Saturday Update!

Hell again, it's been another week.

Well, Steam changed the status of my game last night. They failed it again.

This time they said that I didn't fill out the content survey well enough. Which in my opinion is a lie. The content survey is a long form of checkboxes for sensitive content ranging from violence to drugs to racism etc, ending with a written area for you to write a set of warnings yourself for the game's front page.

I already checked every possible box for sexual content [ except the ones about minors ] and practically every box for violence [ except for one that said 'realistic violence', but I've checked that one too now for my resubmit ].

My written box was already extensive, you guys know I'm thorough about writing warnings. But I added more redundant language to that [ I now describe noncon in 4 different ways ].

I've resubmitted the game for review last night.

I find it very hard to assume this is not contempt on the part of the testers. That I am not being fucked with.

I had a pretty bad breakdown last night. I'm okay now.

I can squeeze some good news out of this information though. Two things. One is that the game is resubmitted and I now have the normal '3-5 days' review message. It's already been looked over, so in theory, I should have another answer faster this time.

The other thing is that they didn't ban anything. They obviously can't. My game does not violate Steam's conditions and no matter how much they hate my guts, they don't seem to be able to lie to that degree.

I've sent another message literally begging the new tester to be fair and tell me exactly what I need to add to the warnings list if it's not there already from my recent edit. It was a desperate and pathetic message but I am desperate and pathetic at this point.

I'm not proud of that. I shouldn't have replied mid-breakdown, but it is what it is.

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Speaking of tortuous limbos, the Canada Post situation has found a way to be even more laughably frustrating. Another offer was made and rejected. However, instead of a full strike, the union has opted to not allow any working of overtime. That means that mail is moving normally [ if a bit slow ] right now.

I know that sounds like good news and that I should open the store again, but I regrettably assert that it isn't and I shouldn't. There is no new contract. There are 3 general possible paths for the future.

• The union goes on full strike at any time [ mail stops ]

• The corporation locks out the workers at any time [ mail stops ]

• An agreement on a new contract is reached [ this hell finally ends ]

The uncertainty has driven virtually every business [ small or large ], including me, to remain closed or to use other carriers [ other carriers are not an option for me, the costs are astronomical for sending things like merch- I can't charge people $40 to ship a $12 keychain- not to mention I'm an unreasonable distance from depots on foot and I don't have a car ]. This means that package sorting facilities with Canada Post are empty. If I was the corporation, I wouldn't want to keep paying the workers when there's no work to do, so my personal guess is that the corporation will lock out the workers soon.

The bottom line is that I will keep the store closed. The possibility of me opening the store and sending out 40 packages just to have them locked up in a warehouse once the situation changes again is too strong. I think it's better to wait for a new contract to be reached.

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Strade Plushie Update:

Like last time, I have to start with warning everyone that the colors of the fabrics are not what will appear on the final plush. I believe they're just using what they have lying around while we get the prototype design hashed out.

This is the third prototype. All that's changed is the hair since I've approved the rest.

I'm happy with the soft and puffy look and the back of the head. The only thing I don't like is the bangs on this design. I've asked if we can keep the rest of version 3, but use the flat fabric bangs from version 2. I've sent them a photoshopped picture with my request:

As of writing this, they haven't replied yet. I don't know if they will let me have this combination design, but I did say clearly that it's what I want most. If they do comply, I will sign off on the basic structure and we'll move on to the next steps like picking the actual fabrics and such.

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The only other news I have is that a small restock of Fox body pillow covers/dakis is in the mail and working its way to me. I may have them by the time I can open my store again.

I'm sorry I haven't done anything productive with my time this week. I've been stressed and crying a lot, and I just can't seem to make art or jokes or anything creative. If I had known they could drag the process out this long I would have submitted the game ages ago and made a work plan. I may not have known any better but this is still mismanagement, and I apologize deeply for it.

I won't give up though. I've fucked up and had breakdowns before, but I always come back. I am a cockroach.

I'll see you next week