Sad mushroom

Hey, boils and ghouls

Tax season is upon us and I have a couple of large sums to pay. So I reopened limited commissions to try and get those out the way!

Something like these!

For transparency's sake: I have a few older more complex commissions I've only been able to get back to recently. Colored sketches and doodle pages are much looser and therefore easier for me to handle, so I'll likely be jumping between the more complex projects and any of these new ones. For clients on the waiting list: I didn't forget! I'll have more news soon.

So he goes through the motions, the monotone, and exhausting days. He gets up early to do groceries for his dad. Works at the garage until lunch. Eats while missing Fadel and his cooking. Goes back to work. Has diner. Misses Fadel again. Closes the garage and gets to work modifying cars on his own. Faster acceleration, louder exhausts, nothing too illegal (cops have other problems) but still tricky enough that he doesn't want to involve his dad or any of the other mechanics. But it's quick money; hushed cash, and word of mouth advertisement. And he'll need the money if he wants to give Fadel a good life to return to.

Once a week his afternoons are spent teaching classes in prison. Twice a week lunch is spent with Kant in a cafe or at a foodstall. Twice a week only half his night is spent modding cars. That's when he goes to the Rise Up support group. He listens, he talks, sometimes he cries, more often he comforts others who are crying. He was weary to share the truth at first, but eventually, he broke. He told them that he had lied about the stray dog, and they were surprisingly accepting. He talks about his mother and about Fadel. They know he is in prison, but Style hasn’t told all the details. They support him nonetheless. He ends up getting close to the kid who lost his parents and boyfriend in a short period of time. They haven't exactly gone through the same thing, but the gaps in understanding are filled with empathy. 

He manages. He has Kant, his dad, and the support group now. Once a week, he even sees Fadel. But then, he runs the calculations. At this pace he's not able to buy back heart burger in time. He needs more money. Kant keeps a close eye on him, insisting that he doesn't get involved with stolen cars anymore, no matter how much the parts might go for, how much it would help Style. It's understandable, Christ hasn't entirely let them off the hook yet; that's why he has to mod the cars in the darkness of night. So he pulls through as is. Longer nights alone in the garage. Which leads to later mornings. To still get in all his hours at the garage, he has to give up lunch with Kant sometimes. Eventually, he is too exhausted to even go to the prison every week. He hates it, but it's a long drive, and sometimes he's just so tired. He's able to find a replacement for the class. The sub is a good mechanic and teaches the class well; the only one Style is disappointing is Fadel. But he can't forget #2. He can not stand the thought that Fadel would have no life to return to. He deserves to continue his dream.

And Style does it. Two weeks before Fadel's release date, the sale goes through. Heart burger is now officially owned by Style Sattawat. He'll add Fadel's name to the deed as soon as he's out. 

That series came out 10 years ago but a random edit has intrigued you? Watch it. That film is 30 years old? Watch it. That album thats decades years old? Listen to it. The books - read them!

when real people do kink in real life, you gotta do all that good out-of-scene stuff like discuss boundaries, set limits and expectations, check in with each other, do aftercare, et cetera et cetera et cetera... but in fiction, everything can be in-scene!

the people in that fanfic don't exist any more than, like, the make-believe sexy football star and make-believe sexy cheerleader in a couple's roleplay exist. that couple doesn't need to get into character and then pretend to be a sexy football star having an important consent conversation with a sexy cheerleader, because that's a conversation that's already happened out-of-scene and out-of-character. (i mean, if you're into in-character negotiations, chase your bliss.) when they're in that scene, they can just pretend to be a sexy football star having sex with a sexy cheerleader. that's okay.

when i say in fiction, everything is in-scene, i mean that the fiction IS the scene.

if someone went up to their partner and said "hey, wouldn't it be sexy if we pretended you were manipulating and controlling me in an unethical way for sex reasons?", and then they talked through all the good and necessary consent and risk-awareness things, and then they played that scene out - that's a made-up scenario where pretend bad things happen, but no real-world people come to real-world harm, right?

now, if someone writes a story where one character manipulates and controls another in an unethical way for sex reasons... that, too, is a made-up scenario where pretend bad things happen, but no real-world people come to real-world harm.