Sorry I haven't been active or writing in a while. Its been... chaotic, to say the least. Stressful.
That new job of mine (soon to be old) has been draining me physically and mentally. I lost a significant amount of weight in a short period since joining, just because I either was too busy to eat or too stressed.
The toll it has taken on my mental health has been large too... (i had a breakdown and cried in front of my managers recently because of some of the things they said)
Long story short, I plan to hand in my resignation soon but haven't found a new job yet... so I'll once again be back in job hunting hell. I already have a few interviews lined up but nothing guaranteed yet, so hopefully this round of job hunts favors me more than the last.
It isn't wise to quit without the next stream of income guaranteed but I also need to protect my mental health and wellness, and my workplace has been crossing boundaries on both right now 😭
I really want to write again, but I need my life to be stable to be able to do that comfortably...
Fingers crossed for me everyone. Please help manifest a healthy job and work-life balance for me soon 😭
I spoke too soon. It’s hell here. In the “there’s too much to do and too little time and people to do it” way.
I regularly am at the office at 8am and finish at 9pm-10pm. And once I get home close to 11pm, I shower and sleep. No dinner.
Come morning I skip bfast to get to work. Maybe have a slice of bread in the 10mins I can scrounge up to eat lunch. If I am lucky enough to escape the office by 6pm, I’m still so tired I just shower, maybe have cup noodles for dinner, and am sleeping by 8-9pm.
I haven’t done anything outside the weekends for myself besides work since I started. And most weekends I also spend recuperating.
What is work life balance. How does anyone have it.
it has been a complaint train here and I know and I apologize. But i dont know who else or where to vent or have someone to listen (there is one, and she knows who she is, but I bother so much that I’m trying my best not to, with little success)
I need to get the fuck out of Japan and go somewhere with reasonable work-life balance.
that fic writer you love so much? spam them with love. talk about their writing to them. give them compliments and talk about where you thought the story was going. TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT THIER CONTENT AND WRITING IS. TALK TO THEM. TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS. HELL, TALK TO ANYONE ON YOUR DASH WHO WILL LISTEN.
BOOST THE HELL OUT OF THEIR CONTENT IF YOU LOVE IT.
we should support the art we love, in wHATever form.
Omg, thank you so much for the event and CONGRATULATIONS ON 1K!!! There’s so many fandoms to choose from so I think i will request for one that I feel is often overlooked, if that's alright. And I wasn't sure if we were allowed to send in songs in other languages so I sent in 2, for you to pick from! I hope that's okay🥺
Character: Hitsugaya Toshiro
Songs: [Qing Fei De Yi by Harlem Yu] or [I Liked You So Much We Lost It by Ysabelle]
I just wanna be either super loved and adored by a devoted Toshiro or be absolutely heartbroken by a starcrossed lovers type of circumstance. There’s no inbetween.
-🦊
You don't remember very much about being a Hollow. But you remembered his face. White, wild hair falling over ice blue eyes. A stern brow stitched together in permanent worry. A downward turned mouth of perfect lips. There was something familiar in it - something that touched an old memory that should have been long forgotten, and if you thought about it hard enough, you could recall the feel of them.
Or maybe it was just your imagination.
You don't remember his sword coming down on you, slicing you in two, causing your soul to fracture and vanish into dust. It had happened in an instant.
And now here you were, soul cleansed of its impurities and stitched back together as if you'd always belonged. Here, in the Soul Society.
You'd woken up robed in white, surrounded by white. White linens, white curtains, white floors. The only color you could find was in the blue sky outside your window and in the flesh-toned faces of the Healers that milled amongst the rows of beds. Full beds, not a single one empty. A sea of unfamiliar faces, and your brow furrowed in confusion.
"It will take time to recover." The woman with the long, black hair said, her calm voice cutting through your haze. "Your soul was lost for a long time."
Whatever that meant.
All that flashed in your memory in this moment was his face.
And a deep, dark pit of emptiness. Emptiness and pain. But as soon as the memory began to surface, it was swept away again in a warm light. You looked up to see the woman's hands glowing, her eyes closed with focus. After a minute, the sensation was completely gone.
You laid back into your lush pillows and stared out the window, taking in the great expanse of the city below you. None of it was familiar.
"I feel like... I was searching for someone." you replied.
The woman nodded. "Hollows are lost souls that lose their way, consumed by despair or anger. Perhaps there was someone you'd lost."
The emptiness trickled in again, bringing with it the tingle of discomfort. No, not discomfort. Pain.
The woman's hands glowed again as she waited patiently for you to process your thoughts.
"Y-yes..." you began. "I... I think I did... someone precious to me..."
"Perhaps you'll find them here." she replied. "All souls come here eventually. They may already be waiting for you."
You stared at the sea of unfamiliar faces in the room with you and then out at the vastness of the city.
"But how will I ever find them in all of this? There are billions of souls here..."
"You have eternity to find each other." she replied. "And often souls are pulled together by more than chance."
"You're awake..." said a male voice.
You whipped your head around at the sound, the familiarity ensnaring you. Your eyes widened.
"It's... it's you." you whispered.
The man with the white hair gave a silent nod.
The woman with the black hair smiled. "This is Hitsugaya Toshiro. He's the one that freed you from your Hollow form. He visits all the souls that he frees... when he can find the time, of course."
Toshiro gave her a side glance, acknowledging her playful jab. No doubt it was nearly impossible for a Soul Reaper to meet every freed soul.... right? Why would he commit himself to such a thing?
He took a seat in the empty chair next to your bed. "So. You remember me?"
You stared at his eyes. They were so familiar, and yet...
You cocked your head to the side slightly. "A little...? I know your face... from when I was a Hollow... I think?"
He stared at you for a long moment. "Anything else?"
He seemed so calm, and yet...
Toshiro's eyes traced over every inch of your face, every detail. It felt as if he were searching for something...
Or someone...
The tense furrow of his brow was still there and you wondered if it ever went away. What could possibly trouble him so much that it remained permanently etched into his young face? Without thinking, you reached out your thumb and smoothed it over the crease.
He froze, sucking in a short breath. You immediately withdrew your hand.
"I'm sorry, I... I don't know why I did that..."
The crease was gone now, his eyes wide as he stared at you. Then he regained his composure and cleared his throat.
"It... It's fine. " His fingers absently rubbed at where you'd touched him a moment earlier. "Are you sure you don't remember anything else?"
You thought for a moment, then shook your head. The dark haired woman continued her healing light and it made it difficult to think, to remember.
"That's enough, Toshiro." she said softly. "There will be plenty of time for questions later. There is still much healing to be done."
Toshiro dipped his head. "Of course." He looked back at you. "I'll return tomorrow."
"I'd like that." you smiled.
He gave a nod, and walked way. Something about his stride, about the silhouette of his back tickled an old, forgotten memory. Cherry blossoms. A bridge. Him turning around to look back at you, a smile on his face. He was younger, then... but he was still the same. Toshiro.
An ache of longing welled in you before simmering away into warmth again.
"I... I think I knew him." you whispered. "Before I was a Hollow."
The dark haired woman remained silent. But the shape of her mouth held the smallest ghost of a smile.
* * * * * *
Toshiro hesitated as he stepped out on the steps of the building, the sunlight warm on his face. He closed his eyes and turned his face towards it as he felt a heavy weight lift from his shoulders.
He did it. He finally found you. He'd searched for so long...
Seriously wondering what would happen if mc somehow introduced internet slang to the boys LMAO that'd be interestin
-💜
ngl, it'll probably be less interesting than you think it will be fhds just imagine regular people learning internet slang for the first time; it's usually a mixed bag of reactions ranging from:
-shakes head in cringe/disappointment
-amusement
-sees the convenience of certain acronyms for efficiency
idk if you've confirmed this yet, buut I had a thought.
you mentioned somewhere that if mc took a few pictures of hyquile or any of the alt boys with her phone it would still be there when she goes back to her world.
armed with this knowledge, what if the boys somehow found the pics? what would happen??
the brain worms are going and I am thinking about it
-💜
unless MC explains to them what's going on, they'd probably think she has been ignoring her health in favor of spending time on Photoshop
Writing Childe for the first time ever for a commission and just realizing how much I forgot about his character and lore sjdjbf
He was my first 5 star and I grinded nonstop to get him after losing 50/50… then I never used him again once Albedo and Xiao dropped lmao (not that I did before that since I was a Razor main back in the day ;w;)
"A hero will sacrifice you to save the world but a villain will sacrifice the world to save you" but GWS bachelors??
Oh anon, you just had to do this didn't you? This is gonna cause such a riot amongst the readers with how divisive the answers are.
But without any hesitation I have split the GWS bachelors (and other characters) into the following groups.
Will sacrifice you to save the world: KUROO, Ushijima, Goshiki, Akaashi, Atsumu (if it is for the foxes but leans strongly into the die trying to save both category)
Will sacrifice the world to save you: OIKAWA, BOKUTO, Suna, Osamu, Daichi
Will die trying to save both: Kita, ATSUMU, Iwaizumi, Kawanishi, Terushima, Kenma
A/N: I started writing this more than half a year ago and decided to pick it back up and finish it but I forgot where I was going with it. I initially wanted to write something more light and introspective, on the pains of growing up and the awkwardness and inability to communicate many of us have, as this fic is partly based off real life experiences, and thus it is a slightly personal fic to me as I reflected on my own past, experiences, and regrets, and hopefully, growth. Then, I had a breakdown and lost the plot lmao. Anyways, have this melting cone of chaos and idk’s.
(This fic is cross-posted to my AO3)
Suna Rintarou doesn’t believe in love at first sight.
He thinks that people who fall head over heels for someone at first glance are fools. Love is something that is grown into, to be slowly nurtured with time and dedication. To his logic-based brain, the entire idea of smashing head first into love at a glance is ludicrous, like a bad car crash where you never see it coming until it’s too late. And that doesn’t sound very pleasant, does it?
But you know what else they say about love at first sight?
That everyone becomes a believer when it happens to them.
Writing Childe for the first time ever for a commission and just realizing how much I forgot about his character and lore sjdjbf
He was my first 5 star and I grinded nonstop to get him after losing 50/50... then I never used him again once Albedo and Xiao dropped lmao (not that I did before that since I was a Razor main back in the day ;w;)
Hello everyone and welcome to my writing commissions post!
I am offering these to help cover the income loss from my secondary job and to buffer against rising rent/utilities…
Even if you cannot commission anything, any reblogs/shares will be helpful!
Tips are also appreciated and welcomed through Kofi!
🌸Slots
1. Childe x OC
2. OPEN
🌸Samples
Long Fics
Chicken Soup For The Soul (Miya Osamu x OC)
GWS! A Legend of Scritches [Inarizaki House Vol.] (Fem!Reader x Inarizaki VBC)
Short Fics
Hips Don’t Lie (GWS!Oikawa x Reader)
Long NSFW
Better Us Than Them (GWS!Miya Twins x Reader)
GWS Tip Jar Buy-Out:
C32 // The Fellowship of the Ring
C33 // Answers & Farewells Share A Face
Hey fam! The Mouse is refusing to recognize the unionization efforts of its production workers. If you're not familiar with what PAs or PMs do, I'll outline it briefly. The tl;dr is that NO ANIMATION WOULD GET DONE WITHOUT PRODUCTION WORKERS. They are the glue holding together every single production of your very favorite cartoons!
They take notes in all the meetings with the artists.
They make sure the artists are meeting their deadlines (and showing up to the meetings in the first place).
They help us navigate studio servers to find the files we're looking for.
They send us our time cards, and make sure we get paid!
Production workers do all this and more, often for minimum wage. The hardships that they suffer as a result--the long hours, the unpaid overtime, the abuses of power--are horrific.
You'd really think that they'd be compensated fairly for these jobs! Can you imagine trying to live in Los Angeles or New York on minimum wage with a job that definitely won't allow you time to pick up a second or third one??
This has to stop, and you can help.
All that Walt Disney Animation Studio's production workers ask is that you add your name to this petition! That's it.
This isn't some Change.org petition. It's not going to sell your email to spam companies. This is through IATSE (our union)'s website.
if you're not in this job, you would never know how intense, involved, and straight up complex animation production is, but because it's mainly administrative, behind the scenes, and most skills are taught, production staff are often viewed as highly replaceable and unimportant. not everyone is nice to us, and more and more studios are stripping production personnel of our "corporate" status, meaning if the show ends or gets cancelled, studios aren't required to relocate us to another one. when this happens to artists, the guild protects them, but production will lose all benefits and will need to file for unemployment until they can find a new job (which isn't easy in the animation industry these days!). remember, a season of a show takes only about a year and a half to make. losing all benefits and having to file for unemployment every year and a half is NOT a way to build a career nor is it a stable and sustainable way to live!
to follow up on OP's points, here's some more stuff production staff does:
STORYBOARD AND ANIMATIC
managing the master project file, which sometimes means scanning, cropping, camera adjusting, and typing hundreds or even thousands of panels, dialogue, and action notes by hand into storyboard pro if the artist drew them in photoshop or traditionally
pinning up and taking down boards for pitches and reviews (yes, manually, with push pins on walls). every note drawn on those pieces of paper needs to be scanned and sent to the artists.
inputting new and revised panels into the board project file and then exporting them to the animatic editor, which necessitates memorizing the board front to back because artists don't always track their panels or tell you which ones have been updated and you have to know instinctively.
conforming, which means going panel by panel and comparing it to every frame of the animatic to make sure they're a complete match, which happens multiple times and usually requires quick turnarounds.
RECORD
reaching out to recording studios, voice directors, and talent agencies to coordinate record times and availabilities.
creating the schedules, typing up scripts, adding line numbers, updating line counts, exporting boards, collecting audition tapes, arranging catering, watermarking literally everything, and making sure everyone involved gets the right stuff and the most updated versions of that stuff ahead of time.
circle takes.
sending the raw selects to the dialogue editor, arranging radio plays, and sending the clean selects to the animatic or post editors.
DESIGN AND SHIPPING
creating all the templates artists need to design a show's assets (hundreds of them!), which includes pulling board references so they know exactly what to draw, compiling brush libraries, mood boards, and vis dev pieces.
tracking the progress of hundreds of designs across multiple episodes in every stage they're in (and as OP said, making sure the artists turn them in on time).
creating a reference list (a GIANT spreadsheet breaking down every single use of every single design in every single scene of the episode--takes DAYS to create for just one episode!)
preparing shipments of everything the animation production facility (usually international) needs to make the cartoon, which involves a lot of exporting, layer adjustments, cropping, re-exporting, and cataloguing.
POST
acting as the main point of contact for those overseas animation facilities, which often means trying to field questions from a non-native english speaker every day.
making sure the showrunner and exec producer review weeklies/dailies quickly and thoroughly and the notes get to the overseas studio on time.
configuring the retake list so the production can stay under budget (determining retake categories and footage count, which are connected to prices--involves a surprising amount of math!)
assembling retake materials, including creating lists of tasks for artists to do, getting them the shots or designs they need to fix, and making sure all fixes are completed in time.
CONTRACTS
negotiating rates with every non-corporate player involved in the making of a cartoon and making sure all NDAs and legal contracts are signed and correct.
sending boards, designs, animatics, (and as OP said, time cards) to dozens of people with highly specified jobs who require very specific items to do those jobs, making sure they get them at the right times, and making sure whatever they send back (be it notes, sheets, or lists) makes it to the appropriate party so the right action is taken.
and this is all in addition to very stereotypical secretarial work like taking notes at meetings like OP said, managing the showrunner and producer's calendars, and maintaining a pleasant atmosphere for the crew (coordinating game nights, decorating the office, organizing parties or lunches, etc.). production is expected to know everything, what's going on at all times, and how to fix it, which is a lot of work and often, a lot of pressure!
A company finally gave me a job offer but with a pay cut of 18%🥲 which is painful because I'm desperate for work, but my rent is higher at my new apartment (moved last year), inflation is hitting hard on essential goods and utilities, the yen is still shitty and will likely be for the foreseeable future, and there are gonna be more tax hikes coming soon 😭😭
So despite my desperation, i dont know if i should keep trying to find some place that will offer better or suck it up... I already signed up for part time work for every weekend the next few months but it's not gonna be enough 🥲🥲
