u/moustachecat4

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of animosity directed at the subreddit from gals on other platforms, especially Tiktok, but I'm wondering where it all comes from.

I see people reference the subreddit a lot when talking about putting gals with fairlyyy beginner makeup skills on a pedestal just because they're White, as opposed to a Black, Brown, or Asian gal with more advanced skills and experience. Now, I do think there's something to be said about this happening in the gyaru community as a whole, but I can't say I've noticed this happening here.

Another thing I see brought up a lot is the "gyaru-inspired yabi vs gyaru" debate, which is a whole 'nother conversation, but I feel like that hasn't been a hot topic here for a while now. I've also seen people complain about the spike of either baby gals spreading misinformation, non-gals spreading misinformation, or people using the subreddit like Google (which, I personally don't think is necessarily a bad thing. Asking a community of gals to guarantee you get up-to-date answers directly from the community probably feels better than surfing the web, where any joe shmoe could've written the article you're reading, but I understand that it gets annoying.) I think these kinds of complaints used to be legitimate, but I feel like a lot of this stuff has been filtered out over the last few months. If there's an account in the comments saying something that I know isn't true and said misinfo post is their only interaction on the subreddit, I've started just blocking them. I assume most others do the same.

For Tiktok-specific complaints, I've seen a few people say the community here is hateful towards or biased against gals on Tiktok, but I honestly don't think that's true at all. I remember making a post asking why gals on Tiktok were so nasty to each other/baby gals, whereas gals here and on twt don't seem to act that way, but the upvote ratio on that was bleak, to say the least, and it seemed like people here like the Tiktok community just fine.

Is it possible that some of these are big problems that I just haven't seen myself? Are there other things that could be making people talk about the subreddit so negatively? I don't see many people really going into depth about their dislike, but I'm genuinely curious, so I feel like it'd be useful to ask here.

I'm definitely not the first person to talk about how expensive the hobby is, and certainly not the first to talk about how it's gotten worse, but it's getting so discouraging having such a big scalper problem. Seeing rare dolls sell for just $70-80, then seeing someone list the exact dolls for over $300 each just a week later, people listing dolls with no clothes, box, or accessories for more than they go for nib, the dropshipping. It's all getting so ridiculous, and I'm just not sure what to do.

It sucks to think I'd have to give up a hobby before I've even found my other grails, just because people have figured out they can make an easy check off of collectors. So many sellers I've spoken to would rather remove a listing entirely than negotiate on the price of a doll wrecked from dry rot. So not worth over half my paycheck 😭

Even if I decided to boycott scalpers myself, there's so many other people who cave and pay the outrageous prices, just because they want it that badly. Is there anything at all we can do about it? Would JPGroove make more reproductions for more than just Pullip and Taeyang if enough people pestered them? Is there one of those "cutting the plastic" methods we could apply to doll sales? I know people have to make their money somehow, but it's coming at the cost of everyone else's wallets 💔

up until this year, I've only ever been shiro, but I've found that I like the broader range tanning gives me with substyles.

I'm struggling a little with highlights, though 💔 the one I have isn't very pigmented, which was fine when I wasn't tanning, but it doesn't really show up much better when I am tan. certainly not white by any means, more like a pitiful cream color. do any gals who have more experience being tan/darker have recommendations ?

I feel just terrible because I didn't buy him that long ago and I was so excited to have found him at a reasonable price, but the more I look at him, the more I feel kind offfff indifferent. Pictures of him look really cute, and of course he's cute in person too, but he just wasn't what I was hoping or expecting, and I'm starting to regret the buy TT. His red eyes and more serious expression would be good for a custom I've wanted to make, but his quality is pretty good and I feel like he's hard to come by, so I'm afraid that just turning him into something else would be taking away from someone who really wants him. So conflicted.. 😞

I've been self tanning for the last month or so and I know I'm definitely much darker when I compare my current results with my before pics, but I feel so light when I go outside or in certain parts of my house. Do tans tend to nullify under certain lights, or is it all in my head? I use bondi sands ultra dark, but maybe I should find a darker tan 🧐