To all my commissioners in the past week or so, my health took a nose dive this past Monday and I'm only now really starting to feel better and functional again. It was a weird funky mystery fever that burned me out and then left me physically exhausted and useless for a couple days. I'm starting to feel like myself again though, and I'll be back on track within the next day or two!

A few ornament orders are already complete and pics will be posted soon, and the new orders will be started today.

Thank you everyone for the work AND your patience and remember to take care of yourself this holiday season and carry hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE because colds and flus are definitely making their rounds.

Wow! I'm less than 20 watchers away from my first thousand! You guys are amazing this is crazy

I wanna do a raffle when I hit 1k, but I may not have time to do anything huge with packing for the move and storing up extra rent money. Maybe I can do a couple of badges? That will be a fun new experience I'm sure! I'll at least do 2 places, I think.

Keep your eyes peeled for raffle details (or promo me to get me to 1k faster so you can win ya art faster <33)

Do you have copic markers or refill inks that you're not using? Maybe you decided you liked digital art more, or maybe you have duplicates of a few colors. Maybe you just don't use that one color ever. Whatever the reason, if you don't use them, I want em.

I will trade art (and possibly money, if preferred) for used copic markers and refill inks.

Conditions:
- The marker can't be bone dry. Sort of dying but has some color left might be okay, just check with me. Frayed/damaged nibs are okay as long as the color is still good (I have replacement nibs).
- I'll need a list of all the colors you're wanting to trade and the condition, ie: V22 Ash Lavender Marker, New/Lightly Used/Heavily Used/Almost Dry or YR01 Peach Puff Ink Full/ 3/4 / 1/2 / 1/3 ect. You get the gist. Percentages work for the inks, too, if you prefer . That way I can tell you if I already have whichever colors and only take what I need!
- Inks must be at least 1/3 full. Yes, I will draw you something for 1/3 an ink bottle. Hit me up.

Here's chart with all the marker colors I already own blacked out: http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a.....k.png~original
AKA these are the colors of markers I'm looking for!

I already own these refills and do not need them: AKA I pretty much want any other colors
E31 Brick Beige
R08 Vermillion
B45 Smoky Blue
B12 Ice Blue
Y15 Cadmium Yellow
RV42 Salmon Pink
R22 Light Prawn
BV02 Prune
YR04 Chrome Orange
E11 Champagne
E08 Brown
Y23 Yellow Ochre
E00 Skin White
B97 Night Blue
E53 Raw Silk
R59 Cardinal
BV31 Pale Lavender
B60 Pale Blue Grey
E55 Light Camel
E21 Baby Skin Pink
R11 Pale Cherry Red
C3, C5, C7 and Colorless Blender

I just ordered a few more today and I'll update this list or make a graphic like above as necessary.

If you have any friends that no longer use their copics or just have a few colors they never use, be sure to tell them they could get some art for them!

Note me to discuss a trade!

I have juuust about 20 of these wooden ornaments, and I think I'd like to work in batches of 5 at a time. I wanna get a few early orders started so they can arrive at their owners before the tree goes up <3

Examples here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18133987/

They're $30 each for one character per ornament, or 2 for $50.
2 characters on one ornament is $40 each.

From what my future roomate is telling me, the real-real no take-backsies move plans are going to be late December/early January pending the lease agreement we can get in December. That means I need to pad my savings for boring stuff like deposits, 1st/last rent, and emergency backup rent money. All November and December commissions will be going towards the move, so I really appreciate all of your support <3

I'll be streaming these all month, too, and might do some sped up videos of me working on them if anyone is interested. Regular commissions will still be available during streams.

Comment here to claim a slot for an ornament!

Pending: madkaniini
Pending: rascal221 : heart

https://picarto.tv/AshHavynn
https://picarto.tv/AshHavynn
https://picarto.tv/AshHavynn

Rules
- Pay whatever you want, $5 and up
- Paypal address will be posted in stream
- Links are okay, but don't spam. Maybe link me some music though!
- These are mostly wing-it
- NSFW is okay but don't expect porn and crazy positions for $5 lol
- I will totally draw tiddies for $5 though
- This is a traditional art stream. That means watercolors, pencils, crayons, ink... I'll be workin w whatever
- HMU in-stream for a slot!

I have a Patreon! Rewards and milestones have been updated, come support me and me love you long time!

Reminder two!
There is a FREE ART STREAM coming up next Wednesday, the 28th, for all of my Patreon patrons! Even $1 pledges are eligible. Currently on the up-for-grabs list are One Full Ink and Two Half Sketches. I only have 3 patrons right now so I only have 3 prizes. If I get enough new patrons or one or two who pledge higher tiers, I'll add more prizes! I want this to be a big thank you stream for all my supporters, so the more the merrier!
Non-patreon-patrons will be allowed to join the stream to watch, but only patrons will be up for free art.

OTHER PLACES TO FIND ME THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST:
Instagram For many many WIPS and doodles that don't get posted here. Frequent updates. My pretty face.
Weasyl For if you hate FA. Currently catching up w FA uploads from about a year ago through today.
Tumblr A strange mix of finished works, doodles from IG, and personal posts.
NSFW ACCOUNT ON FA No posts yet but if you missed the memo, there will be tiddy.
YOUTUUUUUUUUBE This is where Watch-Me-Draw videos will be posted!

I always have trouble with this one! I honestly think a good morning while-I'm-sipping-my-coffee stream done close to daily would be nice and relaxing, but I've never had luck with morning or lunch time streams.

What time of day is best for all of y'all for joining a stream? I'd really like to work towards making a short art stream (1-2 hours) a daily or near daily habit. I think it would be good for me. But I want to look for a harmony between when a good time for me to stream is, and when a good time for people to watch a stream is.

If you're an artist who streams or a viewer that attends streams I'd love to hear your input on this!

Thanks, y'all!

http://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/jacksquash/
http://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/jacksquash/
http://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/jacksquash/

So my pal right here is doing a lineart sale throughout October (only October!)

$5 busts.
Look what I got: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17938553/
And look at this other stuff! : http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17933812/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17933760/

Full bodies are still only $10, so I mean. Lunch money. Chump change. You can find that in your couch cushions.

Seriously, they deserve way more than a piddly few bucks for this kind of quality!
They specialize in punk, humanoid, digimon and Tim-Burton-esque themes, which is... All very fitting for the season, really.
They only just opened up shop for commissions here on FA, so y'all give em a warm ass welcome!

I'm in the process of launching these both by next week, so they'll be undergoing some cosmetic changes as well as uploads! Feel free to go ahead and watch (or subscribe??) while I get them up and running.

Etsy.com/shop/ashhavynn will be stocking my original paintings for sale during the next week, and then later may begin stocking 11x17 prints. It'll take about a week or two to get all my paintings listed.

Furaffinity.net/user/fear-and-desire is the official home of any future nsfw art. Expect tiddies. There will be lots of tiddies. And also possibly a lot of soft gore. And a lil not so soft gore. It's bare bones at the moment, but will be getting a face lift over the next two weeks. You'll wanna give it a follow if you were interested in NSFW commissions, as journals with nsfw slots will be posted there.

While I'm at it, if you've missed my painting videos recently, YouTube.com/ashhavynn ssshhhooould be my page, and I'll be continuing to add process videos as I make them. If you've ever wondered how I paint, that will be where you find out!

Thank y'all for all the support you've given me lately! Wouldn't be here if it weren't for you! <3

Reposting rules here...

I will copy the the rules from  aimi
Step 1: Make a feature artists journal and put me on the list, include a link to one of your favorite pieces of mine.
Step 2: Link the journal below here in the comments
Step 3: Keep the journal posted for at least 24hrs.
Step 4: I'll pick out my favorite piece by you and add you to the list below of featured artists as well!


It was started by so I'll feature them first! Fav piece: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11885018/

Other features:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17687858/ Seriously, this pic is FIRE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17618012/ cute AF style tbh
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17338405/ Bruh this is a straight up instagram photo, art is u n r e a l
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17317794/ this was considered a sketch, are you serious??
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16160407/ this face has like perfect proportions tbh
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17335859/ Yaaaas to colorful curvy urban tigresses!
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17664777/ So fluffyyy and dreamlike

I'm thinking I may use one sketchbook for all of my Inktober drawings. I haven't decided if I'll offer it for sale or not. It'll depend on how awesome it is!

But anyways, that's a lot of drawings, so I think it'd be fun if y'all helped me decide who all I should draw throughout the month!

Out of my OCs:
Frizzmon
Lady Bee
Haze
Zach
Jarrett (furry)
Jarrett (human)
Teazol
Delilah (river monster)
Seraph
Lela
Savannah

Canon characters I'm willing to do fanart of:
Impmon, Renamon, Beelzemon, Kyuubimon, Lady Devimon, BelleStarrmon, Gazimon, DemiDevimon, Gatomon
Mewtwo, Raichu, Vaporeon, most Pokemon tbh
Most Sailor Moon tbh
Most Sonic
Monster High girls
...Pretty much all Animal Crossing Characters...

Make me some suggestions here! There's too many to draw them all! Who do you wanna see?

Hey guys! Sometime soon-ish I'm gonna be throwing together an art tutorial. Question is, what do y'all wanna see?

I can do a tutorial on how I work through poses or faces (drawing) or how I do coloring (markers, watercolor, or mixed media), or any little specific thing (eyes, lips, what have you). Now a Mixed Media tutorial is gonna probably take a long time to do unless I just do either a mini painting (watered down tutorial eww!) or break it into a series (collage, composition, how to "fix" a broken painting (there is no such thing as ruining a painting!!! Unless maybe it's oil!), how to use textiles to create texture, tape transfers, using dry media to enhance a painting, ect...)

The odds are, I'll cover everything evvveeennnttuuuaalllyyy... The pressing question is, what do I do first? or is there something you want me to show you how to do that I haven't put up here?

I'm thinking of doing some free-art streams for my Patreon. I'm tentative on Halloween (it may have to be like, a full week before Halloween because I have several exams and reports due then?? Like why... why do my professors think I'm going to have time for that shit on Halloween...)
But CHRISTMAS STREAM will be a go!
It'll be Christmas Eve, probably last a good while, and have quite a bit of free art and doodles.
Right now the tentative lineup for the Christmas stream is:
1 free ink
2 free sketches
1 free half-color
??? free doodles until I get tired

it's gonna be something of a party and it'll last probably most of the day so that people can come and go, but ***Only my Patreon patrons will be eligible to win free art!***
even $1 patrons will be eligible if they attend the stream.

I'll work more on solidifying the prizes between now and Christmas and figure out the Halloween gift stream (probably pumpkin chibis or Halloween flavored pinups) so stay tuned and consider becoming my patron to get in on prizes!

link to my patreon in my profile, should be like patreon.com/ashhavynn or so!

I technically didn?t have table minions at A-fest this year, so I more or less never physically left my table except for about 15-30 minutes on Saturday, but that was ok! I don?t actually mind being behind the table all con since that?s 90% of the reason I go at all.

I?ve got to say, though, A-fest was probably the most fun I?ve had at a con (selling) since the first year I had a table! The past couple years have felt very grey and serious for me, and it wasn?t until I was enjoying being there again that I realized it had become a chore. I?d banked most of my passion and energy in other places, and so when cons rolled around the last couple years I always felt overwhelmed, stale, and machinelike about it. I wasn?t proud of my store, I wasn?t proud of the work I was selling, I wasn?t even proud of my cosplays anymore. I?d be short tempered with customers for asking harmless questions, and I only cared about whether or not they were buying something. I just wasn?t enjoying myself.

But deep down, I knew that I loved this line of work, so it was hard to understand just how out-of-sorts I had been. I wasn?t really enjoying any of the things I loved anymore.

This year has been so refreshing. I feel like I recognize myself again. I?m loud and passionate and I?m proud of what I?ve brought to share with the conventions. I?ve had more conversations and made more friends and acquaintances than I have in years?many of which never were going to buy anything in the first place. It was just enough about the money that I still knew how to make sales, but it was just as much about the people and the experience. I didn?t feel like I was working at all.

And because I wasn?t a clammed up grumpy thing all con, I got to really get to know my customers. So many people came by (and somehow recognized me even though this year had an almost 100 percent change in stock, so there were barely anything they could recognize on my table from years past) and told me that I was a defining part of their early or first con experience. Their experiences lining up roughly with the first year I?d sold at cons, so back when I was acting and feeling much more like I?m starting to again, now. I?ve struggled with not feeling memorable or remarkable lately, so those were words that really put my effect in my small convention circuit into perspective. And I hope I?ve made many more good memories for those who are just getting into anime conventions, or whose first A-fest was this one.

I?m also so pleased with the prints I?ve made this year. I worked my ass off to make a wholly new lineup, and I love everything that I had printed. The best compliment I got all con was a lady telling her friend, ?I have that one framed in my house,? while pointing to one of my prints. A different woman pointed the same print out to her friends later and I overheard her say, ?I bought that one yesterday. I?m going to have it framed.? A few conversations I overheard went along the lines of ?no one would even know these are fan art unless they knew the character,? in the idea that they felt they could display the art in their home, and it was sophisticated enough that their adult friends who weren?t into that kind of entertainment could still appreciate the art and not realize it was from ?a children?s show.?
And that was something around what my goal was this year! I really wanted to blur the lines between fanart illustration and fine art with a bit of abstraction. It?s not something I commonly see in artist alleys, but the response I have gotten from my audience tells me that I?ve pulled it off and I should keep exploring in this area.

The best response I think I got were my Five Nights at Freddy?s pieces, with the general comment being that ?they?re actually scary.? Mission complete! I love cute chibi designs too, but this was moreso a comparison to the other FNAF art at the con that wasn?t supposed to be cute. I wanted that dark, dingy, dirty, rotted look to really shine about those pieces, and it did! The messiest, craziest mixed media paintings on average got way more love than any of my cleaner paintings, so I?ll definitely be doing more of that. It?s my favorite, anyway.

I bought very very little this con. A fox keychain, a pair of earrings and a Sailor Moon necklace, a choker, a handmade stuffed monster. And meals. But I?m ridiculously happy with everything I bought and have the smallest buyer?s remorse I?ve ever had. The good memories I associate these items with I?m sure will bring me to appreciate them for years to come. They truly carry sentimental value for me.

I only really got to hang out with one friend, who had lunch with me and chilled out with me in intervals, but I?m glad I got to see her ??
She was a lifesaver for bringing me food and without her the con would have been much more lonely.

I?ll be working hard to make next year even better and full of the art and cosplays I love again! Thank you to everyone who came out to see me at A-fest!

I told myself I wasn't gonna do shit on my birthday, but here I am writing storyboards and drafting floor plans. Maybe I'll paint lots of mermaids <3

Basics

Name: Ash
Nickname: ...Ash, haha
Location: Texas, y'all
Age: 25 in about 11 says
Height: 5'4"
Zodiac sign: leo leo leo leo
Pets: One adorable but dumb ginger american shorthair cat named Simon, a fat cow colored potato cat named Jonah, and a black and red betta named Mori.
Favorite thing about yourself: Probably my taste. I have a lot of things I need to work on, but I have good judgement on the things that deserve my love.
Worst habit: Procrastination and distraction. I call them habits, but hopefully they'll be easier to beat with treatment for ADHD.
Fun fact: I just discovered teething rings for adults in the form of jewelry. I have a really bad habit of chewing my nails both in response to anxiety and as a stim, so I'll be looking into getting some. Most of them are very discrete and chewing on a necklace pendant is more attractive to me than biting my nails in public.


Identity, Sexuality & Personality

Gender identity: Very comfortably female
Sexual preference: Demisexual or grey asexual with slight preference for men
Romantic preference: Grey aromantic with slight preference for women
"Kinsey Scale" score: I don't fucking know. see above.
Relationship status: Single and constantly caught between desiring a romantic/sexual relationship and not normally experiencing those attractions :')
Myers/Briggs type: Oh my god I do not know. I've taken it so many times and I get a different answer every time and I honestly can't remember my types because the naming conventions are not memorable to me (on par with year dates and other acronyms that don't form actual words)
Hogwarts house: I also can't be sure, since I wasn't allowed HP growing up and never developed an interest. I struggle between the loyalty and hardworking nature of a Hufflepuff and the cunning and selfishness of a Slytherin. I don't know who wins. The sorting hat flipped a coin.

Routine

"Early Bird" or "Night Owl": Night owl constantly romanticizing what it would be like to be an earlybird
First thought in the morning: "Fuck. I have got to get up, I have shit to do."
Last thought before falling asleep at night: I couldn't tell you because falling asleep is sch a bullshit process and my mind will go everywhere from recapping the day's events to going over the next day's to do list to random memories and epiphanies. I can sometimes tell I'm falling asleep by consciously noticing how nightblog-esque my conclusions are becoming. The more absurd the train of thoughts my endless think-hell becomes, the closer I am to falling asleep. Unfortunately sometimes realizing this wakes me up.

School/Work

Do you work or are you a student: I don't like how this assumes you're one or the other. So many students have to work just to remain a student. I'm currently a student at my state University in my area, and I do freelance work from home to supplement my financial aid. It sounds less official than a retail job, but my money is usually on par with what I was making when I held part time jobs when I put in the hours. And I can take time off when the need arises to focus on urgent school work or family issues.
What do you do well: I'd like to say draw and paint. Well, but always wanting the satisfaction of even better.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years: I have no idea. Plans have not been stable for me. Probably living alone in an apartment with my cat. Hopefully running a successful sole business.

Habits (Do you…?)

Drink: On occasion, usually no more than enough to get a buzz.
Smoke: Nah
Do Drugs: Nah
Exercise: Nope. I miss walking, though. It always helped my creative thought process. With the start of the fall semester, I should be able to start walking again to class, but it's so damned hot it may be limited.
Have a go-to comfort food: Anything sweet. Anything. Donuts, chocolate, icecream, cakes, cookies. If it's in the house and I'm upset, it ain't safe.
Have a nervous habit: nail/lip biting. I used to think fidgeting in general, but rocking back-and-forth or tapping my foot is less a nervous habit and more of a stim that helps me think and stay focused on a particular thought.

What is your favorite…?

Physical quality (in yourself): I like my big hips and my cool colored hair. My big hips don't always like my pants, though.
In Others: Uhhh long hair on dudes, short hair on girls. All sorts of skin colors. Curvy girls. Thick lips. Freckles. Lots of stuff is beautiful.
Mental/emotional quality (in yourself): Problem solving is a good thing I have. I often don't get emotional when put on the spot (I may, later) and instead I see the situation as a problem and I look for solutions to improve it.
Drink: Coffee. Sweet, iced coffee. Mostly creamer.
Food: PIZZA IS LIFE, PIZZA IS LOVE
Animal: Tigers are my family.
Colors: Purple green and grey. Green and grey switch between second place.
Artist/Band/Group: Muuuse! My Brightest Diamond, Evanescence, some other dweebs I can't think of atm.
TV shows: Anything on Investigation Discovery.
Video game: Skyrim, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, Pokemon
Movie: Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Uninvited, Law Abiding Citizen, The Perfect Getaway, Hairspray, Pokemon: The First Movie

I'm gonna go ahead and post this here!

https://www.patreon.com/ashhavynn

I'd like to start spending more time focusing on original art and prep for a comic, but as commissions are currently my full time job, I don't really have any down time and have to force it in--rather uncomfortably.

Any support or signal boosting is greatly appreciated! I post sketches and watercolor drawings to my Patreon that I don't post anywhere else, and, as a patron, you'll have direct interaction with my creative process as I create my comic! The Patreon is still very very new, but I'm working on adding to it constantly.

Finding info is a nightmare, as is finding anywhere credible to go for a screening.

Would anyone mind telling me what you're taking, how much you're paying, and if your insurance covers any of it? And if so, who you have insurance through? Some of this is p personal, so you can note me if you want. I just don't have any idea what to do or expect if I can actually get a diagnosis.

UPDATE: I just discovered that my university offers psychological assessments as well as ADHD screening, referrals, AND prescriptions. The prices for appointments appear to be about the same as the co-pay for my current insurance (although all of the mental health places I've checked and the one adult ADHD specialist I was referred to were out of network), so that's a life saver. I'm starting classes again this fall, too, which means I'll be able to take advantage of this.

I'm nervous as hell but I've more or less come to the painful realization that nearly everything I hate about myself is a symptom of ADHD, and it's become so overwhelming that I can no longer work efficiently as I am.

the kitten just died in my hands

i realized he'd stopped breathing/was struggling and I looked up how to give him xpr and I gave him cpr and fucking mouth to mouth holy shit I did everythonh I could but he's dwad i literally could see his eyes glass over as I tried to get him to breathe again

i am not ok this is not fucking ok

Woke up to a very cold kitty. unfortunately, being very underweight, he's prone to this. He's very lethargic and I'm warming him in my lap with a hot water bottle and hoping I can convince him to eat again soon.

prayers

So, for those of you who don't follow my instagram, I am working out of my bathtub today.

Some jackass in my brother's neighborhood decided to poison some stray kittens it seems. My bro and his roomate found one when they got home yesterday, and the neighbor chewed them out, screamed at them, and threatened to call the cops. All while not doing jack shit to help this dying animal.

They rush the catbaby to the vet, where they keep him overnight. He's doing a bit better today, as he's eating and responsive, though lethargic as hell. Since the bro and his roomie both work jobs outside the house, we've got the lil tater tot here for a few days to keep an eye on him.

His next feeding is in about ten minutes, so I'll keep you all updated. Bro has decided to call him Tyrian.

So I've been wanting my bestie in Florida to come visit me in Texas for some time now. ...Like, over a year (they claim there's little to do where they live and there's tons of stuff in DFW). And it came up that there was a possibility she'd be able to visit this summer, so I set aside a couple hundred bucks from A-kon to take her all around town if she could actually make it. Since it's come to be that I'll be moving out of the parents' house soon, this was gonna be like, my last hail mary party vacation before I'd inevitably wind up without any real disposable income for some good while.

Well, at the last minute (literally just days before), she finds out I've got the house to myself while she has a long weekend, and she hauls ass here at two in the morning. And it's July 4th weekend, so everything is going to be packed, but I have soooo much planned for her and we go out and do everything anyway. I mean, she's ten hours away. There's no telling when I'll get to see her cute face again. I'mma spoil her.

And holy shit I did (and so did she spoil me, as well). We did everthing.

She gets here at 2 on Thursday? We go to the mall, hang out at the arcade, take photos in a kawaii ass photobooth where you literally come out looking like you have on circle lenses and you've put a million tacky stickers and accessories on the photo strips... and then we drive all the way across town to the only theater still showing Mad Max in the area, grab our obligatory popcorn and soda, and discover the PLUSHEST, HUGEST seats we have ever encountered at a cinema. We're big ladies, and we felt like children sitting in big ass armchairs. It isn't until 11 that we finally crash but fuck if we don't sleep the sleep of the dead.

Round two, Friday. We drive out like two hours to fucking Glen Rose, Texas, to go drive through the wildlife center. It. Is. Packed. We are in stop and go traffic lines the whole way, but we fed the animals and booped deer nosies and I got a killer sunburn on my left shoulder. Oops. Passed 3 turkeys at different ends of the reserve. Gobbled obscenely at all of them. Only the very last one responded, and much cheering followed. If you're not making dumb noises at animals I don't know who the fuck you are. We spend more money than planned because oh, shit, food. People need to eat. And then we got matching stone necklaces from the gift shop and this adorable bitch buys me a stuFFED BABY POSSOM. His name is Shmookums and I love him. I honestly don't fucking remember what we did when we finally got home. Probably talked 5ever about the meaning of life and passed the fuck out.

FREEDOM EAGLE AMERICA DAY. It's July 4th, ok. We got shit to do. I don't normally do jack shit for the fourth, but here I am driving to the zoo with Six Flags tickets printed out in my glove box. It's gonna be a long ass day. We practically bathe in sunscreen and have the luck of arriving before (most) of the crowd. Apparently the zoo where she lives is shit? Because she's enamored with this place, how big it is, how it's designed, all the pretty enclosures. We don't make it through without the "everything's bigger in Texas" cliche. Because it is. We also don't make it through without me making a right ass out of myself, screaming at a great argus pheasant. It gave me a half ass bark for the ten minutes I spent calling at it. That little fuck.
So then we stop by the house, freshen up, re-bathe in sunscreen, and head back out to the day's real attraction. Six Flags over fucking Texas. We get there and it's so fucked we have to park waaay the fuck out in Timbuktu, and it's hot than a bitch walking up to the main gate. I spent an obscene amount of money on both our tickets and one of those lil Q-bots you rent so you don't have to physically stand in line while you wait for a ride. And for good cause. It's so fucking busy, we only get to use the pass for 3 rides (obv we rode others in the mean time; such is the purpose of this pricey lil shit). Two hour wait times, and it's hotter than a New York hooker out there. Then I find out. She had never ridden a rollercoaster before. Ohhh hell. I point at the biggest, tallest, fastest fucker there and I tell her, "we're gonna work our way up to that guy. By the end of the day, you are going to graduate to the big girl coaster." Every fucking ride, and I mean every one, she freaks out on the ride up the hill. It's fucking precious. To quote her first words on the way down the hill of her first coaster (not a very tall or fast one, but the cart spun as you went down the tracks), "THIS IS SUCH CRAP, ASH." Such beautiful resentment and regret. It was as if I had somehow betrayed her, tricked her, as she willingly submit herself to this mental torture.
We chanted the War Boy mantras from Mad Max to avoid cursing on rides where small children may be present. There was many a scream of "witness" that day.
She did graduate from rollercoaster 101 with flying colors, though. Rode her first tall coaster like a champ and loved it. Brought a tear to my eye, so proud.

They were supposed to have a "spectacular fireworks and laser show," but we were behind a tree where we couldn't see the fireworks. Which were sadly mediocre. It seemed they spent more time on the laser show than the fireworks. Which were cool, don't get me wrong, but 4th of July is all about fireworks. And then a full grown woman right in front of us had an epileptic seizure due to the lazers and we're not actually sure if maybe the show was cut short? Paramedics were on her quickly though, she seemed to be stabilizing as we left. Which was hell, as was to be expected. Soooo many people. Soooo much bottlenecking.
As fate would have it, however... Being parked out on the other side of the damned world was exactly perfect. As we waited for the traffic to clear, we noticed people in lawn chairs all facing the ballpark. Which was spitting distance from our car. Apparently, the game hadn't ended yet, so the fireworks hadn't started. And I know from years of living in DFW that you just don't get better fireworks than those at the ball park. So we stayed. Like an extra hour and a half. And it was bloody beautiful. Front row seats, big ass, expensive fireworks so close it felt like you could touch em.

And that was supposed to be the whole weekend. I was emotionally prepared to say my goodbyes the next morning.

This amazing hoe called in sick and stayed for Sunday to have a chill day. Which included gyros, rose flavored basil seed drink (fit for the damned gods let me tell you), driving to a handful of closed stores, buying some of the best, cheap ass makeup you can find, and then movies, pop corn, and finger nail polish. She brought me early house warming gifts, and I snuck some of the weekend's photos through the printer to smash into a photo album I'd been waiting to give her for like a year. Both of us almost cried. There were many hugs involved.

The entire weekend was borderline dreamlike. I couldn't believe she was here and I was actually able to treat her to all of these things. It's the most genuine fun I've had in a very long time and I miss her already.

Now, I've got a bit of housework to do before the parents get home tomorrow and I'll be back on that queue. Just wanted to share all the shit I got to do this weekend!

I'll be working this week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday I have company coming in for the holiday weekend! You likely won't hear from me at all until that following Monday.

Limited slot/stream only commissions start at that time. I will no longer be accepting orders ahead of the time in which they will be completed unless I absolutely positively have to have the money. A journal and image post will be made when a slot is available or a stream is starting, and I will budget out one to three slots based on the time I have to complete the work on that exact day.

This should mean rapid turn-out rates, as I will be starting your commission the moment you pay for it.

There will be livestream days or evenings that I'll announce ahead of time where I'll do back to back work, too, and you can just drop in and find out if a slot is open.

With turn around times being same or next day, post office trips should be manageable a lot more often than they have been.

I thought I was being forward and even rushing into making strong but tentative plans to move in November. I originally expected my parents would be living nearby for at least a year while I got on my own two feet.

I'm starting to pick up an aura from them, however, that this may not be the case. There's talk of the house they want being a possibility within the turning of the year.

So here I am suddenly and frantically calculating rent and utility budgets, getting auto and health insurance quotes (why oh why did I not do this sooner) and researching electric companies.

All while trying to take inventory of what I do have and what I will need.

When they tell you moving is the second most stressful life event, believe it.

So finally, FINALLY I truly and honestly get a chance to sit down and go through my PMs to gather all the addresses for this postal run.

The list is as long as my arm.

Let's do this shit!