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evegwood · 8 months

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So what IS Inhibit??

Inhibit Book One and Two are on Kickstarter right now, but maybe you've never even heard of the comic before!

Inhibit is an urban sci-fi webcomic about teens with superpowers and depression, growing up in a system that isn't built for people who can't succeed in the very specific way society wants them to. We follow one kid, Vic, who is about to age out of his youth holding centre.

Vic is on track to being shunted into adult housing, but his mentor (in the loosest sense of the word) Nate has other plans for him: join his team at Urquhart, the elite superpowered police force, to fast-track Vic's licence and get him sent back home to a normal life instead.

Sounds like a great plan. Until a run-in with a mysterious arsonist, who decides Vic is the best guy to help her break into Urquhart and achieve some inscrutable goal. Vic is completely fine with this and is very happy to hel -- wait, no, sorry, he isn't, he hates this it sucks.

His birthday, his mentor, and his new stalker aren't all Vic has to worry about. His old classmate Masha tries to make amends for falling out years ago, but after Vic's first disastrous outing with the Urquhart team she begins to get suspicious of Nate and Vic's real motives.

Adding to the chaos are Vic's best friends Julia and David, whose casual relationship with things like "rules" and "getting in trouble" is the bane of Vic's existence.

Julia in particular thinks the whole thing about Vic getting followed home by a pyromaniac is pretty funny actually, and she enthusiastically throws herself into the fray.

It'll be completely fine; Nate definitely has Vic's best interests at heart, Vic will get his licence, and he'll go home. Except the thing his new arsonist companion is seeking might be the very thing Vic needs...

Inhibit is a really fun ride through the fear of failure, childhood trauma, and blowing shit up. Book One was shortlisted for 3 SICBA awards back in 2019, and Book Two is going to look absolutely fantastic with colours by the amazing @spiremint!

Both books are currently up for preorder on Kickstarter and you can get them in PDF & print formats. You can read Inhibit for free at inhibitcomic.com, but Book Two will come out 9 months before those pages get posted online! You can also follow @inhibitcomic to keep up with page updates.

🔥 Preorder here

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!

#inhibit #kickstarter #meetthewebcomic #meet the webcomic #webcomics

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 2 months

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Thank you so much for relaying the anniversary news, although it's a bit of a bummer, since I was hoping they would mention something about extending the game to other regions other than Japan and NA. I know that they likely aren't even planning to do it, I just thought that if there was a chance to hear anything about it, it would be during the anniversary

[Referencing this post!]

TWST is actually already available in 5 countries as of July 3rd of 2023! That was the day they expanded to Singapore and Australia. It seems to run on the same server as EN, since the current content was transferred over from the North American localization.

I believe the Singapore and Australia expansion was first dropped at an Anime Expo TWST VA panel, not during an anniversary ABEMA stream. This was then reflected in the TWST EN in-game announcements/updates:

EN was previously only accessible (without a VPN or other methods) for those in the United States and Canada. The EN version itself, I believe, was first announced via Aniplex’s social media, not during an ABEMA stream. And, of course, we have the OG, TWST JP ✨

The anniversary livestream has historically centered on making quality of life updates and announcing in-game anniversary bonuses. I’m not that surprised that they didn’t make a comment about additional servers (although that would be nice) at this time.

I’m still shocked there’s no European servers at all to this day since the TWST manga is being translated into French (+ is now out in the world!) 😭 and even came with a French exclusive preorder bonus artbook??? A nice hard cover art book, 40 pages’ length—that’s nothing to sneeze at (though I believe the contents mostly amount to Heartslabyul card art).

Maybe they’re just really slow and cautious about expanding TWST to other parts of the world…? Could be testing out the waters and seeing how it fares? I don’t know much about business matters like this 😅

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #twst news #twst en #twisted wonderland en #twst manga #twisted wonderland manga

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coyoteprince · 10 months

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It's been months of intense work but... the first official round of my new and improved monsters soaps has been poured for Fall release! Faunus and his sister Full Moon are back!

I was having issues with visual consistency in the past and in the process of fixing that, picked up a lot of new tricks to make my soap as high quality as humanly possible. Also paperwork. I now do so much paperwork for soap just to keep that quality high. In my soap's hiatus I also renovated my studio, including turning it into something of a working "set"- those oil bottles in the photo aren't just for looks, this is how I now store the majority of my supplies. Those dishes are also from an 1800's landfill. In-home apothecary!

Monster Soap will return for sale this Fall. Stop by my stall at Every Day Is Halloween in Philly during October (preorders for market pickup will be available) or wait and let 'em tumble into my online store after the event, just in time for holiday shopping.

Want to know more about my soap? Learn about that here, and find out more about my queer monster fragrances here.

#soap #monster

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readingoals · 11 months

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It's pride month so ofc I have to post about being aromantic lmao. Although I actually read this book last month - I'd had it on preorder since the beginning of the year. I'll put my review under the cut for length

Aro And Ace Journeys is, I think, a good entry into understanding the aromantic and asexual spectrums.

I've been identifying as aro for around 5 years now (and as ace-spec for like a few months) so a lot of what was in this book was not new information to me. But it was interesting. The section on history of ace and aro terms was especially interesting for me, and I really liked the way the books was sectioned into different phases of understanding and accepting an ace or aro identity. It made it feel very approachable, no matter what stage in their journey the reader is in.

Some of the latter sections that revolved around coming out and examining what sort of futures exist for ace and aro folks felt especially relevant to me since I have been identifying as aro and ace-spec for so long, but there were definitely other parts that were just very validating to read and really helped confirm some of my feelings about my identity. I did find parts a little repetitive but I think that's natural for a book trying to cover all the basics for anyone starting at the very beginning.

It does go into some discussion about how an ace or aro identity might intersect with other queer identities, race, religion, etc. I think there was some really valuable points made but a lot of those discussions were fairly brief due to the nature of the book. So if more detailed discussions about that sort of thing is what you're looking for, this may not be the book for you.

Otherwise, I'd definitely recommend it. Especially to anyone who is questioning if they might be aro and ace-spec, or for allo folks who just want to learn a little more. People more familiar with the aro and/or ace communities may not get as much out of it but I don't think the experience of reading about people with similar experiences can be underestimated. Especially with lesser known/talked about identities like those on the ace and aro spectrums. It's just really nice to see physical confirmation that you aren't alone. There is also a very thorough glossary at the back, further resources like links to useful websites and other books (both fiction and non-fiction), as well as a couple of amusing 'coming out bingo cards' which defs gave me a good chuckle.

I have another book on pre-order which is specifically about being aromantic. It's due to be released at the end of July so look out for my review of it in a couple of months lmao. I'd curious to see how it will compare with this one.

#booklr #ace and aro journeys #the ace and aro advocacy project #non fiction #brigid speaks #read in 2023 #book update #queer lit #lgbtqia+#aromantic #asexual

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bookaddict24-7 · 4 months

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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

EVERY WEEK I WILL POST A VARIOUS REVIEWS I’VE WRITTEN SO FAR IN 2024. YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY GOODREADS FOR MORE UP-TO-DATE REVIEWS HERE.

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8. That Time I Got Drunk & Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First five-star read of 2024 🙏🏽

My friends have read this book and LOVED it, so I don't know why I'm lowkey surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I thought it would be a cheesy and slightly boring read (I didn't read the synopsis, okay? Sue me.) But what I got was SO far from that. Full of adventure, heart, sexual tension, and hilarious sass, I found myself laughing and paying rapt attention.

I loved the MC and her responses and commentary. I can see myself re-reading this just to highlight all of her sass. She's one of those contemporary characters set in a fantastical world that helps keep these kinds of stories light and fun. There's a scene where the demon just stares at her like "Okay, so we are definitely getting married" and I don't even blame him. This woman is a BADASS.

I loved their exploration of their world and how quick it was. Some readers might want more setting development, but honestly? I'm happy with how light and straightforward it was. I also really liked the side characters and how the demon just takes out anyone he wants, especially if they threaten the MC.

This was fun and everything I wish that other cozy fantasy book had given me. The new editions of the other two books have already been preordered 😌.

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9. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH perfectly encompasses the tortures of middle school, the changing of the people we once called friends, and the effects of grief and how a child's mind may twist in ways that might help them comprehend the reality of death.

Ali Benjamin does a fantastic job of drawing out the history of her MC and her friend. The way they both changed and how the MC came to choosing to stay silent verbally for the majority of the book. Watching her trying to find reasons for why her friend has died was heartbreaking. I can't imagine being a parent in that situation, where you know you can't help your child comprehend the change in their reality.

Also, middle school is a cruel place for a lot of kids (hi, I was one of its victims) and the levels of evil some of these kids get up to is truly astounding. It broke me a little watching this friendship fall apart and this poor, young MC having to remember the last moment she saw her friend alive.

Sometimes things just happen and this whole book is, ultimately, a great source for children grieving. Life can be messy, confusing, and sometimes heartbreaking. Benjamin's novel is beautiful and this is another one of those middle grade books that I think adults AND kids should be reading.

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10. The Skull by Jon Klassen--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If no one has read any other Jon Klassen books, then they're in for a surprise. If they have, then they'll recognize the eeriness of his writing.

You can't tell me that the hat books aren't creepy (there's a couple of pages where the big fish CLEARLY eats the little fish in the long grass). This guy is morbid and props to kids' authors who can write a book both for kids and adults.

The artwork was beautiful as always and the story was a very, very quick read. Perfect for those 5-7 year olds who want to try something themselves but don't mind a talking skeleton or skull.

This also got reeeeeeal dark at one point and I was just thinking of how some of the Gen Alpha kids are.

Highly recommend--especially for those littles who love a little spooky with their bedtime stories.

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11. The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Romantic, at times funny, spicy, and full of characters I wanted to punch in the dick, THE FIANCÉE FARCE was entertaining from beginning to end.

Much like many of my reading experiences, I jumped into this without knowing what I was getting myself into and imagine my joy and surprise when the trope of "marriage of convenience" popped up. I loved watching these characters fall in love with each other, and I loved seeing the thwart the horrible people in their lives. I also loved that one of the MCs has a massive love for reading (shown through her family's bookstore).

Was this the best romance I've ever read? Not really--it had some pretty obvious climactic points and some very over the top villains--but it held my attention and I fell for the couple. I loved that one helped the other find her confidence that had been stripped from her at a younger age.

One of the things that keeps me from giving this a five star rating is how...in a bubble this story feels? Like, we meet other characters as they serve their purpose (as is the usual) but if they're not in the scene, it's like they don't exist. There's one scene where one particular character doesn't speak and it's a pretty pivotal moment for the reader to pay extra attention because this is a huge hint about this character, but Bellefleur doesn't even hint at it? It's like that character is deleted from the scene. This is like taking the adage of "when you're with me, I only see you" and using it to the max.

Other than that, this was an entertaining and sexy story of proving assholes wrong and falling in love despite you believing that you're not deserving of love. Highly recommend for enough looking for a cute romance full of family drama and fake relationships!

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12. Ana On the Edge by A.J. Sass--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such a powerful story!

One of my favourite messages that ANA ON THE EDGE could potentially give young readers that it is OKAY to be in the process of trying to figure out who you are, but also that it's okay to not have all of the answers at once.

We see the MC struggle with their identity and their relationships throughout the whole book, especially because their world has always seemingly had such clear cut gender norms (Ice skating is a huge part of her world). I can't even imagine trying to find who you are when everyone around you is imposing who they think you are on you.

I also enjoyed that we got to see some of the more pivotal relationships in the MCs life and that messy in-between with friendships when big changes happen--like sudden schedule changes, or new friendships blossom. While this book tackled pretty big topics, I liked that its core it was still truly an MGLit book that explored the importance of friendships and keeping the good ones alive (even when life gets a bit hectic.)

Finally, I adored the relationship between the MC and their mom. I loved that they were a team and even though it took a little bit of time, they had some good communication between the two of them. There were some heartwarming moments and I loved seeing them understand each other better as the story progressed.

I think this is another great LGBTQ+ book to have in my back pocket for when I need to recommend great Queer books to readers!

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13. Mindy Kim & the Birthday Puppy by Lyla Lee and Dung Ho Hanh (Illustrations)--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's been a while since I picked up the last MINDY KIM book but this was just as cute as I remember the last two books being. There were some moments that made me tear up a little, but I'm just an emotional mess sometimes.

I loved seeing Mindy come into her own with her brand new puppy. A couple of my best friends have a puppy and as I read Mindy's adventures (or misadventures), I thought of how difficult it was for my friends to parent a brand new puppy. This is a kid's book, so I'm not surprised Mindy was able to be so successful so quickly, but in reality, puppies are a lot more work than what was shown here. BUT this didn't take away from the story at all! I love that this could be a really great resource for littles who want a puppy, but need a further understanding of the responsibilities behind it.

And much like the last two books, there were some important topics explored here: how families might look, grief, multicultural traditions, and responsibilities one might take on.

Another great addition to the series and I'll hopefully be reading the next one soon!

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14. Suddenly by Isabelle Autissier--⭐️⭐️.5

I had a lot of expectations for SUDDENLY by Isabelle Autissier, but we all know expectations are sometimes the death knell of a story. The cover enticed me, the synopsis further pulled me in, but the clunky translation full of thesaurus-level words and the random time-jump totally took me out of the story.

Normally, I DNF books that aren't working for me because hi, I have a massive TBR to get through before I die. But I will give Autissier this: she wrote a very intriguing beginning to her book. I wanted to see these characters survive and thrive in their new environment. A morbid sense of intrigue had me continuing the story as they mercilessly killed creatures I never thought someone could kill so coldly, and as they had massive introspection about their super privileged lives (and their first world ignorance about their importance in the grand scheme of things.)

These two characters were severely unlikable, but I couldn't help but get attached. I felt such a mixed bag of emotions towards the FMC and when the time jump happened, I felt further disconnected from not just her, but the story as a whole.

I'll be blunt: the second part of the book (or more like 3/4 way through the book) ruined this for me. I understand the importance of seeing the story of the "after" but I hated it. I think it went from being an interesting exploration of survival and humanity to the superficial experience of society marking you as a hero for surviving. I get that this is also the point: the further examination of how society is in (the character's) reality vs. the truths they realized about the societies they had grown in and how wholly unprepared they were for the battlefield of survival. I get that, but I still disliked it. From there, I felt like the story dragged and my attention wavered even more.

And don't get me started on the ending--the page I thought was going to be the last page was a better last page than the actual last page.

Overall, I liked the first half of the book. Despite the dark aspects, the gut churning choices, and the heartbreaking conclusion, I enjoyed that part. The second part of the book brought the whole story down for me.

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15. Fake Dates & Mooncakes by Sher Lee--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

FAKE DATES AND MOONCAKES was a pretty straightforward and easy read, but listen, it was FUN. This felt like I was experiencing a K-Drama or C-Drama. It was such a good time--the dramatic twists, the threats against the middle class guy dating the rich guy, and the CRAZY RICH ASIANS-like trip and event? Freaking amazing. LOL the love interest literally waits for the MC outside of his school standing by his Ferrari. This is juicy Asian-drama level stuff and I ate. it. up.

The romance was adorable and sweet and I won't lie, I sometimes forgot these were teenagers--not because of anything gross, but because these two were so mature in their actions and how they interacted with each other.

The familial relationships were so sweet and I loved how they clearly had each others' best interests in mind whenever something pivotal happened. They were adorable and I loved them.

Reading this was like experiencing some of my favourite Asian dramas again, with a dash of CRAZY RICH ASIANS. It wasn't an earth-shattering read, but five stars for solely being entertaining and making me smile with giddiness. If you want a cute gay story with some truly cute moments, then you might like this--especially as a read for when the warmer weather finally returns!

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Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them?

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Happy reading!

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mermaidsirennikita · 2 months

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I think what's often missed in the "why can't we play with genre and not write romance with an HEA?" conversation is that a lot of people defending the HEA are heavy romance readers who are very aware of the amount of money involved, and how the authors who pop off about wanting to be able to label their non-romance books romance are in fact... thinking of money.

Not solely money, of course. And that's not meant to be a critique--I'm a writer, I'd love to write books for a living someday. Money is important. I'm all about getting money for your work, and I've never begrudged anyone for writing to market, writing to catch a trend, whatever. Sometimes it can turn out badly, but if you want to make money it does have to happen (and often writers write to market, get big, and then write what they want... see Ali Hazelwood's Bride) and as long as you are writing a good product and enjoying yourself... I don't see the issue.

BUT. Romance is extremely commercially viable, and it has been especially for the last few years (though that hype has to die down at some point, dude--and I think the shift to romantasy is probably like, the last breath of the current boom, and romance will go back to its normal levels of popularity, which are still more commercially viable than many other genres). So when people (like me) see writers going "but why CAN'T I label my love story that doesn't have an HEA 'romance?"...

I mean. We know why lol. We aren't idiots. Why is it so important that your fantasy novel is placed on the romance shelves, in the romance categories on Amazon? Is it because these authors have a deep and abiding love of romance and just want to sit with the cool kids? Is it because their hearts beat for romance, and even though they wrote something that is not a romance (the thing their hearts beat for) they just are desperate for it to be there? Is it because they are SO DEDICATED TO THE CRAFT OF WRITING and SO EDGY that they MUST change genres, they MUST break CHAINS!!!!

No lol. It's because when you write a romance, you are much more likely to be recommended by the BookTok girlies reading ACOTAR (and say what you will.... those books do by and large, I believe, have HEAs for pretty much all of the core couples). You want that Fourth Wing bread. You are more likely to have access to an audience that spends more than other audiences do. You want access to an audience that also is, let us be real, less likely to be real misogynistic about your book than certain subsets of the fantasy readership.

And the thing is--sure. A lot of readers sincerely don't care. And good for you, why did your book need to be labeled a romance the--oh, wait. I see!

But the readers who do care and spend like, anywhere from $1.99-$35.00 on your book (look dude, I'm thinking about preordering a pretty copy of the next Kerri Mansicalco, and I feel a LOT BETTER about spending that money because she specifically referencing HEA's when announcing her adult titles, and I APPRECIATE THAT A LOT ACTUALLY) only to find out that it's not the thing they expected... It doesn't follow the ONE RULE you expected it to follow because of how it was marketed...

The only time I've kinda come close to having that happen is actually when I read that book the new Anne Hathaway Harry Styles fanfic movie is based on. I was verrrry new to going back into the romance genre, and I read it expecting, based off the premise, that this was a fun, maybe a little silly, sexy book about a woman falling in love with fake Harry Styles. And she does. And guess what? At the end they rather randomly and suddenly break up.

And it kinda sucked.

It's also going to suck to see that book marketed as a romance as the movie comes out, but there you go, I've spoiled you, HORROR OF HORRORS I let you know that the thing you think is gonna be a fun little romance with a happy ending.... is not.

But yeah dude, imagine if I'd spent ACOTAR or Fourth Wing or Princes of Envy money on that book. I already felt kinda dumb for spending what was probably $8ish? It was a kindle copy. I could've gotten a fry-less sandwich with that money, back then!

So yeah. I just think that a lot of people want to be very condescendingly high-minded about PUSHING GENRE BOUNDARIES. And it's like... dude. Do you not think I would get my head bitten off if I went "well, I want to write a fantasy novel, but I don't want there to be magic... I actually want it to be revealed that everything is just run by computers the whole time, and the magical spell was actually a hologram, and I want that to be shelved and sold as fantasy"?

Yeah. Because I'm basically tricking people out of their money, lmao.

#romance novel blogging #idk it's just that there are certain STRICT ELEMENTS people buy when they invest in certain types of fiction #and the HEA is the one that people seem determined to subvert #i also think there's a lot to be said about how we think the only way we can subvert and play with genre #is by getting rid of a genre's basic rules #i mean dude i think you can play on a lot of sci-fi cliches without getting rid of the sci part

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moonmagix24 · 5 months

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My Thoughts on the PreCure Leaks (Along with Some Hopes)

Okay, so earlier I posted a TikTok on my thoughts on the PreCure leaks but the TikTok was obviously a bit rushed and I couldn't put all of my thoughts in a cohesive way. So, here's a more comprehensive list of my thoughts and feelings about the Wonderful PreCure! leaks. These leaks are the ones that were recently confirmed to be real by some preorder listings on toy sites. I won't say who revealed them for their privacy but it's pretty easy to find who.

Also, Toei, please don't come for me. It's your faults for letting the initial leaks happen. However, I do wish that these leaks came closer to the season release because in a way that would up the hype. Though, I can imagine some hype still being there with waiting for the designs for the items and plot.

Spoilers below the cut!

So, normally, leaks of the designs and merch usually would come out multiple weeks after the trademark was made for the season. The trademark was made on November 29 (in EST) and the leaks started coming out on December 3 (in EST). That's only a few days which is insanely fast lol. For Hirogaru Sky, we started getting the actual design leaks in January which was over a month after the trademark was issued.

So I was super skeptical with these images because that's insanely early. That was until today when I saw a post sharing that there was indeed preorder listings for some merch that confirmed the names which by extension confirms the leaks. It's crazy because the leaks happened a month earlier than normal. Normally, there might be talks of what the season could involve and everyone is waiting with anticipation for majority of the month of December until eventually some silhouettes are seen. At this point in the "leak season," the most we'd get would be names for the Cures and some toy preorders.

I was insanely floored upon seeing thing and yes, the listings seem to be legit. Before we go on, please know that these are my opinions, it's okay if you disagree or agree. Just don't get aggressive, for the love of God. (I doubt anyone would get aggressive because the PreCure fandom is mostly chill like that but since I'm basically new to using Tumblr for PreCure and other fandom since the last time I used this site for posting about fandom was years ago on deactivated accounts)

Ok, onto actual thoughts now!

I really like Cure Nyammy's design, as well as Cure Friendy's. Cure Wonderful's design needs to grow on me a little more because something about it just feels off.

Cure Nyammy probably has my favorite design out of them all.

Cure Lillian looks like one of those bootleg designs for Cure Spicy. Y'know like the ones you'd see on a bootleg toy. Though, I think it honestly might just be the hair and overall silhouette. Her design is--unsurprisingly--better than Spicy's in some aspects.

When will Toei finally give us a proper green cure instead of the teal/turquoise greens? The last time we had any form of green cure was back in 2019 with Cure Milky (though I thought she was a blue cure at first because of how blue her color palette was). It appears that Lillian will be like Cure Milky in that she looks more like a blue than Green. However, her color is supposed to be green judging by two of the purses putting a green heart next to her. She looks incredibly blue, though, but that can be brushed off as the photo quality because the photos aren't the best qualities. Last time we got a proper green cure was back in 2016 which was almost 8 years ago. Please don't make Felice the last proper green cure. We deserve more than just a few proper green cures.

What the heck is "Friendy?" I'm praying to every higher power that it was just a typo like when they put "Cure Rhythem" instead of "Cure Rhythm" on the DX3 promo.

Nyammy is a cute name considering the origin of it being a common cat name in Japan. Think of it like naming her Cure Kitty or Cure Mimi. It also can be something like Cure Meowy.

Are we finally getting a white/silver haired PreCure after years?! I'm pretty sure that the last time we got a white or silver haired PreCure was Cure Moonlight which was almost 14 years ago. So, I'm pretty pumped about it.

I'm bummed that we're getting yet another compact for transformation. It's also the hundredth time we've had an item called [main part of season name] Pact... Though, it's good for collecting but I'd like for us to get another transformation watch or bracelet or they could do something original like with HUGtto's transformation device. The PreHeart was inventive because it sorta doubled as a phone and compact in design. (It also had a use outside of transforming or attacking)

A potentially unpopular opinion but I like Friendy's hair. I think she's the first time we've gotten a blond purple cure? And before someone says "Cure Finale is purple," let me point you to Toei stating that she's a gold cure.

Personally, I see both Wonderful and Friendy having sort of dog ear motifs with their hair? It's more obvious with Wonderful but I think the reason why both have some version of twintails or pigtails is to imitate dog ears.

It's pretty obvious that Nyammy and Lillian are supposed to represent cats.

It also appears that Toei is once again doing the team where there's two duos thing that Hirogaru Sky did. Not really a fan of it unless they can execute it well like they did for Hirogaru Sky.

Not a fan of yet another mirror pad. Hopefully they'll add some sort of fun twist to it such as it eventually doubling as a weapon.

Just a prediction but I think if there is a midseason, they'll be gold/yellow/orange. I'd like to see another duo like Amour and Ma Cherie, though... It would be really fun to have a yellow/gold/orange and red duo.

If there is a midseason, I hope that they aren't another dog or cat theme... Perhaps a fox theme?

Though, I don't really want a midseason because we have enough of them and it'd be nice to have a season like Smile or Splash Star in that regard.

At least the names are sorta fitting. Unlike Cure Spicy and Cure Earth. I'll never understand why they named the blue PreCure "Spicy" and I already explained the nonsense that is Cure Earth.

I kinda want the compacts to be used for their attacks. Not like Kira Kira A La Mode... Just they use them for their finishers like in HUGtto.

I think it'd be really funny if Cure Friendy was actually the lead cure but I doubt she will be LMAO

I am once again praying to every higher power that Toei does more with the theming of animals.

I just realized that this post is like an essay LMAO. I'm so sorry about infodumping about this but lately these leaks have been all I can think about and I had to get it out of my system. I am so sorry to whoever read this entire thing, all 5 paragraphs and 20 bullet points.

#precure #pretty cure #wonderful precure #precure leaks #wonderful pretty cure #magical girl #precure spoilers #pretty cure leaks #pretty cure spoilers #I have turned tumblr into the place where I infodump

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sovonight · 9 months

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hi sovo ;u; I hope it's okay if I ask you a shop question! So um, I'm lower on money than I've ever been and I'm too burnt out to do commissions for ppl due to personal stuff, but I feel like... if I made one charm or one sticker for a particularly huge fandom/movie that's out right now, and if I put it up as preorder and sold at least 20 keychains then I'd be able to pay my bills this month. but I've never sold physical merch before and I'm a little nervous to try it haha :'D

Would you recommend I try making an Etsy since it seems to have a large enough audience, or do you think I should try making my own website/shop? I'm definitely not ready to consistently sell things as a steady job yet, I thought I'd try literally just one single keychain or one sticker sheet (I already learned how to make those, thankfully) in order to pay my rent this month bc I've only got about a hundred dollars to my name sdflkfssdf;; and if it goes well then maybe I can try it again.

I'm also not quite sure how to price things? if I made a 3.5 inch acrylic charm with the little star shaped keychains like from Vograce, do people normally price those at $15 when they sell them? should I also account for shipping? I've also umm never shipped merch before and I'm so worried about somehow messing it up sldfjsf like I don't know what kind of envelopes I have to get or if I should even use my own address bc I'm so nervous about my personal info being out there, but I don't know if it's worth paying for a PO box if I'm so low on money already. if you have any tips on anything whatsoever, I would appreciate any feedback if you're not busy. But if you don't want to answer please don't worry about it ;u; anyway thank you so much for reading this I really appreciate you! ❤

no prob! here are my thoughts:

pros/cons of etsy:

apparently if you're new to selling on etsy, there's a probationary period where etsy withholds your profits for 3 months. i don't know anything about it personally since it started in 2020, but it seems that funds are only released when your shipped orders are scanned at the post office. i think i also remember hearing about other cases where payments aren't released at all for 3 months--and etsy customer service has a reputation of being difficult to get a hold of if you have a problem as a seller, so if etsy made a mistake with your shop, it may take even more months to resolve. since you have preorders in mind, i would hold off on etsy unless you can pay out of pocket.

etsy can drive traffic towards your listing for you (if you choose the right keywords--it's more difficult to be discovered just randomly if you don't).

they have high fees (for a $15 charm they'd take $1.88 in fees, which is 12.5%).

people may be cautious to buy from a shop that has no reviews yet, but many customers are protected by etsy's purchase protection and can be refunded at no cost to you if their order gets lost in the mail (provided that you ship with a tracking number and meet other criteria).

etsy will strongly recommend that you offer free shipping; ignore them. i don't think i've ever bought fanmerch with free shipping in my life, and their advice isn't geared towards sellers like us.

preorders don't work very well with etsy's system--iirc you're not supposed to do them (even though people still do, of course) but the main reason i remember is that the max processing time etsy lets you set per product (as in, the time between the customer purchasing the listing and you shipping it out) is 6 weeks. that means that the time you allow for customers to place their preorders, the time it takes for you to order and receive the merch, and the time it takes for you to ship out orders, all need to add up a max of 6 weeks, which was personally a difficult timeline for me to meet when making keychains. ofc, it's possible to extend the processing time, but going over the processing time may make it possible for customers to leave reviews/open cases early before you're even ready to ship out their orders, which could affect the reputation of your shop.

pros/cons of not etsy:

if you're not going with etsy, i've heard people recommend bigcartel, since it doesn't require a subscription like shopify or other places do. bigcartel's free plan is limited, but it should work for what you're looking for. another alternative might be ko-fi--i've heard that ko-fi shops aren't ideal for shipping out a large amount of orders, but since you're targeting just 20 i think it should be manageable.

ofc, you'll have to drive all your traffic yourself, so consider if you have enough of a following in your target fandom, or how you should go about getting your post noticed by your target fandom.

unlike etsy, shipping isn't auto-calculated, so i'd probably set a flat rate (in the US i'd expect $5). flat rates might make calculating your taxes just a little bit more complicated; in california at least, you have to pay taxes on the difference between the shipping you charge your customers and the shipping you actually pay to the post office, so iirc you either refund the extra shipping to the customer or hand it all over in taxes.

pricing:

yes, the standard price for ~3" acrylic keychains is $15, though i've also seen people go up to $16 or $17, especially on etsy where the fees are high.

shipping should be a separate cost, either auto-calculated for you (if you're on etsy/shopify) or a flat rate that you set based on shipping rates for your country, so in the end a customer might pay $15 + $5 = $20 in total.

unless most of your prospective customers are international, i'd recommend against shipping internationally to avoid dealing with customs forms, especially since you already have a lot of info to take in.

you can ship everything in a regular bubble mailer, though if you're just shipping stickers not keychains, a flat envelope should work fine. when shipping packages, you'll need to know the weight of each package, but you can just go by an estimate. a 3" acrylic keychain weighs about 1 oz (it weighs less than that, but they don't accept decimals) so i just multiply based on how many keychains are in an order. for usps at least, shipping is the same rate up until 10 oz iirc, so you don't need to weigh it super accurately. you could also always just go into the post office and have them weigh and label everything for you.

po box:

if regular PO box rates in your area are too high, you can also consider using a virtual po box; they go for about $10 per month at their most basic plans. if you're not expecting to get any mail redirected back to you, you should be able to just buy a month's subscription when you're ready to ship things out.

words of caution:

you probably already know this, but large fandoms can often be oversaturated by merch, so just choosing a large fandom might not be enough to guarantee a sale--you might have to stand out by, say, choosing a character who's in demand but doesn't have much fanmerch, having a funny meme concept, or having such a unique/attractive style that people can't help but want your fanmerch in particular. if you haven't already, i'd recommend looking around the market and seeing what's out there and decide why a buyer should choose your merch over anyone else's. though honestly, depending on your fandom, it could also not be this serious and not warrant much research--it all depends!

even if the preorder process works out and you get the funds to place the order, the manufacturer could always mess up on your order, which could lead to delays in your fulfillment and at worst, more expenses if you need to pay to get them remade. if it's easier to get sticker sheets made (like if you make them yourself/locally instead of ordering from overseas) they might be a safer choice of merch to make. ofc, i don't generally see sticker sheets up for preorder so you'd probably have to order them out of pocket and hope they sell, and you'll probably have to sell more of them than you would of keychains to get the same amount of profit. i don't know the whole situation, so i can't say anything definite about the risks/rewards between choosing to sell keychains and choosing to sell stickers.

#sovo answers #hope this helps!

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solradguy · 9 months

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Hi mr badguy, I’m trying to get my mom to buy me one of those new guilty gear plushies as a bribe for me to get good grades in college do you which is the legit website for the preorder? I’m terrified of ripping her off she’s already been ripped off other times online

Good Smile US is the site to use if you're in the USA. It DOES look like they can ship most products internationally from this store though, according to their support FAQ: https://www.goodsmileus.com/

Good Smile Shop is their "main" shop but they only ship within Japan: https://goodsmileshop.com/ja/

If it would make sense for where you live to buy from the Japan site but they won't ship to you, you can use a proxy service. I use Japan Rabbit because their service has been fantastic each time, but they're a little on the pricier end as far as proxies go... On the bright side, they aren't USA exclusive so you can use Japan Rabbit to ship anywhere from Japan: https://japanrabbit.com/

Good Smile has a partner shop directory for stores that carry their products too, though I'm not 100% sure if you'd be able to preorder something from all of them. If you generally have difficulty getting something shipped to your country then this directory might be helpful: https://partner.goodsmile.info/support/eng/partnershops/

In short, the Good Smile websites and the official Arc System Works store (https://www.arcshopus.com/) are the two main "legit" stores for GG merch right now. The ASW store ships to USA, Canada, and Mexico. Outside those countries you'll likely have to use a proxy service with the JP site (which has different stuff than the US one?!) https://www.arcsystemworks.jp/portal/shop/

Hope this helps!! Good luck with college!!

#asks #I haven't bought anything from Good Smile (yet...) but they've been like THEE anime merch site for ages #If their service was bad I'd've probably heard the chaos of 1000 nerds rioting over it by now haha #ArcShop US is good. I bought the Outrage keychain from them last year and they shipped it super fast #Shipping was a friggin arm n a leg though ugh don't wanna think about what I paid for this keychain lmao...#Japan Rabbit's bae. I had an order go sideways on the warehouse end of the site I was buying from and JR handled all of it for me #Like returning the item and then making sure they got the correct one before sending it to me all while keeping me updated #I was really impressed by their thorough communication

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