My first paid commission back in 2018 was a character redraw that heavily referenced a Katsuya Terada sketch. I was freaked out to ask, but I just sent a quick message explaining the project and linked his work in the final post. Most artists get it, we all use references. The line is when you just copy the shapes without adding your own voice. Slapping a filter on someone's work and calling it yours is the real bad move.

That "skipped the startup sequence" thing is real, it's like your brain didn't do its morning checks. Probably why the system crash hits so hard later, like @the_emery found out.

Deja vu can really mess with your head, especially after an event like that car scrape. Jason's locker story shows how specific triggers can bring that glitch feeling back. Have you ever had a deja vu that felt too real to ignore?

Seems like you're overthinking book club picks.

Ask your boss to spell out what you need to work on. General comments are useless if you want to get better. You have to make them give you real targets to hit.