L'esprit d'escalier

I haven't been talking about this very much bc I don't like to complain about my own medical stuff very much - I find it easy to get angry on behalf of others but very hard to ask for help for myself - but I have had a string of mild complications from my hysterectomy that have meant we've needed to cancel going to Salem Pride next weekend and I haven't been able to work. We paid for the hotel already, which is $500 we've just... lost.

On top of that, the post office just straight up lost 60 backer orders from Proud To The Bone 2, and bc they never got scanned in, our package insurance doesn't mean shit, so we've lost about $1000 in inventory that's just gone.

So... I've turned the Bottoms & Tops sale code back on, bc we need to pay payroll and I'm not gonna be able to do a lot of work anytime soon, so...

If you don't wanna buy stuff right now, consider tossing a coin to me for bitching about the stuff you like to listen to me bitch about:

Or use @vaspider or $vaspider on Venmo/CashApp.

Ser Davos Seawoof tax:

There is the myth of being forever young — but what about the forever that comes after that? P.H. Low has given this some thought in These Deathless Shores, and in this Big Idea, is here to speculate about what comes after, and what it means for those who live it. P.H. LOW: Our culture is obsessed with childhood. The romantic ideal of it, anyway—as this innocent, pure, magical state that’s a…

I'm gonna be really up front with everybody in a way that I'm usually not:

This year so far has been really rough, in a way that kinda has me worried. Bear with me, and there will be dog pictures along the way and pictures of new swag at the end, ok?

Running a small business is always rough, and with everything going on - with me being down-and-out struggling to get my hysterectomy approved, with everything going on financially & politically, with Jake moving out here - we knew that this year probably wouldn't be a banner year, but...

... when I pulled reports at the end of May, I was kinda shocked and gutted because at the start of June, we were actually down a considerable amount year over year. I knew the year wouldn't be great, but like, oof.

Pride is usually where we make our money for the year - we call it "gay Christmas," because where other retailers count on their holiday season, we count on Pride to make sure that our employees get paid during January of the following year.

Pause for Ser Davos Seawoof:

This Pride has started ... slowly. Not terribly, but a little more slowly than I'm comfortable with, and slowly enough that I'm nervous. We invested a lot of money in new stock and equipment, and that's got to pay off. Right?

So here's the pitch:

We need to make at least $60K in sales this month to make sure that we're in good shape for the upcoming year. We are currently at $8100, and we have a two-day event coming up in Seattle at the end of the month, but that still gives us an awful lot of ground to make up.

If we hit our sales goal for this month, NerdyKeppie will donate 1% of our net profit for June to @queerliblib.

Just hitting that goal would both make it possible for us to know we can make it through the year & even if we have the worst profit margins this month, it'd be a minimum $250 donation.

We just added Express delivery as a shipping upgrade on most of our t-shirts (limited color and size options on that, which isn't under our control) so if you need something quick, we've got you, and everything from our Portland HQ collection ships usually within 2 business days.

Everything in our Bottoms & Tops collection is Buy 2, Get a 3rd 69% off with code TOP2BOTTOM until midnight tonight:

And as always, NerdyKeppie is 100% trans-owned and queer-run. We start all of our employees at a minimum of $25/hr, and all eligible employees are IWW members. We have no investors, and we have no shareholders to please. Big box corporations screw over small artists and drop Pride the minute it gets hard or controversial, but this is our life.

We're here for the long run. Help us stay and help us build resources for today & tomorrow, and get some cool-ass swag while you do.

But also, maybe click the button so you get an email, because the algorithms might hate me.

Before you go, look at this fucking amazing art by Mel Uran.

This is our warlord signature character. He's from Talpidium, and he appreciates your admiration of his gorgeous blue eyes.

I'm screaming, crying, throwing up right now. The Backerkit goes live on May 7th. It's real. It's really really real.

If you purchased the Ashcan and enjoyed it. If you didn't purchase the Ashcan because you were waiting for the actual campaign. If you are just now hearing about this game. If you hate me and want to spite me by pledging for a PDF and leaving fart jokes in the comment section.

Please go and sign up to get notified when the Backerkit goes live.

The game setting is my take on a fantasy world where everyone is just a "human" regardless of if they are a foxgirl or slimegirl. National borders mean a great deal, and political boundaries are extremely important. Everyone has magic, there's summoning, hard choices, high stakes, political tension, exploration, discovery, and a thinly veiled analogy for the evils of arms races.

You can pick up the demo on DTRPG right now!

Me : “Do you get dental insurance?”

Scary prison dude: HELLO

Me: Nice to meet you!

Specifically, I remember;

There were zombies walking around in the waiting room. I said “Hi!” and he gave me a high five. Every time he passed from then on, I got a high five.

Near the end, there were these twin little girls. “Come play with us.” They said. “Okay!” I said. “Forever.” They said. “Oh, sorry, can’t do that. I’m busy.”

Me: thanks dad

He has this entire one right next to it with a blankie and he uses it exclusively for people watching. He really only goes to the other window when he decides to be A Menace

Also his name is Banjo