#freelancer omit

[gibbearish]

does anyone know of a yknow. chill youtuber who's looking for a captioner

[adarlingmess]

I am speaking up about the leaks of my messages with Andrew Wincott, refuting rumors of sending him unsolicited NSFW against my former client weeirdvileheart's wishes, and discussing the harassment I received at large.

Thank you to all who supported me.

Summary/TL;DR:

Andrew asked me directly to see NSFW art of his character Raphael in April 2024, and had requested to see risqué art of Raphael as early as January 2024.

Weeirdvileheart's original voicemail instructions request to not tag her in the post. She did not ask that I not show it to Andrew until it was already too late since I already sent Andrew a link to my public NSFW twitter an hour before she made that request.

Bonjeacon/Jojo admits to being the one behind the leaks, which was then circulated to serial harassers such as helluvareceipts

The allegations of parasocial behavior and sending Andrew unsolicited porn became a smokescreen against the racism, harassment and abuse I've been receiving from BG3twt serial harassers.

I address the contents of the leaks as well, and providing omitted information the leakers did not include.

[armpirate]

Soundleasure | Choi San || CH. 8

Pairings: Soft!San x fem!reader || Strangers to lovers, fake dating

Genre: smut, angst, fluff, online sex, ghosting

Warnings: inexperienced!San, fem!reader, masturbation, online sex, camboy, first times.

Summary: You can do whatever you please and be whoever you want on the Internet. And San knew that a little bit too well.

After finally following all the signs the universe was throwing at him, he started living a double life that no one was aware of. Everyone in his daily life knew him as Choi San, the reserved and quiet boy who wouldn't raise his voice, and would barely communicate with anyone outside of his comfort group. But only a few knew him as Soundleasure, the man with a sexy voice and a filthy mind that had their toes curling just with his narrations.

He never thought of the possibility of those two lives ever meeting, he had always tried for them to follow a parallel route and had always played safe to keep his friends from ever suspecting that side even existed. But his plans will start to crumble when he gets a little too close with one of his subscribers and she invades his real-self and altergo's universes without being able to stop it.

Y/n will not only help him to keep his secret from his circle, but will also show him there's more of Soundleasure in him than he'd like to admit. 

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Aprox. time of reading: 16 minutes

Her smile evidently dropped when she managed to see a familiar face as the blond guy opened his brown eyes wide in surprise. Probably because it was the last place she expected to see her at.

—Oh, wow —Y/n finally reacted, lifting her eyebrows as she smiled.

She purposely omitted to even attempt to call him by his name -mainly because she didn't really remember it. She did remember his face though. Of course she did. He had worked in the company as a freelancer when they needed new ideas for a design, although not directly with her team -or her. When he joined the project, she was still her father's assistant so they didn't speak much. But by the little time they spent together back then, she remembered him as someone really nice to be around. And also that white brilliant and perfect smile.

—The world is such a small place —he nodded.

—Do you guys know each other? —San interrupted, stepping forward.

—Yeah, he worked in my company for a few months —she answered.

—Yep —he nodded again—. It's been a lot of time since that though. I didn't expect you to see you here.

—Imagine if now it turns out you're Mingi's boss —Wooyoung chuckled behind them, walking past them to get to his seat on the couch.

Mingi only rolled his eyes at the comment, knowing Y/n was way too nice to be the big asshole he had as a boss and that he didn't know in person yet after starting in his position months back.

—What do you mean? —Hongjoong asked, following Wooyoung with his eyes.

—She's dating San. And thank god we saw her across the street, because he wasn't going to introduce her to us —Wooyoung answered, side eyeing his friend as he spoke.

—I'm really wondering why now —San replied back.

—She'll also be replacing me today —Wooyoung continued, ignoring his comment.

—Shouldn't you be introducing her to us? —Seonghwa asked, alternating his gaze between San and Wooyoung.

—Hongjoong spoke before we could even do that —Wooyoung replied back.

Y/n sighed, thankful to the brunet's words that finally gave out the name of the person that recognized her.

A moment of silence followed after Wooyoung's answer, having all of the eyes in the room falling over San and his eyes lost on the screen before he was finally aware the attention was on him. She pinched his side, finally getting him to react.

—Introduce me —she whispered, turning her head slowly so the other seven boys wouldn't see her.

San started introducing them by following the order they were sitting, skipping Wooyoung and Mingi with his eyes rolling when both of them complained about the tone he used.

The first person he introduced, and that was sitting next to Mingi, was Yunho. By the way his legs were flexing as he sat, she could tell he probably was around the same height as Mingi. He smiled at her in a friendly way, getting her to smile right after. At his left, and sitting on the floor, there was a guy who smiled at her shyly, bowing slightly as San introduced him as Yeosang.

On the other couch, Hongjoong gave her a squared smile when San introduced him again, to go ahead with the boy with longer hair sitting next to him. Seonghwa waved his hand in the air as his big eyes squinted by the -another- perfect smile she'd be jealous of, whispering a silent "Hi". Looking for some more bickering with Wooyoung, San only referred to him as a "Meh", before he went on to introduce the boy with a bowl cut hairstyle, bowing firmly before he heard San introducing him as the baby of the group.

—I'm still older than all of your mental ages combined together.

Y/n couldn't help but snort at that answer, looking back at San when he introduced her to the rest just like he introduced them to her.

—I don't know about you all, but I'm hungry —Yunho mentioned, clapping his hands as he sat forward on the couch.

—We were waiting for you to come to call —Mingi reproached, receiving a glare from his friend right after—. Not like it matters, because I'm just now starting to be hungry.

—Who's calling? —Yeosang asked, looking around for someone to volunteer.

—What are we having?

—Pizza —Wooyoung answered as if it was obvious.

—Again —Jongho threw his head back—. Last time we had that. Why are you choosing?

—Right? We had the exact same problem for lunch —Mingi added himself in the discussion.

—I thought you already moved on from it —he rolled his eyes, before he turned back to Jongho—. Pizza is universal. It's something that everyone likes. What's the problem with it? —Wooyoung whined.

—There's a really nice sushi place... —Seonghwa started speaking, although the others' bickering interrupted what he had to say.

—Is it always like this? —Y/n whispered, leaning a bit in San's direction.

—It's a requirement to be part of this group, apparently —he answered—. Just ignored them.

—No, I like it —she replied with honesty.

The way they were arguing about the smallest thing, and how they teased each other for the minimal thing they said, was only a reflection of how close they all actually were. They were the reflection of that type of friendship she had been looking for, but that always ended up giving up on.

—Y/n is the innocent hand. She could choose today.

Hearing her name out of nowhere, followed by all of their eyes turning to her, caught her off guard.

—I don't really know —she giggled nervously—. Hmm... Honestly, I kinda liked Seonghwa's idea. It's been a while since I've had sushi.

—As long as it's not pizza —Jongho huffed, resting his back against the backrest.

Y/n smiled, moving to also join Yeosang on the floor, not without Mingi, Jongho, Wooyoung and Yunho attempting to get up to leave a spot somewhere in either of the sofas she was walking in between.

—It's alright. I'll sit here —she assured, taking the free spot next to Mingi.

And while all of them were sitting, there was only one person struggling to find a place to sit.

—San, you won't grow taller staying there —Hongjoong teased.

He was aware of the look Y/n was giving him, and how she silently was guiding him to walk next to her. His hands moved nervously as he made the same walk she did, looking at the possible seats: either of the arm rests on the floor. Y/n's soft and small fingers moved faster than he did, enclosing around his forearm to stop him from walking to the empty spot on the floor next to Jongho, in between the two sofas.

As soon as he looked down at her, her eyes pointed to her seat at the same time she dragged her body to the floor, leaving that spot empty again for him.

San felt tempted to insist on her going back to her place, but he knew that'd only annoy her. He moved behind her, just for her to right after molding her body in the space he made up for her. In that position, her head rested in between his two knees, making him sit stiff at the whole new sensation.

When she turned to him, she could see how tense he was, with the way his neck marked and his jaw was raised a little bit higher as he tried to focus on the TV.

Whoever saw him would think that he had never touched a woman in his life.

—How did you meet each other? —Yunho asked, giving a sip to his coke before leaving it back on the coffee table.

—Dating app —she answered—. Right, babe?

San's breath shut, feeling his throat closing, when her hand rested on his knee as she tried to get some back up from him.

—Yeah —he nodded—. That's right. We started seeing each other and then we texted. No, wait.

—Are you okay? —Hongjoong asked.

—Yeah —San sighed—. I meant that we texted and then started seeing each other.

—There isn't much more to say. He kinda hooked me up by the second day —she continued, squeezing his knee.

—Hooked you up? —Jongho raised his eyebrow— Did he pay you to say this?

The room was suddenly filled with huffs and clicks of tongue, before Wooyoung pushed his body as a way to reprend him.

—I'm just saying... because he's usually quiet and shy.

—I'm not quiet with you all —San replied back.

—But you're shy with people from the opposite sex —Wooyoung commented, getting a fistful of the chips that had been prepared on those bowls—. You just stay in a corner.

—Why are you all bringing all this up now? Laugh at how you came here covered in milkshake after trying to flirt with a girl that had a boyfriend, when he was right next to her —San countered, smirking devilishly at his friend who only poked his cheek with his tongue as he smiled—. Or how Hwa ended all over Reddit after he tried to flirt with someone on stories using Legos —San pointed out—. You have no room to talk, so I'd stop annoying me unless you want me to air out all of your dirty laundry.

—But I do want to hear them —Y/n commented in a lower tone—. What's with the Lego story? —Y/n tried to ask Seonghwa, but he just waved his hands in the air and shook his head.

—He said her built was complex like a LEGO Eiffel Tower set —Mingi answered, giggling as he remembered it.

—What's that supposed to mean? —she frowned, looking at the owner of that comment.

—Doubt he knows himself —Yunho snorted.

—She had a LEGO Eiffel tower behind her, I thought she'd understand I was actually praising her.

—Uh, that's not... —Y/n shook her head—. Wait, you're the LEGO man? —she finally remembered, making Seonghwa throw his head back— I did read about you.

—LEGO man? That's a serial killer name —Seonghwa complained.

—If it makes you feel better, no one will know it's you unless you tell them —she tried to comfort him—. Your intention was good though. You just need it to improve the way you phrase it.

—How did San hook you up? —Jongho suddenly asked.

She felt how the man behind her got stiff again, flexing the muscles of his thighs as he tried to think of something to answer before she could.

—He was nice —she simply said—. At first I wasn't looking for anything, but he was so approachable and genuine... So yeah.

San slowly blinked, feeling everything around him going completely silent and black when his focus was solely on her and the way she smiled at him. She seemed so honest about those words, he wasn't sure if she was still lying or if she was giving out some of her real thoughts when talking to him.

—You have nothing to say about me? —she suddenly asked.

His mouth opened a few times, trying to think of what to say, but always stopping midway, looking at her confused.

—That's it —San frowned when she said the sign out loud—. Why are you acting like I'm in this relationship by myself?

—What are you...? —he was going to play along, but his friends got in the way before he could.

—You're the first girlfriend he has —Wooyoung interrupted.

—Yeah, he might be a bit slow. But you're special if you're here —Mingi seconded, squeezing San's shoulder.

Y/n sat back in between his legs, relaxing again when the first attempt to fake an argument failed so miserably. She wasn't even allowed to make a scene properly.

While the rest started talking about something else, Y/n and San exchanged some worried looks, trying to read on the other's face what was the next step to take.

—This isn't working —Y/n commented, when San finally joined her in the narrow kitchen.

She had tried to start a fight a few times already. The last one was excused by how she preferred makis over sashimi when they were ordering their food, only for Jongho and Yeosang to side with her, while Hongjoong and Seonghwa tried to excuse San's confusion with how clueless he sometimes was.

—They like you too much —San answered—. I bet they're probably planning on how to get you to join us on these game nights.

—Okay, let's make them be so disgusted with us that they give us an excuse to start a fight. We could make out in front of them...

—No —San quickly shook his head.

—I mean... If there's something I hate about hanging out with couples is when they're so into each other that they make me uncomfortable.

—We can't do that —he insisted, shaking his head.

—Why not? —her squinted eyes looked at him with an accusing look— If this is a way to keep me from leaving...

—It's not that —he assured her.

Although it wasn't something he didn't think either.

—Then what is it?

San mumbled a few words, rubbing the reverse of his hand over his mouth as he spoke while looking away, only allowing Y/n to understand the word "kiss". When asked to repeat it, he did the same thing, rephrasing what he wanted to say and only allowing her to understand the word "someone".

Her heavy annoyed huff only worked as a warning for the way she held his hands, keeping them on both sides of his body, before she tried to get him to repeat.

—I've never kissed anyone —he finally admitted.

Her eyes widened with his confession, letting go of his hands as she took a step back to set some distance between them.

—You never what? —her head tilted to the side, thinking she got it wrong.

—I've never kissed anyone —he shook his head, speaking slowly—. If we start making out in front of them, they'll tell.

—No one? Not even in school? —her nose scrunched in strangeness.

—That's not the point right now. Can you focus? —he called her out.

Her lower back rested against the white counter, and her arms were crossed over her chest as her gaze got lost somewhere in the kitchen, losing herself deep in thought.

—Why don't I tell them we broke up after tonight? Things didn't work —he shrugged.

—I thought your friends would give you a hard time.

Which, after knowing them for a bit, Y/n understood it would be nothing more than just some innocent teasing.

—I can take it —he nodded—. I dragged you here, it's also unfair to give you a hard time by putting on a show. You seemed like you were having fun.

He could feel the vibrations of her laugh on his leg whenever she rested her cheek on his knee, and she also managed to join the conversations quite easily -to the point of joining on the teasing and jokes his friends did to one another.

He wasn't wrong.

Y/n felt comfortable around those seven guys in less than half an hour, and even she found some fun in pretending to date San whenever her arm wrapped around his leg or her cheek squeezed against him to rub on him like a cat.

After that conversation, they just focused on having a good time.

She managed to snuggle next to him as Mingi changed his place to the spot on the floor next to Seonghwa. Her heart skipped a bit when his knee rubbed against hers accidentally. Although every bit of excitement disappeared when he apologized in a whisper, closing his legs a bit more.

—Here —she whispered, offering him a red packet after she saw him looking for something—. I saw you didn't ask for it on your order, so I included it on mine —she continued after his confused look.

San remembered the long rant she wrote down in their chat about spicy food, and how she was never able to handle it. She didn't ask for the wasabi because she wanted it, but because he wanted it and she knew. The same way she threw that rent, his response right after was about how much he enjoyed spicy food.

—Thanks.

Her lips were pressed together as she dedicated him a squared smile, nodding while her fingers gently caressed his biceps.

—Let's make the teams —Wooyoung called everyone out, gulping the piece of food he was chewing—. Actually, I'll make them since I'm not playing.

—What does that have to do with anything? —Yeosang muttered.

—Y/n, Mingi, Hongjoong and Yeosang together —he continued, ignoring the comment—. San, Yunho, Hwa and Jongho.

—Ah, we are damned —Mingi threw his head back.

—It's not fair. Why does that team have two good players? —Hongjoong quickly opposed.

—Because I say so.

Her body squirmed, tilting her head to the side when she felt a warm breath on the curve of her neck.

—If you want to change teams, tell him. I bet he'll make an exception if it's for you —his voice sounded heavier and raspier with that whisper.

—Don't convince your girlfriend to change teams —Wooyoung called him out—. Respect my decision.

—It's alright —she dedicated to San a reassuring smile.

A game that started as something equalized, almost tied with the numbers of deaths, quickly changed to benefit one of the teams. Jongho kept calling his team out with every shot aimed whenever either of the four were, while Yunho and Seonghwa kept concentrating on looking for each one of the people of the other team on the map.

—It's almost over —Hongjoong celebrated.

—Let's go, let's go, let's go —Yeosang cheered.

As San moved to get out of his hideaway, his elbow rubbed against her, getting her to freeze completely after such a simple and stupid touch. That strong electricity ran through her arm, disabling her senses. At least until San's team cheered with growls and shouts their victory, suddenly getting up from their places.

One battle came after another one, until Y/n was finally aware of the time. The next day she promised she'd go with her father to a business brunch with one of their biggest suppliers, and she doubted she'd be able to if she stayed there for a little longer.

—You sure you can't stay? —Seonghwa asked, looking up to her with big eyes.

—I don't want you to leave so early —Wooyoung pouted.

Early... It was already two in the morning.

—I have something to do tomorrow, but I promise next time I'll stay longer.

That answer seemed to work on Wooyoung, who threw a victorious smile at her before turning back to the TV. It worked for him and the rest of the boys, who were giving her sad looks as they tried to convince her to stay for thirty minutes more, but a sudden sadness took over most part of her chest when she was aware there would be no next time. That was the first and the last time she'd meet with them, and San.

That was for sure.

—I'll walk you to your car —San walked with her.

—I parked it right at the entrance, don't worry —she assured him, stopping by the door.

As she opened the door, San got ready to hug her, wrapping his arms carefully around her and hiding his face on the curve of her neck, taking advantage of the position he was in and how his friends weren't able to see his lips moving.

—Thank you so much for today —it was a barely audible phrase, just enough for her to hear it.

With just a smile, and a soft caress on his cheek that had his insides jumping in excitement, Y/n moved closer to him.

All of his friends turned to each other, smiling as they were witnesses of the cute scene their best friend was pulling. While, back on their perspective, Y/n stepped back after kissing San's chin, just to make it seem like she was giving him a peck on the lips from the place where his friends were.

���Send me a text when you get home.

If he had said it a little louder, she'd have believed it was part of the act. But San whispered it to her, with blushed cheeks, as he nervously smiled.

He indeed wanted to make sure she was okay.

She waved to his friends one last time, before she finally stepped outside and started walking down the stairs.

On her way back home, she kept rethinking everything that had happened ever since she met San earlier that day, comparing her expectations to their first meeting when they were just texting to actually meeting him after so long.

It kind of scared her thinking there would be no chemistry when they met each other, or that she'd just feel so out of place as she had done with other previous dates. But even as annoyed as she was with him, she enjoyed every fake touch and caress. She even regretted not actually kissing him on the lips when she had the chance. The disappointing feeling didn't take long to appear as she was reminded that it was her last opportunity to do it. She was indeed trying to convince herself of not seeing San again.

She dropped her bag over the couch, falling next to it right after, taking her phone out of the pocket of her pants to tell San she was already home.

"Thank you so much for today. I know you shouldn't have done it, but it meant a lot to me that you helped me. I promise I'll give you back your subscription as we agreed this afternoon. I wish I hadn't been such a dumbass, so this wasn't the last text I'm going to send to you. Sorry again for ghosting you. It was never my intention to hurt you or upset you".

She typed several times, saying in different ways how that didn't have to be a goodbye, but she always ended up deleting everything she wrote.

It would never work anyway. 

[txgrteo]

a long post about a long absence

i don't want this to be too long, so i'll probably omit some unnecessary details, but i wanted to open up about wtf happened to me. i feel bad for leaving so many people who care about me with literally no information. the last time i engaged with art as a community was pretty much exactly a year ago, early november 2023. posted a zeraora pic on twitter and stuff and just kinda jetted. it wasn't supposed to be what it is now, it just became that.

i got really demotivated, for starters. I've always struggled with reach and public perception, and my obsession with being a better version of myself. And i like to use empirical data for that- i prefer metrics, such as likes, retweets, comments- anything that can be graphed, quantified, etc. It's just how I work, i really like structure. But I never got that growth I was looking for. Posts didn't perform and I hated it- namely the feeling of being either not good enough or not acknowledged enough. so yah i left-

but oh boy did the shit hit the fucking fan. late november after i left, my long-term freelance position went up in smoke mainly due to mismanagement on their part, and that left me without literally any income. so no job, and literally couldn't hold a pencil without wanting to stab it through my neck (so, commissions were a no-go) means i was pretty fucked.

skip to like march and i hadn't literally drawn a single image since november. had no drive to. and right there i kinda just called it quits. social media was eating me alive- i couldn't deal with it. shortly after i got rehired, quit for the last time because of MORE mismanagement, then lost my apartment. i'm in a safe place rn with some absolutely outstanding friends but yeah...

---

i don't know if i can come back. i don't know if i'm capable of dealing with my perception of my work in the oddly socially competitive market that is digital art. i don't know or care if i'm a good artist. i literally do not. even if i were/am, could i handle the pressure that social media brings me? it might just be something i'm unable to handle. so even if i wanted to come back, and im not sure if i could- should i?

so, for now, i'm gonna keep all my art to myself. i've drawn some banger shit lately (I FINALLY AM GETTING PAINTING DOWN YESSSSSSSSSSSS) but... i shouldn't post it. if i do, and it doesn't soar to relatively meteoric heights, the cycle will begin anew, and i ain't feelin that.

idk. who knows. it's whatever regardless. i just want to put myself first for once and worry about healing as a creator and learning to love what i make again. i didn't draw a single picture for 8 months. actually nothing. im drawing again now but i'm not willing to open myself up to relapsing into hating my art or myself anymore.

...as an aside, fuck twitter/all for-profit social media and what it's done to the internet as a whole. literally fuck it. i hope twitter goes up in the biggest ball of flames it can. (unfortunately this means you too, tumblr).

(last thing i wanna say is that i WILL most likely be making at least one post in the not too distant future, for commissions. i'm in an extremely dire part of my life right now and regardless of my emotional state i still need to eat. so i'll be making a commission post at some point.)

anyways, thanks for reading

[tremendouskoalachild]

ngl it's a bit strange to me Sylvestri doesn't know her mom's dead. she is a known casualty confirmed by the Jedi. you're not telling me Elzar covered it up, right? like he was understandably hesitant to talk about personally killing her but surely he wouldn't have omitted knowing about her death. is the communication THAT broken that no list of confirmed casualties was released? if it's secret for whatever reason (??), none of the republic's bureaucrats could spare a moment to let her next of kin know? surely they or at least the Jedi have Syl's contact info, or could find out, since she's a freelancer on contract with the Republic Defense Coalition. whyyy

[familyromantic]

Not doing the poll because I think the situation is a little too complex for a "yes/no/other" kind of answer, but... have you already an artist you'd like to commission in mind? Or is it more of a vague idea right now?

If it's just an idea... personally, I'd try looking at different artists and either checking their carrd/BYF/commission info/FAQ to see if they have a "things I won't do/I'm not comfortable with" section or, if they have some variant of "proship/proshipper" or "anti-anti" or "comship/comshipper" in their header or pinned post, I'd try sending them an ask like, "Hello! I really like your art and I was wondering, if I wanted to commission art of an incest ship from you, would you be okay with that?" You could also send it on anon if you felt more comfortable or safer that way.

Alternatively, I thiiiiink there was an old post on the Shipcestuous blog calling for artists willing to do incest commissions. I'm not sure how many people actually answered, though. You could try asking Astrid how it went.

If you already have an artist in mind, on the other hand, I'd try going through their blog to see if they have any posts about fandom discourse/problematic ships/incest. Or failing that (because fuck Tumblr's refusal to fix the search function), I'd try with the anon ask again. What I wouldn't is do lie to the artist/omit the fact that your OCs are in an incestuous relaionship. That sounds kind of sketchy and unnecessarily complicated, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you intended to keep the commission to yourself or post it online without any caption explaining who your OCs actually are. Who knows what could happen, right? And regardless of the artist being fine with incest shipping or not, I doubt they'd appreciate something like that, if they ever found out.

I appreciate your advice! /gen

The things you're saying (about looking at carrds, profile, etc.) are very reasonable. However, I'm not planning to commision art on Tumblr, but on a specialized freelance site. I would be happy to do it on Tumblr, and it would be easier to know if an artist is a proshipper or antishipper, but I just don't have a dollar account! And it would be hard to convert rubles into dollars. So I have to go for Russian artists. As I said, there are usually no antishippers in Russian community, but who knows? I already have a few artists in mind, and they almost all do not have the "things I won't draw" section in the decription. And if they do, it's usually about drawing NSFW.

I don't want to be sketchy and I wouldn't lie for sure! And yes, I do understand what you're saying. I planned to post it on this blog, but yeah, if the author finds it and I don't tell trem, that would be awkward. It's not likely, but as you said, who knows what can happen. Thank you for sending this ask!

[felixalbright]

FELIX ALBRIGHT

full name: felix james albright

pronouns & gender: he/him, cis man

birthday & birthplace: april 27, 1992 (31); aurora bay, ca

location: fisher's cove

time in aurora bay: born & raised, back as of a few weeks ago

sexuality: gay

occupation: music journalist/photographer at rolling stone

@aurorabayaesthetic

about.

felix was born and raised in AB, the youngest of three to two parents whose marriage was already crumbling by the time their first child was born. god knows why they stayed together or had two more kids, but they did, and they were at least decent enough people to try to keep the realities of their dissolving marriage away from their children as much as possible. they got divorced when felix was seven, and his mom moved home to london while his dad stayed home with the kids in AB.

so felix grew up being shuttled back and forth between AB and london a few times a year; he'd go see his mom for the summers and christmases and come back for the school year. his mom moving so far away did create a bit of a resentment in him that he doesn't talk about with anyone except his therapist, but it also sparked an inspiration that would carry him throughout his life.

his mom was fully stay-at-home before the divorce, but when she went back to london she started up her career again as an events coordinator for a music promotion and production company that put on shows for local up-and-coming artists. felix spent most of his summers hauling sound equipment and standing in the wings of stages with his mom, listening to music.

he picked up guitar and piano early on, but he realized easily enough that he wasn't meant to be a musician, so he started writing about it instead. when he was a kid, it started with emotions or images the music would evoke, but as he got older the writing matured and he realized that he actually had a talent for this kind of thing. his first byline appeared in a local zine in his mom's neighborhood in london when he was 14, covering a punk show he was way too young to be at and managing to score an interview with the band because they thought his precociousness was cute.

when he was home in AB, he was going out to LA to see shows as soon as he was old enough to drive. he started a blog that no one read, wrote for a little student-led music magazine that only printed 10 copies on black and white school printers (they thought it would make them seem more exclusive, but really no one had heard about it/actually wanted to read it). he used all of that to shop himself, freelance, to any publication that might have him while omitting his age. he actually got a few things in with some smaller names, and it was more than enough to keep him motivated.

his family didn't have a ton of money, so he stayed home and went to college in AB, studying english. it wasn't a perfect fit, but it gave him an excuse to stay writing all the time and to hone his voice. he kept freelancing throughout college and DJ’ed on campus radio, and his big writing break came when he was 21, with an opportunity to cover the strokes at a show in LA for rolling stone, after an editor had seen and liked his work for another site. the article, which followed the band over 24 hours, was a hit, and he got a couple more opportunities with rolling stone before he graduated college.

after graduation, he had a job offer with the magazine and took it without a second thought. he moved to LA full time but was only there for a cumulative few months out a year. his other home base was in london, but he was traveling a lot.

he loved his life for a long time, but around the nine year mark he just started to get exhausted. he was doing what he loved, but he was burnt out and not coping with it well. he didn't want to quit, but he needed a very long break, so he asked for something like a sabbatical from the magazine, which they granted given his years of dedication and the fact that he'd never once taken a sick day.

he moved back home to aurora bay about two weeks ago, where he's staying in his childhood bedroom in fisher’s cove while he gets the outline of a book together.

tidbits.

felix is excitable and talkative, and incredibly interrogative. he's always been a huge talker and has needed to stay one in his line of work. he's charming and quick with a smile, but is also nosy as fuck if his attention is captured. but that attention, though easily caught, isn't easily held. he’s often very distractible within his personal life (which means he’s terrible at returning texts or following through on plans) but is very concerned with every small detail in his work life, which makes him a good writer but not always a fun person to work or deal with.

his favorite interview so far was with paul mccartney in liverpool. they did a walking tour of the city and paul bought felix a beatles t-shirt from a souvenir store that he now has framed in his office in LA.

at his family's house in fisher's cove, his dad still has a now 18 year old cat named fred that felix picked from the shelter when he was 14.

keeps a tiny apartment in the montmartre neighborhood in paris on top of the LA and london places, which he pays way too much for considering he only uses it a few times a year. he can count the number of people he's ever brought there on one hand. it's sort of a sacred space for him

he never officially came out to either of his parents, just started casually mentioning guys he was dating in college. he's never actually talked about his sexuality with either of them.

probably polyamorous, though he doesn't know if he'd use that label. he's never cheated but has had multiple partners at once since he left AB, while being transparent about the fact that he's not a guy for just one other guy. he still thinks that he could comfortably settle into a monogamous relationship if the right partner wanted one.

connections.

childhood rivals to close friends w/ @blake-michaels

college ex-boyfriend of @atticus-cortes

pseudo older brother of @cassidyxcooke, @dancingdanvers

friend/came up with/avid fan of @xaviermattthews, @consrose

high school friends who fell out w/ @theotanaka

[flaetsbnortoriginals]

So I am a bit wild about the introduction to Fortles, by Sam Mameli. Because it's a great example of... well, let me explain. This zine is clearly based on Troika, and wants people who know Troika to know it. At the same time, it doesn't want anyone who picked it up randomly to think 'oh, this is an adventure hook for an RPG I don't play' so it hides that connection in a way that someone unfamiliar with Troika would never figure it out.

I think everyone understands why I absolutely don't want to call it dogwhistling. But you know. Giving information to a section of your audience that understands a subject while hiding it from the general public. Technically.

The intro, written in-character by the fictional author Salvador Moss, goes like this. (I've omitted some parts irrelevant to my argument.)

My name is Salvador Moss, sorcerer emeritas of the College of Friends, sellsword of Melsonia, and befouler of ponds. (...) It gives me great pleasure to present this travelogue of my time spent barge hopping across the hump-back sky in search of a comprehensive understanding of the fortle. This creature is seen in nearly every sphere of creation (...)

The first thing that jumps to the eye to someone who knows Troika here is the word Melsonia. To those who don't know, it just feels like the name of a random fantasy place. One might clock it as a reference, but it's not overt. This is hilarious to me, though, because it's not a reference to a fictional place, but a meta-reference to the name of Troika's publishers, Melsonian Art Council. In fact, by referring to himself as a sellsword, it's a genius way to say he's a freelancer, unassociated with the official publisher.

Right after that, he calls himself a befouler of ponds. Now, this is where I should say that something that aids this enterprize immensely is that the world of Fortles, much like Troika, is gonzo until it leaks, and it's full of weird stuff that feels like it makes internal sense but you don't need to understand right now. Being a 'befouler of ponds' fits right in with this aesthetic. But of course it does, since it's one of the available character classes from Troika. In fact, IIRC, it's one of the first ones, and it's weird enough to be one of the most memorable entries in the beginning of the list, when you're still looking at the classes through awestruck eyes. Its reference is deliberated and rightly made.

I haven't much to talk about the next reference, since it's the same as the previous one, only to a lower degree: it's when he says 'barge hopping'. To someone who doesn't know Troika but figured out the world, it's a sentence that's easily understood as a gonzo fantasy version of backpacking. But Troika fans will have the additional context of knowing that Barges are a setting element, being the name of the round ships capable of moving between worlds.

Speaking of worlds... the coup de grace is mentioning every sphere of creation. That's just a very common turn of phrase, feels very apt for a gonzo fantasy story, substituting an expression that makes different presumptions about the nature of the world, like "all around the globe". There's no way anyone unfamiliar with Troika would figure out that spheres are what the different worlds are called within the setting, and that this seemingly innocent sentence is actually saying that the titular fortles are ready to be dropped in whatever adventure in Troika your hapless adventurers should find themselves in.

Anyway, brilliant book. I love the stoic sea turtle and the banana-carrot.

[cak31ssuperi04]

Ask and you shall receive @likesaly

Tobari

(ripping this one from the tags of my other hc post since I'm not sure if anyone reads those)

-That said she actually was practicing coding before she ran off, although the hacking was a more recent development.

-Growing up she had a tendency to jump between hobbies before getting bored and moving to the next one. Her family was rich enough to pay for classes and tutors so it was feasible, even if they found it annoying. Learned some of her trades while freelancing but she already had a pretty sizeable skillset.

-Between her and the other hackers, she empathizes the most with Mikado, having been deemed unreadable and difficult to understand herself. Which isn't to say she necessarily likes or goes along with him, but she goes easy on him.

-Perpetually winking because she's blind in her right eye.

-Familiar with Momori's work and admires her as a designer(<-mentioned this under the relationship chart post but dropping it here for posterity's sake)

-Has gotten into an argument with Kotora over whether tea was better than coffee(although neither of them dislikes the other, they do have, preferences) and it was the singular time Kirai and Nomiya were actually scared of either of them. Mikado insists milkshakes are superior to both and hell is unleashed on him.

-Does typically get along with Kotora though, finds more common ground with him than Kirai or Nomiya on account of both of them being the Mature Reasonable Adults of the group(even if she thinks he's a pushover and he thinks she's a little too easygoing about the crime stuff)

-Worked at the drugstore with Shitara at one point. Both big gossipers. While Tobari may not have been as good at seeing through the twins' bullshit as she was her resolve was unwavering, the prank that ends up getting to her(and even then she only gets frustrated, but it's enough to scare the twins) ends up being something completely trivial.

-Takes up work at Flower Bee after her stint as a hacker is over(tea buddies with Chino and omitted a Lot of details about her line of work). That goes about as well as you'd expect, with Haruya being one of the hackers' targets (Haruya is incredibly suspicious around her but they warm up to each other, sort of. Tobari helps Haruya learn to stand up for himself at least)

Shinobu

My Nanashi-Shinobu hc is 10 other hcs in a trenchcoat so it's a bit hard to get into that but a couple of somewhat unrelated ones are that

-He reads a lot, but is partial to mystery novels. Has a knack for trying to replicate cases from them.

-Shitsuna actually was influenced by Shinobu into saying she wished Merue had died(re. at one point she mentions the garden being her favorite area in the hotel. I'm thinking Shinobu finds out that their relationship had gotten a bit rocky after the accident and used that to his advantage). -The fatcats are chillgoing enough but Shinobu is bad with pets by default. They just don't like him. Either avoids them entirely or puts them under some weird kind of pet trance. -Started working at the hotel soon after Misane and Nanase placed their reservation there. Don't ask how he got the info.

-The Shinobu Kasuga alias was based around "Izuchi Nasuga" (in a similar sense as the Mikado-Misane deal) hence him being the only side character who makes a reappearance despite not having any plot relevance. (this one is related I just wanted to mention it)

Misane -Plushie collecter! Partial to cats ofcourse, big fan of whatever the 1bit equivalent of Hello Kitty is(maybe it is just hello kitty. Maybe Hello Kitty is timeless). Kind of embarrassed about it so Toukai and Nanashi are the only ones who know about it but that won't stop her from staring one of them down into buying her one whenever they come across a novelty plushie rack. -Mother died when she was fairly young, so she only has spotty memories of her. For how professional and pragmatic Toukai may appear he did spoil her a bit growing up. He's not perfect but he's trying. -While it wasn't the last or even necessarily the one that convinced the higher ups to take her on as an apprentice detective, her mother's death was one of her first big cases and the one that pushed her to trying to become an actual detective. It was essentially a cold case she dug up and solved behind Toukai's back, and is to some extent the root of her strong sense of justice. -Other than that she was more isolated to local cases, finding missing pets and lost jewelry and the whatnot(with maybe some more serious stuff sprinkled in. Kid sticking her nose where it doesn't belong with an alarming success rate type beat). Looked up to her dad a lot and was really perceptive for how clumsy she was. -It still took a lot of persistence to get him to let her though, since she was so young. Was 13 when she became an apprentice. While he may not be entirely aware of how it affected her(growing up too fast and all) he doesn't doubt her skill. -Most of her work as an apprentice is supposed to just involve following other detectives around and helping them out/observing them, even if she does have a tendency to take charge when she comes across a case on her own. -The pressure of trying to live up to the position only amplified how nervy she was and caused her to fuck up a lot(enter her speech about Nanase being there for her). -Also a big reader! Always has been but she also. Is partial to mystery, although after she starts pretty much living that life she finds them kind of predictable anymore and sees herself drawn to more escapist stories(fantasy and the like). -Tendency to climb up into trees to clear her mind when she gets frustrated. Probably has gotten stuck a couple of times but now just skitters up and down like it's nothing. Falls asleep up there sometimes. -Toukai was worried about her falling out but despite her assertions that it was Fine he resolved to build a treehouse for her. Which basically ended up going unfinished for the longest time because he can't build for shit. Nanashi does eventually help finish it(can't really build either but probably knows someone who does. And hey, two heads is better than one) but alas, while Misane appreciates the sentiment she just continues falling sleep on the adjacent branches. Uses the house more to store snacks than anything. -Carries cat toys everywhere in case she meets a cat. Always ready always prepared. (Tends to find herself fidgeting with them herself but shush. they're for the cats) -Has 2 cats herself! I haven't decided their names yet but they're there. -Reconnects with Natsukage and Miumi after the events of XXX.

[aith-art]

A Courier and A Survivor meet

Word Count - 1.8k

 The bag was one of the few items I retained when I made my way back east. Covered in patches from the groups I had befriended, helped and trusted. And some from groups I then abandoned, betrayed, and destroyed to fulfil a contract that I never wanted and couldn't escape. It acted as a reminder of my biggest failure. And an excellent way to transport random junk and mail across the wastes. The only other reminders that still existed were the scars. Two of which I could never avoid seeing in the mirror. I left all that behind me. I made my way to the Commonwealth. I actively ran from my past, even if a shadow of steel seemed to follow me.  

Word Count - 1.8k

This Job was no different to my usual. Inform the mother that her husband and child were fine, likely get yelled at, then do a quick shop for whatever clothes and such were brought to Diamond City that could be put to better use in Goodneighbor. Everyone knew that’s where I took what I bought, but never cared. If they did, they never voiced it to me. I shoved the note into my messenger bag with my general supplies.

As I made a move for the gate, wanting to utilise the night to make it past the Commons, a small figure stood before me. 

“Hi?” I tried to hide the caution and concern in my voice, to no avail. 

The person before me was young. Maybe 14 pushing 15. Not someone I expected to see alone in the streets of Goodneighbor. I suppose ‘alone’ wasn’t an accurate description, the girl had a dog with her. A big, healthy one. She and her dog didn’t seem hostile, though in Goodneighbor appearances were something to be questioned. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, much like I wore when I was her age, for a second I questioned if she was a hallucination of myself. It wasn’t out of the question after my injury. But others around had seen her, rolled their eyes, and returned to their lives. She gave a small wave and a sideways look. I was suddenly a puzzle to her. Had I seen her before? 

“Hi.” She replied after a moment, “You were on the Prydwen weren’t you?” 

I paused. No one was supposed to know about that little interaction I had with those steel morons, let alone a kid. “No, Why do you ask?” 

“You were. You looked so different from everyone else aboard. I want to know why you were there. Are you a secret Brotherhood spy planning to take down Goodneighbor for Elder Maxson?” 

That was overly specific, I thought. Though she seemed suddenly more defensive. A subtle hand reaching down the back of her belt, likely for a knife or switchblade. Her feet shifted, entering a somewhat impressive stance. Her mention of Maxson by name informed me that she was involved with the Brotherhood, in some capacity at least. 

“If you’re with the Brotherhood, why do you care?” 

She narrowed her eyes. “I…” 

I had her there. She was smart enough to know that Goodneighbor would become a target for the Brotherhood, eventually, due to being a safe haven for ghouls and outcasts and the Brotherhood’s adamant denial of ghoul’s personhood. But Goodneighbor wasn’t the target of Maxson’s war. Hell, I doubt it made it as even a bullet point on a Brotherhood to-do list. 

“My friends live here.” It was barely above a whisper. 

I couldn’t leave her question unanswered. “I’m not here to destroy Goodneighbor for the Brotherhood of Steel. I’m completing some freelance work. No one in the Brotherhood knows I’m here.” Not a complete lie. It just happened to omit the fact that I was running from the Brotherhood and that I had no plans of going back if I could help it. 

“Oh. But why were you on the Prydwen?” A curious soul. Well-meaning, clearly. 

“Look, kid-” 

Before I could bull shit a response the door to the state house opened behind me and Nick stepped out, mid-conversation with Fahrenheit. I jumped, unaware he'd been inside. He looked towards the bench across from Daisy’s Discounts before his eyes scanned past me and landed on the kid. His shoulders seemed to relax slightly as he saw she was okay. 

“Dana, would you let the courier do their job?” He turned to me briefly. “Headed Diamond City ways?” 

“Yeah, believe I might be saving you a job on this one.” 

“You always seem to.” 

“See you around Nick.” 

I wanted to question why he was running around with a teenager, what they were doing in Goodneighbor. Hell, why did the kid know I was on the Prydwen? But I had to get this job completed, for my reputation if nothing else. We exchanged a parting nod as I headed out of the gate and into the super mutant filled streets. 

As I crossed Boston Commons, taking a quicker route despite the increased danger, I registered a second set of footsteps some 20 paces behind me. They were trying to be quiet, though they weren't doing a great job. I continued ahead. If someone was tailing me, they would make themselves known before long. 

By the time I entered Diamond City the sun had risen and I was certain I knew who had followed me, and how long they’d done it for. I kept this knowledge to myself. After completing the delivery, and being truly chewed out by the distraught mother in the absence of her husband to scream at, I bought a box of sugar bombs, some fabric for the repairs my jeans were in desperate need of, and began to make my way back to Goodneighbor. Enjoying the warm day and relative safety of the route as I made my way via the river. Following it up towards Bunker Hill before dipping into the alley by HalluciGen Inc and following the road through, towards the large skyscraper of Mass Fusion. 

The midday sun began to be clouded by the coming storm as I stepped through the gate back into Goodneighbor, sighing with the familiar smell of cigarette smoke tinged with blood, I saw Nick and Hancock both glaring at someone behind me. 

“Dana.” Nick never sounded angry, but if his fear and disappointment could have been concentrated into one word it was that. Hancock retained his facade of calm, remaining by the door to the statehouse, though it was clear from the state of his coat he’d help Nick try to find the kid. I sidestepped out of the way, slipping beside Hancock to observe Nick and Dana have a ‘civilised’ conversation. 

Hancock whispered to me, “Did you know she’d followed you?” 

I whispered back, “It became apparent as I got close to Diamond City. She’s got skill, I’ll give her that.” 

“The skill of giving two men panic attacks.” 

“I would have told you if I had a way.” 

“Does she know you knew?” 

“Fucked if I know.” 

Both me and Hancock were choosing our words carefully. Neither wanted to admit that we cared about the kid, both trying to uphold an image that we knew was fading. 

“Hey Jules,” Hancock started, trying to work out how to approach whatever answer he was proposing to the problem of Dana. “You’ve clearly caught her attention, and I’m not going to pry into why, but - if she’s willing - would you be up for travelling with her?” 

“You asking me to play bodyguard?” 

“I’ll pay you. Got some caps set aside.” 

“Keep your caps. If she wants me to travel with her, I’ll do it.” After having her follow me to Diamond City, and her knowledge of a link between myself and the Brotherhood I couldn’t leave her to the wastes. 

“Refusing caps, huh. You see something in this kid, don’t you?” 

I didn’t respond. We both knew the answer. I looked over at Dana and Nick, who was kneeling before her and making sure she was okay. Her dog, who had been left behind with Nick in her moment of curious rebellion, cuddled up between the two of them. The conversation ended, Nick stood back up and Dana trudged over to myself and Hancock. 

“Mr Hancock, I’m sorry for worrying you.” She played up a sweet little girl act, the same technique I used to use in DC on whoever it was I wronged. 

“It’s okay, kid.” He gave a glare to Nick, for spragging about his worry. 

Dana turned to me, “And miss, I’m sorry for following you and potentially putting your life in danger.” 

“Thank you for the apology. An’ you don’t have to worry about putting me in danger. I think Nick and Hancock were more concerned that you might’ve put yourself in danger.” 

“I know mam.” 

I looked at her as she ran back the short distance to Nick, who had situated himself on the bench across from Daisy’s. She had so much more of me in her than I would ever admit. Her little bounce as she regaled to Nick that she had apologised. The way she laced her fingers together when she had apologised, a nervous habit. How she looked over her shoulder, glancing at me as she questioned whether or not I’d let her bother me with more questions. I gave her a smile, a subtle invitation to talk. 

Hancock nudged my shoulder, “Keep her safe. An’ come talk to me when you’re free, I’m always in need of a spare pair of hands in town.” 

I gave him a nod, too consumed in my thoughts to say anything but letting him know I heard and acknowledged his request. He pushed himself off the wall and made his way back into the statehouse. 

After Hancock left, my little shadow appeared before me. She beamed up at me, Nick must have mentioned I’d been asked to travel with them. 

She didn’t hesitate to ask, “Are you gonna be running with us?”

Pushing myself off the wall and dropping to my knees out of some respect for the kid I replied, “If you want me to.” 

“Yes!” She wasn’t trying to disguise her joy. But she paused for a second as it dawned on her, “My name’ Dana by the way, what’s your name?” 

“Jules.” 

“That’s a pretty name.” 

“Yeah, so’s Dana.” Her eyes widened as she ran back over to Nick, reporting what he had clearly overheard. I stood up and followed her over. For a brief moment, I registered that I didn’t receive my pay for the delivery I’d made. I’ll get it out of him later. I thought, chancing a glance up at the window where Hancock now oversaw the conversation. We shared one last nod before I completely turned my attention to Dana and the next steps of her journey.

[oliveroctavius]

Another throughline here: Plagarized work is lazy work, and lazy work shows through in the final product.

In a massive stroke of irony, the commercial artists he copied from display much higher classical technical skill than his enormous-scale paintings. There's a delicacy to the brushstrokes, a level of expressiveness, and a clear understanding of form and shadow in those tiny newsprint originals.

The changes Lichtenstein made often omitted or simplified backgrounds and text, used garish primary colors, and—later in his work—undressed the women in the panels. Central to his "iconoclasm" was depicting comic art as even more simplistic and culturally shallow than it already was.

Copyright law offers no help to the original creatives, freelancers on exploitative short-term contracts. Russ Heath explains, “I couldn’t do anything because all the characters that I did draw for comic books were, at that time, owned by the comic book company. So, if they want to sue, they could sue and have a legitimate reason to sue. But they wouldn’t make enough to bother having a suit.” Most of the writers ripped off by Somerton, too, were on contracts which meant they do not have the rights to their own work.

Art historians are correct that Roy Lichtenstein's work raises interesting questions about mass reproduction, parody, and the border between "commercial" and "high" art. The answers to those questions, however, are not flattering to the art world at all.

In Plagiarism and You(Tube), Hbomb says "If you consider something so obscure you can get away with stealing it, you do not respect it." Save that line for the next time someone tries to tell you that Roy Lichtenstein brought respect to comics as art.

It's since been pointed out that while Lichtenstein did copy one of Russ Heath's drawings of an airplane getting hit, the painting depicted above was actually copied off Irv Norvick, because Lichtenstein did this so many times to so many comic artists.

In Lichtenstein's defense, he was doing this in a time when comic artists frequently weren't even credited in the issues themselves. In his condemnation, he never even tried to check, nor has he made any move to pay or credit any of the comic artists who recognized their own work later on. Rather than elevating the "low art" of comics, he was widening the gap of financial success and respect even further.

The Hbomberguy of this story is art historian David Barsalou, who has now spent decades tracking down the original art and the names of the original artists used in Lichtenstein's most famous output. Here's the full flickr gallery for the Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein project. Frequently copied were Tony Abruzzo, Ted Galindo, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Kubert, Jerry Grandenetti, and dozens more Golden Age artists who aren't very well known in comics circles, let alone art history books. Many of them died in poverty. That's something that the Hero Initiative, mentioned in Russ Heath's comic above, aims to prevent.

Also, Lichtenstein didn't even paint Ben-Day dots. That's a specific thing.

[thedebtdiaries]

Debt Diary 1: A debt of my own doing

Debt: $12,612

Personal Loan 1: $5,381 Personal Loan 2: $5,273 Chase Credit Card: $1,551 American Express Credit Card: $406

I have $12,612 in debt. This is a combination of personal loans and credit cards. I've decided to omit my student loans because they are federal loans that I pay $0 each month, thanks, in part, to the SAVE Plan. (With that said, I would pay $0 each month on all other income-based repayment plans as well.) If, for whatever reason, my income exceeds the threshold which would require me to pay more than $0, I will then include those amounts into my debt. For now, in order to stay somewhat sane, I will continue to leave those amounts out of the equation. 

I was required to pay rent up front for the entire year, for better or for worse. The plus of this is that the rent is paid to the landlord. There is and will be a roof over my head. The drawback of this is that in order to pay the rent up front I had to take out two personal loans ⏤ one to cover my own rent and the other to cover the rent of another tenant. This makes the debt of the personal loans less daunting because I know that the amount of one loan will be paid to me by the other tenant by the end of our lease. However, the debt is still daunting because most of it is mine. Was this a stupid decision? Probably. However, as an American living in the UK, my options were limited by laws and regulations and the rental market is tough and fast. 

My goal is to be debt free by January 2025. That's one year. I'm not sure how possible that will be. My lease will end in September 2024 and I anticipate I'll pay more when I move. I may get a raise, but no more than a few percent. I'm not banking on hitting the jackpot or a big raise, only on my own will in my current circumstances. 

There are expenses coming up, some that aren't good choices but ones I'm making anyway. I'm taking a trip to the US next month, which I estimate will cost roughly $1,000. (This is bad. Maybe not bad but certainly not good. I acknowledge this. This is the last big hurrah! before I get down to business. Of course, by making this choice I'm making the business a bigger issue.) 

I'm choosing to still save. Dave Ramsey says you should and it's worked for other people. (I'm all for some of Ramsey's philosophies but not for all of them.) I'm starting by saving small: doing the '52 Week Savings Challenge', automating spare change from my accounts each week and round-ups from each purchase. All of that is currently going towards an emergency fund of $1,000. The rest will go towards the debt. 

I watched a YouTube video where the creator compared credit card debt to a very short-term loan. I both have and haven't thought of credit cards like this. I've been good at repaying my credit cards in full each month until last month. It was then I realised I wouldn't be able to pay the amount of both cards this month and that I would need to buckle down. And that while I was at it, I wanted to pay off the personal loans in full as soon as possible. 

I reread Meghan Daum's essay 'My Misspent Youth' often. It hits because it's both relatable and foreign. Most of Daum's debt came from student loans, medical expenses she was forced to put on a credit card and unpaid taxes incurred as a freelancer. Daum, in 1999, was without healthcare and worked as a freelance writer, but she also chose to live in her own apartment in Manhattan and to ignore the debt she could. I relate to the choices she made because I am young and live in a big expensive city. I went to an expensive university and put those expenses on student loans. I continue to say yes to friends for dinner and drinks. I buy my lunch at work each day and the occasional coffee. I go on trips without the funds saved in an account but with reliance on credit cards. 

The debt I'm in is a debt of my own doing. I didn't befall an illness, nor was I forced to take time off work to care for a loved one. I didn't rack up this debt by doing what I should have been doing but by doing what I chose to do, freely and openly.

I don't believe credit cards and loans are evil. Credit cards have benefits. They help to build and maintain credit, have perks such as mileage plans and cash back and can act as a lifeline for those in a true emergency. Loans have benefits, too. They allow for people to attain a post-secondary education, offer people the opportunity buy a home and help people to diversify their assets. Right now, for me, credit cards and loans are both evil and not evil. My relationship with them is, at times, fraught and tense and, at other times, enjoyable and fun. 

[propertyfinancialadvisor]

Unlocking the Potential: The Role of a Property Advisor in Real Estate

Property advisor plays a crucial role when buying and selling a property because they give the right overview of the property to be sold or bought. Whenever a person decides to sell their house or residential building or property then they would always want to sell it for the highest prices possible, but frequently come to a fork in the road while deciding whether to accept a deal or not. Experts advise employing a sellers advocate to make the selling process simpler. Calling real estate agents alone would not yield the intended outcomes since they lack the specific knowledge necessary to maximise the value of the deal.

Buyers advocate in Melbourne similarly helps the buyers choose the best property and also helps in getting the best deal. The price connected with using such services should be the first thing to be confirmed. Consumers benefit from peace of mind from transparent pricing while receiving knowledgeable advice that is current and in line with industry standards.

A property analysis report properly and clearly informs the reader of the value of the house or property by highlighting the specific aspects. Every aspect of the house, including other assets and locations, is examined in the research. By doing this, the report omits any fanciful material and focuses exclusively on the unvarnished truths. This ensures that the seller fully comprehends what to expect and potential value-raising strategies.

List of Expert Real Estate Investment Advisors' Services

Freelance Auctioneering Services: Prominent advisors can offer auctioneering services that can be engaged to instantly draw outstanding potential clients. Since there are several prospective buyers in this situation, one may ensure they can sell their home for the greatest price and put their worries to rest by doing this.

Property Report: This is essential for evaluating one's property and for becoming knowledgeable. In order to guarantee that there are no misunderstandings regarding what to expect from the transaction, one must have a simple and clear report.

A mistake made once is not reversible since real estate investments manage far larger sums of money than other types of investments. When you want to buy or sell a house, get in touch with the best professionals for an unbiased and honest report.

Source

[jasmineiros]

YaYa's life updates:

Sister & I were finally able to move out, thank God. We had lots of issues on the way, specially due the fact mother & father kept sending messages threatening and offending us in all sorts of ways. This lead us to heavy emotional overload & we will still take a while to totally de-stress. Like, when you're called a thief & a whore by your own mother you kinda have the confirmation there is not such thing as unconditional love the presence of a mother promises & you end up asking yourself if it was ever present at all.

Father is currently in a dangerous health condition. Technically he is...dying. He is currently on life support, actually. He lost both kidneys some months ago and being diabetic didn't help. He actually never took care of his health, never ate properly and always in excess and always excelled in alcohol consumption as well. You can consider him some sort of long term suicidal, since he never really cared about being actually loving with his own body and health.

I am not sure how to feel about this. My half brother was freaking out once he got the news since he seemed more attached to him but I don't really feel the grief and sadness a daughter would normally feel. He left us at a young age and visited us seldom. I always felt uncomfortable around him due to his violent and unpredictable behavior and used to come up with excuses not to meet him. He committed way more wrongs than rights and many of these wrongs are borderline criminal. But even so I wouldn't wish that for anyone. I wouldn't wish for this kind of end and even less, to have to live inside a mind like his. I don't really know what I'm rooting for tbh.

Still about family, I don't really talk to my young half-sister anymore since I deemed her not trustworthy. Her mother once was our (me and my sister's) stepmother and she never really liked us. I can say we and this half-sister had a more or less healthy relationship until her mom came up with stuff about us and since she's a minor there's not much to do. So I decided to cut ties.

I don't really speak to any members of my family since they somewhat are omitting themselves from what my mother did to us or are just taking her side. It is an isolating situation, which makes me wonder if I'll ever recover of this emptiness I feel when it comes about family matters.

On a brighter note, my sister finally got a job. We don't know for how long since it is kinda freelancer but we will be able to get by for a while.

On a self-discovering note, I was diagnosed with both ADHD & autism, pretty much as my sister. I still don't know how to feel about this. I was pretty sure about the ADHD but not the autism. It explains most of my behavior and feeling of isolation throughout my life but at the same time I wish somehow I could know that before my late 20's.

For now that is it, thank you for coming to my TED talk 🙏🏼🌷✨

[kumarseo]

Kane Richardson could become freelance T20 player after losing Queensland contract

Australia pace bowler Kane Richardson could be heading for a freelance T20 career after being omitted from the Queensland contract list meaning he will be without a state deal next season. Richardson, 32, has played 25 ODIs and 35 T20Is, the most recent of which came in last season’s T20 World Cup against Afghanistan. He may still be in Australia’s plans for next year’s tournament in West Indies…

[60000beesinatrenchcoat]

Important revelations about the validity and intent of authorship (for anyone who hasn’t seen it). The principle author being a freelance marketer currently director of marketing at Fable and Folly network AND that information being originally omitted dramatically re-contextualizes the article

This article is six parts and thousands of words, but I hope you read it. Incredibly brave creators spoke about their experience working with Rusty Quill, and their stories kept me up for nights. In my opinion, some of the actions taken by this company were unconscionable - but I invite you to read this piece and decide for yourself.

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but the behavior we support will be emulated by other podcast companies. It is up to us as a community to decide what that behavior should be, and take concrete action to uphold it.