#all i need to do is pay the bucks and submit

[sminiac]

can u write about giving bonedo legal line head pleaseee 😭😭😭 im such a giver like i need to make them feel good thank you!!!!

💌— I’VE BEEN REALLY STRUGGLING W WRITING LATELY BUT OFC :3

⋆ P. Sungho

Funny enough, I see Sungho as more of a giver. Something about him emits that he loves being able to take care of his lover— but don’t get me wrong, he allows himself to enjoy when you’re the one using your mouth, the only problem is he gets too restless knowing how needy it makes you, your impatience makes him impatient. Gets off on the internal image of giving you head just so the process will be finished faster, and it’s a bad habit, he knows, but you deserve to feel just as good. In short he allows you to do it whenever you ask, and it feels good, of course it does, but he’d much rather be settled comfortably between your thighs, his skin drenched thickly in your arousal, sometimes it makes you wonder if he just enjoys constantly having a locked jaw too?

The only time you can really go through the process of having him cum undisturbed is early in the morning when he’s half awake, struggling to sleep past the feeling of his aching cock. In his drowsy, refusal of day state he’ll let you do it without any convincing that you need the attention more than he does, he’s just much too tired to talk, and to put in the actual effort to have you submitting to his insistence, but he’s still awake enough to give you the ‘go ahead’ when your fingers start drawing feather light touches across his lower tummy, it takes a little while, but eventually he’ll be bucking his hips up and whispering a desperate “Please, honey.” You’ll know he’s close when his big hand finds the top of your head and his back is slightly arching from the mattress, breathlessly stuttering out: “Fuh- fuck, baby. God, oh my, fuck.”

Remainder of members under the cut!

⋆ L. Riwoo

Riwoo likes someone with a level head and a persistent drive because then he doesn’t have to think about a single thing other than you and the way you make him shake and quiver once you’re sunken down, laving hotly at his tip, paying attention to all the right places at once. He won’t say it aloud but he also really likes when you’re messy, calculated in every other aspect as expected, but allowing yourself the freedom of salivating all over him, the sight of it, the feeling, it’s almost like a confidence boost seeing you so into pleasuring him, the way the warm mix of liquids seep out of the corners of your mouth and cover his skin, he’s very adamant about eye contact when he’s not being shy.

If you’re enjoying yourself then he enjoys it all the more! Here and there Riwoo doesn’t mind a pinch of exhibitionism, giving him head in the shower of the dorm or when you’re at his house really gets him going. The fear of someone hearing his pathetic whimpers, catching onto whatever the two of you do behind closed doors— he runs so high off of it, his hips unapologetically slipping his cock in and out of your mouth, the anxiety in his stomach conjoint with the kick of his orgasm approaching always has him shifting gears, sweet sweaty boy just absolutely fucking your mouth with reckless abandon.

⋆ M. Jaehyun

He’s so yappy and adorable! Absolutely cannot keep his mouth shut for the life of him when you’re swallowing around his dick, treating him so delicately, like he’s the prettiest, most delicate thing you’ve ever laid your hands on. The doting and the loving on really makes him so horny though, like, so bad that you can’t tell him he’s pretty whilst looking at him a certain way or he’ll get so whiny about it. The flood of affection being only meant for him makes his limbs so restless, there’s too much good feelings and sweet words that he doesn’t know how to receive it, even more when you’re offering to get on your knees for him.

Jaehyun doesn’t take your certainty of wanting to give any kind of way that’ll make you feel like it’s intended to be degrading, there’s no hidden agenda or kept in thoughts, he’s simply liquid in your hands, takes whatever you have to offer so graciously while still being assuring that he wants it just as bad as you do. He’s so visually pleasing too, doesn’t understand the effect that his shuttered cries and restless legs have on you, every time you have him in your mouth he refuses to look or he’s cumming on the spot, so his eyes are closed most of the time, he’s so :( also has a thing for the feeling of your nails dragging against the soft skin of his thighs, cries and cries from the stimulation, could probably cum from that alone but he’s too embarrassed to find out.

⋆ H. Taesan

A recorder. He is a sluuuut !! Literally asking whenever he can if it’s okay for him to record. Such a freak that even when he’s not horny he’ll be watching back the videos of you giving him head, whenever he’s in the back of the van going to prerecording’s his hidden folder is quickly being pulled up, you’re just so pretty and you always do so good for him, he feels almost this sense of pride? Like “Yeah that’s my girl, she’s so beautiful. Head game is crazy btw!” He just has to brag about you in every way, idk 🙄. Likes when you give him head in ridiculous places and situations too, the back of the car, on an airplane, after shows, before shows etc. and he records those too of course, talks to you in a hushed tone with the phone flash all in your eyes, “Fuuuck- s’good princess. Keep doin’, doing that, please.”

Taesan is such a physically reactive person, it’s like everything the normal human feels he feels 5x stronger. Will unintentionally make you gag and tear up by how much his hips unwillingly twitch and push when he’s close to cumming because of this. He does his best every time to try and stop it, but it’s hard to stop something that’s not done with a conscious effort. Admittedly though, every inch of your mouth he’s been allowed to touch feels amazing, but he’s come to find that the back of your mouth is an especially important part.

⋆ K. Leehan

The most likely to head push, idk if it’s because of how pretty he is but something about him is so intimidating? He brings that same exact energy to bed too, plays into it, likes seeing you flustered and stupid. Yk how it’s always the people you least expect to have crazy experience when it comes to sex? Yeah, literally him. Like he’ll be teaching you shit you would’ve never learned if it was someone else’s dick in your mouth, “Lick it like that” “Use your fingers like this baby” or “More pressure pretty, don’t be shy.” Absolutely intends to build your abilities so they pertain only to what he finds pleasurable. Even the way he talks to you, it’s so entertaining but not in a humorous manner, he knows just what to say and how to say it for the success of getting you squirmy and impatient.

Since he knows how shy you get Leehan purposely makes eye contact with you as much as he can, will caress the top of your head and the soft of your cheek that the tip of his cock pokes into as he talks sweetly to you. Asking if you’re having fun, if he tastes good. He’s such a mouth fucker, I can’t. If you’re giving him the go ahead to use you he does exactly that. The most talkative out of everyone, keeps your ears entertained with his grunts, moans and his thoughts, but he keeps your mouth even more busy. It’s impossible for him to become bored, he feels the same excitement every time you go down on him that he felt the first time it happened.

[johnwaynegayscene]

my former boss is refusing to pay me a month's worth of stolen backpay plus my last check and i need to raise another 200 bucks to cover my rent this month while i wait for the labor bureau to do their whole thing, if anyone can help a broke ass trans woman who just got royally fucked over by a shitty libertarian get through a fucked up surprise hurdle i will be so deeply grateful, my c@$h and v3ŋm0 are both punkyrooster and literally just a few dollars can be huge if i can get enough help from people sharing this as well 💜

_____________________

this is her response to me being upset that after a month straight of busting my ass to build and open a new shop from the ground up and being her only employee, working every day and long hours at that, that she wanted to "just let you know that if it comes up, i can do your job easily and better, i just don't want to." and that she still has other applicants standing by in case i started thinking i wasn't expendable, after i pissed her off by having the temerity to ask what exactly was going on with my paycheck because i had just learned that she had never actually submitted any of my hours to the payroll service.

so that's been fun

seriously, anything at all will help and i fucking hate that i have to ask like this again but jesus christ this whole thing got so shitty so fast lol so yeah again my c@$h and v3ŋm0 are punkyrooster and just sharing this will help me immensely, thank you thank you thank you 💜

[maliciousandmizerablevampirism]

︶꒷꒦︶𝔖𝔲𝔫𝔨𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔡︶꒦꒷︶

༺I Tags: one-shot, fem! reader x William James Moriarty, fluff, beach day idk, modern AU

༺I Warnings: barely any, just slightly suggestive at the end?? pretty short too

You noticed William had been overworking himself again. He wasn't sleeping nor eating well and you were getting worried because of it. So you had you negotiate with him, and it was no easy work. You wanted him to take at least a small break from everything else.

He complained and tried to make up an excuse for every idea you had to spend your vacations with him, but when he actually gazed at your endearing eyes he just had to submit to your enchantments and say yes.

"Only because you look at me like that."

"I'll go put my swimsuit on," you said once the two of you had finally arrived at your beach house.

He nodded and put his own swimsuit on. He was planning on wearing a modest one, yet he didn't want to get his skin damaged by the Sun in case he had totake his shirt off and that's why he needed your help to put sunscreen on his back.

You came out of the changing room with your new swimsuit and he tried not to pay attention to it.

"Could you please help me, darling?" he asked as he grinned.

"Of course, handsome."

The sunscreen made it quise easy for your fingers to softly slid against his back, nape and shoulders first. Then you continued with his chest and his slightly toned abs. Nonetheless, when your hands went up to his face you noticed how flustered he had grown.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing, I can..." he muttered nervously, "I can do that by myself."

"You'll do your arms and legs. Let me finish with your face, alright?"

The blond tried to look away from your eyes. Letting you see him acting that shy would be a bit... embarrassing. And to make it worse, you kissed his jaw.

"Thank you, my love."

"It's your time to help me out though." You turned your back to him.

"Sure," he said. And he did what you asked him to with a bit of hesitation. Letting his fingertips caress your bare back and shoulders felt too good to be true.

Once he was done putting the sunscreen on you, you ran to the pool and when you came out of it your whole body was soaking wet. The Sun made your skin colour look more stunning if that's even possible in his eyes.

"What are you looking at?" you frowned rather playfully.

William walked towards you and placed his hands against your waist before pulling you into a deep, desired kiss.

"Gorgeous. You look gorgeous. Don't look this gorgeous if you don't want me to die from a heart attack or to kiss you until we never go back home," he spoke.

You threw your arms around his neck and immediately kissed him again. Yet you didn't realize how hard you pulled him, and both of you ended up falling into the pool.

Liam looked at you and started laughing when he saw how suprised you were. Soon you were both a laughing mess.

"Do I even have to tell you you look gorgeous as well?" You ran your fingers through his now wet hair, earning a smile from your dearest.

"Do I really, pretty woman?" He smirked.

"Yes, you do, precious man." Soon he was sitting on the stairs of the pool as you were almost pinning him against the wall of it. "Why are you blushing so hard though? Just calm down."

He could only manage to chuckle and bury his face into the crook of your neck, placing a few kisses here and there.

"You know why, (Name)," he whispered.

You teased him with more and more kisses all over his face.

"(Name)..." he softly moaned. "It tickles."

You didn't mind overwhelming him. In fact, that was pretty much your intention.

You two went to the sea many hours later and held each other's hands. It was already late at night, so you could see the moonlight stroking your boyfriend's soft skin, which was truly a sight to behold. This time he was the one who caught you staring at him, but instead of teasing you like you would've done, he just blushed and smiled innocently at you.

You gave him a little peck on the lips and noticed the subtle yet obvious salty taste on them. Were his cheeks pink because he had been sunkissed or because he was simply infatuated with you?

"It's too dark here, Liam. We should go back to our house and-"

He didn't even let you finish. He had felt the need to pull you closer to him.

"Can't you just... eat my heart, crawl into my skin and become one with me for once and for all? I need you."

Your eyes widened at his odd request and tried to utter at least one word despite having gone absolutely weak now.

"I need to feel your warmth to another level, (Name). Please, I don't know what to do." He was basically whimpering and you found that this was making you dizzy (in a strangely nice way).

"That's why we should go back home, my angel. I'll help you there. You'll find out how soon," you said as you grabbed his hand and took him to your house, to the heaven of your bed.

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Spicy

JD Barker: submitted for the approval of the midnight society, i call this the tale of the bad app JD Barker: it's a spicy story about an app that you download on your phone JD Barker: but this app JD Barker: is a little JD Barker: spicy

JD Barker: boy let me tell you JD Barker: it's tough to get word out about a new book these days King: tell me about it! King: i keep posting but nothing's making a dent! King: there's got to be a better way! JD Barker: there is!

JD Barker: i've got a fool proof way to generate publicity for a book King: oh? well, don't just stand there -- tell us! JD Barker: ok, you guys ready for this? JD Barker: might want to get a pen ready to write this down JD Barker: cuz this is gonna be JD Barker: a little spicy

Clive Barker: hey before you say anything, i just wanna remind everyone i am a different person Clive Barker: just really feelin' the need to get out in front and say that

JD Barker: so here's my idea JD Barker: you get booktok influencers to take off their clothes King: Poe: Lovecraft: Clive Barker: Koontz: JD Barker: cuz this book is SPICY!

Koontz: [writing down] "you get booktok influ-" Poe: no no dean Poe: don't write that down Koontz: but he said Poe: it's ok dean just shh Poe: don't worry about it

Angela Carter: you're going to -- !!! Carter: wow Carter: of all the blatantly misogynistic Carter: exploitative JD Barker: [tugging collar] uh oh! Carter: predatory Carter: sexist JD Barker: [tugging intensifies]

JD Barker: or you could get them to do a video answering the question "what's the craziest place you ever had sex?" JD Barker: any questions? Mary Shelley: hey i got SEVERAL fuckin questions JD Barker: [tugging collar] uh oh! Shelley: you say you're paying for this? Angela Carter: mary, no Shelley: shut up this is easy money

JD Barker: oh yeah, we're gonna pay the big bucks to get spicy JD Barker: like, maybe $100 Mary Shelley: oh fuck off

JD Barker: wow listen turns out there's been a little mistake JD Barker: a real whoopsie doodle JD Barker: you're gonna laugh Carter: yeah? try me JD Barker: ha ha JD Barker: [tugging collar] ohhh

JD Barker: this was all just a misunderstanding JD Barker: see, this wasn't my idea JD Barker: it was the PR firm i hired Carter: then guess i need to talk to the head of that firm JD Barker: [collar tugging intensifies]

JD Barker: [wearing hot dog suit] look we're all just trying to find out who did this

[the-puppet-bracket]

Spamton propaganda:

"You know someone had to do it.

This guy's whole thing is not wanting to be a puppet anymore, but uh-oh-spaghetti-o! Dude now has physical puppet strings!"

"Making a [SPECIL] deal by placing his [#1 SALE SYSTEM] into a [CLASSIC!] body, Spamton believed he could be more than [HYPERLINK BLOCKED]. But the strings told him otherwise. He lunged at Kris in [LIMITED TIME OFFER], trying with all his [50% OFF!] to be more than a puppet."

"Spam email bot who was exposed to something that drove him mad and he spent the whole rest of his existence trying to cut his strings, only to die (maybe?) when he finally manages it."

"He is the most tortured dumpster man alive. Also, not literally a puppet, but metaphorically!!! There's some mysterious outside force controlling him and limiting what he can say and god, he desperately wants to break free, trying to kill the protagonist (his only friend in years) for the chance of ""being let loose from his strings"". In his secret boss battle, he thinks he'll be free after getting a new body but he isn't, as his new powerful body has literal strings attached. You fight him, because he thinks your soul (long story) will gain him access to freedom. During the pacifist route of the battle, you cut his strings until there's one more left, he's ecstatic, being able to break free from the narrative of the confines of the game. He decides to break his own last string, and he falls to the ground into pieces. It turns out he relied on the strings after so long, and couldn't recover without them. Afterwards, he's deshevaled, hung up by vines in the dark basement that resemble his old strings and he says ""It seems after all I couldn't be anything more than a simple puppet."" This ties back to how Kris, the protagonist of the game is feeling the effects of being controlled by the player and really shows the core focus of the game and it's characters. And that's why I entered him into this poll!

Also he is genuinely so fucking hilarious bro just play Deltarune already what the fuck are you doing the chapters that are out rn are free dawg (play Undertale first though, it's like ten bucks or something you'll be fine)"

"Spamton best blorbo. Very good blorbo. Exquisite blorbo even. He's sad and adhd and insane and weird and I love him and you should too. Pipis"

"he spamt"

"[[NUMBER ONE RATED SALESMAN 1997]]"

"he's living in a goddamn garbage can. let the big shot win. it'll be funny. does he deserve it? that is up to viewer discretion. but he is our beloved tumblr sillyman and as such we need to pay him respect in some manner. <3

(iirc spamton is a puppet? probably. oh well if he doesn't count ignore this i'm not read up on

my deltarune)"

"frankly i'd be surprised if he's not one of the most submitted. anyway his whole Deal is about being a puppet and having other things control him and so he seeks to regain that control through either manipulating the player into murdering half the city or to take the red soul and use it to become a god. yet in his super powerful NEO form he still has strings attached to him (that he won't even notice if he succeeded in the player manipulation thing) and in either case he ultimately becomes an item you use just for stats. guy really isn't a fan of puppetteers"

"you propably knew this was coming lol

Tumblr's favorite awful little puppet desperately fighting to get rid of his strings

the pinocchio references are strong in this one

HA HA HA ... THIS POWER IS

FREEDOM.

I WON'T HAVE TO BE JUST A PUPPET ANY MORE!!!!

...

OR... so... I... thought.

WHAT ARE THESE STRINGS!? WHY AM I NOT [BIG] ENOUGH!? It's still DARK... SO DARK!"

"Tries to become a real boy, ends up as another puppet look guy. He's shady, he's a scammer, he's got cringefail swag and I love him"

"He's just a little fucked-up little guy"

[goodluckclove]

About your recent post where you said you’re willing to talk to new writers: I’m very secure about the quality of my actual writing, but it’s the looming, impenetrable crucible of publishing that utterly defeats me. How did you do it? Could you possibly offer me any help in that regard?

Hi! Publishing is not nearly as intimidating or as scary as you think it is, or as people seem to make it out to be. I've never trad pubbed a novel, but I have self published and published short stories in professional journals, as well as worked as a columnist in an arts website.

For self publishing I bought an ISBN, but I don't think you have to in the US since you can get free ones from Ingram Spark and Amazon. People say Ingram Spark is difficult to navigate but honestly skill issue because once you learn how to use it it's way more convenient - plus the formatting is infinitely better. I downloaded my Ingram Spark ebook and used it as the file for Amazon because the Kindle book making software is mid at best.

Anyways you import your book, set prices to calculate royalties - it's a little extra on Amazon if you want extended distribution and for it to get in libraries, which is why I sprung for my own ISBN. It was like 140 bucks I think, maybe less. Then you design a cover - Canva is cool and free, it doesn't need to be crazy, minimalism is timeless. Approve all of it, maybe order a proof copy to make sure it looks groovy. Then you approve it and in like a week your books are available online.

Amazon has Amazon, obviously, but Ingram Sparks has a direct link you can share for people to buy. It also helps when you're working with bookstores, which I still have to do, because they can just buy from them directly. They just look up your ISBN code.

Uh, and for short stories you can just look up lit mags that publish in the genre you write in. If I write body horror, Id say "body horror short story submissions (month, year)" and then just send it to anyone whose requirements you meet. Some don't pay but that's fine, I think. It's just cool to get out there and have an online portfolio.

It's really just a tedious kind of numbers thing, like a household chore for writers. And yeah it hurts at first when you get rejected. But after a while you start getting rejections from places you don't remember submitting to and you're just kind of like "huh okay".

That's my main publishing takes. I have separate experience in producing plays that I've written and culture/technical writing (which is really fun if you find a good gig), but I dont think that's relevant for the average prose writer haha. But yeah get submitting, it can't hurt!

Oh marketing, though. That's the scary part. Publishings nothing compared to the existential horror of marketing yourself. But you can worry about that later.

[carriesthewind]

ok so i didnt know about the first guy (sorry i cant remember how to spell his name ✌😔) not being licensed to practice law. that changes absolutely everything in my perception of this. i thought they were equals here, yknow? as i said, i know very little about law, much less american law, i assumed that maybe you sometimes have a coworker look over and cosign stuff. but he was in some way OVERSEEING the other guy??? for 27 years???? why didnt you help him get licenced??? in those 27 years??? if you thought he could be trusted enough to sign his work without reading??? absolutely agree there is no excuse for this, and while yeah, a very human thing to do still, what the hell

and yeah. i obviously feel worst for the original client. from the little information i knew about them from your post, i was rooting for 'em, bc i will always root for the little guy seeking retribution from a large company like an airline. i hope their case doesnt get thrown out bc of this, and that they will be able to find/afford better legal counsel. honestly i hope they get their money back, bc i know from exp that legal costs are A LOT

Ah! So this is a misunderstanding from me not being clear, sorry.

Because the law in the U.S. is a weird mess where you have federal law and then each states have their own individual laws, lawyers in the U.S. don't get a general license to practice law. Instead, lawyers are admitted (or "barred") in individual jurisdictions. So lawyers are licensed to practice in individual state(s). E.g. Attorney Smith may be licensed to practice in New York, and Attorney Jones may be licensed to practice in California. If Attorney Jones has a client with a case in New York, they normally couldn't represent their client in that New York case, because even though they are a licensed attorney, they are not licensed to practice in the state of New York. However, they could be admitted "pro hac vice" (e.g. on a temporary matter, normally for a single case or matter), which usually requires the out-of-state attorney to have "local counsel" - an attorney who is admitted in the state who is the attorney of record in the case.

Since federal courts are a different jurisdiction from state courts, even if they are covering the same geographical area, just because an attorney is licensed to practice in state court, they are not automatically licensed to practice in the local federal court. So in this case, LoDuca was licensed to practice in both the state of New York and the Southern District of New York (the federal court where this case is taking place). However, Schwartz was only admitted in the state of New York.

So Schwartz is a barred attorney, and he is licensed to practice law. He just isn't licensed to practice law in the court that this case was in.

Now, being admitted to the local federal court is usually pretty simple, especially pro hac vice. I just checked the rules for the Southern District of New York - it should have been trivially easy to do. He didn't even need local counsel. Basically he just needed to file a quick motion, fill out an affidavit, submit a certificate of good standing from the New York state bar, and pay a couple hundred bucks. It seems like he just didn't do so in this case because these clowns were cutting every single corner they could.

So to be admitted to practice in SDNY, Schwartz wouldn't have had to prove any additional legal knowledge (although he should have, you know, read the local rules, at a minimum). But because he didn't bother to get admitted pro hac vice, LoDuca entered an appearance as the plaintiff's attorney and filed all of Schwartz's motions for him, and signed them as his filings. And therefore, LoDuca became responsible for the content of all of those filings, because he was the attorney of record in the case, and they became all of his motions and submissions. So even though normally, yes, they would be coworkers, when LoDuca agreed to put his name and license on all these documents, he should have been overseeing and checking all his work.

I hope that helps clarify the issue, and wasn't too technical or confusing!

I've written more about the original client's options here.

[jellogram]

How I Landed Professional Writing Gigs (from scratch)

Okay so I am currently a full-time writer for a travel company but this was absolutely not my first writing endeavor so I thought it would be helpful to write out some things that I wish I had known.

I write non-fiction/marketing/journalism-oriented work, but there's some overlap with fiction publishing. However, you should understand that making a living solely from fiction is significantly harder than this.

So here is what I did:

1. Write as much as you can.

This seems obvious, because you need to practice, but it's more than that. You NEED to be creating work to fill out your portfolio. Write everything. Write essays about things you like, write short stories, write social media captions, interview whoever responds to your emails and write about that, just write write write as much as you can. With as much variety as you can. Writing ad copy in different styles is going to be a big one.

2. Compile all of this into a portfolio.

There are many ways to do this, but you need a) a digital folder that you can submit on forms and attach in emails and b) a website with all of your work that you can link with one URL. You can make a website with something like wordpress or you can just use substack or medium.

In your portfolio, include all of your best work. This will likely be pretty unimpressive at first, and mostly school papers and passion pieces, but it's a start. You just need to get something together, because when you start applying, you will often need a portfolio to even complete the submissions.

Now, this is crucial, do not publish all your creative pieces. If you have a poem or a short story that is particularly good, you can add it to your digital folder, but DO NOT PUBLISH IT on a publicly accessible site. You'll see why below.

3. Apply to literally everything.

Now you are ready to start looking for gigs. These will, almost certainly, be unpaid at first. Obviously this sucks, but it also doesn't have to ruin your life. If you're in a position to take a whole unpaid internship, that will definitely help, but there's other options.

Your new best friend is Submittable. This is how I got my first fiction piece published. Submit to e v e r y t h i n g. Paid, unpaid, whatever you can find. If you have a piece of creative writing that you truly think is publishable, you grind on Submittable for hours after work/school, sending it off to every publishing call that's even vaguely related.

This is why you can't publish your best work on your own site — nearly all of these listings require first publishing rights, meaning you keep ownership of your piece, but they don't want it if the public has been able to access it already. Once your piece is published on their site, you can add it to yours.

4. Keep track of where you've been published and put that list in your bio from now on.

You are nothing but the places where you have been published, which is why it's vital to gather as many credits as possible.

5. You can also get gigs on Upwork.

This is a great way to gain more experience working for a client and hopefully getting a few publishing credits. This is technically paid work, but you're not likely to make more than a few bucks. Send bids for the lowest paying, least popular gigs. Just chat with the client back and forth a bit to make sure they're legit.

This kind of work SUCKS, but it can help you beef up your portfolio and get more credits. It will also teach you, unequivocally, if writing is really want you want to do for a living. If you hate dealing with client requests and doing grunt work and being told what to write, you're probably going the wrong direction and you'll learn that quickly from Upwork.

6. Once you have an OK portfolio/list of credits, start looking for more consistent work.

Technically you can start doing this at any time, but you're unlikely to land anything consistent until you have a few credits and some solid experience.

This type of work is usually paid. By this point, if you've gathered up enough credits, you should be beyond unpaid internships. That doesn't mean it won't be difficult to find work. Getting a job always sucks and this is no different, you're just better primed for it now than you were before the previous steps.

I found all my consistent jobs on Indeed. There's basically two kinds of work at this stage: contracted and salaried. I've done both.

Contracted work basically means you have an agency. They work with companies who are hiring out copywriting agencies for whatever writing they need. This kind of work is nice because you have a lot more control and flexibility in your daily life. However, you are at the will of your agency. If they don't give you any jobs that month, you're out of luck. Unless your particular agency is very very consistent, this is most likely more supplemental income than primary income, especially if you live in a place that taxes the living hell out of contracted workers.

There's also independent contractors, but I strongly advise against trying to make that work unless you already have years of experience in the field.

Salaried work is a JOB job. You might still have some flexibility, but your daily hours and workload will be out of your control. I started with the contracted work and moved to a full time job, and while I definitely prefer the lifestyle of contracted work, I would not trade the comfort of regular paychecks. Up to you.

7. If you can't find a regular job, start branching out your skills.

If you have been hitting every job board and publishing outlet you can find, you have credits, your portfolio is excellent, and you STILL can't find a consistent job, you might want to start adding semi-related skills to your resume.

Fortunately, you can do this (for free) online. It's time consuming, which sucks if you're already doing all of this while maintaining another job. But it can make or break your chances.

I looked at what all the writing-related jobs on Indeed were requesting as skills, and started learning them. I used Hubspot, Google Analytics Academy, and Coursera, because they give you certificates upon course completion that you can add to your resume. Codecademy is also really quick and easy for coding.

All of these are available for free, but with Coursera you have to apply for a scholarship for each course if you'd like to take it without paying.

In this process, I learned:

SEO

HTML5

CSS

Social media and email marketing

WordPress

Google Analytics

Obviously this list will vary depending on what type of writing gig you're looking for, but if you're in the market for advertising or blog work, I think SEO, html, and Google Analytics are good places to start.

Graphic design is also a super useful skill that will go a long way towards setting you apart from other candidates. Specifically Adobe, but even a little Canva experience can help.

Once you've acquired these skills, try to make something with them. Build a small website or collect a graphic design portfolio. The more skills and experience you can show off, the better.

And that's it! I'm sure some of you will read this and scream "But OP, I did that and it didn't work!" and I'm sorry. This is what worked for me, so that's all I can really offer.

Good luck out there!

[cheerscoops]

ship: Jonathan Byers/Eddie Munson wc: 1.8k A/N: This one was suggested by my favorite @sherifftillman <3 I take the two freak boys and I squish. Hopefully they (and the minor background ship) live up to everyone's expectations!

“Hey Byers! Wait up!”

Jonathan stopped walking to his next class and turned to find Eddie Munson of all people racing towards him.

“I have a proposition for you,” he said once he’d caught up to Jonathan. “A job opportunity really.”

“What kind of job opportunity?” He was always looking to make a little more money around the holidays, and if the job wasn’t anything illegal, he’d seriously consider the extra work.

“So, as I’m sure you’re aware, I’m the frontman for a pretty spectacular band known as Corroded Coffin, and me and the guys were hoping to do a little something special for our fans this year. Granted, there are maybe five of them total, but still. They deserve a little something special as a token of appreciation for supporting us. Anyway, we wanted to send out a special Christmas card to our friends this year. Maybe include a flier about some upcoming shows in it? It’s still very much in the planning stages. All we know is that we want a really great photo of the whole band to go on the front of the card. That’s where you come in.”

“You want me to shoot your Christmas card?”

“Well, yeah. We don’t want an amateur with a disposable camera doing this. We want it to look good, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re the most talented photographer any of us knows. Maybe the most talented in all of Hawkins. I mean those photos you had in the school art show last year? Magazine worthy. Especially the one of that fort in the woods. It looked seriously haunted in the coolest way possible. Way better than anything anyone else submitted.”

Jonathan was touched. He knew most people only knew him as that freak with the camera, and he’d be lying if he hadn’t assumed that was why Eddie was asking when he first mentioned the card. But Eddie actually knew his work and appreciated it. He wasn’t asked just because he had a camera. He was asked because he had vision.

“How much does the job pay?” he asked.

“We’re not exactly rolling in it right now. Shocking, I know. But we talked about it and pulled our money. We can buy you a roll of film for the project so you don’t have to waste any of your own on us, and then we think we can reasonably afford to pay you for your time with twenty bucks and dinner at Benny’s afterwards. I know it’s not a lot, but it would mean a lot to us if you’d consider it. Plus, you can use the photos you take for any assignment or art show you might have coming up. And, come on.” Eddie gestured to himself. “If this handsome face is in your work, you’ll win all the top prizes for sure."

Eddie was right that it wasn’t a lot, but it was enough that it would make a difference in the quality of the gifts that Jonathan was able to get his mom and brother for Christmas. And if he didn’t have to use his own film, it was a net gain no matter what.

“So, say I agree to do this,” he started. “And I’m not agreeing just yet, but say that I do. What kinds of photos are you looking for?”

“Maybe something goofy and posed with all of us? Or artsy if you prefer. And then maybe a couple photos of us actually playing? We’ve got a Santa hat and some elf hats we were thinking of wearing since this is for a Christmas thing, but wearing them isn’t a deal breaker if you think the pictures would look better without them. Totally willing to defer to the real artistic genius here. I just want the pictures to look good, and you’re the only person I trust to make it happen.”

The idea of creative control was enticing enough to seal the deal for him.

“Alright. I’m in. When and where do you need me?”

“We haven’t settled on a specific day or time yet, but probably sometime this weekend. I’ll talk to the guys at lunch and let you know the plan before the end of the day though. I owe you my life for this. Seriously.”

With that, Eddie was racing off down the hall leaving Jonathan to try and come up with a way to make heavy metal Christmas cards into something appropriate for any of his photography class assignments.

That Saturday afternoon, Jonathan met up with the guys outside of the Hideout. The plan was to do posed photos outside and then go inside to take a few pictures of them playing. As long as they stayed focused on getting the shots they wanted, they'd be done in time for that promised dinner at Benny's.

He didn't think it would take too long, but then again, he didn't really know what working with Eddie would be like. The guy was all over him, and it was more than a little distraction. Eddie just had so many questions about his process, and he wanted to look through the camera and get an idea of what Jonathan was seeing. Or, if he wasn't asking questions, he was touching him. Adjusting a twisted camera strap, placing a hand on Jonathan's back as he leaned in the eye the proposed shot, poking at him to get his attention, grabbing at his arm to pull him over to any place he thought they could get a good photo. If Jonathan didn't know any better, he would've thought that Eddie was into him.

“Come on, Eddie,” he said as he tried to get him to pose properly for what he thought might be their last shot. “Quit it with whatever that brooding, tortured artist look is. You said you wanted something goofy, not sexy.”

“So you think I'm sexy?” Eddie asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Jonathan could feel his face burning.

“Just let me take the picture.”

He snapped a couple more photos in quick succession before putting the lens cap back on his camera.

“I think I got everything you guys wanted out here. Let's take a ten minute break, and then we can set up for the performance shots.”

Jonathan headed inside for a moment alone, but he'd barely sat down before Gareth was joining him at his table.

“You know we didn't need to hire you for this, right?” he started. “Jeff's parents own that hobby shop downtown, and his mom would have lent us a camera for free if we promised not to smash it. A fancy one with a timer so we wouldn't have even needed a photographer to get this done.”

“If that's the case, why am I here?”

“You haven't figured it out yet?”

“Figured out what?”

“You really have no idea. He's about as subtle as a heart attack, and you still don't know.”

“Can you please fill me in so I can make even a little bit of sense of what you're saying?”

“Eddie wanted you to do this so he'd have an excuse to spend time with you and get to know you a little better.”

“And he was willing to pay me twenty bucks for the opportunity?”

“Well, yeah. When he's that into someone, he loses all sense of logic and reason. Even more so than usual.”

Jonathan was stunned speechless. Eddie was into him? Suddenly all of his badgering made sense, and when he really stopped to think about it, the badgering wasn't unwelcome. If he wasn't in the middle of lining up a shot, he could see himself enjoying what was apparently Eddie's attempt at flirting.

“So, why doesn't he just ask me out? It would probably be cheaper than paying me to be your band's personal photographer.”

“He's afraid that you'd say no which I think is stupid because it's obvious how much he gets under your skin.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Dude. Your entire face looked like a tomato after you accidentally called him sexy. Pretty sure that was your subconscious telling you that you're into him, too.”

Jonathan didn't know what to say. Before he'd asked him to do this, he didn't realize Eddie even knew who he was, and now he was facing the very real possibility that he could maybe be into Eddie, too.

“Look," Gareth started. "You don't have to say anything to me or him or anybody. But, if you wanted, I could make something happen. All I ask is that you do a small favor for me.”

“Name it.”

“Put in a good word for me with Nancy?” he asked. “I find her beautiful and terrifying.”

“I'll see what I can do.”

Gareth stood up from his seat and smiled at Jonathan.

“It's been a pleasure doing business with you.”

Their break ended shortly after that, and Jonatham took a series of photos of them playing through two different songs so he could get a variety of different angles for each member of the band. Once he figured he'd gotten everything he needed, he motioned for the band to stop.

“I'm pretty sure I just used up the last of the film you guys brought, so we can call it here. I'll develop everything when I have access to the photo lab on Monday and get the prints to you as soon as possible.”

“We're done?” Eddie sounded more than a little disappointed and he crossed over to where Jonathan was loading his camera back into his bag.

“I think so. But I remember being promised dinner at Benny's as part of my payment, so we could head there now if you want.”

“Definitely. We just need to load up our stuff, and then we can all head out.”

“Actually, the guys and I have a thing,” Gareth said. “And we can't get out of it, so you guys are gonna have to go by yourselves.”

“What thing?” Jeff asked. “We don't have a-”

He was cut off from finishing his sentence by Gareth smacking his arm and pointedly looking back and forth between him and where Eddie was standing with Jonathan.

“Oh! Right!” Jeff said after the realization hit. “That thing. So sad we can't make it.”

“You crazy kids have fun without us!” Gareth said as he ushered the other two bandmates out of the bar.

“I'm going to kill him,” Eddie muttered under his breath, making Jonathan huff out a laugh.

“No, you're not.”

“Oh, but I am. I'm already drafting up posters advertising our need for a new drummer.”

“Go easy on him. He just did you a massive favor.”

Eddie crossed his arms over his chest.

“How do you figure?”

“He just got you a date with the guy you've been shamelessly flirting with all day.”

Eddie's jaw dropped. He definitely wasn't expecting that response from him.

“I'm pretty sure the guys just left without loading their stuff into the van, so pick your jaw off the floor and let me help you get that taken care of. Then you can flirt with me some more.”

Eddie changed his mind. He wasn't killing Gareth. He was gonna owe him for the rest of his life for helping him earn a date with Jonathan Byers.

[hooked-on-elvis]

He Loves Everyone, They Love Him — Broom-Sweeping Elvis, A Regular Guy Article by Anne Rowe © Published on August 6th, 1956 on St. Petersburg Times.

August 5th, 1956: Elvis with Anne Rowe, a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, Florida.

Dressed as sharp as a cat in black pegged pants, striped belt, blue shirt, white tie, maroon jacket and white bucked shoes, the king of rock 'n roll picked up a broom and started sweeping out his dressing room.

This was my fabulous introduction to the four-Caddie Elvis Presley whose reputation had given this reporter reason "to proceed with caution" in his presence.

No need for alarm though, for Presley posed willingly for press photographers, answered questions without hesitation and seemed to us like a real regular guy during the hour we spent with him in his dressing room before his first appearance at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa yesterday. Presley will appear at the Florida Theatre here Tuesday for three performances.

Appearing just a little bit nervous, Elvis swept the floor clear of cigarette butts, and then transformed the broom into a microphone, crooning "Don't Be Cruel" into its handle.

Putting the broom aside, he walked outside, where it was only slightly cooler than the stifling heat in his dressing room, surveyed the curiosity seekers lined up at the gate, laughed and hollered, "I'll be right with you" -- with no obvious southern accent.

Elvis gave me the impression that he would have enjoyed going over to the gate and talking with his fans. He signed autographs of those who were permitted to talk with him and seemed to enjoy playing with a couple of tots nearby who were observing the commotion with wide-eyed wonder.

FAVORITE SONG Returning to his dressing room, Elvis picked up his leather covered guitar, plucked a few strings and began singing "Don't Be Cruel" once again ... his favorite of all the songs he's recorded because "it has the most meaning." Soon he was joined by the Jordanaires, the boys who back Elvis on many of his records. Elvis' nervousness apparently left him. He was doing what he loves best ... singing. He sang the song through, put down his guitar and when asked for an interview, was more than willing to submit to our questions.

Asked what he thought of those who imitate him, he said, "I think it's good. It shows I'm doing well enough, otherwise why would they want to imitate me?"

Naturally we asked him if he was interested in girls. To this he replied with a wink, a smile and a mere "yes," said he had a "steady at one time," but hasn't given much thought to marriage or the type of girl he would choose.

LIKES JAMES DEAN Queried on his recent motion picture pact with Hal Wallis, Elvis replied, "I won't give up singing for acting. I think I'll make about one picture a year, and whether I like it or not depends on how well I do." Elvis also said his screen favorites are the late James Dean and Marlon Brando.

What will he do when this rock 'n roll "fad" passes? "I'll probably sit back and think about what I once had ... with no regrets. Right now, I don't think about that," Presley retorted.

Apparently Presley wasn't pleased with his much publicized performance on the Steve Allen show, when he appeared in a dinner suit and was forced to stand still while going through his act. "All I thought about that suit," said Elvis, "was getting out of it."

NO QUARREL WITH CRITICS He has no quarrel with the critics who've panned him since he first won not only the admiration, but the hearts of almost every teen-ager in the country. "Those people have a job to do just like me. I think when you're in this business you've got to expect that sort of treatment. Some people wouldn't pay a nickel to see me. But as long as my records keep selling and these folks keep turning out to hear me sing, I'm happy."

Elvis is amazed at his sudden success, but is enjoying every minute of it. He does feel bad that his busy schedule gets him home only about once a month. He is very close to his parents who live in the $40,000 air conditioned ranch home he bought for them in Memphis. He says his mother and father encourage his career, feel he is not contributing to juvenile delinquency and accept his absence from home as a matter of course.

"I used to travel by plane all the time," replied Presley when we asked him how he commuted, "but once I got scared flying so now I travel down here on the ground in a car." Elvis did not arrive in one of his four Cadillac's, but instead propelled a slinky white, $10,000 Lincoln Continental which he purchased in Miami because "I couldn't very well appear on Ed Sullivan's show if I wasn't driving his sponsor's product, could I?"

LOVES THAT LINCOLN Like little boy with a new toy, he lifted the hood of his newest purchase, displayed the engine to several onlookers and when asked how fast the car could go, laughed "You mean how fast can it FLY?" Touching the hood ornament fondly he said, "This thing cast $350!"

Besides his cars, Elvis is an avid motorcycle fan, although he has little time to ride his own.

Our interview came to a halt when a knock on the door informed Presley that it was time for him to go on.

He thanked me for taking time out to talk to him and hurried out to the crowd eagerly awaiting his appearance.

He was greeted with deafening screams from the audience of about 1,000 teen-agers which oddly enough, was sprinkled liberally with adults.

IN HIS GLORY Now Presley was in his glory. He rocked 'n rolled his way through seven numbers, laughing, winking, pointing and wriggling in the well-known Presley manner. While his fans yelled, cried, pulled their hair, held their ears, jumped, clapped and laughed, Elvis displayed his terrific showmanship. It was more than obvious that he loved every scream and yell and ... every minute on that stage. He wrestled with the mike, breaking two apart in his frenzy, and finally with perspiration pouring down his face, he practically tore his jacket off and let go on two more numbers.

He may be an ex-truck driver from Mississippi, a rockbilly whose "gimmick" has carried him to success, but the ovation he received yesterday proves that Presley is the biggest thing in show business today.

Article by Anne Rowe © Published on August 6th, 1956 on St. Petersburg Times.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source (many more accurate info here, about this concert, the venue itself and more, guys): http://www.scottymoore.net/FtHomer.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I love talking about the aftermath. That's the an important part to every story, the closure. So here goes ✨ ADDITIONAL INFO:✨ on Anne Howe's article and August 5th 1956 in Elvis' life:

On the "LOVES THAT LINCOLN" bit of Anne's article on Elvis, just for a little more dimension, the pictures below are from the same day he met Ann - it's the moment she refers when wrote "Like little boy with a new toy, he lifted the hood of his newest purchase, displayed the engine to several onlookers (...)". Photos also taken at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, Florida, on July 5th, 1956.

Elvis bought this 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II car just the previous day to Anne Howe's interview with him and his 2 Tampa, Florida gigs on August 5th. On the photos above, from August 5th, 1956, we see Elvis' cousin Gene Smith, also his bass player, Bill Black, and the guy in striped shirt is Bitsy Mott, Presley’s personal security chief. All of them by Elvis' side checking out his new car.

The 1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II purchase date is August 4th 1956, just the previous day to this photos above —EP traded in another Lincoln (a Premiere) which he owned for only two weeks. Here's the invoice for the Lincoln Continental:

News reports on Elvis' new acquisition (Press Scimitar, article published on August 13, 1956), followed by some pictures taken on the day he purchased the Lincoln Mark II (August 4):

This car was damaged by Presley fans on the August 5th, in Tampa, Florida. The kids stole Presley's car gas cap and cigarette lighters to keep as souvenirs. Elvis talks about this incidente to DJ Bob Hoffer. You can check out the interview on another post, here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to some more pictured of Elvis and reporter Anne Howe on August 5th, 1956:

Elvis did read Anne Howe's article the very day it was published.

For one of those pictures below I wonder if he was worried about something she wrote or he was just being silly and grimacing for the pictures (as usual haha). If that flabbergasted expression is genuine, maybe the part of the article referring to cigarettes all over his room got him bad. Elvis smoked since the 50's but he worked hard to keep his image as clean as possible, considering his audience was mostly made by teenagers. He literally lied to the press many times repeating the "I don't drink and i don't smoke" remark. I don't see it as a bad think, because he was genuinely trying not go be a bad example for his underage audience, but he was an adult, therefore he could live his life the way he would like to. But anyway, if he didn't smoke, why the hell there would be cigarette butts all over his dressing room like Anne Howe's wrote in her article, right?

Well, I'm just jabbering. I don't know what the heck Elvis' surprise face is about. That's only my assumption the cigarette part of Anne Howe's article has something to do with it, since she was very flattering on her choice of words about the musician. But maybe that's just one of his famous silly grimaces.

August 6th, 1956. Elvis was in Lakeland, Florida. In there pictures we see him checking out Anne Rowe's full-page article in the St. Petersburg Times that was published that dat. Needless to say, and unlike most of the articles written about him at this stage of his career, the female reporter gave him two thumbs up, claiming 'Presley is the biggest thing in show business today.'

Source (another website with many more accurate info on those events): http://www.elvisechoesofthepast.com/hot-times-in-florida-1955-1956/

✨ well, that's it. ✨ I don't know if people gave much credit to Anne's words on Elvis' performances because of those pictures of them at the interview day. She clearly seems enchanted by Presley as much as he seems taken by her. Could she be impartial enough if being too intimate with the object of her writing? I don't know. But for me, well, that's what I call a productive working day. A full-page article on the talk of the town , watching a live rock and roll concert and a having a few kisses (on the cheek, maybe more?) to cherish forever. ♥

August 5th, 1956, Tampa, Florida. Elvis and reporter Anne Howe from the St. Petersburg Times newspaper.

[yooniesim]

First off, I don't think you're the troll blog, but they ARE somebody right here among us. They even admitted that they got a shout out on simblrpositivity, as their main account, and then of course made fun of it. This is the quality of people we're dealing with, and it's actually scary to post anything even though they're blocked because people are submitting other people's sims/accts to them.

Yooo really? I mean, they could always be lying about the simblrpositivity thing in order to get people riled up and witch hunting. Beware of that, because it's definitely a tactic trolls use. But it's no doubt someone either active here or just actively a simp. You can tell according to who they insult and who they seem to like (they deleted the asks of them simping over a few specific simblrs for example, but the internet is forever). It's disgustingly easy to track these "anonymous" blogs that way, if you pay attention, especially because this one is just plain stupid. They delete a lot cos they're terrified of someone finding out who they are and connecting their bigotry to their real account (they've already deleted a ton of anti-black comments, transphobia, and ableism), or of anyone just bucking back up at them. That's why they block anybody that talks back to them and delete everything they ever said about that person. Once they get discovered, everyone is going to know what a bigot they are, which they're clearly very afraid of. They're the one that's scared, love- and they should be.

I know it seems scary to potentially become a target, but honestly, they are not scary. What are they gonna do, give the same tired "they're ugly" insult and Billie eilish pic? Make up some other lame comment with absolutely no bite? Make themselves look stupid, then delete it within 24 hours when they realize it just made them look like a fool? They got no comebacks, no cleverness, and no (metaphorical) balls. They're weak and terrified, and no one here needs to have any fear of them. And it's the same with the anons submitting stuff to them- they're all weak little bitch babies that couldn't ask for ketchup at McDonald's, but get all brave on anon. And as soon as they sniff out who this person is, they're gonna get torn apart just like the people they're insulting, and this person is gonna whine and cry about how this community is filled with opinion-nazis or some shit. Seen it a million times. Every other blog like this in the past was eventually outed, along with a lot of people that supported them- I remember the apologies some simblrs had to give over it. And as soon as they were outed, the big strong "honest" blogs lost all their teeth and ran with their tail between their legs. Because they're all spineless dogs with absolutely no power at the end of the day.

What I suggest to you is- don't let them have power over you. They're nobody. If they insult you, so what? That says more about them than you. You got more bravery in your little toenail by putting yourself and your art out there, despite their hate, than they do in their entire body. It takes nothing to put on a mask, hide your name, and insult people. That's the easiest and most spineless thing in the world to do. What takes real guts is putting everything you have out there and doing it proudly, with your whole chest. That's "honesty". And I can guarantee that if you do that you'll get far more love than hate. That's the type of attention they crave, but can never get because their personality is rancid and their ass likely unwashed, so they've resorted to getting negative attention instead. That's what happens when you have no emotional intelligence and refuse to socially age past kindergarten. You become an emotionally stunted loser. Don't let a weak, insignificant little bug of a person like that get to you. Because at the end of the day, you're better than they are without even trying.

[survivingsusac]

Andi Boudoir

Alright guys, come and buckle up because I'm going to start today off going full ADHD style, where I have 85,000,000 topics to cover and not enough focus to do it in a coherent fashion. Sorry, not sorry.

I have two things I have been considering blogging about and so I did something I don't usually do and I asked my ultra selective group of Facebook friends, “Which of these two topics do you guys want to read about?” And, of course, in typical Facebook fashion they said we want to hear it all. Extremely unhelpful right?

Side bar 1: Surviving Susac now is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/survivingsusac/

So, this blog entry you guys get Boudoir Part I, next time you get work update, and the next next time you get Boudoir Part II, when I will likely have the final pictures.

Boudoir Part I story starts like this:

I hate my physical body.

I used to be cool with it up until like 2016, but then Susac came into the picture and the body is totally different now than I was used to it being. It is uncooperative. It is not flexible anymore. I can't even freaking jump or run. Don't count on me in an emergency, sorry. Just run away, save yourself; and if I live, I live.

Plus add on top of that a very complex and transactional relationship with my sexual self. I have no trust in my body that it's going to do what I need it to do. I don't trust that it functions in the way it's supposed to function. I mean it tried to unalive itself so that’s a whole *thing*. Then it stopped its regular functions, and they all became irregular functions. Some of them stopped altogether.

If we were to pull apart my mental self, from my emotional self from my physical self the three of us would have a very complicated love triangle. There'd probably be some triangulation, as well as some condescension and a very large dose of irritation.

Back to Boudoir topic

So I’m doom scrolling on Facebook a couple weeks ago, as per my usual habit.

DON’T SCROLL FACEBOOK WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE GOING TO BED.

I came across an open casting call for Andi's boudoir in Roseville. So essentially, you pay about 600 bucks, and you get the full boudoir experience and then that payment goes toward whatever product you choose to purchase from your experience. You just pay the difference toward the total cost of the product you chose, and all the digitals of the photos become property of Andi for use in her publicity and marketing for her company. Cool man, I dig it!

My half asleep self goes, “Hey Aurora, you would totally never come up with this to do for yourself. Maybe Jesus is all up in your Facebook algorithm telling you to give it a shot or something.” My very sciencey, logical brain was thinking that the Boudoir experience could help me get over the fact that I hate my body and maybe learn to accept it a little bit.

Also, it might not hurt to feel a little feminine, right? I mean one of my personal goals for myself is to find a male life partner in the coming years. And I guess ought to realize my femininity as part of opening myself up to finding a partner. *shrugs*

Sidebar 2: Mental note to write a blog later about all the psychological crap I’ve been learning and unlearning to stop attracting and maintaining toxic relationships.

Getting to the point, I complete and submit an application to Andi to ask to participate in the open casting call. I finally expected all the slots to be filled already. But my application is submitted and then in about an hour—because yes I'm still up doom scrolling—I get an e-mail response from Andi telling me that she's really interested in what I say in my application and that she wants to help me with my goals because they're aligned with her visions for her business. I did my happy wiggle hearing that she was going to save space in her schedule for me.

https://www.andiboudoir.com/

I got a call about four days later from her scheduler and she says can you come to the studio in two days? “Heck yeah, let's do it!”

I then get a call from Andi and we talk about my comfort levels and personal vision for the shoot. I'm like, “Girl this is my first time ever embracing my femininity in this way. I’m doing this on whim and in an effort to get myself out of my comfort zone and fall back in love with my own body. I'll be your clay you be my sculptor; I will just follow your direction.” Being an artist she of course was so down for that level of artistic freedom and control.

I got to the studio and the whole experience was phenomenal. The three ladies worked so collaboratively as a team that there was absolutely no reason for me to not trust their process. It felt fantastic to get fawned over, to get my hair and makeup done, and play dress up in their wardrobe closet. Andi even got me a mocha, so she was definitely speaking my food love language. The process of taking the pictures was at times a bit awkward because the positions they put me in were strange. However, they ended up creating some really gorgeous photographs.

Of the over 100 photos we took together, I chose my 10 favorite photographs and got an extra of what they called an “After Glow” shot. The 10 photographs will become an album which I chose the binding to coordinate with the lingerie they put me in for the photographs. Any of you guys who know me personally know that I love a theme, so of course the outside wrapping of the album had to match the inside photos of the album! I get a few prints of two other photos and the After Glow shot. They’re totally going up in the apartment!

The whole experience with Andi and her team was so delightful that I want to go back again. The expense is astronomical compared to my income, so I need to find a way to become independently wealthy. That way I can support my new boudoir habit. That, and you know, pay medical bills for myself and my kid and buy food. All the critical things.

Financial independence is in the works, career growth is in the works, finding and maintaining healthy real love is in the works. I just never stop moving you know?

Surviving Susac,

Aurora

[pointofreturn]

hello again tumblr

Here I am, back again after a very long hiatus. I've had various blogs here over the years and for some reason, I am feeling called back.

I'll tell you more about myself later (maybe). I've been writing a memoir for a long time....over 10 years. I've been through (unfortunately) a lot in my life and I've created a lot of material based on those experiences, but for one reason or another, I've shared very little of the project.

I recently received a full fellowship to a non-fiction workshop in Key West. During my time there, I was encouraged to share more of my writing, to stop hiding and start putting my voice out into the world.

I've thought about ways to do this for a while now. I am really disillusioned with the capitalist social media machine that enslaves many aspiring writers and authors. I don't want people to pay for my Substack subscription (wtf is that shit) and I don't want to pay Submittable up to 25 bucks for an impersonal rejection letter (I'm currently unemployed). I don't want to hyper-expose myself on Instagram or TikTok trying to gain meaningless followers or monetize shitty content or (gag) become an accidental "influencer." I just want to share my writing and hear what people think of it.

I recognize the power of the internet. I know that I have to share the project publicly if I ever want to see it published. I like the anonymity Tumblr provides. No one knows me here. I can share these memories and stories without fear. Eventually, I'll put my name and face to this writing, but just to start, I want to stay a ghost.

I miss the "old" internet days when text blogs thrived (livejournal, xanga). I miss reading people's random thoughts and stories. That's why I've come back here instead of trying to post my writing elsewhere. It helps too that I have full creative control, the ability to experiment, and opportunities to receive feedback.

I don't want this introductory post to be too long, but I want to end with a little bit about the memoir. Point of Return is the culmination of my childhood and adolescent experiences with a variety of complex traumas including dysfunctional family dynamics, mental and physical illness, death and spirituality, love and loss and all that jazz. The first piece I will share is the (slightly altered) piece I submitted for the workshop. It is an excerpt from the chapter about my grandmother, who cared for me as a child and whom I now care for as she struggles with dementia.

Thank you if you read any of this and please say hi!!! I am in desperate need of writer friends (really just friends in general), so I hope to make some connections here as well.

Later gators!

[xanthera]

Reddit is continuously hemorrhaging users, twitter is actively burning, and the refugees are all coming here. Which means the servers will be busy, which will be expensive to maintain. So I’m doing my part to support the only major social media website left that cares even a LITTLE bit about its users’ experience. If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product. I don’t like ads, so I’m paying for the year of no ads. As the other sites continue to implode and the cost of running tumblr climbs, I would encourage other folks with a little bit of disposable income to consider doing something similar

This is the internet we live in now, and I don’t want to lose this last bastion of pre-Web2.0 anonymity, community, and fun chaos. I use this product, so I’m willing to give the company the money it needs to continue existing. If you can’t swing 40 bucks, pay 6 for just a month of ad-free, buy the stupid checkmarks, buy the tumblr brand shoelaces for the bit, Blaze someone else’s shitpost just because it’s funny. If we want this website to survive where the others failed, we need to submit to the mortifying ordeal of giving them our money from time to time

[okwrites]

PUBLISHING - A Nutshell

Okay so there's so much to the publishing industry, and there's a lot of pros and cons with every single part of it. Here's the three I know the most about.

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING: This is what people usually think of. Submitting to agents*, editors, etc, then waiting 1-2 years for the book to come out, etc. CONS: Stupid hard to find agents and editors to pick stuff up, takes a long time to come out, can't really negotiate your contracts too much, you're one of a thousand authors on the books, smaller royalties up front. Big publishers are always looking for a way to keep their rights and make a buck off you, so you have to be careful. PROS: Ends up in bookstores a lot faster/more often, you just have to write the book you don't have to do all the extra steps. You usually get some marketing help. You can get advances!

SMALL PRESS PUBLISHING: Somewhere between. Still takes a year or more to get a book to print, but they can get into bookstores more easily, they understand the importance of audiobooks and e-books, they do some legwork at conventions. CONS: You have to pick up some of the marketing, you're still waiting a long time for stuff to come out. Usually can't afford advances. PROS: You get a more personal connection with your publisher and editor, you get to do more conventions (which I think are fun).

INDIE PUBLISHING: Self-publishing is a viable market, and it's got some really solid legs. The only issue is that you are one of a million people in a sea of Amazon books, trying to make a dollar. Algorithms run best with rapid releases, which typically means you need to churn out books so fast it's hard to keep up with, or you'll drop off the map. CONS: You have to do everything. You are the editor, the marketing department, the cover artist, the map designer, the writer, everything. Or you pay up front costs to get them. You're one of hundreds, requires a lot of social media, so if you JUST want to write, this one is probably not your friend. Oh, and literally anyone can publish anything, so you're battling preconceptions that it's for people who can't get published trad, or write badly, or are derivative, etc. PROS: You get to keep ALL the profit. You can print hardcovers and paperbacks through various companies, you can set your schedule, you can rapid release as much as you want, you get complete creative control. You can make and market whatever you want to go with your books. You can get audiobooks and e-books, you can just do e-books, it's got SO much freedom.

*Gonna make another post about agents later with more detail, just want to caveat - you don't NEED an agent, but if you're going to play ball with the big houses in trad publishing, they can help keep you from losing your rights forever.

Oh and there's no such thing as an 'indie press', they're a small press publisher trying to appeal to people who want to self-publish.

[sylvanfreckles]

I feel like the original RoosterTeeth model would work better than making everything a subscription.

RoosterTeeth had two levels of membership, free and premium. Premium had access to special content (like Theater Mode, their MST3K) and all of the free content a week early, and special discussion boards (this was way before discord).

The free memberships could still see the basic shows on the regular release date (like Red vs Blue and RWBY), and occasionally special episodes of the premium shows (I think there were 2 or 3 of the Theater Mode movies that were available for free).

So maybe a few of the wider appeal or lower budget shows (Too Many Spirits, Mystery Files, etc) could still be on a free model, but other shows could be bumped up to premium. I could even see the investigation episodes of Ghost Files being free, but the analysis ones being premium, that would drive up more interest in premium memberships. Or maybe half the Puppet History episodes are free, or one or two special ones (like the one about Santa). You can still have ad-click sponsors, even Tumblr has those.

The trick is to make your content look like it's worth $6 a month. Make your audience want it. Give them a taste so they want to come back. If you can get two episodes of a new show for free, you're more likely to justify paying a couple bucks to get the rest of the season since you're hooked.

And then you can do tiers of premium. Crunchyroll has an upper tier I've never touched that gets you a discount in their merch store. You could have that, or have ticket sales for live events open to premium members first. Maybe only premium members can submit stories to Too Many Spirits (can you tell I love that show lol).

Basically, it needs to be sustainable. Everything as a paid subscription won't attract as many new viewers. Even if you only keep 25% of your content in the free tier, it would keep people coming back (anyone else remember when Crunchyroll was an anime sub group and Shippuden was the only free show, and you needed a membership for all others?).

Just don't go the full RoosterTeeth route lmao.

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