Head over to (that link) and use the code DOMICS to save 77% off a 3 year plan!

*intro music*

*finger snap*

A few months ago, I decided to get an office studio to work in,

so I could have a place for my soon-to-be local animator team.

Also, I realised how hard it was to work at home,

because it got way too comfy at times,

especially when I had my bed *literally* 2 feet away from my desk.

"I'll be with you soon, my love." -Domics 2k18

As some of you may have noticed, over the years

I've got additional help on my animations from my friends Jomm, Shho and Ehlboy.

Wait a minute, Dom...

You mean to tell me that you don't animate your videos all by yourself?!

Well, yeah, of course.

I wanted to try getting out videos more often

--minus these past months, because I was helping with setting up the Gaming Café--

so I thought I'd get even more help to take on some of the load.

Well, that's lame.

Too important to do everything yourself now, huuuh?

haaah?

Well, I still write the scripts myself and do the voice-overs.

I still animate some of the scenes, but I guess not a majority of it...?

I'm sorry to shatter your vision of me...?

Ya but...

thith other animator doeth everything by themthelveth...

Okay...

And how often do they post?

Once every 4 or 5 months.

Huh!

That's pretty scarce...

But understandable, given the time and effort it takes to make a coherent animation by themselves.

Ya, I get that, but I just wish they posted more often

(how can i describe this melody...)

Anyway... yeah, I wanted more aid on the videos.

I was cool with my 3 friends from California helping me out,

but sometimes the workload still proved to be a lot for us.

I also thought it'd be nice to be physically around the other people working on the same project.

I've usually just been cooped up in my room and...

I gotta admit, it got pretty lonely at times.

So, I got an office...

Made a post that I was hiring locally...

Hired some people...

And I realised I needed to get more equipment for them to work with.

I currently work on a Cintiq 13 HD as my main tablet.

And I thought, "That's probably more than enough for the others!".

So I decided to check if anyone was selling any used Cintiqs on Facebook Marketplace

and my favourite "your junk, my jewel" platform,

Kijiji!

The Canadian Craigslist alternative.

Well, Dom, why are you being cheap?

Why don't you just buy a new one?

Surely, you could afford it with yo millions of dollahs!

Well, surely, I can afford to also save some money when I can, right?

The tablets are used, but they work just fine.

And my animators don't mind, right guys?

*oh*

*shrug*

I managed to find four that were available, but they were all spread out around the Toronto area.

One was a 5-minute drive down the street of where I live.

Another was in downtown Toronto.

Another was at Seneca College.

And the last one wanted to meet at a Starbucks that was about 15 minutes away.

I asked when they were all available at their earliest convenience.

Downtown person was available the next day,

so I went and scooped that up on Friday.

The rest were free the day after.

The thing was, I had a dentist appointment Saturday morning,

which was a 40-minute drive away.

Don't ask why it's so far...

And then, I also scheduled the animators to come in later, at 1pm.

But it kinda worked out, because I could head to Senaca College

and one of the other sellers on the way back to the office.

Now, the Starbucks dude... was a bit more complicated.

Here's how that conversation went.

(like that voice)

(woah there m8)

f*bleep*

*bleep*

(Cash is Fine™)

All right, after 2 should be doable.

I agreed to this, because I needed to make sure I was at office before 1 to let my team in

and then I could just head out real quick to pick up the tablet.

I didn't get an update until Saturday morning.

(boi.)

Tchh... Okay...

So, I didn't know "after 2" meant "AT 2"...

But I thought it likely wouldn't be a problem.

I kind of got lost around the Senaca campus, because the girl's directions were a bit confusing,

and so that meeting got a little delayed, since we had trouble looking for each other.

Because *that* was late, I got to the other seller later than I wanted,

which meant I also got to the office later than I wanted.

Once I did, I still needed a bit of time to set some things up for my animators

and knew I couldn't make it for 2 o' clock.

Didn't get a reply for 20 minutes.

Here's the thing...

If you don't want to disclose your personal number to a stranger,

I get that.

That's fair.

But it would also be fair if you at least properly checked the only means of communications between us

as the time of meeting approaches,

especially if you're gonna send your daughter off at the transaction...

I received a reply 30 minutes later.

It was past 2...

(slowpoke)

Well, f*** me, OK.

I guess I should head out now!

I was able to set up my team quickly, so they were good to work while I was gone.

I drove there and got to the Starbucks about 12 minutes later, and rushed inside.

And then, I realised...

Tch...

I don't know what David's daughter looks like!

In fact, I don't even know what *David* looks like!

I had no frame of reference.

So, I had no choice, I had to use my deduction skills.

Except I kind of felt like a creep, just standing there at the entrance,

scanning the life forms in the room...

Like, if you get to a movie late and your friends saved you a seat,

you'd probably find them in less than 10 seconds of scanning.

I stood there for a good minute.

Like...

OK, she doesn't have anything that looks like a tablet...

and, uhh... that's a dude...

uhh... she looks like a bit too old to be a daughter...

kinda morbid, but true...

Eventually, I gave up and just sat down.

No one seemed to be acknowledging me as I continued to look around

and you'd think that, if you sent your daughter to make an exchange,

they'd be on the lookout for the person they're going to meet.

So I assumed she either lacked map awareness or... she wasn't there.

(what...)

UUUUUUHHH...K....

I guess we're playing "Where's Waldo?" now,

except it's the version where... you don't know what Waldo looks like...

I wasn't too surprised that she didn't stay.

I probably would've left too if I had to wait that long.

So I left Starbucks, ran across the street and into Wild Wings.

Hi, welcome to Wild Wings!

Table for...

o n e ?

Uh... No, sorry...

Um...

Actually, I'm here to...

meet s-someone...

I didn't know what to say.

I probably could've been honest, but it just felt weird to explain to her

that I don't exactly know who I'm meeting,

because the father of the person in question seems to be trying to shelter her

like she's in a Witness Protection Programme.

Um OK... well, uh, you can have a seat for now.

t h a n k s .

And, again, I was hoping there's a girl keeping an eye out

for someone who looks like they're looking for her.

I did my terminator scan again and found multiple tables with females who were accompanied by friends.

If I had to guess, I'd say that table... over there would probably be it.

As I looked at the group, one of the girls looked at my direction.

And then, the rest of them... turned their heads too...

They laughed for some reason and then went back to their conversations.

oh god i dont wanna be here

I didn't want to go to each suspected table like a door-to-door salesman,

but I felt like that was my soon-to-be only option.

(yeah u idiot)

you're*

w h a t t h e f * * * d o e s s h e l o o k l i k e ?

(At Wild Wings? Really?)

Thank you for specifying her location!

I felt like I was still in the dark with those physical descriptions,

but because you verified her location again,