I'm totally in support of the writers in theory but I'm trying to understand more of what you're fighting for because I've seen some people on twitter claim writers make more money a week than most of us make in a month so I'm trying to understand what the issue is. Also if that info is accurate. This is a genuine question. Not trying to have a "gotcha moment". I really want to hear from a writer.
people have always had wild misconceptions about how much a writer earns because of their lack of understanding of how the industry actually works. there's so many posts about how "you guys make 5k a week. what more do you want?!" yeah...let's do some math on that.
5k a week for 14 weeks (and that's a long room. a lot of rooms these days are 8-10 weeks. those are the dreaded mini-rooms we're trying to kill) is $70,000. for roughly three months of work. you'd think we're cooking with gas...BUT HOLD UP. that's gross! let's see everything that has to come out of that check:
10% to our agent
10% to our manager
5% to our entertainment attorney
5% to our business manager (not everyone has one but a lot of us do. i do, so that's literally 30% immediately off the top of every check)
most of these breakdowns ive seen downplay taxes severely. someone made one that says writers pay 5% in taxes and i would like to ask them "in what universe?". that doesn't even cover state taxes. the way taxes work in the industry is really complicated, but the short of it is most of us have companies for tax reasons so we aren't taxed like people on w2s/1099. if we did we'd be even more fucked. basically every production hires a writer's company instead of the writer as an individual. so they engage our companies for our services and then at the end of the year we (the company) pay taxes as corporations or llcs (depending on what the writer chose to go with). my company is registered as a "corporation" so let's go with those rates. california's corporate rate is 9% and the federal corporate tax rate is 21%. there's other expenses with running a business like fees and other shit so my business managers/accountants/bookkeepers have recommended i save between 35-40% of everything i make for when tax season comes.
you see where the math is at already??? 25-30% in commissions and then 35-40% in taxes. on the lower end you're at THE VERY LEAST looking at 60% of that check gone. 70% worst case scenario. suddenly those $70,000 people claim we make are actually down to $28,000 as the take home pay. and that's if you're only losing 60%. it goes down to $21,000 if it's 70%.
lets pretend you worked a long 14 week room (that's the longest room ive ever worked btw) and let's also be generous and say you only have 60% in expenses so the take home is $28,000. average rent in los angeles is around $2,800-$3,000. if you're paying $2,800 in rent that means you need AT LEAST $4,000 a month to have a semi decent life since you need to also cover groceries, gas, medical expenses, toiletries, phone, internet, utilities, rental and car insurances, car payments, student loan payments, etc etc etc. and again, this is los angeles. everything is more expensive so you're living BARE BONES on 4k. and these are numbers as a single person. im not even taking having children into account. so those $28,000 you take home might cover your life for 6-7 months. 3 of which you're in the room working. the reality is that once that room ends, you might not work in a room again for 6-9-12 months (i have friends whose last jobs were over 18 months ago) and you now only have about 3 months left of savings to hold you over. we have to make that money stretch while we do all the endless free development we do for studios and until we get our next paying job. so...3 months left of enough money to cover your expenses -> possible 9 months of not having a job. this is how writers end up on food stamps or applying to work at target.
this is why we're fighting for better rates and better residuals. residuals were a thing writers used to rely on to get them through the unemployment periods. residual checks have gone down from 20k to $0.03 cents. im not joking.
they've decimated our regular pay and then destroyed residuals. we have nothing left. so don't believe it when they tell you writers are being greedy. writers are simply fighting to be able to make a middle class living. we're not asking them to become poor for our sake. we're asking for raises that amount to 2% of their profit. TWO PERCENT. this is a fight for writing even being a career in five years instead of something you do on the side while you work retail to pay your bills. if you think shows are bad now imagine when your writer has to do it as a hobby because they need a real job to pay their bills and support a family. (which none of us can currently afford to have btw)
support writers. stop being bootlickers for billion dollar corporations. stop caring about fictional people more than you care about the real people that write them. if we don't win this fight it truly is game over. the industry as you know it is gone.
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being so normal (18+)
a continuation of this series of blurbs (untitled, adidas, puppy grin)
contains: steve x reader; shy!reader; reader with a vagina; gender neutral pronouns used for reader, but good girl is used once; oral; fingering; blue balls :/
you really shouldn’t have smoked. but when eddie offers it for free, you take it.
because now you can’t stop looking at steve. you’re fixated on him like a moth to a flame. he’s the only thing in the entire bowling alley you care about. maybe if you were sober that would scare you - but also, if you were sober, you wouldn’t be looking.
everyone’s talking about something. steve included. you watch his brows furrow gently while jonathan tells a story about getting too stoned in california. how his pink lips quirk up and then fall flat again. his brown eyes all soft before they narrow when robin makes a joke at his expense.
and his nose. it slopes downward so straight. like it was sculpted. pink from the alcohol beginning its course through his system. there’s a tiny little freckle on his nostril that you want to kiss.
you want to kiss him. it’s so overwhelming that it’s almost painful. you’d love nothing more than to crawl over the table separating you and kiss him til he’s breathless. til his face is red and his pupils are blown. til his hands grip bruises into your hips. til there’s spit trailing between you two. til it trails down lower, down towards your aching, needy -
you’re snapped out of it when eddie slams his ringed hand down on the table in front of you, making you jump.
your brows crinkle together comically slow. you feel like you just woke up. “huh?”
“does steve have somethin’ on his face?” eddie asks again, smiling big.
“i don’t see anything,” jonathan adds.
you falter. “what?”
it must be physically painful for steve to not look smug over this. you wonder if he knows you were staring. his eyes meet yours and you feel dizzy all over again, so needy and so yet nearly fearful of his attention.
he’s a much better actor than you.
steve waves his hand, looking away from you, brown eyes focusing on the bar. “we all stare when we’re stoned.”
“maybe i just think he looks funny,” you finally say, which seems to be sufficient enough. eddie guffaws loud enough to hear over the music and jonathan slaps steve’s back.
“i’m gonna get you for that,” steve says, in a tone so casual it shouldn’t make your stomach flip, but it still finds a way to.
“gonna make them car sick again?” nancy asks. her eyes feel like they’re boring into the side of your face. like she knows something. it makes sweat bead at your hairline, pulse quickening when she raises her brows at you for a second.
and as the men leave to get drunker, nancy and robin sit staring at you. you play with the sweating edge of your glass of ginger ale, bouncing your leg.
robin’s the first person to break the silence. she swats at you, expression somehow irritated and elated. “how stupid do you think we are?”
“what are you talking about?” you deadpan.
“come on,” nancy huffs.
you point to the monitor above your table. “it’s your turn, rob.”
“how long have you been sleeping together?” nancy presses.
you gawk and you hope, despite knowing that nancy wheeler is the smartest person in a one hundred mile radius, that she’s falling for your innocence. “why on earth do you think we’re…?”
“oh, seriously?” robin scoffs. “you can’t even say ‘fuck’?”
“no, really,” you urge, knee bouncing faster. “why do you think we’re doing something?”
“you’ve been getting rides from him,” nancy points out.
“he has driven me somewhere three times in six months,” you amend.
this seems to make them short circuit, opening their mouths to protest but unable to find any ammo. you’re pleased with this.
“and by your logic, then robin must be having sex with eddie.”
robin groans, repulsed. “that’s gross!”
“how do you think i feel?”
“then why were you staring at him?” nancy asks.
you reach for your ginger ale, taking a long sip. “he’s cute,” you settle on. “so what?”
“if you aren’t doing something, do you want to?” robin continues. “i can, like, totally help you out here if you do.”
“robin,” you grit. “enough.”
as grueling as it is, at the very least, this behavior reinforces why you didn’t want to share your situation with steve in the first place. everyone is so nosy - and the only one who really has a right to be is robin. if you’d let it slip that you were being intimate with steve, she’d be furious that he didn’t tell her. but this makes you feel worse for hiding it, and you feel a little sick as you take another swig of your drink.
“well, if you’re not doing anything,” nancy says slowly. “and if his driving made you sick, and that’s why you pulled over, then you wouldn’t mind jonathan and i taking you home. right?”
you blink. “right,” you reply after a pause.
she stares, unwavering. trying to make you break. “so jonathan and i will take you home, then.”
you nod. “right,” you repeat.
nancy’s so goddamn petty, you think, watching robin finally get up to bowl. totally ruining your impending orgasm, again, just to prove herself right. you were so looking forward to riding steve’s nose. you try your best to not look irritated as the game continues, even as the boys come back, eyes ignoring steve’s - well, ignoring steve’s everything. you act like his entire existence is meaningless to you until he finds you in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, half drunk and messy.
“heyheyheyheyhey,” he coos, grabbing you by the waist, pulling you in to his chest. your body becomes overwhelmingly hot at his attention all over again. "c'mere."
"steve," you squeak, "we can't -!"
but he pulls you into the bathroom anyway, pressing you against the door and twisting the lock until it clicks. his mouth is on yours before you can protest, kissing long and sweet and serene. you melt for half a second before turning your head to the side.
"steve," you breathe, grabbing onto his shirt while his lips trail down your neck. "steve, we can't - they're on to us -"
"i know," he says between kisses, annoyed. "jon and eddie wouldn't shut up about it."
you open your mouth to protest but a moan comes out instead.
“oh, there?” he asks, breathless, attaching his lips to your sweet spot.
“steve,” you moan, breathy and low. “we can’t - they’ll - they’ll kn-know -“
he sighs and pulls away, pouting. “what were you looking at me for earlier?”
you’re a little speechless under his gaze. “why do you think?” you whisper.
he licks his lips. “i think someone here’s upset they didn’t get to cum.” one hand rests firmly on your hip, the other snaking around to the small of your back.
you’re trapped. deliciously so.
“and i think you were thinkin’ about how good my nose feels on your clit.”
you shiver, staring at the collar of steve’s shirt.
“that true?” he asks softly.
“not - not totally.”
“well, do you want that?” his thumb plays with the waistband of your skirt, clawing at it, wanting in. “want me to make out with your pretty pussy again?”
overwhelmed, your eyes fall shut. “nancy - nancy’s taking me home.”
steve falters, eyes going soft. “is everything okay?”
“she’s on to us,” you repeat. “thinks if we aren’t doing anything then i wouldn’t mind going home with her. so - yes, i’d really love that, but i don’t think tonight-“
but steve drops to his knees, like you aren’t in a public restroom. his hands push your skirt up, exposing your still drenched underwear to him. you open your mouth to ask what the hell he thinks he’s doing, but his tongue is on you before you’re able to finish your thought.
“oh!”
steve’s fingers keep your underwear pushed off to the side - his prize of the night now stolen from him. if he could, he’d send you back out there with your pussy on display, your underwear tucked safely into his back pocket. but he’s a gentleman, so he resigns himself to snag a pair from you next time.
he always assumes there’s a next time.
“we - they’ll - find out,” you pant, knees weak, your hands reaching down to push his hair away from his face.
steve laughs, pulls away, licks his lips. “do you really think i can’t make you cum in five minutes?”
you hold onto his hair in a white knuckled grip, tugging, listening to him pant and moan beneath you. his tongue licks delicately up your folds before he sucks at your clit, kissing it, flicking his tongue out. then he ducks down a bit, lets his nose rub against your swollen bud while his tongue fucks you.
“oh my god,” you moan, eyes rolling.
“do you want them to know?” he asks, voice thick with you.
you realize you’re being too loud, but it’s impossible not to be. steve brings you to rapture in ways you never thought possible. you never thought it was possible with him. his pretty face between your thighs begs for you to praise it, to let everyone in this goddamn dive know what he’s doing to you.
“you have three minutes,” you shoot back, panting.
“yeah?” he presses a kiss to your folds. “aren’t i supposed to make you pay for teasin’ me earlier?”
white hot electric shoots through you. “n- no.”
steve laughs, raising a hand so his thumb can rub circles into your clit. you sigh, trying desperately to still your shaking legs. “don’t have to let you cum, y’know. could just wait and see how desperate you can get for me. see if i can get you to hump my leg.”
he doesn’t need three minutes. he needs one more minute, needs his dirty mouth running, needs to make you feel like a pervert, and that’s all it takes. his mouth engulfs you just as you’re cumming, lapping you up, moaning as he tastes you.
“shit,” he gasps, pulling away, chest heaving. “wish i had an hour with you.”
you still don’t look at him as you ask, “what would you do if you had an hour?”
“stretch you out on my fingers,” steve answers immediately. “wanna see how well you could take ‘em if we had the time. if that’s okay,” he adds.
you nod, swallowing hard, dizzy. “that would be very okay.”
“you think i could?” he’s still not getting up. “you’re so tight on my tongue, bet it’d take an hour to get two fingers in you.”
but he’s going to try now, his fingers creeping back up your thighs and between them where you’re sensitive and halfway to dripping.
“we don’t have an hour,” you remind him.
steve just hums, using his free hand to part your legs. he’s begging with his eyes. “but we have a minute, right?”
your head falls back against the door with a quick mhm.
“you’re so cute,” he muses, the tip of his middle finger teasing your entrance. “so beautiful, you know that?”
you want to scream. “i did not.”
“must not tell you enough then, huh?” if you looked down you’d see the absolute adoration in his eyes. “sorry about that, angel.”
steve still isn’t trying to push inside of you. he’s just watching, staring up at your pretty face, the way it twists, your lip quivering. it’s so fun to play with you. he could do this all night but he knows he has about five more seconds until you remind him of the time again.
“please?” you finally whimper.
“good girl,” he beams, sliding his finger inside of you, nice and slow. it’s a stretch for certain, making your mouth fall open in silent rapture. steve drinks you up, afraid to blink and miss something. “so tight, honey. don’t think i’ll ever be able to fuck you.”
you clench around him. “you want to?”
“do you?”
you nod, suffocating.
“yeah?” he says softly, pumping his finger once, twice, in and out of you. “gonna need more space than the car.”
you really aren’t listening. you nod vaguely, trying not to be too needy and roll your hips downwards.
his movements still. “what if i came over tonight?”
now you’re listening. you let your chin fall forward to look at him. “really?”
“yeah.” his hair bobs as he nods, his face turning pink. “get to take my time with you.”
“nancy’s taking me home,” you remind him.
“i’ll come after you’re dropped off. if you want.”
you nod quickly. “mhm. yeah. i do.”
it’s a major loss when he slides his finger out of you, but the sweet kiss he gives you makes up for it.
“clean up,” he says gently. “i’ll be out here.”
your eyes follow his fingers the rest of the night.
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