#otherwise i feel meh with the ship

[ashi-cookie]

never was into chilumi bc it seem like such a hetero ship. but after seeing several art of the ship of one of my fav artists i can say i hate the ship now.

[unma]

So I've calmed down. After today's events I find myself even more vindicated in my hatred for my family, but that's neither here nor there. I'm not trying to vent so often on this blog (feels too oversharey), so instead I'll let y'all know that my birthday is in two weeks! Specifically the 24th. So that's cool.

[katarasmomsnecklace]

My thoughts on the ATLA trailer

THEYRE SO BABY seriously I think we tend to forget how young the ATLA kids are. Sure we're reminded of their ages but since the animation can make them look older or the fact some are voiced by adults can makes us blind to them being all under the age of 18

SUKI SUKI SUKI SUKI SUKI SUKI SUKI SUKI her and the warriors look awesome, but I think they're fans are fabric and not metal so I'm not sure if they'd actually work in combat

Zukos scar looks terrible and not in a "omg your face what happened" terrible I mean it looks like he got rug burn or maybe was in a bar fight not brutally fucking disabled. His ear isn't even burnt which is insane. His scar is all one color too, the different colors in the animated show were to convey just how deep the scar is at the point of impact.

Katara and Aang are adorable. I'm a kataang shipper but seeing actual kids this young being in a romantic relationship just kinda weirds me out (I felt the same way with stranger things) I like zutara but I don't want them to push for a ship just because kataang seems too young.

I feel meh about Sokka which is how I felt about season 1 Sokka the first time I watched the show so I guess not all bad

Momo lowkey scares me but in a cute way, and I like how Appa looks. I dont know how much I like the shots of the kids sitting on Appa but otherwise the animals look good

All their clothes look brand new which I know is a weird critique but seriously Katara's fit looks fresh off a PartyCity rack and not the south pole barely has any resources so this is probably a hand me down.

I'm shocked at how good it looks. I'm still scared they'll fuck it up but cautiously optimistic

[allastoredeer]

What's is yours Hazbin hotel ships?

So, I am 100% an Alastor multishipper. I will ship him with anyone. Be it for angst, fluff, smut, or pure unadulterated crack (current favorite crack-ship is Adam/Alastor because, come on, does that not sound like the most unhinged pairing??? The most unlikely of two people to get together? I love thinking about how I can make a ship between them work 😈)

So, yeah, I'll stick Alastor with anyone because he's my little rag doll. Current favorite ships I have for him are radioapple and staticradio. I'm also getting really, really fond of radiorose (also, just recently, I found out about Emlastor - Emily/Alastor - and guys, that ship should not be as cute as it, but HHHHHHHHHH it was love at first sight for me. I saw one comic about them and I was sold, no refunds, no returns).

But as for non-Alastor ships:

Carmilla/Velvette - Favorite dynamic is Velvette developing a crush on Carmilla and acting on it in the most horrid, disaster, disrespectful ways because, as much as she judges Vox, she is just as much of hot mess as he is when it comes to having overwhelming, complicated feelings for someone.

Charlie/Vaggie - come on, this is Hazbin's power couple, how could I not love them with all my heart?

Carmilla/Zestial - they're so wholesome ^.^ (Carmilla is Zestial's sugar momma and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong)

Lucifer/Lilith - divorced or not, complicated or not, they're a powerhouse of a couple. I don't blame Heaven for being worried. I would be too.

Adam/Lute - they're so ride or die for each other, I can't help but find it endearing.

Velvette/Vox/Valentino - the Vee's give me so much poly energy, it's insane. Love that for them.

Husk/Angel Dust - they are cute. I like them whether their relationship is romantic or platonic. While, its more of a minor ship for me, they still make my heart all soft and goopy.

As I'm writing these out, I'm realizing I like a majority of the canon ships 😂 Sir Pentious/Cherri, Husk/Angel, Charlie/Vaggie, Lucifer/Lilith, like - Hazbin Hotel really came out strong with their pairings. I haven't come across one that I really dislike. Like, there are ones that I'm kind of meh about, but overall they knocked it out of the ballpark.

Annnnnd, I think that's all of them. I feel like I'm forgetting a few, so maybe I'll add them if I remember later.

[ihopesocomic]

I have a theory... Maybe I'm just a bit late, and it's just purely obvious here, but hear me out

Vicious always tried to "protect" and and defend Jasper when he's being (rightfully) accused or yelled at by Hope, because she knows that if he's the one attacking, Hope will never survive. So Vicious chose to be her own's daughter's main abuser, so Jasper will never kill her out of anger

But she knows all of that can't go on for long. She knows this will never go on forever. She knows that her only way for her to protect Hope is to make her leave.

Hence why she bites her lip when Hope finally decides to leave the ship of this whole mess that is her pride. She is hurt by sending her daughter, her own flesh and blood so far away, in these circumstances, in which she's one of the villains of her daughter's story, (after saying hurtful things to her right before) but she's also relieved that Jasper cannot reach her anymore.

But she unfortunately has to keep up appearances. To protect the rest of this pride, because who knows what Jasper might be capable next...

I might have over interpreted her character, and if that is the case, I'm sorry ^^` but again, she probably is more complex than this?

I think we have to be careful with the line of thinking that a mother is "protecting" her daughter by abusing her. Especially when Vicious's abuse did not spare Hope from harm at all. She clawed her face and her eye because Hope stood up to Jasper, for example. So, I'm afraid that completely disproves your theory on its own.

Careful as a mother fits your description more. Yes, she allowed Jasper to bestow two of her children with unflattering names but it's these little bits of her being subservient and giving Jasper the impression that he is in control that has allowed her and her cubs to escape the treatment inflicted upon Vicious's children.

Vicious is indeed a villain in her daughter's story. She abused her child. While she does indeed have her own abuse to contend with, there's still no real excuse or rationalisation for what she did to Hope. There never is an excuse for that kind of thing.

I also know that some folks (probably not you, anon) feel that Vicious just flipped on her daughter at the drop of a hat and they either ask for an explanation for that or try and rationalise it but on what basis did Vicious 'flip' exactly? She kickstarts the comic by going through a tragic and traumatic event by having stillborn children and having her abusive mate threaten to off her only surviving cub.

I get that stillborn births and infanticide - implied or otherwise - are all the range in animal stories so it's seen as kinda meh at this point but that's some pretty heavy stuff for a first time mom go through? To put it simply: she's messed up from what she's gone through with Jasper and yeah, her perception when it comes to parenting her kids is pretty off, to say the least. oof - RJ

[strawberryshineart]

Riddle x Malleus Fanart <3

My favourite twst ship, Riddle x Malleus! ❤️💚 

I adore these two so much, and I've been dying to draw some art of them since I got into twst! Seriously underrated, these two have an interesting dynamic, and I love all the ways it could be explored. 

Riddle's Ghost Bride vignette is my favorite vignette out of them all, the trust Malleus puts in Riddle to rescue everyone by the end of their talk speaks volumes, and I love how freely Riddle speaks around Mallues, clearly not fearing him but admiring his strength. He is surprised, in Malleus's birthday jacket vignette, when Malleus admits to his natural strength and abilities but in the same vignette still dares him to try and beat him for the leadership position of Heartslabyul. Because that layer of fear that others have isn't really there with Riddle, I feel like he would talk more freely with Malleus. 

Riddle's admiration of Malleus is also really adorable, and Malleus seems to think pretty highly of Riddle in turn. I also think it'd be funny for Riddle to end up with someone who goes against his whole "I won't be with someone who can't arrive for things on time!" statement 🤣. Their personalities complement each other really well, and they have some good interactions, so I am surprised more people don't ship them!

Sorry for the ramble, I try to keep these descriptions short, but man, I could talk about these two for hours 😅. 

In regards to the artwork itself, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out as it was my first real attempt at lineless art! Otherwise, the background is still kinda meh, I spent so long trying to figure out what to do, and everything just looked too simple or busy. I landed on this background, it still feels a Lil busy idk, I really spent way too long on this, so I just decided to go with it instead of fiddling with it any longer. 

Speedpaint can be found on my Instagram reels! Link.

[crepes-suzette-373]

No, but it only just occurred to me... with Pudding those three don't seem to care??? Only Yonji thought she was cute, but it was a pretty meh reaction. Niji just said "Big Mum's daughter? LOL nope" and him and Ichiji otherwise has no reaction at all.

That's why this is just so???? surprising????↴↴

And it's not because Pudding is standing too far away. Nami was super far away too when Yonji had a meltdown on the ship and when the other two saw her from the carriage:

I'm so bewildered that Ichiji seems to be the one suggesting maybe the can take Nami home, like what???

In the anime Niji said this part, and I can't darn well accuse them of being wrong, but it just doesn't feel "right".

My "proof" of it is the "moraenai" 貰えない here. In the other parts when Niji talks, he never says the -nai words properly. It's always the informal form, -nee. So if Niji said this, I fully expected it to be written as "moraenee" 貰えねェ

Since this is in the -nai form, I was pretty sure it's Ichiji talking.

[devine-fem]

lol might get hate for this but in my opinion in terms of the ranking the SuperBat pairings….

1.) Damijon/Jondami- Yes I’m completely bias but I never felt this strong for such a pairing (regardless either platonic/romantic! ) Such an iconic (chaotic) duo! I’m glad the dynamic of Damian and Jon worked out well and is well loved!

2.) Superbat-I mean they are the OGs and I can get why fans love their dynamic and pair them! I’m more bromance for them but I do look forward to their interactions whenever the two appear together!

3.) Timkon-I’m neutral for them. I like the fanarts if I see them but otherwise I think they seem more aesthetically good together than like actually together. Hey at least Tim has Bernard now and personally Kon deserves better.

Jon + Damian have squashed potential. Their friendship would have done both their characters so much good. Eventually, as they grew Jon would have felt like he’d have to chase after Damian and keep up and Damian would seek and find in Jon when it comes to anything he can’t obtain as a hero.

Out of all the popular ships, this one is particularly rare.

Imagine a world where Jon and Damian did engage in a romantic relationship in later years. I think it would be great queer rep to show two people who knew each other as friends - grappling with the same heroic pressures and coming to terms with the fact that they might not want to be just friends anymore (a common queer experience) I also think that in stories where they are do become Batman and Superman, it’d feel very refreshing to see DC have the courage to portray an iteration of their most popular characters like that.

These characters are both fairly new and not so much engraved into the audience. They both know each other and share chemistry so there wouldn’t be a lot of room for complaint.

Superbat is meh to me. Over the years, It has done a lot regarding DC fandom, it’s a ship that’s become iconic and is popular amongst passive fans which could become quite annoying.

Superbat is realistically, never going to happen. Respectfully, I doubt DC would do anything in all seriousness when it comes to anything romantic between these two.

Especially with the obvious things like how Batman is and how Clark has a wife and kids.

Although, no ship is shipped under the ideation of becoming canon so I give this pair its flowers because honestly, it could be nice in domestic situations or maybe a workplace relationship but I don’t see it being endgame or like anything happening at all in a likable way.

Timkon, I’m very, very bias about how much I dislike Timkon. Most Timkon shippers realistically do not read comics and I know this because I was one at first for a short amount of time and realized how deluded and far off from the truth Timkon actually is.

It’s crazy to me because fandom is so intense about this ship and all for it to be… alright?

A lot of Timkon stuff is boiled down to being one-sided on Tim’s part. It really irks me that Timkon's evidence is like Tim trying to clone Conner while knowing that he has a thing about not being cloned because he’s a clone himself which irks me.

Then him dating his ex-girlfriend is a HUGE red flag to me, especially when their relationship was semi-abusive and built on grief but good thing it didn’t last.

Also, Tim and Conner are NOT as close as people pretend they are. Conner doesn’t know much about Tim beyond him being Robin, they don’t hang out outside of being heroes.

In reality, Conner doesn’t know much about Tim at all and he’s much closer with his other teammates - literally any other YJ teammate other than Tim. Conner's established friendship with Tim caused a lot of really horrible character assassinations on Bart, Cassie, and Conner. It pushed all characters aside in an attempt to emphasize their relationship.

If they were to have a relationship then people acknowledge its toxicity - see toxicity doesn’t take away from shipability but frankly, I think both these characters deserve to be happy.

If they did date, I seriously give them half a year before they break up. I’m happy Tim is with Bernard because he seems much happier than he’s ever been. I’m sorry, reading those comics it felt like Tim was just grieving his friend after having lost a family member and he was spiraling and needing help, that’s not ‘cute’ to me.

Anyway, I notice Timkon shippers use Kon more as an accessory to Tim and melt his character down for that. If they read his comics then they’d know that he is canonically attracted to Bart anyway (I say canonically because of the on-the-nose insinuation which I take as gospel because it’s crazy for a writer to just outright mention Conner might be attracted to Bart.) Which Bart is most of the reason Conner is queer coded like he is now anyway.

Anyway, not saying all Timkon shippers are horrible but I don’t like the shippers or the ship. It’s substanceless for me. If you like it I’m very happy for you. I think all of these ships are iconic and adorable. This is just me being a person with an opinion.

Anyway, my thoughts.

[dtheshadows]

Ok, it's time to post about my opinions on the different relationships, so I'm not doing so in the middle of the night when I'm supposed to be sleeping.

To start off, I just want to say that these are all just my own opinions at the moment of posting, and I'm not trying to drag anyone for what they ship. People can enjoy what they want even if I'm just meh on it.

Crystal and Charles

Alright, so let's get this one out of the way first. I appreciate how the show kind of portrayed this as them going to each other for comfort more than for love. That being said, if this shows' goal was to make me think they were going to be an endgame pairing, then it failed. I think that they'll have their thing, but settle on just being friends, and that can still be beautiful. I just don't see it working out in the long term with Crystal being alive, and I don't feel like she is going to die. The show works well with her being alive and the boys being dead. Half the comedy is her interacting with the boys while everyone else just stares at her like wtf. They could very much be right person wrong time.

Monty and Edwin

I really like Monty. I love him, and that scene with him and Edwin on the swings was so sad. I don't know how much further this pair could go with Monty being a bird again, but I want to hope he can return. I feel like there is a little more to explore with this being that they were each others first kiss, and it could be cute, but not endgame.

Cat King and Edwin

I'm very meh on this one, unfortunately. I can see the appeal, but it just doesn't read to me, and I tried getting into it. I don't think they'll be endgame, but this one has the 2nd most potential.

On a separate note, this is the pairing that also makes me question why they didn't age the characters further. I feel like how ghosts mature after death needs to be explained a bit further. Otherwise, I see this being quite a fandom divider, and there has already been some division. Again, though, ship what you want. I literally don't care because these are fictional characters.

Charles and Edwin

Obviously, this is the big one. I adore this ship, and it has the potential to be exceedingly beautiful, whether it ends in friendship or romance. I, for one, want it to be canon because I would love to get a queer slowburn best friends to lovers romance arc for once. I feel like I never see long-standing male friendship that becomes romantic. It's either they've become close because they are into each other, or they were friends, but not best friends, and it always happens in a single season. I will say as well though that if they just remain friends I'd be perfectly fine with it as long as they revisit the possibility of it happening, because you can't have Charles say what he does in response to Edwin's confession and not revisit. Like the chapter isn't closed yet.

[edalynn]

Okay, so, I might just haven't looked enough yet, but I've never seen any biphobic Lumity shippers before that lunter shippers like to bash. Am I missing something?

No, as far as I've seen lun/ter shippers like to do the same thing that hunt/low shippers do and cry biphobia when lumity shippers dislike lun/ter and call it gross. They tend to say that because it's kinda weird to ship Luz with Hunter both because they are acknowledged as adoptive family in canon and because Lumity is a revolutionary wlw canon ship in media, so erasing that is kind of meh. But biphobia is the only thing they can use to bite back at Lumity shippers that feel that way because they literally don't have a leg to stand on otherwise (and the biphobia argument isn't even true in the first place).

[wewebaggit]

i love how ur bio says safe space for hopper haters bc too many ppl in this fandom are always like “whaaaaat!? but how can u not like jopper 🥺” when he is not only a full grown man who abuses his power and was horrible to Joyce in s3 but also his character itself is literally copaganda

and it’s concerning and so weird (but also unsurprising) that jopper is like… elevated as this god tier ship, even in queer spaces, when in reality it’s pretty mid and also why would I want to ship Joyce byers with a cop

Hey booksandpaperss!

I am a safe space for ALL HATING. But specifically Jim Copper hate simply because he is shown a lot of undeserved grace by the fandom and the writers.

Since it's now in vogue to hate on s3 I'll take this opportunity to escape being called a negative nancy for once and just a hatering hater. Here goes:

My hate for Hopper is not as a result of season 3 but in fact it began with s2. (s1 a wee bit) But truly honestly deeply since season 2.

Hopper in season 2

After giving up Eleven's location in the prior season, Hopper then out of the goodness of his heart (😒) starts leaving Eggos for El in a reverse HansEl and GretEl. The feral El now has a home. But is it a home? Or just another prison? Hopper leaves her alone in the cabin with nothing but a TV. And so El spends her days mindlessly going through all the shit the idiot box has to offer. The only time she's actively interested in the TV is when she wants to use the static to get into the void. Because she has been kept away from the ONE friend she made out of the lab. And let's bffr. It's Mike. She is looking for Mike. And Mike too is the only one thinking about her. Hopper keeping her away from him and lying and being nothing but and angy aggressive cop of a dad is supposed to make the audience feel.....wait what are we supposed to feel? Mad at Hopper? Cuz the end result was people hating on El rebelling against Hopper. And it is all because El's resolution at the end of the Lost Sister episode was......that she needed to go back to Hopper and her friends. However, again it is a point in time when Hopper's at the lab and in mortal danger.

So since we love deep dives and shit and developing lore around characters, would she have been compelled to return to Hopper were he just, idk sitting in his cabin or at the station or whatever. A lot of ST is just about characters deciding to do stuff when someone is in REAL DANGER™️ But specifically with Hopper, he only steps up as dad when El's in danger. Otherwise he's treating her as a pet, something Mike was wrongfully accused of.

The whole entire (almost) year that El was with Hopper we do not see a change in her personality. Her rage has worsened. Her vocabulary is still lacking. In spite of the word of the days. There's no female presence in her life. He neither recruited Joyce nor her aunt (though that would have been sus, agreed n yet would it have been any different seeing as El managed to do it alone.) She's been held hostage for her own good.

Hopper: You put us in danger.

El: You promise. I go. I never leave. Nothing ever happens.

And then he grounds her. Like she was living it up otherwise. (S2E4)

We know it was because this was El's story of rebellion and trying to find her identity and so the story does not have Hopper do these things. But that still means that the story chose for Hopper to not do these things. He is even shown apologising (meh. half assed like his foil Mike, but that's for later) for it towards the end. And yet, that's something that's rarely discussed in fandom circles while talking about Hopper.

Hopper in Season 3

Oh he proves he's a blackhole alright. Sucked Joyce's character development. He's only marginally improved letting Mike see her but beyond that it's still mostly the same. She still is under-socialised. Speaks like that. El herself seeks out Max. Joyce is still too busy being ungrateful (I know not the intent, but the execution nonetheless) she's still not leaving the cabin much and has some curfew. Again which is, well why is it there? Cuz she's been coolly gallivanting with Max at the mall and everywhere else without a problem.

He's a proper asshole to Mike and a bully. Who tf threatens murder to a 13 year old kid? Like between having a chat and threatening homicide, he could come up with ZERO options. He needs emotional laxatives that aren't just anger and bullying.

Hopper in season 3 is an unfunny comic relief. A man baby. A bully who uses his cop privileges. Who treats the woman he supposedly likes like shit. He was so mad about Joyce not meeting up with him despite her telling him the reason. I mean mister you did that with Eleven too and just expected her to understand. The juvenile hUmOUr and the macho man action scenes where he's outwitting trained Russian mercenaries (lmao) is a step down from the basement he was already in. Him treating Alexei like shit when he was the only one who could have helped them. Make it make sense. (Anti-Russia/USSR pro USA copaganda and nothing else)

Also beyond all of this I simply hate Hopper for taking away valuable screentime from the kids that this show is supposedly about but hasn't really been that for some time now. He's a white male war veteran cop who's a Hawkins native and was a popular kid in school too. So he's not even an outsider in terms of being the new man in town, let alone the shit that really matters.

Hopper in Season 4

Not dead enough.

Jopper throughout the show

Mid chemistry. Joyce is already a semi-absent mother but becomes entirely absent after Hopper's message from Russia. She has ZERO clue of what her kids are going through in Cali and then has the fucking audacity to walk out on them without even letting them know that she might not return. She also leaves the only responsible person in that household with the charge as if she ever took it. She is now been relegated to being the comic relief which is neither comical and far from a relief and Hopper's girlfriend. Every season she has proven to be right on the money with her instincts and every season everyone including Hopper question her as if she's the dumb one. Hello. Do you guys clear up your memory after every season? It's annoying and one note. Hopper is a jealous manbaby all of s3 and a fucking liar. "i shOuldn't hAVe seNt yOu the LeTteR" Bitch u did. You wanted out. Dasvidaniya! El's college fund. But you'll only need it if you make it through school 🤷‍♀️. WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN HOMESCHOOL HELLO. Though I do commend the subversion of the found family trope where both the adults are pathetic parents. Do love one of the main couples being failparents! (is that a thing? or are they pioneers?)

[errantsquam]

ERRANT MERCH MANUFACTURER MASTERPOST

list of manufacturers i've tried. hopefully easier for other artists to get started in the merch game. Singapore/SEA centric. I update this whenever I feel like it.

Taobao manufacturers require some basic Chinese knowledge, but it's honestly not that bad. May set up a phrases masterpost in the future.

Use at your own risk because your experience might not be the same as mine. But this is what I've personally experienced!

[R] - Recommended. However, try at your own risk. Caveats will be mentioned

[NR] - Meh. Usable but probably not recommended

STICKERS/PRINTING

[R] Danlim - Self-service again. Less self-prep needed, the people there will give you feedback if they think your alignment is messed up (very helpful!). Supports self-collection or delivery (but delivery is on the expensive end). Supports holo which is very nice. Low MOQ.

[R] walyadfx.sg - Shopee manufacturer. Only tried them for transfer stickers. Self setup on an A5/A4/A3 sheet, but since they're transfer stickers there's no cutlines needed. Affordable and low-ish MOQ (if A5 sheets count as such lol) Came pretty fast and the quality was good

[NR] Gogoprint - Self-service is neat. However, you need to prep the files yourself, and a lot can go wrong. Some stuff to take note of is the correct PDF format (PDF X-1A), and making sure your strokes don't turn into vectors (there are some cases where this happens). High MOQ. Otherwise, more crisp than Vograce.

[NR] Vograce - Shipping isn't worth it. Printing is a little duller.

ACRYLIC CHARMS

[R] Juno Creative (Taobao) - Also on Alibaba at a slight markup. Good, affordable, better quality than Vograce. Hot stamped colors are gold/silver/red/green/blue/light blue/purple/pink. Please note that if you're doing hot stamping, DO EPOXY. The foil is not stable and will peel off otherwise. One-sided hot stamping otherwise. Use Weiyun to send larger files to them

[R] Bemick/Wenzhou Yadian (Alibaba) - My go-to for hot stamping. Supports single or double sided. Offer gold/silver/red/green/blue. Printing is generally better quality than both Juno and Vograce, but double sided prints "hover" slightly if that bothers you. Hot stamp is more iridescent than metallic. I like it though. Low MOQ but costly at lower MOQs.

[NR] Vograce - Still has the dull printing problem. Gross markup

PLUSHIES

[R] Gaopeng Toys (Alibaba) - Hesitant recommendation. They are the safe and commonly used option and have a low MOQ (as low as 1), but obviously low is expensive. Up to 3 changes allowed per sample, otherwise you pay the cost again. They handled the engineering of my complex sample pretty well. However, they have a tendency of using craft glue instead of something like a ladder stitch, which may be invisible or awful-looking depending on your product.

Have not mass produced with them yet. Treat as a cheap plush commission (assuming your local indie artist isn't open for comms).

[NR] Vograce (Manjuu) - They're probably middlemanning. They actually fucked up and sent my sample with its back upside down (yikes). Printing is dull (a common Vograce problem). Not sure who they're middlemanning for, but likely Doujin Studio (haven't tried) is my guess.

COINS

[R] Jinyin (Taobao) - Hesitant recommendation. WeChat needed for communication. Printing quality is nice, and they give advice to make your design read better. But the rep flipped out at me because I had an unusual shipping address (Taobao's warehouse).

[NR] Wenzhou Jinshi (Taobao) - WeChat needed for communication. Printing quality worse than Jinyin. Rep flipped out at me for sending the Chinese equivalent of Google Drive (Weiyun). Generally rude aside from that, no feedback given, and they get a lot of customers, so you're not important.

SPECIAL CLASPS

If yoiu're non-Chinese, you can order from here too! Do check the r/taobao subreddit for guides on setting up.

Please try to select 'Direct Shipping' instead of 'Consolidation' during payment though, otherwise you'll need to jump through some hoops with Alipay in order to pay Taobao. (Not impossible, just frustrating and scary if you think your packages are going to be held hostage)

Typical search term: 异形扣

Listing 1

Listing 2

Carbuncle Clasps

Jackpot

MANUS I'M STILL WORKING WITH

Kakubao (Taobao) - Soft (rubber?) PVC 3d charms, same as a lot of Sanrio charms. WeChat communication only. Generally the rep has been quite nice to me, but there might be revisions in more complex designs that may not be made known ahead of time. CAD is used to make the mockup. Generally recommended to familiarize yourself with the production process before doing your mockup.

Surprisingly, MOQ 1! Just pay the mold fee and they'll send you one sample for free. Unsurprisingly, the cost only becomes worth it around 100 units.

OTHER COOL LISTINGS I HAVEN'T PERSONALLY TRIED

Doujin Studio Bottle Cap Buttons (Taobao)

Wing Flapping Acrylic Charms (Taobao)

Medicine Pill Acrylics (yes, it is that weird) (Taobao)

Please view listings and reviews at your own risk! Reviews may be doctored/paid for. Things to look for are

Unusually eloquent praise of the manufacturer, mentioning stuff like rush orders, etc.

Pictures that look like they came from a factory. The factory ITSELF, not the package. Common tells are gloves/factory equipment in the back/etc that multiple reviews have.

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

To my surprise this had already ended, and over a year ago too. Apparently CCS isn't big enough in my circle for it to have been bigger news.

First things first, the worst sin this manga commits is that there aren't nearly enough magical girl outfits! CCS is known for Tomoyo crafting a new one for every event, but this time most of the Card Catching happens so spontaneously that there's no time for a costume change. Which I suppose technically makes sense in-story, but I still reject this and would instead prefer any kind of excuse to get Sakura into a cute new fantasy outfit every chapter, no matter how nonsensical it might be.

Then for the actual content. In general I can see why CCS is such a beloved classic, but personally I've never been too big on it. Which makes it a little difficult to judge the sequel, like is it actually meh, or am I just being a hater again? I just can't get into these characters, I can like a good wholesome story like Yotsuba& where everyone is super nice, but in CCS the cast is just so saccharine that they barely feel human, so it's hard to get invested. It's like Sakura is rather meant to be someone's ideal daughter instead of her own person, like she's eternally pure, ever so helpful and well behaved, never has a nasty thougth in her mind, and so on.

Another issue I remember from the original manga that still persists here is how almost every character hides important information from Sakura. You can "well actually" most of it, like a lot of the time there is a decent reason, but there's just so much of it that to me it feels kind of patronising, or frustrating when the main character is always several steps behind. Some of the secrecy doesn't even lead to anything interesting story-wise, like eventually the information gets out and Sakura is a little upset for one panel, and then everything is forgiven. I don't know how much of a fair criticism this is, but the "keep secrets from the main character to protect them" trope is one of my pet peeves (unless you lean into the broken trust aspect, then it's good) and I feel it strongly here. Also in general it's a good thing that the side cast has their own thing going on so that the main character is not the only one who gets anything done, but here Sakura sometimes gets lost in everyone else's planning.

The new girl Akiho is at least cute, I got no complaints on her. I'm also always a sucker for any kind of twin/clone/otherwise similar and paired characters, so my favourite thing about the manga was how she kept being compared to Sakura. As for the story otherwise… Eh. Feels a lot like a retread of the original manga, Sakura's Cards disappear and she must get new ones one by one. The character relationships are pretty static and I don't think I really learned anything new about Sakura. There are a lot of Alice in Wonderland references, which for the most part felt superfluous. Towards the end Sakura's class puts up a play that's a pastiche of Alice in Wonderland, and then Sakura gets sucked into the world of the play, and the story gets pretty confusing when the characters are both acting their roles and doing the actual plot.

Also if you're into Tomoyo/Sakura or Toya/Yukito you don't need to bother with this because you'll be scrambling for crumbs, there is little else in terms of shipping besides Sakura/Syaoran. Which is like the most vanilla ship ever, sure it's wholesome but man I just can't get anything out of them.

[arkiwii]

number 13!!! 😈

I will assume it's the first 13!! so about the fandom

13. "Which canon or popular fanon ship I can't stand or feel "meh" about"

mmmmhh the first one is Tequila x La Pluma. and it's self explanatory of why. they are SIBLINGS. even if Rafaela is adopted, and they're not blood related, it still makes me uncomfortable and I really don't like seeing it around, it's gross to me. I mean, I can't say it's wrong? I guess?? it's just uncomfortable to me. and contrary to some other "adopted siblings" ships (like Schwarz and Ceylon that can be arguably considered as sisters), they are explicitly siblings here. they call each other as such and have the same dad. anyway it makes me 😬

and the secooonndd... more controversial, is Exusiai x Mostima. well, in a general way, I just can't imagine Exusiai in a relationship at all, so any ship with her I see them as platonic (headcanons and such, I think affection doesn't necessarily mean romance!!). but i can be like ok, with most ship with her, but with Mostima it grosses me out for a particular reason and most of it comes from Mostima's operator records;

she does say that now that Lemuen can't watch over El, she's now implicitely responsible of her. which, Mostima is AWFUL at doing, taking care of someone, and she proves it;

she wants El to move on and forget about her. El is completely obsessed with Mostima, and Mostima doesn't want it. she wants and wishes for El to find another life, which she kinda did with Penguin Logistics! of course, Mostima can't ignore her responsibility and will watch over her, but she doesn't want to be part of this new life.

making it romance is... very weird to me. it gives the vibes that Mostima is in control and is an abuser. this is not what she is, she just sucks a whole lot with relationships of all kind, but she wouldn't want to hurt someone purposefully, unless this pain in necessary for this someone to recover or forget about her.

so yeah that's it!! i mostly named these two because popular fanon ships, otherwise apparently some people ship Silence x Parvis 💥💥💥

[bnesszai]

May I know your top 3 favourite Dazai ships (either platonic or romantic) and why? Thank you ❤️

hello anon!

skk (romantic/platonic) - i could go on for a while but I'll try to keep it short. These two have so much trust in one another, no matter how much they try and claim otherwise. They know the other has their back. No matter what the situation, no matter how much time has passed, just. no matter what. They also definitely do hate each other because they see the worst of themselves reflected in the other BUT they also see the best of the other despite these parts, even if they try and deny it. They bring out the worst and the best in each other. When they're together, they don't have to have their guard or facades up. Together, they can enjoy the things they typically don't get to, such as arcades or just being stupid for no good reason. They can find their lost childhoods and the essence of who they could have been in a different world within each other. They also understand each other on such deep level. they don't even need words or signals. They just know. They also believe in the humanity of the other despite, once again, how much they try and deny it.

kunicuuzai (romantic/platonic)- kunizai on its own is okay, but i prefer all three together for reasons that are probably just stupid and personal but meh. anyway. You have the above dynamic but also added in you have Kunikida who is an idealist. He is someone who never wants to see someone die before his eyes. He is a self-sacrificing, bleeding human who has seen horrors but always chooses good (i have some hcs about a delinquent past but that's a different story). He can help Dazai and Chuuya see their humanities and the good parts in themselves that they feel they have lost. He can soothe over some of their aches and pains in a way neither Chuuya or Dazai can do for themselves or each other because Kunikida has never been in an organization that has asked him to kill ruthlessly, relentlessly. He also is the only one who can keep their bullshit shenanigans to a more tolerable amount (that said, he also loves shenanigans. he also loves safety and getting home on time for dinner). Dazai and Chuuya help Kunikida see the more fun things in life and how it can be okay to deviate from his schedule sometimes. Sometimes, it's okay to be horribly selfish.

Dazai and Oda (platonic only)- I was a lil torn between saying Oda or Atsushi or Ango for my platonic relationship, but ultimately, Oda did have the largest impact on his life (I have gone on rants about him and Ango before and probably will do so again). Anyway. There is the way Chuuya understands Dazai, but then there is the way that Oda did. Oda could see the deep lonlieness inside of Dazai. He could see that Dazai is too smart, too clever, too something to ever find something that will fulfill him in life. And that's heartbreaking. And yet, Oda tried his best to help Dazai out. He kept him company, he indulged him (I'm pretty confident Oda always knew Dazai was lying about his injuries), and he surely taught Dazai many things and comforted him to the best of his abilities when he could. Oda understood Dazai as if Oda had lived a life inside his body (i cannot think of a less creepy way to describe this sorry xD). Oda understood Dazai. Oda called Dazai a friend. Oda cared for Dazai and encouraged him to at least find the beauty in life, to atl east use his talents for good, even if none of it will ever make Dazai truly want to live. It's incredibly heartwarming and tragic all at once and GOD. reading tdipud (both sides) and Beast really makes Dark Era hurt that much extra. In every fic I write, I want Oda to be alive so they can be happy together as stupid friends, but his death is so vital to Dazai's development that I have not been able to bring myself to keep him alive thus far. Perhaps someday I can let them be happy (doubtful).

[oh-stars]

20 questions for fic writers

@lady-lostmind thanks for the tag 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

44, but 7 pieces are art or collabs I did art for! 

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,464,862

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently only Stranger Things, but I still have Marvel WIPs and a few Spider-Man stories I want to write but haven’t had the time for. 

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Man That I Could Be

No One is Perfect, Not Even a Superhero

The Harrington Brood

you carved the space for my sadness to be seen for once (hold on to me)

Double Feature Disaster

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Sometimes! I get really overwhelmed and can’t respond. I made a point to respond to all of the comments on Brood and it was a lot, so I’ve made a conscious decision not to. I also have a really hard time not spoiling things or teasing something too hard, so it's best for me not to respond. But I read each one at least twice and I like to take a beat to read them again when I’m blocked. They make my day :) 

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Our Future (and really its the end for the whole The 'Til the End of the Line series) 

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Either The Man That I Could Be or The Harrington Brood I think. 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Normally, no. My latest fic has gotten the most negativity out of everything I’ve written, but even then it’s not necessarily hate either. I delete the especially negative ones, but even those I think could be interpreted differently depending on tone.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Have I written smut? Yes. Do I like writing smut? No. I try not to, honestly. I do fade to black scenes or reference it, but I feel like all my smut is clunky and meh so I try to avoid it when possible. The few in The Man That I Could Be felt necessary and even then I didn’t fully explore those storylines the way I wanted to because I’m not great with smut. 

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope! 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a few times! 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, I love co-writing fics! It’s a great way to collaborate and push yourself. @sparkstarthetrashcan and I have a few fics we co-wrote for the @spiderversebigbang way back when and it was such a delight! 

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Stucky, I think they’re timeless. Steddie is getting pretty close to that, though. 

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

In Case You Don’t Live Forever, it's the only WIP I have that’s fully drafted out and plotted that I actively want to come back to. I just lost the headspace of the characters so I haven’t had a chance to dive back in. 

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I can capture characters really well, especially when they’re my own. I think Brood really showed that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut for one, and maybe action scenes. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I think its tricky. Younger me has definitely dabbled, especially with Marvel fics, but I wouldn’t do it now. 

19. First fandom you wrote for?

One Direction (and I think I have scrubbed all of them off my wattpad thank youuu) 

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? There’s something special about all my fics, I think. But right now, I would say its a tie between you carved the space for my sadness to be seen for once (hold on to me) and All it Takes is Faith, Trust, and a Dream (with The Man That I Could Be as an honorable mention). Each of these served a purpose and fulfilled something different, but hold is probably the fic I’ve always wanted to write and my Disney fic is just something I look back on fondly.

If anyone wants to do this, I invite you to! Otherwise, I'm tagging the following with absolutely zero pressure to do this: @sparkstar-trash @medusapelagia @englishpaperpieced @skjachukson @cranberrymoons @graham-cracker-guillotine @slavicviking