#Charms for Animazement :)

[jollyscribbles]

Saiki (❁´▽`❁)

[figofswords]

dungeon meshi charm! I’ll be selling this at animazement in may and theoretically once I’ve got some other designs cooking I might open up an online store so stay tuned I suppose

[fernsnailz]

FEB 2025 SHOP INFORMATION/FAQ

i've been getting a lot of questions about the next plans for my shop recently, so i'm gonna go ahead and answer a lot of them here as to update everyone. yay

edit: putting this shit under a readmore. shoulda done that in the first place lmfao 💀💥

WHEN IS YOUR SHOP REOPENING? March 21st at 1:00pm EST!

WILL YOU BE SELLING PHYSICAL COPIES OF BORN TO FAIL? yeah. they'll be on pre-order again. i'll have some b-grades available at a discount too.

ARE YOUR OTHER KEYCHAINS/STANDEES/PREVIOUS THINGS YOU HAD IN YOUR SHOP RETURNING? yes, i haven't retired anything. however, some things will be on pre-order again and other items may be pretty low stock. the band standees in particular are REALLY low, i think i only have one team dark one left.

WILL YOU BE SHIPPING TO MORE COUNTRIES BESIDES JUST THE US AND CANADA? no. i'm really sorry, i know this is something a lot of people want but i cannot expand shipping to more countries right now. i keep shipping limited to the US and Canada to keep the scale of my shop manageable, because my shop is technically a side gig i do on top of freelance storyboard work. additionally, i quite literally cannot offer international shipping to most countries through bigcartel (the service where i host my shop) without having to jump through a million hoops to collect and remit a number of different taxes + tariffs and comply with every country's requirements for international commerce.

the EU and UK are particularly difficult to ship to right now due to the EU's new GPSR (general product safety regulations) and the UK's VAT (value added tax) (which i would be responsible for collecting and remitting since i run an e-commerce site located out of the UK). the short explanation is that even though these are the two main locations people request i expand shipping to, i literally cannot feasibly ship to the EU or UK through my current shop without facing huge legal and tax obligations.

the best way for me to expand international shipping would be to sell stuff through a different shop hosting service that either does the complicated stuff for the seller or places tariff and tax responsibilities on the buyer, but please know that i honestly just do not have the ability or time to do that right now. i'm really sorry again, but i'm not going to be offering shipping to more countries right now.

ARE YOU GONNA HAVE NEW ITEMS? yes. i already have a few things i designed for my last convention that i have yet to sell on my shop, like some bluey and mouthwashing charms.

there's also a bunch of new robot related things i really want to design (transformers stuff, nge things, misc. other robot stuff), but i haven't finished them. this is the main reason why my shop isn't opening for at least another few weeks - i haven't had time to design my self-indulgent robot merch lol

HEY IS THE TARIFF WAR THAT THE US IS WAGING ON CANADA MEXICO AND CHINA GONNA AFFECT YOUR SHOP? yeahhhhhh probably. for those who don't know: i am based in the US, and our stupid idiot shit for brains country recently placed some absolutely insane tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. this led to all three of those countries implementing their own tariffs on US imports and a "trade battle" breaking out.

the short rundown is that the US' tariffs on Canada and Mexico were put on hold for 30 days, but if this battle continues after that then it will affect anyone in Canada who orders from me. i'll likely still be able to offer shipping to Canada, but if the tariff battle continues then Canadian customers at my shop will be responsible for paying any tariffs Canada imposes on US goods. and since the 10% tariff the US placed on China is still in effect, i might have to raise the prices of my keychains and standees a little bit since that's where i get those from.

ARE YOU GONNA BE TABLING AT ANOTHER CONVENTION ANYTIME SOON? the next convention i have lined up is Animazement (Raleigh NC) in May! i'll be tabling in the artist alley there. hopefully i'll be tabling at a few other events later in 2025, but we'll have to wait and see.

that's all for now! if i get more shop related questions beyond this, i'll probably add them to this post.

[swagyatta]

been very busy but wanted to post a WIP, doin a set of zodiac themed wooper charms! hoping to have them for animazement~

[ibblescribbles]

Hi! Saw (one of?) you at Animazement (I was the BOTW Zelda who got a Sara Chidouin charm, idk if that helps lol).

Not really expecting an answer or anything just figured I’d say hi/that your art is really cool! Am not an artist myself so idk what to say about someone’s art beyond “is good” and variations on that but yeah.

Excited to follow you on tumblr now and see what you post :)

Awee thank you so much for stopping by!! My sister was running the booth at Animazement for us, so you probably saw her hehe (happy you know there's two of us, most people dont realize but my sister runs a LOT of the shop stuff nowadays and i couldnt do it without her!!!!!) thank you so much, im really happy you enjoy our art :3 i'm not the most active on tumblr so i check my asks infrequently, but i am committed to posting any finished art whenever i post on my other social media as well!!

[scarysu]

my charm/standees came in today~ we'll have these at acen and animazement!

[cath-biscuits]

Who will you choose? 

I realize that I didn’t post this full design aside from in the shop previews!

You can pre order this charm  : ~HERE~

[art-by-chasing-blue]

THEY'RE FINALLY HERE!! All 22 Twisted Wonderland starshard bottle charms in their glory. I'm so ridiculously excited!! I'll have them at Animazement in Raleigh this weekend, Table D07 in the Artist Alley.

After that... eventually I swear I'll set up an Etsy or Shopify or something!! I've just been focusing on designing new merch and putting out content but I swear I'll get it done

[paigyloli]

2022 is coming to an end, and I would like to take this moment to reflect on the goals I set for myself and to thank all of you! What Studio Paigy did this year: -► Attend seven convention events; Anime Detour (MN), AX (CA), Animazement (NC), AKON (TX), SacAnime ~ Summer (CA), Anime Fusion (MN), and TwinCitiesCon (MN)! ~ Plus bonus, FujoCon, an online BL con. -► Doll PO and fulfillment; Yona/Hak, Tokyo Revenger Babies, POTN (batch 2), MoShang, SasoDei, Hualian dolls, and Ichigo Levi -► Collab projects with; Tomodachi Stickers (TR), Jazzy and Rin (Hualian), and Yura (Yona of the Dawn) -► New merch; Doll designs as keychain charms, and did more BL merch -► Hosted two giveaways, MoShang and TR, Baji/Chifuyu Like we accomplished so much this year! I met many of you in person, made new friends, and rekindled some old relationships and memories! I look forward to expanding my skills and working on new projects and my commitments to my chibi merch and YOU!! You are a big part of my journey, and I appreciate everything! Your participation in interest checks, comments, suggestions, feedback, and compliments makes me so happy and motivates me to strive to do more for you and be my 100% best! Thank you again for sticking around to feed me your energy, ideas, and can-do attitude. I'll do my best for 2023 and can't wait to show up for you. Have a wonderful and Happy New Year! ~Paigy - #tendou #tendousatori #haikyuu #newyears #tendo #tendoudoll #cottondoll #doll https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm1jOPUOHR0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[justasuta]

hey y’all we’re open!

We’re at J09 at Animazement !!! stop by for prints, charms and stickers and notebooks and pokémon and ponies and ahhh???

[jollyscribbles]

The kids pestering Shadow is my favorite thing.

[raleighliving]

Pros and Cons of College Life in Raleigh

Last time I wrote about colleges in Raleigh generally and how it’s not like other college towns. This time, I’m gonna be speaking a bit more about the pros and cons so it should be a little more specific.

Before that, however, I wanna make this clear: Raleigh is not somewhere you should move to for college unless the school you’ve applied to is your dream school.  

In terms of academics, there are better choices than NC State or WPU. If you wanna study biology or medicine, schools like UNC-W or Duke would probably be a better fit for instance. If you live in Raleigh, don’t pick a school just because it’s close; if you live in another part of the states and you want to attend an east coast school there are options all along the east coast that you should consider.  

Raleigh is a great place to live and work, and there are plenty of friendly people here; but a degree from the right university can make or break your career (depending on the field and other aspects of course).

As a person suffering from anxiety, the question “Do you want the good news or bad news first” has always been a terrible one for me. Up until I hear the bad news, it could be literally anything regardless of what the person asking was doing or how much of the task they were on I’m familiar with.

Similarly, living in Raleigh (or really anywhere for that matter) is going to present a lot of subjective pros and cons. Please keep in mind this is gonna be super subjective, but I hope you enjoy reading this even if we disagree.

But you didn’t come here to read three paragraphs of disclaimer. So lets start by listing the good stuff.  

Raleigh is a city full of vibrant color, culture, and cool shit. You can find cool things almost anywhere you look, regardless of where you are in Raleigh. I mean, all of the pictures (including those in this article) I use for this blog I’ve taken in Raleigh or nearby it. As a result, the first pro has got to be the beltline highway system.  

The beltline is a highway system composed of I-440, I-40, and parts of I-540 that encapsulates all of Raleigh. It connects north and south Raleigh while having downtown in the center, letting travelers easily reach nearly any part of Raleigh. 

I’ve lived on the border of Durham, Cary, and Rolesville at different points in my life. I’ve had to make trips to Garner and Apex for various reasons. At no point in my 20+ year stay have I ever had to make a city trip that lasted longer than a half-hour (one way). It makes working in Raleigh especially easy, since the abundance of highway access points and the convenience of the loop design means I’m never too far from that loop. 

It even helps with adjusting to your new environment if you move here (for school or other reasons) since if you’re ever lost, the highways can act as a point to re-orient yourself by. I know I’ve had to do it plenty of times in the past, and it can really save you from looking like an idiot if you excuse your lost-ness by just saying “Oh yeah mate, I was just tryna get on the highway. Saves so much time.”

Does this mean Raleigh has the best transportation network of any city? Hell no. Does this mean that Raleigh has the best highway system? Not even close. But it’s still super nice, especially for students. You’ll run into the problems any urban place has like rush hour or crash delays, but this is mitigated by the fact you’ll be using it for our second pro: Everything happens in Raleigh. 

Well, not EVERYTHING everything but as I’ve ranted about before; there’s plenty to do and see in the city of Raleigh (even if you’re a student). 

For instance, according to raleighnc.gov, Raleigh is home to over 200 public parks. Not a fan of parks? Into more electronic entertainment? Then visit our very own “Arcade of Thrones” downtown and get your game on with your fellow nerds

Boring stuff like restaurants and night clubs aside, Raleigh is home to literally thousands of businesses and social clubs for you to partake in. Farmers markets, gun and knife shows, fishin’ holes and public church barbecues are available for that classic southern charm; but don’t forget to make use of our barcades, art festivals, concerts, comedy clubs and sport centers. 

The only reason why I’m not going into more detail about examples like First Friday, the downtown cultural festivals, PNC arena or other more specific events is because I want to write about them in-depth in the future.  

Of course, students having things to do and places to go is only part of the college experience. If you’re gonna come to Raleigh for college, the best pro I could possibly mention is the support network.  

Not to say that we’re exactly all one big happy family here, but in Raleigh you get that nice blend of metropolitan city life with your rural state. Orgs like the LGBT Center, Goodwill, Raleigh Missions, and more support locals in need constantly and provide for the many different groups around here.

Libraries and civic centers share the same city as mosques and churches which neighbor women's shelters and LGBT+ advocacy groups. If you’re a republican or democrat, that’s fine but be prepared to meet the other members of the political spectrum since groups like the Democratic-Socialists of America (DSA) are active downtown as well.

If you need help or want to help others, there’s a 98% chance that you’ll find someone or something out there that meets your needs. Join a community through Facebook or Nextdoor and you’ll see every diaper drive, garage sale, and community recommendation pop up whenever one is needed.

Of course, this brings us to our first con. Raleigh may be home to some of the nicest people I’ve ever met but it doesn’t mean you won’t run into some problem people sooner or later.  

There’s of course the typical collegiate douchebags, the upper-middle class young scions of no import who fumble through life with no regard for others because mommy and daddy will perpetually care for them, but being a red state you’ll also run into the more colorful republicans.

Every year there’s an anime convention called “Animazement” downtown and every year there’s a small herd of fundamentalist Christians warning all the otaku who’ll listen that they’re going to hell. Drive around town long enough and you’ll find a few different businesses that have made their opinions on things like masks and social distancing clear, not to mention there’s no shortage of QAnoners and alt-right sympathists. 

Of course, you shouldn’t let others dictate the quality of your life or the area you live in but you should be aware that these people exist. Raleigh is more liberal than other parts of North Carolina for sure but it’s not the leftist paradise those other parts would say it is.

Other than the coinflip that is neighbors, Raleigh is kind of a pricy place to live. The cost of living is on average higher than other cities in the US, cheaper still than New York of Californian cities, but pricey nonetheless.

Rent in Raleigh for a one bedroom apartment is on average $975 according to bestplaces.net and can go as high as $1200 depending on the complex and location. 

That, with a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, means you’ll need 

>Multiple jobs >Multiple roommates >A good paying job

or any combination of the two to be able to afford rent, utilities, and food beyond cup ramen. There’s housing programs like Section 8 and military housing initiatives to help, but for students you’re looking at some pretty steep housing costs for anywhere that’s not student dorms. 

You can get a good job that pays decent, of course, nothing’s impossible. However, finding one that won’t require roommates would demand full time hours (which might be difficult to make on student scheduling) or a degree (which you’re probably at college to get). Most living spaces require you make at least 3x the advertised rent to even be considered as well, which may limit students to seedier student living complexes like University Village or The Proper (Formerly Vie, formerly wolf creek).

Finally, if you move to Raleigh for college be prepared to drive. A lot.

As I mentioned earlier, the beltline is a god send for students and people looking to explore; but it’s also practically mandatory for moving around Raleigh. Public transit in Raleigh isn’t non-existent but it’s pretty damn close.  

Live between 10-15 minutes from your desired destination? Taking the bus is gonna be anywhere from half an hour to a full hour, and that’s if you even live near a bus route. If you’re like myself and habitually on the edge of Raleigh, be prepared to drive for a bit before you even see a GoRaleigh bus let alone a stop. 

The buses do at least run pretty late (Closing normally around 11PM), but the lack of public transit lines and bike-able roads means that you’ll be adding to the urban congestion more likely than not.

Okay with driving? Hope you’re okay with paying another arm and a leg, because at most schools down here tuition doesn’t cover your parking pass. 

NC State prices range from $105 to over $400 depending on your credit hours and where you’re staying at. Other schools like William Peace only charge a flat $130 for their parking decal, but most of the schools require you throw them an extra Apple Pencil or two for the privilege of being able to park your own vehicle close to the actual campus.

There are workarounds, like parking off-campus nearby, but those carry risks and penalties that can add up over time. The audacity these schools have to take thousands in tuition and then demand that you pay and additional fee to just use the parking lot.

Hopefully, though, regardless of my thoughts if you live in Raleigh or North Carolina in general and you’re considering attending one of the fine establishments here; I’ve provided you some food for thought. 

College can be a scary experience for many, and the area around it can really make or break your experiences. We don’t have the biggest party schools or the most glamorous cityscape; but if I had to go through the collegiate system again I honestly couldn’t imagine doing it anywhere else.

Next time I’ll be talking about some alternatives to College though, so stay tuned for that.  

Special shout out to the DSA of Raleigh as well. They didn’t help write any of this or communicate with me during the production of this article, but they’ve been doing some amazing work downtown with the homeless during the pandemic.  They are some of the most amazingly hard working individuals who care immensely for the community and you can check them out on dsanc.org.

[joyfulpocketninja]

It’s so hard to take a nice picture of my itabag when it’s so reflective. Just got @kittykichi Spirit of Tutu pin and it’s beautiful! I’m excited to re-arrange my bag and add it to my collection.

Also shoutout to @ninapedia for the new Tutu and Kraehe, Hannah on IG for the ahoge pins, and @swandrawn for the pendant charm with the cute duck attached. Got them all at Animazement 2019!

[kawaiiboushi]

so my suitcase with all the stuff i just bought at animazement and both costumes i brought is somewhere in airport limbo with a claim number that says it hasn’t been located yet so that’s fun

otherwise con was a good time! hung out with good friends and bought some more prompto charms which are in my suitcase that will hopefully be found and sent to me soon :))))))))))))

anyways gonna finally meet my internet waifu this week too [kissing emoji x1000] which will be a great finale to a wild couple weeks of travel

[glitzbot]

I was at animazing con today in savannah, and i love the momojirou charm i bought. Its awesome! Thank you so much. All the merch i got from there was totally worth the drive from charleston, and if i see you at any other cons in the future ill be sure to stop by!

oh my goshhhhhh wow thank you so much!!! ♡♡♡♡ hearing this just lights up my heart and I'm so happy to know you love the charm!!!

Please do stop by if you ever find me at a con again! :D Right now I only have ACEN upcoming, but hopefully I will be accepted into others! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

[avidbeader]

Raleigh Supercon Day 1

Short version: I accomplished my goal of meeting Josh Keaton and Kimberly Brooks and getting their autographs. I did my first round of Artists’ Alley, made a friend, and made my first (of several, probably) fanart purchase there. Then I hooked up with several other Voltron folks and we hit a panel and ate and toured part of the dealers’ room. Going back tomorrow for more fun.

Pictures below because many and big:

I chose Kimberly’s line first because it was short, because she hadn’t arrived yet - bless her, she got stuck in an elevator on her way out of the hotel. (What is it with Voltron cast/crew and elevators?) She was utterly charming, wanted to know the artist of the fanart I asked her to sign, and I am so glad I was able to meet her. I brought two of the “playing card” pieces by @amegafuru for signatures:

By the time Kimberly arrived and I made my way through, the line for Josh Keaton had gotten manageable - there were a LOT of people there at the start.

He was also wonderful to talk to, being incredibly kind to everyone going through. Bless him, he tweeted about how his hotel was renovating and when he tried to grab a nap after his red-eye flight in, it was too noisy for him to rest. Hopefully he gets the chance to recharge tonight.

I asked him to sign the Shiro card and my little ita bag:

With that mission accomplished, I had a little time before the first panel I wanted to attend and went through Artists’ Alley. My habit is to go through once, not buying anything but grabbing business cards and/or info where I see things I’m interested in so I can go back later or the next day. I got to talk a bit with one artist who has some Voltron art - I may be commissioning her for some Sheith post-con - and she was super nice (Instagram is substantial_pancake). And I found the artist that I had bought art from during Animazement 2017 and got some new stuff from her:

Her store is here and her Twitter is babyduckenema.

All in all, one of my best fandom days ever and I’m looking forward to Sunday’s panel with Josh & Kimberly!