NO LIFE, ONLY WORK

I regret to inform you that I have accepted an offer for a position with another company... I truly, truly do.

Panel 1: Foxwolf jolts up from her cluttered desk and screeches into the heavens, “FUCK this company, I can’t fucking take this shit!!! I am NOT A SLAVE! They couldn’t pay me enough to keep giving them my entire waking life!!!”

Panel 2: (Caption: * gets a new job *) A smiling man in a suit shakes foxwolf’s hand. She’s visibly sweating through her jacket and saccharinely grinning. In her free hand she holds her resume which reads: FOXWOLF VERY normal Loves to work Not stinky or reclusive An inspirational office poster on the wall behind her pictures a person reaching the flagged peak of a mountain beneath the inspirational quote “WORK OR STARVE”.

Panel 3: (Caption: * immediately at the new job *) A virtual meeting titled “All-Hands EMERGENCY Meeting” is happening between Foxwolf and 5 of her new coworkers. The department manager has the main portion of the screen, while three very concerned workers and the relaxed-looking senior boss listen from the side bar. Continuing the meeting, the manager says, “So, these next 6 weeks are not going to be 40-hour weeks, guys.” “We’re going to need to put in as much time as we can to meet this deadline.” Foxwolf cringes but tries to maintain a smile on camera.

Panel 4: The manager continues, “But when we *do* achieve this goal, we’ve been promised a reward of some sort. Maybe a mandatory group outting?” “That’ll be fun, right? All of us hanging out together after business hours away from our loved ones right after we all spent an immense amount of time working instead of being with them or enjoying our lives? You guys love that sort of thing.” He’s forcing a smile and sweating. Foxwolf can’t mask the distress on her face now.

Panel 5: Now very stern, the manager addresses one of the meeting attendees. “Guy on a work visa, you’re going to be working Saturday, right?” The worker’s expression quickly changes from concern to terror. Foxwolf along with the other workers react with shock, fear, and disgust. The senior boss, however, smiles with pride.

Panel 6: The addressed worker attempts a light-hearted response by timidly squeaking out, “Heh, uhh… I’ll think about it, heh…” He tries very hard to smile but is grimacing with fear as sweat beads up on his temples.

Panel 7: “DAMN it guys, I’M SERIOUS! Just agree to work late and on the weekends. Don’t make me *explicitly* threaten you with deportation.” The manager slams his fists and leans into the camera, screaming at the group.

Panel 8: The senior boss finally chimes in with, “Yes guys, come on. We know this is gonna be tough, but we really don’t want to have to keep threatening your livelihood to make sure you’re working 12 hours a day. That’s really annoying for us.”

Panel 9: Foxwolf is stepping out of her office for the day. The room is dark behind her along with the window into the night sky. Houndmage looks concerned that Foxwolf has only just now gotten done with work. He says, “Hey honey, how’s the new job?”

Panel 10: “It’s the same.” “It’s the same job.” Blackness surrounds Foxwolf. Her eyes are lifeless and unfocused.

Panel 11: “They’re all the same fucking job. I’ll never escape. I’ll never be free.” Houndmage follows Foxwolf as she crawls on her hands and knees onto the couch, wailing - perhaps to Houndmage - the whole way.

NO LIFE, ONLY WORK

Panel 1:

Foxwolf jolts up from her cluttered desk and screeches into the heavens, “FUCK this company, I can’t fucking take this shit!!! I am NOT A SLAVE! They couldn’t pay me enough to keep giving them my entire waking life!!!”

Panel 2: (Caption: * gets a new job *)

A smiling man in a suit shakes foxwolf’s hand. She’s visibly sweating through her jacket and saccharinely grinning. In her free hand she holds her resume which reads:

FOXWOLF

VERY normal
Loves to work
Not stinky or reclusive

An inspirational office poster on the wall behind her pictures a person reaching the flagged peak of a mountain beneath the inspirational quote “WORK OR STARVE”.

Panel 3: (Caption: * immediately at the new job *)

A virtual meeting titled “All-Hands EMERGENCY Meeting” is happening between Foxwolf and 5 of her new coworkers. The department manager has the main portion of the screen, while three very concerned workers and the relaxed-looking senior boss listen from the side bar. Continuing the meeting, the manager says, “So, these next 6 weeks are not going to be 40-hour weeks, guys.” “We’re going to need to put in as much time as we can to meet this deadline.” Foxwolf cringes but tries to maintain a smile on camera.

Panel 4:

The manager continues, “But when we *do* achieve this goal, we’ve been promised a reward of some sort. Maybe a mandatory group outting?” “That’ll be fun, right? All of us hanging out together after business hours away from our loved ones right after we all spent an immense amount of time working instead of being with them or enjoying our lives? You guys love that sort of thing.” He’s forcing a smile and sweating. Foxwolf can’t mask the distress on her face now.

Panel 5:

Now very stern, the manager addresses one of the meeting attendees. “Guy on a work visa, you’re going to be working Saturday, right?” The worker’s expression quickly changes from concern to terror. Foxwolf along with the other workers react with shock, fear, and disgust. The senior boss, however, smiles with pride.

Panel 6:

The addressed worker attempts a light-hearted response by timidly squeaking out, “Heh, uhh… I’ll think about it, heh…” He tries very hard to smile but is grimacing with fear as sweat beads up on his temples.

Panel 7:

“DAMN it guys, I’M SERIOUS! Just agree to work late and on the weekends. Don’t make me *explicitly* threaten you with deportation.” The manager slams his fists and leans into the camera, screaming at the group.

Panel 8:

The senior boss finally chimes in with, “Yes guys, come on. We know this is gonna be tough, but we really don’t want to have to keep threatening your livelihood to make sure you’re working 12 hours a day. That’s really annoying for us.”

Panel 9:

Foxwolf is stepping out of her office for the day. The room is dark behind her along with the window into the night sky. Houndmage looks concerned that Foxwolf has only just now gotten done with work. He says, “Hey honey, how’s the new job?”

Panel 10:

“It’s the same.” “It’s the same job.” Blackness surrounds Foxwolf. Her eyes are lifeless and unfocused.

Panel 11:

“They’re all the same fucking job. I’ll never escape. I’ll never be free.” Houndmage follows Foxwolf as she crawls on her hands and knees onto the couch, wailing - perhaps to Houndmage - the whole way.

Panel 12:

Houndmage leans onto the arm of the couch where Foxwolf has collapsed face down. He looks sympathetically at his distressed partner and says, “Yeah… Do you want to do drugs about it?”

Even more defeatedly, Foxwolf responds, “Sure.”