#I'd be happy to kickstart this stuff but the thing is: it WILL need support. I just can't do it all alone and that's a fact

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

alright. know what? with Secrets of the Obscure right around the corner and plenty of new Mists-related sky island settings coming with it, I'll just bite the bullet and interest-check a little something I've been turning in my head for a long, long while.

would YOU be interested in a Mists-based GW2 roleplay guild that uses a lore compliant multiverse system to allow canon, canon-adjacent, lore-breaking, and otherwise 'contradictory' muses to coexist in the same setting?

simply put: every writer's cast would be set in their own self-contained universe. as such, everyone could bring whatever muses they want with their own personal headcanons, and no one could dictate what is or isn't canon for anyone else. so long as your muses are GW2-based, you're good to go! bring your Commanders, bring your canon-divergent OCs, bring your canon muses-- and yes, even the ones that are 'supposed' to be dead. who can say what might have happened in a strange world far across the Mists, after all?

neutral hubs and in-character safety guardrails would be in place to keep all muses on a relatively even playing field regardless of their power, history, and prestige, too. play hardball if you like, but it might not end quite the way you'd hope. the main rule would be to maintain good OOC etiquette at all times: no godmodding, no metagaming, no theft, don't blend IC and OOC, and so-on.

if that sounds like something you might have interest in, please interact with this post! and if you've got questions or concerns, I'd love to hear them; feel free to send an ask or a DM, or just reply to this post!

[barksbog]

I've been thinking about that exact issue re: factories. I'd love to have some plushes mass produced (these factories have way more better and larger materials for doing so than i ever could), but i can't figure out how to do so without heavily exploiting other workers. How do you go about vetting the working conditions, especially if the factory is too far away to visit?

i wish i could answer that but like i said i likely will never work with factories because i have yet to find one that´s even close to what i would consider good working conditions and there isn´t any good way to even vet them for it so i tend to just assume the worst unless proven otherwise also you would be surprised how much you can do at home equipment wise. A lot of the fancier stuff like printing your own fabric and embroidery machines do run in the 1.5-2k range but it´s something you can get later on! at this point i really only need to buy the raw materials anymore (fabric, stuffing, eyes, ect.).

another option is to reach out to people who make plushies themselves and ask if they would be interested in a collab. i personally don´t do those with strangers but other plush makers might be open to it if you really want to see some designs made but can´t go through the process yourself!

none of those options will make you as much money as quickly as a really succesful kickstarter might but it´s also easier to manage and you aren´t gonna have a house overfilled with boxes of plushies, fight factories about too many faulty ones being present, deal with shipping and customer support of hundreds or thousands of orders.

honestly the closest thing to business advice i can give anyone is to make things that make you happy, try your best to treat people you are working with as equals and start out slow and build up. the last thing is especially important if you have chronic health issues (physical or mental). i´ve gotten close to breaking down from taking on too much before and learning your limits and boundaries is really important

also learn to account for those limits in your pricing and treat yourself well. everyone deserves to be paid a living wage and that includes yourself!