A real post appears!
Let us start with fic, since that's been my coping mechanism lately, as evidenced by the fact that I wrote FOUR FICS in this fandom in less than TWO WEEKS.
Here are the ones I haven't posted about before:
1.
Figs and Pomegranates (966 words) by sabrina_il
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova & Andy | Andromache the Scythian
Characters: Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Additional Tags: Music, Inspired by Music, عربي | Arabic, Dancing, Family Feels, Languages, POV Nile Freeman
Summary:
Nile's favorite times are after a long, difficult job, when they all feel the need to spend time together, sleep in the same house, eat and drink together every day, pair up for trips and excursions.
2.
Immortal Problems (3042 words) by sabrina_il
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Nile Freeman, Andy | Andromache & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nile Freeman & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Characters: Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia
Additional Tags: Menstruation, Menstrual Sex, Cunnilingus, Immortals being their weird immortal selves, Inexperience with menstruation, Bathing/Washing, Bathroom Sex, Bath Sex, Multiple Orgasms, POV Nile Freeman, happy team feels, immortals have no sense of privacy, Fluff and Feels, Fluff and Smut
Summary:
The worst part of immortality by far, the thing no one’s prepared her for, the thing for which no guides exist and that takes Nile completely by surprise, is that she still gets her period.
*
God, things have been busy.
Since I lost my job I basically took a week and a half to see friends, have fun, catch up on a billion chores, and generally recover from how hellacious the last few weeks at my job were.
Then I started working on everything I needed to look for work. Building a new CV I was happy with, in several languages, coming up with a plan of action, figuring out who and what I could use to look for jobs, etc.
That took... way longer than I'd hoped. But it really was a LOT of work to get things Right so that once that prep work was done I could spend less effort on actual job hunting - apply to more places and do it more quickly, and prioritize and filter the places I actually wanted to apply to.
In retrospect, I'm very glad I took that time, because I think it yielded very good results. Right now, I've sent a single-digit number of CVs and got a bunch of interviews - and this is without posting publicly to local friends that I'm looking for work, or using various professional networks I could reach out to.
I got to a point where it took me a relatively short time to get from seeing a job I was interested in to actually applying for that job, and still I felt overwhelmed because each day I saw more job openings than I could apply for, in terms of how long preparing a good application takes.
Anyway, the last time I was looking for work I was freshly graduated from college, and let me tell you I did not get this much interest straight away lol.
Anyway, it's possible none of my upcoming interviews will work out and I'll never hear from another employer again, but so far it's felt pretty great (and actually made me go "uh, wait! I'm not done just chilling at home yet! I haven't even gotten my unemployment money!")
(A small, very flattering and happy-making professional aside is that right now I'm mostly applying for jobs that are a bit "aspirational", meaning they would be a step up from my previous job in both the kind of work I do and the pay I would get. A recent interview process included "homework" that the company sent me and asked me to work on, to test my abilities. It just so happened that the test they sent me was for a task I'd never done myself (only seen others do in passing) and required using software I'd never even heard before.
Instead of giving up in despair I decided I'd do my best, so I did all the research and downloaded the software and taught myself that and also completed the task, all in a few days. I then asked a friend-of-a-friend who's worked in this industry and in this specific job for 20 years (and in fact is now TEACHING this job at a professional course) to take a look at my work before I send it off, certain that I probably made some giant mistake I wasn't aware of.
Instead, this friend got back to me to say that my work was excellent, showed perfect grasp of the field, very polished, and that he had maybe one or two minor comments but other than that it's already great. He actually jokingly called me a "queen" for doing this so well. It made me SO HAPPY! I can't believe I pulled this out of my ass in a few days enough that a consummate professional was like "yep this is excellent".)
Anyway, so the job search is happening. I'm not letting myself be optimistic because that way madness lies, but all these recent events have certainly given me more self confidence.
*
Last Thursday I realized how busy my next 5 days would be and it made me want to cry. I've been SO busy, I've barely had time to breathe, between job search things, interview things, Clarion's summer workshop, con.txt (where I did 3 events) and then Worldcon (where I did volunteer shifts), the fact that the STATE REVOKED MY DRIVER'S LICENCE which required endless amounts of energy and bureaucracy until it turned out that it was ACTUALLY NOT REVOKED AT ALL, the need to actually see other humans occasionally, the need to cook for myself for every meal every day... it's just been a LOT.
I've slept 3-5 hours a night for the past week, because by the time I'm done with everything I wanted to do that day it's LATE and then I need to unwind a bit and before you know it it's 3am, and then the next morning I have to get up early for whatever reason.
I mean sometimes these are nice reasons! Today I woke up at 6:40am to go to the beach with
roga (the beach is PERFECTION right now, and I knew when I got fired that the BEST PART of being unemployed would be the fact that it's summer and I can ACTUALLY GO TO THE BEACH), and sometimes these are less nice reasons, like the fact that tomorrow by 10:30am I have to be a forest where my cousin is celebrating his wedding anniversary with a barbecue (NOT SUPER ADVISED in these pandemic times but also not currently illegal, ugh).
After the 10 or so days I've had of absolute stress and chaos and lack of sleep, today I was like "all my urgent tasks are done, I am TAKING THE DAY OFF." and legit had to sit there and go "...how does that work, exactly? What does the schedule for a day off look like?" and realized I had no idea how to live a day without an itemized schedule of what I'm doing every hour, which has been essential to getting all the stuff done lately.
Anyway, I woke up way too early and went to the beach. I came home and had lunch with
reutii, schnitzels that I'd cooked yesterday, oven fries, and a giant salad with like 8 vegetables.
For dessert she made high quality coffee in a macchinetta, which I poured over some artisinal ice cream she had in the freezer, for an affogato I guess? There was still some coffee left after I finished the ice cream, so I added a bit of hot water and a cube of excellent milk chocolate and SWEET LORD that tiny cup was delicious.
Later, I made scones with raisins (and chocolate, at
reutii's behest) and we sat and chatted for a while over scones and tea.
And now, in about an hour, I'm supposed to have a zoom chat with two author friends (from the UK and Greece), and after that's done I'll drive to my parents' for the night and go to my cousin's thing from there tomorrow morning.
I desperately need to do laundry, my car is a mess, I missed an important doctor's appointment I had this week because there were too many things happening on the same day, I still need to make some kind of pasta/noodles/carbs/something for next week so we have something other than meat and veg to eat for lunch, and of course there's a list of non-urgent-but-better-get-done-soon tasks waiting for me, other than the continuing job search.
It's a lot. I'm exhausted and really need a break and am not sure I have the personality to take one, in these times of uncertainty, but overall I'm enjoying this time in my life. Maybe I'll be jobless and broke forever and all will be Terrible? But so far it's been pretty great.
comments on Dreamwidth
Here are the ones I haven't posted about before:
1.
Figs and Pomegranates (966 words) by sabrina_il
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova & Andy | Andromache the Scythian
Characters: Andy | Andromache of Scythia, Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Additional Tags: Music, Inspired by Music, عربي | Arabic, Dancing, Family Feels, Languages, POV Nile Freeman
Summary:
Nile's favorite times are after a long, difficult job, when they all feel the need to spend time together, sleep in the same house, eat and drink together every day, pair up for trips and excursions.
2.
Immortal Problems (3042 words) by sabrina_il
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Nile Freeman, Andy | Andromache & Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf al-Kaysani & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman & Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nile Freeman & Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Characters: Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Andy | Andromache of Scythia
Additional Tags: Menstruation, Menstrual Sex, Cunnilingus, Immortals being their weird immortal selves, Inexperience with menstruation, Bathing/Washing, Bathroom Sex, Bath Sex, Multiple Orgasms, POV Nile Freeman, happy team feels, immortals have no sense of privacy, Fluff and Feels, Fluff and Smut
Summary:
The worst part of immortality by far, the thing no one’s prepared her for, the thing for which no guides exist and that takes Nile completely by surprise, is that she still gets her period.
*
God, things have been busy.
Since I lost my job I basically took a week and a half to see friends, have fun, catch up on a billion chores, and generally recover from how hellacious the last few weeks at my job were.
Then I started working on everything I needed to look for work. Building a new CV I was happy with, in several languages, coming up with a plan of action, figuring out who and what I could use to look for jobs, etc.
That took... way longer than I'd hoped. But it really was a LOT of work to get things Right so that once that prep work was done I could spend less effort on actual job hunting - apply to more places and do it more quickly, and prioritize and filter the places I actually wanted to apply to.
In retrospect, I'm very glad I took that time, because I think it yielded very good results. Right now, I've sent a single-digit number of CVs and got a bunch of interviews - and this is without posting publicly to local friends that I'm looking for work, or using various professional networks I could reach out to.
I got to a point where it took me a relatively short time to get from seeing a job I was interested in to actually applying for that job, and still I felt overwhelmed because each day I saw more job openings than I could apply for, in terms of how long preparing a good application takes.
Anyway, the last time I was looking for work I was freshly graduated from college, and let me tell you I did not get this much interest straight away lol.
Anyway, it's possible none of my upcoming interviews will work out and I'll never hear from another employer again, but so far it's felt pretty great (and actually made me go "uh, wait! I'm not done just chilling at home yet! I haven't even gotten my unemployment money!")
(A small, very flattering and happy-making professional aside is that right now I'm mostly applying for jobs that are a bit "aspirational", meaning they would be a step up from my previous job in both the kind of work I do and the pay I would get. A recent interview process included "homework" that the company sent me and asked me to work on, to test my abilities. It just so happened that the test they sent me was for a task I'd never done myself (only seen others do in passing) and required using software I'd never even heard before.
Instead of giving up in despair I decided I'd do my best, so I did all the research and downloaded the software and taught myself that and also completed the task, all in a few days. I then asked a friend-of-a-friend who's worked in this industry and in this specific job for 20 years (and in fact is now TEACHING this job at a professional course) to take a look at my work before I send it off, certain that I probably made some giant mistake I wasn't aware of.
Instead, this friend got back to me to say that my work was excellent, showed perfect grasp of the field, very polished, and that he had maybe one or two minor comments but other than that it's already great. He actually jokingly called me a "queen" for doing this so well. It made me SO HAPPY! I can't believe I pulled this out of my ass in a few days enough that a consummate professional was like "yep this is excellent".)
Anyway, so the job search is happening. I'm not letting myself be optimistic because that way madness lies, but all these recent events have certainly given me more self confidence.
*
Last Thursday I realized how busy my next 5 days would be and it made me want to cry. I've been SO busy, I've barely had time to breathe, between job search things, interview things, Clarion's summer workshop, con.txt (where I did 3 events) and then Worldcon (where I did volunteer shifts), the fact that the STATE REVOKED MY DRIVER'S LICENCE which required endless amounts of energy and bureaucracy until it turned out that it was ACTUALLY NOT REVOKED AT ALL, the need to actually see other humans occasionally, the need to cook for myself for every meal every day... it's just been a LOT.
I've slept 3-5 hours a night for the past week, because by the time I'm done with everything I wanted to do that day it's LATE and then I need to unwind a bit and before you know it it's 3am, and then the next morning I have to get up early for whatever reason.
I mean sometimes these are nice reasons! Today I woke up at 6:40am to go to the beach with
roga (the beach is PERFECTION right now, and I knew when I got fired that the BEST PART of being unemployed would be the fact that it's summer and I can ACTUALLY GO TO THE BEACH), and sometimes these are less nice reasons, like the fact that tomorrow by 10:30am I have to be a forest where my cousin is celebrating his wedding anniversary with a barbecue (NOT SUPER ADVISED in these pandemic times but also not currently illegal, ugh).
After the 10 or so days I've had of absolute stress and chaos and lack of sleep, today I was like "all my urgent tasks are done, I am TAKING THE DAY OFF." and legit had to sit there and go "...how does that work, exactly? What does the schedule for a day off look like?" and realized I had no idea how to live a day without an itemized schedule of what I'm doing every hour, which has been essential to getting all the stuff done lately.
Anyway, I woke up way too early and went to the beach. I came home and had lunch with
reutii, schnitzels that I'd cooked yesterday, oven fries, and a giant salad with like 8 vegetables.
For dessert she made high quality coffee in a macchinetta, which I poured over some artisinal ice cream she had in the freezer, for an affogato I guess? There was still some coffee left after I finished the ice cream, so I added a bit of hot water and a cube of excellent milk chocolate and SWEET LORD that tiny cup was delicious.
Later, I made scones with raisins (and chocolate, at
reutii's behest) and we sat and chatted for a while over scones and tea.
And now, in about an hour, I'm supposed to have a zoom chat with two author friends (from the UK and Greece), and after that's done I'll drive to my parents' for the night and go to my cousin's thing from there tomorrow morning.
I desperately need to do laundry, my car is a mess, I missed an important doctor's appointment I had this week because there were too many things happening on the same day, I still need to make some kind of pasta/noodles/carbs/something for next week so we have something other than meat and veg to eat for lunch, and of course there's a list of non-urgent-but-better-get-done-soon tasks waiting for me, other than the continuing job search.
It's a lot. I'm exhausted and really need a break and am not sure I have the personality to take one, in these times of uncertainty, but overall I'm enjoying this time in my life. Maybe I'll be jobless and broke forever and all will be Terrible? But so far it's been pretty great.
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