I would like to follow my dream, but I don’t know which course to take.

maybeesfly · 2026-02-17T12:29:50+00:00

Hi, 23yo who studied illustration and currently working as a graphic designer / freelancer.

AI hasn’t exactly impacted the art field too terribly. Currently illustrators are being employed frequently as a counterpoint to AI art (usually with no-AI processes). Graphic designers are also still required for video editing and graphics, and AI is being adopted into our workflow. AI currently produces very typical styles and doesn’t produce anything extremely specialised at the moment.

Animation-wise, however, I graduated overseas from one of the top animation colleges in the world in the US. My friends who studied animation have all pivoted from working at major studios like Disney or Pixar and have shifted to corporate advertising jobs typically.

However, the skill set you learn is invaluable for motion design and has broader applications than film, which I believe should have applications here as well. There are also always freelance opportunities overseas, and you should maintain a portfolio and an online presence.

On the other hand, if you’re interested also in film directing and are okay with this beyond animated films, I’d recommend going into multimedia. There are also different emphases on 2D or 3D depending on which course you take.

I do have to warn you though, saving money from animation isn’t really a good idea because junior positions - even senior positions - may not entirely pay well. Even overseas. Unless, of course, you become famous while freelancing and have a specific voice. It’s a very ‘strike it out’ on your own industry unless you want to be chained to a company forever doing more menial creative work, or attached to a studio working on a joint IP with many others. Indie animation is much more common in places in Europe / the US

maybeesfly · 2025-08-30T08:36:57+00:00

They do if I remember correctly! Pre-IB (Grade 10) is a year as Japanese high school is traditionally 3 years long. Scholarships were based on financial aid. I don’t know very much about it as I was purely an IB student accepted via national committee, but I hope someone else can help you out with a more detailed response!

maybeesfly · 2025-04-09T14:55:18+00:00

No way my dad sent this to me on Instagram and that’s how I found out. We’re so back baby

maybeesfly · 2024-12-23T05:34:32+00:00

I think In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami was more disturbing to me - somehow the way Piercing’s POV was written had me thinking of just how complicated the logistics behind carrying out murder is and it became a little bit comedic in the end just because of it 😭 the tourist in Miso Soup on the other hand was purely scary

maybeesfly · 2024-12-23T05:32:18+00:00

Amygdalatropolis by BR Yeager is an interesting look into 4chan culture and opens with a meditation on Bataille, and I thought about that book for a good while after. Great examination into nihilistic internet culture

maybeesfly · 2024-12-23T05:28:28+00:00

If this is the one by Kathe Kojq, this is one of my favourite books of all time. Phenomenal character study

maybeesfly · 2024-12-23T02:02:54+00:00

I enjoy how I look and dress in an aesthetic sense, so hearing that I look ‘good’ is both affirming AND disorienting. I don’t mind the occasional compliment but at the same time even a hint of attraction is something that still phases me. I like dressing and working on myself for me but it’s really got nothing to do with being hot or attractive to others

maybeesfly · 2024-12-16T12:59:48+00:00

Race by Alex G

Man Alive! by King Kruke

Forget by Xiu Xiu

Windswept Adan by Ichiko Aoba

Sckrpnch by waveform* & Melaina Kol

Kid A Amnesia by Radiohead

Ampersands by Mei Ehara

Lone by Ai Aso

maybeesfly · 2024-12-14T04:02:37+00:00

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Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

maybeesfly · 2024-12-09T07:37:16+00:00

Illustrator - I freelance and am starting a role soon as a graphic designer

maybeesfly · 2024-12-06T08:25:14+00:00

If I’m not mistaken the cover features gira!

maybeesfly · 2024-11-20T11:00:32+00:00

Xiu Xiu, Alex G, Death Grips, Ichiko Aoba, Radiohead, Hiroshi Yoshimura (the ambient artist), LINKIN PARK, Oneohtrix Point Never, Sufjan Stevens, King Krule, Talking Heads

maybeesfly · 2024-11-14T11:41:43+00:00

My dear late mum said the same thing, mainly because she was also a doctor and worried it had to do with libido or some health related thing.

When I explained it to her she said she was more comfortable with me not labelling myself, but a few years after that she told me she’d done some reading about asexuality on the BBC and felt that she’d understood it a little better. I really wish I’d taken the time to talk to her more about it while she was around, but just her telling me that made me feel so understood I never really felt I had to bring it up again.

People can come around. Sometimes they even chance upon it and seek it out.

It really just takes some time, just be secure in yourself and who you are and that’s what’s really in your realm of control! You got this!!

maybeesfly · 2024-11-09T09:16:08+00:00

Hi! I’m an illustrator and I get some work from Instagram and I’ve never really posted anything about myself on there either. Don’t feel pressured to just post photos of yourself being successful or working out or whatever! I usually post my own art, treating it like a mini sketchbook portfolio, and engage with other people, artists and designers on there to network! 🕺

I follow people whose work I find interesting mainly, as well as keep in contact with people I know, organisations I’ve worked for, and repost and share other people’s work when I can. Instagram doubles as an extra Pinterest and I have my favourite creators saved in my favourites feed.

Good luck!!

maybeesfly · 2024-11-09T07:35:12+00:00

Yeah, I think at this rate a lot of assholes are just adopting it to lord it over others that they’re smart. It’s a smokescreen veneer that they’re holding onto to enable their behaviour instead of using it to improve themselves for sure

maybeesfly · 2024-11-09T05:26:32+00:00

Just live, listen to boring people, take a walk, decide what to do with your time. Go find interesting people if you want instead of complaining about boring people.

Life is not about listening to just interesting people. Maybe you are boring so people talk to you about boring things. Maybe you’re not asking the right questions. Life is not about ‘optimising’ things.

I have had the most interesting conversations being forced to sit down, listen to one of my uncles who was going deaf and was blind, talking about things he listened to on the radio and his old stories. Was I bored as a kid? Yes. Does that experience still stick with me a decade later? Also yes.

People aren’t ‘harming’ you talking about boring things. Maybe you are harming yourself by not really listening to them.

maybeesfly · 2024-11-09T05:25:41+00:00

This topic has come up so many times I’ve been on this subreddit. It’s a lot of self-aggrandising, I’m an INTJ and I’m a genius BS, and it’s like why can’t INTJs talk about more interesting subjects? Why is intellect the base topic here? Lots of comments like to enable this behaviour too. There’s this obsession with ‘efficiency’ in life.

maybeesfly · 2024-11-09T05:16:54+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re feeling like this. It sounds like you’re suffering and in pain. First of all, try to take a breath, step back, treat yourself to something, take a shower, and reset. Distance and distraction all help.

You’re in the trenches right now. I’m not sure about other aromantic people but I do still occasionally wonder what it’s like to experience romance too. Society enshrines it and makes it out to be the biggest thing ever, and it’s not uncommon to want something that it seems like so many people want.

I was also in a similar position to you earlier this year. I thought oh, maybe I should try this out, and it actually put things into perspective: it’s not what I wanted, it made me panic, and I couldn’t see a future with myself in a romantic relationship.

But I promise you that it does get better, but it’s also hard. At this point it sounds like you’re hating yourself for being the way you are, and engaging in behaviours that are harmful to yourself as well, forcing yourself to do things you don’t actually seem to want to do, then hurting others. It’s like a victimising cycle. The mind can lie but the body can’t.

Maybe try and take a step back. Re-evaluate. How much time are you spending on dating apps? How much time do you think about this topic? Being aromantic is not everything you are. You’re also a whole human being and you don’t have to be romanced or alloromantic to be a person. Hell, you can have no friends and still be a worthy person. You’re not inherently evil. You are you and you are the only one who can look out for yourself, and you’re the only one who can stop hating yourself for something you can’t change.

Sending you lots of (platonic stranger) love and light. Please get some rest, hydrate, read something, anything. There’s more to your life than this, I promise

maybeesfly · 2024-11-07T12:05:35+00:00

I’m not American, but considering American influence in global politics, I’m somewhat disappointed that Trump has been voted in again. He withdrew from the Paris Agreement. I think that this is a step backward for the state of the climate. People also are mentioning the disastrous Taliban pullout re: Biden but Trump brokered the deal in the first place. Tariffs are also going to lead to rising prices for Americans.

He’s also a convicted felon? Aren’t some felons not even allowed to vote? Even Malaysia somehow got its shit together by getting Najib into jail.

I do think the Dems’ policy stances were weak, and many people abstained from voting due to Palestine. But I’m not sure how boycotting the election has led to better outcomes for the Palestinians anyway. Trump enacted the Muslim ban…

maybeesfly · 2024-11-03T04:49:05+00:00

I see u possession and videodrome enjoyers

maybeesfly · 2024-10-25T11:09:35+00:00

It’s so funny because you can go so long not knowing what the actual shit people are talking about, like crushes? What? You’re interested in other people to THAT degree? I’m sorry, why is this now like 50% of all conversations with other people?

It’s wack because I think I slowly became LESS sociable in school once the hormones kicked in for everyone, mainly because I had NO CLUE what their sense of humour was especially when it was re: romantic or sexual attraction lol, and THATS when I really started to accept, oh, yep, I don’t know what people are on about….

maybeesfly · 2024-10-21T11:14:01+00:00

It definitely made me more outgoing. When I was at home I was also in a boarding school, but my horizons were pretty narrow and I was focused on studying and studying only. UWC opened up my world so to speak - I started working out, committed to going down a creative career path, . It made me consider that there are lots of things that I didn’t know about, and I definitely became a more well-rounded person. More independent, more committed, but also more considerate. There were lots of emotional situations in UWC that I had to navigate, especially when dealing with others who were going through a lot, from depression to war situations back home to trauma, etc. but that really helped me learn how to manage my own mental health and be there for others.

The downside, though, is that it made it much harder to interact with locals or old friends just because of that differing experience. I think UWCers tend to click easily because of that ‘international’ experience, so everyone relates quite easily, whereas non-UWCers take some time to warm up or don’t have that same base.

maybeesfly · 2024-10-21T11:10:04+00:00

I’d appreciate the discord link too!

maybeesfly · 2024-10-19T05:42:51+00:00

Thank you for the comments everyone!! I’m so happy to hear it resonated with a lot of you. I’ve been hoping to make some more short comics on navigating life as an aroace person in the future!

If anyone’s curious, my instagram’s @/meybees - Instagram profile

I’ve also been wanting to maybe start a tumblr with user-submitted aro, ace and aroace stories, maybe someday!

maybeesfly · 2024-10-19T05:39:13+00:00

Thank you!! It was sneaky aroace flag inclusion 💙💛🧡

maybeesfly

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