PROGRESS REPORT 11.11.24

...this is gonna be a little different from the usual progress report.

As y'all know, we recently had our presidential election and...😬 We're cooked.

There's a lot of awfulness that will result from this election. I'm going to discuss how this will affect things here going forward.

-Merchandise is going to be affected the most. The Orange Dipshit has plans to enact tariffs and that's gonna lead to money being a whole lot tighter. This is going to drive up the cost of goods, which will affect a whole lot of us (electronics and appliances are going to be hit especially hard). And for me, this may have an impact on the costs of producing merchandise as this will go up in price. And of course, packaging, shipping materials...these could be affected in some way as well. And in business, when materials go up, when goods go up, that means we have to raise prices. This isn't ideal for me or for the customer, and I'm going to do my best to avoid raising prices on my merchandise.

However, I'm not going to produce as much of it either especially if these rising costs come to pass. See, I've mentioned (on stream for sure, and likely here) that I've been making preparations for artist alley. I'm going to have to cut this plan short. I feel that if we're headed for a recession and costs are going to increase, it would be unwise for me to move forward with my artist alley plans. If money's going to be tight for us, the last thing that will (should!) be prioritised is getting a swath of fandom merch. And while I'm not saying that people shouldn't treat themselves (no, y'all SHOULD treat yourselves), I know that folks are gonna have to be a lot more limited with their spending.
I feel like I can't really afford to take a risk like that especially with the average artist alley housing so many artists. I will do one table in 2025 since I do have a lot of stock that I can try to move (and it may be one of the last opportunities to sell before the economic damage is really felt). But after that, I am moving my operations online.

That said--I will still commit to my goals for what I'm doing with my merch; putting an emphasis on making merchandise that is functional (e.g. tote bags, jewelry, pens, notebooks). Stickers will also remain on the table, but again we'll have to see how deep the impact from these tariffs run. I will say I am already planning on something that I will be operating in lieu of a storefront and artist alley. I've mentioned it on stream and to my editor...stay tuned. 😉

-So, with merch being given the backseat, this means that comics will be the highest priority indefinitely. I had already resolved to work on comics through the end of the year, but now I feel that it's more important for me to get my stories out there--stories that feature diverse characters, queer characters...everything the regime will hate. I feel my art would be better served in this way. It's still going to take time for me to make these comics, but you can expect to see more progress reports on these over the coming months. I also want to get involved in local zine fests and communities.

This was not an easy decision to make; I was looking forward to giving artist alley another go. However, we are headed for very unpleasant times, and I have to adapt accordingly--I want to continue to create art, I want to continue to create art that y'all enjoy, and I want to prove to be worthy of that continued support, even if my options maybe become limited.

Obviously, these tariffs aren't 100% confirmed to come to pass, but it's likely. There's businesses already anticipating this, so I feel I need to prepare for the outcome all the same.

I'm very tired. And I know this post has had more of a political and economic angle, but...well, these things affect me. They affect you, too.

Also. I know there's still the matter of rewards. I'll have an update on this soon (European patrons I know y'all have been waiting exceptionally long and for that I apologise!). I'm still trying to process everything, and on top of that, I received news that my car (which broke down last month) cannot be repaired. So there's that.

Sheeeeesh.