hotchickentea

[hotchickentea]

I was actually astonished by how bad the april fools pets were this year. To the point where I thought that that was the joke - that they were deliberately lackluster, but surprise! Here's the actual pets. Enjoy! I fully expected a surprise box, but nope. What was up with that? I didn't get what they were about - honestly could have been regular monthly adopts. I also personally found the Easter bunnies to be a bit disappointing, like the artists chose to stick with designs that weren't popular but would translate easily to bunnies without little effort. And I don't mean to discredit the artists, I'm aware this is something unpaid they're doing for fun. I'm wondering if something is going on behind the scenes because it's actually really baffling.

My apologies for getting to this so late, life has unfortunately hit quite hard for me, regardless I am here now!

I am going to preface my thoughts with the understanding to the artists. We don't know fully how the pets are chosen, we don't know if they are told to take a different direction than what they want to do, we don't know if they are just given a script and told to follow it to a T. I am *not* trying to bash on the artists themselves, especially sine they are not paid (which is a statement in of itself that bothers me) and I can completely understand that even if they chose these designs, that they may be doing what they can with the 'payment' they receive. Now that that is out of the way.

I know the 'reason' they chose to do a more basic April Fools is because of accessibility which maybe I'm not visually impaired in that way, but I'm very confused on what made the googly eyes inaccessible. That alone makes me very pissed off (to be frank) as there is a very popular thread begging at this point to make trade rules readable and the staff has given it the cold shoulder. This leads me to think it's less of an accessibility and more of something they don't want to say. Instead they rotate out the most generic pets for April Fools? The only set that I enjoyed were full grown cats, those read April Fools. However, no one can convince me that any of the other ones would be seen as April Fools by strangers let alone even the average CS player. I won't lie, I actually enjoyed 90% of the Easter pets. Were they a bit on the nose? Definitely, but they're cute and it works. The first set of rabbits though? Yeah no, that just felt lazy. I'd be fine if they weren't token trades, but they were. I have a burning hatred for the token events in the first place and then adding on rabbit designs that are just previous designs AND the majority of them were designs people didn't enjoy? Now because they were token pets I had to either use my second account or deal with trading astronomical prices for pets I don't even care about just so I can try to collect all the pets for the year.

CS Birthday pets were generic, most of Valentine's Day were low effort, New Year's were just ok, and so far the monthly pets are just fine (like C grade, some were great but the majority were just mediocre or recycled patterns). I'm so glad they added now artists, because 2024 was rough in designs.

So why am I complaining? Because this is fixable. Here's the things I would recommend.

Either adding new artists or actually paying artists in IRL money (NOT $cs). If it means decreasing the amount of artists, so be it. I think that this may be what's going behind the scenes. Not being paid for art is a crappy thing to do and I would fully believe that is why the designs are hit or miss.

Putting out less pets?? That right there would solve a lot of issues the site has. I'm tired of collecting 12 hamsters that have two pixels difference than another and then doing the same for the 40 other pets they release in a month over and over and over again.

Taking more user suggestions. They claim they 'listened' to the accessibility requests for April Fools, but they still have designs that are nearly impossible to tell apart. Without their user base, they aren't a site, and they need to be more reminded of that.

Let artists have more say in the designs. This is assuming they are strictly regulated.

Find new inspiration please for the love of anything good and stop rotating the same awful patterns.

That's all I can think of for now. TLDR: I agree with you anon wholeheartedly and there is solutions for it, but only if CS staff cared enough to fix it (money and output demands are the most likely reasons).

[hotchickentea]

"and we all know about the drama (or at the very least its existence) regarding that server"

you're telling me people are on that thing for anything other than giveaways/pound alerts? if you're gonna allude to something juicy as a tea blog don't be coy about it, spill the drama.

Like I said, I'm not on the Discord hunting down drama. I am aware that there is issues with mods and owners along with some the select drama I oversaw in my brief visits to other channels. I don't know the details and rather than incorrectly reporting on something I don't know the ins and outs of, I'd prefer to state the facts; there's drama in a server with over 1.2k members which is an obvious given. The drama I can definitely attest to is the fact that mods will very quickly shut down *any* critique to CS even in good nature. I remember the outrage over the major recent pound changes (in the first of this year or somewhere around then) where people had genuine concerns and suggestions that were being shut down on CS forums and any CS servers. I can attest to people being slammed over 'rare farming' and that the pound shouldn't be used over it, however people talking about it over the smaller pound change a few days ago, aren't being warned over it. I've seen others discuss accessibility issues being shut down by mods, but in other situations people who gripe to just gripe, aren't being told off. Lastly, the trade advice is the only other drama that I can confirm to being factual. I and others have found that trade advice is very incorrect on there especially when it comes to the benefit of a staff member. I've seen people be scammed out of their high value pets and staff will not say anything, yet if it's another staff member, suddenly it's against the rules.

Ultimately, it's a huge server for a site that has a ton of issues already. Drama is a thing in LTCS and saying that it exists, isn't wrong. Just because you or I use it for pound and giveaways, doesn't mean other people use it for other reasons. I know about the drama, but it doesn't mean all of it's true and I've posted what I know between this and another post.

[hotchickentea]

I was thinking the same thing anon. Otter, you're never gonna live down your bullshit. First csteasippers, then csgossip, and now this shit. Get off the internet and go touch grass. you're so transparent It's not funny.

Ok real and final talk, I have no idea who Otter is. This is not Otter. If you don't believe me, I can't force you since I don't really have a genuine way to disprove you. I get that whoever Otter was, that they either said or did something that people didn't approve of and I'm sorry that they hurt you. I do wish anyone who was (or is) upset by Otter to feel better, because it sounds like it was a difficult situation. I'm not going to keep responding to these asks, if you believe me cool, if you don't that's ok; I'm not going to keep responding 'no I'm not Otter' to people that aren't going to believe me (reasonably because as said, no real proof, I get it, just block me and continue on your day). I apologize for being blunt.

[hotchickentea]

Hi otter! How are you? Starting another blog huh?

Hi there! I'm not sure who Otter is but I can promise you I'm not them! I do apologize for any confusion though, regardless, if you want to send any more asks in please feel free to.

[hotchickentea]

CS Designs

I'm quite interested in what others think of the designs from the last year or so in regards to pets and items. I personally have been feeling rather bored with the 'new' designs each month, considering many of them are just abstract ideas or based off an animal from real life. I see so many talented artists with stunning ideas making adoptables on and off Oekaki, that CS has lost a lot of appeal for me. Sure, there will be a pet or item that doesn't strike my fancy (which is perfectly alright), but to have a long string of pets and items that look rushed, is disappointing. The store pets have been an exclusion, however I do expect them to be, considering they are *paid* pets. I feel rather alone in this sentiment and with the new April fools pets/items looking foolish only in creative attempts again, I wonder if there is anyone else that feel the lackluster energy. I'm unwilling to spend time and energy dealing with the terrible economy for pets that look manufactured and that is primarily where my disappointment lies.

[hotchickentea]

what’s the tea with the ltcs server? i’m in that one and the worst i see is just the occasional annoying autistic user (takes one to know one) and people asking the same questions over and over?

We have not personally seen all of the drama others allude to, but we can personally say we've seen that the server is very close knit and clique-ish at times. We've seen a lot of complaints towards the owner, Camaron however, with many people saying they can be rather nasty to be around. Again, this isn't something *we've* seen, but it is out there as other's experience. I hate to say it, but there's plenty of info you can find on similar Tumblrs talking about it. We aren't super active in the LTCS server, so we aren't up to speed on the drama, just that some of the main active users are less than pleasant.

[hotchickentea]

i recently rejoined CS and i was shocked and appalled to see that zeena is an admin assistant. i knew her when i was a young teenager on another website, and she is the most fake nice, power tripping, abusive piece of garbage i've ever had the displeasure of knowing. but it brings me joy that she still is in /school/ for being a vet tech? or something? when she should be nearing 30 and has been pursuing that degree for over 10 years now, because she sucks that much she can't even get a simple degree i guess lol. i hope one day the CS staff see her true colors and she gets booted.

Thanks for your submission!

I am terribly sorry to hear you had such a harsh experience with Zeena. They aren't an admin assistant I see often, but looking at their posts, it does seem like they are a little choose-y on who to respond to + what posts to lock. It's not a pick on them, but a continuation of what I personally don't like about the CS team as a whole.

I will say, we don't know her circumstances around the degree so there could be irl reasons she hasn't completed it; however I do understand the satisfaction gloating gives. We also don't know how much communication the CS staff does on a personal level. Work personalities can be vastly different than people are outside of work. Regardless, I'm sorry you had a bad experience and I wish you healing from those times.

[hotchickentea]

jprspereira pisses me tf off like wdym you buy CS pets and sell them for double if not triple the cost? wdym people buy into that? he started not even a year and a half ago and he suddenly has 100k+ pets??? AS A F2P TOO?!?!?!? there's no way he's NOT being payed of or some shit by cs staff

Thanks for being our first tea enjoyer!

I believe we do have him blocked, however it is fascinating how involved he is with CS. I noticed on the LTCS server he is a Sponsor for them, and we all know about the drama (or at the very least its existence) regarding that server.

Furthermore, his socials are linked in his discord where his face, location, age, and other details are very readily available; something CS staff is *adamant* about disallowing and go to lengths to find (and ban) other small accounts who do so.

A slight tangent, but his social media just reeks of that gym bro scam energy and it's not a surprise that's how he runs his CS account. I was not aware he was a F2P player nor that he has had his account for that short of time, and frankly, I find that hard to believe. I have no proofs for any theories, but it isn't lining up and just based off his discord links, I am heavily surprised he hasn't been at least warned. I again won't accuse or speculate with serious intent, but my wildest CS theory is that accounts like his are most likely in close cahoots with staff hence the lack of reprimand.

Edit: It is also interesting he hasn't been warned for spamming as his post is almost always at the top of the page no matter how many times we refresh the page.

[hotchickentea]

˜”°•.˜”°• The Lobby •°”˜.•°”˜

We humbly welcome you to Hot Chicken Tea where we cordially invite you to share your hardships with the popular pet collecting site Chicken Smoothie. Here you will find the rules and guidelines for your tea session. If you are searching for information on the owner, please refer to the office here. Now, please do look over our rules; while we are open for your tea session, we do have some formalities to address in order for your session to be public. We hope you enjoy your tea sessions and look forward to seeing what you have to say!

☕︎ For serious matters specifically for call-outs that include, but is not limited to, IRL situations, inappropriate behavior, abuse claims, or other heavy accusations; please refer to law enforcement, outside help, or other required assistance. If you must share it, please post to another blog. We can not effectively prove or deny any claims, therefore we are not having a part in it and do not want that responsibility. ☕︎ Foul language steeps the tea, slurs foul the tea. Any kind of slur, whether you can reclaim it or not, will not be accepted. Calling people foul names is heavily discouraged. If the language is deemed too intense whether towards someone or in general, the post will not be accepted. ☕︎ Under no circumstances will any sort of homophobia, racism, xenophobia, sexism, ableism, anti-semantic, transphobia, or anything of the likeness be tolerated. ☕︎ Do not slander people for the sake of slander. It is completely fine to critique people's behavior, actions, and opinions; it is not fine to slander the person directly. We are all people behind the screens, even if our online decisions may be annoying to others.

[hotchickentea]

˜”°•.˜”°• The Office •°”˜.•°”˜

˚✧₊⁎ ☕︎⁎⁺˳✧༚ 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴t ˚✧₊⁎ ☕︎⁎⁺˳✧༚

⸙ what is your name, age, pronouns?

my name is elm, I was born in 2001, and my pronouns are they/it

⸙ where are you from?

east coast USA :<

⸙ how long have you been on CS?

since 2022. I've played other web pet games since I was very young, if that counts towards my credentials.

⸙ why did you make hot chicken tea?

the short answer? I'm really nosy. the long answer? I really (really) enjoy the foundation of CS. it's set up to be low maintenance, low hassle, and has a thriving art community. unfortunately, I think there is a ton of valid critiques that the site owners are just not listening to. sure, they know about much of the critiques, but whether purposeful or not, they aren't *really* doing anything about them. I watch so many wonderful site suggestions get pushed to the side and after years of hundreds of users begging for basic needs, they are lucky to be post locked (with most going into the cold shoulder box instead). on top of that, users run the site down with economy issues, spam, trade horror stories, and general nastiness that staff could not care less about. there's not much I or many users can do, but complain to the void. it's reassuring to know I'm not alone in my thoughts and maybe one day one of us will create a new CS to combat these issues. ⸙ what's your CS account?

I'm not comfortable sharing that right now as diehard CS people stress me out and I have enough issues trying to trade.

⸙ will you reply to asks?

sometimes! I like sharing my opinion and it helps me bond over a broken system (to distract from the IRL one :> )

⸙ what's your favorite tea?

my favorite is a tea that composes mainly of licorice and slippery elm (hence my name!) with a drizzle of clover honey. I also enjoy a nice earl grey, southern sweet tea, or a fruity one.

⸙wait, aren't you ___ from another page/drama?

nope! I've never run a csdrama page before this one and I can assure you, I run a pretty squeaky clean CS account. I don't really talk to many people and I was rude to one person in a trade like a year ago. I apologized and we moved on. asks about this will be ignored since I have already answered two asks and have answered again here.

⸙ have more questions? send an ask and I'll add it to here :)