thank you, really 🫂 i hope we all do

i looove the amber edges to that light!

you don't lose salary), phased return, adjusted duties for a time (e.g. if you're finding customer-facing things harder than data reporting or something). if your work has occupational health/an EAP, those could also advise you, but i would research their confidentiality policies first.

other options that might help you get some relief while keeping your job onside/convinced of your goodwill (which you *should not* have to consider at a time like this, i'm so sorry) could include temporary reduced work hours/schedule (you might be able to use some type of PTO to offset this so

from what i can see some states do require minimum hours/months worked in the last 12 months for eligibility, tho 😞 so might be worth checking that too. www.dol.gov/agencies/whd...

i'm not US-based, so grain of salt, but i would say that contacting your doctor + unobtrusively getting your hands on any employee handbook would be good first steps, as they will know the system and you'd want to have all your ducks in a row before bringing a request to your employer.

anecdotal but i think we're seeing fewer 'random' readers follow stories/comment lately, and that can put unfair pressure on people who are visible on sm (especially writers) to try to build community if they want it to still exist.

it's very kind of you to be so introspective tho 💛

people appreciate things in different ways, and that's ok! personally i can only keep so many longfic plots straight in my head at once so often read in arcs/wait for one to end before starting a new one.

it’s not a bad thing if the destination takes a while to settle! (though I understand why it feels frustrating if that’s not normally how your creative mind works) happy to spitball about it if that would help

not at all! (...and even if i had thought that, i cannot imagine a more reasonable time to be looking for some reassurance)

internal work is important ofc, and everyone is different, but sometimes we *also* need to talk things through externally to get new viewpoints and not feel alone <3

seconding 💛 i've spent a lot of time around death/loss, personally and professionally, and when it comes to personal reactions, especially when things are fresh, to me this is so, so normal. minds just do unexpected things sometimes when confronted with something big/confusing/painful.

I’d be down! 💛

this is so gorgeous and a little creepy at the same time 🖤 love what you've done with the brush shape and shading for dimension

urghhhh same, right on autumn schedule (2 years is very impressive, tho!) hope u have lots of restorative things and hot drinks in the house

being aware that your thought patterns are affected but not being able to fully stop them or even remember what your baseline is supposed to feel like is the absolute worst 🫂 you‘re not alone

i’m sorry, Lily. creativity and community can feel so powerful and wonderful, but annoyingly that means they can also hurt real bad when they don’t line up

hope tomorrow is a better day 💛

😭😭😭😭😭

I love how sparkly and (somewhat) grumpy and distinctly in-character you’ve made them all 💛

they are both so small and round and grumpy. i love them.

that makes perfect sense - general infection season is coming right up too, yk?

yeah, I’ve started wearing one on the bus again…closed windows standing room only…can practically see the germ clouds ew