Karen was absolutely dumbstruck with the offer. She'd always enjoyed art and felt that she was a great artist and had a lot of ambition for job as an animator, particularly as so many animated movies tended to make movies that would reflect her taste in "furries." Either there were the various Disney movies in which the character looked like an anthropomorphic animal, though obviously more PG than many of the weres she'd met. Disney's depiction of Maid Marion in their version of Robin Hood was beautiful in a way, but the Disney vixen had a smaller bust and smaller hips than Moon Lake's female werefoxes. Some other animated movies, even if the animal character didn't gain human form, it still had human characteristics.
And Chuck Avery of Amazing Animations had a similar reputation for producing animated movies of that nature. Karen was excited beyond belief to not only meet him but to have been judged to be "good enough" to qualify for a position. If something like this had happened a year or so ago, Karen was sure she would have jumped up and down screaming "yes" as though it were a dream come true. On some level she was still tempted on the idea, as a job as an animator would be a wonderful opportunity to advance in life, particularly in an industry that could be far more competitive than what many thought. The fact that the offer was being made without her having a degree made it even more tempting.
"You're offering me a job," Karen said slowly, awe, surprise, and amazement clearly evident in her voice.
"From what I was shown, the talent is there," Chuck Avery said slowly with a small smile while her art professor and the Moon Lake Dean stood by watching the exchange for the moment.
"But... I don't have a degree!" Karen spoke, "nothing that anyone else would be able to say proves anything..."
"To a great extent, that IS a concern," Chuck Avery answered, "but at the same time, many of the great artists in history didn't go to school to learn to paint... A lot of their abilities were purely based on their talent. Things like Mozart's abilities with music are rather similar. In that, the degree is more an official thing rather than the actual recognition of talent."
"I still can't believe this," Karen replied back with her eyes still very wide as she was trying to process everything.
"And your talent is there, Ms. Yuletide," her art professor commented with a small smile.
Karen slowly nodded and thought over the surprise she'd just received. She'd been a big fan of Chuck Avery and Amazing Animations for years. In that, there was a lot of temptation to accept the offer based on that alone. However, there was something that really sat odd with her in the entire offer, and that was the requirement to move to Los Angeles... by Monday. It would put her closer to her biological family and with the pay she would likely be fairly well off if she could keep up the good work, but at the same time, there was feeling in her mind that screamed "no" at that, and that related to a certain Peter Talbot.
He'd been kind to her and he had tolerated her furry fandom in a way that even with Moon Lake's were population, she wouldn't have expected, especially when compared to how most normal people had reacted to it in the past. That had been enough to help her along with her own private decisions that related to the werelion prince. Some things in werelion society might not be the same as human society, but she loved Peter for who he was and his being a werelion was irrelevant. She accepted his marriage proposal at the Halloween Dance and was looking forward both the coming weekend to become his werelioness and the wedding in the coming spring or summer... Christmas might be the absolute earliest, but there were all those sorts of decisions that were to be made and Karen was eager to go through them all. And of course, Jenny would be her maid of honor.
"What about Peter?" Karen asked as she looked to her art professor and then to the Dean who then blinked.
"Peter?" Chuck Avery wondered.
"Peter Talbot," Karen spoke, "he goes to college here too... though his major is in economics/business. He's modeled for the art department with regard to their life studies... and... he's the most amazing man I've met. Strong, noble, humble, tolerant, and his family's very nice."
"Sounds like quite the catch," Chuck Avery chuckled.
"He is," Karen answered, "and he asked me to marry him..."
"And you...?" Dean Myers asked slowly.
"I happily said yes, and we have something special planned for the weekend," Karen answered.
"So... I'd guess it's a "no" then?" Chuck Avery asked.
"A part of me wants to say "yes," but I don't want to lose Peter for the job... I don't want to lose my degree," Karen answered and looked from the Dean to the man she'd been a fan of for years, "even if the degree isn't indicative of the talent I have... there will be those that see it as important... and while the job would be great, a lot of that will dependent on how well I do and how well the company does. And moving out by Monday... that'd mean losing Peter."
Chuck Avery gave a small smile and raised an arm to gently touch Karen's shoulder, and rubbed it softly before letting go. Karen's face remained a bit nervous on that as she looked to him, but the small smile did eventually give her some sense of relief. Though she was unsure as to what would happen next.
"Far be it from me to demand you give up someone you love," Chuck Avery spoke, "and to some extent... I can and do respect your wish to finish your education. I'd say the talent is there, but you are right that there will be people that will expect a lot from you... and a lot of the work would be something that could be stressful, particularly in dealing with writers, voice actors, and critics. A lot of that crowd may not respond well to someone who comes off as a pure fan..."
Karen couldn't help but blush and was a bit unsure as to whether or not that was a complement or not. However, Chuck Avery continued and she was unable to say anything more on that subject.
"In that, I can really respect your decision making," Chuck Avery continued, "it shows that you're thinking and are more than just a fan of my animation studio... That isn't a bad thing."
"Thank you," Karen managed.
"And while I cannot make any great assurances that a position will still be available when you graduate..." Chuck Avery said slowly, "I would not only wish you well... but ask that you think on sending me an application when you graduate. Because from what I've seen... you DO have talent."
Karen smiled at that, though she did look down for a moment. She was happy for the offer having some potential for the future, but she wasn't going give up her future with Peter. He was forever, and he was who her mind focused on the most. If the post stayed open in four years when she graduated that might make for good news, though she also knew that would require some conversation with Peter. Not only for his role as "Prince" among Moon Lake's werelions but in his role in helping his father's restoration business. While Karen wasn't as familiar with the business, she had found Peter's uncles, aunts, and cousins rather charming and she didn't want to draw him away from them if he didn't want move far away from his family.
"I'll think about it," Karen spoke, "though I may also need to talk with Peter about it... as it will be something that he will need to be aware of."
"Of course," Chuck Avery spoke, "Love can be a powerful driving force... and while I'm looking forward to having someone of your talent, I won't demand you give up love for the position..."
Karen nodded and thanked the man again. She was grateful for the offer, but Peter was the most important thing in her life at the moment, and any such advancement would have to wait. Though there were some things that Karen privately wondered on, as she'd never heard of anyone, talented or not, being offered a high paying job with benefits after a mere alert to that sort of talent. Especially if the request was that she essentially move to Los Angeles by the next Monday, which would essentially mean that she start her preparations to leave immediately. Doing so would take her from Peter, and she was fairly sure that her art professors were aware that she liked Peter, and that by now after the Halloween Dance that a good portion of Moon Lake was aware of the wedding proposal that Peter had made and that she'd said, "yes."
Her art professors may know Chuck Avery personally or have had some contact with him before, which could well make their passing copies of her artwork on genuine, but without a degree, that wouldn't be enough to demand a high paying job with benefits that would require her to move out immediately. An offer for a potential future job might be possible, but that sort of offer would still include some requirement to get her degree FIRST. Making an offer as it was now seemed unprofessional to Karen and with the deadline of moving to Los Angeles also seemed a bit too aggressive for such a request, even if she were closer to her degree and had things officially in order that an early graduation might be considered. In that sense, it made Karen think that someone OTHER than her art professors was involved in attracting Chuck Avery's attention and making it worth his while to make a job offer that in theory he really SHOULDN'T be making regardless of one's talent.
"That's good... because right now... Peter is the most important person in my life and even without him, I promised my parents I'd get a degree," Karen said weakly.
"That's actually good, something I'd actually prefer in a potential employee," Chuck Avery gave a small smile, "Which is quite the surprise given how I hadn't been looking into art students at Moon Lak College..."
"You weren't?" Dean Myers wondered, "the art department TOLD me you were looking."
"And you did have an animator position coming open," he head art professor commented, "with urgent need for talent... and Karen has the talent for it."
"I am looking for a potential animator, and Ms. Yuletide DOES have talent based on what you shared," Chuck Avery nodded, "and by that I'm more than willing to see what I can do to keep an offer open for when she does graduate... But offering a high paying job to someone without a degree... that's a great amount of risk that could easily ruin her career if there's a minor hiccup because she wouldn't have the official "qualifications." I came as you've been an old friend but a lot of this would go beyond what my studio would normally risk and what would be good for Ms. Yuletide."
That essentially further aroused some of Karen's suspicions on who was behind the offer. She had no reason to think that either Dean Myers or her art professors were out to cause trouble, but there was someone in Moon Lake that Karen DID think would have reason to get her out of Moon Lake. That was Liz Brookshire, who was another werelioness and likely was a part of one of the various werelion prides in Moon Lake that was headed by one of Peter's uncles and eventually under Leon Talbot as the werelion "king." Karen knew that Liz didn't like her, and while Peter might have put his foot down that essentially frightened her into a more apologetic stance, that didn't necessarily mean that engineering something like this wouldn't be beyond her. As in pure theory it wouldn't necessarily hurt Karen at all in that she could essentially advance if successful and wouldn't officially break her relationship with Peter, but Karen also knew that if she took it, there was also the potential that her time and contact with Peter would be lessened, which would give Liz more time to try and get what she wanted...
"Hopefully that's just paranoia," Karen thought to herself, "but something tells me that she'd be the only one that would really stand to benefit in this..."
"I'm sorry... I was told you were looking," the art professor spoke, "I must have misread what you were looking for."
"Don't be sorry," Chuck Avery spoke, "you DO have a talented student. If I were in your shoes... I'd be advertising how good she is too. And in four years when she graduates as Mrs. Karen Talbot... I'd be MORE than happy pick her up then, if she's still interested."