#i am currently unemployed can you tell

[thesimonthedevious]

a moment of serenity

[evildilf2]

Hey guys, my friend Ayiko recently got diagnosed with colon cancer and needs help paying for his cancer treatments.

“*grey freeze frame* i’m sure you’re wondering how i got here—and for those of you who don’t know, i’m Ayiko, a 22 year old queer artist and musician. I’ve always been a creative, from theatre to a film major. My dream is to keep creating, to keep telling stories, to keep sharing my art with the world and with your help i’ll be able to continue with what i love, with my passions. On the night of February the 6th, what was thought to be a routine doctor visit for severe stomach pain turned into an in-patient hospital stay. A CT-Scan revealed the source of the pain was from a rare telescoping and entanglement of the intestines, known as Intussusception. After a successful colonoscopy relieved the pain, it also revealed a lump that was removed during the procedure. Further testing by the pathology department discovered that not only was the lump cancerous but there were additional tumors that were inaccessible without open surgery. The cancer had grown into 5cm tumors and had spread to some lymph nodes. On February the 17th i went under the knife(or in this case a laser) for a robotic colectomy to remove the remaining cancer. There was very little risk in it spreading and it was one of the least aggressive cancer of its type(Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Gastrointestinal Tract). After the surgery, i will be unable to lift more than 10 lbs or walk for long periods of time, which has left me unemployed. Now in post-recovery, i gently ask the community to rally behind my family and i as we face the financial burdens of hospital bills. As a first generation immigrant i am also aware of the family back home that my parents have to look after too(in fact my father is going to visit Uganda in less than a week). That’s why we would greatly appreciate donations of any amount, as i continue my recovery and face the possibility of chemotherapy. Just sharing the link can go a long way. Thanks for reading!” -Ayiko @pretty-roach

Currently donations are at 1.2k out of a 20k goal- any & all help is appreciated, please reblog to circulate.

[spiceofvy]

🐙 here. again. How about Stray Kids as sugar babies? I don't mean that they're like, broke, but like if their partner treats them so much and so often that the sugar baby sugar parent jokes speak for themselves.

Anyway, who likes what kind of gifts; such as For-maximum-eyecandy-effect, being taken to events, cool tech, treated to food, that sort of thing. ...something around those lines, I mean, you're the writer so maybe you got a cooler spin on this.

Am currently unemployed and can't treat nobody rn but I feel the itch to be a sugar parent nowdays.

Hope you knock em dead ✌️

Spoiling SKZ with gifts

cws: fluff, gender neutral reader, two sensual innuendos (hyunjin, jeongin)

Chan: Noooo don't buy him things. He is the one that wants to spoil you instead. That's like his duty in the relationship. But he will wear anything and everything you buy for him. Especially if it's skzoo merch, but only if you also get something matching for yourself or else he will get it for you. Will pout and blush when you give him something but when someone asks him about it he will proudly tell everyone that you got it for him.

Minho: Shamelessly asks for things he likes but only he is 100% percent sure that you don't mind spending money on him and actually enjoy buying him stuff. Would totally love some expensive cat toys, or those treat dispensers that cats have to activate by pressing a button or solving a puzzle. Also enjoys being taken to super fancy restaurants, but he always insists on paying for the dessert. Once send you a picture of a fancy kitchen appliance as a joke and was very shocked when you actually got it for him.

Changbin: Our rich boy makes a challenge out of it. Who can spend more money on the other? Doesn't love to go out to restaurants but likes to get luxury takeout instead. Also enjoys a lot of expensive workout gear. Sends you even more workout pics afterwards. Answers any gift of yours with one of his own. Also shares every piece of food with you that you paid for and asks you to come to the gym with him so you can see him in the new gear.

Hyunjin: Less shameless than Minho, he wont straight up ask for things but instead sometimes just sends you links to stuff he likes. Especially likes being taken out to art shows or galleries. Or full shopping trips. Always models the stuff you got him afterwards for you. Especially when it's jewelry or perfume he wears only the jewelry and the perfume. Will totally tell the other boys that you paid for it, like the proud sugar baby he is.

Jisung: Mostly asks for food. Like snacks and (imported) candy. Ask absolutely shamelessly for it. Especially at food stands, picks like every different taste and makes you try it with him. Gets super happy about the good food. Also likes to be taken out to carnivals and theme parks. Prepare to pay and wear silly headbands and pose for all the photo ops. Also always buys you something in return.

Felix: Really enjoys being treated like that. Blushes dark red when you give him something and thanks you by plastering kisses all over your face. Especially like some fancy gaming equipment or lootboxes or genshin pulls. Totally shows off his new equipment to you and brags about it towards the others. Would never directly ask for anything, except for plushies. He gives them names and then treats them like they are your children.

Seungmin: Was really shy when you started to buy things for him. But he actually enjoys being spoiled. Mostly baseball tickets and manga. Really impressed when you know a new release before him. Gets soft about those gifts and treasures them a lot. Always blushes a little when he gets something from you. Invites you out for dinner shortly after you gifted him something.

Jeongin: Really enjoys being spoiled, full maknae mode. Loves getting clothes and short vacations. But always pays you back afterwards. Models the clothes, and gets you something matching. Massage your shoulders on the beach you took him too. Surely only with the intention to spread sun protection on your shoulders and back. Don't mind his hands wandering lower, and his pretty new clothes landing on the ground.

[anonymusbosch]

i feel like part of what makes this current presidency and administration so destructive is that they have fully embraced the idea that 90% of law is decorum. it's something that elon musk embraces, as far as I can tell, in business - something may be illegal/not good practice/a huge gamble/against the rules, but (1) who will actually stop you before you start? and (2) how much can you get done before the courts catch up to you? even then, what power do they have to force you to stop?

"you can't move those server racks on this floor, the floor is only rated to xyz lbs!" ok well look we're moving them. what are you going to do, stand in the way? "you can't do that without a permit!" cool, are you going to physically stop this digging operation? or will you file a complaint with the county office so they can issue a fine in 3-6 business months? "you can't fire someone for that reason!" sure you can! and then maybe they'll sue in civil court with all the time and money and lawyers they have, as a recently unemployed person, to go up against a corporation. Maybe they'll even get the ACLU involved so that 2 years later there'll be a damages award, but they still won't work there and they'll still have been fired.

part of me wonders if there's way more people can do to resist in advance - anticipate that decorum and laws will be broken and solidify things in advance. part of me wonders if there's anything progressive parties can take from this playbook - oh it takes 3 years to go through all the proper channels to improve people's lives? what if you "just" bypassed deadweight bureaucracy like "public feedback on forms that the gvr uses to hire contractors"? ideally if you want law to work i think you do have to make a pretense, at least, of decorum - you can't enforce everything all the time - but where are the small transgressions with big payoff and where are the laws that just need to be changed for government to function in a timely fashion?

all idle speculation as I have little idea about the actual machinery of the gvt but I am curious to want to read more about this

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * *

How to make enemies and repel people.

February 24, 2025

Robert B. Hubbell

Trump and Musk have turned the corner—in a bad way. There is a great scene in the motion picture Broadcast News where Holly Hunter tells Albert Brooks that she has “crossed a line” because she is starting to “repel people I am trying to attract.”

At town hall meetings across the nation, Republican representatives are learning the hard way that Trump and Musk are not the anti-hero crusaders they imagine themselves to be. See NYTimes, Republicans Face Angry Voters at Town Halls, Hinting at Broader Backlash. (Behind a paywall; out of gift subscriptions; please post a shared link if you can.) Instead, Trump and Musk personify the “mean-boss” bullies who are born into privilege and spend their time offending and alienating people without a clue they are doing so.

Musk’s weekend email demanding that government workers prepare five “bullets” of their accomplishments in the prior week or face termination was about as “un-self-aware” as it gets. Most people in America hate Elon Musk so badly that he is accomplishing something that Trump's eight-year run of criminality, insurrection, and racism could not do: Musk is causing people to turn on Trump. Political gravity is real, and Elon Musk is a gravitational wave of karma that is finally pulling Trump back to political accountability.

I am surprised how often readers respond to my references to Trump's negative poll numbers by saying, “Trump doesn’t care about polls.” Assuming that’s true (and I don’t believe it is), that’s not my point. Trump has been able to force the GOP into mass capitulation because his favorability ratings remain stubbornly flat despite his crime sprees, civil findings of sexual abuse, revelations of extramarital relationships while married to the current First Lady, and open courting of white supremacists.

If Trump's favorability declines, it means two things: (a) Trump is losing support among Independents (and Republicans lose) and (b) Republicans at the margin in Congress can take the risk of voting for the best interests of their constituents rather than the idiotic, self-destructive, revenge-driven agenda of Trump.

It matters that people are beginning to see Elon Musk as the evil billionaire hellbent on controlling the world who is portrayed as the instantly unlikable bad guy in every science fiction and spy-thriller movie. Musk is easy to hate. As hundreds of thousands of federal workers fear for their financial security, Musk wielded a bejeweled chainsaw on stage at the CPAC convention while MAGA acolytes laughed at the now-unemployed working-class Americans who are lying awake at night wondering how they will pay their mortgages.

It doesn’t get any crueler or more clueless than that. Read the room, Elon.

None of this suggests that Trump or Musk will stop their offensive, hateful abuse of the American people. But it does suggest that we can build a firewall in Congress to join the courts in slowing down Trump's revenge tour. And it should certainly give Democrats confidence that they can craft winning messages and coalitions in 2026 and 2028.

Musk’s email was so unpopular it ran into resistance within Trumpworld. Heads of various federal agencies, in including the FBI, Department of Defense, State Department, intelligence community, and judiciary told employees to ignore the email. See generally, The Hill, Agencies push back on Musk email, including FBI, Pentagon, State, Intel.

Two of the largest unions representing federal workers also advised employees to ignore the email and sent a response to the Office of Personnel Management stating that the request was “plainly unlawful.”

By overstepping in such a mean and petty way, Musk may have sparked a backlash that overturning the Constitution could not achieve.

The same resistance is appearing elsewhere. Trump threatened to pull all federal funding from Maine because it refused to adopt Trump's anti-transgedner policy in sports. See Portland Press Herald, Trump threatens to cut federal funding to Maine over transgender athlete policy

Governor Janet Mills of Maine sent a blistering response to Trump. See Governor Mills’ Statement on Notice of Investigation From U.S. Department of Education | Office of Governor Janet T. Mills.

Governor Mills writes, in part,

“No President – Republican or Democrat – can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold.

“Maine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his Administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it – and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.

Well said, Governor Mills! And nice work noting that Trump's threat to withhold funds violates the Constitution—something that is frequently overlooked in the back-and-forth political discussion.

To similar effect is the recent speech by Governor Pritzker of Illinois to the Illinois legislature regarding the state’s 2025 budget. The speech is worth watching in its entirety. The video is here: Gov. Pritzker delivers Illinois State of the State Address 2025. Governor Pritzker said, in part,

I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings — that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems.

I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next.

All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it. [¶]

Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the “tragic spirit of despair” overcome us when our country needs us the most.

Concluding Thoughts

I need to cut this newsletter short due to travel. I recommend reading the Comment section to Sunday’s newsletter, where readers posted responses to Musk’s “justify your existence” email. Sunday Comments open

I have been in correspondence with several readers over the weekend regarding the events of last Friday in the upper echelons of the military. Some commentators have referred to the broad-ranging replacement of top military leaders as a second coup by the Trump administration. I don’t disagree, although I feel less qualified to comment on military matters than general politics. I therefore urge everyone to read Heather Cox Richardson’s essay on the military terminations on Friday, here: February 22, 2025 - by Heather Cox Richardson. This is an important story, please read HCR’s take on the firings.

I agree with the sense of alarm and urgency that everyone is raising over the firings. But I have spent some time over the weekend disagreeing with readers about one point: I have great faith in the men and women of the military to abide by their oath to defend the Constitution. Frankly, I feel much more comfortable with the 1.3 million Americans who have volunteered to serve their country than I do with the six members of the reactionary majority on the Supreme Court.

The military is representative of America. They are you and me. They look like America. They are America. And they are professionals who are loyal to the Constitution despite the handful of leaders at the top who live fantasy lives as heroes in first-person shooter video games.

Despite Hegseth’s efforts to corrupt the military, he might as well try to corrupt the American people. He can’t. Will some follow his lead? Certainly. But a million or more will not. Asking millions of men and women in the military to violate their oaths is the quickest way to dissolve military order and discipline.

To be clear. We should be alarmed by Hegseth’s moves with military leadership. But I believe in and trust the professionalism and patriotism of the 1.3 million Americans who serve their country—and us.

[Robert B. Hubbell]

[queerprayers]

I’m unemployed dropped out of school before I reached high school and am unbaptised. Does God care about someone like that

Welcome, beloved, to the blog of a high school dropout who walks dogs (but has never actually been employed anywhere), and was baptized as a baby and so did not have any choice in the matter! God cares about both of us, and has given us ways to serve Them in our own lives, as we are now.

Your employment status can obviously matter quite a bit in terms of survival, because of the world we live in, but itself has no bearing on your relationship with God. Whatever the reason you don't have a job, you have a life worthy of care, from those around you and from God. Being employed has never been a Christian focus--devoting your life to God has. Capitalism has changed so much, but please know that the ways the system (and those misled by it) shames you do not reflect the will of God. No human system can decide your worth.

Your level of education, similarly, doesn't say anything about you that God cares about. I dropped out of school for health reasons--whatever yours are, even if you don't feel they're good, whatever! High school was invented like 200 years ago, and has nothing to do with God's care for you. Education is holy--reading, talking to different kinds of people, learning about history and the natural world, thinking about God. This knowledge is in schools but it's also everywhere else. I'm not telling everyone reading this to drop out of high school, but I am saying that there are so many beautiful paths without it. I would also point out that in many places, there is support for people who left schooling early--my city, for instance, has free GED (high school equivalency diploma) programs. If that's something you want to change (of your own volition, not because God will care about you any differently), it's very possible that you can.

Baptism is the most easily changed thing on this list, if you seek it. Most churches require some discussion beforehand, maybe a class to learn about the denomination, but there aren't huge barriers (and there is no test of worthiness). If it's not in your future, for whatever reason, I can still tell you God cares about you, fully, as you are. Baptism is lots of things for lots of people--a symbol, a physical manifestation of grace, a welcoming into a Christian community, a sealing of a covenant--but it has never been the first moment of care from God. That has already passed--it was the first moment you existed. To say you need to be baptized for God to care about you is to say that God doesn't care about anyone from any other religion, or about those who die before baptism--what a sad life that would be. What a limiting belief.

I don't know you, but I have faith you treat others well. I have faith you wouldn't tell me God didn't care about me because of my job or schooling. So don't do that to yourself. I hate to break it to you, but you have no say in the matter. It doesn't matter how worthy you are, or how much you're succeeding by our current society's standards. God is love, a love which keeps no record of wrongs, a love which does not weigh with the measures of this world, a love which cannot be contained in the rituals of an institutional church, a love which does not require knowledge or action or belief to surround us. We are saved by this love, not by a diploma or paycheck or a pastor's words.

Go in peace, beloved. Glorify God with your life, not with someone else's. And anyone who tells you that there are limits on God's care is not talking about the God of the Bible--who works through the underdog, who turns any idea of worthiness on its head, who picks the younger son and the tax collector, the unwed mother and the poor father. God comes to where we are, and takes us by the hand.

<3 Johanna

[into-f0lkl0re]

Get to know me!!!

my name is faye!! my pronouns are she/they

i’m a lesbian! i’m 18! turning 19 in august!

i’m actually autistic + adhd (life is a struggle) (please be patient with me because i can not read social cues for the life of me and sometimes have trouble putting my thoughts into words)

i just finished my freshman year of college!! ( very scary!)

i have been writing for my whole life but writing fanfics since i was 13 but didn’t write for a long time and only recently got back into it!! i’m currently unemployed :( and have been looking for a job in my home town! ( i’m home for the summer ) i got to college out of state! i am an art student!

huge theater kid unfortunately (almost became a musical theater major)

i’m from new england! ( big noah kahan fan)

i love concerts so so much

i have been to so many

i’m an og chappell fan (yupppp ik big bragging rights over here)

i competitively swam my whole life i also did basketball ball when i was younger

i’m horrible at spelling ( it a problem thank god for grammarly)

i love reading but haven’t had that much time lately

i’m interested in writing for the uconn wbb team and iowa wbb team and wnba and some other college players like georgia amoore (loml)

i’m also interested in writing for

munagenius

chappell roan

wnba

if you want me to write for anyone else just ask

a couple rules:

hate will not be tolerated

i am pro palestine 🇵🇸 majorly

anytime i can speak up for Palestine i will

i want to be more that a place for entertainment i want to be a support system for you guys

if you need to get something off your chest or just wanna talk bb i’m right here

i will be your online big sister🙏 (acting as if i’m not the youngest in my family)

i am not responsible for your media consumption

If i write smut i am trusting that you are of age reading it but im not your mother.

at the end of the day you are responsible for you

golden rule

not every post will be a fanfic but i do wanna write a lot

i am comfortable writing smut

i will not judge with requests but if you request something i am not comfortable doing i will prob not answer so if you don’t get an answer that is most likely why

when i write i will try to write with little to know physical descriptors unless im writing about an oc.

I want everyone to be able to enjoy my writing and not feel I am writing about a certain race or body type

i will not write about men or do person x amab reader because i’m not comfortable with that

but if yall want me to write about someone that has a particular trait (physical or personality wise just ask because i will if requested)

everything i write is COMPLETELY FICTIONAL!!! In no way shape or form am i assuming somebody’s sexuality or gender identity or even who they are as a person. it is none of my business. so please keep that in mind.

i will make a master list so it’s easier to find my work i just have no idea have to do that so… (if anyone knows how please help🙏)

Big thing!!

I am a person like the rest of you. someone who is constantly growing and evolving. if you find something in my work incorrect or inaccurate please tell me anonymously or not

I really appreciate that kind of thing and i am all for growing and changing to become a more educated person

just be kind i feel there is a lack of kindness today and i think we all could use a little kindness

big forehead kissed💕

-faye

[sickvictorianangel]

Hey guys! Just want to tell you that I have a lil Ko-Fi page 🤍

I am currently unemployed and jobs are scarce where I live, on top of my mental health check list being a no no for most companies 😬

I am currently streaming from Mondays to Saturdays at 2:30 PM EST on Twitch (link for the channel on my pinned post). And I am currently playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Also plan on playing The Sims 4 challenges, Stardew Valley and many other fun games. But, if y'all can (of course, only if you have to spare) also help me on my Ko-Fi, I would really appreciate it, as I need medication and other important things at the moment 🤍

Also, if you can just interact with the post by reblogging with tags and liking it. It will help me already. ☺️

[cator99]

ISO advice.

I've written up some notes on how I want my discussion with my landlord to go. I have two options.

1) for the sake of keeping things as stable as possible, I've made a plan that relies on lying to cover my own ass and maintain the state of the home as it is, ie, to tell her that the reason I initially contacted her last month hoping to plan a phone call between us (things were too busy for both of us until now) was out of concern for several issues in the home directly relating to [Pins Girl] but thankfully the issue has resolved itself. I think it would be in my best interest to vouch for the new girl, and to pretend that she hasn't been living here off the record for over 6 months. However, I must confess: I am a terrible liar. It causes me discomfort. My speech becomes stilted unless I convince myself that a lie is the truth, or I simply choose the path of omission. I can do that with enough preparation. I certainly have had the the time to do so and have been preparing myself. That's easy. However my landlord is a lawyer. I have a great deal of respect for lawyers and women in general– and when it comes to her concerns irt this house, and the people who live here... I understand completely. Does that mean I'm prepared to screw them all over? Absolutely not. But I have to think of what's best in this situation. I intend to go into this with the explicit intention of, most of all, establishing a positive rapport– that's my primary goal, because i sense a growing animosity between those in this home and her (and I don't want to be put on the losing side....... which..... would almost inevitably be that which currently has zero lawyers on it)... I've been on the observing side and the recieving end of this animosity here... and I know that their issues have little to do with her, or this house, and are ideological in nature. They all perceive hostility where there is none. The unemployed FTM has mentioned 3 times (at least that I've managed to overhear) that he takes offense to her contacting us via her work email because he sees it as an "intimidation tactic". "Are you insane. That's literally just her email you god damn goof. "She loves to just FLAUNT that she has this big swanky lawyer job, and she wants us be afraid"– of what? Oh maybe of evicting us because you've put yourself in a position where that's possible. Amazing. I dont perceive a woman with an education and a JOB as a threat but I could see how that might hit hard to a lazy misogynistic NEET. This woman has stated in her most recent email that she would as much as possible like to prevent the adding and removing people from the lease willy nilly so as to avoid this place becoming a revolving door for just whoever feels like being here since that's a situation that she reasonably knows could lead to a goddamn nightmare housing scenario.

Option 2) If I say Hey [PG] put us in some real hot water and is now jumping out of the pot and leaving us to deal with it, and now we're all in a position where we now have to choose between getting this unbelievably messy person (true and it wasnt an issue to anyone but the hazbin hotel cokehead basement dweller but this girl is planning on moving into the room next to mine as soon as PG vacates..... hellish.) put on the lease, OR, having here here off the record and potentially putting us at risk of eviction and totally screwing all of us over. Since I am of the understanding that while what they are doing here with the new roommate is technically legal, according to ontario tenancy law, that despite it going against the lease, she has no grounds to evict us over this. My understanding of this is very little but the upstairs people are very intelligent and seem certain that nothing will come of her pursuing any legal action based on us having an additional roommate here that isn't on lease. I doubt how true this claim is. I could propose that since the true Problem Tenant is moving out in 3 days, that in exchange for having me on the inside to update her on quite literally anything and everything she needs to know, she consider..... idk. Not adding the new girl, for starters, since she is a certified Problems Tenant. And then, if she really wants to find something to evict over... she would have me on her side to get that done and over with so long as she agrees to keep me out of hot water when all is said and done.

So yes I could either lie my ass off and chit chat as though I always intended it for this conversation to not be more than me establishing a line of communication for the good of both parties– or I could propose a sort of covert deal with the landlord. And if she does choose to pursue evicting the others--- maybe, at the very least, she will trust me enough to let me keep living in peace in my little bedroom sanctuary. Maybe I'd even get to have some sort of input on who else gets to move in. My god. We could get rid of all the horrific bullshit decor. Make this place look nice for once. Holy fuck. Yeah fuck these people think about the long term gains. Is it selfish? Yes. But think of the beautiful possibilites. This is a gorgeous home. I could even fill her head with the idea of my tradie dad doing some pro-bono renos and tell her all about how he built an entire basement in my parents house out of what had initially been a bug infested yearly-flooding concrete tomb. Sure it took him until 3 years ago to even start doing all that and it just kinda sat there in its shit state for 15+ years but I mean... he didnt have the money til he got a good job. Then dude just went and built an entire bathroom out of scratch. The place looks fantastic. Well.... that's a thought. He'd do it too. Dude loves a project. BUT I'm getting ahead of myself. LOL.........

In about 2 hours, I'll have to make the right call. So. Advice? Am I crazy? AITA?? Ontologically Evil? These people will be utterly fine if they have to vacate. That's just the reality of the situation. And yes. The landlord has pre-emptively agreed that this conversation will stay between us. Hehe

[wiltedboaart]

COMMISSIONS OPEN

I just need $300 more to cover all the crap.

Keep reading for context;

This month has been incredibly rough. I was forced to pay $1000 towards something. I'm not even allowed to talk about the involved issue from the past that I just don't want to deal with anymore. For my own health, I paid it off, and then immediately after, my freezer broke at my house, and all my frozen rodents for my animals spoiled. So now, all of my pet snakes are completely without food, and that's not cheap. And then, as if that's not enough, a week after that, one of my snakes got sick, and I had to take it to the vet.

I am unemployed and see no way I will be getting a job anytime soon. I have applied everywhere imaginable, and for the past year and a half, I have been turned down, even after secondary interviews. Nobody ever reaches back out, and nobody ever tells me why I was declined. My only source of income has been selling characters and adopts or taking commissions. Unfortunately, this puts me in a rut, and I owe so much money right now. I have no choice but to take on new orders to help my animals because I am too attached to them to sell or rehome them. They are healthy; it's just that I've hit a major roadblock, and I need help.

All I need is $300

So here are some offers:

2025 commission prices

if you're interested in a certain kind of art not shown please let me know.

Additional OCs are $10-$20 , not applicable for Icons or Ref sheets.

This will not affect current commissions; all current ones will be done in February. I just need to pay off an important payment. I can share more examples if need be..

Or:

I love doing this type of commission, so I'm going to promote them a bit. Custom designs are also available!

$100 Reference Package Includes:

* 2 full-body illustrations

* 3 expressive headshots

* Close-up of eyes

* Detail shot (optional accessory, marking, or feature)

Optional Add-Ons:

* NSFW reference starting at $150

* Additional art pieces: $10 each (up to $150 total) (comet ref as example)

Or...

🌟 SPECIAL BUNDLE SLOTS OPEN 🌟

I'm offering exclusive bundle slots at a discounted price for the amount of art included! This is your chance to grab an amazing deal while supporting my work.

✨ Payment Plan: You can pay 50/50! Half upfront and the rest after everything is sketched out.

✨ Turnaround Time: Due to the size of these bundles, the maximum TAT is 8 months.

These slots are limited, and once they're gone, they're gone! I'll remove this post when they close.

Message me on discord: ashenstars_

Or send me a note

I take PayPal, venmo, cash app, and zelle

Please share or consider a donation to:

https://ko-fi.com/wiltedboa

Or

https://cash.app/$Jscalezz

[rae-lune]

fanfic author interview game!

thank u for the tag, my tumblr tag game queen @pretentiouswreckingball loved reading urs, am obsessed with u <3

How many works do you have on AO3?

five! perfect time to get tagged in this lol

What's your total AO3 word count?

111,731 :-) (only since june! can u tell i was unemployed this summer lol)

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

In silence, wide-eyed

the magic fabric of our dreaming

Time Was Runnin' Wild (Still Don't Know What I Was Waitin' For)

Scatter My Atoms

The Sound of the Unlocking (she's brand spankin' new!)

Do you respond to comments?

yes!! i love to get comments and always respond like, straight away lol. i have no chill

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

hmm, probably In silence, wide-eyed. that one has a hopeful ending and i wouldn't say it's particularly angsty, but the other completed fics all (to me) have definite happy endings, so!

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

magic fabric of our dreaming, 100%. that one is just wolfstar like, disgustingly in love the entire time and i love it.

Do you write crossovers?

no! don't know that i ever would either

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

no! but i am a baby author, so. maybe my day is yet to come

Do you write smut?

yes, i have! most of my fics are rated mature and i wouldn't really call that smut, but Scatter My Atoms is explicit. and i plan to write more explicit stuff in the future ;)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i am aware of :-)

Have you ever had a fic translated?

no but that would be so cool!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no but i am very much not opposed to the idea.......

What's your all-time favorite ship?

wolfstar!!! i love and read other ships but i am a wolfstar slut thru and thru.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Scatter My Atoms. i will finish it, but that date is soooo TBD. it was the first idea i ever had for a fic and it's my baby, but i started publishing it right before i started a new job and got married and life just lifed. i also do not think i had enough experience with writing again after so many years to do the story justice when i first started posting it. i ALSO don't love that i started posting it as soon as i finished chapters instead of writing ahead-- i got heinously stuck and now it's been so long that even though i've sorted through the issue in my head, the thought of opening it back up makes me unbearably nervous lol. but i do still love the story and it will be finished, just probably after i reach a few other goals i have for myself this year!!!

What are your writing strengths?

oh man, idk. i've been told by lovely commenters that i describe emotions really well!!

What are your writing weaknesses?

definitely the planning/organization of a story. i think it's something that's becoming easier as i write more and more, but 95% of the time i think of an idea for a fic i have such a clear understanding/vision of the beginning that either the middle or the end (or both!) get lost. (see above about Scatter My Atoms, lol-- this def happened there.) (woman is faced with consequences of her own impatience! shocking!!) (i am an aries, ok??) i'm working on taking my time to think things all the way through and have already noticed a difference in ease of writing and how happy i am with the end product!

also, i ramble!!!!!!

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

huge fan, language is so sexyyyy and i love when characters are multilingual and have little words or phrases or just start goinggggg in a different language. i mostly read fics on my kindle, so it's really easy to translate as i read. i also have written and will continue to write french into mine!

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

i am currently percolating on an idea for a drarry fic that i'm very excited about! though i'm not sure when i will get around to writing it. idk if i'd ever write another fandom, but if i did it would almost certainly be arcane (jayvik, my messy divorced beloveds).

What's your favorite fic you've written?

i love all my children, but i am especially proud of The Sound of the Unlocking!

no pressure tags: @static-radio-ao3 @veganbutterchicken @itsjaywalkers @severedreamerfox @languagelessonswolfstar + open tag :-)

[4amode]

I am Mahmoud Helles, the owner of the donation campaign.The campaign aims to expel my family from Gaza and expel my wife to Egypt due to her serious condition with a kidney injury. Please enter my page and then share .https://gofund.me/53fa2830🌹🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🌹😭😭😭

Certainly!!! Wishing you all the best. I don't have much to donate because I'm currently unemployed, but I will help and participate however I can.

DONATE TO SAVE MAHMOUD’S CHILDREN

Please consider donating to help Palestinians in need like @hillesmahmoud and his family. Every donation counts. If you can't donate, please share so that these gfm can reach people who can.

This is a vetted gfm. You can check on @el-shab-hussein 's vetted fundraisers masterpost, number 170.

[whisperingspinesliterary]

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the library.

As far as wrap-ups go - I'm a little late. And as far as intro posts go, well - I'm not quite sure this is the best way to start. But here we are. You may call me Whisper; I'm 28, a life-long reader, self-taught writer, an avid gamer, and a movie enthusiast. I've been in a years-long reading slump, and finally managed to crawl my way out of it in early 2024. Trust me when I say, my love of reading is something I never want to forget about myself again. So here I am!

I had a blog years ago, but I couldn't even tell you what I used to write about. I decided, in order to keep in my rediscovered booksphere, why not start a blog to log my adventures in reading and maybe even talk about my own books that I'm crafting and movies that I love? A catch all place for story lovers. I'm also starting a YouTube channel, which you can watch HERE. It has some new videos, as well as some old writing videos from last year when I originally started posting on it.

I'm so excited to be diving into this endeavor!

As a whole, 2024 was a hell of a ride. Both in life and in books. I spent most of 2024 unemployed, which hasn't happened since I was a teenager. (I still am unemployed; it is a rough market out there...) But I also found some new favorites and read books that I will gladly never touch again. I started tracking my progress on StoryGraph (you can follow HERE). It's an app and website that was created and is owned by a black woman. I find it much more intuitive and user friendly than GoodReads. It also gives more in-depth breakdowns of your reads up to the current! Honestly, I can hardly navigate the GoodReads app.

Last year, I tracked 12 novels, 29 manga, 1 audiobook, 2 novellas, roughly 17 short stories, and only DNF'd 2 books. Pretty solid for just rewetting my feet. My goals this year are to read 25 novels (about 2 a month), 3 complete manga series, and double the amount of short stories I read. I think they're pretty reasonable goals, and I'm looking forward to challenging myself!

I have a bad habit of judging books based off their covers. My very first read of last year caught my attention because of its stunning cover. It was the whole reason I bought it. A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poison is a detective novel set in 1920s London. It follows 23-year-old Saffron Everleigh as she struggles with being a woman botanist working at University College London in a time when women in the sciences weren't respected. She finds herself wrapped up in a mystery when a department head's wife is poisoned at a party she's attending, and the professor she works under is the main suspect.

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons is Kate Khavari's debut mystery novel. Honestly, you can tell a bit in the writing, and especially in the way that Saffron handles certain aspects of her mystery. But overall, I really enjoyed the book. I found Saffron delightful to follow and her seedling romance with Alexander Ashton to be adorable. I liked it so much that I bought and read the subsequent sequels - A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality and A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets. I'm looking forward to A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge, which is releasing later this year.

I'm a huge fan of Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, and Franklin W. Dixon’s Hardy Boys. So these books absolutely tickled my fancy. Each mystery gets more intriguing, and the world around Saffron keeps growing and getting richer. My only issue is that in Flowers and Fatality and Society and Secrets Saffron just seems to get angry for no reason. Everything irritates her, and her character is slightly changed from her original personality in Parties and Poisons. As a whole, I give the series a 3/5 and definitely would recommend giving it a read!

I followed Up A Botanist's Guide with a complete genre leap. I dove head long into My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It was her debut book, which may be why it falls a bit flat. Just as the title suggests, we follow Korede as she cleans up after her sister, Ayoola, who has a tendency to kill her boyfriends. As a massive horror fan, I was so disappointed in this book. I really, really wanted to like it. It was such a good premise, and the beginning was so strong. But that's all it has going for it in my eyes.

Ayoola decides to go after the man that Korede has a crush on at work. We're supposed to follow Korede's moral push and pull in the wake of another of her sister's murders while keeping the man she loves from being killed. However, it's never really felt. It's just a bit of wishy-washy back and forth inner dialogue. The climax didn't really hit a screaming pitch. It just kind of...comes and goes and then the book is over. Leaving us with an unsatisfying ending. You end up right back at square one, where the novel began. This is one book I would say not to waste your time on.

Luckily, I wasn't disappointed for long. I discovered a new favorite completed series. It was advertised comparing it to Howl's Moving Castle - which is my all-time favorite book and movie. I didn't think twice before I bought the first book. The Lord of Stariel is a gaslamp fantasy series. It has a historical type of fantasy setting, where magicians, enchanters, and illusionists practice true magic. Fae are still creatures of myth, but it doesn't stay that way for long.

The series follows Hetta Valstar, the estranged daughter of the Lord of Stariel. When he dies, she has to go back home to the estate of Stariel - a sentient Fae land that bonds with a person. The first book suffered similar to A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons - when the climax came, they talked it out instead of it actually being climactic. But each subsequent book in the series gets better.

It has dangerous magic, a swoon worthy suitor, and an utterly whimsical world to get lost in. It even has a spin off book, A Rake of His Own, which follows Hetta's brother, Marius. I devoured all five books in about two months. I simply could not get enough. As a series, it's a 5 out of 5 and I can't recommend it enough if you like fantasy.

Sometimes, in the middle of reading a long series, you need a bit of a pallet cleanser. I broke up my reading with a book set in our own world. My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine is a monster romcom, a genre I didn't even think existed outside of comics and manga. The book follows Cassie Greenberg, who's an artist struggling to make a living. She finds an advertisement for an apartment and quickly learns that her roommate is a bit of a weirdo. It definitely gave me a chuckle and had a bit of unexpected spicy. There are parts where the story gets serious, and the tone shift can make it a little muddy. But it's one of those books I'd recommend for anyone looking for a light read. The companion novel, My Vampire Plus-One, recently came out and I can't wait to sink my teeth into that one!

In real life, I don't have ton of friends who read books and most of those who do don't read the same books. So, I was surprised when my friend's wife let me borrow her copy of The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. And even more surprised by how much I loved it. It's a cozy, enchanting story about a man named Linus Baker, who works at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He goes and evaluates orphanages that home magical youth. Every day he trudges through a never ending, grey storm. But one day he's summoned by Extremely Upper Management and sent to a house on an island, where he must decide if the children there are too dangerous.

I cannot put into words how charming this story is. I love all the characters, how warm the world feels, and the soft, subtle way that Linus and the head of the orphanage, Arthur Parnassus, fall in love. This was another book that I absolutely devoured. I can't sing its praises high enough. It's just a fun, feel good read. I loved it so much that I bought the recently released sequel - Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my TBR. I can only hope that it lives up to the same standards as the first one.

Right at the end of December, I managed to squeeze one last book. I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones was my final read of 2024. It's a memoir written by adult 30-something-year-old Tolly Driver as he reminisces about 1989 - the year he became a slasher. I liked the idea; seeing everything from the killer's point of view, finding out what was going through their mind. However, I was sorely let down.

Tolly's narration is a stream of consciousness. Apparently, the whole thing is supposed to be type out on receipt paper. He bounces around from 1989, to previous years, to his present adult self and back. There were spots I had to read three or four times before I released which time period everything was taking place in. There were spots where the sequence of events or the actions of the character were unclear.

As a whole, I found the whole thing a bit ridiculous. It's supposed to be a horror thriller, a serious story about a serious character. But reads like a parody/comedy horror that's taking itself way too seriously. There were supernatural elements that could've been interesting. Tolly's transformation into a slasher was like an infection and the "powers" it gave him just pulled me out of it. I just found that the whole story fell flat. I read the whole book because I was too curious what ludicrous thing was going to happen next.

I'm normally a huge fan of horror comedies, but not when I go in expecting it to be a real, solid horror story. Anybody looking to read a decent horror book, I'd say pass this one over. But if you're looking for a horror parody, then you came to the right place. I'm disappointed since I've heard such good things about Stephan Graham Jones as a horror novelist. However, this was just not the book for me and ended up with a 2/5 on my StoryGraph.

As you can see, 2024 was definitely a wild year for my reading list. I found new series that I absolutely love and some books I will happily never read again. I'm looking forward to many more adventures this year, and I can't wait to see where those books take me. I especially can't wait to bring you all along for the ride!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon!

- Whisper

Let Me Know: Have you read any of the books in my wrap-up? If you did, what did you think? What books did you read in 2024?

____________________

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[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for snapping at a friend?

We're both 20F.

My friend, we'll call her Dove, has recently become single and decided that she's having a "bad bitch era". Dove's ex was a very introverted person and they would not let her go out and experience nightlife/parties/anything that wasn't staying inside on a screen or playing board games. That controlling behaviour is the main reason that they're an ex now.

Dove has gone from never planning anything with me and always relying on me to initiate conversation to actively trying to do as much as possible. This is great, I'm very happy for her that she's getting all the experiences that she missed out on from 18 - 20 with the dickhead.

However, another fact about Dove is that she is unemployed and has never had a job. She is living off her parents, which is fine, if they want to and can pay for stuff go ahead. I am not in rhe same situation, and I'm currently working early morning shift work (4am starts).

Dove doesn't understand how different our circumstances are, despite me explaining it to her several times, and its really winding me up. She keeps trying to make plans to go out clubbing (none of our other friends will go with her, so this is pretty dependant on me) and then getting pissy with me that I can't tell her when I'm free next week yet because the schedule isn't handed out till the Sunday before. Or she keeps trying to get me to come out last minute when I have to be up at 3am to get to work.

She asked me again to go out while we were on call today and I snapped at her "no I can't do Fri, I already told you, some of us have jobs". She got all quiet and changed the subject. I feel very mean but I'm so tired all the time from this shift (I'm trying to change to the day shift) and she's just being completely oblivious to it on purpose. I have told her this chill and calm many times before, twice in that call and she's just ignoring it. I'm so tired and probably a bitch. Aita?

What are these acronyms?

[eddiediaaz]

help me figure out my personal/profesionnal life (jk i'm just feeling messy and curious because i seriously don't know what to fucking do)

for context: i've been working successfully in the vfx industry since 2016. unfortunately, following the (much needed) hollywood strikes last summer, the industry was shaken. then, as the vfx industry was slowly starting to get up from the 2023 strikes, my government (quebec, canada), decided to cut much needed tax credits/funding for the industry. this decision was announced only a month ago (june 2024), which means the industry will not get better and will actually mostly die out, because it relied a lot on this funding to support the artists' salaries. it's estimated that only 20% of jobs will remain in the province where i live by 2025 (i myself have been unemployed for 6 months now). i am not a senior artist, so i would struggle finding a job with so little openings and multiple artists fighting for the same opportunities. i like working in the industry, the money is good enough for me and the projects can be interesting. but it's also a lot of overtime work sometimes, and it's quite a volatile industry since it's not regulated/unionized.

even more context: i'm 31, i have no money, no savings, a few k's of credit/film school debt left to pay, and that kind of "specialized" work i did for 7 years (vfx compositing) is a bit too niche to be applied to another job, to be honest. the two main options are to follow the industry somewhere else in canada (like vancouver or toronto, which are both a lot more expensive than my current city), or even london and especially australia; or start over with a new career. moving sounds fun and quite daunting, but i also don't have much money, no family outside of my province, and i have 3 cats to think about. there's also the possibility to keep working in the film industry but to do something else. which would also require to restart from the almost bottom. i also have no clue what kind of job/career i wanna do if not vfx, but i'm trying to stay open minded about it. what would you do?

[adviceformefromme]

Hiii,

I would love to have your insight on my issue or crisis.

I'm now living alone. I moved out (I used to live with a family friend, but she has an awful character, and I always get sick there due to being stressed out/overworked, I worked for her because she owns a business, and she isn't paying me enough, she pays me a quarter and even less from everyone else), and I was supposed to have a job, I applied, get hired and all that but it didn't turned out well. So, now I'm unemployed, and I'm looking for a job again. But it's been over a month, and my anxiety is skyrocketing. I'm so worried over the next few weeks because I might run out of money, and I have pills to pay, food, and everything else. I am budgeting what's left to fit all my expenses. I am so worried. I don't have anyone I can confide to, ask for help, or anything. I feel so alone and miserable. I really don't know what to do anymore.

I'm still currently applying for a job, hopefully I'd get hired as soon as possible. But as of the moment, this situation is really taking a toll on my well-being. I can't sleep, and I'm constantly worrying about what might happen to me tomorrow, the next few days and weeks. I'm so stressed out. I really don't know what to do anymore.

Thank you for reading this. Would love to have your advice on this one. Love lots, and take care always xx.

Hey sweetie, omg I FEEL you! I have been there. I was thrown out and had no were to go when I was 19 and I was literally desperate. I had no money, no job and also when I was 21 same thing. As difficult as this situation is, you have to believe it's literally the moments before your break through, and this is where your task is to trust and lean into faith. I know you have a vision, of where you want to be, i know you are trying your very best to get there, or even just get on the path there so keep focusing on what you want, nothing less. Pour all your energy into where you want to be. Not who screwed you over, not how difficult life is. IGNORE THE 3D. Focus all your mental energy on where you want to be. This is going to require you to be pro-active in thinking positively. Things you can do right now to help yourself. 1] Grab a pen and paper or the notes in your phone. Write down exactly what you want. The vision. Let go of what you don't want otherwise you're dragging more of that into your future. Write about the dream job, where it is, what you wear to work, what time you wake up, what your new boss is like, get into DELULU. Make shit up. Be creative. As long as you write in present tense. I AM. Keep doing this. Time yourself for 5 mins writing (longer if you can). You also want to imagine the phone call receiving the good news. Just keep pretending 'OMG THEY OFFERED ME THE FUCKING JOB AGHHHHHH' literally go there, this is your oscar moment. Let the tears stroll down because you are so happy, the struggle is finally over. Pretend you're on the phone to your imaginary boyfriend telling him the best news about your new job. Imagine getting the keys to your dream apartment. As crazy as this all sounds the most important thing you do is FEEL into where you want to be, and do this as often as you can throughout the day. Become obsessed with your vision. Put hourly timers on your phone, the main goal is to move you out of the darkness you are in right now. 2] Listen to positive music. Let go of the depressing shit, listen to beautiful songs that make you feel hopeful, energised. Binural beats, pop music that uplifts you, harp playlists on youtube, whatever lifts your spirits, use sound to assist you. 3] Go for a run! Running is free. Is allows you to free your mind, shift your energy and realise some of the weight of the world. 4] Stop talking about what you don't want. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES speak from this moment on, about what you do not want. Don't speak on it. Words are spells, make sure you are only speaking on GOOD NEWS. If anyone asks you about your job search, tell them its going well and you're feeling like something good is about to happen. Pause mid sentence if you find yourself speaking negatively. 5] GET PREPARED. Mentally, physically. I'm not sure what country you are in but there are charities like 'Dress for Success' (globally) that help women with free work clothes, my friend used to volunteer there and they have incredible designer clothes they donate to women for work purposes. See what support is available to you and lean into it. 6] PRAY. Speak words to the unseen, ask for a sign, guidance, a job today, some money to come from somewhere, whatever feels natural for you. Lean on prayer for support. There is a GOD available to you, ready to help. Speak to him, ask him for help, don't be shy, if you're mad, if you're upset let him know. He is there for you, and will help and change your life. He has changed my life so much and I trust he can and will do the same for you. When you feel like you have no-one, I promise you, if you lean on God he will change your life like you could never imagine. I hope these points help sweetie. Sending all the love xoxoxox