#bird-bro

[strikecommanding]

I'm hoping you won't be affected by any of this, but I made a Twitter just so I can follow you and my fave fanartists <3

as of right now it seems like written nsfw is still okay! but it is a good idea to know where you can find me (and any other blogs you like) just in case something does happen 😭 my twitter is still barren but i’ve been following back names i recognize from here!

[okaywowcool]

I haven't been able to invest much time into making new wares for my etsy because I started a new job, but I did have plans to make new stuff again. Given how etsy plans on shafting small, single-person stores, should I start moving to someplace like tictail *now* or should I try to sell what I have on my etsy and set up a site with all new goods, if that makes any sense?

if you have stock currently (and any sort of audience there) i would think it’d still make sense to sell it through on etsy if you are already set up there now, but for any new items you’re planning i would start working to hype it up on social media to make sure that your following is with you as much as possible during this move, and then pick a new platform. this big change i’m talking about happens july 16th on etsy and i think the prior changes to fees that i was talking about last month also happen that month iirc, so you have some time before things will actually take affect. i just know i want to cut off my sales early to prevent getting charged extra for shipping, because i might be charging customers according to etsy’s current fees now but i don’t want to then have to ship those orders having to take a 1.5% hit on the shipping cost and ending up losing money on the original sale, if that makes sense. 

i think the place i’d advise for you to go instead of etsy would differ depending on what you’re mostly planning on selling, additionally--different platforms have different strengths. i just know etsy is going to make it harder and harder for small businesses to get noticed, and now more than ever is the time to go hard in self promotion to make sure your audience is with you and you can sustain your business on that alone and not rely on people randomly finding you through etsy. 

[magicalshopping]

The Mei video proves she's chubby and all the haters can go suck iiiiiit. For real, that made me so happy <3

I’ve already seen people try to make excuses like “she’s wearing an oversized jumper” and i’m scREECHING

[cadaver1ne]

I appreciate Erika trying to approach traditionally taboo subjects with a positive attitude in order to educate people, BUT sometimes she spreads misinformation or glosses over important information, like when she talked about the strapless strap-on or those...sponges. News flash, it's actually really to use one of those strapless things without it falling out, and chemically treated sponges in your whatsits isn't that good for you. I give her a 8 for the effort, 4.5 for the execution :P

oh god i saw the inbox notification and i thought you were another angry anon bless ur heart

yeah this is basically where im at tho

[raideo]

Have you tried Faber-Castell PITT pens? They usually come in multipacks. I use the black and sepia inks and wanna know how they compare to the Prisma

Yeah! I have those too! I actually have a fair amount of the thicker color pens too from the PITT pen line, but like

The difference is that the PITT pens are water based, and prismacolor markers are alcohol based.  If you’re going to be coloring your stuff I wouldn’t mix the ink pens and marker brands, because I’ve found that because of the different formulas it can lead to bleeding :/

ALSO! water based markers will warp your paper and soak/cause it to tear more easily (I like to draw on printer paper a lot and prismacolor pens and markers are more forgiving on it!).  If you like working with water based ink or watercolor, the pitt pens will probably be more your thing! Alcohol based markers will blend better and make a more even swatch of color, and water based will layer better for easy shading, but you gotta be more careful and methodic about where you put your color because it DOES layer like that.  

With prismas you can get maybe like 3 subtle layers of shading with the same color marker, but it gives you more goof up room because to do anything super contrasty you’ll need an entirely different color.

It kinda depends on what you prefer to be honest!  If you’re just drawing and don’t plan on coloring in, then it doesn’t really matter too much.  If you are going to be shading large dark areas make sure you take into account the type of paper you’re using with the PITT pens.  

[okaywowcool]

i would generally agree w/ you (ppl should always be transparent about this sort of thing just as a good rule of thumb) there’s some complication with the etsy pages that folks might not know about. on etsy you basically have to mark something as either vintage or handmade. so just primarily, no one should ever be doing dropshipping on etsy at all. people still do it, but it’s fucked up and they should stop--it basically wrecks etsy’s whole purpose as a marketplace full of different, unique stuff you can’t find elsewhere. i’ve not seen her etsy pages but if she’s selling dropshipped items on there as well she should really stop. it’s something she could get reported for and her shop taken down. 

there’s another bit of weirdness, though: etsy has instated a weird measure for adding your manufacturers to your page but you have to go through a detailed process of registering them which is something that they need to go through on their end as well. they also currently ONLY accept manufacturers within the US and canada, so if you’re a seller outside of north america you are pretty much forced into a lie, or if you ever ship your stuff out for any reason. and etsy can shut down your shop if it finds out you haven’t registered your shit, as well. the guidelines that they have listed for manufacturers are obviously good ones (no child labor, safe disposal of chemical waste, etc) BUT i don’t even know a local mom&pop embroidery shop in the tiny town i live in that would take the time to go through etsy’s form system for one client. or when you start getting into much larger manufacturers, like if you were someone who gets your stuff done w/ print all over me or someone like zazzle where their operation is HUGE. no one’s going to do that for you, it’s just bonkers. 

i know etsy is trying to 1. say that all it’s shit is ethical (which y’all might already know my issues with all that as a concept vis a vis feasibility) which is a good goal and all but a lot harder in practice and 2. set up this network where anyone online could go through a big network of manufacturers to get their stuff made to sell it but like it’s something that is a lot easier said than done. and like, punishing your user base (where u make all yr money!) for not being able to get these companies to sit down to fill out an etsy form seems like a real garbage solution. 

i agree tho, overall. there’s no transparency on her site about what is original and what isn’t, and what is manufactured versus handmade (which i think is helpful info to know just for pricing purposes) and the fact that i saw several people in their complaints talking about how the shop says it’s based in the US but nothing came from the US is just like, all general transparency issues. giving folks basic information and building trust w/ your customer base is essential! 

[magicalshopping]

I brought up the Fat Mei discourse with my bae and he got all upset because he doesn't like that people are putting her down by saying she's fat and like...I think most people realize that she is thicker/pudgier/whatever but just don't wanna say fat because it's ingrained in our society that fat is an insult. Dudes especially get told to NEVER call chicks fat. As a round, chubby girl, I personally love Mei's design but I feel maybe guys aren't ready to call it for what it is :/

lmfao yeah often times it’s dudes going “she’s not fat she’s thicc/chubby” and it’s like lol nah fam just call it like it is she fat deal with it you think this fat character is attractive and that’s okay cuz fat isn’t a bad word stop making it a bad word 

[magicalshopping]

New meme: Instead of "let X say fuck" we have "let Mei say fat"

Just let Mei recite that entire ending verse of Anaconda by Nicki Minaj (”he love this fat ass”) this is all I ask for.