This was on Facebook, but it's so "Why would you do that" I had to post it.
The full description: 【OLD MAN TREE HUGGER】Garden Yard Art Decoration Lovers,a tree face is a must have item for your garden decoration.The whimsical old man faces will add life to your tree and bright your garden.Our funny old man tree sculpture faces will make your life fun. Any garden lover is worth having. 【ADD LIFE TO YOUR GARDEN 】This funny old man tree garden art decor outdoor seems to emerge from the bark or wood with watchful eyes and funny face!If you have a sense of humour, it would be a perfect choice for you. 【MATERIAL】This tree hugger use highly detailed sculpted resin,very durable,can resist outdoor factors.With glass bead eyes,funny and mysterious.A must-have tree art for any garden lover. 【HAND-CAST & HAND-PAINTED】Our tree face sculpture have realistic shape and fine workmanship,with natural colors and texture to create a stereoscopic piece come to enrich your garden color and make your garden full of fun.His eyes look so real you'll think the woods have come to life on Halloween
Any parent knows what kind of "treat" their kids will be getting if they visit a house with one of these things.
Wake up shitheads, I found something crazy to look at.
First, we have to define what a comfort character is: a comfort character is a (usually) fictional character a person loves dearly. A normal person would use "favorite character", a person who spent too much time in online fandoms would say "comfort character". I would say that comfort characters tend to be different since a person is identifying themselves as having an emotional relationship with the character, sometimes to the point of unhealthy obsession. Here are two definitions from urban dictionary, and Dictionary.com has one in their pop culture section.
These fans tend to overlap with otherkin, the people who believe they are connected to an animal, character, being, or concept in a spiritual or actual sense. For example, someone could say they spiritually relate to crows and feel greatly influenced by them. Or, they could yell "ON ALL LEVELS EXCEPT PHYSICAL, I AM A WOLF" and mean it literally. Some do it for fictional characters (called fictionkin/fickin), with these either going more towards comfort character or (for the crazy) more towards "I am literally Harry Potter reincarnated from another dimension". They usually tend to be teens, emotionally stunted young adults, autists, and general people who need to touch grass more.
So what brings this up? How about PAYING people making fucking care packages, fun boxes, and letters for you, pretending to be your comfort character?
Oh yeah, it exists. And some are best sellers, whatever that means in Etsy context.
Let's take a look at the one that sent me down this rabbit hole in the first place: (ghostarchive since archive.today redirects)
Check out all the stuff you can possibly get!
I can't believe people sell candy bead bracelets. They're so ugly and cheap-looking, and you can just make your own for maybe a fifth of the price of this box.
Please include:
♥ Your character + media
♥ Your name and pronouns
♥ Letter type (Romantic, platonic, motivational, etc.)
♥ Dietary restrictions or allergies
♥ Anything else you think should be included! Interests, memories, achievements, etc.
This comfort character care box is a fully customized, unique box sent from your favorite character to you - whether it be romantic, platonic, or whatever else! Kin, IRL and alter friendly!
Each box includes:
∙ 1-2 page hand-written typed letter from your character to you
∙ 10 song playlist from your character
∙ Character bracelet
∙ 3 large snacks
∙ Tea and/or hot chocolate
∙ Handful of candy
∙ 3 self-care items (face masks, lotion, bath bomb, etc.)
∙ 1 small fidget toy or slime
∙ 2 character/fandom pinback buttons (circle and/or heart shaped)
If there is anything in this list that you don't want, or want extra of (in place of something else), just let me know in the personalization tab! It is also super helpful to me to include any scents, flavors or textures that you love or could do without.
I will only use official content for the buttons! If your character doesn't have much official art, it may be much harder for me to do extra buttons. Please keep this in mind when ordering
** I will not do Dream SMP characters/people. I will not do romantic letters for real life people (YouTubers, musicians, etc.). I have the right to refuse any order! If I am uncomfortable with the character you put for any reason I will inform you and give you a refund. **
I have over 10 years of writing experience, as well as 5+ years of roleplay experience, so rest assured that your letter will fit your character! For a more personalized letter, make sure to include some things about yourself - your hobbies and interests, any big events that recently happened, any memories you would like you and your character to have, etc.
Interested in a bigger box? DM me! We can work out a custom order just for you.
Made in a smoke free, pet free home.
Thank you so much for viewing my listing! <3
One of the big things we need to highlight more often is the reviews of these products, since people love powerleveling when they review. The review section is a mix of female names, FtM names, and they/them names (so, females).
Here's one who loves an obscure Fallout game character: in nuclear green!
This one is for a Marble Hornets character:
What if you need a big pick me up, particularly for rough mental health patches? Don't worry, the seller has you covered (a):
With high stars! Can't believe the seller pays 2 more dollars for Crayola art supplies instead of off brand stuff, she's a saint.
And then they include reviews in the next two slides like we can't fucking scroll down:
Description:
A care package from your favorite comfort character! The larger choices have more guaranteed items.
- Since there are two letter that come with the larger orders, you may pick two characters. You can still pick one if you want two letters from one character.
- I’ll do any fictional character. I do any fandom and type of letter! Even OCs! But feel free to ask! I do research on each character.
- I can do any theme for the letter. With the exceptions of su1c1de notes (I do comfort for sh and su1c1de though), pedophilla, and detailed NSFW.
CONFETTI MIXES V
Crowcore mix- Crystals, charms and pendants, skeleton keys, stickers, beads, scrabble pieces, mushrooms, plastic babies, bottle caps, mini mirrors
The box itself seems to be full of non-descript items. This is great for a person who just wants some kind words and some junk in a box. I'm actually kind of saddened by this, even more so than I already am. Some of these people just need more or better friends.
Getting a bunch of scrapbooking trinkets dropshipped from China/Shein/Temu and a generic playlist sounds like a bad deal. There were at least 2 people who had a problem, though, and one of them really nailed the box's problem:
It makes sense for a friend to order, but man, it would have been cheaper and easier to make your own box for her. And more personal!
You know, I have some extra money to burn, I make bad choices, let's upgrade to a different seller's MEGA box (a):
I highlighted memories since this can be anything from the person's IRL memories, like them remembering something the comfort character said in a TV show that motivates the customer, the customer remembering a dream they had interacting with a character, or literal retard past life memories of being with a character.
"SWEET CHEEZUS THIS BOX HAS EVERYTHING!!!" - Stefan from SNL.
EPIC Mega Comfort Character Care Package Customized Handwritten Care Package Over 15 items!!!
Enjoy a comfort package customized to your likes all from your favorite fictional comfort character! This is our MEGA box, so just imagine a tornado of lovely things spilling out of this box (but in a nice, neat, totally professionally packed way) and entering your life.
**Please note, that all mega comfort packages are created expressly for you and no two will look the same!
Each package comes with the following:
♥ A handwritten typed letter 4 pages long
♥ A playlist curated by your character's personality
♥ A comfort character mood board
♥ 1-2 comfort character items (this may be any of the following: plushy, notebook, keychains, mug, jewelry, funko pop, blanket, stickers, decals, face mask, pop socket, shirts, pajamas, etc) ** If we are unable to source decent products, we will custom create one large fandom gift for you.
♥ Enough snacks to choke a goblin.
♥ 1 large stuffed animal.
♥ Your choice of tea/hot chocolate/coffee
♥ 2 pieces of jewelry
♥ At least 3 bath & body items.
♥ 1 handcrafted resin keychain
♥ LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN GET OUR HANDS ON. TREAT YO SELF, HENNY, IT'S COMFORT CHARACTER LOVIN TIME!!!!
At Blackberry Letters, we always go the extra mile! You're not just getting a bland, white letter, you will be receiving a fully designed image to illustrate the story further. We want you to feel completely immersed in the experience and to feel as if this letter has come to life just for you.
PLEASE NOTE: Every box is different, created to suit your specific personality and comfort character.
Blackberry Letters is happy to create comfort packages for ANY fandom of ANY medium, EXCEPT CELEBRITIES OR EXTREMELY OBSCURE CHARACTERS. If your character has very little known about them ie: a singular three-sentence blurb about them on a random wiki page, odds are we will be unable to capture their spirit and write you a decent letter, sorry!!!
Please don't forget to send me the following information!
♥ Your Comfort Character ♥
♥ Name/Nickname & Pronouns ♥
♥ Relationship to the Character ♥
♥ Letter Type (Platonic, Romantic, Humorous, Motivational, it's up to you!!) ♥
♥ Any memories or important information to be included or touched upon ♥
And, of course, the first person I see who took a photo review was a Supernatural fan:
There is, of COURSE, a Connor from Detroit: Become Human fan talking about gender affirming items (OF COURSE), and a Five Nights at Freddy's fan.
The good news is that customers seem very pleased with her. The bad news is that this shop sells multiple different types of boxes, meaning they're quite popular, sitting at 900+ purchases at the time of this post.
That's enough for now, I'll post more of my findings later. I'll leave off with this medium jumping in on the comfort character craze and marketing directly to them:
"Yeah hello oracle? I need to get some advice from my boys in the cartoon realm on whether I should stay at home and heat up some pizza rolls or if I should walk to the convivence store for some bitchen' nachos. Their names? Beavis, Butthead. Bond? My niggas."
Wake up shitheads, I found something crazy to look at.
First, we have to define what a comfort character is: a comfort character is a (usually) fictional character a person loves dearly. A normal person would use "favorite character", a person who spent too much time in online fandoms would say "comfort character". I would say that comfort characters tend to be different since a person is identifying themselves as having an emotional relationship with the character, sometimes to the point of unhealthy obsession. Here are two definitions from urban dictionary, and Dictionary.com has one in their pop culture section.
Is it bad that I don't entirely hate this concept? Sure, the psychic channeling stuff is blatant charlatanism, but I think the idea of custom-themed loot boxes fits right at home on the site (and a clever idea from a marketing standpoint, if nothing else). Not to mention that the ones that at least include handmade items (instead of just mass-produced Chinese rubbish) seem to have a lot of creativity and care put into them.
All I'm really seeing here is a new niche in the "made by woman-children for woman-children" genre. A harmless appeal to emotions (unless they're trying to scam you).
Check out all the stuff you can possibly get!
I can't believe people sell candy bead bracelets. They're so ugly and cheap-looking, and you can just make your own for maybe a fifth of the price of this box.
THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!! THIS IS EXACTLY THE RAVE BRACELET I KNOW IN MY HEART THAT MY HUSBANDO SOLIDUS SNAKE, THE 43TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WOULD MAKE FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY (APRIL 30TH LOL)
That's enough for now, I'll post more of my findings later. I'll leave off with this medium jumping in on the comfort character craze and marketing directly to them:
This could probably be an OP; there has to be drama/salt around. That bad review probably made someone seethe.
There's some kind of Venn diagram of lonely fans. This is firmly on the female side, dakimakuras are smack in the middle, and the male side has to be scraped off if you want to see what's there.
The "comfort character" boxes are something that I could see as being a fun novelty gift for a friend. A unique, silly gift that ties in your friend's interest in some character. Kind of like buying a Cameo of their favorite media personality giving them a shout-out.
Is it bad that I don't entirely hate this concept? Sure, the psychic channeling stuff is blatant charlatanism, but I think the idea of custom-themed loot boxes fits right at home on the site (and a clever idea from a marketing standpoint, if nothing else). Not to mention that the ones that at least include handmade items (instead of just mass-produced Chinese rubbish) seem to have a lot of creativity and care put into them.
All I'm really seeing here is a new niche in the "made by woman-children for woman-children" genre. A harmless appeal to emotions (unless they're trying to scam you).
The "comfort character" boxes are something that I could see as being a fun novelty gift for a friend. A unique, silly gift that ties in your friend's interest in some character. Kind of like buying a Cameo of their favorite media personality giving them a shout-out.
These have been around for a lot of years, and initially took the form of letters from Hogwarts personalised to your children, and evolved from there into theme packages from a specific character. They are far from a new concept and I'm surprised that you haven't come across them before.
These have been around for a lot of years, and initially took the form of letters from Hogwarts personalised to your children, and evolved from there into theme packages from a specific character. They are far from a new concept and I'm surprised that you haven't come across them before.
I think it's been a slow evolution of concept. Custom letter to kids (you could order Santa letters from Lillian Vernon since at least the 1980s), character theme box, personalized bespoke theme box, personalized bespoke theme box with letter and the cloying overlay of "self-care" and appropriated mental health terms.
(Steps missing in there, of course.)
I think it's the mental health implications that make it the most interesting to me. And what if someone's comfort character isn't a caring nurturer? If there are any genderspecials getting a letters that say "I UNDERSTAND THE WEAKNESS OF YOUR OWN FLESH SICKENS YOU. REGRETTABLE," then I guess I am in awe of this lady's RP experience.
Is it bad that I don't entirely hate this concept? Sure, the psychic channeling stuff is blatant charlatanism, but I think the idea of custom-themed loot boxes fits right at home on the site (and a clever idea from a marketing standpoint, if nothing else). Not to mention that the ones that at least include handmade items (instead of just mass-produced Chinese rubbish) seem to have a lot of creativity and care put into them.
All I'm really seeing here is a new niche in the "made by woman-children for woman-children" genre. A harmless appeal to emotions (unless they're trying to scam you).
I think a box full of items related to your favorite character, picked with thought and some handmade, is a nice treat. Even a playlist is fun. Hell, I'm autistic enough for that.
HOWEVER, my line is drawn at the RP part: you or someone else is paying someone to pretend to be a character you like comforting you. It screams maladaptive coping mechanism, and only enables it further in my eyes. I'll detail more in my next post but variations include: love letters, wedding proposals and wedding vows, BDSM contracts and kink lists, one week to two months of RP sessions with them in discord in either sfw or nsfw chat! The later is basically the nerdy woman equivalent of buying a prostitute.
And squishmallows? Come on, I'm worth a higher quality plush than that.
Wasn't sure where to put this but theres a mother of siamese twins on IG who a fan for a year obsessively demanded to address to make a reborn of their daughter. View attachment 5227455View attachment 5227456
The comfort character shit is cringe but as someone said, a little box of related items of a fave character isn't terrible. But candy and bracelets and stickers?
Yeah lmao Darth Vader will send you some Cheetos and smarties and a cute little bracelet he made with his own two lil black gloved hands when he had time between forcechoking people to death uwu
If I order for, say, my namesake sombra, I better be getting at least some USB sticks and other tech related shit, not Chinese dollar store scrunchies and fun sized bags of goldfish.
Maybe I'm missing the point of these things? Are they not supposed to be as if they were made by said character? Or is the appeal mostly the letter "written" by the character (which just amounts to some fat green hair reading a wiki at best if they werent already familiar with the characters) and everything else is just a little bonus?
I actually had a friend who got one "from" one of his waifus, complete with lipstick kiss mark on the envelope. Thought it was the cringiest fuckin thing and here we are years later and it's a booming business.
Fuck it, I'm quitting my job and grifting as a tranny needing genital mutilation on gofraudme and reselling chink plastic and stale candy on Etsy. See you on my yacht, poorfags
【OLD MAN TREE HUGGER】Garden Yard Art Decoration Lovers,a tree face is a must have item for your garden decoration.The whimsical old man faces will add life to your tree and bright your garden.Our funny old man tree sculpture faces will make your life fun. Any garden lover is worth having.
