#but wages are low and for most people it takes a lot of hours of work to save up any meaningful amount

[teenagefeeling]

how are name-brand frosted mini wheats 2 entire dollars more expensive than the generic? literally there's no difference between them 😭

[asirensrage]

Catalyst - Uzui Tengen & Wives One Shot

Title: Catalyst

Rating: M

Pairing: Reader/Makio/Hinatsuru/Suma/Tengen

Fandom: Demon Slayer

Warnings: Swearing. Sex. Polygamous relationships. F/F, M/F, mention of M/F/F/F/F. Mention of you being from the future. Un-betad.

Summary: You meet Makio first...

Notes: This fic possessed me. I don't entirely know what happened but here it is. I don't even usually like writing in 2nd person, but like I said, it possessed me. I just had the line "you meet Makio first" in my head and this is what happened. I wrote it in the space of 2-3 hours. This is my first time writing Tengen and his wives (aside from my Rengoku/OC fic which isn't posted). Reader is unnamed and undescribed but references to being female. Enjoy.

You meet Makio first. 

It happens by accident. You end up standing next to each other as you wait for your turn to pay for the food. Her outfit catches your attention, not because it’s low cut and short, but because it reminds you of the outfits you’re used to back home…in your own time. You’ve been blending in as best you can but the outfits are so restrictive in comparison. 

“Do you mind if I ask where you got your outfit? Who designed it?” 

She turns to you in surprise. “My outfit? Why?”

“I want one.” 

The request turns into her admitting that she makes the outfits with her wives but she’s willing to ask them if they’d help make you one. Providing you pay, of course. 

“Of course,” you agree. 

Meeting up again is easy, as well as providing the measurements and down payment you give. If you’re honest, you haven’t had a lot of luck since arriving, but your history in retail gives you a great customer service voice and the patience required not to snap at belligerent clients. It gets you a job as a server which pays decently enough that you can afford it.

The longer you talk, the more you’re amused at the woman. She’s a bit brash and unwilling to deal with stupidity, but she’s also a huge dork. It’s hilarious. 

The two of you often find yourself sitting on a hill in the area, enjoying the view. Makio likes to talk about her family. It’s nice, letting yourself pretend that everything’s okay. You’re used to the time period now, but you haven’t really let yourself make any friends, assuming you’ll get back. It’s been a year though and prior to meeting Makio, you didn’t really spend any time with anyone. 

She’s not around a lot, her work taking her away from the area often, but she promises to come back with the outfit the next time you see each other. 

The second one you meet is Hinatsuru. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you,” Hinatsuru says with a smile. “Makio has been talking about you often. We hope you like the outfit.” She offers the bundle she’s holding. 

“Thank you,” you smile at her. It’s cute watching her blush. 

“Try it on,” Makio orders. You raise your eyebrows at her until she offers a please. “We want to make sure it fits.”

“Sure,” you say. “Mind waiting?”

“Not at all,” Hinatsuru says. 

You invite them into your home, the small apartment-style area that you rent. It takes most of your wages but the woman who acts as your landlord is nice enough and you don’t have to worry about people breaking in. Makio looks unimpressed at the space but she doesn’t say anything once Hinatsuru nudges her. You don’t care. You’ve lived in better but you’ve also lived in worse. You’ll take what you can get. 

You change quickly and the weight of the outfit is strange after so long in standard kimonos and yukatas, but it’s nice. You feel like you can move again. You come out, unashamed in the sudden change of the amount of skin you’re showing. It’s freeing. 

The women waiting for you look surprised as you grin at them.

“Well? What do you think?” The dress is a cobalt blue with a black obi around your waist. There are slits up the sides with a short skirt that ends above your knees. 

“You look great!” Makio says. “Not as good as us though,” she adds, teasingly. You roll your eyes, used to her antics. 

“It suits you,” Hinatsuru says softly, her gaze darting between the two of you. 

“Thank you!” You grin at her before moving to grab the rest of the payment that you owe them. “Here. Do you think I’d be able to order more?”

“Are you sure?” Hinatsuru asks. “It is…revealing for the average citizen. We don’t want you to get any trouble.”

“Don’t worry,” you assure, thinking of your origins. “I’m anything but average.” 

You meet Suma next. She follows the other two, bouncing slightly before darting past them to greet you. 

“It’s you! I finally get to meet you!” 

You blink in surprise at the enthusiasm as she clasps your hands in hers. She grins widely. “Makio’s been keeping you a secret.”

“No, I haven’t!” Makio yells, reaching to drag Suma back away from you. You try not to smile as they argue, or more so, as Makio argues and Suma reacts dramatically. Hinatsuru sighs but looks at them fondly before she heads towards you. 

“We’re so glad to see you again,” she says. 

“Me too,” you agree. “I missed your company.” 

She smiles at you, gaze softening slightly before the two of you are overrun by Makio and Suma, both demanding your attention. 

The longer you spend with these women, the more you understand how well they fit. They balance each other perfectly in a lot of ways and despite the way they like to argue, you can tell that they care about each other deeply. It’s sweet and a little heartbreaking. Not that you’re in love with any of them, but it’s a reminder of what you don’t have. You doubt that anyone here would want to marry you, especially since you don’t have relatable experiences. It’s fine. You can deal with it until you decide to shove the truth about yourself down so deep that no one will ever dig it out. 

You still spend the most time with Makio. Mainly out of habit more than anything. You think she might be your best friend but you’re not entirely sure you want to tell her that. It feels like there’s something waiting for you on the horizon and you’re not sure if it's impending doom or something great. Probably doom, knowing your luck. Maybe you’ll just wake up back home. 

“Are you okay?” Suma asks. The four of you are huddled in your small living area, snacks and tea laid out between you. 

“We should have just taken you home,” Makio grumbles. You know she’s just uncomfortable in the enclosed space but you like it. You feel safer knowing there are not a lot of areas for someone to hide in. 

“I’m fine,” you assure them. “Just a little homesick.” You catch the look they all give each other and wait, knowing there’s some question they want to ask. Can they read you as easily as you seem to be able to read them? 

“Oh,” Hinatsuru says softly. “Can you not go visit?” 

You give her a small smile. “No. There’s…there’s no way,” you pause and correct yourself. “There’s no one left.” 

Suma looks like she’s going to cry again and you wave her off. “It’s fine. I’m used to it now. Besides, it’s not like I don’t have friends, right? I have all of you now.” 

“Of course you have us!” Makio says, looking fierce in her outburst. “We’ll be your family, okay?”

You laugh slightly at the determination and that way Suma eagerly nods in agreement. “Thanks. I’d like that.” 

Things change after that. 

You’re not sure what it was, the reveal that you have no one else in this world or the fact that they’ve decided to be your family, but things change. They’re around more often, bringing small trinkets from their travels back to you that they insist improve your living space. They also touch you more. Not that they didn’t before, but it goes beyond the casual brush of skin as you sit next to each other or a hug goodbye. Hina, as she asks you to call her, enjoys playing with your hair of all things. Makio occasionally tries to feed you, offering bites from her own food or holding up a treat for you to try. Suma no longer has any concept of personal space, enjoying lounging herself across you and pressing her cold feet into your shins. 

It’s funny because you never considered yourself touch starved before but now? Now you think if they ever stop, you’ll miss it. Your life slowly adjusts to consist mainly of serving customers and the Uzui women. 

Makio, as every time before, is the first. This time to kiss you. 

You’re stunned as she pulls back and you can see the concern in her features that maybe she made a mistake. 

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I thought–” 

You stare at her for a moment before you grin at the expression on her face. “No,” you say, “I just…I’ve never kissed another woman before.”

“Did you not like it?” she asks. You know that if you tell her you didn’t, she’ll stop. Things will go back to the way they were. 

“It’s not that,” you admit. “You’re married.” 

She grins at you. “I know,” she agrees. “But all three of us have been talking about wanting more with you. We just weren’t sure what you want.” 

“Aren’t there four of you?”

She nods enthusiastically. “Lord Tengen knows,” she says. “He’s waiting.” 

For what? You want to ask but you don’t, because Makio moves forward again and you find yourself distracted by the feeling of her lips on yours. It’s different from the guys you’ve made out with. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. Turns out that Makio is a great kisser and you’re not as straight as you originally thought you were. Huh. Who knew?

Once that barrier is breached, the others are not long to follow. You feel a bit guilty to be making out with each of these women knowing that there’s a husband somewhere waiting for them, but this isn’t the first polygamous relationship you’ve heard of, especially since ethical non-monogamy seemed to be everywhere in the online dating arena, so you know that communication is the most important thing in a healthy relationship. You also have no doubts, based on what you know of these women, that one of them has told their husband everything. You’re just wondering when he’s going to make himself known. 

Speak of the devil and he’ll appear. Isn’t that the saying? 

You meet Tengen by accident. Well, probably not by accident since Makio said he was waiting and it was bound to happen, but you didn’t expect it like this. 

You were in the market on your day off, wandering from stall to stall in one of the outfits that Makio, Hina and Suma made. They had worried about you finding yourself in trouble due to the cut of it. Instead, trouble found you. The strange man propositions you on the street. You shoot him down. It’s not the first time you’ve had to do so to such a request and it likely won't be the last. No big deal. You’re used to it. 

Until he touches you. 

The man grabs you by the wrist, stopping you from moving on. Unfortunately for him, you come from an era of women’s rights, self-defence and a love of action movies. You shove your fingers into his throat before anyone else can step in. He recoils, coughing loudly, and let's go. You straighten your outfit and prepare to move on only to stop as someone appears between you and the man. 

“Now that’s a flashy response!” 

The man in front of you is huge. You’ve seen a lot of men in your life but you’re beginning to wonder if any of them ever compared to this one. His arms look like the size of your head. Your mouth drops open as you register the jewels on his headband and the swords at his back. You’ve heard every description of the man possible but you have never expected him to look like…this. 

He glances over his shoulder and you have to actually move to peek around him to see the man who assaulted you being led off by some other. Tengen turns back to look at you and you watch as his gaze overtly looks over you. There is nothing subtle about this man. At least, not when he doesn’t want to be. 

“So you’re the one monopolizing my wives.” 

“Maybe,” you admit. There’s no reason to lie. “They’re good people.”

“They are,” he agrees. “They’ve spoken highly of you.”

“Not as much as they’ve said about you, I’m sure.”

He grins at that. “May I join you?”

“Knock yourself out,” you say, nodding. He looks slightly confused before he grins as he realizes you’re saying yes. 

Tengen is not as patient as his wives. 

Which is funny because you never considered any of them to be patient once you got to know them. Maybe Hina, but that’s only in comparison to the others. He’s also straightforward. You like that. 

“You’re not only attracted to women,” he points out once he catches you staring at him again. Honestly, you’re just amazed at how small you feel next to the man. That’s never happened before. 

“Nope,” you agree. “Though, to be fair, it might only be them. I don’t know. I’ve never considered it before.” 

He seems pleased at the compliment to his wives and doesn’t hide the way he appreciates you as well. He walks you home and before he leaves, he promises to return and kisses you hard. It’s easy to see how he’s kept the three of them if this is how he kisses. 

You don’t see them during the days that Tengen is around. You suspect that there’s more going on, but you’re willing to let it play out. Getting to know him is like adding another piece to a puzzle. It all starts to make sense and you can understand how the dynamics fit. The four of them are practically a well-oiled, well-loved, machine and while you’re not entirely sure what their purpose is for you, you’re going to enjoy it. After all, who knows if you’re really going to stay? Even if it’s been almost two years. 

Makio is not the first this time. 

It’s Hina who proposes, even though they’re all there. You sit there, surprised at the offer. You hadn’t expected this. Even when they said they’d be your family, all those ages ago, you didn’t think they meant literally. 

“I can’t,” you admit, wincing as you watch Makio’s expression fade into blankness and Suma starts to cry. 

“Why?” she wails, reaching out to you. 

You consider it. It’s not that you don’t want to. You love them, each and every one. How could you not? At least, you’re sure that you do. You haven’t exactly tested things out completely, always stopping before it led to full-out sex because you had been unsure of their marriage, but the desire was there. 

“I don’t know if I’m here to stay,” you try to explain. “For good.” 

“What do you mean?” Tengen asks. “Where would you go?”

“Back to the future?”

They stare at you for a moment, the words processing before Tengen leans back and laughs. 

“I knew it!” He says, looking at you with a grin. “I knew you were flashier than you let on! Your score is different from everyone else's!”

“My score?” You don’t remember telling any of them how many people you’ve slept with….

He explains…and so do you. 

Things finally start to make sense. They never really explained what they did, at least not in detail besides trying to ensure you stayed indoors at night. The truth of their occupation, and their history, is the final puzzle piece. The truth of you clears up the confusion of all the strange little things that you do that don’t really make sense…but are also the same things that drew them all in. You all agree to give it some time, to think about it. 

It takes a day before Tengen is back with advice. 

“Say yes,” he says, hand on the small of your back as he pulls you towards him. “Even if the worst should happen and you leave, shouldn’t we enjoy the time we have? Marry us.”

“Let me think about it,” you ask, kissing him softly. 

Suma is the next. 

“Please say yes,” she begs. “Please! We need you!” 

You smile in response. “Let me think about it,” you ask again before kissing her this time. She melts into it and you try not to let it sway you. 

Hina comes about a week later. 

“Please join us,” she asks, holding your hand in hers. “We miss you. Let us take care of you and you take care of us.” 

“I miss you too,” you admit. “All of you. But are you sure?”

She kisses you. “We are. Are you?”

Makio is last. Her arms are crossed as you come across her waiting for you outside your work. 

“You’re being stupid,” she says as soon as she sees you. 

“Nice to see you too.”

“Why are you doing this to us?”

“What? Making you wait?”

“Yes!” The brashness fades as she looks at you. “Don’t you want us?” 

You sigh. “Of course I do.”

“Then marry us!” 

“One more day,” you say. “Give me one more day, okay? I’ll come to you.” 

You’ve known your answer since Tengen spoke to you. He’s right. Why should you deny yourself the chance of enjoying your life here, even if it might not be forever? Really, what is? If they want you, they can have you. 

It’s not hard to find their home despite the fact that you’ve never been there. The place is beautiful and a little out of the way. It suits them though you wonder if they’d like chimes. Wooden chimes would suit the place but it might be a bother considering Tengen’s hearing. 

The door opens before you even get to it and Suma comes running, nearly tackling you on the path. 

“You came!” 

You laugh as you hold her, miraculously steadying the both of you. It doesn’t last long as soon as Makio joins in. The three of you end up sprawled on the path and your face is covered in kisses despite the fact you still haven’t given an answer. You don’t mind. You know your answer and kiss them both back. 

“Alright,” you hear Tengen say. “Get up, you three.” Hina giggles as you all try to untangle yourselves. It takes a couple of tries before Tengen eventually steps in and lifts Suma off of you, listening to her protest. Makio stands up next and offers you her hand. 

You hold it, reaching out for Hina’s before you follow Tengen inside, trying not to laugh at Suma’s expression as she’s carried over his shoulder. 

You say yes. Tengen looks like he knew you would and the women are ecstatic. So are you. You’ve never felt as loved or as wanted as you do at that moment, as they all celebrate the fact that you’re joining them and going to become one of their wives. Even if you disappeared in this moment, you’d remember it forever. 

Luckily, that doesn’t happen. 

What does happen is that someone opens some sake and the night ends with you on your back and someone’s face between your legs. They know you’re inexperienced but the four of them aren’t. It’s not hard to listen to their cues, let them guide you and relish in the way you can help make them break. 

You learn new ways to use your tongue, the sweet spots that make each of them clutch you tighter and beg, and you learn how many times you’re capable of orgasming. It’s way more than you ever expected and you might have blacked out at some point. You come to curled up next to Suma while Hina’s head rests on your stomach. You’re all covered in sweat and the room stinks of sex. You can hear them though. The soft praises of Tengen and the way Makio cries out. 

“You did this,” he tells her. “You completed us.” 

“Thank you,” she cries out, clutching at his arm as he thrusts up into her. “For letting me–” She’s facing the rest of you. Both of them are and you catch Tengen’s eyes as he realizes you’re awake. 

“My beautiful wives,” he says, kissing her neck. “You’re so good to me. So good to all of us. How could I resist?” 

Suma shifts closer, throwing an arm around you as she buries her face against your skin. Indeed, you think, closing your eyes and drifting back to sleep even with the sounds of them fucking. How could you resist?

taglist: @raith-way  @chrissymunson @veetlegeuse  @chickensarentcheap @residentdormouse 

[chaifootsteps]

for anon who was frustrated - things have come a long way already, so don't lose heart

Most of Hazbin's reviews were lukewarm and a lot of Internet reviewers said it was a massive disappointment compared to the pilot. Helluva Boss has seen a massive drop in views and there's pretty clear signs that they're struggling to get the support they once did outside of that, given they're doing often subpar quality merch drops after every episode (even shorts!) now.

The Full Moon/Apology Tour releases have really turned off a lot of the audience who are realizing what others have been warning them about for a long time - Stolas is likely never going to be held accountable in a way that makes what a sucky character he is, instead Viv is just going to keep trying to retcon and engage in other bad writing to dig herself out of a hole of her own making in order to push an OTP that even some of its most die hard stans seem increasingly disillusioned with. I'm seeing a lot more discontentment with the show, especially the Stolas shilling, on the once positive Helluva Boss reddit. and once the rest of the episodes come out at the end of the year, if Stolas sees no meaningful consequences at all and is just woobified again then it's going to get harder for fans to keep coping and using the 'it'll get good if you just wait!' excuse

And I don't think people will forget the mess around Poison that easily, especially since the pile of evidence of unprofessional/exploitative behavior from Viv and Spindle is growing. Crediting and bad pay issues are increasingly common to hear about nowadays and the claim that Spindle is 'indie' is starting to ring increasingly voice now its own that outsourcing to Toon City is going on. Not to mention that Viv seems to get into Twitter drama every other month, which isn't helping

Meanwhile, all the pilot cast that everyone loved that she tossed to one side (which there's evidence of) are going on to do bigger and better things in communities that actually care for them. Lackadaisy and TADC are really stealing the indie thunder and they're far better quality made by (in LD's case, can't speak for Glitch) much more ethical and supportive production houses, and Far Fetched is coming along at some point, too

Viv may never flame out the way people might be hoping she will. It might not be a big explosive downfall that gets someone to do a two hour YouTube expose that causes general awareness of the whole mess of stuff around Spindle. But I think there are enough signs that things are going south to trust that she's not going to make anything that's a classic, she's not going to be respected in the industry and she's not going to be able to keep it up forever

People keep comparing her to Butch Hartman but I kinda feel she might end up more like RWBY/Rooster Teeth did. RWBY started out with this real indie underdog spirit and had talented people on the staff (Monty and Shane, one who died tragically young and the other who left the company) but it all got squandered by the other, more amateur writing. They shared Viv's tendency to engage with criticism poorly (in their case, only responding to the bad faith stuff), they too were way too precious about their characters to give them real flaws as well as having Viv's tendency to let self inserts and faves steal the show, plus the amateurish and bad worldbuilding

I don't know if Rooster Teeth ever crunched and underpaid the way Spindle seems to, but since people often seem to put art before their consideration of whether it was made ethically, I think that will ultimately be Viv's downfall. Some of her fanbase are happy to ignore allegations of credit issue, crunch and embarassingly low wages so long as they get their demon show. But if their demon show keeps getting worse and worse (and taking longer and longer to come out), their attention will probably wander elsewhere, which has already started to happen

Combine that with anything that comes out as a result of NDAs expiring and my bet is Spindle will face consequences mostly in the form of more and more fans just quietly turning away from their show and them bleeding money more and more until it's unsustainable to hope to make all four seasons of HB unless the venture becomes wholly outsourced. Same with Hazbin - it might get renewed for more seasons but that doesn't mean those seasons will be good. The love and optimism people had towards Viv's work is just gone now. And if we're being real she's been trying to coast on goodwill from the HH pilot for a long time now

All important things to keep in mind. Thanks for this, Anon.

I think a lot of people are counting on this big, dramatic downfall of Vivziepop and for HH to be cancelled and then none of us have to hear about her ever again -- which isn't impossible, nothing's impossible -- but it's a lot more likely that each round of drama takes something out of her reputation, and eventually down the line she just kind of putters out, replaced by bigger and better shows.

Whether it got 1 season or goes on to have 12, Hazbin's legacy was always pretty safe. Viv's is a lot less certain.

[delimeful]

Really? You don’t find passive aggressive comments, such as your tags, do be impolite?

And how, exactly, is an ask button (which YOU enabled) that is commonly known to be used for requesting stories on Tumblr from writing pages impolite? Are you new to writing Tumblr? What do you think a majority of writers on Tumblr use that ask button for?

I’ve been a follower for a while but I’m pretty dissapointed tbh.

Anonymous asked: I noticed a reply from @/gstash So let me address that as well. No, of course I don’t expect everything immediately and for free, and I initially requested this story over a year ago. I also spent over $50 being subscribed to Lime’s Patreon specifically for this story, but I had to stop due to low finances. I was just trying to check on when it may be up soon, but I felt the response was rather rude.

(the added slash is mine, i didn't want to inadvertently @ anyone else in this debacle lol)

this is gonna be my final word on the matter because im sick of getting home from work to asks like these. anything else is gonna be deleted. feel free to go ahead and use your actual blog to reply instead of anon if you still feel that strongly about it.

i dont think my tags weren't passive aggressive they were just plain statements. no, i don't think it's impolite to express a boundary irt people asking me for updates. your indignation about this reflects on you, not me.

to clarify, badgering me for updates (verbatim: "Could you please please please post chapter 7") isn't impolite, just irritating. it was the decision to send another ask chiding me for my response that was impolite. kind of a dick move, as most involved in the tumblr writing community know. i genuinely feel sorry for the writers you follow if you genuinely only see their ask boxes as an opportunity to pester them.

i'm disappointed too, anon. i hoped that maybe keeping calm and sincerely explaining myself would be enough to prompt you to respond with empathy in kind, but instead you doubled down.

it seems like there's been a misunderstanding in regards to my patreon; there is no tier that ensures a specific chapter of a fic is updated within a specific time frame. that would be a commission, which is explicitly listed as a reward for my $30 tier, because those take a lot more time + energy for me.

my $12 patreon tier offers early access to my writing, and the ability to request future chapters be moved up on my to-do list, through polls + priority continuation requests. i can't guarantee any specific chapter update in a month, and i'll explain why.

currently, i have over 50 total WIP fics being worked on. each month, i get around 25 chapter update requests. even assuming that each chapter is 2k, my usual minimum chapter length, i would have to write 50,000 words every single month. if i had the capability for that kind of regular output, i would be churning out books like stephen king instead of constantly struggling for my usual monthly 10-15k like a chump lol.

in essence, don't subscribe to my patreon for a specific story unless you know the next chapter for it is already up there. which it is, because i eventually got to your request. and it'll eventually be up on the blog for free. and during the months you spent subscribed to my patreon, you received at minimum tens of thousands of words of content.

finally, an earnest request: please stop acting like twelve dollars is an exorbitant fee when i'm literally making pennies per word written. like, i could have worked a single 8 hour shift at mcdonalds in texas for minimum wage instead and i would have ended up with $8 more than you paid me for four months of many hours of dedicated work.

(not even a joke: 7.25 x 8 = 58.)

in conclusion, i am a human person with feelings, just like every other writer on this site. please take a moment to remember that when sending asks in the future

[capitalism-and-analytics]

Idk if you ever heard of it, but usually people, who go for minimum wage do it simply because they don't have any other option. You seriously think someone will intentionally choose a job with the least wage? Ofcourse not. And that kind of jobs commonly require a lot of energy and physical effort or sometimes people who work in it have some other kind of work to do like students or mothers, that doesn't allow them to quickly improve their financial situation. Do you live in a world, where none of that exists?

I'm assuming this is in response of another post, so apologies, if I am missing some context, but I will still aim to answer your post/question.

"You seriously think someone will intentionally choose a job with the least wage?"

Yes, but not for the wage, they are choosing it for the other characteristics of minimum wage jobs: flexible scheduling, part-time hours, low or minimal qualifications, culture, development of skills/networking, and/or available in most areas. People commonly choose lesser paying jobs over higher-paying jobs for a plethora of reasons, at all income levels.

"...And that kind of jobs commonly require a lot of energy and physical effort..."

Relative to what? If you are comparing them to office jobs, then sure, but most minimum wage jobs aren't nearly as physically exhausting as you are trying to portray them.

"...in it have some other kind of work to do like students or mothers, that doesn't allow them to quickly improve their financial situation..."

First off, being a student is literally the worst example of someone being unable to quickly improve their financial situation. FYI, you don't need to graduate to be able to move away from minimum wage.

Second off, as much as being a parent is an appeal of emotions, that doesn't change the fact that outside obligations exist for everyone and hold no influence to the value of one's labor, except when improving one's qualifications.

The same way an accountant can't charge more for being a father, a cashier shouldn't expect more either.

"Do you live in a world, where none of that exists?"

I live in the same world as you. The difference though is that I try to look at the world critically and try to avoid letting myself being misled with blatant exaggeration and irrelevant appeals of emotion.

Many minimum wage jobs are tiring and physically taxing, but they are not as inhumane or physically draining as you claim.

The knowledge and skill barrier for escaping minimum wage is absurdly low. Life is a journey, it is okay to progress incrementally. People are too busy focused on the final destination without considering all the potential stops they can take along the way.

To be clear, I'm not saying we can't aim for a better world or better society, I am just saying we need to direct our efforts appropriately. In this case, it isn't just employers being greedy and selfish, it is society as a whole. Most consumers consider price to be the leading indicator for making their purchase decisions and changing minimum wage laws isn't going to change that belief.

PS: Not that it should matter, but I was a full-time dishwasher at a large buffet for the first two years of college (also as a full-time student). I then went on to work 60-80 hours per week for the first 2-3 years after graduation (70-90 if you count travel time). In both cases, I never stopped upskilling myself outside of work. I'm not saying it's easy, but it is not nearly as "bad" as you are trying to portray. Additionally, it has nothing to do with "I did it, so they should have to as well" and more to do with "It was my choice, therefore my responsibility."

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

INB4: "What about Jane Doe who has twelve chronic illnesses, three physical disabilities, four kids, and their husband recently got hit by a bus?"

I'm referring to the common scenario that describes 99% of people, not the 1% edge case scenario. For those 1% edge case scenarios, I'm more than happy to discuss alternative solutions, but that should define the exception, not the rule itself.

[honeybeeofficial]

okay I know your post was about how annoying it is when people make comments about selling your craft and while I certainly can’t speak for other people I would spend mmmmh I’d say $450 on horseshoe crab bag. I have $450 in my bank account right now and would use it to buy a horseshoe crab shaped bag.

This illustrates another piece of the issue that maybe I didn't fully spell out in my post about how badly people underestimate the cost of handmade goods– which is that even when a non-crafter hears "handmade crafts are expensive," they still often don't really grasp the scale we're talking about.

When the same friend I mentioned in the original post found out that I handmade the journal I carry around, he asked if he could pay me to make him one. He said he would happily pay $15–20 for a good journal. I laughed and told him that the labor involved would make it a lot more expensive than that, and he went "oh, like… 30–40? Yeah, that might be more than I'd want to spend." …The actual cost for that journal would likely be around $80–100.

What makes me think you didn't fully comprehend my original post is that in that post, I gave a rough estimated overview of what the cost would be. I said that if I'm charging what my labor is actually worth, $615 is the bare minimum for that item, and that it would likely be more.

After updating my math and factoring in things like packaging + shipping, the "fair price" for a horseshoe crab bag comes out to $780 USD. That's with me charging $25/hr, which is less than I make at my actual job even though leatherworking is more physically taxing. I made a post about how commissions would work if anyone actually wanted to spend that much.

I'm not mad at you, anon (nor am I mad at the friend I've mentioned), but it's clear to me that the original point about how expensive handmade goods are didn't really click for you. Fast fashion and mass industrial production have really degraded our sense of how much things are actually worth, because you can get just about anything almost instantly for a tiny fraction of what it would take an individual to produce.

For the same reason, I've ruled out ever taking my graphic design career in a freelance direction– anytime I've taken a freelance project, or considered it, I get to the point where I calculate what to charge and I just wince and shy away from the project entirely… because I have a gut feeling that something like a logo "should" cost around $100–200… but when I do the math for my time, I would actually have to charge $600–1000 (for a logo! Just a logo!), and I'm just mentally incapable of enforcing that for myself day in and day out to make a living wage.

If you have 5–10 minutes, I'd recommend this exercise to anyone:

Think of a project or task you've done lately. Pick something with measurable start and end points, such as an art project, folding laundry, washing the dishes, writing an essay, etc.

How much do you think you would pay someone else to do that task for you? Write that down. This is "A."

How long did that task take you to do? Write that down (in # of hours). This is "B." Approximate number is fine.

Did that task require any special tools? What about materials? Even basic things like sponges, paint, etc. Roughly estimate the cost of all the tools and materials you used. Because you'd likely get multiple uses out of most tools/materials, divide that number by 5. Write down the new number; this is "C."

What do you think is a fair minimum wage for your area? Many people have been fighting for $15/hr for a long time, but arguably this is still too low. If you're not sure, use $15/hr as a baseline. Write that down. This is "D."

Multiply B by D. Add C. This new number is "E."

How close is E to A? I'd be willing to bet that E is quite a bit higher than A. Remember, the hourly wage you used to calculate this might not even reflect what this work is actually worth. Does this give you a better idea of what you would actually need to pay someone to do that task for you?

Not all work is quantifiable in this way, and modern technology does allow for processes to be combined and optimized in ways that won't be reflected in your process. For example, buying a single bagel would not cost $60, because a bagel shop can make lots of bagels at the same time, using the same materials and equipment. But this absolutely does apply to things like hiring someone to clean your house, do your homework, or– of course– create handmade crafts.

[pathetic-gamer]

something about that "most expensive item of clothing" poll (and, in particular, the post responding to the many tags about $100‐$200 clothes) has been bugging me, and I finally figured out what it is:

you are on the Reject Fast Fashion Buy Sustainable Clothing And Support Small Craftspeople To The Best Of Your Ability website. how much do you think clothing costs? do you not understand the value of labor?

Obviously big fashion labels will mark up their goods to turn a huge profit (basically all labels will), but when you're looking at ethical/sustainable new clothing, you'll see the same prices for similar items. what you need to understand is that the company making those products is turning significantly less profit than the ~designer~ brand. you cannot avoid the higher costs!! growing the fiber takes labor and resources! manufacturing the textiles takes labor and materials! designing and patterning the garments takes labor and skill! sewing the garments take labor and skill and materials! the workers at *every single step* need to be paid a living wage, and all of the processes in general - from growing the fiber to dyeing the textile - take longer and cost more than the industry standard demands. It makes the clothes expensive!!

one of the biggest problems with fast fashion imo is that the obscene level of exploitation of people and resources has allowed giant corporations to drive prices so fucking low that no one understands the value of their *own* labor, let alone the labor of a seamstress they can't see in a factory they've never heard of getting paid 5 cents an hour to work her fingers to the bone finishing a $20 t-shirt.

Bernadette Banner explained once the reason she doesn't take commissions or sew clothing for other people: To use the materials she uses (high quality natural fibers) plus the hours and hours and hours of labor at a living wage, and then a small mark-up to turn any kind of profit, each piece would cost literally thousands of dollars. This shit is fucking expensive.

so anyway. yes, $400 is a lot of money for a pair of sweatpants, but for people who are interested in supporting sustainable fashion brands and who have the means to do so, $100-$200 is beyond reasonable for basically any given item, and the people who buy those clothes certainly aren't your enemy for it.

[thejockout]

Update: It's been a while!

Hey all. Been quite a bit since I've been active here; lot of life stuff going on that's contributed to that, but most of it's resolved now and I'm planning a pretty active return to the scene imminently. I've got some announcements on that front that I'll try to keep brief, but I think anyone who's enjoyed my content in the past will be happy to hear them.

First and foremost, I'm going to be returning to file-making soon (end of 2023 or early 2024) with regularly scheduled releases. (My precise schedule is TBD, but I'm aiming to be release either once weekly or once fortnightly depending on how much of a backlog I can create.) I've got ideas/concepts for 20 files written out atm which would amount to either 5 months of weekly releases/10 months of fortnightly releases once written and recorded. But obviously some of those ideas might not work so well in practice/I'll obviously come up with new ones along the way too, so that number's in flux. I'm going to try to write and record ten before launching any of them, so that I don't leave a huge gap between them again. But I think you guys'll like them, there's something for everyone in what I'm planning to make. There'll be content like what I've made before, but sfw and nsfw, attending a variety of kinks I'm into.

Included in these releases are going to be updated versions of my more popular, previous files. At the moment, the files I am planning to remake are Chill Out, Bro; Blink's Good Boy; All Pups are Good Pups; and The Bigger You Are. Some of these I want to remake for reasons of audio quality, but others I straight up want to rewrite portions of to bring them more up to my current standards. I've run out of space on Soundcloud and a premium account is expensive, so I'm racking my brain for a better storage alternative. At the moment, Soundgasm is an OK backup, but I'm also considering just straight up trying Youtube/Tumblr's own audio system/Patreon's audio system on a free basis to see if they work alright. Speaking of which...

To support this expanded venture, I'm also going to be opening a Patreon + selling specific, exclusive files either by subscription to said Patreon or via platforms like Gumroad and other appropriate audio file vendors. I don't plan for all my content to be locked behind a paywall, of course. I'm planning some kind of dual channel release system where I have a certain amount of files that will be free, and then others behind subscription. But for those who don't like the idea of monthly subs, I'll be putting my Patreon-exclusive files on a third party purchase platform like Gumroad, Ko-Fi, or another suitable alternative. I appreciate that all my files previously having been free will make this annoying to some, but I am flat baroque... and realistically, each file being 4-10 hours of work (dependent on complexity) means that I really want to be seeing SOME income from this if I'll be putting a lot of time in. That's why at current, the final announcement I'm making is that:

I am now taking commissions. I've done 3 commissions in total at this point and had been keeping quiet about it while I didn't know what I was doing with the Jockout account generally, but I am now available to write and record custom hypnosis files for listeners. I'm hesitant to provide a flat rate because the cost of a file usually does come down to its complexity/length, but somewhere in the ballpark of 50-80 dollars is what I'm currently valuing the time spent on a file at, unless you want something crazy simple or crazy complicated that'll price outside that range. I'm in a Euro territory, so 50 dollars amounts to about 4 hours of minimum wage work here, which is pretty low for the amount of time a good file takes; but I appreciate that high barriers to entry are going to put people off, and I feel that way myself when commissioning. You can DM me here if you want to discuss a commission idea.

All in all, I'm pretty excited with what I hope will be the future trajectory of my page. I'm having fun learning more about hypnosis/exploring new ideas in writing, and I hope you'll all enjoy the fruits of that too! 'Til next time :)

[knittedpoetry]

real calculations of selling handknits

Every few months, I go through my knitting dresser and air out/freshen my knitted goods.

The most recent clean out of my dresser, I realized how many handknit sweaters I haven’t wore in a long time or even, at all.

I’ve gifted some sweaters already, however, everyone around me continuously says, “Sell them!” Yeah, easier said than done because the cost of materials/wool yarn used is already over $100. Then you add in labor, which is many many hours… therefore, how much are you actually going to pay for a handknit sweater? $400?

I will be breaking it down here.

Quality of materials: If I am going to spend hours and hours on knitting, I’m going to use yarn that won’t dry out my hands and won’t be too strenuous for the repetitious movements of my fingers… soft merino wool and/or cashmere blends.

Number of hours of knitting: For a women’s adult size sweater (medium), it usually takes me approximately 25 to 40 hours of knitting in total. The thinner the yarn the longer it takes. Also, the more intricate stitches like lace, cables, colourwork, etc, takes longer than simply knitting a plain knit stitch.

Thick or thin yarn: I personally prefer yarn in the thickness (in knitting terms: weight) of baby/sock/fingering to sport/DK to worsted/aran size of yarn. Basically, I enjoy knitting with yarn that’s suitable for needle sizes between 3mm to 6mm. Anything smaller or bigger cramps my hands easily, and remember, it’s many hours of straight knitting (I also have a computer job, so lots of typing with my fingers).

Many times, you’d see handknits on sell with very thick yarn. That is because the thicker the yarn, the less stitches you will need to make. So the faster it’ll knit up.

Amount of yarn: I knit adult size sweaters, mostly for myself. For the thickness/weight of yarn, let’s start with fingering and sport weight yarn. For a very fitted sweater, approximately 350g or more (definitely no less than 350g for me in fingering weight). For a regular size sweater where I can wear a long sleeve and a tank under it, approximately 450g of yarn (both fingering and sport weight). Slightly over size and very comfy yet flattering, 550g or more of yarn.

As for thicker yarn like worsted and aran, I knit with at least 550g for a good size sweater for myself.

I usually prefer long sleeves and non-crop sweaters.

Time saver and convenience: I’m not crazy about seaming. I enjoy the convenience of knitting a seamless sweater. It saves additional hour or two (sometimes more) from blocking pieces before seaming and carefully sewing all the pieces together.

Now let’s calculate!

Let’s go with least amount of materials and hours.

Materials: A very fitted sweater (adult women’s medium) takes me about 350g of merino wool (not itchy). Each ball of yarn is about 115g (sometimes comes in 100g), so we will need to purchase 3 balls to make 345g (a little less than what we would actually need but let’s go with it). Each ball of soft merino wool yarn is about $30 (on the very low end of the price scale that’s not itchy to most people). So materials for this very fitted (most likely too fitted and tight for me but this is just for calculations for lowest cost) $90 without tax.

Hours of labor: The fastest I ever knitted and timed was 25 hours (most likely with plain stitches – no lace, no cables, no fancy stitches). If we go with minimum wage, (I live in British Columbia, Canada, and the minimum wage here is $15.20 pre hour) let’s times that by the number of hours. $15.20 x 25hrs = $380

Total: So the minimum materials of $90, plus minimum wage with the least amount of knitting hours $380, is a grant total of $470 for just one of my handknitted sweaters that took the least amount of materials and the least amount of hours for minimum wage.

I think if I priced them that at least covers the total cost of materials and some of the tears and sweat that goes along with hardwork, I would feel okay with it. Every item I’ve knitted with my two hands always leave a bit of sentimental value to it.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dave Jamieson at HuffPost:

A growing number of liberal states have passed paid sick leave laws in recent years, assuring workers get paid time off to care for themselves or their loved ones when they’re ill. Now some conservative states might be getting in on the act, too. Campaigns in Nebraska, Missouri and Alaska have secured enough signatures to put sick leave measures on their ballots this November. If voters approve them, the laws would let workers start accruing one hour of paid sick time for every 30 they work, capped at 56 hours per year at large employers and 40 at small ones.

More than a dozen states have similar mandates on their books, according to A Better Balance, a nonprofit advocate for fair and supportive workplaces. But none of those states are as red as Nebraska, Missouri or Alaska, all of which former President Donald Trump won handily in 2016 and 2020. If the ballot measures succeed, it would demonstrate just how popular paid sick days are among the general public. “What we’ve realized in talking to thousands of Nebraskans is that this is a really commonsense issue,” said Jo Giles, director of the Women’s Fund of Omaha, one of the advocacy groups backing the initiative in Nebraska. “Most people have been sick at some point in their working lives and have needed to take time off.” Giles said the typical voter sympathizes with someone who has to choose between a day’s pay and taking care of a child who’s home sick from school. The campaign, called Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans, includes small-business owners who haven’t balked at the idea of a new mandate, she added.

The U.S. is an outlier among wealthy countries in not guaranteeing workers sick leave or other paid time off. The lack of a federal mandate means employers don’t have to offer any paid time off unless there is a state or local ordinance dictating otherwise. (The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 guarantees extended leave under certain circumstances, but it doesn’t have to be compensated.) About 80% of workers have access to paid sick days, meaning 1 in 5 don’t, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And those who lack them fall disproportionately near the low end of the pay scale: Only 40% of workers in the bottom decile of wages can call out sick and still get paid.

[...] Polling shows that voters tend to really like the idea of requiring employers to provide workers with paid leave and that support for the policy tends to cross party lines, much like boosting the minimum wage. A majority of states, including some red ones, now mandate a higher minimum wage than the federal level of $7.25 per hour, thanks in large part to statewide referendums. This year’s sick leave initiatives in Missouri and Alaska pair the proposals with minimum wage hikes that would send the state rates to $15 per hour within a few years. The current state rates are $12.30 in Missouri and $11.73 in Alaska. Using ballot measures makes a lot of sense for paid leave advocates since the strategy provides a way around Republican-dominated statehouses that won’t advance paid leave legislation. Such proposals have fared well when put directly to voters in other states, though not all states allow referendums.

A few states will have paid sick leave ballot measures this fall to vote on, such as Missouri and Nebraska.

[separatist-apologist]

Totally agree that nonprofit work is not really all it’s cracked up to be. I’m currently working in a position that college me would have thought was my dream job, and despite fully believing in the mission, the office politics and sexism can really drain away all enthusiasm for the work.

Fully understand how hard it is to walk away but I’m so glad you found another exciting opportunity. You deserve all the best and I hope this new job is everything you want. Also hope you have some time to decompress before you have to start! ❤️

Working for non-profits is sold to passionate, bright-eyed grads as working for a cause. They don't mention that the cause is capitalism dressed up like social justice. I don't regret my time at one, but I wish I would have known what I was getting myself into. Not that for-profits are any better, but they're honest, at least. Non-profits operate on shoe-string budgets and are designed to suck as much out of underpaid people (often who need the job in order to gain licensure, which they take advantage of) and then spit them back out, burned out and disillusioned while they continue the cycle.

It used to frustrate me that we spoke so often about ending cycles of violence for the community, when the community made up the non-profits staff to begin with. We could start ending those cycles IN our organization and instead upper leadership (who makes over 6 figures) created the most abusive atmosphere. On paper we'll say we respect transfolks, in the office people are endlessly misgendered and there is no accountability because its the CFO/CEO who are constantly doing it.

I thought becoming a manager would make me a more effective advocate for my staff and instead I sat in meetings where our CEO would tell us that she wanted our staff members to be scared and feel like they were being watched 24/7. I sat in board meetings where our lowest paid staff member (who was not making a living wage even in the Midwest where cost of living is low) was told she was greedy for wanting more staff members to help her fulfill a grant that tripled her caseload.

I think I did good things during my time here- I negotiated pay raises for my part time staff who were making $13 an hour when I started when both the fastfood place across the street AND the gas station advertised paying their staff more for a job that was a lot less traumatizing.

I expanded our programming and brought us into the vastly underserved, rural parts of the state where I grew up. And I kept my department consistently fully staffed by creating a culture in which (I hope) people felt respected and valued.

I still believe in the mission. I still think the work is important, necessary, and worthwhile. And I would never advocate for anyone to work in these places unless they absolutely had to. My advice will always be to stay just as long as you have to, and prioritize yourself first. Don't answer the phone when you're off work, don't take it home, don't let them put their deficits on you because they'll take and take and take and it'll just never be enough.

[mcalhenwrites]

I am still alive but have no spoons to directly reply to anyone right now. I'm working on stuff with roommate and therapy, but... unless the money situation improves, my life won't. There are no good days to return to. The problem is, I have a collective 39 years that have added to nothing. And I have still tried to be optimistic. To work through the chronic pain to write, work, and be there for my friends when they need me. (But it all gets harder the more time that passes.) When people still say I'm a good friend, I'm baffled. I don't see it. My writing isn't working out. I need it to, or I will not survive financially, and it just seems a little cruel to ask me to hold out and hold out for something that's never going to happen - all so I can die the hardest possible way in the end, bc I fought like hell to still be at the bottom. I'm not currently suicidal, but I'm pretty much just going day-by-day, trying to find improvements and realizing it all comes down to the same issue: I have no money. And the issue isn't "fix health to work more at a job that isn't writing" - I can manage fibromyalgia and IBS, and the latter costs money to obtain the correct food to do so. I qualify for medicaid; I don't qualify for food assistance now that I work a job! I quit crochet and people threw a tantrum, and if you want to see my self-defensive "I CANNOT DO THIS AND WILL NOT AND FUCK OFF" as a tantrum... go ahead. I do not give a fuck. I love writing. I did it even when I knew it was awful, bc I figured the more I did it, the more I would improve. I worked hard. It just isn't good enough for the world. That's okay. I have always been a loser at everything. Everything ties back to writing: I need to do it for my comfort and therapy. I want my stories out there bc I want to be able to offer other people that comfort. Too many of us come from abusive households, and some of us had it shape our mental health and our sexualities. I need to publish to make money to survive, bc I can write while bedridden. I can write while most of my body is sore and my eyes are half-closed and I'm bored but unable to play games or read or clean or anything else due to physical pain/exhaustion. (And yes, there are times writing is also impossible, and I'm crying in bed bc of the pain intensity levels.) Unless you have a chronic pain issue coupled with comorbidities, I don't want your lectures or assumptions. I don't want to hear that there is "help" while I watched the system try to push my autistic brother into a goodwill job that falls below min wage, and when he wasn't able to handle the responsibilities, they've basically refused to help him otherwise. Even though my brother is capable of many things, he is "disabled" in the system, and they want to insert him into a fixed situation they put all disabled people. I'm doing better than him financially, but when my parents go, he has no one. And I can't be that person, ever. I can't even get my dog back right now. I can barely afford to visit him, but I'm going to anyway soon bc I need to hug him or I really will fucking off myself. I need a lot of support to get my writing off the ground, and I'm never going to deserve it. If I did, it would have happened by now. My roommate wants me to keep trying, but... I don't have hope it'll work out. Right now, I'm so overworked I can barely get any writing done. And I'm working about 15 hours a week. At a low-demand job where I sit most of the time, and cleaning maybe takes 40 minutes at its WORST. Yeah. I'm pathetic indeed. I can't help but feel that way. And when I give myself a little treat to survive the next day, it's at a steep cost to my future. I can buy a book and go to the library, but at the end of the day, that's all time and money that should have been spent on work and saving. Life is punishing, and I just don't know if I can keep being punished. I'm not even this kind of masochist lol

[drill-teeth]

To every company saying or has said “people just don’t want to work”, go fuck yourselves.

Plenty of people do want to work. I believe people by nature are social and kind. And people who can’t or don’t want to do physical labor aren’t lazy. They’re not bad people. They’re not “not contributing to society”.

This society fucking sucks especially when it comes to work. Especially low wage work. Companies will make candidates go through a cumbersome application process, once you get hired you usually have to have a shit ton of availability and agree to lots of hours (and do overtime more than you think so many places are understaffed), the conditions at most low wage jobs are exhausting and demanding mentally and physically, and then you finally get to your pay period and the amount you earned isn’t enough to make a single rent payment. It’s bullshit.

So many low wage jobs are essential by the way. It’s fast food work. Retail work. Grocery store work. Etc etc etc. Services people rely on every day and take for granted. Low wage employees are treated like shit by entitled customers and entitled management and are expected to give up so much of their mental and physical health for their job and aren’t given enough money to take care of themselves in return.

And you can say “well if you get some roommates you can find a place and make it work if everyone has a job” all you want, but that’s not the point. The point is that this society loves to say “you can achieve your dreams if you just work hard and earn it”. And that’s a lie. People are manipulated into believing the value of their life is tied to their ability to work. It almost doesn’t matter if you have a roommate if you still have to work a 40 hour work week plus overtime at a job that is so exhausting on your mind and body that you go to bed in pain and cry in the morning before work.

Plenty of people want to work. They just also want to live. They don’t want their job to kill them.

And I know sometimes you gotta play the capitalist game. I know sometimes you have to suck it up and go to work to take care of your loved ones because that’s how this society operates. I know sometimes you just have to.

But the point is that you shouldn’t have to. This society could be better. Treat its workers better. Not kill them. And we should put the pressure on companies as much as possible for a better future because THEY need US. Not the other way around.

[meesefr]

do you have any advice on how to price comms in flight rising? I think i'm underpricing a lot right now

Oh boy, long post incoming. I obviously don't know your art/where you live/current prices so I'll try to apprach this based on how I price my work, and touching a bit on what to expect. Gonna make this a more generalised commission pricing post because I've seen this come up a lot.

Tl;dr version = Hourly rate (always above national minimum) + time it takes you on average + extra time calculated outside of pure drawing time + taxes

I personally price commissions on FR the same way I price coms/work anywhere else. For commissions I use flatrates which are in turn based on my hourly. Imo if you're doing FRC coms I'd ALWAYS price higher for gems/tr than for IRLC since their usage is confined to on-site. (I do cheapo FRC coms here and there for stuff like foddart too but it's with the explicit understanding that this is NOT a regular transaction. I would not recommend this for a long-term commission shop.) So for FRC coms I'd convert my standard IRLC price + FRC "tax". How much do I value gems/tr over actual IRL goods etc.

My studio hourly usually ranges from 25$ to 30$ but since most commissions are non-commercial work I stick to a 20$/h range for them. I like doing them and I still want my coms to be accessible to people, so I don't mind a small cut (drawing dragons is fun). So if say... a bust on average takes me about an hour and a half the strictest estimate would be 30$ + taxes. But you want to incorporate the possibility of complicated designs, taking longer for polish/make sure the work is up to your standards, reference gathering, small changes and client communication (transaction fees as well when applicable), so it's always good to leave breathing room. (I usually estimate at least another 40 minutes. It honestly ends up taking much longer most of the time. I've had coms take me 10+ hours longer than my priced estimate because I got too ambitious/excited with the illustration, don't be me.)

Now of course all of this stuff depends on your hourly rate too which is honestly a big debate in and on itself. I think the general commissioner audience is used to significantly lower rates than the industry side might. My main income comes from freelancing, where my rate is considered low end. Outside of Illustration, which is vastly underpayed, most designers and creative freelancers will usually have an hourly rate that ranges from 40-100$/h. 20-25$ is considered entry level. My personal recommendation would be to not go lower than 15-20/h if you're doing commissions professionally, even if you live in a place where that is considered a fairly high hourly wage. If you're still a student or your art doesn't really sell yet at those price ranges because of inexperience I think it'd be better to invest in practicing your fundamentals instead and do other work in the meantime. (Or find another platform! Might be an audience issue and not a skill one!)

Unfortunately most people doing coms (including myself) ARE underpricing. I've seen people that would be senior artists in a company if they were doing concept art instead have similar prices to mine, which is ridiculous. (The average mid level concept artist in-house makes 65k/y. People doing coms at the same skillrange often make >20k/y) But to some degree that is kind of inescapable because of how many other people you are competing with. So I don't doubt one bit that you are underpricing already. Illustrators and commission artists are vastly underpayed which means the average audience is conditioned to significantly lower prices.

Thankfully, specifically on FR from my experience the quality of commissioners you'll get is really high. I'm still not sure if you could get away with strictly fairly priced coms, unless you're very popular/your art is super in demand. But other than that, I do payment upon art delivery and have never had issues with a client except once. Communication/references/respect etc are also really good and folks tend to be very understanding and patient.

Be aware that the audience does get smaller the more fairly you price your stuff. I've kinda noticed that the folks commissioning me tend to be from a smaller pool of people that are also the ones commissioning the other artists with a similar skill level on FR that do IRLC coms. So a small pool of regular commissioners + other really skilled or better than you folks that are also fairly accessible/cheap by industry standards. You start seeing a lot of the same artist names pop up when you scroll down in the dragon's bio for references. You will probably not consistently fill all your slots but your clients will most likely end up being trustworthy/reliable and occasionally repeat customers. (Not surprisingly a lot of them are fellow artists/creatives too, y'all know the pain of the grind lol)

I wish you the best, anon. Sorry for kinda hijacking your question to go in-depth with this lol. I upped my prices a few months ago too and thankfully didn't see a decline in clients even if unfortunately I'm still underpricing. Commissions are just a tough game in general. I hope you'll be compensated fairly! If art is your main gig or you're planning on making it your full-time job, definitely look into freelancing instead long term. It's still tough but at least your rates will be much more acceptable. Take care and good luck!

(P.S. In case you're not paying taxes from commissions yet, check with an accountant if you're over the declare threshold. Different countries have different rules for this. If art is your main source of income you almost definitely have to essentially open a business in most places.)

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Grow Up

So I've been seeing a lot of people commenting as a reply to me about "boo hoo 40 hr work week too long" and I want to throat punch people.

First and foremost, we live in a system where you work for IOU's. That IOU is Money. Let me explain WHY you work for IOU's today.

We live in a society now where there are far more people and far more connections in today's world. Combine that with modern technology and you have more than a few issues when it comes to archaic trade and barter. We no longer live in a world where you can just farm and trade wheat for a chair and table. You can't just trade a few gems for tools. That world is LONG since past. And even if it had not, we'd be babysitting a large chunk of society.

It's a pretty basic reason why too. Only so many people can farm. Moreover, there are SO many people that have ZERO real world skills and certainly no trade skills. IE: A lot of you produce nothing of ACTUAL tangible value. And while you might be insulted by that, it's the truth. If you create content online, you do not create tangible value. You might entertain people or make them happy but that's it. It's a feeling. You create a feeling. But in the broader scheme of things what you do does not have tangible effects on the world.

And even if I look at this from a philosophical bleeding heart point of view of "UwU well actually feelings are tangible" I'd be lying. We have tried so fucking hard to make everyone, in every way feel special. Thing is? There are jobs out there that are far more important than some of the others out there. That's just a fact. (Moderate clarification here. If you are a content creator or a job that does not produce tangible value that doesn't imply your job or whatever it is has no worth. As I'm sure that will be the take away. That's not what I mean. Value vs Tangible Value are not the same. Take that however you will.)

Here is the other thing that pisses me off though. This bitching and moaning about 40-hr work weeks. Maybe you are too young to know this but back in the day work weeks were MUCH longer. This until Mr. Ford decided that he wanted to make the work week shorter for his company. He did this while not reducing the pay or benefits of the people working for him. And people might say, "Well I should be able to work LESS hours today because I'm lazy and can't time manage". I'm sorry but that's not my fault.

And before I get the "Wage slave" or "minimum wage" bullshit I'll go ahead and address that next.

Wage Slavery is what you would refer to someone who is BOUND to their job and can't get another job. Effectively an actual slave. In the US and most Western Nations you always have the ability to either get a new job, or move up in your current job. Or worst case, to work more than one job. Something that people have done for actual years prior to now. You existing in today's world does not mean that you get things handed to you on a silver platter. And what's more, you have the ability to work for what you see as what you are worth. The issue? Most of you value your work far more than it's actually worth. Because we live in several generations of entitled shits that are lazy and demand the world cater to them.

And I refuse to keep sugar coating this. Life isn't fair. It will NEVER be fair. Now to address minimum wage. Minimum Wage is now and always has been for low skill jobs. Jobs that you can get in High School or right afterwards while you are still figuring things out. M.W. is not meant to be lived off of. And this idea that "Well uhm akchewally it used to be the min needed to live well off of". No it didn't. Businesses that do well, and need people that are educated or experienced will pay you more to work for them. Like take Walmart for instance. They currently pay 13$ an hour starting. I think with POTENTIALLY only being cart pushers. And that might not even be the case because they may actually get the 13$. And while I hear you WHINE like a child that it's not enough money to live off of; You'd be wrong.

Well partly wrong. Fact is politicians on both sides at least in the US and the current sitting president have DECIMATED the economy. However if you look to California what you will see is what the disgusting nature of the Democrats looks like. What do I mean.

That would be this. Here is the kicker though. You know who got a pass on this bill? Panera. Do you know why? Because they donated 150k to his campaign. This bill also ended up costing over 10k, workers because people, mostly the ones that complain about all of this stuff don't understand jack shit about economics. Not shocked by this because most of you are lazy Marxist FUCKS. You think people should be slaves to YOU and what you want. You demand other peoples labor as if it's YOUR right. It's not. And the Gov pushing for higher wages don't make people's lives better. It makes them worse.

Because it puts the bar for starting a small business so fucking high that it's near impossible to do. All it would do is create a system in which only the exceptionally rich are able to start businesses. IE: Corporatism. Wages being controlled by the state more or less makes it so that businesses will ONLY hire the VERY best people. No interns. No way to come in and learn. You would be a burden on their system when all they are trying to do is pay to run their business.

Stop working Min-Wage jobs. Start looking for higher paying jobs or go into jobs with the intent to move upward in those jobs. Take on more responsibilities. Work later hours if you have to. Stop relying on big daddy gov to do everything for you. They are not and SHOULD not be your babysitter. You see that they screw up most EVERYTHING and you want them to ruin more shit? Sure hand them more power let's see how that pans out for us. Watch as the rich flee from the country and we end up with less and less jobs in the US. Also let me address one last thing. 40 hrs a week is basically nothing. That's 8 hrs a day, out of a total of 24 hrs in a day. Meaning probably 2 days off. But also what is 40 hours a week? 168 hours exist in a week. And most jobs offer vacation time AND benefits. Benefits you would pay much more for if you didn't get it through subsidy of your company. That factors into your wages.

But the reason this post is called GROW UP is because I'm tired of you fucking CHILDREN worshiping systems like Marxism (Communism and Socialism) when if you were ever put under those systems you'd be slaves TO those systems like everyone else. And you are too indoctrinated to realize it. Economics is actually a relatively easy thing to grasp if you start learning about it. Most people don't care to learn about it though. They just want to whine.

Finally the last point I will cover is one I have made posts about on their own. Minimum Wage and Minimum Living Wage are NOT the same thing and never were the same. Minimum wage is the least amount that the USG says a business is allowed to pay you. You a US citizen. (They can pay illegals less but that's not the point of this post......LOOKING AT YOU TYSON) Minimum living wage is a joke of a concept because you can't gauge it. Because no two people have the same amount of bills.

What's more, there's a bigger issue in the fact that rent isn't the same in any two places. Car prices are not identical between same year cars. Phone plans are not created equal. Some people have kids. Some have spouses. Minimum Living Wage is a fucking gimik. Because that number is not only different from person to person but from city to city and from state to state. Legislating it would not just be impossible but it would make our system as a whole crumble.

Because imagine that you decide to move into the most expensive houses that you can, get the most expensive everything else, keep your lights on all day and your water running. Why should your company have to pay for that? They shouldn't. Because that's you taking advantage of them. AND what's even funnier is the fact that they would ONLY hire people in the WORST and cheapest accommodations and avoid hiring people in more expensive places with higher bills. IF by some way it was able to be legislated. Which it can't be.

It takes minimal thought to get through all of what I just went through. VERY little critical thinking is needed to get this far. Sure things back in the day were cheaper and yes you could live off one person's wages. Except the moment that women got equal rights to work and legislation started being pushed to make sure the workforce pushed them into jobs you lost that right. Is this me shitting on women's rights to work? No. This is me making a statement of fact that the west got duped. Effectively, 50% of the population of the US was not being Taxed. Who do you think actually benefited most from women's equal rights to work? The IRS and the USG. We expanded the US workforce from 50% of the population the 100% in the span of a month. The market could not compensate. And frankly speaking with the intake of massive amounts of illegals into the US it STILL can't.

People seem to think that everything "Progressive" is a great idea but they never think through the unintended consequences of pushing certain things. Women can be self sufficient now and that's awesome. Sadly that comes at a cost. The cost being that there aren't enough jobs to go around in some instances, and the fact that prices actually have to go up to compensate for that hit to the market. Prices going up after the 1980's make sense for that reason.

Critical thinking is a skill. And not everything is just "Corporate Greed" or "Sexism" or "Racism". Sometime things are just a result of changes in culture. This is a change that everyone today seems to mostly endorse, so guess what? You will never again be able to live off of one income unless it's over 80k and you pinch pennies. Or unless you make 100k and make sure to invest in things and monitor you money. Or you could live in places with lower living costs, but most of you don't care to do that because you'd rather just bitch until the place you live changes for you.

The real world doesn't work like that. You are not wage slaves. 40 Hours a week isn't long. Kindly get your head out of your asses.

@capitalism-and-analytics Feel free to gloss over this and add anything even if you do or don't agree.

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

I abandoned academia about 7 years ago. I have an MA in history and was teaching adjunct classes for peanuts with no benefits or anything of the like and no guarantee of a job when the semester was done. One summer after the 2nd summer session ended I put in for a job in construction specifically dirt moving (building roads) due to needing the money and haven't looked back ever since. Im currently a heavy equipment operator and foreman. I make more money annually than a tenure track professor makes at the college I was at; the benefits are great with a 401k and health insurance; I still get 3 months off out of the year due to weather (in northern North America you can't do effective dirt work in the winter) and an added bonus of when I'm off the clock at 5:30 pm or during the weekends I'm off. There's no students or students parents to deal with after hours, no tests to grade, no papers to work on, no lectures to write, no faculty meetings or "mixers" etc... Maybe take some of the time between semesters to try something different, you never know you may find it works out to be something you enjoy more. If not I'm sure academia will still be there to go back to.

A lot of people tend to bring up the embarrassingly low pay of college professors as if this were a rhetorical slam dunk but generally people trying to be academics are well aware that it doesn't pay well and despite this poor payment there is still an amazing surplus of people who want to do academic work for the number of postings available (the low wages are therefore no mystery); I make more doing ____ isn't inherently compelling. I would make as much as a low-level draftsman as I can expect to make starting out at most colleges with a tenure track position.

I think if I wanted to chase money I would try to find something that would involve less time outdoors in the summer. I also don't think I would fit in well with the people who do that for a living, having done some blue collar work in the past I don't really want to live the Frasier-in-Cheers life of being reminded I'm a faggot for having a PhD and enjoying reading

In fact I went to academia in part to escape that. If I were the kind of person who was happy punching the clock for a decent wage I would still be doing that, but it bores me to death

It occurs to me however that the spirit in which this is written is less " do construction" than it is "there are other good things to do and what you might like may surprise you," which is a point well taken, but I do not think I have the luxury of too much experimentation at this point as I am in my mid-30s with much student loan debt and many dependents

I think my next thing kind of has to be my thing

famous last words