#patreons really out here keeping me afloat | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gentlebeardsbarngrill · 26 days

Text

04/02/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys; Rosie; Taika; Vico; Watch parties; New Calendar; Fan Spotlight; Articles; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

= Rhys Darby =

Rhys posted a video about his 25 Anniversary Comedy Special!

Rhys Darby's IG Story

= Rhys & Rosie =

Rosie posted a cute picture on her IG Story, and there's a sneaky Rhys in the Reflection Src: Rosie's IG Stories

= Taika Waititi =

A silly sneaky picture from Rita of our favorite director!

SRC: Rita Ora's Instagram

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico's got a patreon up! Feel free to check it out here!

= Matt Maher =

Matt Maher is back to stage on June 1 and June 2! Thanks @adoptourcrew for giving him this shout out!

PlayWritesHorizon Link

== New Save OFMD Crew Calendar! ==

Wednesday and Thursday: # PirateExperts, 1000% Facts! - Produce and share completely real historical artefacts and sources documenting the events of OFMD. Tag @saveofmdcrewmates on the various socials!

== Watch Parties! ==

Taskmaster NZ Series 1 Watch Party with @saveofmdcrewmates! When: April 3-12 (W,F, Su -2 eps each) Time: 11 am PT/ 2pm ET/ 7pm BST Where to watch: YouTube, TVNZ, Channel 4

Twitter Hashtags:

#Quartermaster

#OurFlagMeansDeath

#Taskmaster

= In Progress Watch Parties! =

Join @iamadequate1 for Flight of the Chonchords April 8-12! More Details to come!

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

Today's cast cards are the French Ship Captain, Daniel Olson! The poor man only wanted to share good bread with the world! Thank you @melvisik for giving him a spotlight!

= Podcasts =

There's a new episode of Never Left! Please check it out on all their socials which you can access via their Linktree!

Artwork was created by Amy Gleason, you can see more of her art @AmysBirdHouse on instagram and in the comic series Mighty Mascots. Our theme music is Gnossienne 5 by Erik Satie, preformed by La Pianista

== Articles ==

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. I know this recap is late-- I am having a habit of falling asleep a the end of the day now, new meds may be contributing to it, so please accept this Love Note as a start to the new day!

Everybody is trying very hard to keep each other afloat right now. We're all staying active in one way or another, whether that's sending lovely letters, or engaging in fandom fun and discourse. Sometimes it's not always fun though. We all get frustrated, we all repeat ourselves, and we all struggle with those things. Sometimes we say things we don't mean, or we say things that people misconstrue, and miscommunication can be rampant.

Just remember that we all make mistakes, and we're all human.

Take a step back.

Take a moment to breathe, go for a walk, go for food, or water, or go scream into the void.

We're all crew, and we do all care about each other even if we don't necessarily agree on things the fandom. We all have our own lives going on and outside factors that make the day to day harder, and we all need to give ourselves some grace for that too. Sometimes emotions get high and taking a step back can help, I know I've needed it lately. @areyoudoingthis reminded me of this yesterday and it really helped me feel more grounded. My brain gets overstimulated sometimes, and it's hard to break away from the thing that's overstimulating it, it's like it wants to keep going and deal with whatever is bothering it.

Just a gentle reminder that you are allowed to detach for a while. You're allowed to take a break. You're allowed to have your opinions, and your concerns, and your frustrations. You are human, and we are all so very flawed, but that's what makes us beautiful. Try not to beat yourselves up for being human.

Take a break, lean on a friend, verbally vomit frustrations into the voice or into a Safe Space Ship. Do what you need to do to get you through the day ok? We all want that. We all want YOU to be okay. If you step away, we'll be here when you get back because we love you crew. Don't forget that, even when tensions are high, we care about what happens to you, and we love you. You deserve grace too.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

Today's theme! Wet and Cars!

Daily Darby courtesy of @fandomsmeantheworldtome!

Today's Taika courtesy of @meluli!

#daily ofmd recap #daily ofmd recaps #ofmd daily recaps #ofmd daily recap #our flag means death #rhys darby #rosie carnahan darby #taika waititi #vico ortiz #watch parties #never left podcast #ofmd

55 notes · View notes

virginmiri99 · 10 days

Text

Ok. I have a lot to say about this. I think it's been abundantly clear they have been struggling to keep the company afloat, but I also think its a double edged sword bv they bit off more than they could chew in the first place. I've had this opinion for a while but it really cemented since the beginning of Ghost Files. I enjoyed what Watcher was at the beginning, I think they put in good work with Puppet History and it still continues to be their standout show and had a fair amount of "low-budget" shows that filled out the edges like are you scared, too many spirits, top 5 beat down, even their dnd campaign. But as soon as Ghost Files started I began to notice a trend of... idk... bleeding money? Ghost Files was so high budget that I was bored. I get that Ryan wanted to breathe new life into a ghost hunting series but what made bfu so good wasn't the ghost evidence... it was his and Shane's friendship. That's why I liked all their small shows near the start of Watcher--it felt like friends. I think they just continued to go bigger and bigger with more things and more random interns and more shows that it just got to be too much which... led us here. I hate to say I haven't watched their videos in forever, and that ghost files bored me so bad I couldn't even finish some episodes... but thats what happened. I get them moving exclusively to patreon. We all need money. But I wish instead of that, they just focused their energy into their CLEARLY popular series. Puppet History was beyond good--their only series that I didn't mind random guests every episode, in fact it was made better by the random guests--mystery files had potential but came at a bad time, ghost files should've been way lower budgeted and focused on modern house calls TBH! I'm sick of old prisons!!!! And get rid of the fan evidence! Stupid! Also IDGAF about fancy gadgets! All you need is three things and let your humor carry the rest of it. Beyond the "big" series they could have their low budget ones like are you scared, too many spirits, top 5 beat down (the show that I hate random guests for), playing videos games idk man, and like one more or something who knows. But with what they dove headfirst into it doesnt shock me they fell into this hole.... I just wished they realized no one cares about the highest of high budget video series... they care about the dynamic between ryan and shane. Im sick of random ass people in their videos wheres steven lim do a video with steven lim why is he banished to do you taxes. wtf put him in top 5 beat down instead of these random ass random people. the drew gooden one was good though I dont mind actual famous funny people being guests.

anyway those are my thoughts. TLDR they bit off more than they could chew, loss sight of what made them so enthralling, and now are washed up youtubers... saddening

#long post

24 notes · View notes

ladyyatexel · 2 years

Text

Have you been thinking that there's a real lack of hopeless strangers on your dash asking for help lately? ☆Congratulations, I have arrived!☆

I feel obligated to a certain level of jesterdom while doing this, like perhaps I can earn my keep by entertaining people. It's bleak and humiliating, but we're gonna Have Fun With It! :D This is perhaps more a note to make to self and to a therapist rather than note here, but it segues well into the important point of:

~.•°¤.°•○~☆ I Can't Afford Shit ☆•*.°○.•°*×

let alone a therapist

I'm currently stuck in a weird position, both physically and situationally, because I have some sciatica scoliosis spinal bone spur nonsense that decided that now was its time to shine. I'm in pain all the time at every angle and position, so I'm not doing Great?

I'm in the middle of the process of filing for disability and if you've ever applied for a job and been frustrated that you gave them all of your information and then the application asked you to give them the same information all over again, applying for disability is like doing that, but times 40, and with information you don't have memorized the way you have your phone number and home address. They also insist on doing it through the mail. My next step is to be evaluated by some kind of impartial physician. My appointments are in mid to late July. I am unsure what they want me to do with myself until that time.

The work I'm trying to do is not enough. I'm making buttons like crazy but in the end they are just buttons and they sell for 2 to $4 and so you really need to be someone who is absolutely psyched about buttons and buys 40 of them or I need to tap into a market that is Larger in order for this to be reliably sustaining. I do not know what that market is. I was the weird kid in school - what is popular, I don't know, I was never meant to know, it is a mystery.

Do not get me wrong, I am currently holding my face above water because of some really enthusiastic fans of buttons.

But I can't sell a month's rent worth of buttons. I don't even think I have the supplies to make that many.

My rent is USD$670, which is hiked up an extra $70 from where it was last year because my landlord wanted to bleed me dry while the world is on fire. Despite how poorly insulated and badly maintained this house is as a structure, I do enjoy having even a badly insulated roof and a place to put all my shit.

If you've got a need for $700 worth of buttons for some reason, hit me up.

If you don't, then hey, I'm another artist in crippling pain on your dash hoping people in better situations than I can help out. I would love to cover my rent to remove that anxiety for myself for another month, but Every Bill keeps happening, so more beyond that it going to my electric which hasn't been paid since February, and my internet which will keep me afloat in nearly every way possible. I'm also almost at the bottom of the bag of Science Diet food that keeps my beloved cat, Onyx, healthy. I do not know how best to keep a ticker tape of a goal, because there isn't one? I need to survive until at least July. It's June 17th as I write this. Two months rent and some cat food? Don't know, I'm five minutes from a phone call which will determine if they will still allow me food stamps.

SO.

Ways in which I can dance for your amusement so that you may throw coins in my direction:

Art Commissions! I can paint like a motherfucker! I have an extremely ill-advised expensive piece of paper saying I can do it!

Check it out, man. There are COLORS and everything.

Radical.

I have a Patreon where you can see Secrets!

And a Ko-fi! I sell buttons on Ko-fi, in case you were wondering when that plot point would come back. It's not very satisfying narratively, I am sorry. Thinking about offering prints there, as well!

I have other options in my sidebar - RedBubble, Society6, etc!

There is also paypal.me/ladyyatexel if you just want to give money to my literally actually broken ass without getting a cool item in return.

And yes, if you're thinking this all looks and feels kinda familiar, I had to dance and beg on the internet in Dec 2021, and I made that go as far as I possibly could. It's six months later and everything I'm trying to do to better my situations is just taking Forever. I'm trying to come up with a way to stay afloat while rescuing myself takes its time.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far, friend. Even just knowing someone listened to you yelling for a minute is helpful.

No need to feel obligated, especially if you don't feel I deserve a second round of help, I understand. But if you wanna spread this around and let me 'Will Art For Food' on someone else's dash, that would be sick.

Take care of yourselves, friends, it is brutal out there.

#assistance #help #in need of help #donations #art commissions #i don't think any of these tags are actually going to work because of the links womp womp

480 notes · View notes

cashthecomposer · 1 year

Text

This is a post asking for help.

Please reblog & share.

Hey gang, I'm being discharged from the hospital after being here since Friday night (so 4 days!). I broke my leg, really severely, after a bad fall. They put a rod in my tibia and secured it with two screws.

Needless to say, I'm in a lot of pain, and I am going to have to have in-home help to help me out with everything from physical therapy to going to the toilet to eating my meals, and that gets expensive. (It was either that or rehab!). Please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon to support my musical theatre work, and help me get through this rough time.

I look dazed and high as hell here, because let's face it, I pretty much am with all the medication the wonderful nurses and doctors here have put me on. But I'm going to keep working and writing to the best of my ability- please help me out here by either contributing to my Patreon or sharing this post, out both, so that I can keep my career afloat while I'm recovering!

All my love,

Cash

42 notes · View notes

applestoashes · 1 year

Text

An Update on Apples to Ashes [and no, this isn’t a cancellation announcement]

Hello Apples to Ashes fans, this is Prima a.k.a Primarvelous. I’m here to talk about development, and update you all on things going forward in 2023.

Let me first reiterate that this project is NOT canceled. When I conceptualized Douglas and the premise of Apples to Ashes back in March of this year, it was truly and completely a new idea then. I wanted to take all the passion and inspiration I’d been fostering from other visual novels I’d been interested in and do something I’d always dreamed of: make my own. What I didn’t expect was how rapidly Douglas and Apples to Ashes would garner traction and attention. It was the first time I’d ever experienced that kind of attention, that people revered something I made that was completely mine, and I treasure that. Let me say thank you to everyone who has shown love to this project. It’s my project, and I’m making it for me first, but I’m so happy to be making it for all of you too.

That being said, I’ve never done anything like this before, and so it has been a learning process. I felt like I had to get the project out as soon as possible, like I had to strike while the iron was hot and mimic my peers, regardless of how different our knowledge and our circumstances might be. After a long year, I’ve been able to reflect a lot on the things that have happened, and I think differently about things. I believe that, more than anything, I want to release a demo that is polished, that is worth all the patience that fans have offered. That does mean it’ll take more time to really produce something that I’m satisfied with. Additionally, I can fully admit that there have been situations and circumstances personal to me that have prevented me from dedicating as much time as I’ve wanted to development, stagnating progress in any capacity. To those that have stuck with me and this project through that, I am so grateful.

I’m proud to say I happen to be involved in some other project as of late that I’m very passionate about. I’ve picked upsome contracted work I can’t go into for privacy’s sake, but I’m excited for you all to see the results of soon. I’m performing voiceover for another project you all may be familiar with, in “See Thru: Need a Friend?” as the titular character and love interest Friend, and I’m very ecstatic to have been cast. I’m depending a lot on these opportunities and my independent work with commissions to keep myself afloat monetarily right now, and I have good feelings about my ability to provide for Apples to Ashes not only funds wise, but I’m also going to be taking everything I learn from these opportunities to better what I produce for you all. I think that’s what makes me the most excited for these opportunities, because what I learn will only add to my ability to make Apples to Ashes what it deserves to be: a fulfilling experience for all of you.

I still don’t intend to open a patreon for this project until I feel fully able to not only manage it, but also like I have something for you all to taste before you decide to pay for it. I’m invested in giving all of you a reason to commit your time and money to this project in the future. I also don’t want to give an expected date of release until I’m sure that I can meet it. I wholeheartedly promise that as soon as it’s clear to me that work is almost done, you’ll all know that the wait is coming to an end.

Until then, I hope you’ll look forward to what the future holds for Apples to Ashes; for Douglas, Xamira, the characters you’ve yet to meet, and all the amazing characters you yourselves have made to go on this journey with. I’m done comparing apples to oranges, I’m ready for the crisp and refreshing bite into a new year.

Thanks for reading,

Prima

Primarvelous

Apples to Ashes creator and director

#apples to ashes game #apples to ashes #visual novel

67 notes · View notes

compo67 · 1 year

Text

struggle bus

this is a mental health/chronically ill post/personal info dump

cn for suicidal ideations, bipolar disorder, depression, mental health

my therapist is on leave for a month, so in the meantime, i'm meeting with my DBT group leader for therapy once a week

the mental health struggle has been real this past month. lots of depression, anxiety, and voices that get so loud that tell me what's even the point of living

i struggle a lot with managing my bipolar disorder and depression. i struggle with getting dressed and showered most days. even the stimulants i'm on don't help as much as they used to before. i spent all day last saturday asleep or crying. i lost a whole day of working on my big bang, something really important to me, because i just couldn't wrangle my brain into functioning in a positive or healthy way

i'm hopeful about sitting with my psychiatrist this thursday and talking about switching antidepressants and maybe upping either the mood stabilizer or the anti-psychotic

i'm also hopeful that he'll be on board with one of the two treatments my other providers have recommended: keta and TMS

both are concerning to me, but they're both recommended for treatment resistant depression

i can't hardly picture what it's like not to be depressed

i know this might be weird to read, because i write such happy/romantic stuff, but it has been a continuous struggle to deal with being so depressed, especially in the past 2 years

i can't keep up writing or my patreon as much as i want to because i'm either too depressed or in too much pain and i just... feel like i let people down because of it

i have been avoiding doing really important paperwork (applying for financial hardship assistance and LTD stuff)

now it *has* to be turned in and the deadline is looming

coming back to this post a few hours later and i feel a bit better sharing this. it's important to me that i share not just the happy stuff but the other stuff that's going on too

i know i will get out of this spiral/flare. it's going to take time and effort, but i *want* to do it

it just gets really hard sometimes

especially when i'm under so much pressure from financial stress

like, i am doing my best to take my benefits and dig myself out of debt while at the same time trying to stay afloat with things like my car payment, car insurance, gas, phone bill, groceries, medical/dental premiums, medical expenses, and everything else

i am hopeful that doing some light SP work will be another income stream and lessen the pressure, but i can't depend on that until you know... i actually start. and who knows how many hours or projects i'll be offered and can physically do?

this flare up has just been awful. i've been flared up since the end of march and prednisone is not doing the trick, which means it's not inflammation, it's probably just EDS

i say just EDS like it's a cold or something when it's a genetic debilitating disorder/syndrome

i think EDS is one of my biggest struggles. it just takes so much energy to keep my joints together

sigh

i just want to be back working full-time, thriving and surviving on my own

but it's not possible at the moment

if i go back to work too soon, i'm just going to wind up in the same place i was in 2021--a big mess

i've been on and am still on the struggle bus

even if it's a struggle bus, i still want to stay on a bus

i still want to be "here"

even if some voices get really loud and try to convince me otherwise

if you made it this far reading, please know i appreciate it

you didn't have to read this but you did and therefore, i <3 you

things will get better.

#compo67 #authorial rambles #personal #mental health #mental illness #bipolar disorder #ehlers danlos syndrome

21 notes · View notes

jasperjv · 7 months

Text

youtube

Hey. So 2 years ago Connor Lavery's aka khonjin's psychological torture of me reached fever pitch in my psyche and I was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital in a severe psychotic breakdown that lasted almost 3 months. Now I'm indexed in his long story of his supposed inexplicable persecution. He thinks me, in my psychotic state, demanding monetary compensation for his gaslighting and harassment, was some kind of attempt at "cancellation" and me throwing a tantrum instead of communicating like an adult. However I deleted my entire social media presence after getting back from the hospital and haven't bothered him since. But he still thinks I did something to him.

The man is dangerous. He believes that the worst sin of mankind is the ego, so he makes it his mission to bully the fuck out of everyone until they have no self-esteem, boundaries of their own, or healthy sense of self whatsoever. The elimination of the ego however is what psychosis is, also unable to suppress the flow of the unconscious, identical to a waking dream. But when that happened to me after 2 years of mind games, he retreated into himself and framed it in the most disgusting way possible. Which you will see.

Embedded here is the first video I made myself specifically on this topic. You will see more details in a more recent video, and follow the trail I put in that video's description to get my full story. For the podcast in particular I would give a content warning for assault, sexual assault, ableism ("saneism"?) and general torture and terror.

There's nothing on God's green earth I could do or say to force him to take me seriously. I have probably half of you people blocked because just seeing anything to do with him would make my blood pressure spike. And it's high enough as-is just due to genetics. Maybe the rest of you might be able to be reached.

I'm so sick of fucking self-centered freaks trying to hold me accountable for actual psychosis because they're so desperate to blame anyone or anything but themselves for their part in tragedy. I really get gaslit about my own psychosis, and forced to prove a negative repeatedly (which we know is a lexical impossibility). I'm handed a blatant double-standard about mental health awareness and basic human decency, when in many cases I desperately need it more than most. Schizophrenia sufferers are 1% of the population. We're dwarfed by most, if not all, other mental illnesses. In this I continue to be thrown alone to the wolves. Sometimes even while being laughed at, it truly feels like. So I feel like I have to do all in my power to help make sure that this happens to fewer people than it would otherwise.

The callouts in 2018, the types of points of persuasion they were trying didn't make sense to me. Maybe this, though, could strike others. I'm more specific about how exactly he destroys people from the inside out. Stay the fuck away from him.

He's scared of losing his financial support from Patreon and ad revenue or whatever. I really, truly felt for that for a long time. But now I know that none of us are obligated to keep his ass afloat. It would be nobody's fault but his own if he didn't even try to heal his fucked up mindset and was just a raging misanthrope nobody wants to deal with. When you get to be my age, you become aware of all the ways to make a living. He could get disability. He could get a factory job, for instance. And that paid me an absurd amount of money. He needs to make up his mind about if he wants to be around people or not. Because he can't keep treating them the way that he does.

Oh, and if you're reading this and you happen to have any social connections with him whatsoever, for the love of God, do not let him put you on the defensive. About anything. Over and over again. It chips away at you. He doesn't have the answers. He doesn't have any objective taste like he desperately wants to think. He doesn't know any wisdoms that you couldn't get from someone who won't talk down to you.

Took me quite a while to convince him of the truth that he is only older than me by only a few months. I needed my hope in humanity and the future in order to not go and end it all. He did not give a fuck. He kept accusing me of lying about not being a naïve teenager. Just for that. Ask any well-adjusted and experienced adult and they will tell you to stay far away from people like that. The motivations that drive them to that behavior and opinion are bad, bad news.

He is intelligent, in the scariest ways. Intelligence of that type allows dysfunctional people like him to fabricate lines of logic that justify and enable the abuse they already sought to do. Literally anything can be justified with just the right kind of logic. Trust your gut. Guard your mind. It's the only one you've got.

He leads an excessively stressful life, creates his own dysfunctional world both inside and around him. I truly believe that this causes him many health problems. I've been having nightmares because of him. And as this built up and weighed heavy on my mind I got a fucking hemorrhoid. It went away very quickly after I made this video.

I'm feeling anxious as I type this. But I have to tell myself that anyone who would continue harassment of me over all the truth I've spoken is not worth my time or space. This isn't for them. It's for me, and it's for people who still have basic respect and empathy left in them.

Yours truly,

"slug"

#khonjin house #supermental #Youtube

8 notes · View notes

bitchesgetriches · 4 years

Link

Noble citizens of the aspirationally decadent Conglomerated Nation of Bitches Get Riches: let’s have a lil’ chat, shall we? It’s been a while since we chatted about our favorite topic: ourselves!

We hope you’ve enjoyed season two of the Bitches Get Riches podcast. Recording it was a bright spot for us during this dumpster fire of a year, so thank you all for listening.

As we wrap up another season, we had a few notes to share with you. Including some more personal reflections about how we’re doing, where we’re at, and what the future holds.

Let’s get into it!

Merch is back online

If you visited our Etsy shop in the last few months, you might’ve noticed the physical merch—tee shirts and coffee mugs and tote bags and such—wasn’t listed anymore. Basically, when lockdowns started, it caused a lot of disruption and delays on orders. Not wanting people to be stuck waiting for stuff, we decided to take it all offline, and only offer digital merch.

As of today, we’ve reactivated everything! But please keep in mind that there may still be delays, depending on what’s happening in the world! We appreciate your patience, if patience is indeed called for.

Visit Our Etsy Shop

Season one transcripts

Next, we wanted to let you guys know that we now have transcripts available for season one of the Bitches Get Riches podcast!

We’re committed to making BGR as accessible as we possibly can. We know that some people can’t hear, or struggle to absorb information aurally, so transcripts were something we’ve always wanted to offer.

… But, you know, at the end of the day, we’re just two people! Transcribing and editing audio is time- and labor-intensive work, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day for us to do it along with the fifteen million other things we have to do.

We were able to offer season one transcripts thanks entirely to A Purple Life, a peerlessly talented and wonderful fellow blogger who selflessly made it happen. (If you don’t already read her stuff, you’ve already disobeyed us, as we commanded you to in 10 Rad Black Money Experts to Follow Right the Hell Now. And for that, we’re strongly considering smiting you.)

We’re incredibly thankful to Purple for her hard work on this. But we also feel strongly that this DESERVES to be paid work! So the release of season two transcripts is dependent on getting more Patreon donors to offset funding it.

Season 1, Episode 1: “Should I Tell My Boss I’m Looking for Another Job?”

Season 1, Episode 2: “How Should I Behave on My First Day at Work?”

Season 1, Episode 3: “My Parents Have Bad Credit. Should I Help by Co-signing Their Mortgage?”

Season 1, Episode 4: “Capitalism Is Working for Me. So How Could I Hate It?”

Season 1, Episode 5: “I Don’t Love My Job, but It Pays Well. Should I Quit—or Tough It Out?”

Season 1, Episode 6: “I Lent My Boyfriend Money. He Took It to a Casino.”

Season 1, Episode 7: “I’m Terrible at Budgeting. Do I Suck It Up—Or Is There Another Way?”

Season 1, Episode 8: “My Mother Demands Information About My One-Night Stands.”

Season 1, Episode 9: “I’ve Given up on My Dream Career. Where Do I Go From Here?”

Season 1, Episode 10: “I Want a Pedigreed Dog. She Wants a Rescue Mutt. It Turned into a Fight… and the Fight Got Ugly.”

Season 1, Episode 11: “I Feel Cornered by a Friend Who Keeps Asking to Borrow Money.”

Season 1, Episode 12: “Should I Believe the Fear-Mongering about Another Recession?”

Bonus Episode: Merry Bitchmas! The 2019 Star-Studded Holiday Spectacular

For transcripts, scroll to the bottom of each episode and click “episode transcript.” Or read them directly in the podcast player of your choice!

Podcast reviews

We also super wanted to thank all the people who’ve etched their names in blood upon the dusty pages of our dark grimoire written reviews for the show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other places!

We are beyond flattered by the kind things you guys have said about us. Like MoonPetalLily, who described us as “the snarky older sisters [they] wish [they] had.”

FunshineKelly said our “advice helped [them] land a $20k raise and a signing bonus without crying even a little bit.” GOOD! We don’t support tears in the workplace! Not even in the sanctity of your car parked way in the corner of the parking lot. Keep it together!

And God bless MelHubbs, who said, and I quote:

They’re prepared, and still relaxed; informative, and still light-hearted; comforting, and still sexual. It’s everything you could ever want in a podcast, in an internet personality, in your sisters-in-arms against the terrible war between capitalism and what humans actually need to survive & thrive. One of my favorite things about them is that they don’t have any corporate sponsors or ads, so you know what they’re saying is what they mean, not what their advertisers want them to say. If you’re able, support them on Patreon! If you’re not, listen to their podcast, take their advice to heart, reflect on your options, make your moves, then, with your newfound financial independence, become a patreon!

MelHubbs, you joyful sonnet!

Your review is so good that it reads suspiciously like something we paid you to write! But we’re too cheap for that—IT REAL!

Bitches Get Riches at the crossroads

All right. Time to level with you guys.

In keeping with 2020’s overarching theme (“everything is pure shit”), this year has become a real “shit or get off the pot” moment for the two of us.

Although I’m comfortable and doing fine, Piggy is still unemployed. And last week she received the last unemployment check she’s entitled to. It sucks. And it’s scary.

Being a partnership is awesome in almost every way. But one way that it sucks is that we have to earn double the amount of money to be truly profitable! (And no, before you ask, it’s not possible for us to only pay Piggy. Believe me, that was our original plan—but it turns out that’s not allowed in a 50/50 legal partnership. We must pay ourselves equally, or Uncle Sam will spank us. And he doesn’t do it in the sexy way—only the traumatic way!)

Piggy is doing okay for now. She has freelancing work, and an intact emergency fund. But understandably, anxiety and worry take their toll. She’s pushing through it, but it’s hard. Creativity and passion can’t thrive for long without some measure of safety and stability.

During these scary times, our Patreon community has been a lifeline. As more and more of you have joined us, it’s slowly crept up from grocery money to grocery and utility bill money! So thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts thank you to those who’ve stepped up and joined.

But we’re kind of at a crossroads. Because of Piggy’s situation, we really need it to become “paying the mortgage” money. And it’s gotta get there pretty fast. Otherwise, it’s just not fair to ask Piggy to invest so much of her time in Bitches Get Riches, when she could be taking on higher paying freelancing work to keep herself afloat.

And trust me, you do not want a BGR that’s too Kitty-heavy. I am longwinded af, slowly losing my abilities to think and spell, and take every possible detour to inject disgusting sexual comments wherever they are least germane (although idk maybe you’re here for that).

Our new goal for ourselves, and you

With all of that in mind, we have a new goal: to produce season three of our podcast, we need 500 total Patreon donors.

Today we have… 294. So that’s, uhhhhh… a really ambitious goal!

It’s probably too ambitious. We’re probably gonna fail. Who cares, it’s 2020! The planet is on fire and god is already dead, so we have no reason not to give it our all!

We are leaving this in your hands. We—Piggy and I—believe that the world would be a better place if people could hear reliable, relatable financial wisdom funded by regular people, untainted by corporate sponsors with deep pockets who want us to push their capitalist crap upon you. And 294 of you have already demonstrated that you believe that too. Thank you, thank you, infinity thank yous to all of you who are already a part of our Patreon community. You are shining stars that smell faintly of vanilla.

For the rest of you: if you like what we do and you want us to keep doing it, please show us that you believe in it too. You can do that by joining us at the Bitches Get Riches Patreon.

We hope to be back soon for a third season. Until then, stay safe, stay sane, wear your masks, triple-check that you’re registered to vote, and save room for dessert. (What’s for dessert? So glad you asked—it’s the rich!)

For now, Bitches OUUUTTTTT!

Join the Bitches on Patreon

#etsy #merch #bitches get riches #patreon #donations #personal finance #financial advice #money #adulting #money advice #advice #adulting advice

153 notes · View notes

blazehedgehog · 2 years

Note

"The people who support what I’m doing live over 1000 miles away and the “put me to work” people are the ones that live the closest." Is this something you could make a donation pool for? I would absolutely throw some cash into that pile.

I've never done that and I'm not sure how its appreciably different from the existing multitude ways people can donate money to me. Also, the family that said they support what I'm doing, they didn't necessarily mean move in with them, I don't think. They said I could visit to clear my head but it sounds like nobody in my family is doing very well right now.

Like I said in the video, I'd love to wake up to my Patreon hitting $2000 a month every month so I could have peace of mind and not have to inconvenience anyone with having to take up space in their house or whatever. I could relax and take all of this stress at my own pace and business could continue like it used to.

But the realistic part of me doesn't expect that. The realistic part of me also didn't expect people would raise money for me and my mom to stay in that hotel last year either, but this does not appear to be an instance where I am being proven wrong.

To those that appreciate and value my output, I thank you. Knowing I have fans out there really helped keep me going. Especially in hard times like these. But, realistically, there aren't enough people like that to keep me afloat and stable.

Some of that's on me. My slow output, my attitude (just look at this post), so don't think I'm being aggressive hitting people up for money. I'm just trying to explain the situation as it appears to me.

I was pretty lax with trying to make Youtube "work" because I had a safety net. Now that safety net is gone, and I'm about to hit the dirt really, really hard. People like me, people like when I can finally get a video out of my head, but I've never been fast or consistent enough to amass an actual audience.

It's why, one year after they accepted me, Screenwave ultimately let me go. They expected regular uploads and I think I only had maybe 2 videos that year. If I want to make Youtube work, I need to work on a Youtuber's schedule, and that's something I've struggled with and agonized over for years now, because I know the months it takes me to put together something like the Jurassic Park video. That's why I was warning people that once I "got back on my feet" again, video quality might go down as I tried to experiment with ways to speed up production time.

For the types of videos I make, to the quality I make them, Patreon support is kind of the only avenue that makes sense and this is where we are on that.

Anyway, I'm back to rambling again, so I'll end it here. Point is, unless a donation pool would help motivate people more, there have been ways to help me out for years.

If I sound mean, or angry, or harsh, I apologize. I'm not trying to be any of those things, but I'm processing a lot of things right now, and this is just how things look for me. What I've done on Youtube has value, but not enough value that it's supporting me.

I also don't blame anyone for wanting to help brainstorm solutions, because I can imagine I'm not thinking super clearly right now.

#questions #melcodriggs #personal

4 notes · View notes

thegreenwolf · 3 years

Photo

Betting on the Ponies (originally posted at my blog at https://thegreenwolf.com/betting-on-the-ponies/)

(Above: Breyer Classic Arabian Stallion made over into a winged unicorn with real wings from a barnyard mix rooster I raised for meat.)

If you’ve been paying attention to my social media or my shop links at all, you may have noticed that I haven’t really been posting much in the way of new hide and bone art for the past year or so. It’s not that I’ve stopped; I still make some fun things for my Patrons on Patreon every month, and I make some bone, tooth and claw jewelry on Etsy to order. But ever since events dried up, I haven’t been regularly making new batches of costume pieces or other Vulture Culture art. My usual M.O. was to make all sorts of new things for an upcoming event, and then once the weekend was done and I was home, post whatever hadn’t sold on Etsy. And since there haven’t been events…well…I’ve just found myself doing other things.

Some of that is because I’ve had to scramble to make up for the lost income; events were a pretty big chunk of my “pay”, and losing them meant having to tighten the belt. I also lost several other income streams thanks to the pandemic making it unsafe to be around groups of people, which didn’t help. So I had to rely on what was left, along with adopting a few new sources of bits and bobs of cash here and there.

And, honestly, I’ve needed a bit of a break. I’ve been making hide and bone art for over two decades now, and while I love it, any artist eventually wants to explore different media for a while. Sure, I’ve stretched my Vulture wings in new directions, going from costume pieces and ritual tools to assemblages and the Tarot of Bones. But ever since the Tarot came out, I’ve been feeling….not really burned out, but a little creatively wrung out, at least. I’ve really appreciated my Patrons and Etsy customers who have helped me keep a hand in that particular medium, while also allowing me to head off in other directions, too.

Which is to say that if you have been paying attention to the aforementioned social media and shops, you may have also noticed that I’ve been increasing the number of customized Breyer model horses and other animals I’ve made over the past couple of years. This might seem like a heck of a departure from skulls, bones, and other dead things. But in a way it’s really me getting back to long-neglected roots.

(One of my favorite customs I’ve done on one of my favorite molds, the Breyer semi-rearing mustang. )

See, I was a horse girl when I was a kid. Or, rather, I was a wannabe horse girl. I never got to lease or own a horse, and even now in my early 40s I’m still about the greenest rider you’ll find. (Seriously, I need one of those kid-proof horses that’s seen it all, done it all, and is probably more trail-smart than I am.) But I was obsessed with horses from a young age. It started with my very first My Little Pony that I got Christmas morning, 1983 (Applejack, if you must know), and then exploded further with a book on how to draw horses and my first Breyer model (Black Beauty 1991 on the Morganglanz mold) in my preteens. Horse actually took over for Gray Wolf for a few years as my primary animal spirit during my teens, so we have a very long history indeed.

And since I couldn’t have a real horse, I ended up collecting model horses, mostly Breyers with a few old Hartlands for variety. I had over 100 at the peak of my collecting, but I had to sell them all in my early twenties when I was between jobs. In hindsight it was probably for the best because having less stuff made it easier to get through the period of my life where I was moving about once a year, but I do miss that collection.

Back then I did my part to add to the artistic end of the model horse hobby, mostly with badly blended acrylic paint jobs and terrifying mohair manes and tails. But it made me happy, and that was the most important thing. Even though I only knew a couple other collectors in my little rural area, and my only real connection to the hobby was through the quarterly Just About Horses magazine Breyer put out, my collecting really made me happy in the same way that my first fur scraps and bones would catch my interest a few years later.

2020….well, it sucked. We all know that. Pandemic, political stress, financial roller coasters and more made it a really tough year for anyone who wasn’t wealthy enough to hide away and weather it all. And many of us found ourselves with more time at home, in need of distractions and solace. It ended up being a time where many people rediscovered their love of childhood hobbies. I’m one of those people. I’ve been slowly edging my way back in for the past few years, starting with repainting a few old Breyer models found at thrift stores, and then gaining momentum as I found that not only was I much better at customizing these models than I used to be, but I was having fun without the pressure to make a living off of it. (Yes, I love my hide and bone art, but when an art form is your bread and butter, it changes your relationship to it. But that’s a post for another time…)

So 2020 saw me really ramp up my customization efforts. I had to stop for a few months in summer and fall when I moved to a spifftacular new living space on the farm I’ve been working on the past few years (with, by the way, THE best studio space EVER!) but as the days shortened I found myself making more dedicated time to repainting and otherwise customizing models. I even started keeping a few of the models I’d bought to customize that were in better condition to create a small, but slowly growing original finish collection, and that really helped me feel like I was back in the (not actually a) saddle.*

That’s why a well-established artist of organic, pagan-influenced arts made from fur and leather and bone and feather suddenly started painting all these secondhand plastic ponies. It’s giving me that deep injection of childhood nostalgia balanced with adult skill and perspective, and it’s offered me a much-needed break from the exhausting schedule I’ve been living the past decade or so. Because suddenly, even with the time spent rearranging my income opportunities to make sure I could stay afloat, I found myself with a little time that hadn’t been scheduled to death, and when I thought about what I wanted to do with that time, I gravitated toward one of the few creative outlets in my life that was purely for fun.**

(Yes, this IS fan art of “The Last Unicorn”! I used a Breyer Stablemate rearing Arabian for the unicorn, and a Breyer Spanish fighting bull for the Red Bull. A LOT of fun to make this particular project.)

In a way having all my events canceled was one of the best things that happened to me, because it made me slow the fuck down. I no longer had several weekends a year where I had to spend weeks beforehand making art and otherwise preparing to be away from all my farm responsibilities for 4-7 days at a time, with all the packing and moving and setup and vending and teaching and teardown and going home and unpacking and exhaustion that goes with each event. I realized just how much each one was taking out of me, especially as I’ve gotten older. And I also recognized how much pressure I had been putting on myself to ALWAYS MAKE MORE STUFF FOR ETSY EVERY WEEK OR ELSE.

So the model horses are really sort of a symbol of the childhood joy I’ve managed to recapture, wresting time and energy back from my workaholic tendencies. I’ve even been thinking about what my professional life is going to look like once the pandemic eases up enough to allow events again, and whether I’ll put the same amount of time toward vending and and teaching at conventions and festivals as I used to. (There are a few favorites that I’m not going to miss for anything, so don’t worry about me dropping out entirely.) But for the first time in a very long time, I’m relearning to prioritize myself, and figuring out that maybe I don’t have to go hell-bent for leather every week, every year, in order to keep the bills paid and the critters fed.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s okay for this dead-critter-artist, pagan-nonfic-author, teacher-vendor-farmer, to indulge herself with something fun, and bet on the ponies to help her get through the tough times.

(P.S. Amid everything going on, I am back to working steadily on my next book, which I mentioned in this blog post almost a year ago. As a recap, its working title is Coyote’s Journey: Deeper Work With the Major Arcana, and it’s a deep dive into that section of the tarot using pathworkings with the animals I assigned to the major arcana of the Tarot of Bones. It’s not just a Tarot of Bones book, though; it’s a good way to get a new, nature-based angle on the majors in general, as well as hopefully gain a better understanding of yourself. My goal is to have it out later this year, self-pub of course, and at the rate I’m going it may end up being my longest book! Stay tuned, and if you want to get excerpts of the work-in-progress, become my Patron for as little as $1/month!)

*At the height of my “horse girl” phase, I had a really beat-up pony saddle I’d bought for ten bucks at a yard sale, and got a cheap saddle stand for it and put it in my room. And yes, I occasionally sat on it and pretended I was riding an actual horse. Hey, it made me happy at the time, and it was the closest I was ever going to get apart from a trail ride every few years.

**Yes, I do sell my customs. But I don’t make them on a schedule, I take commissions VERY sparingly, and I’m getting to stretch some new creative muscles, especially in the realms of sculpting and painting, so this is primarily for my enjoyment. The sales are just a side benefit.

(My ode to the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a Breyer deer repainted to resemble the Columbian black-tailed deer that frequent the farm I live on, along with hand-sculpted Amanita muscaria mushrooms, real and fake moss, and real lichens from fallen branches.)

#Breyer #model horses #vulture culture #artwork #artist

49 notes · View notes

peace-coast-island · 3 years

Text

Diary of a Junebug

The trail of the Whispering Winds

The Moonlit Woods transforms into a different place after midnight. It's still as eerie as ever, but in a different way though - as in different vibes. I hardly venture out here for good reason so when I do, it's usually with a group, preferably those versed in magic and supernatural stuff.

Last time I came to the Moonlit Woods was with Team Magic - Pippa, Mariposa, Angie, and Willow. While hunting for gyroids we came across an old travel log and found a cocostar tree, which is super rare, so we struck gold with that discovery. Being with the girls made me feel a bit more confident about venturing into the woods so since then, planning out my next adventure has been in the back of my mind.

Speaking of Team Magic, the girls are looking forward to coming back for another gyroid event. Mariposa's been working with Daisy Jane on gyroid designs since then and they're pretty much ready to go. We just haven't been able to set a date yet because the girls are busy with school and college apps but they're hoping to drop by sometime in the near future.

Instead of Team Magic, we have a new group accompanying us in the woods. They don't have an official name but they have been working as a team for years. There's Taiki, a freelance exorcist who comes from a family that has dealt with the supernatural for generations. He's a friend of Miki's, having gone to the same university together.

Nene's his best friend from his hometown - she actually spent a semester at Tome U so she also got to know Miki a bit. She's also the artist Rika has been following, the one who just set up a Patreon and is in the process of getting her webcomic, Seven Wonders, published.

Haru is what they call an untethered spirit. He used to haunt the halls of the school Taiki and Nene went to before it was demolished. Basically Taiki contacted Miki who contacted her brother and his friends at the consultation center so they can find a way to keep Haru around. I only know this because Mikayla asked for some sparkle stones and essences a while back.

Then I got curious and decided to do a bit of research. Turns out there's a lot of different kind of procedures that have varying results. So what Taiki and the others did was no easy feat and they succeeded either by luck or some other factors. In other words, Haru's still a ghost or a spirit, but now he also has a physical form. He looks young - 13 or 14 at the most - but he's obviously a lot older than that - though for the most part he's like any other guy as far as I can tell.

Nene is an artist and the author of Seven Wonders, a webcomic about a girl who befriends a spirit who resides in her school. The story's loosely based on her life - as well as Taiki and Haru's. She started writing it a few years ago, originally a side project to keep herself busy. Then she began updating it regularly and grew a following, prompting her to expand the story. The webcomic then reached international audiences when Taiki offered to translate her work into English so that's when it really started taking off.

The three of them go way back, having first met almost a decade ago. Nene managed to summon Haru in hopes of granting a wish, similar to what happens with the main characters in Seven Wonders. The two end up in a series of misadventures that result in them being bonded by a curse, resulting in Nene being connected with the spirits of the school. Then Taiki came along with the intent of exorcizing spirits such as Haru, only to end up befriending him.

They've been through a lot together, even defying fate (Haru's words) so they can have this future they're living in right now. From what I've heard, dealing with the supernatural - willingly or not - always has a price to pay. It's one of those things where no matter how lightly you tread, you'll step on a landmine either way.

In other words, there's always something to lose.

Taiki was never one to have a "normal" life considering that he comes from a family of exorcists. He has an older brother and younger sister, both who are powerful and pretty well known back home. Miki mentioned that he hasn't really spoken to his family much since moving out. According to Nene and Haru, Taiki was close to his brother, having looked up to him a lot back in the day. Nene and Miki have both speculated that the rift between Taiki and his brother was probably one of the reasons why he decided to stay in Mina Creek instead of going back to Inazuma.

Nene stuck around Inazuma before deciding to join Taiki. Even after graduating she stuck around the school to see Haru, working as a janitor so she'd have an excuse to be there. But when Taiki graduated the following year, the trio didn't see much of each other. Taiki went abroad to Tome University and while Nene still visited Haru and the other spirits, she had to focus on her studies.

Then Nene signed up for a study abroad program, which happened to take her to Miki and Taiki's school. I remember Miki talking about helping out this freshman who was an international student. She said he was struggling quite a bit so it was lucky that they ran into his old friend - his senpai, as he called her back in the day. During her time there while reminiscing with Taiki, Nene was inspired to write Seven Wonders so that's how it all began.

Nene ended up dropping out of university after that semester so she became an artist/content creator while working as a school janitor. Along with that she was also the bridge between the living and the spirits, a role she carried since becoming Haru's assistant when they first met.

In the years that followed, Nene and Haru got involved in supernatural affairs while Taiki offered his assistance once in a while. Things were going well until the school had to close due to financial problems. If that wasn't bad enough, the city was going to demolish the school and a bunch of other old buildings in that area. So Haru was in a tight spot as he would have nowhere to go since he couldn't be outside of the school. And as for Nene, she didn't really have anywhere to go either since being a janitor was what kept her afloat.

Thankfully Taiki and the others were able to come up with a solution or else Nene and Haru wouldn't be here with us. Taiki made the offer for Nene to join him in Mina Creek, something which she was understandably on the fence about. She says she's been adjusting to the move a lot better than she thought, probably because she has been here before so it's not too drastic of a change.

However, it's a big leap for Haru considering that he's been restricted inside a school for years and now he's in a foreign country surrounded by a lot of unfamiliar things. He does seem to be a fast learner - Nene and Taiki were surprised at how quickly his English's improving and if I didn't know, I'd think he'd been studying the language for at least a year or so. Taiki's obviously quite fluent while Nene's sorta in between - Taiki serves as an interpreter when they need a bit of help, which is pretty much what he does during his non-exorcist job.

So far Nene's enjoying life at Minai Creek, though she admits to missing home. She finds the change in scenery intimidating but also necessary. On one hand she's sad to leave the school and the other spirits but at the same time she feels it's probably for the best. Haru's holding his own, though Nene worries about him as the changes they're going through can't be easy on him. She's also worried about Taiki too, especially since it seems like he's completely cut off his ties from his home - by that she means his family.

Nene definitely comes across as a big sister/mom friend. Taiki sometimes calls her onee-chan, which is a way one addresses their older sister in Japanese. I've met Taiki a few times before and I see a different side to him when Nene's around. Or maybe it's because this is the first time I've really gotten to know him? He just seems more ...himself? open? ... when he's with Nene and Haru. It's sweet how much he looks up to Nene - whenever he talked about her in the past you can tell how much he respects and admires her - and now that I finally meet her, I can see it. I think Nene and I are gonna be good friends.

Taiki's had his eye on the Moonlit Woods for a while as there's a section that's kinda dangerous to tread if you're not well versed with spirits and such. Only the bravest exorcists venture there to help clean up the place a little and contain the bad karma by doing what's necessary. He did his research extensively before considering going to that place due to rumors of seasoned exorcists being ill prepared and becoming corrupt, which is the worst case scenario.

Since strength lies in numbers, Taiki needed a reliable team to keep things under control and make a speedy retreat if necessary. Haru and Nene's connections to the spiritual world are valuable, especially since Haru has a bit of a pull with certain higher status spirits that can come in handy in case things go south. As for me and the campers, we're kinda the brute force, serving as the muscle and sort of an anchor to keep the others grounded. Something about certain spirits having an effect on those who can see and interact with them and taking advantage of that by blurring the lines between reality and delusion so we have to keep them from straying.

I don't know how the trio does it, especially Taiki and Nene. To live between mortals and spirits is not easy, more of a curse than a blessing to many. For people like them, they have no choice but to fulfill their roles - Taiki in damage control and Nene in being the communicator. And for Haru, being a spirit who voluntarily chose to stay in the world of the living after being bound to one through a curse, I can't imagine that being easy on him either. There's a lot to unpack with these three and whether I'll get to know the full story or not, it's clear that there's a lot on their shoulders.

Like I said, there's always a price to pay when it involves things beyond our understanding. I just hope that it was worth it. Me being cautiously optimistic, I'd like to think it was or else they wouldn't be together.

The Whispering Winds trail, as expected, was full of perils. On one hand, it was kinda good that I was kept in the dark in an ignorance is bliss sorta way. But that also makes it a bit harder to know exactly what's going on. In a place where the spirit world and mortal world becomes blurred, it gets disorienting, to put it simply. We know we're there when us mortals can see some spirits so it's important to keep our guard up.

There's a reason why they call this trail the Whispering Winds. I heard voices from all around - it wasn't a pleasant experience, to say the least. It was jarring at first but then I grew numb to it. Still, it was an unsettling feeling - 0/10 do not recommend. This is why it's best to go in a group because unexpected things will happen so it's better to be (over)prepared.

In between exorcism rituals we did a bit of sightseeing, which helped lighten the mood. Haru introduced us to some spirits he knew to be harmless and they served as guides through areas they were familiar with. Taiki and Nene did most of the heavy lifting when it came to the rituals while the rest of us stood guard. From what I've seen, it looks like a lot of work - the kind of thing you should leave to the professionals.

All around us were these blue light orb things - spiritual remnants that serve as trail markers according to Haru. Depending on the traces the remnants can leave behind, Nene can manipulate them to open up new pathways. The deeper we go into the trail, the harder it is to navigate as it's supposed to be like that for good reason. Nene's the only one who can directly interact with stuff like that so people like her are the ones who really are granted access to forbidden parts such as these. According to Haru, he and Taiki can't touch them because it can cause trouble due to their blood - meaning it's off limits for exorcists and spirits.

The light orbs also gave us some much needed visibility as well as an eerie glow. When things got quiet, it sorta felt like we were just walking down a long, dimly lit path. When things start to get a bit hazy, that's when it was time to investigate. The feeling is heavy, almost suffocating - a heavy burden to bear indeed. When the heaviness is gone, we move forward, going as far as we can before hitting a dead end. From there, our trek is over and instead of venturing a different path, we go back the way we came, careful not to disturb the newfound peace.

It was an interesting experience - again, it's probably for the best that I don't know too much about it. There's a whole 'nother world out there with exorcisms, spirits, psychics...as curious I am about these sorts of things, I respect that it's not my place when it comes to certain aspects. It's a fascinating world out there but we can't experience or begin to understand certain things that are beyond our scope. It sucks sometimes being just a bystander or outsider but it is what it is.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

3 notes · View notes

aspidities · 4 years

Note

Hi! Big fan here! Do you have any published works or have you considered doing a compilation of your original works and publish them? I'd buy it without doubt (even if it's only digital). Wish I could become a patreon, but alas tight on money now. Your works are simply amazing and some of the best I've read. Hope you continue doing more. Cheers!

Anon, I have been having a rough time, and I want you to know I really perked up at the idea someone would want to read my original work. I don’t have anything at the moment, but I’m working on it! Since Patreon is now my only income (hey Covid hi) I’m looking to branch out into other markets besides just commissioned fic, to keep myself afloat, and I have started work on some original erotica, finally, as well as my silly lesbian shapeshifter modern fantasy novel. More on both of those later....

But THANK YOU for reminding me that I can and should be doing that. Sometimes I worry folks won’t read my non-fic work, particularly if it’s more plot and less smut, but I gotta throw my hat in the ring one of these days. That’s the goal.

#ask me #my writing #original writing #original works

28 notes · View notes

twilights-800-cats · 4 years

Text

<< Allegiances || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

Chapter 7

Mothwing couldn’t help but groan in frustration as she ducked beneath the shelter of a low-hanging willow. Gathering horsetail in a light drizzle was nothing for a RiverClan cat, but that drizzle had intensified to a deluge so quickly that Mothwing barely had time to save what she had gathered.

She tucked the stems closer to the shelter of her body as the rain splattered the earth outside of her little shelter into mud. If the stems grew too damp, they’d rot before they could be put to use, and this trip would’ve been for nothing.

Through the branches, Mothwing could see just how angry and dark the sky was. Though she hadn’t been able to predict how powerful the storm would become, she knew that it was only a greenleaf squall – they came and went quickly.

The storm began to ease off, and the sky brightened suddenly. Mothwing sighed with relief as sunlight streamed through the branches and onto her damp pelt.

She peered out from her shelter. Ahead, the river had burst its banks, the sunken grasses around it drooping with the weight of the water. Worry flashed through Mothwing. I hope the camp is okay. If anyone had gotten hurt, Mudfur would need her help – there was no time to gather more herbs.

Mothwing picked up her horsetail stems and poked her head out from the willow. The ground was soaked, and she lamented that she wouldn’t make it back to camp without soggy fur. She put her paws to the path back to camp, trying to avoid the boggiest spots as the wind began to pick up and push the angry stormclouds away.

Good, she thought, glancing up at the sky as she padded up the slope that would take her home. That’ll make the herbs dry out quickly; the land, too.

A sound carried over the wind, tickling her ear fur. Mothwing paused at the top of the hill, looking back. From here she could see just how big the river had gotten in such a short time, and she stretched her eyes wide in awe. The current was flowing fast, carrying debris from upstream with it.

The sound came again, closer. Mothwing frowned, dropping her horsetail. Is that a cat? She thought.

A huge clump of debris was making its way downstream. Mothwing narrowed her eyes. She didn’t recall any bush like that growing anywhere in the forest… it wasn’t until the cry came again, and a dark head poked out from within the odd bush, that Mothwing realized what the debris was – That’s the apprentice’s den, and that’s Reedpaw!

RiverClan dens were built to float when the camp inevitably flooded during the rainier seasons, but they didn’t often float all the way downstream into the river! Panic gripped Mothwing as she locked eyes with Reedpaw, who was trapped inside the remains of the once-woven den.

“Help!” the apprentice cried. “Help me!”

Mothwing barreled down the slope, splashing into the river before she realized that she had no plan at all. How was she alone supposed to save Reedpaw? In situations like this, RiverClan warriors were trained to work in pairs – the dens were too heavy for one cat to move all on their own.

“Mothwing!” cried a voice.

Mothwing looked across the river, spotting a silver shape bursting from the forest on the ThunderClan side. Silverstream!

“I’ve got him,” the warrior called. “Help me!”

Mothwing nodded. Silverstream put on speed, dashing ahead to meet the floating den before the river turned. Mothwing plunged herself deeper into the river, letting the current drag her downstream, using her paws to guide herself towards the den.

She collided with the apprentice’s den quickly enough. The whole thing was falling apart as the water crashed into it, and Reedpaw was huddled up in the only corner left with his claws dug in to keep the whole thing from turning over. His eyes were wide with terror, and Mothwing spotted a thin gash on one shoulder.

“Stay calm!” Mothwing meowed, churning her paws to keep her head above water. “We’ll get you out!” Reedpaw didn’t reply – he only curled himself deeper into the den. Mothwing figured that was best – if he started to thrash, the whole thing would tip over.

It was harder to keep herself afloat in the strong current than Mothwing realized. Her jaws filled with water and she coughed – but she caught sight of Silverstream slipping into the river just ahead. Hope filled her, and she thanked StarClan that the once-RiverClan queen hadn’t forgotten how to swim when she joined ThunderClan.

The apprentice’s den glided through the water, and Mothwing followed it. Soon enough they reached Silverstream, who put her back into the woven reeds to stabilize the den. Mothwing grabbed the floor of the den in her jaws, and together they began pushing it to the RiverClan shore.

Mothwing unclamped her jaws from the den floor as they reached land, her teeth aching from the effort and her mouth tasting of foul river water. Together she and Silverstream nudged the den up into the grass, where it just about came apart.

“You can come out, little one,” Silverstream soothed. The ThunderClan she-cat’s pelt was glossy with water, debris caught in her pretty tabby fur. Mothwing figured she looked no better, but she found herself licking her chest fur self-consciously.

Reedpaw, shaking, emerged from the den. As soon as his paws were clear he limped as fast as he could to dry land, where he sat and shivered. Mothwing padded to his side, concerned as she sniffed his pelt.

“Shock,” she decided. She glanced about at the grasses around them. There ought to be… she plunged her head into the tall grass and plucked a few stems of wild thyme from the small patch that grew near here. The leaves were damp, but they would work.

Mothwing laid the stems before Reedpaw. “Eat the leaves,” she instructed. Silverstream had curled around the apprentice, and was soothing him with comforting licks, her tongue ruffling his fur the wrong way to help it dry faster. Reedpaw bent his head to lap up the leaves, and Mothwing looked to his shoulder.

The cut was small, but deep. She gave it a lick and found that there was no debris caught in the wound. That’s good, she thought. Just a cobweb dressing and something to keep away infection…

She thought of her horsetail. Mothwing excused herself and headed up the slope, finding her stems in the grass. She brought them back to Reedpaw and Silverstream and began chewing them into a poultice.

“You’re doing well,” Silverstream mewed appreciatively.

Mothwing, her pelt warm with embarrassment, began slathering the horsetail onto Reedpaw’s wound. “Thanks,” she mewed back.

The thyme seemed to be working on Reedpaw, as the young tom’s eyes were no longer glassy with panic. He turned his head to acknowledge Silverstream.

“T-Thanks for the help.” he meowed gratefully. “You’re ThunderClan, aren’t you…?”

Silverstream blinked softly at the young cat. “I am ThunderClan, yes,” she responded. “But I was born in RiverClan. Your mother and I know one another well, Reedpaw.”

Reedpaw blinked gratefully at her.

“What happened?” Mothwing wondered, finishing up her work on his shoulder.

Reedpaw frowned. “I… I was just taking a nap in the den when the storm started getting bad. By the time I woke up, I heard everyone yowling my name – but I was too far away already! The storm picked me right up…”

“I’m glad we found you,” Silverstream sighed. “I caught wind of the squall just before it got bad. My patrol was about to head back to camp when I heard a cry near the river.”

Mothwing blinked gratefully at her. “I’m glad you were there,” she meowed. “I don’t think I would have been able to push the den on my own.”

“I may have left RiverClan, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the cats in it,” Silverstream purred. “But I should get back to my patrol.”

Mothwing frowned. “The stepping-stones will be flooded over,” she pointed out. “You should take the Twoleg bridge.”

Silverstream nodded in agreement. “I shall,” she meowed. “But before I go, I have to ask… have you heard anything from Feathertail or Stormfur?”

Reedpaw frowned. “You mean they’re really not in ThunderClan?”

Mothwing winced. Apprentices! She thought. No tact whatsoever! But she couldn’t be so upset – Reedpaw was too young to know any better.

Silverstream shook her head incredulously. “Of course not! They love RiverClan – it was always their home. Why would I ask otherwise?”

Reedpaw hunched his shoulders, looking rightfully embarrassed. Silverstream turned her gaze back to Mothwing, her eyes pleading for an answer.

Sorrow pierced Mothwing. “I wish I knew where they went,” Mothwing murmured. Like with Sandstorm the day before, she felt awful for not being able to comfort a mother worrying for her kits. “I’m sorry.”

“Didn’t Feathertail say anything to you about leaving?” Silverstream wondered, looking desperate. “You two were so close!”

Mothwing’s tongue felt dry with guilt. We were, I know, but… “She… We stopped talking when I was chosen to be a medicine cat,” she replied quietly.

Silverstream’s eyes softened with understanding, and sympathy. Mothwing felt her pelt prick with embarrassment – She’s not the one who should be feeling like that!

“That’s all right,” Silverstream decided. The silver tabby queen got to her paws. “I should get back to my own territory, before a RiverClan patrol comes.”

Mothwing wished she knew what to say to soothe the ThunderClan warrior’s heart as she watched Silverstream pad away – but just like her relationship with Feathertail, there was nothing she could do. It was in StarClan’s paws, and they would decide how it ended. I just hope she’s okay.

Reedpaw groaned beside her. Mothwing pulled herself out of her own head and nudged the small apprentice to his paws. “We need to get you to Mudfur. Come on.”

They padded up the slope together, moving slowly to compensate for Reedpaw’s limp. Mothwing collected the remains of her horsetail as they passed, lamenting that she’d have to collect more as soon as she could.

She looked up at the sky. It was clear, sunny and cloudless, without a hint of any more rain in the cool breeze. Had Feathertail been caught in the storm? She thought of her former friend, lashed in the rain. I hope you’re okay, and that you’re not alone.

StarClan, if you’re listening to me, please… bring them all home somehow…

#tb au #tb moonrise

9 notes · View notes