything. I am very afraid of going back to that state and my conditions are only getting worse over time, largely because I can't afford to get them properly diagnosed and treated. It's only after the intervention I've had that I've been able to have any real degree of respite, independence, or happiness. Without treatment I literally do not have a future.

I make very very little money at my job. I am miserable there and cannot get more hours. I am struggling to find more work, and do not have health insurance. I am in the process of getting health insurance but it is a miserable uphill battle. Being sick is incredibly expensive. I feel very very helpless. Please help me keep treading water until I can get back on stable ground. If I can continue paying exorbitant prices for medications I have a chance of getting insurance, getting a better job, and not having to live in this constant state of having no money and fearing for my basic needs. If I lose access to my medical treatment I will probably never be in a state to claw myself back up to where I am again.

Anything at all helps. Thank you so much.

[see-arcane]

I figured I should interrupt everyone's dash for some notes on current real life things.

This is a hefty one, so I'm tucking everything below:

A little good news. As of this writing, I’ve sold 74 copies of The Vampyres, in eBook and paperback! That’s 74 more than I thought I would ever sell! Thank you to everyone who picked up a copy or asked your library to grab some. Especially when I know I haven’t been the most stellar self-marketer. I can’t remember the last time I opened the septic tank formerly known as Twitter, so it’s all been down to this little corner here and a skinny appearance in Goodreads. Which means I owe any attention this short and sinister tale has received to you all and plain old word-of-mouth.

That said, thank you x100000 to you and any new readers yet to take a look. (And doubly so for those of you who go out of their way to leave comments and reviews around for me to reread ad infinitum.)

For those not in the know, all the info on The Vampyres can be found here, and all my author odds and ends can be found on my website here.

On a less heartening note…

As I’d already expected, the market for career writers is…rough. Copywriting—and writing in general—is technically a big open field (full of caveat descriptions about having to work with/teach AI programs to eventually swallow your job)! Tons of open positions! Most of which either pay you in pocket change while you’re working full time or expect you to singlehandedly run the entire marketing of a business for slightly more pocket change. Everything else is bloated with contract and/or freelance work*.

*Read: Gig economy schlock trying to pass for an actual job position with payment being a coin toss. I’ve also seen one too many listings on the job boards that are volunteer positions. Plenty of exposure to rake in though, right? Ha. Ha ha.

I’ve still been applying like clockwork, same as the rest of my fellow creators trying to get by in a field that seems to actively punish trying to be a professional in said field, and still no bites further than an interview. I have years of experience and a degree, but everyone’s chasing the same crumbs, so. Yeah. I’ve got to start padding things out.

Reminder that I do have a (barely peddled) Ko-Fi. It’s there for art commissions and chucking a few spare bucks at. Which is an increasingly big ask these days, I know. You can’t scroll two posts down without hitting someone else’s Ko-Fi, Patreon, GoFundMe, Kickstarter, et cetera. We’re drowning in arting starvists here. And although I have been asked before whether I would consider going full Freelance Storywriter on top of selling art, I’m still a little hesitant on it. I do occasionally send out story submissions and have even gotten published a few times, but I get nauseous thinking about:

1) Putting up a paywall on the scribbles that assail me like a baseball bat wielded by an unmerciful Muse. 2) Putting up a ‘Stories for Sale!’ sign only to wind up disappointing prospective buyers because I didn’t do their blorbos justice even after researching X background for the piece. 3) Getting duped into being a nonconsenting ghostwriter and discovering someone else has published my work under their own name.

So, still a bit iffy on that. I’ll chew on it. But what else is left?

Before you click the button!

Stop!

NOT YET!

Before you click, please know that I am being serious about this as something to potentially make 1) something of good quality and 2) earn more money than it loses. Looking around at the merch-making/selling options, there are fees involved with making an account just about anywhere in the online store game, give or take the price tweaking needed for shipping and manufacturing blah blah blah.

With that in mind, please do not automatically hit ‘yes’ because you want to be nice. I appreciate it, but this isn’t the same thing as the Ko-Fi where there’s no real loss in just leaving it up and drawing something once every few months. This will take new designs, another subscription to pay for, more logistics to untangle for quality and pricing and all the rest of the mess. Only hit ‘yes’ if you, personally, genuinely, would like to purchase some nefarious See Arcane wares beyond a book or a digital drawing.

[lady-raziel]

How Project 2025 could radically reshape higher ed (insidehighered.com)

I know you've heard a lot of things about Project 2025 at this point and most of them are scary, but I think it's things like this that indicate that even the stuff in that plan that seems boring is very scary too. Here's a bit of an analysis on some of the plans regarding higher education.

Basically, they want to make it much, much harder to get student loans, and to make the loans you can get much harder to pay off. For so many people, the only way they'll ever be able to get a higher education is with the help of federal student loans. Without that assistance, and for degrees that don't guarantee a high-paying career quickly (such as art, history, literature-- so many subjects, most of them "soft-sciences") because having a high-income would be necessary to keep up with payments (as income-driven repayment plans will be eliminated)...a lot of people will not go to college. Particularly people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

So it would be that most high-school grads can't afford school, and the ones that take on loans have to prioritize careers that by nature aren't the ones taking on learning from history, culture, or political thought because it's hard to make money and advance quickly career-wise with those. It would gatekeep the "soft-science" subjects that tend to spur criticisms of society, history, and power to those who could afford to pay full-price-- who are also likely to be privileged and in the ruling class and thus the least likely to criticize the existing culture. And by gatekeeping that knowledge and its credentials, they could discredit anyone who hasn't studied the subject by saying that they are uninformed or uneducated and thus shouldn't be taken seriously. They would be in full control of the research being done and the types of papers being written. The end result is crippling the ability to even have academic discourse or research to refute their other policy goals.

Furthermore, the elimination of many repayment plans that already exist serves to punish the people who have already gotten degrees-- if you don't already have a stable job, trying to keep up with higher payments while your taxes go up (increasing tax rate for people making under $168k to 15% of income and eliminating pretty much every deduction, credit, and exclusion) and still affording the necessities (made much harder when Medicaid, SNAP, other social safety nets are cut) will be very challenging. And if you DO have a stable job and are educated on subjects that allow you to criticize the movement-- they can attack you and discredit you and make you lose that job if you publicly disagree. The way Project 2025 suggests restructuring the federal workforce is an example-- even if you're an expert, if you work in a federal agency and don't comply, you're gone.

The long-term purpose of all this is clear-- control the knowledge, control the history, prevent people from developing any skills to oppose you through research or academic theory, prevent people from going to institutions that can get them to question society and power. It is much harder to organize and develop ideas to oppose the people in power if you never get any chance to learn how or what others have done before you.

When the obstacles to getting educated become so great, so challenging, how many people will try? Why risk it, when you have more certainty working a blue-collar job instead? Why push young women to go to school when, if they take out loans, may not be able to maintain the payments if they get married and leave the workforce to have children-- or if they get pregnant (and will not be able to access birth control or an abortion) unexpectedly and also have to leave the workforce? With social safety net programs gutted and women forced to give birth upon becoming pregnant, and no early childhood education program to provide relief causing women to have to stay home, there would be no way to repay student loans for women who leave the workforce in this scenario. Being a woman is too much of a risk for higher ed in this world--how many will take that risk?

And none of this even scratches what Project 2025 wants to do to the colleges and universities themselves and how teaching certain subjects could cause them to lose funding. Again--how many will take that risk? Going bankrupt, or discussing critical race theory?

The real, long-lasting threat of this agenda, even beyond the immediate terrible effects on the LGBTQ+ community and disadvantaged communities, is to make life unlivable for those that disagree or exist in a way the right-wing doesn't like. It uses the whole of systems of power--governmental, financial, social, societal-- to work together in concert to make the only way to live be their way. It's not just one policy--it's all of them working together to crush people and make sure even those in a privileged position who could disagree...won't.

You know the call to action is to vote. But I'd also spend some time educating yourself on some of the more boring-sounding objectives in Project 2025. Don't feel pressured to read the whole thing yourself, because it's very long and dense as it IS actually written by smart and competent people who are conservative academics and former Trump staffers. That's why it's a problem-- these people are smart enough and know enough to make this plan work. But there are a lot of articles from reputable sources out there breaking down even the dullest-sounding parts of this plan-- please spend some time understanding the extent and educate those around you.

[lightofraye]

All About E

More self-torture. I don’t know why I do this.

Oh wait.

Yes I do.

It’s because the person I’m writing about is being praised and supported when she shouldn’t be. Shall we begin?

-

Elta Danneel Graul was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and raised in the small town of Eunice. Her father, Edward, is a practicing ophthalmologist, and her mother, Deborah, is an interior designer. She was named after her great-grandmother. Legally her name is still Elta, but she professionally and personally goes by Danneel. Supposedly she was given the middle name, Danneel, after a street in New Orleans.

She moved to Los Angeles because, according to her, she knew she wanted to live in California. She moved there and lucked out with modeling. How did she luck out? Her now-ex-boyfriend, Riley Smith. His mother was a modeling agent in Chicago. She flew home with him for Thanksgiving and his mother made the phone call with the agency.

(How did Elta afford to live in Los Angeles without much work? Her parents paid her way, so she basically lived in an apartment on her own, didn’t share with anyone, and got to be lazy.)

Supposedly Riley’s mother also helped Elta with a nose job and breast implants (the first time around).

Elta liked to claim she worked and supported herself, but her beginning modeling jobs didn’t pay very well. She also didn’t get nearly as much work, so her parents supported her.

Elta proceeded to segue into television with the help of Riley to do auditions. She had a few guest spots on MadTV, Amanda Bynes’ What I Like About You. Then she had the audition with One Life To Live.

Because One Life To Live was filmed in New York, Elta had to move there. Again… her parents helped, because a starting actress on a soap did not pay well. She also had bit parts in Love House.

Eventually One Life To Live ended and Elta got guest spots on One Tree Hill, Joey, JAG, Charmed. Supposedly it was because she did well in auditions, but those rumors of her doing the casting couch with Mark Schwan persist.

After One Tree Hill, she had more guest spots on How I Met Your Mother, NCIS, and other shows.

She appeared in a few small roles in movies as well.

Supposedly, Elta is skilled in gymnastics, can sing and play piano.

Given how badly she moved as Rachel in One Tree Hill, I call false in the gymnastics claim. We’ve heard her sing—she can’t sing, period. Never seen her play the piano.

There have been claims that she has a degree in beat-poetry from University of Louisiana. She is not listed as an alumni and the timing does not work. I also call false that.

Elta has tried to create a jewelry line with Limbo Jewelry to create a line called Link. Near as I can tell, that jewelry line has never sold out and has not sold well. Supposedly it was meant as a benefit for Creative Action, an Austin-based charity aimed at foster youth-development projects. It has barely raised much, only $30,000.

Elta has four tattoos. A matching tattoo with Hilarie, which says “Mischief”, that she got at Hilarie’s wedding. A shark tattoo on her butt. An arrow on her left arm in honor of her children, and some kind of “robe-woman” who resembles a muse on her right arm.

She photographed for Maxim’s “Hot 100” list several times.

Supposedly, she is still friends with Hilarie Burton Morgan and Bevin Price.

She claimed she fell in love with Jensen during filming of Ten Inch Hero. They apparently drove back and forth, car pooled, really, to and from set and struck up a deeper conversation. Jensen once claimed he gave her a note that said “Not now, someday” as by that time, Elta was engaged to Riley Smith, Jensen’s friend.

Evidently, she didn’t even tell Riley what happened. She just packed up her things and moved out from their shared apartment, no break-up talk, nothing. Riley is now very happy she did that, given the crappy way she broke up with him. The best thing he got out of that relationship, he once claimed, was the guitar he was gifted with.

Jensen kept mum on the relationship for a long while. He had dated Joanna Krupa at one point, and Tania Saulnier. He was rumored, at one point, to have been with LeAnn Rimes (she herself said that was false) and Jessica Simpson (never been mentioned).

His revelation that he was dating came as a surprise—and almost no one knew who she was. When his engagement was announced on JustJared, no one knew he was dating or still dating her. The timing of said engagement had always been suspicious, given it was practically a week after Jared proposed to Genevieve.

Jensen claimed later that Elta gave him an ultimatum and that she hadn’t known he was going to propose.

I believe it was because seeing Jared get engaged meant the gay rumors would focus solely on him and he didn’t want to deal with that. Plus, suspected he had to “settle down”, so Elta was his “Okay, I guess she’ll do” girl. Not the girl of his dreams.

She likely tailored herself to what he wanted as she knew him for years prior to that.

Not to mention a rather quick engagement to wedding (six months; most usually do a year! Perhaps because Jared’s was set and they wanted to compete—or rather, Elta did).

Oh, Elta’s career kept puttering along. Some attempts were made, and all failed. No, I don’t think it’s because she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom either. Her career just didn’t take off; she’s a horrible actress with a childish voice that is clearly faked.

Her most recent role was a ‘gift’ from Hilarie. A pity gift.

And honestly, she’s not even a stay-at-home mom. She has nannies, a housekeepr, a gardener, possibly more help than most single parents or stay-at-home parents have. She’s unrelatable. She’s achieved nothing beyond being Jensen Ackles’ wife.

I’d pity her, if it weren’t obvious Jensen is scared of her. (He’s said: “I’m not suicidal, I’m getting out of her way”; called her “Scary Spice”; has stated more than once that he defers to her because he has to; said their marriage works better when they’re apart.)

[derxwnakapsyla]

Hello there! My name is Derxwna Kapsyla, and you might know me as the mastermind behind projects such as "Yitria Resurrection", "Touhouon Asteria", "Touhou Pupet Play ~ The Adventures of Ayaka", "Chronicles of the Omniverse"- Wait, you don't know that last one? Never mind it then! Today I'm here to talk about something I am extremely passionate about- map design!

It is easily my favorite aspect of game development, and I feel like I'm pretty proficient at it. So, I would like to open up map making commissions to help people out on their own projects! I've got well over 10 years of experience, getting my start back in the ancient days of Binary ROM Hacking with Advance Map being the hottest tool on the block. I like to make sure the maps I make are of the highest standards I can possibly muster, so I have a fairly sharp eye for detail.

I also love communicating ideas with people and helping them reach a desired solution (If I'm able to)! If you're interested in taking a shot on me, I welcome you to message me on here, or DM me on Discord! I look forward to getting a chance to work with you! I promise, I don't bite- I'd much rather use an Ion Cannon. Also I just lost my job recently so I could really use some supplementary income while I try and find a new job...

Things to know about Derxwna:

I've been working with game development as a hobbyist for over 10 years, with an exceptional passion for map design.

I like to make sure that anything I make is the best quality I can possibly produce.

I do have a degree (of sorts) in Game Design, Programming, and Animation.

Spent a good majority of my time playing Wind Waker just trying to compare terrain to Ocarina of Time.

You will not find a person more offended by the tile errors in vanilla Pokemon games, I guarantee it.

What I am offering:

Map design for 2D environment based games.

Map critique and feedback. (This is free!)

Eventing on a small scale.

Redesigning your own maps.

What I am not offering:

A whole game made from scratch (Unless you're paying massive $Revenue).

Complex scripting maneuvers.

Unique tilesets. If you have a unique tileset you want me to use, send it- but I will check if you are allowed to use it.

Trainer battles.

Advice on how to spend your FSA. I answer those questions enough at my previous workplace.

Examples of my work:

-- Touhoumon Asteria -- https://imgur.com/a/hsAjnuk

-- Yitria Resurrection -- https://imgur.com/a/fveRkMc

-- Adventures of Ayaka -- https://imgur.com/a/tYAV8u7

-- Other Map Creations -- https://imgur.com/a/ZzqvrdV

Prices

-- Map Size --

Small map (30x30 or smaller): $10

Medium map (60x60 or smaller): $35

Large Map (100x100 or smaller): $60

Extra Large Map (100x100 or greater): $90

I am willing to take on a multi-map endeavor. Prices will be discounted for bulk purchases. I am also willing to very slightly haggle on the tiers above Small Map, but prices will not go below $10 above the previously listed tier.

-- Eventing --

Depending on event complexity and quantity, additional fees may be incurred.

-- Additional Pricing --

Gen 4 or 5 theme: +$40. I am not comfortable mapping in this style. I can attempt it, but only if you provide a tileset of the exact tiles you want.

When it comes to payments, I am flexible with how I receive them. I understand that people are not comfortable giving an entire lump sum for commissions. If you'd like, we can work out a payment plan of sorts, or you can pay a portion up front and pay the rest upon completion. If I do not or am unable to finish the map, I will refund the amount paid up front. As a note, if you are looking for a rush order, an additional fees may be incurred.

Contact Information

The best ways to reach me if you are looking for a commission, or if you have any additional questions are as follows:

The Eevee Expo Forums

Discord: DerxwnaKapsyla

Tumblr

This is where I would put my Twitter account- if it was unsuspended.

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/derxwnakapsyla.bsky.social

The best times to reach me are between 12 PM and 12 AM PST (GMT-7).

[swifty-fox]

After reading all the sexy clegan asks, I would pay some good money to watch their OF 😵‍💫. I feel like this is a more polite way of saying I want to be the fly on the while while gale gets twisted into a pretzal. Or while John gets bent over the dinner table. Swifty, my dude (slides a case full of money across a table), how do you feel about an AU where two beautiful entrepreneurs take agency of their body's and their sexualities and make some good, honest money... together 😉. (I feel like I'm turning into Barry in Saltburn. I would drink the bathwater. SEND HELP. I need psychiatric care now!)

John Gamer Girl Bathwater lmao.

but!! your mind anon lmao. I got to spend a fun night with a couple aussie SW's a few years ago after a cancelled festival (not in THAT way. had a mutual acquaintance and offered to hang out with them since we all suddenly had no plans) and It was fun picking their brains about their lives. They were both primarily dancers.

John starts an only fans after graduating college with a degree in sports management. It's not that he CAN'T get a job but he's suddenly like 'fuck just because i like sports do i really wanna make this my career???' kinda lounges around a bit until the bills poke him on the shoulder. He's like hmmmmm wow if i go into the service industry i'll kill someone. I'm hot I got abs and a mustache and I'm six three I can probably do this. Starts off with a lotta POV handjobs and general thirst traps. He doe's great, its John Egan so he's just got that natural charisma and his voice is deep and shoulders broad and he's real good at dirty talking so he does custom audios for a price. Gets into the collab world on twitter and kinda shoots up in fame real quick. More of a top, bi asf like all my au's so he's kinda going across the board. He's pretty open about what his job is and the people who have a problem with it he kindly tells to fuck off

Gale starts one to put himself through his masters degree then finds out it kinda just.... makes a lot more money with a much looser schedule LOL.

He takes a long while to get good at it. He's hot as hell and has all the creepy dom top accounts all over him but he's shy and takes him a long time to figure out how to sell his content properly. He can't quite get into the cock hungry bottom bitch slut role that people wanna shove him into and it hurts him a bit. But he does manage to get a decently sized following pretty quick. King of the moaning clips, great fuckin one-on-one vidoes of him riding a toy.

John stumbles across Gale as everyone does: scrolling the porn tag on twitter looking for a lil somethin somethin. Those pretty lips wet and flushed as if they've been thoroughly used and those soulful eyes looking up at the camera as Gale hangs his head off the edge of a bed ready to be a perfect sleeve for his dick.

He wrings one out real fuckin quick, drops him a follow and a DM in that order introducing himself and asking if he's ever done a collab.

of course Gale already follows John. He thinks he's handsome but hes got no interest mixing business and pleasure (lmao just wait pookie). He's also never done a collab, never fucked another person on camera. But. but.

John is handsome.

And he knows the guy is legit and safe, has seen him ALL OVER (certified bicycle John Egan always) and knows he's had good reviews.

Gale's had many DM's asking for collabs. This is the first he accepts.

How can he not when John is in there saying "Hey man great content. Would to love maybe have you fuck me" as casual as can be.

Gale's never thought to FUCK someone on camera. Sure he likes both but like I said people want a certain image from. So that in of itself is appealing.

He agrees wholeheartedly

He puts John on his knees on a mattress and pulls his hair until his eyes water, presses him down with a hand between his shoulderblades for that perfect fuckin arch and and spanks him until John is jumping away from even a brush of his hands and whimpering, camera angled to get the perfect shot of his tear stained cheeks.

"Come on darlin," gale croons in that drawl "The people wanna see you break for them, give it all to me."

He fucks John, ass still stinging so he flinches every time Gale bottoms out but damn does he love it and damn does it make for good content.

John comes out of that session already in love.

and of course collabs usually film a bunch of content. gotta capitalize.

So after some rest and recuperation John does exactly what he's fantasized about and lays Gale over the edge of his bed and fucks his throat. Loud and wet and noisy. Spit and pre-come and tears dripping down Gales face into his hair; onto the floor. John takes a little break to rub it all over his face and tell him he makes such a good pocket pussy. Gale's gunna come just from this if Johns not careful. He doesn't have to worry though because once John goes back down his throat he reaches over and gives Gale a nice handy.

Spins him around and fucks him while he's too sensitive and screaming, half cringing away from it but also grinding back because fuck is does John know how to fuck.

John gripping gales hips in his big hands and telling him "Now you're not running away from me yet sweetheart haven't rode you raw yet"

They fuck a lot more. a LOT more. For the content of course. And then theyre like hey maybe we should move in together as colleagues and friends. Except??? maybe?? they start fucking off camera. And maybe they cuddle on the couch. and hold hands. and kiss and go on dates. And maybe they get married?? As colleagues of course.....or not

[calina12]

Also, holy FUCK, was episode 4 massive for Charlie's character!

Yes, she REALLY needed that reality check about how bad the lives of the sinners are she tries to help, but it also lead to Charlie taking her proper role for a solid second when she get angry at Valentino.

It's quite obvious to me that Vaggie will be the one to actually run the hotel, so it's Charlie's job to not only use her unique position as princess of hell to deal with heaven for her people's sake, she's also supposed to be protective mighty force her guests can find the save haven in they desperately need to escape their circumstances.

When any of their powerful abusers dare to enter the hotel it's HER job to put them in their place and away from their victims.

Her place isn't running the hotel, SHE'S supposed to be the hotel's and people's protector, and I'm so fucking hyped to see her growing into that role. To see her rip open that portal between hell and heaven for good to free her people herself if she fucking has to.

But episode 4 is also so important for Charlie because it showed us just how massive of a toll it took on her that her mother just up and left 7 years ago, and we were already told that Lucifer ain't the dad of the year either.

Angel forgiving her at the end of the episode meant so much to her because she feared so fucking badly that she ruined everything, he would hate her and leave forever, into a life she would have had had a hand in making worse.

Obviously she has massive abandonment issues and as Husker correctly stated: she's a bleeding heart who wants to solve everyone's problems except her own.

And she does that because very clearly she was highly neglected by her parents in her emotional needs, even if I don't put into question at all that they love her.

She desperately tries to help and find in others what she didn't get from her parents, to get a group of people she can finally trust and who won't abandone her, so she tries everything she can to solve everyone else's problems because that way she thinks she will "earn" being worthy of being loved and not abandoned.

So when she just showed up at Angel's work place to talk to Valentino without checking with Angel beforehand what she has to do to NOT cause him hell, and caused an absolute fucking disaster HE had to pay the whole price for and NOT her because of her privilege and immunity as Princess of Hell, that was literally one of the worst things for her she could have caused.

It hit all her insecurities in the worst ways possible. And I'm so glad that they had Angel say "thank you for caring about me" and not "thank you for trying" because that's not the same and what Charlie needed was indeed the former.

She really desperately needed to hear from him that the reason why he forgives her is that he understands that she did all of this because she CARES for him. That his reason for forgiving her has nothing to do with him prioritized anything else she can GIVE or provide over seeing HER.

Mind you, of course this whole disaster she caused can't be justified and it has no business ever happening again to such horrific degrees, she NEEDS to work through her own problems ASAP because the people who depend on her as the privileged and basically untouchable person in power who promised them protection can't continue paying the price for her actions

But this is a fictional story, so I'm talking about the narrative when I say that both Charlie's and Angel's characters needed this to happen for their development.

Just, good fucking God, let this have been the peak of Charlie's naivety and the incident she needed to start healing a deep scar in her heart. I love Charlie to pieces, please give us the pay-off now from the emotional development and what she learned by now so she can grow into the mighty mama bear she is meant to be without her unintentionally continuously hurting her adopted hurt cubs.

Because thats a factor I can't and won't ever ignore in her type of (main) character and in her leader role and privileged position/ status in all of this.

Fingers crossed, cause I'm so fucking ready to love this sweet broken girl with the heart of a lion, with every inch of my being.

[dyemelikeasunset]

would you be able to include flag country names for the dom&mor characters lineup? ty!

(i love how diverse all your art and characters are, i wish i could read thru all about your ocs and stories like browsing through a wiki in an autism way)

THANK YOU!! In fact I can do you one better and write little blurbs for everyone! Including our leading ladies too of course Under the readmore:

Mor's side

Morgan: Jamaican American Lesbian. Mor's parents came from Jamaica but she was born in the US, where she grew up with her mom in Boston before moving to NYC. Mor went to university for a BA in Graphic Design and met most of her friends there. She works from home these days. Mor doesn't really realize she's the resident Pretty Girl in her group of friends (she has bad self esteem)

Lexi: American Nonbinary Lesbian. Lex met Mor in high school when they both played on the softball team, and they both came out to each other. They've been able to stay friends all these years cause their tastes in girls are wildly different. Lexi belongs to a different group as the rest of Mor's friends since they didn't go to the same college, but they're Mor's very annoying ride-or-die

Panos: Greek Ethiopian and Bisexual. Panos met Mor through their shared degree and has been a mentor and big brother figure for her since. They help onboard her to a lot of projects, and the two of them rely on each other professionally. He never really stops talking about his wife and daughter-- it's the price everyone has to pay, since he's so reliable and understanding and helping everyone all the time

Ryan: (Sansei) Japanese American and Gay. Out of Mor's art friends, Ryan is the one who's most practical about his job. Instead, he puts his energy into being a menace in his dating life. He loves to gossip about his and Mor's very messy love lives and is convinced Morgan is just as much of a heartbreaker as he is behind her innocent facade. She has unfortunately told Ryan all her dirty laundry so he teases her relentlessly every chance he gets

Barjis: Malay Trans and Bisexual. Barjis came to the US with their boyfriend to pursue their degree and also start their transition. They have a surprisingly cute illustration style and work with Panos and Mor often. They love to talk animated movies with Morgan, and it's one of the few things that gets them to talk a lot. Very skittish and tired all the time, and has a bit of a fear of "normies"

Elsa: Norwegian Lesbian. Elsa is Mor's unwitting rival in love because they always crush on the same girls (Ryan loves to tease her about this). Elsa is currently losing (Mor: 7, Elsa: 2) but she's not bitter, just single and sad. She's currently working in web journalism even though she wants to publish her novel. Friendly and considerate, but awkward

Dom's side

Dominique: Korean/Chinese and Asexual. Dom was born in Beijing but grew up in Seoul with her mother. She started working as a model at 16 and moved to the US alone when she was 18. She's currently coming back into the modeling world after a 2 year hiatus. She's charming and good at socializing, but she doesn't really know how to make friends, which frustrates model coworkers who want to be closer to her

Farid: Afghan French and Gay. Farid became a model in his late father's footsteps, so he's often accused of being a nepo model. He's fussy and annoyed easily, but he can never refuse helping people. One of Dom's only real friends, he's a bit like a little brother to her and relies on her a lot. He has a bad habit of dating married men and acting like it doesn't matter to him (it matters. A lot.)

Maithili: Indian Canadian and Pansexual. Maithili is breezy and easy-going, but behind her dreamy facade is a very level-headed personality. She works with Dom often for body diversity shoots, but she'd really like to do more high fashion. Very flirtatious, calls Dom and Farid her "work boyfriends" all the time

Wynter: British Trans woman. Wynter started modeling a little later than her peers. She was scouted after a big transition point, so modeling has brought her a lot of euphoria. She's one of the more mature personalities in Dom's life, and looks after her and the other models a lot. She lives with her boyfriend and is hoping he'll propose soon

Evita: Argentine American and Bisexual. Evita started as a social media influencer and has been able to make her way to the runway as a petite model. Despite their nonchalant persona, they work very hard and are very passionate about their job. Her current romance hangup is how oblivious Dominique is, and she knows she needs to move on

Inessa: Russian (and no fruity business). Inessa met Dom backstage at a Fashion Week while having a breakdown that Dom helped her through, so she's been attached like an inprinted duckling ever since. The type of straight girl who is obsessed with pretty women in a platonic way, so she really wants to get to know more about Dom's cute new girlfriend

[antibagel]

Advice to aspiring 2D animators/storyboard artists/concept artists etc.:

Don't go to expensive art school

Don't work for low pay indie productions in hope of boosting your resume

Don't do cheap commissions

Don't post traced or AI art ever

Don't make animation your career

Stop telling yourself artistic skill = money

If you are in high school right now, do not go to college for animation. I'm so so serious. The animation industry is crumbling right now, and the last thing you should be doing is racking up college debt for a degree that will fail you.

Here are some things that you can do:

Use your creative skills for jobs outside of the entertainment industry

Work on personal projects

Do not feel like you have to spend your time marketing yourself on social media if you don't enjoy it

Collaborate with other artists on projects you actually want to work on

Widen your creative influences

Try new mediums

Keep private sketchbooks/journals

Allow yourself to flow through periods of creative highs and art block

Even if you 'make it' in the animation industry. It is highly likely you will get laid off, be overworked, or underpaid. Most likely all three.

I've been laid off by two studios, underpaid by all of my animation jobs with exception of two, and I'll name them so no one thinks I am accusing them. One was a small short film called Emaho where I got to set my own rates and pick my workload. And the other is Wild Card, which was commission based and priced by me. I have had three animation studio jobs, and all of them have either not paid me or paid me very little.

The last studio job made me finally quit the industry. It was the largest most prestigious studio I had ever worked for. And, with exception of the studio that paid me nothing as I was an intern, this studio paid me the worst wages of any job I've had. I had calculated my pay, and it was less than minimum wage in my state. The studio had hired me promising part time hours, but would often leave me without work for days. The managers were hard to reach. I had little to no contact with the other animators working at the studio. But it was my first and only credit in an animated show, so that's something.

This expierience has been echoed by my animator friends and coworkers. It is not a sustainable industry. It profits off of worker exploitation. Don't feed it with your time, money, and creativity.

[sarcasticscribbles]

Artschool Dropout

I made a thread about how and why I became an artschool dropout, and want to share it here too. Storytime! It's mainly a highlight of parts I despite in the art worlds; capitalism and superiority. My experience was affected by the environment, and hell was a bad environment

Back in the distance year of 2019 I went to an(community) art college in like the *fancy* part of my area. I lived across the lake on the countryside, so I was not prepared for this environment. Rich people cosplaying poor is the best description. Fancy clothing made to look dirty and no-one wore shoes. It was very networking-vibe, with "omg we HAVE to talk more later" but never doing so. Like nurses energy. To be fair I became more and more non-approachable as time went on.

A good note is that Swedish education is normally free, even uni degrees, but this one cost money. It was that was never addressed or mentioned when I applied; that's on me maybe, but the few friends I had didn't know either. A lot was beaten around the bush when it came to expenses. A big draw for the school was a trip they made to Berlin during a film festival. Once the time came around they mentioned the cost for the trip (which was not mentioned before, I thought it was included) and kinda of shamed people if they wouldn't pay and go. Saying how its a highlight of the education and the few staying behind just watch movies for a week. In addition, the film festival wasn't included in the price, and we would have to pay extra to go. It was supposed to be a week, but two days was for travelling by train.

The price was something I would rather use for a private Berlin trip. It wasn't a lot, but I refused to do it, mainly for how indirect they were with everything. A friend and I said we wouldn't go and a staff complained how they would have to keep the school open just for us.

My classmates weren't an issue, it was the teachers and system, which all just felt like a money laundering scheme. One day we travelled to Stockholm, and we were tasked to go four hours alone, sit and stare at an object and think what it made is feel. Those were the instructions.

Four hours. Alone. Then home.

I and one other instead went to grab a coffee and trash talk. Once the time was up, I just made up on the spot "what it made me feel" and he gave me a job well done. I understand the assignment, but the execution from the teacher was all wrong.

It wasn't my crowd tho, I came from a gaming development High school while these people were like, social studies. I'm used to a nerdy crowd, is what I'm trying to say.

I have two funny examples:

I was talking to some guy during a break the ice get together with the whole school (very small school) and I explained I studied video game development before, and he said "omg that's so cool!!" And I answered, "yeah! Do you play?" And he said "yes, the piano :)"

And other time we were talking about painters, and when they asked me who my favourite was, I thought I would joke and said "oh, donatello :) because I love purple" and NO ONE got my tmnt ref and instead thought some Italian Renaissance was my favourite artist.

But back to the main issue, it was the school: First day our teacher handed us supplies from a closet and I was like "wow! Thank you! When these run out (BECAUSE WE'RE FKN ARTISTS) can we grab new ones in the closet?" And she said "no :) this is for the two years you are here" Like eight different hardness pens and a block of paper.

My worse experience was that every Tuesday was lecture day (although we didn't have grades nor exams) and all students gathered in a dark room to look at a PowerPoint about culture and people.

Fun in theory, but again executed so badly. My last lecture one teacher said "oh, and we gotten complaint not everyone can take notes during the presentation, so we thought one from each class could take notes and share with everyone else later :)! Any volunteer?"

Like ??? What? I raised my hand and said "you have a PowerPoint there? Why can't just share the presentation with everyone if they want to go back later?" AND SHE ANSWERED "that is a great idea, but unfortunately that would take weeks. So this is a better alternative:)"

TO THIS DAY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE MEANT BY THAT

Smaller details ; expensive lunch, creepy teacher keeping images of women's privates on screen (and I'm an artist I don't mind nudity) pointless activities and little progression. I can't give it a fair judgement, I only lasted three weeks but jumped in the opportunity to leave.

Cherry on top was I had communicated in private with my mentor about quitting and the day it was decided I had to go back to get my stuff and have one last day and the teacher (not my mentor) exclaimed in the shadiest way "Sophie? I thought you quit" I hadn't told my friends yet.

Last day I replaced all my supplies with new from the fancy closet, and me and my friends stole coffee from the cafeteria during lunch (it was only included if you bought food) to celebrate my time. We all hated the system of the school, but all of us loved art.

My experience is mainly the environment the school was located in; upper-class pretending not to be. The people were alright and i got a few friends before quitting. It was also traditional, general art when I prefer digital art. The school, system, and teacher were hell, which is a shame because it took something I loved and turned it into all the things I hate. i don't regret going and I don't regret quitting when I did. Best thing to come out of it was my literal label Artschool Dropout

[whiteeyes-is-a-mad-scientist]

Offical intro and commission info

Realized I never really introduced myself as well as had some people interested in comms 👀

Welcome to my cubicle, Im whiteeyes but you can also call me Gab (as my insta is gabopedia) Im an artist and occasional writer who is mainly interested in comics, sci fi, dragons (wings of fire mainly), and cats. Funfact my username comes from a knock off herobrine oc I made a LONG time ago, the username just stuck and I never changed it.

Currently in online college for a game art and design degree but really if i can make my job anything art related i will be content. Right now my only job is commission work as I look for a another job in my area (sadly have been not very successful due to living in a smaller town) but gladly I do get a good amount of commission to help pay some college bills. My current money goal is to make enough to get a drawing tablet as my classes are starting to get into the art portions and my touch screen Acer probably isnt the best set up 💀

if interested in commissioning me you can find prices below! The examples are a tad older so if you want to newest feel free to ask or peek through this blog

I accept kofi, cashapp, stripe, and paypal (wanting to move away from paypal if I can mainly cause im just not vibing with it. Too many horror stories of artists getting their accounts closed randomly or hacked make me nervous) I also have a few special commission things which include drawn maps and comic pages n covers. Those price by complexity and you can contact me about an estimate anytime.

Lastly if youd like to chat through discord instead of tumblr feel free to shoot me a dm and I can give ya my tag^^

Anyways thanks for checking out my work and hope you enjoy!