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bestiesenpai · 3 years

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Area 51 - Nanami Kento

This is for @natsuonii’s creature feature collab! :) It’s got alien!reader, scientist Nanami and a whole lot of weird shit I’d say. Femme reader...there’s alien pussy lol 9.8K words

link to the collab!

Content warnings: sex pollen, alien heat, reverse knot, daddy kink, blood + needle(it’s brief I promise) and random medical terms and fake science shit lol don’t look too deeply at it

“This...this is the best scientific breakthrough we’ve ever had.” Nanami was at a loss for words, watching as decked out military men brought in case after case of wreckage from a shot down spacecraft. Working at a highly secure government facility sure did have it’s perks, and being one of the first people to know about all this was certainly the biggest one.

Nanami had spent so much of his life studying and clawing his way to the job he was at now. He’d sacrificed so much in the name of science, in the pursuit of finding extraterrestrial life forms no matter how small and insignificant, and it was finally paying off.

“Doctor, we’ll take the embryos to your lab.” One of the men said, quickly walking away tailed by people holding glowing blue cases. He hadn’t really been briefed on what all was coming in and what exactly happened to get it here, but he was sure he would find out soon enough.

“Careful!” Another person shouted and he was pushed out of the way. Coming in through the large steel doors was what looked like a four armed monster strapped face down to a flatbed. Markings went up and down his face and body and there were an extra set of eyes staring at everyone as it was wheeled by.

“What is that creature?” Nanami mumbled, clutching his clipboard tightly. The creature was breathing hard through its nose, nostrils flaring dangerously wide and a light growl rumbled from its chest.

“It appears to be the leader of the spacecraft, we could only get the creature's name, nothing else: Sukuna.” Someone answered him, but Nanami didn’t acknowledge, he was unable to take his eyes off Sukuna.

“Incredible.” His mouth hung open like a fool, unblinking as he watched Sukuna be wheeled past him and to the elevator shaft. “How far down are they taking him?”

“I heard the chief say as far as they could. He’s highly dangerous, it was a miracle the team was able to get the upper hand.”

“I’ll have to pay him a visit soon.” Nanami had enough security clearance to go anywhere in the building, but something was telling him he’d have to ask for a lot of permissions first before making contact with Sukuna. Nanami learned quite early on that the deeper underground you went, the more power you needed to be there.

Once the final bits and pieces were brought into the facility, Nanami peeled himself off the wall and made the way to his own lab. With his badge hung proudly from his shirt pocket, Nanami made the descent and as the elevator went floor after floor and the numbers got higher and higher, he let some excited exhales out.

Going down the metal corridor, he came to his lab to see it teeming with people. Nanami often worked alone on things and to see so many people milling about in his space made him a little nervous.

“Tell me about the embryos.” Was the first thing he said when he entered, donning the white lab coat he’d left hanging by the door. Walking over to the giant test tubes lining the back wall, he peered into one of the open cases.

Nestled inside atop a pile of hay were glowing blue orbs, some too bright to look at directly. They had a light blue smoke coming off, gradually spilling out the sides of the case and if he looked hard enough Nanami could just barely see the outline of a creature inside.

“They were on the spaceship Sukuna came in on. He was hellbent on protecting them, killing five of our people right off the bat.” The military man he’d spoken to earlier was here, answering right away.

“Were they in a case like this?” Donning a pair of gloves, Nanami picked one up. It was cool to the touch and quite heavy, making the muscles in his arm work harder than expected to stay upright.

“No, he had them suspended in some type of thick goop, like clear maple syrup.”

“How scientific, thank you.” He snorted, setting the embryo back down. “Do you have any of this ‘goop’ left?”

“Only this, sir.” Holding up a capped beaker filled halfway with the fluid, the man let out a defeated sigh. “Sukuna actually swallowed most of it, I guess trying to keep the embryos from us any way possible. This stuff is crazy acidic though, it’s melted almost everything it comes in contact with.”

“This should be enough…” Already making calculations in his head, Nanami took the beaker and walked to the control panel of the test tubes. “Load up the embryos and I’ll try to mimic the solution they were in. In the meantime, I’ll put one in that should be similar enough to keep them alive for a while.”

Pressing a few buttons on the panel, the test tubes began to fill with a murky pink liquid, filling the air with a pungent aroma. The embryos were loaded in quickly and the tubes sealed off. Watching them as he walked over to a table full of supplies, Nanami grinned slightly at watching them float.

It took him little time to come up with the properties of the amniotic fluid the embryos had been in. Making slight adjustments to the formula, he watched the liquid go from murky to clear, with only a light pink tinge left.

As the days wore on, Nanami studied the embryos intensely, opting to sleep in his lab instead of the barracks provided so he wouldn’t miss a single change should any occur. Going days without sleep, a week went by without any significant change.

A soft tapping on glass roused Nanami from an impromptu nap. Drawing his head up from where it was nestled in his arms on the metal table he was slumped over, he rubbed his face roughly and looked around.

“Who is it?” He called, assuming it was someone at the door. But when no answer came and the door wasn’t opened, he fully sat up and looked around. “Where the hell-” Cutting himself off as he looked at the test tubes, Nanami almost fell out of his stool.

In the seven test tubes lining the wall, there were three embryos that had come to term. He knew some would fail, resigning himself to the possibility that all of them would, but to see three newborn aliens was beyond his wildest expectations.

“Oh my god.” Snatching his clipboard off the table, Nanami rushed to the test tubes. He was writing furiously, capturing every single detail he saw about them and even making quick sketches of what they looked like.

There were little nubs right above their behinds, what looked to be the beginnings of a tail. All of them had two sets of eyes, unopened and tiny on their infantile faces, faces that were beginning to bear the same marks Sukuna had.

The tapping on the glass, Nanami quickly found out, was from them floating freely in the tubes, softly knocking against the glass as they hung suspended in the fluid. Nanami couldn’t see any kind of umbilical cord or method to get them the possible nutrients they needed to stay alive. So he just had to hope that they woke up soon to tell him what they needed.

The babies rapidly took shape after coming to term, morphing into a human-like form right before Nanami’s eyes. It seemed that with every couple of hours that passed they grew more and more. Fingers, webbed toes, tufts of hair and tails all appeared.

“So when do you think they’ll be able to come out?” His supervisor asked, nearly a month after the first encounter. The aliens under Nanami’s care looked like full fledged adults, ones that you could see out in public and - despite a few glaring differences - not pay any mind to.

“I don’t know, ma’am. I don’t know if they can survive out here.” In the month that passed, the facility wasn’t able to get any intel from Sukuna about the embryos or why he chose to come to Earth. All he did was snarl and growl, slurring a few death threats when he could.

“Take one out and see.”

“What?” Gasping loudly, Nanami’s eyes went wide. Surely his boss didn’t mean for him to sacrifice one of them? They were too precious of an asset to possibly let die like that and Nanami was ready to put his foot down.

“Don’t worry, doctor, Sukuna’s told us a bunch of times that more of his people will be coming, and I’m willing to bet they’ll have more embryos for us to study.” Giving him a swift pat on the back, his boss turned on her heel and started to walk away. “The usual assistants will be here to help you should you need anything and don’t feel bad if they all die, that’s just how these things go.”

The parting words were less than heartwarming. Letting out a rough sigh, Nanami turned to the team of people behind him. They worked with him before, most of them idolizing him with a gleam in their eyes.

“We’ll wheel in the examining table and take them out one by one. If there’s any adverse reactions, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it. Get the usual supplies ready, we’ll start in ten.” Giving the group a curt nod, Nanami turned back to the test tubes. Pressing his hand onto the glass of one, he closed his eyes. “God, I really hope you all don’t die.”

In ten minutes, Nanami was dressed in full hazmat gear and so was his team. The crinkling of plastic suits was loud in the otherwise deathly silent room as everyone held their breath. Draining the fluid of the first tube, Nanami swung open the door.

“Let’s take a look.” Nanami said as the body was lifted onto the table. It had no external sex organs to speak of, not even a hole for a cloaca. Cool to the touch, Nanami waited for it to show any signs of life.

“It’s not moving.” Someone called out after five minutes, scribbling it down on the notes. They’d tried everything, strapping an oxygen mask over the face, chest compressions and returning the body back to the fluid it had previously been in, but it was no use.

“Take that away to Getou’s lab, he’ll dissect it.” Waving the first body away, Nanami looked up at the second. “We need to instill a gradual change in environment or else the same thing will happen.”

“Should we try to set up a feeding tube or an IV?”

“IV, yes.”

The second attempt went marginally better than the first. Slowly shifting the fluid to one of a normal human amniotic fluid seemed to work. The alien twitched and rocked side to side, seemingly waking up from its slumber.

Drawing it out from the tube, it appeared to be just fine. Gasping for air, fluttering eyelids and squirming limbs - all things Nanami wanted to see. What he didn’t want though, was for the creature to lash out with unexpectedly sharp claws, cutting through the sleeve of his suit and drawing blood.

“Holy shit!” Stumbling back, Nanami watched in horror as the creature licked the blood from its nails. Smacking its lips together, the creature pointed at him. It was rapidly losing the color in its cheeks, struggling to form whatever words it needed.

“Blood? Do you need human blood to survive on this planet?” Nanami shouted, scrambling away from the table he’d flung himself onto and holding out his arm. “Take it! Quickly!”

“Doctor no!” A few of his assistants tried to yank him away from the examining table. They didn’t want to see the blood get drained from his body or him possibly get eaten by the creature.

“Stop it, let me do this!” Struggling with them, Nanami watched in rapt horror as the creature nodded slowly before fully collapsing on the table, drawing it’s last shaky inhale before falling limp entirely. “You fucking idiots, we just lost another one!” Pushing the people away, Nanami banged his fist angrily on the table.

“Doctor, we couldn’t let you do something so dangerous! You’re the most valuable scientist here, we can’t lose you!”

“Bullshit! I don’t care if the next one wants to swallow me whole, you let it!” Glaring at all the people in the room, Nanami began to rip his gear off. “And if it dies for any reason, I’m going to make sure none of you ever find work again.”

With the threat hanging heavily in the air, Nanami stormed over to the control panel one last time, punching in the codes needed to change the fluid on the remaining test tube. His arm was slowly leaking blood and he could feel the warmth drip down to his hand.

“Get me an IV, I’m going to give this last one a blood transfusion.”

“Doctor, are you sure you-”

“If you question me one more time I’ll cut your tongue out. Now do as I say.” Pulling up a chair, Nanami sat down and leaned his head against the cold glass of the tube. None of this was going as he wanted; Nanami didn’t plan to lose two out of three creatures, nor to give blood to the last one.

Hooking up an IV, Nanami watched the blood drain from his arm, flowing up and into the top of the test tube where there was a needle inserted into the last alien. Trying not to get too woozy as he was drained of blood, Nanami pressed his forehead to the glass and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I don’t believe in you but God if you’re out there, please make this work.”

“Doctor?” He wasn’t sure when he passed out, but when Nanami came to, he had a crowd of people gawking at him.

“Yes? What?” The IV was out of his arm and there was a blanket over him and as he tried to get out of his chair he nearly fell.

“L-look behind you.” Pointing with a shaking finger, the assistant that woke him up turned him to face the test tube.

“Why do you all look so-” Turning around, Nanami stumbled back, for once grateful to have someone else in the lab to catch him. “Scared?” Whispering out the last word in a high pitched voice, Nanami couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The once nondescript alien in the tube was now a fully fledged human being. With complete and fairly dark markings on their face, breasts and a vagina, the creature before him could be mistaken for any other adult.

And the thing that was most shocking was the way all four eyes honed in on Nanami, tracking his every move. Pressing it’s forehead and hands to the glass, the creature turned as Nanami walked side to side.

“It’s been watching you since you passed out.”

“How long has it been like that?” He asked, getting closer to the test tube.

“It just suddenly changed shortly after you lost consciousness. A flash of light went off and poof, it looked like that.” Pressing his hand to the glass, Nanami let out a breathless laugh as the creature scurried back only to return in mere seconds.

“Open the tube, we have to let it out.” Unable to take his eyes off the creature, Nanami could hardly wait for all the fluid to be drained before opening up the test tube and helping the creature out. Surprisingly steady on its feet, Nanami barely had to help it stand upright.

“Hello.” He smiled, shrugging off his lab coat and placing it over its shoulders. “Welcome to Earth.”

“Hello.” You said back, attempting to smile as well. “Welcome to Earth.”

When Nanami first got the embryos, he wasn’t expecting anything to come out of them. The most he thought would happen was possible growth but never any of them coming to term and certainly never of them to actually be able to communicate.

It appears you were destined to prove him wrong, however. Nearly the moment you stepped out of the test tube, dripping in fluid and with a long tail you couldn’t quite control, you exceeded all of Nanami’s expectations - not that he even had any to begin with, especially not when it came to taking you out of the tube.

The first hour, you were sitting perfectly still while the team ran tests on you. Pressing a cold stethoscope to your chest, a few of them got a giggle out of the way you gasped and squirmed. Nanami watched it all happen, taking calculated notes and even doing some of the tests himself.

“What’s your name?” He questioned after another hour of hearing you repeat the phrases around you. Staring at him from the stool you were perched on, you tilted your head. It was only you and him left in the lab now, he sent everyone else away, wanting a chance to study you on his own.

“What’s your name?” You parroted back, mimicking the way Nanami had his arms crossed over his chest.

“My name is Nanami Kento. What’s yours?”

“Nanami Kento.” He made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat, rolling his eyes at the giggle you let out. He understood he was dealing with an alien, one that might never be able to fully communicate the way he desired, but he wanted to get somewhere.

“What’ll it take for you to stop copying me?”

“Reading a book.” He’d meant it as a rhetorical question, and hearing your voice form a stilted sentence all on it’s own was a big surprise. Nodding curtly, Nanami walked over to a set of bookcases and grabbed a thick dictionary and a thesaurus, placing them onto the table next to you. Flipping open the first page of the dictionary, Nanami pointed at the words.

“Can you read these?”

“Mhmm!” Leaning over, your eyes scanned the script.

“Good, read all of it and tell me when you’re done.” Setting up a chair on the other side of the table, Nanami fixed a pile of notes and other documents he needed to work over. He could take time to catch up his reports while you-

“Done!” Slamming the dictionary closed, you picked up the thesaurus. “I have to read this too?”

“Y-yes.” Nanami’s mouth hung open slightly as he watched you speed through the second book. He expected this whole process to take an hour at least but you were done with both books in just a few minutes.

“All finished.” You were still a little unsure of forming sentences, lifting your voice in slight question at the end.

“How did you do that so fast?”

“When Mother made us, she gave us all the information she could on this planet, including rudimentary language. I just needed a way to conceptualize actually speaking on my own.”

“Who’s Mother?” Grabbing his pen, Nanami began to scribble down what you were saying.

“Mother is the one that made us. All of us, me, my companions, and Sukuna too.”

“Right…” Nanami’s hand hesitated at the mention of Sukuna, drawing inky swirls in place of words. “Then Mother is the one who sent you here with him?”

“Yes! She said that to take over this planet, we would need to assimilate to the environment and that we’d need a strong warrior to protect us.” You had a dreamy look in your eyes, no doubt thinking about Sukuna. “So far I like this-”

“Hold on, take over the planet?”

“It’s what my people do: we come to a planet, impregnate the population and take over.” He was sure there was more to it than that but for his own peace of mind Nanami didn’t question it further. For now, he wanted to focus on the positives, mainly the one of you finally speaking on your own.

“So…” Nanami struggled to find the next topic of conversation.

“Oh, I remember my name now! It’s (Y/N).”

“Did Mother also give you that name?”

“She did!” You truly looked overjoyed to be talking about all this. The smile on your face led to Nanami being able to see the sharp canine teeth in your mouth, akin to a set of teeth he’d find in a vampire movie.

“So (Y/N), I have a question. I gave you my blood so you’d be able to live on this planet.” He paused to make sure you were following along. “I want to know why you’re a female when you received male donor blood.”

“Mother determined which gender would be useful for me to have on this planet, so all I needed was your DNA to complete the transformation and become a human.”

“Mother thinks humans have those extra eyes and a tail?” Nanami snorted at that, there were too many things to give away your unhuman origins that couldn’t be ignored.

“Sukuna is supposed to teach us how to hide them until we need them.” Your shoulders visibly slumped and you looked around. “Where is he? He was supposed to be here when we woke up.”

“He’s somewhere else-”

“Where? Where is he?” Putting both palms flat on the table, you leaned forward. You seemed desperate, your brows scrunching together as you worried your lip. “I can tell he’s close, but where is he exactly?”

Nanami heard what you said. He knew exactly the words that were spoken and their meaning. But he was having a hard time thinking of anything as he suddenly became aware again of the fact that you were still naked, the lab coat you had on falling open to reveal your breasts.

“How about we talk about that while you get dressed in something more appropriate?” Clearing his throat roughly, Nanami pushed away from the table. His cheeks were getting a bit warm and he didn’t want you to see.

“No, tell me where Sukuna is!” Slapping your hands loudly on the table, you glared sharply at Nanami when he tried to come closer. “I don’t want to be alone any longer! My companions didn’t make it, he’s all I have!”

“(Y/N)...” Sighing softly, Nanami didn’t know what to do. If he tried to raise his hand, you growled at him, flexing your fingers as if you were going to strike him. He couldn’t tell you where Sukuna was, no matter what. “You’re- you’re not alone.”

“What do you mean?” Your face softened just a fraction, and you leaned back as Nanami lifted his hand slowly, placing it on the table near your own hand.

“You have me.” Nanami felt something odd twisting his stomach, something that told him this simultaneously was a good and bad idea. It wasn’t wise to say this to you, to try and build some kind of relationship beyond a scientist and his test subject, but what did he have to lose? You were the first alien he’d ever come in contact with, there were bound to be some risks he’d have to take to keep you happy.

“Really?” Relaxing your body, you let your hand get closer to Nanami’s.

“Really.” Fully grabbing your hand now, Nanami tugged you from the stool, craning his head away to avoid looking at your open chest. “Now follow me, I think there’s some scrubs in one of these drawers.”

“Nanami, I’m hungry.” After finding you a set of clothes buried in a drawer and cutting a hole in the bottoms for your tail, Nanami was greeted with the sound of your growling stomach.

“What do you eat?”

“Whatever you eat.” Taking up residence on the singular fold out couch Nanami used to sleep on, you watched him pick up the phone on his desk.

“Let’s have some pasta then.”

While Nanami preferred to cook his food himself rather than ordering it from upstairs, he didn’t have the heart to tell you that the cafeteria food was less than ideal. You seemed to love the dish he gave you, eating it with no hesitation and a smile on your face.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about your kind?” Picking over his food, Nanami watched you finish eating in record time and pushed his plate over to you.

“Like what?” Tilting your head to the side, you gladly took his food.

“Anything that comes to mind like cultural things, maybe you celebrate holidays?”

“We do! I was created to leave the planet, but others get to stay and cultivate life there. We have something close to what you call Christmas and others for things you wouldn’t understand.”

“Really? You’ll have to write them down for me later.” Nodding to himself, he made the mental note to teach you how to write. Glancing down at the two now empty plates before you, Nanami flicked his head toward the phone. “Fancy some more?”

As it reached midnight, Nanami became starkly aware of the fact there was only one place for the both of you to sleep. He wasn’t sure how much sleep you actually needed or if you needed any at all for that matter, but he knew for sure that sleeping on the same fold out mattress with you would be crossing a line he wasn’t ready for. It was already too short to hold his entire frame, and putting two bodies side by side wouldn’t be a good idea.

“(Y/N), are you tired?” Standing up from the couch, he motioned for you to stand as well.

“Yes.” Your voice was chipper as ever, not a hint of exhaustion heard. You watched with rapt interest as Nanami unfolded the mattress and set it on the ground.

“Alright, well you’ll be sleeping here and I’ll be sleeping in the barracks.”

“I’m going to be alone?”

“Is that a problem?” Quirking a brow, Nanami glanced at you.

“Well not necessarily but I- I don’t want to be alone. Not on my first night, at least.” Curling your tail on the ground, you worried your fingers, claws clicking together as you did. Nanami could feel his resolve wearing down, the nervous look you tried to hide made his fingers flex; he felt an overarching urge to protect you.

“I’ll grab another couch from the lab next door.” Turning on his heel, Nanami took deep breaths as he left the room. Forcing his head to get clear, he drug another couch into his lab, setting it up across from the first one.

“Is this what you call a sleepover?” You asked, watching Nanami set up both couches with blankets and pillows.

“You could say that, yes.” A strange giggle left your mouth and it made Nanami pause and look at you. “What was that sound?”

“A laugh?” Dropping your face in confusion, you looked him straight in the eye. “Is something wrong?”

“No no it’s just-” clearing his throat loudly, Nanami rushed out the next words, “That was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.” At his admittance, you giggled again and he had to bite his lip hard from audibly swooning.

“Mother made it special for me, she makes all her children special.” Mimicking the way Nanami climbed into bed, you laid down and stared at the dark ceiling. “Only some of us can laugh like that, and others have pheromones and what not to attract the native people on a new planet.”

“(Y/N), do you have special pheromones too?” Your casual mention of impregnating and taking over the whole planet flashed in his head.

“I think I do, why else would you have agreed to stay here with me?”

“Good to know.” Nanami would have to install a high tech air filter later, he didn’t like the idea of slowly succumbing to your desires. Fully laying down in bed, he drew the blankets up to his chin and tried not to think of it anymore. “Good night.”

For a month Nanami studied you nonstop. Gathering medical information, he discovered you had three stomachs and two hearts. Through plenty of trial and error you learned how to keep the swinging of your tail under control and not trip him anymore. He even learned your favorite foods and the relative location of your home planet in the galaxy.

When Nanami had to step out for meetings, he begrudgingly let fellow scientist Gojo watch over you. The best in his field and horribly obnoxious about it, Nanami tried to limit the time you two spent together. He didn’t need Gojo influencing you too much and ruining the work Nanami had put into acclimating you to society in an appropriate way.

“You’re back!” It was like he was coming home from work whenever you greeted him like that. You bounded over to the door from wherever you were and bounced on your toes, eager to talk to him about what he’d done while away.

“Mhmm. How’s it been with Gojo?” Nanami glanced up at said man, not liking the fact that he was lounging on the couch with his laptop perched precariously on his thigh.

“It’s great! He showed me something really interesting.” A shy giggle left your lips and you avoided further eye contact with Nanami.

“What is it?” Narrowing his eyes, Nanami began to glower at Gojo, who started to shrink under his gaze.

“(Y/N), don’t you have something to say first?” Gojo smirked, barely hiding a chuckle behind his hand.

“Oh, you’re right!” Squaring your shoulders at Nanami, you took a deep breath. “Welcome back, daddy!” Taking a brief glance at Gojo, you cupped your cheeks and stuck your tongue out, crossing your eyes for extra measure.

“W-what the fuck!” Scrambling back in shock, Nanami glared sharply at Gojo as a harsh red flush coated his cheeks. He was ashamed to admit he’d seen that face before, late at night when he was too restless to sleep and needed something to help soothe his mind.

“What’s wrong, Kento? Do you not like what (Y/N)’s doin’?” The dark chuckle behind Gojo’s words had Nanami wanting to throttle him. Of course he liked it, he was a grown man wasn’t he? Not to mention Nanami couldn’t remember the last time he’d laid down with another warm body like that and the face you were making was bringing several repressed thoughts to the surface.

Unable to form the proper words, Nanami side stepped you and went to his desk, placing files down that needed to be typed out later and trying to still his rapid heartbeat. The way you said that sentence so enthusiastically, saliva making your tongue glisten in the light - it was too much for him to deal with so abruptly.

“Why’d you teach her that shit?” Nanami growled, covering the lower half of his face with his trembling hand.

“(Y/N) deserves to know all aspects of human life, wouldn’t you agree?” Closing his laptop, Gojo stood up and walked to the door. “Besides Kento, I know you get lonely at night.” Smiling sweetly at you, Gojo left the room without any further comment.

“(Y/N).” With his back still facing you, Nanami heaved a sigh.

“Yes?” You said slowly, relaxing your body. The tension rolled off Nanami in waves, making the air thick and uncomfortable. It was hard to read whether he was angry or not.

“What has Gojo been teaching you?” The subtle sag in his shoulders isn’t missed by you, making you scramble to the desk and face him.

“I don’t know! He said there were some interesting things you’d yet to show me and he pulled up some websites and- and-” A bit of fear spiked in your head. You’d only gone along with what Gojo said was right, Nanami had entrusted you to his care after all and your whole reason for being on the planet was to assimilate. “Are you mad at me?” Rubbing at your four eyes to stem a sudden wave of anxious tears, you looked at Nanami, waiting nervously for his answer.

“Not at you. Him.” Sensing your oncoming distraught, Nanami shook his head and cleared his throat. “I want you to learn all the good things of human life and well-”

“Sex isn’t a good thing?” You gasped, leaning your hands on the desk.

“Did he teach you about sex?” Nanami nearly yelled back.

“He did! We read a lot of medical journals about it, it releases so many good chemicals into the human brain! And then Gojo went to this website called PornHub and-”

“He what?!” A heart attack. Nanami was going to have a heart attack.

“Let me finish! He showed me humans having sex and it looked like they were having a great time!” Your breath was coming out short and Nanami could hear the drag of your tail on the ground as you got worked up. “But it didn’t do anything to me, I haven’t reached that point yet!” He didn’t understand what you meant and while the urge to drown himself in the bottle of dark liquor he kept hidden away tugged at him, his pursuit for knowledge was greater.

“What do you mean you ‘haven’t reached that point yet’?” Collapsing into the desk chair, Nanami was more worked up than he thought. The shock of hearing you call him daddy, learning that you discovered what sex was and now he was going to know when you would begin to show interest in such a thing.

“Sexual maturity, I’m not there yet, so seeing that stuff didn’t do anything to me.”

“When will you be?” He pressed, grabbing a pen and getting ready to write down whatever you said on the corner of a file.

“It’s been a month since I’ve transformed, so in about a week or two.”

“That fast?” Nanami blanched, mind spinning at how he was going to deal with that. “Humans take years, though, shouldn’t my blood affect that?”

“No, my DNA only takes what it needs from yours. My base mechanics like lifespan and in this case sexual maturity are all hardwired by Mother. They won’t change just because a few drops of your blood mix in.”

“So...so what does that mean for you? Do you need some kind of special uh- a special thing or-?” His cheeks and ears burned fiercely and Nanami cleared his throat in the middle of the sentence. He knew exactly what he meant by ‘a special thing’ but he couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of you.

“I don’t know, actually.” Shrugging your shoulders, you sat on the edge of his desk. “Sukuna is supposed to tell me what happens and what to do after we pick out a suitable mate for me.”

There was that mention of Sukuna again. The creature buried so far underground some people wondered if he was passing the Earth's mantle. He’d settled down in the month since your arrival, seemingly knowing that you had emerged from the embryo and survived. He still refused to give any answers and you hadn’t mentioned him in nearly three weeks.

“You don’t need him. We can figure it out once it gets here.” Shaking his head, Nanami could feel himself getting a little high off your pheromones with you sitting so close. The air filter he put into the room could only do so much when your scent rolled off in such thick waves.

“Okay.” Sighing the word, you resigned yourself to playing with your fingers. Silence washed over the room, less tense than before but still tainted with an edge to it. Both of you were flushed from talking about this subject and Nanami was glad you had your back to him.

“(Y/N), I have another question.” A few minutes later, Nanami couldn’t hold back the question burning in his mind. You let out a hum of acknowledgement but didn’t face him. “What would be a suitable mate for you? What kind of human?”

He blamed it on your pheromones, he blamed every last less than professional thought in his head on your pheromones and what you did to him and he especially blamed Gojo for forcing this topic of conversation to come up. Nanami tried to reason with himself, put the narrative in his head that he wanted to know for science, but in the dark recesses of his mind Nanami wanted to know who your type was if you even had one.

“Well actually, a human like you is perfect.” Your back curved just a little to keep your face hidden as you spoke. The words hung in the air, leaving Nanami’s mouth hanging slightly open and his mind bouncing to a hundred different places at once.

“Like me?” He whispered, barely registering the words coming out of his mouth.

“Exactly like you.” This time you looked over your shoulder at him, your eyes narrowing as you took in his reaction. His shock seemed to be enough for you, your secondary eyes pinching closed as you smiled, and you turned back to face forward. “Nanami, I’m hungry.”

Having grown accustomed to your new home, you slid off the desk and to the couch that was yours. Nanami’s eyes were glued to your back, watching the way your tail moved on the ground as you walked. His throat was suddenly thick, there were plenty of things he wanted to say, things that would definitely violate his code of ethics.

“Nanami.” Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts, back to reality where you were far away from arms reach. The weight of your eyes bore right back into him and Nanami knew he’d been caught staring.

“Yes?” He forced the word out, his tongue feeling heavy and foreign in his mouth.

“Should we have pasta tonight?”

Nanami hardly slept at all that night, plagued with ideas of what you thought about him and less than savory images of you and your body. Shame settled over him like a second blanket as he tossed and turned throughout the night, trying to rid his mind of such things to no avail.

In the morning, Nanami got rid of the second couch and made the decision to sleep in the barracks when he needed to. While nothing inherently sexual had occurred, he still felt like he betrayed some sort of trust between you two, sullied the pure relationship you had together.

Ignoring your whines and protests, he also made the decision to get rid of Gojo as your babysitter. He didn’t want or need your mind filled with things he didn’t deem appropriate and Gojo was the main perpetrator of such things, and he was confident enough that he could leave you alone for a few hours and nothing bad would happen.

It almost hurts to leave you alone at night, the old ritual of slowly nudging you along your night time routine and laying down on adjacent mattresses was now replaced by getting you ready for bed but then leaving shortly after you were all tucked in. Sometimes you whined and wanted him to stay, claiming that you didn’t sleep as well without him there, and sometimes Nanami hesitated at the door before steeling his resolve and leaving.

He doubts he’ll ever tell you that he stopped sleeping as well too.

An abrupt evening meeting three weeks later called him away from you sooner than either of you would have liked. You’d developed a cough and a bit of a rash over the course of time and while Nanami was sure this meant you were reaching sexual maturity, he was still hell bent on finding some medicine to help you, not wanting to go to this meeting about another potential UFO sighting.

“(Y/N), I’m back and I-” Nanami all but ran back to his laboratory with some medicine he’d swiped from Gojo. He was worried for you, not just as a scientist but as a friend. Throwing open the door and locking it quickly to contain any possible airborne particles, Nanami was assaulted with the harsh smell of something sweetly floral.

“N-nanami!” His eyes immediately find you, writhing in what looks like agony on the mattress he’d pulled out for you before leaving. Walking quickly over to you, every inhale he made felt like he was breathing in a thick fog.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Coughing and putting a hand over his face, he looked over you. It was normal for you to just wear a long, oversized t-shirt Gojo got you from a local thrift store to sleep and right now it was clinging tightly to your body from the sweat pouring out of you.

“Nanami!” Shaking your head side to side, he could see the tears leaking out of your eyes. Against his better judgement, Nanami crouched down on one knee and put a hand on your forehead.

“Shit, you’re burning up.” Pulling his fingers away, there was a light yellow powdery film left on them. “(Y/N) what is this? Has it started?” The substance tingled on his fingers, making them go slightly numb.

There was a pitiful noise from you as a response and a limp nod, and Nanami rushed to the sink to wash off his hands. The scent in the room was overwhelming, almost choking him with every inhale he made. Turning the ventilation system on as high as it could go did nothing and there was still pollen visibly floating in the air.

“I have to go, I can’t be here.”

“No!” You cried, falling out of bed with a loud thump and crawling toward Nanami. “D-don’t leave!”

“I have to, this stuff isn’t good for me.” Nanami kept his back to you, hastily trying to grab some things from his desk. His cock was already beginning to stiffen painfully and the sounds you were making were echoing inside his head.

“Wait!” Tugging on his pant leg, you dug your claws into it.

“(Y/N), let go.” He tried to shake you off, staunchly avoiding eye contact. The heat on his skin was rising and if Nanami were to look in a mirror he would see how red he was. You refused to let go, sitting up on weak knees and pushing your hand further up his leg.

“D-daddy, please! Help me!”

That was it. That was the moment that broke Nanami Kento. He knows Gojo has told you that he likes to be called that in bed, among other things. He knows that the pollen in the air is what’s making his head impossibly foggy with only one thing able to be focused on. Nanami knows that if he stays here any longer, he’ll do something that he won’t regret, but that might cost him his job.

“Daddy…” Emboldened by unbridled desperation, you force Nanami to face you with strength he didn’t know you possessed. Eye to eye with his cock straining against his slacks, you shove your face right into it.

“(Y/N)!” Your name comes out as a rough groan from his lips and Nanami’s hands fly to grab the back of your head. As he grips your head, Nanami makes no move to pull you away and doesn’t stop you from rubbing your face along his clothed cock.

“Please please please, just this once! I need to do this-” The pleading you're doing is muffled by your mouth running along fabric, words slurred and barely coming out properly. Just from this stimulation alone Nanami can feel his balls tighten like he’s about to cum.

“Sto-stop, stop this.” Nanami’s own sense of morals, his will to do anything besides being in this room with you was going to be torn to shreds the longer you touched him. And it was, as he came in his pants, rutting his hips like a pathetic teenager into your face.

He came but his cock was still as hard as before, maybe even more so. There was no reprieve from the painful need to be stimulated, to feel you touch him again and again and again. With a mangled groan, he shoves your head away and grabs his waistband.

Swatting your hands away that still rest on his hips, Nanami undoes his belt and shoves his pants and underwear down to the ground. His cock slaps against his dress shirt, glistening from the previous load of cum and leaking more like he’s never seen before.

“What did you do to me?” He asks under his breath, feeling sweat pooling on his skin despite being half naked. As he takes off his remaining clothes, Nanami can feel the tingle from the pollen settling all over him, sticking to his hair and to every crevice of his body.

“D’ya like it, daddy? That’s what M-mother chose for me, it’s a new- a new evolution we got from a previous planet.” It’s amazing that you can stand on your own feet despite the way your legs shake violently. Nanami can tell you’re in a sorry state, so he lets you lead him to the mattress and fall back onto it.

“Mother made you pollen? How interesting.” Somewhere far back in his head, he really did find it genuinely interesting. But right now he was merely making conversation, settling on the bed as you climbed on top of him and took your wet shirt off.

The rash that had been on your skin was now turning into powdery pollen before his very eyes, falling off and into the air like a flower's pollen would. Laying down on Nanami, pressing your breasts against his chest, you fell into a kiss with him.

Even though it was your first kiss, Nanami was the one left feeling inexperienced as you slotted your mouths together and slid your tongue past his lips. Even your saliva was sweet as it dripped it into his mouth and down the sides. Nanami’s hands roamed your body, pinching into your sides and squeezing your ass painfully tight. Surprisingly, your tail didn’t get in the way, just languidly swaying side to side and sometimes tickling his shins.

“Daddy, please- I want more!” You whined loudly, breaking the kiss to trail your lips along his neck and chest and nip at the skin every so often.

“Tell me. Tell- tell daddy what you want.” There was the slightest hesitation, a tiny tinge of shame for doing this with you that got washed away as quickly as it came up by your wet cunt sliding against his cock.

“I want you inside me.” Wrapping your fingers around his cock, you stroked it slowly, unable to focus on putting it in and kissing him at the same time. Giving up with a grunt, you settled for rubbing your cunt along his shaft.

“Shit, roll over.” Flipping you with ease, Nanami grabs onto your thighs and holds them apart. Staring down at your cunt, it looks just like any other human sex organ, giving Nanami some peace of mind that he wouldn’t need to do anything too complicated to make you feel good.

You whine again when he doesn’t immediately push himself balls deep into you, instead laying on his stomach and giving your inner thighs kisses. Nanami grabs your hands, silently telling you to hold your legs apart as he delves in deeper.

One lick up your slit and you fall apart so easily, gushing around his mouth so much Nanami is sure you just had an orgasm. Greedily drinking it up, Nanami can attest that this is the best thing he’s ever tasted. Burying his face into your heat, he can’t keep his tongue in one place for too long, torn between pushing it deep inside you and licking at your swollen clit.

You’ve given up holding your legs open a while ago. As Nanami sucked on your clit, your thighs clamped down around his head and your fingers threaded through his hair. The feeling of his mouth on you was the best you’d ever experienced in your short time being alive and it was one you’d think about forever.

“Oh my- daddy, I-” Your eyes were closed so tightly you were seeing stars and you were sure Nanami couldn’t breathe anymore from how tightly you squeezed him as you came. His head thrashed side to side, tongue swiping all along your sex and inner thighs to catch all of your release.

“This is the best scientific breakthrough we’ve ever had.” Wrenching his head away before he passed out, Nanami laid limply on the bed. As the words left his mouth he remembered all those weeks ago now when you first came to him as just a tiny, glowing embryo. He never would have been able to imagine that you’d be here, turning him to lay on his back and crawling between his legs.

Grabbing the base of his cock firmly, you gave one lick to the tip before engulfing it fully in your mouth. Nanami’s back arched high off the bed in shock, surprised at the lack of hesitation from you and how easily he hit the back of your throat.

“S-slow down a little.” He panted, trying to cup your face and get you to look at him. Swatting his hand away, you let your tongue loll in your mouth as you sucked him off, easily planting your nose on his lower stomach and swallowing around him.

It must have been the pollen in the air to make him cum so quickly, Nanami reasoned with a harsh blush on his face. That was the only explanation for why he was currently spilling a thick load of cum down your throat in less than two minutes of you sucking him off.

“You taste so good, daddy.” Pulling off his cock, you licked the sides and down to his balls, gently sucking one into your mouth and looking up at him. Despite just cumming, Nanami felt another orgasm wash over him and another wave of cum came out, dribbling down the sides of his cock and onto your face.

Slapping a hand over his face, Nanami let out a few moans he’d been holding back. There was no way he would ever be able to look at you the same way after seeing your face covered in his seed.

“C’mere.” Stopping you from your current ministrations, he pulled you to lay over top of him again. Grabbing your sweaty shirt from the ground, he wiped the cum off your face, kissing your skin after he wiped it clean.

“Daddy, will you put it in already?” You cried, smacking your ass against his thighs angrily.

“Be patient, baby.” Petting down your back, Nanami shushed you, giving your ass a quick pinch before gripping the base of his cock. Keeping a hand on your hip to keep you steady, he helped you sink down on his cock, easily all the way to the hilt.

Digging your claws into his chest, you let out a loud howl. Finally you were getting what you really needed, the feeling of Nanami’s cock hugged tightly by your cunt spreading a warm feeling throughout your body.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” He hissed as you dragged your hips upward and back down again. Sure he’d been with other women before but none like this. Your cunt squeezed him incredibly tight, making it impossible for him to do anything other than lay back and let you move however you saw fit.

You weren’t shy in your motions either, riding his cock with a dizzying confidence and nearly fumbling down into a heap of loud moans on more than one occasion. Even with all the prep before your arrival to the planet and research you’d done about sex and the human experience, nothing could have prepared you for how good it actually felt during your heat.

Nanami was sure everyone within the compound could hear what was going on in the room, your noises were as loud as they’d ever been. The sound was as beautiful as when you laughed, hypnotizing him further into compliance.

“Shit!” He cursed harshly, nails digging into the flesh of your hips as he came. As his orgasm came over him, Nanami got no break from the pleasurable waves washing over him because you refused to stop.

“More, more!” You panted, working even harder to get him to cum again. With the added vigor, more pollen released into the air and Nanami breathed in a deep mouthful. Snaking an arm around your back, Nanami rolled you over, acting on pure instinct as he pushed and pulled your body into a mating press.

“You’re so- so demanding, baby.” The pet name came without thinking, not that Nanami was doing a whole lot as he pounded the full length of his cock into you. He wasn’t sure you could hear him, even while being face to face like this. There were too many sounds in the room, the moans that left both of you freely, the wet slapping of skin against skin and the creak of the old mattress springs.

“Please, give it all to me!” Throwing your head back, your cunt spasmed around Nanami’s cock for the umpteenth time, making another gush of your release coat everything within its reach.

Nanami was sure you’d have bruises later from how hard he gripped you but right now he couldn’t find it in him to care. The only thing on his mind was fucking you so hard you stopped babbling and crying like a baby for more of him. He wanted to give you all that he had and more until he himself collapsed as well.

Pushing a hand between your bodies, when he touched your clit Nanami briefly went deaf, unprepared for the incredibly high pitched moan that left your lips. His ears were ringing fiercely but he kept going, refusing to take his eyes off the way your mouth fell open as he rubbed your clit in quick circles.

“H-how many- how many times have you cum?” He gasped, feeling the very beginnings of a burn in his thighs.

“Not enough, it’s not enough.” Thrashing your head against the mattress, you wound your arms around his shoulders. “I need more, daddy.”

“I don’t have any more.” Nanami spoke around the smothering kisses you gave him.

“You do! Just- just a few more!” He wasn’t really in a position to argue with you, you were holding onto him with far more strength than he could ever hope to possess, and while the pollen on your skin had started to diminish there was still a lot in the air that refused to let him truly come to a stop.

As if on command, Nanami felt his balls tighten up and he came again. The arms holding him up broke down and he fell on top of you, burrowing his face into your neck and holding your hips up with his hands.

“Fuck, baby-” With his eyes squeezed shut, Nanami lost track of where he actually was. Nothing mattered except for the feeling of your body underneath him and your cunt holding him in a vice grip. There wasn’t any reason to keep track of how many times he’d emptied a load inside you, so when he did it again so soon after the other one, Nanami paid it no mind.

“It’s coming!” You gasped suddenly, cradling the back of Nanami’s head as your body suddenly came to a stop. Unable to stammer out a question as to what was coming, Nanami was met with the harsh shock of your cunt getting so tight he couldn’t move any further.

Raking your fingers through his hair, you sobbed openly, words slurring together. Nanami was only able to catch something about a ‘seal’ and how you were making Mother so proud for your first heat cycle on Earth.

“Baby, what’s going on?” Craning his head down, Nanami was just barely able to see the swollen flesh of your sex encompassing his cock.

“Y-you humans would call this a knot, right?” Shifting your hips a little, you slowly unwind your legs from around Nanami and let them lay on the bed. “I have to keep you inside for a while.”

“You’re going to get pregnant though.” With his mind still in disarray, Nanami found that he didn’t actually care. He knew that was why you came to the planet and he was willing to help you fulfill your mission.

“Not this first time, I’m only keeping it for later.”

“Of course an alien has sperm storage.” Mumbling to himself, Nanami felt the aches in his body finally starting to settle in as the rest of the pollen was cleared out of the air and the world around him returned to normal. Laying down as gently as possible, Nanami rolled you onto your side and hooked your leg over him. “How long will we be like this?”

“At least another five minutes.” Snuggling closer to him, you tucked your head under his chin. Taking a deep breath, Nanami felt around for the blanket you used that had managed to stay on the bed during all the moving. Throwing it over the two of you, he let out a sigh.

“I can wait five minutes.” No doubt there was going to be a lot of explaining to do on his part, and he could possibly get fired, but Nanami refused to think about that right now. He was far too tired, and the way you cuddled into him had not an ounce of regret or shame going through him. He would do it all again in a heartbeat.

“Nanami?” You whispered, fighting through sleep.

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

Did you know what love truly was? Did you have the capacity to love him like any other human, or were you thinking of a different emotion that you wanted to convey? Maybe you loved him in a way that he couldn’t understand and never would, or perhaps you were lying to further your agenda.

“I love you too.” Kissing the top of your head, Nanami pushed all other thoughts out of his head that could lead him to a negative outcome. Focusing on the sound of your breathing, he knew you had fallen asleep, and he kissed you again. “Yeah...I love you too.”

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen smut #nanami kento #nanami x reader #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen scenarios

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clevercatchphrase · 4 years

Text

2019 year in review

So… The 2010’s are almost over. Huh. What a decade it’s been. Hard to comprehend how much has changed in 10 years. I can barely believe that I was in high school at the beginning of this decade, and now I’m a college graduate with 2 degrees who’s been working at the same job for the last 3 years. But trying to summarize the past 10 years in a single post is a good way to give myself an existential crisis, so let’s not do that! Instead, let’s just focus on 2019 because there has been more than enough shit that’s happened to me in this year to talk about.

PART 1 OF 2: 2019 AND 2020 GOALS AND RESOLUTIONS

Huh, looking back through my archives, I apparently didn’t make a tumblr post about my goals this year. I definitely had some, though. Lemme list ‘em off real quick, and then we’ll go through them point by point.

1) Pay off all my student loans 2) Finish some song comics 3) Make art for my Redbubble account 4) Finish the first rough draft/script of a game I wanted to make 5) Practice ASL 6) Sew some stuffed animals 7) Finish some fan fictions 8) Work on Ghost Switch 9) AMVs 10) Do some original writing 11) Make illustrations for my fan fictions

Okay, first off, the student loans. I was actually SO CLOSE to successfully completing this one bUT THEN MY CAR HAD TO BE A WHINEY PISS BABY AND HAVE ITS ALTERNATOR DIE ON ME WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND THEN A BLOW OUT THREE WEEKS LATER.

GOD, if I had to summarize this year in two words, for me it would be “Car troubles”. I swear I spent more on auto repair in the first third of this year than I ever have just freakin’ OWNING a car. All four of my tires had to be replaced, my alternator failed and my car literally just SHUT OFF while I was driving, and I was barely able to coast into a gas station. Both my front breaks and rear breaks were worn down the metal and I only learned this when my car was barely able to stop after I had to slam the petal down full force! I went in for an oil change, and they found some problems and then I didn’t get my car back for three days! I don’t even like owning a car! I hate driving! I hate my country’s refusal to provide universal, free public transportation! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!

Oh-kay… number 2. Finish some song comics. I didn’t finish any. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work on them. I have made tiny progress, but that’s certainly better than no progress. One of these song comics I hope to be realizes is going to be a collab with one of my friends. It’ll be a long-time coming as it’s pretty low priority for the both of us, but if anyone else out there was disappointed with KH3’s ending, we’re gonna have ya’ covered… With SONG!

3. Make some redbubble art. I actually did this one! Not in the way I expected, but I added (technically) 3 new designs to my redbubble in the middle of the year. If you like butterflies and dragons, I got some product for you~!

Number 4, finish a script for a game I want to make. I… thought about this. I thought about this a lot, but I never put pen to paper, so… oops. It almost happened! I debated making this my main writing project for NaNoWriMo this year, but ended up having more inspiration for another story. Maybe next year? (god, I hope not. I don’t want to wait a full year just to write something)

Number 5, practice ASL. I just straight up didn’t do this and I only have myself to blame. Still keepin’ up that Danish Duolingo streak, though. 4 years going strong and not a day missed yet.

Number 6, sew some stuffed animals. Again, another one I just straight up didn’t do, but I have an excuse of trying to save money while my car crashed and burned in every other sense except literal this year. Hopefully 2020 will be different. I’ll definitely be able to pay off this last loan within the first half of 2020, and then I can start saving for whatever I want to buy.

Finish some fan fictions was number 7, and I did this! Well, I only finished, 1, but it was a story I’ve been working on for over 3 years, and it came out to over 200 THOUSAND words long, which is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I’m quite proud of myself. Now that the big story is out of the way, and I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of working on Ghost Switch, maybe I can squeeze in some short writing sessions more frequently. (either that, or just wait for my car to break down again and then go on a writing spree in a pepboys. The lord and the fan fic discord know that’s solely why I finished my other fic this year)

Speaking of Ghost Switch, working on it was a goal this year too, and I did that! I kept it up all year and took a vacation in November and it was wonderful. While the major plot points have been in place since before I started drawing, I still need to script each arc beyond Snowdin, but hey, by the time we get there, it’ll be 2022 so I got time. (Note, don’t do this, kids. Script your stories and comics thoroughly before publishing. The road I’m on is paved with misery and pain and it will only end in tears unless I change lanes soon)

Number 9, amvs. Do people make AMVs anymore? Idk… the last one I made was... Jesus, 5 years ago? (it was a gravity falls/fall out boy crossover, if you were curious) I’ve been wanting to do 2 more for just as long, but in order for me to do that, I’d have to spend time re-watching the shows to find the footage, and then actually edit them together, and I just don’t…. feel like it. Maybe someday, but not any day soon.

10; do some original writing. I did this! For nanowrimo! I wrote the first draft of some original fiction I’ve been planning for a year or two now and it completely sucks! But it’s on paper now and I’m happy. Will I revise and edit it? Sure, but not for a while. I want to let it sit and forget about it and look at it with new eyes months from now so I can be sure I can make it better when time comes to rewrite.

11, make illustrations for my fan fics. Now that You Monster is done, I want to go back and add pictures to it. I didn’t do any this year, but I did keep a list of scenes I wanted to draw, so I have plenty of ideas to do as warm up sketches next year~ I kinda want to stream them~

So, that was 11 goals, and I successfully fulfilled 4 of them! That’s! Not a very good ratio… QmQ So, goals for 2020. Some I’m gonna keep from this year, some I’m gonna drop and some I’m gonna add. In short I would like to,

1) Finish paying off that last student loan 2) Put more stuff on my redbubble 3) Illustrate my own fan fics 4) Sew at least one stuffed animal 5) Make an enamel pin 6) Read one new book a month 7) Write one page a day/Complete at least one new fan fic 8) Learn Python or C# for the game I want to make 9) Finish fully scripting Ghost Switch 10) Boost my patreon

Most of these I think are pretty self-explanitory, but I’ll go into detail just a bit because I’m on a roll and typing my thoughts helps me feel less alone in the middle of the night when you’re super tired and you know you should probably go to sleep, but the toddler in you is throwing a tantrum and doesn’t wanna go to sleep just yet, but you can’t fight the progression of time either way.

Number 1- I should be able to reach this goal by the end of March. End of June at the absolute latest. Once that goal is met, my secret new year’s resolution will be unlocked as well!

Number 2- I want to put more art of my OCs on redbubble. These OCs are tied to the game I want to make. There’s already some art of them up there, but I want at least one piece for each character.

Number 3- Mostly for You Monster. Embrace the cardinal rule of fan fic and apply it to fan art. If you want to read about see art about certain ideas, scenarios, or what-ifs, you gotta make it yourself.

Number 4- I have 3 potential ideas to sew. One is definitely leagues easier than the other two and will probably be chosen if/when I have the time and materials.

Number 5- This year I got really, REALLY into the idea of making enamel pins. Unfortunately it’s a pretty big investment (like, $350 to make 100 pins you might not even sell). If this happens, it’ll probably be towards the end of the year, and if I get enough interest. I’m currently torn between making an original enamel pin and one based off Undertale. We’ll just have to see where this goes.

Number 6- Back in 2018 when I paid off one of my many student loans, I rewarded myself by spending over 200 dollars in used books. All these books had a theme; they were focused on dragons because I have a problem. I have not yet read a single one of these books I have bought, and I would like to fix that. I have, like, 20 unread dragon books, and even if I only read 12 out of 20, I would consider that an amazing accomplishment and money well spent.

Number 7- I currently have about 8 different WIPs I could work on. (well, I don’t know if I can even call them wips. More like, a general idea and a title written down.) I want to build good writing habits, and if I can write just 200 words a day, hell, even 200 words a week and just one of my 8 stories done, I would consider this goal met.

Number 8- I’m torn between making my game in unity or ren’py. I know jack shit about both. Ren’py is more user friendly, but unity will allow me more customization. (Lol, can you guess what kind of game I want to make yet?)

Number 9- I really just want the full story to be done and written incase anything goes horribly terribly wrong in my life and I find myself unable to continue making ghost switch in comic form. Then at least I can finish the story by other means, you know?

Number 10- It always surprises me every month when I get that patreon email saying I got paid. Sure, I don’t even make double digits on it, but it still awes me enough to know that people out there like my work enough to throw me a tip. I can’t thank my patrons enough for supporting me and I hope to one day be in such a good place I can update my comic/song comics/writing frequently enough without need for goals or milestones. But until that magical day arrives, money is always a great incentive for anything, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ALRIGHT. PART 2 OF 2: SHIT THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2019

Cheesus crust what a year. This year started off great! Back in late January Kingdom Hearts 3 FINALLY released, and let me tell you a little story. Back in the summer of 2006 I was a 13 year old middle schooler with no way of making money other than by doing house hold chores at a rate of 25 cents a task. A few weeks ago, I had a sleep over at a friend’s house and they let me play this weird game called “Kingdom Hearts” and god, I was instantly hooked on it. That summer, I did over 800 chores, enough to earn myself 200$ and buy myself a playstation 2 (just in time for the ps3 to come out, gg me) The only games I had for the ps2 were KH1, 2, Re:CoM and Okami, and I beat them all… except Okami. Miffed that the PS3 wouldn’t allow for backwards compatibility, little 13-year-old me made a promise. I looked myself in the mirror and said “I will not buy the next playstation console until KH3 comes out, AND BOY that was probably a good choice for me to make with my level of gaming. I’m even less of a casual gamer than the average casual gamer, but I have been waiting 13 years for this piece of closure, and I even told my friends and family that “the day Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out is the day I will buy a playstation 4”. My dad apparently thought this was the funniest shit, because he literally took the day off from work that Friday to drive me on base to get the game and console (he thought it would be less crowded than a regular walmart, I suppose). I paid $400 on a ps4 pro while he bought me the game. Again, I have an impecible sense of timing seeing as the PS5 is now right on the horrizion, but just like before, I’m not buying a new console until the next KH game is released. See you in 2045, sony~. While I was at the gamestop on base, I also picked up Okami HD and The Last Guardian. For all of February and even early March, I took my time playing through KH3. And…! It was the best disappointment I’ve ever played. After a month away from gaming, I started The Last Guardian and finished it in a couple weeks. I love trico and would die for him, but trying to get 100% completion on that game is udder insanity. Okami, HD, however… again after a month break after finishing TLG, I started replaying Okami. I think I had only managed to get about halfway through the game before I just… stopped playing it on my ps2 version. I am currently SO CLOSE to getting a 100% on the ps4 version. In fact, I’ve beaten the game. I only (techinically) need 2 more trophies to be done; 1st, escape the water dragon without being eaten, 2nd, I need to beat that dumb stupid race with Kai, in order to get the last bead on my rosary, as well as the top dog trophy. I hate her so much. I hate this race so much. It’s awful and bad.

Flash forward to December! Earlier this month I was at Barnes and Noble, buying myself a planner for 2020. I exit the store and notice that there’s a gamestop across the street. For shits and giggles I go inside to look at their game selection, and I find KH 1.5 and 2.5. Now, my PS2 died a few years back (it just won’t read my discs anymore, I don’t know why) and I haven’t been able to replay any of my other kingdom hearts games since. If you had seen me the day I finished kingdom hearts 3, after the ending credits rolled, you would have heard me say “Man…. I wish I could play kingdom hearts 2 again”. AND NOW I CAN, ALONG WITH BBS which I had never even played yet, but knew the story of. I’ve restarted playing kh1, and I was so happy to hear that familiar music when I booted the game up for the first time. While at the game stop, I also picked up Rime and Tearaway, two games that had looked interesting to me. At the time of writing, I’ve finished Rime and am 25% done with tearaway. Rime was…. An interesting experience. I learned about it through Jacksepticeye’s channel a couple years back and thought the art style was enticing. For a super casual gamer like me, I found the puzzles just the right level of challenging and exploring was a blast! The music gave me VERY strong Princes Mononoke vibes, but the overall story left something to be desired. Overall I had fun, and enjoyed completing this game to 100%. Now for tearaway. Can I just say this game is super fucking adorable? I know the original was on the ps vita and the gameplay there was arguably more diverse and imaginative, but this game is just so fucking cute I don’t care?? ALSO, this game’s sound track is ABSOLUTELY incredible and I’ve only heard the first fourth of it! Listen to The Orchards, Pig Riding, and Gibbet Hill Pilgrimage for a taste of their wonderful beats and fantastic use of string and woodwinds! God, I’m so excited to get some more games in 2020. I’m proud to say I currently own more ps4 games than I ever did with my ps2 (and now the majority AREN’T Kingdom Hearts titles!), and I’m still hoping to play Journey, The Witness, and Abzu before everything becomes ps5.

What else happened to me this year. Oh, I went to a doctor for, like, the first time in seven years. I also had my blood drawn for the first time ever, and the nurse said the most disturbing thing to me while she did it. Now, whenever I get shots, I refuse to look. I did that here. So she thought it would be appropriate to say to me “Can you feel your blood leaving your body?” Lady… You can clearly see I am uncomfortable with what is happening here. Why, of all the things you could say, did you choose to say that. Unfortunately, while my doctor is nice, she keeps wanting to run tests on me, that I just cannot afford with my current salary, and my monthly insurance is about to go up to 200$ a month, so I’ve cancelled my next appointment with them, and don’t plan to go back until it’s absolutely necessary. Capitalism is fun, guys. Preventative healthcare is for wusses.

I started going to a chiropractor on a monthly basis. Story time- I don’t know when it started, but sometime late last November I began to notice that I had a headache that just... wasn’t... going away? And each day it was starting to get a little worse. It made it hard for me to find a comfortable position to sleep, it made it hard for me to be in bright areas or move fast. So I said to myself “Okay, if this headache persist through the month of december, then something is proooobably wrong and I should go see someone about it. And hoo-boy were thing wrong with me. By the time this January rolled around, I couldn’t even stay on my feet for more than a few hours without it physically hurting to just BREATHE. So I started going to this chain called The Joint (A+ name, I know). THey aksed me “How are you doing?” I said “I’m in pain” and they said “We can help fix that!”. I’ve only been to a chiropractor once before in my life a few years back after my freshmen year of college because I began to notice my hips weren’t able to support me? LIke, I would lie on my back, and I couldn’t push my hips up when my feet were flat on the floor. I also couldn’t climb anything steep, because my legs just couldn’t push me up if my knee had to bend more than 90 degrees when I lifted my leg up. (Turned out both my hips were apparently out of place). This time only one of my hips were out of place (which they fixed. they said one of my legs was an inch “longer” than the other because I had been leaning all my weight on one leg when I stand). But two of my ribs were apparently “Stuck” which was why it was hurting for me to just breathe, and one of my shoulders was missaligned too, causing one of my trap muscles to constantly be streched, which was pulling on my skull, and causing the headache. Anyway, after they popped all my bones back into place, I still felt terrible, but by god, that night was the first time in weeks I was able to sleep without a migrane. A chiropractor can’t magically heal your arthritis, or fibro, but I definately think they have merit to keeping your posture good and helping your body with things like circulation. 10 outa 10, would recomend. It’s all the fun of getting your neck snapped without the dying!

Earlier this month I got together with two of my friends and we baked Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. A member of my family has a gluten allergy, so we used rice flour for most of the cookies. We learned this is a bad idea! The cookies will just fall apart! A few member’s in one of the friend’s family have nut allergies. Other friend and I knew this and were careful to avoid cookie recipes with nuts, bUT THEN COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT ALMOND MILK AND ALMOND EXTRACT COUNT AS NUT. IN FACT, ALMOND EXTRACT IS PURE CONCENTRATED NUT JUICE AND WE FELT SO BAD FOR ALMOST ACCIDENTALLY POISONING THE FAMILY.

Earlier this year me and these same friends took a field trip to Hobby Lobby and just dicked around the store for a couple of hours. It was super fun, 11 outa 10, would recommend, a great date idea for your artsy S.O.

Back in May I went to a wedding for the first time in my life. (well, not true, but the first one I could remember) we left at 5am, drove 5 hours to get there, hung out at a zoo and spent the night in a la quinta before the wedding day. I slept on the bathroom floor because my mom was snoring too loud in the main room and keeping me awake, and the rest of the day was just spent me trying to keep myself together because I was pissed off and tired.

Other than all of that, nothing really major happened to me this year. I guess one more thing I’ve tried to do this year is started the process of breaking certain internet addictions so I can use my free time for more personal projects. Seriously, I found myself watching way too much youtube and following blogs that didn’t even make me happy. I had a personal intervention with myself where I sat down and asked myself, “why do you watch these videos and youtubers? Why do you follow these blogs? Do you really enjoy their content? Do you really care? If you stopped watching/following them, would you even notice?” After critically thinking it over, I’ve found myself unfollowing several channels and blogs and suddenly I feel so much happier. I thought I would miss it, but I realized I didn’t really care if I saw their content or not. I wasn’t missing much. And now I feel like I have more time to draw, read and write. If you think you spend too much time consuming and not enough time creating, I suggest you try and de-clutter your internet habits as well. It’s done wonders to un-fuck my headspace.

And… well, that about sums up my year. How are your holidays going? Anything fun, exciting, dramatic happen to you this year? I hope your new year is warm and safe! Good night, everybody!

#new year's resolutions #year in review #long post #(seriiously this think is like 3k words)

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elk-and-thearchivist · 5 years

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The (Mis)Adventures of Two Children and an Irresponsible Chaperone, Ch. 1: Enter the Peak

The first chapter of my RP with @heart-the-vessel / @zykaben ! The beginning of a beautiful friendship. Also, the beginning of the shenanigans of a True Chaos Trio

This chapter’s artwork is a collab between me and @zykaben ! I did the composition and sketch, she did the flats and shading, and then passed it back to me for effects! You can see a process gif here.

The streamlined, edited version is on AO3 here.

Words: 2542 Characters: Wiki, Elk, Heart Regular is me, indented is @heart-the-vessel Dashes are POV shifts.

Crystal Peak was truly a marvel unlike any other in Hallownest. Its glittering spires were visible from any point on the surface—though, admittedly, most of Hallownest was underground.

Of most interest were the crystals, shining with their own unique light. And with their own mysterious properties. Enough bugs certainly felt drawn enough to spend their entire lives and subsequent un-lives mining away at the ore.

Indeed, the crystals and their unusual properties were what drew Wiki and Elk to the caverns this day.

It wasn't long before they found themselves trailing behind a crystal crawler, Elk walking slowly behind it as Wiki observed its processes.

“Walking” was more “using amorphous tendrils to climb the walls” and “processes” was more “firing lasers,” though.

“Fascinating. Very fascinating!” Wiki floated in front of Elk, their tendrils hovering around the crawler. “Periodically focusing the energy in the crystals into a point of destructive light… They do say that these crystals can help you focus your energy. Perhaps it could improve your own focus, if we are able to refine its properties…”

“That would be pretty helpful… ” Wiki could feel Elk's spark of interest. “I don't often gather enough soul to easily heal. If the crystals help…?”

“Mm.” Wiki hummed. “They can, I'm sure. Just not sure how.”

No sooner had Wiki finished their sentence than they and Elk heard the faint sound of something—or someone—scrambling hastily against the rocky ground above them. Whatever it was sounded small, but they both knew that assumption wasn’t grounds to guarantee their safety, not in a place like Hallownest.

Then, with an almost startling amount of speed, something was dropping from above and to the ground, landing not even throwing-distance away from them. The both quickly made out the small figure, standing somewhat shorter than Elk and looking similar in build—a vessel. One with horns that curved up and inwards, ending in what looked to be sharp points. The only other real thing of note was that they seemed to wear a red scarf around their neck.

The vessel stared at Elk and Wiki before they took off towards them at a break-neck pace, arms waving frantically above their head as they did so. The vessel barely managed to skid to a halt before crashing into Wiki and Elk, still waving their arms spastically.

"Wh-" Wiki jerked back in surprise, leaving Elk to receive the brunt of the impact.

Said vessel could do little but try to catch the newcomer by their flailing arms, almost toppled by their momentum. "U-uh..." Elk pulled backwards, looking over the vessel before glancing to Wiki.

They placed a tendril on their chin as they drew near. "Hello, there! We didn't expect to see another vessel here. Where did you come from?"

The vessel waved at Wiki for a few more moments before stopping. Once they had stopped, they pointed upwards, head craning back as they did. They looked back to Wiki and Elk, letting their gaze drift between the two of them. They then reached under their cloak, seemingly rustling around for something.

The length of quiet stretched before the vessel perked up and jerked their arms back up. Held in their clutches were a sparkling necklace of gold with a royal blue gemstone strung from the end, a smooth, sparkling rock with a soft green hue, and a pink crystal—the same kind that grew unrestrained in Crystal Peak. The vessel held out the items towards Elk and Wiki, practically bouncing as they did so.

"Oh?" Wiki leaned towards their collection. "Ohoho?"

"These are so pretty!" Elk reached towards the vessel's handful of items, before hesitating in their approach. "Are these..."

"I do hope you wouldn't mind if I just-" Wiki used a tendril to lift the necklace with the blue gemstone (despite a half-hearted protest from Elk), eyes riveted on the glittering facets. "The way the light catches this stone! Hardly any skilled jewelers exist anymore, yes this is cut quite well. Oh, interesting... very interesting..."

Elk fidgeted nervously. "Sorry, uh... Come to think of it, we don't know what to call you. Do you... have a name that you'd be able to share? If you can emote, or write, or..."

The vessel seemed to perk further up at Wiki’s words but quickly turned their attention back to Elk. They nodded to them, reaching under their cloak once more before producing a wrinkled piece of parchment and a simple quill. They scribbled on it hastily. After nodding to themself, satisfied with their work, they turned the parchment around. Sketched messily onto its surface were several hearts, an arrow pointing towards the largest one. They then gestured towards Elk and Wiki with their quill before cocking their head to one side.

Elk looked intently at the paper. "A bunch of hearts... oh! Heart! That's your name?"

Wiki gave a huff of amusement at the enthusiasm clear in Heart's scribblings. "Aheh... it suits the shape of their mask." Wiki traced a vague shape of a heart in the air, following the curvature of Heart's horns. "And, oh! If you were asking about us - this is Elk," Elk waved as Wiki gestured to them, "and I am Wiki, the Archivist. We share the same voice, sometimes the same body, and occasionally the same mind."

The vessel—Heart—nodded excitedly at Elk and Wiki before waving at both of them one last time in greeting. Once they had stowed the paper and quill away, they made a large, sweeping gesture around the area before pointing at Elk and Wiki, letting their head fall to the side in question again.

Wiki tapped their chin in thought. That would be... "Are you..."

"Asking what we're doing here?" Elk mirrored Heart's head tilt. "If so, it's mostly Wiki wanting the study the crystals and me wanting to see the sights."

Heart nodded, obviously pleased with Elk's deduction. They threw their arms around Elk in a short but strong hug before stepping back and swaying cheerfully.

Elk squeaked a but in surprise, Wiki chuckling a little in turn. They could feel Elk's slight embarrassment at that filtering through their connection. I wasn't expecting it, alright? Not a lot of bugs hug bugs they just met.

Understandable. But still amusing. Wiki turned to Heart. "You seem... much friendlier than I'd expect for a vessel. Certainly, more than most bugs, but my point still stands. I do wonder how long you've been wandering around here, free to develop your own mind..."

Elk smoothed out their cloak. "And it isn't really... safe, around here. I suppose you'd have to... hmm. Do you know your way around this place?"

Heart nodded to Elk’s question, their chest puffing up slightly with pride. They glanced at Wiki as they rambled before stepping forwards to deliver another quick hug to one of their tendrils. Once they had, they darted away and trekked a decent distance away from Elk and Wiki. They stopped and turned back, waving towards the two of them and then making sweeping motions towards themself.

Wiki blinked. My turn to be dazzled by such friendliness? They shook their head a bit, before looking towards Elk. Well... looks like they want us to follow.

Elk met Wiki's gaze, before turning back towards Heart. They seem nice. Might as well.

"Then, let us follow!" Wiki melted back into Elk's void, and they swiftly made their way over. "Lead the way, friend."

Heart gave a quick nod to Elk and Wiki, skipping along as the two trailed behind them.

——

Heart was so excited that they were practically shaking.

They had been scouring Crystal Peak for more shiny trinkets and pretty baubles when they had happened upon Wiki and Elk—and they were both so amazing! The fact that the two of them shared a mind was so interesting! Heart wondered what that would be like... maybe they could find a way to ask them. After all, they had taken Heart’s gifts, so that meant they were all friends now!

But that could all happen later. For now, Heart wanted to show their new friends what they had been leading to.

They had finally reached their destination: the large, decrepit mining machine that leaned against the cavern wall. The Crystal Heart (at least, that’s what Haunt had called it) had been a lucky find, one that Heart wasn’t looking to give away any time soon. There were probably more scattered about the mines, but Heart hadn’t found any yet.

Regardless, Heart turned back to their new friends and raised their hands up in celebration. They hoped that they would both be excited about the machine.

"Oh!" Elk craned their neck, peering at the machine. "That's... so cool. Do you know what it is?"

Wiki interrupted before Heart could respond. "A mining golem!" They all but exploded out of Elk, tendrils splaying across the stone and rails as they drew closer to Heart - and thus closer to the machine. "Amazing! I thought they would all be destroyed by now, a lot of bugs were concerned about their safety... And its core is still intact!" They turned to Heart. "How did you find this? Are there any more?"

Heart remembered all too well how they had found the machine. They pointed upwards to the hole above them. They still remembered the feeling of panic that had overtaken them when the ground under them had crumbled. But it led to such a beautiful discovery that they had long since made peace with it.

For the second question… Heart shifted their balance from one foot to another as they tried to remember. They might have seen another one, but it was on the other side of a tunnel that was filled with all sorts of hostile bugs—they hadn’t even tried to get to it. But maybe Elk and Wiki were strong enough to get through? Or maybe they were at least braver than Heart was, which wouldn’t surprise them.

It wouldn’t be a direct path, but Heart knew the way. There was a bunch that they could rest on that wasn’t too far away, and there was that fun area filled with all of the conveyor belts going up and down. It would be a fun adventure with their new friends!

Heart finally nodded to Wiki’s last question. Maybe there would be another Crystal Heart that their new friends could have!

Their eyes practically lit up with excitement, a contrast to their mildly concerned expression mere moments ago. "Truly? Do you- could you- do you think-"

Elk patted one of Wiki's tendrils, shaking their head. "What we want to ask is: could you take us to where they are?"

"Yes!" Wiki was near vibrating. "Oh, we'd love to study them, but I didn't know if you'd be alright with us messing around with this one if it was the only one you found."

Elk gave a huff of a laugh. "Though I suppose we should ask if they're easy to get to, as well."

Making sure to look directly at Wiki, Heart gave a cheery nod. They were more than happy to guide their friends to the other golem, especially since they seemed so interested in it.

Turning to Elk, Heart swayed from side to side before settling on a shrug. It wasn’t a particularly hard area to get to, but there might be problems if they encountered strong opponents. Heart could probably shield them all with their spell, but it was… less than ideal. If the journey ended up not working out, they could always show Wiki and Elk the Crystal Heart they had stowed away in their inventory, maybe even give it to them if they both really wanted it.

But for now, they’d leave the decision of whether or not to go up to Elk and Wiki.

Said two were looking at each other meaningfully, as if having some kind of silent exchange. Elk gave a one-shoulder shrug, turning back to Heart. "We'll take that as a 'sort-of.' Is it trouble from the mines if some parts are unstable, or trouble with the bugs around here?"

Wiki hummed. "Mm. We're quite good with maneuvering around environments. Having a number of amorphous limbs is quite useful, heh. As for dangerous bugs..."

Elk fidgeted with their hands. "We... I don't really fight. We're generally good at avoiding them and running away, heh, but we're not too familiar with this place..."

Heart watched Elk’s fidgeting. Plum said that some bugs did that when they were feeling nervous and that simply wouldn’t do! Heart stepped forward and gave their friend a big hug before they stepped backwards and brought out their parchment and quill again.

They sketched the ovular shapes of the miners and made sure to draw on very angry eyes to represent their hostility. After a moment of deliberation, they also drew on the crystals that some of them used to fire beams of energy. They added a quick depiction of a crystal hunter above them as well, giving it a smirk and the same angry expression.

Satisfied with their work, they turned it around to show Elk and Wiki.

Elk seemed to lean into Heart's embrace, moving a little towards them even after they pulled away. Wiki shot Elk a look, but the vessel simply gave a subtle shake of their head - Heart barely caught it.

Elk moved to look over to Heart's drawings, and despite their inability to make expressions, their eyes seemed to sparkle. "Oh! You draw so well!" They clapped their hands together once. "We saw a few of these earlier - we did our best to avoid them, though."

"That one, though." Wiki pointed to the crystal hunter. "That one was truly a pain. We got away, of course, but that doesn't make them any less irksome."

Heart perked up at Elk’s compliment, something warm and cozy settling in their chest. Maybe they could draw something for them later as another gift, something without mean monsters that wanted to hurt people.

Heart nodded in commiseration with Wiki’s comment. The crystal hunters were the worst. They flew around and attacked anyone they saw—and their crystal attacks just shattered into dust after less than a minute! It was a cruel thing, making something so beautiful that caused so much hurt and then just disappeared. At least the miners kept their crystals.

Heart stowed the paper and quill away before turning back to Elk and Wiki. They gestured vaguely back to where they had all came from and cocked their head to one side, trying to ask what the two would like to do.

"Are you asking if we still want to go?" Wiki tilted their head.

"We still do!" Elk pumped a fist, punctuating their statement. "A little danger can't hold us back from a fun adventure! Though we'd have to take your lead for this one."

Heart nodded eagerly, finding themself getting caught up in Elk's excitement. They rushed forward and pulled Elk in with one arm and Wiki's tendril in with the other and did their best to hug them. They let go and bounced back towards the entrance of the cavern and waved, ready for an adventure.

Elk bounded after them eagerly, Wiki once again merging into their void.

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hadai · 5 years

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Always on my Mind

Another RokuNami fanart/fanfic collab! Since our first little team-up worked out well, my friend and I decided to do it again! Hope you all enjoy it!

Fanfic by: @rapis-razuri Fanart by: Me

The Destiny Islands of Sora’s heart had changed from day to dusk, something Roxas didn’t mind so much as the reason behind it. It was a nice reminder of the place he called home, even if the view of the sunset from Sora’s favorite tree wasn’t the same as that from the top of the clocktower.

The innermost sanctum of Sora’s heart was still calm and still peaceful. And despite the solitude, Roxas never felt that he was truly alone. It was a good place to sleep as any, but for the first time since returning to Sora, Roxas stirred.

“...been ages...”

It only took a moment to realize where Sora was.

Twilight Town.

Sora was in Twilight Town.

Hayner. Pence. Olette.

Roxas knew his memories of their friendship had been fake, but they were memories he nonetheless held dear. He still considered the three of them his friends as much as Axel was, but has long accepted the aching possibility that he was still a stranger to them in the real world.

“...looking for Roxas…”

Roxas flickered a smile. Of course something like nearly becoming one of Xehanort’s Seekers wouldn’t be enough to stop Sora from following up on that matter in the waking world. His Other was a determined guy.

“Yeah. He is.”

When this sojourn came to an end, Roxas felt himself starting to drift off again, but something within him - his heart - said no. He knew where Sora was going and he wanted to see that place again, just one more time.

The old mansion had come to mean something to him. When he was first born before its gates, he’d been too much of a zombie to feel anything about the place. During his days in the Organization, it had been a location of interest in the world, but he didn’t spare much thought for it beyond that. From his memories in the other Twilight Town, he remembered finding it mysterious, but Roxas was never unnerved by it as his friends were.

Now there were many words he would use to describe the old mansion, but “creepy” was not one of them. Not anymore. Not when…

Roxas (Sora?) looked towards the second story window on the left.

That room meant something to Roxas. The girl in white who once occupied that room meant something to Roxas.

She always seemed to be just out of reach, no matter how hard he chased. It began as a chase for answers, but somewhere, somehow, that changed.

Roxas had left the Organization bitter, disillusioned, and feuding with his best friend. He’d been furious and grieving when he fought Riku. His summer vacation had been a relief compared to the days that preceded it, but even then Roxas could not leave behind the need for answers that drove him to leave the only life he ever known.

Whether she knew it or not, Naminé had helped him pick up the pieces. Roxas didn’t hate her for saying the things she did. How could he, when the fate she spoke of was also the fate she believed was her’s? He wondered if she ever tried to fight it and if she had, what made her give in and resign to it? Fading back into darkness sounded like such a lonely fate. Roxas tasted loneliness when he fought with Axel and again on the last day of his summer vacation. How did she bear it, all on her own?

Because their fate had not been an easy one to accept, let alone to make peace with. Roxas was only able to do so by confronting Sora, but it was Naminé who made sure he wasn’t alone when he did.

They were lucky, to be able to meet their original selves. Luckier still that Sora and Kairi were the kind of people who would promise to be together so Roxas and Naminé could too.

He couldn’t deny that being with her had been one definitive silver lining in this situation, but…

So much for “every day,” guys…

Roxas didn’t blame Sora and Kairi though. It wasn’t their fault they were once again separated by circumstances beyond their control. It was just that moments like this reminded Roxas that he and Naminé weren’t together like they promised.

The curtain flapped. It was easy to imagine her standing there on the other side of the glass. He visited this place many times before on missions. Did she ever look out her window and see him with his keyblade and in his black coat? He thought of her in her empty white room, sitting at that long white table with no one across from her, and sketching Sora’s memories back together…

If Sora could do it… If Sora could find a way for them to be their own people, then they wouldn’t have to rely on him and Kairi to be together anymore, would they?

The thought made him giddy with happiness. Being able to actually see her instead of flashes of blonde hair in the corner of his eyes. Hearing her voice again and actually talking to her... If he could speak to her now, what would he tell her?

Sora’s trying to bring me back. He even got Hayner, Pence and Olette involved in all this. All for my sake. Is there someone out there who wants to see you again just as badly?

He hoped so. Roxas didn’t know what her past was like before she met him, but he hoped there was someone out there in all the worlds who cared about her, who missed her, and who wanted to see her again as much as Hayner, Pence and Olette cared about, missed, and wanted to see him.

That was when Sora jolted out of the daze Roxas had unintentionally pulled him into. Knowing his time was up, Roxas reluctantly let go of the waking world and allowed the distant sound of waves to lull him to sleep again.

I miss you, Naminé. Let’s meet again someday soon. Like we promised. Okay?

#rokunami #fanfic #fanart #collab #kingdom hearts #kh3 spoilers #roxas #namine

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isa-ghost · 6 years

Text

A Long Ass Theory (7/25/18)

BUCKLE UP KIDDOS, THIS IS A REALLY LONG POST/THEORY AND YOU SHOULD READ IT.

This took me SIX FUCKING HOURS to write out, holy shit.

First of all, I don’t like that title.

“GUNS GUNS GUNS GUNS GUNS GUNS | Enter The Gungeon”

Why? Because...

A certain someone we know and love has experience with guns.

Second of all...

Yeah... this.

Why is this concerning?

Simple.

Last time Chase and Anti were in the same video in any way, shape, or form, Anti was charging at Chase while he was in a drunken stupor at the end of Dark Silence. We never saw what happened after Anti reached Chase, if he even did.

Also, it could just be me (please tell me if someone else has noticed this too back in May) but when “Jack” acts suspicious, especially when the video gives off Chase vibes, he gets this weird sarcastic? tone in his voice throughout the entire video. I’m even more unsure about what I’m about to say, but when he says something he knows we’ll point out as a possible hint, he looks directly into the camera. Maybe its just a few times, maybe every time, or maybe I’m just remembering something incorrectly and he doesn’t do it at all, but that tone in his voice for sure tends to show up a lot every time he acts suspiciously like Chase.

So with all this unsettling information in mind, here’s everything I found suspiciously Chase or Anti-like in today’s upload:

The title, and the intro, as previously stated.

2:14 “Everybody’s dead, I’m happy” Honestly there’s a lot of “death” references through the whole video which while they ARE concerning for paranoid, over-analytical Anti theorist reasons, its hard to say that they’re cryptic hints given the fact that its a game where youre supposed to kill people and therefore the death comments are relevant to the context, rather than being out of the blue “Jack being weird” comments. I’ll keep all the mentions of death I find alarming in the list anyway, just to be safe.

4:52 “What happened? I don’t know but I’m glad you’re dead!”

11:37 “You’re all gonna know the name by the end of this. You’re all gonna know the name of your victor.”

12:25 That’s a really weird Chase-esque “dude-bro” type person laugh, if you ask me...

13:44 He refers to himself as Jack. I’m only mentioning this because it either confirms he isn’t intentionally being suspicious and we really are just paranoid OR its a reminder that Chase is posing as Jack while he’s in a coma. Or MAYBE this IS Jack after Stories Untold #4, awake from his coma and struggling to remember things. He “doesn’t remember” his intro because “he hasn’t recorded in so long” which could be a joke about how he took a week-long hiatus but could also be a nod at how he was in a coma.

16:52 “I could also die. I could die in real life. If you die in real life, you die in the game.”

17:14 “I’m just doing it for all the people out there to make them feel like I’m a regular bro.“

19:16 “I have to go three dreams deep and meet Leo Dicaprio and bring him back to reality.” (Sounds more like bringing Jack out of a coma to me) Needs to meet his kids. (And this sounds like Chase). I think I’m over-analyzing this one but *screams in paranoia*

19:32 “I just slaughtered a whole bunch of babies. ... It’s what I do. I’m ruthless.” There were a lot of theories that Anti might have hurt Chase’s kids after Dark Silence. Especially after he screamed “WHERE ARE THEY?!”

20:00 “Dope af, as the lit kids would like to say.” This one’s probably me just O/A again. It sounds like a dad trying to keep up with the lingo his kids use...

23:22 He uses the “Chase voice” and drops an iconic “sah dude” that we’ve started to associate with him for almost a minute straight.

24:38 “Because I can’t be trusted. We all know that by now.” *Glares at Sean* yeAH NO SHIT, MCLOUGHLIN.

26:03 “Hi, I’m Jack. I’m a pathological liar. And a piece of shit.” Could this be Anti pretending to be Jack and mocking him? Probably not lmao. Or maybe Chase knows Jack isn’t a very good friend? He said he’d kill/let Chase die first if he had to choose and that he finds him annoying, yet Chase considers him a friend. We DO know from TIE that sometimes if Chase gets too heated, he tends to “break character” and rant to us.

28:58 “My parents may have never told me they loved me, but that doesn’t matter” *Gestures wildly at the “Chase was abused” theories and how when Chase was the one recording the video in Mayhem, he’d make a lot of “my dad”/“my parents” references*

30:42 “I like the little sounds they make. It makes me feel like I’m killing a whole bunch of tiny babies” Ah, Anti harming Chase’s kids vibes again.

32:22 “What I need is love and support” Just like in GNOG, this just gives me Chase vibes... “And also your compliance and your own death.” Aaaaand Anti vibes. Anti talking to Chase? Chase talking to Anti? Anti talking to Jack? *Explodes in theorist*

34:38 “Its just cause... me and my dad” Another damn “my dad” reference like back in May.

36:29 Jack glances behind him for basically no reason. We all know what that meant in May...

37:38 “Don’t hit me, don’t hit me, nooo papa!” *Chase was abused theories intensifies*

44:14 “[My mom] never paid enough attention to me and I had a bunch of time to play video games”

44:50 “Did I have a stroke? Can I remember anything?” Mmmm coma vibes

48:26 (Singing) “Your parents don’t love you”

55:27 “Don’t I look like a guy that deserves good things in my life? I’m not a bad guy.”

58:54 “GET AWAY FROM HIM! Don’t get closer to him, he’s a stranger man! Stranger danger, remember what you parents said!” He highkey sounds like Chase scared/scolding his kids to stay away from Anti... Just sayin’-

59:02 “Actually my parents told me go play in traffic. Suddenly explains a lot.” *Vibrates with abused child Chase vibes*

1:00:55 “Don’t mind me, just going to the store to try and get my life back together.” That last part just... sounds like Chase recovering from the divorce (or maybe after his suicide in Bro Average/Henrik saving him like he mentioned in KJSE?) *coughs in over-analyzing, whoops*

With all this in mind, I also want to make note that I’ve seen some things floating around my dash about the following, which could also imply incoming doom for us ego enthusiasts and theorists:

The anniversary of Antisepticeye vs. Darkiplier is coming up in 3 days. Mark and Jack already confirmed several times that they would not be doing another collab like that one again, BUT--

--Jack mentioned that he and Mark have some cool plans that they can’t talk about.

Mark has the genius skills to make Markiplier TV and WKM happen (with help, of course). What if he’s helping Jack with a video featuring multiple/all egos? Jack DID say during tour that at some point later in the year he wanted/planned on a big video with all the egos. That was sometime in the early spring, and its now almost the end of summer. I think that counts as “later”...

Mark apparently mentioned revisiting some egos. I think he’s referring to the Wilford videos, personally, but I still find this noteworthy.

Robin is apparently going to L.A to hang out with Jack. While this is probably just him being a supportive friend and all that, after what I’ve just said... I trust nothing.

Jack confirmed he planned on doing more skits/sketches/etc while he was in L.A.

We are still waiting on Bro Average 2, which Jack confirmed would eventually become a thing.

With all this in mind, Jack, his god tier editor Robin, and ego video-making genius Mark might all be together at once at some point in the near future. We MIGHT be in for some serious community fires soon, guys. Get your extinguishers ready.

I feel like I might be waaay over-analyzing a lot of this, but the levels of unease in the theorist part of the community have been very high lately. Better to note down what we find questionable than to not take notes at all only to suddenly get slammed with fire, right?

#jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #chase brody #septicegos #Isa's Theory #I HAD SO MANY THOUGHTS AND DOUBTS #PLS APPRECIATE IT #IM JUST A PARANOID THEORIST OK #GIVE ME A BREAK #*sobs*

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artoutforblood · 5 years

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Duiris past...

(the orginal creator for Duiri here. I wanted to share a short drabble based on her past, before she was abducted. I’m so sorry for the delay! 🙏 My English is a bit horrid). She had never been made to feel different. Her childhood before that had been based around snooping around her father’s study, or tending to greenhouse garden with her mother. “This here sweetie, is where your matuo and matua lives. They will travel all the way from here when summer comes around.” “… And this my little bloom, is the flower both me and your papa bonded over when we first met. It’s cute as button, just like you.” Some days her as usual stand offish but fair morfar(maternal grandpa) would let her join in looking after the reindeers. He would let her roam around under a watchful eye, and be extra careful with teaching her how to correctly pet one. “ They are capable of harsh weather, and tough conditions… But they spook easily, Duiri, so be cautious.” Her mormor(maternal granny) would quietly joik in her living room, while the small old lady worked on the nissongákti(tradisional clothes) for the coming-of-age girls in the small village. “When your confirmation day arrives, the gákti of your own would be the most stunning of them all.” “…Why do you think that mormor?” “Because you will show everyone what beauty yours, by being made of your very own hands. But I will help you, but only for the most difficult parts.” “… But why?” Her grandmother would only look at her with a ghost of a smile. Handing the girl some sketches she had seen her mother collab with her father, she watched on as the girl recognized the mixed patterns. “ Because you will show them just how beautiful a piece of art can be, when the weavers from two different worlds. She was never made to feel different… Until her first day at school. Any attempt at making friends went miserably wrong,as her classmates just stared with uncertain suspicion. She had never cried… Or made much out of it. But her parents knew, since their daughters usual curious gaze seemed listless and dull. The caring parental duo had feared this would happen. Her father felt lost and frustrated, while her mother felt a strong anger. They had remembered the glued stares they too had gotten in the streets of the small town. And even if Duiris father felt it would’ve been better to stay back in the multicultural haven of Oslo, he had felt a scientifical pull towards northen mountains. But at the cost of his daughters happiness? They had been on the brink of moving, until her presumed distant morfar had stepped in. Still dressed in his gear for herding, boots soaked with dirt and who knows what, he had solemnly walked to the school building. When he came back, he had told her surprised father only a few calm words. "They’ll ought to fix it by now.” His wife had been patting her stressed husbands back, both concerned over their child. So this left them both perplexed. Beside them, her mormor only hummed. “Those bats and their brood should’ve known better. In this community, we take care of one another. No matter if we are half or not.” But her new homeroom teacher had shown a bit concern. Duiri seemed to always have these walls around her, which “scared” the other kids presumably. But they soon found out that there were a softness in it too. A girl had fallen from one of the tall trees at the school grounds. Without a word, Duiri had helped her back inside; seemingly unaware of the starry eyed look she had gotten from the girl. Same girls mother had gone several kilometers to personally thank the parents. “Your daughter is a wonderful girl! She’s already the only thing little Marianne want to talk about.” From behind her legs peaked the said girl out to stare shyly at Duiri. And even if she didn’t outwardly smile, her eyes crinkled with a certain wetness. Sticking out a small hand, the stoic girl had asked. “… Do you want to pick some flowers?” Little Marianne had brightened, a giddy ‘yesyesyes!’ filling the small entrance of the equally small home. And as the two girls sat hunched and giggled amongst the patch of buttercups and dandelions, their parents watched on over some coffee and tea. … These peaceful moments are what stand out the most for little Duiri, as her and several unfamiliar faces drifted along space. Amongst her were scared wet faces, trembling voices calling for who knows. She would’ve too… But it was as if her voice wouldn’t let her. Beside her, a small bespecaled girl was crying. Carefully she pat the girls back… Fear dwelling in her deeply.

This is absolutely precious! Thank you so much for giving us this wonderful girl and telling us more about her past <3

#other peoples writing #duiri #kids of the lost light #submission

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inky-thoughts · 6 years

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How to Organize a Zine 101

Hey guys!

Since I'm almost through with my very first zine that I organised myself, I just realised how many mistakes you can make without even knowing, and I learned so much within the last few months where a lot was kind of trial and error. So I thought, you guys might like to learn more about this, and I could share my experiences and newly gained knowledge! Maybe this helps if you are looking into organising your own first zine.

If you have any tips and tricks yourself you'd like to share, let me know, I’m excited to hear about them!

I am going to go through the different steps and phases that you should take into consideration, so this might get a small series of some sort? I hope you're up for this.

Also a small disclaimer:

I'm mostly talking about fanzines that have multiple contributors, and it will focus more on artists/illustrators and writers as that is where my experience lies. I have contributed on several free e-zines as well as a printed charity zine, and now have organised my first printed for-profit zine as well.

Phase 1: The Planning

This might sound really obvious and maybe silly, but there are quite a few things that you should take into consideration before just starting a project that might overwhelm you easily. Don't already head off and create a twitter account before you haven't sat down and thought about these questions first!

First of all, you should think about the zine itself:

What topic/theme should it have?

If it is a fanzine: What ships/characters/... should be the focus?

What format does your zine have (printed/e-zine/both)?

What should be included in the zine? (Illustrations, comics, writing, photographs, ... all of them?)

How many contributors/pieces do you want in your finished zine? (especially important for printed zines)

Do you want to have additional merch, e.g. bookmarks, stickers, charms, postcards, ... , that people can purchase with your zine in a bundle?

How are the specs (how many pieces per creator/how long is one piece especially for writers)?

Is it a for-profit, charity, or free zine?

After you now have a vague idea of what you want, you need to think about competition as well if you're not having a free online zine.

How big is the fandom/target group of the specific zine you want to make?

How old are they and how likely are they to spend money on your zine?

Are there only a few, but very dedicated fans?

How many contributors can you gather from the fandom? How is the general quality of fanworks?

Are there other zines that are similar or maybe with the same topic/theme/focus and what sets your zine apart from them?

Are there other zines going around at roughly the same time with the same target group, and should you perhaps wait a little so people can afford your zine again?

Is it a thriving fandom on the rise or has activity already peaked? If no fanzine: Is your theme at the pulse of time, or has some accute relevance to a lot of people?

Especially on tumblr, there are a few blogs entirely dedicated to zines and specifically fanzines. If tagged accordingly, they'll reblog all kinds of posts about a zine, but mostly Call for Submission, Zine Schedules, and Preorder Announcements (we will talk about these later on.) It is really helpful to check those out, sometimes there are even blogs solely about one fandom's projects, so it gets watered down even more. You can also test waters through polls etc. if you have a loyal followership that might just buy your stuff because it has you in or on it. However, I don't really find those very reliable.

The next questions are mainly about the doablity of the zine for you:

If there is any kind of production costs, do you have funds to cover them if the zine doesn't sell well enough?

Do you have anyone you can trust/are friends with who is also enthusiastic about your topic that they can help you?

How do you want to split work? How much do you want to contribute to the zine yourself?

Are you ready to make the commitment to dedicate basically every free minute of your life for the next 6+ month on this project? Are you in a relatively steady environment where you don't need to handle moving, changing jobs, schools, whatever at any point during your zine work?

I highly recommend you to at least have one other person to do the organisation with you, preferrably are two or even more.

Please do not underestimate the workload you'll get, even if it doesn't seem much at first, you will write so many e-mails because you need to get back to your contributors for one thing or another, you need to make sure the files are all correct, if you have writers you need beta-reading while also putting the zine together and finding a good printing service and making sure everyone is on time. For the last 6 months, this zine was basically my job, because it is just that, just without a clear salary, or none at all.

The next thing is kind of working out a schedule, with the rough stages/phases zine creations usually have.

Application/Gathering Contributors You have the option between public applications where people just send in portfolios and you pick from those, or you invite contributors you think are interested in the zine and you would like to have in it. Sometimes, there are zines that do both, but it's rather rare. There are some zines (usually free e-zines) that accept literally everyone who applies, and while it creates an opportunity for lesser known creators and beginners to gain a little exposure and experience, it doesn't necessarily mean that the overall quality of content is consistent and what you want to hold in your hands. I had applications open for a bit more than a month since I was very eager and didn't establish any kind of excitement or build-up thereof until finally applications open, but generally it's very common to have a full month to gather applications. The minimum should be 2 weeks, though. Also, don't let yourself be blinded by the sheer amount of applicants, especially in smaller fandoms, top tier creators are rather rare and everyone tries to get into a zine about something they love.

Curating Contributors If you don't have an Invite Only zine, you'll have a very busy time ahead now: You need to look through hundred or more applications and filter who is a fit for your zine, and who is not. Bear in mind that you aren't only looking for quality of work, but also which creator's style fits your zine best. Especially if you have several disciplines in your zine (e.g. illustrations and writing), I only can recommend to split the work load according to your speciality. That way you work faster and more efficient. Give yourself at least 2 weeks, the bigger/more popular the fandom, the longer it probably will take.

Sending Acceptance/Refusal E-Mails After you chose your pick, you'll need to let people know who's in, and who is not. I would advise to send out acceptance letters first, since there will be first dropouts immediately after you finally agreed on them. As soon as you got everyone to confirm their participation, take those who barely didn't make it and put them in for pinch-hitters. You will be surprised how many you'll probably need along the way. After they confirmed that yes, they'll be pinch-hitters, send out the rejection e-mails. I consider it curtesy to send them because as applicant, you really want to know where you're standing. Calculate roughly 1-2 weeks for the e-mails because things just tend to drag along and people need a long time to respond.

Confirmations This usually only applies if you offer people to make collaborations. They need to be able to check out who else is in the zine, who is up for collaboration, whose style suits them best to collab with, test the waters with each other, and usually should come up with an idea, so again 1-2 weeks would be needed for that. However, if you have got your contributors confirmed and just need the backup and refusal mails, just set those deadlines parallel.

1st Draft Depending on how much you're already asking for, you might want them 1-2 weeks after the rejection mails went out (if you really just want to know what kind of ideas people got), or up to a month if you want first sketches/summaries. The first draft is also helpful to see if two people got the same idea, and you can steer people a little bit into the "right direction."

2nd Draft Usually this is where at least 50-75% of the work should be done if you don't take a 3rd draft. Most common are 2 Drafts and the endproduct. Give people at least a month between 1st and 2nd Draft.

Final Draft This is when the finished pieces should be due. Depending on the time of the year, the contributors might be under a lot of stress, so set this deadline roughly 1 month after the 2nd Draft. You will be stressed, everyone else will be stressed, so give yourself the time you need. Also listen to your contributors and observe if there are a lot not cutting a deadline, then maybe push them back for another 1-2 weeks. It will make everyone more relaxed.

Touch-up Phase Especially with writers, you'll need at least 2 weeks to touch up the final draft they submitted.

Buffer Time (don't write that into the official schedule but definitely calculate with it) There will always be unexpected events that will require buffer times. You also will need time to put the zine together if you didn't work on designing the file beforehand while everyone else was creating. Still, you'll need to fix some things and polish the whole thing. Minimum buffer should be 1-2 weeks.

Contributor Preorders With printed zines, it is curtesy to give every contributor a printed copy of the zine for free with them only paying for shipping & handling. This kind of established itself as compensation for their work that usually ends up to be for free as most zines are either for charity or barely cover their production costs. To know who of your contributors even wants a copy, you should give them roughly 2-3 weeks to preorder. Having those exclusive orders helps you to divide between contributors and the regular costumer if you hold both at the same storefront.

Previews (+ Proofs) Before you're launching public preorders, dedicate at least 1 week to previews to get everyone hyped up. Contributors and the "official" zine site post excerps of zine pieces so people get an idea of what the feel of the zine is. If you already got proofs/samples printed until then, post pictures of those, too! If you don't post the link to the shop yet, there definitely wouldn't be a problem to have the previews start at the same time as the contributor preorders. That way, contributors also have the chance to get a glimpse at their peer's works.

Public Preorders Depending on how eager people are for your zine, you can leave preorders relatively short, but no less than 2 weeks if you don't get an insane amount of orders within the first couple of days. People must be able to check out prices and get their paycheck before preorders close again. Some zines have a stacked preorder system where the first X orders are cheaper, and then there will be leftovers or a second phase of preorders after the first bulk has been shipped. However, this doesn't happen very often. If you don't have a hugely popular zine or are cutting way too close to any important deadlines, consider having 3-4 weeks of preorders.

Production As soon as you got your numbers from the preorders, RUN AND PURCHASE EVERYTHING. Depending on where you get your zines printed (also don't forget the optional merch on this!), you can be ready to go within a week or even more than a month. Calculating with roughly 3 weeks if you're getting your stuff from mostly national level is a good rule of thumb, however shit happens all the time anyway, so to be safe use 4-8 weeks. Let your customers know immediately if there are any delays that weren't planned.

Shipping Depending on how many orders you've got, shipping can be a hassle and most likely will take up one week or longer. Since domestic shipping is fastest, ship international orders first, that way customers don't have the feeling that they're forgotten.

E-Zine Currently, a common trend is to first get the physical copies sold, and then sell e-zines to gather more money and cover leftover production costs of the printed zine. Especially international customers and college students prefer e-zines because of the incredibly high shipping rates around the globe. E-zines aren't linked to any production at all after you got the file put together, so if you set up your storefront with the download, everyone simply downloads it. You can have those open as you like, common is anything between 1-3 month and even a whole year. If no money is involved at all, a lot of zines just exist as a permanent free download in a dropbox or other cloud, so this is the least complicated process.

Conventions Really, it's not necessary to put this up in the schedule, but thinking about it might be helpful. If you have a physical zine, you and some contributors might want to sell it on conventions, so offering them to buy a bulk to a smaller rate can be helpful to spread the zine's exposure. We handled this with "buying on commission" - mainly the contributor only pays for the printing costs + shipping, and later will pay part of the profit back to you. Especially with international contributors, be aware of the longer shipping time. Also reprints might take their time. I personally made it a rule to order the reprints 3 months before the con, and reprints can be made up until one year, but really, you don't need to do this.

After you've got your rough schedule, I would advise you to already gather information on how to produce and spread the finished zine. This also helps to know how much you should have in your backup fund for the zine.

For physical zines/merch

Check out printing services! compare prices and quality as well as product range, and find out how long production takes

Find an online storefront where you want to sell it if you don't have one yet

Research on conventions and fairs where you might sell the zine

Learn about shipping rates and which company is suited best for your purpose

For e-zines

Research on your options:

If it's free, what cloud-service are you most comfortable with?

Find a dowload hosting platform you're comfortable with that also lets you charge per download

Is a round-mailing an option? if yes, do your research on online storefronts as well.

Advertising + Web Presence

This is basically finding your social media where you want to spread the word and store all the information of your zine. It is common for a zine with multiple contributors and mods to have its own web presence.

Tumblr and twitter are very popular for this as tumblr basically is a quick-for-setup homepage where you can spread information incredibly fast if you get to the right people, you have the option to answer questions people have regarding your zine, and twitter is nice and handy to keep applicants and potential customers updated. Also think about where you've got a large following and can advertise the zine yourself. Twitter/tumblr is not required, but most definitely helpful.

If you yourself aren't very known or popular, try to get more influencial people interested in participating, or simply promoting your zine. It definitely helps to have a larger audience. Also find out about the tags used by largely popular zines, and what you can learn from them. Learn how the fanproject blogs filter content they might reblog.

Things you also shouldn't underestimate is affiliations! If there is a zine/project with a largely similar forcus and theme, try to get on their better side, and help each other out. They might be your competition, but if you schedule your zine in a clever way, you won't need to worry about this at all since preorder phase won't overlap at all. They might help you advertise your zine while you do the same for them.

There are also forums on zines and fanzines, but I think nowadays it's rare that you'll go viral through those. I personally don't have any experience with those, so if anyone has, I'm happy to hear about it!

next >>

Masterpost

#inky rambles #zines #fanzines #fandom zines #fan zines #how to organize a zine 101 #long post #advice #art advice

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polizwrites · 6 years

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WIP Update - 5 June 2018

Time Out of Joint (Extended Remix) – @tisfan collab. Still a WIP in terms of posting -- It updates every Friday and we’re up to chapter 7 of 11 total. The Time Travel Shenanigans are in full swing, and the WinterIron is about to ramp up nicely...

2018 WinterIron Spring Fling: I posted Wait and See (if it’s the best you ever had) - a 5 chapter, 10,324 word story to the collection and it is now available. This was a fun fic to write, and ended up being a mix of a stripper AU (the prompt from my giftee) and coffeeshop AU with some identity porn thrown in for fun. It also features a genderfluid!Tony - I got some great feedback & advice from some WinterIron Discord folks on my portrayal, along with @godaof221b. The fic is rated Mature for eventual smut, tho the bulk of the fic/main story is Teen-rated.

The Tony Stark Bingo 2018 Challenge! is a go! I posted my first fill Yet - never - in Extremity and will post the second fill I've got finished (2179 words) probably tomorrow. This gives me K1 and S5 (2 corners), and I've got my next prompt about 3/4 done - 1563 words so far, with two different ideas for K5. Combined with something I've already got sitting in my WIPs folder (meant to be a multi-chapter fic, but stands alone decently enough) for the center free space, I think that will be my first bingo. Another square is in progress as well (A5 - 1295 words) with ideas for six or seven more, including a possible Cyrano de Bergerac AU that @tisfan, @27dragons, and @sadieb798 are being enablers for. :^D The Tony Stark Bingo collection over on Ao3 is up to 29 works and covers multiple pairings and ratings -- go check it out for some amazing fics!!! @tisfan did an awesome job of putting together this project and deserves tons of kudos!

The Rumlow POV remix of By Their Bootstraps (the de-aged Avengers fic I posted earlier this month) is still a semi-active project, tho I need to figure out how much detail I want to go into to get it caught up to cover the same events. It is still sitting at 4980 words and I may try to squeeze it into the Tony Stark bingo as well.

Speaking of Bingos - the WinterIron Bingo Adventure 2018 is a new challenge that just opened up yesterday and will run through the rest of the year. Hosted by @phantomas67, you can request a card at their Tumblr url or via email: [email protected]. There's also an AllBingo thread: https://allbingo.dreamwidth.org/107213.html I got my card and am looking forward to putting something together and posting to the Ao3 collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Winteriron_Bingo_Adventure/profile

The following WIPs have gotten pushed to the back of the desk, but are still on the list. HINT: if any of these pique your fancy, let me know and maybe they'll move up the list a bit....

The Shield Split Asunder (sequel for To Shield from the Storm) I’m not sure when this will first see the light at the moment… leaning towards late summer at the earliest. The fic will be Steve POV and stick as close to canon as I can make it. I have the first two scenes roughly sketched out - tho I may rethink the starting point to get some Stony scenes in before they get split up by Events.

Carry On, Wayward Sons: Holding on the draft of Chapter 3 until I get some more work done. The intent is still to match it up with the other StarkQuill/StarkLord piece I threw together awhile ago. This may get a bit of a push from one of the Tony Stark Bingo fill ideas I'm rolling around in my head -- stay tuned!

The Subtle Briar – Still nothing new - other projects are demanding my attention. However, @sadieb798 is now onboard as a cheer-reader, so this may get some traction after all.

I should prob go look at the @imaginetonyandbucky prompts at some point as well. There's also a MCU Rolling Remix challenge that sounds interesting - with 2018 signups possibly coming soon.

As always, any words of encouragement on these projects would be greatly appreciated!

#Writing Stuff #FanFic #WIP Update #MCU/Marvel #WinterIron #time travel shenanigans #Tony Stark #de-aged!Avengers #Stony #Peggy Carter #bingo fills #Shameless Self Promo

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foxesandferrets · 7 years

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Under an Umbrella

This is a collab piece for @ainudraws’ 31 Day Art Challenge Day #6! You can go see her lovely lovely art here! (And check out her other inktober pieces!)

I had a lot of fun writing this (when I saw the sketch I was like GWAAAH!) so I hope you like it!

(p.s. you guys should keep an eye out for more collab pieces coming soon ;))

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The sound of the rain hitting the classroom window rings out like an assault rifle, a militarized attack on Hinata’s fun. He frowns at the wavering view of the schoolyard through the water streaming down the glass, everything soaked and gloomy in the gray darkness, washed of all color and happiness. Nothing fun ever happens on rainy days, at least not at school. At home he can wrap himself and Natsu in thick plastic yellow coats and rubber boots and head outside to splash in the mud until she starts to shiver and they head in and argue over who gets the first warm bath. He always lets her win, but the arguing is the fun part. At school, though, everyone is forced to stay inside, keeping safe, dry, and bored out of their minds.

“At least volleyball practice won’t be cancelled,” Hinata sighs, turning to Yachi sitting across the desk from him.

Yachi looks up from her manga and smiles, nodding. “See? The rain isn’t all that bad. And in the few days everything will be so green and pretty outside.”

“And muddy, so we’ll have to run in the gym.” Hinata slumps down, dropping his chin onto the desktop.

“It’s not so bad. Cheer up, everything will be back to normal soon.”

Hinata sighs, unhappy with how much of a damper the weather has put on his usually cheery mood. He feels like a plant, growing weaker and crankier by the second from the lack of sunlight.

Yachi turns back to her manga, and Hinata squints at the pink cover littered with sparkles and cherry blossom petals. He wrinkles his nose at the boy and girl on the cover. He’s never understood what girls found so interesting about shoujo; there’s no action, no volleyball, and the girls are uninteresting. Though, Hinata has never been particularly interested in girls in general.

“Oooooh, does Yachi have a cruuuush?” Hinata asks, lifting his head and wiggling his eyebrows. Yachi immediately goes scarlet, shoving the manga under the table.

“What? No! Of course not, this is just a really good series,” she tells him, refusing to look him in the eye.

“Let me see!”

“Shouyou!” She yells, but she’s not quick enough to stop him from reaching under the desk and snatching the manga.

He flips it open to a random page, squinting at the boy and girl fro the front cover standing beneath in front of their school. The girl is small and blonde, just like Yachi, and the boy is tall with dark hair and glasses, a mole near his mouth making him almost look like a boy version of Kiyoko. Yachi reaches to take it back but Hinata easily keeps it away from her, one of the only people he knows with shorter arms than his. He flips forward a few more pages, where the girl steps out into the rain without her umbrella, and the boy rushes to share his so she won’t get wet.

Hinata frowns again, he can’t even escape the rain in the fake shoujo world. The girl stands close to the boy, commenting on how warm he is, and Hinata suddenly remembers a time at the training camp when he woke up late at night closer to Kageyama than either would have voluntarily been when awake, but all his sleepy brain could make sense of was how warm the other boy was. Suddenly blushing, Hinata shoves the manga back towards Yachi, folding his arms and looking away.

“Whatever, take it. It’s boring anyway.”

Yachi takes it and puts it in her bag, dropping her burning face into her hands.

“That’s not real, is it?” Hinata asks, and Yachi shoots him a quizzical look. “I mean, people don’t really act like that, do they?” “Hm, I’m not sure,” Yachi replies, shrugging. “One time Kiyoko let me borrow her jacket to walk home when I forgot mine. I’ve seen things like that in manga before.”

A brief image flashes in Hinata’s mind, of Kageyama standing close, that same feeling of warmth pressed to his side, heavy raindrops falling all around them but not touching them. He shakes his head, forcing the thought away. What is he? A lovesick sitcom protagonist? He has other things to worry about than dumb tall boys with pretty blue eyes, like volleyball and meat buns. Things that matter.

The image sticks, though, no matter how hard Hinata tries to force it away, lasting all through practice and causing him to stumble a few times and miss tosses when he looks at Kageyama. He even contemplates taking a volleyball to the face to clear his thoughts, though he’s tried that before and it never managed to work.

“Hinata! Watch out!”

Hinata turns towards Daichi’s voice, but the words don’t register fast enough, and a volleyball lands hard on the top of his head, knocking him down. There’s a flurry of footsteps and shoes squeaking on the gym floor, the team appearing around him.

“I’m sorry! I misjudged my serve!” Yamaguchi apologizes, while Suga presses softly on the tender spot on Hinata’s head.

“Is your vision blurry?” He asks, while Daichi lifts Hinata into a sitting position.

“No, I’m fine. It wasn't that hard, really.”

“How many fingers am I holding up!” Noya calls out, holding up all ten fingers while Tanaka adds another handful to the side.

“You know, if he has a concussion and falls asleep he’ll die,” Tsukishima says bluntly.

“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi gasps, glaring at him.

“Shut up, he won’t die,” Kageyama says, finally wandering over to the rest of the group.

“You never know.”

“Tsukkiiiii!”

“I don’t think you have a concussion, but you should sit out for the rest of practice,” Suga tells Hinata, smiling gently in that way only moms should be allowed to do.

“Awww, but I-,”

“Suga’s right, rest for a while,” Daichi interjects, voice stern but caring. “Why don’t you head to the clubroom and change?”

“Yeah, fine,” Hinata grumbles, thankful to have a team that cares about him but feeling as if this day is just getting worse and worse. Volleyball practice was the one thing he was looking forward to, and now he can’t even finish that.

It’s all because of this rain, he tells himself as he makes his way to the clubroom, sticking his tongue out at the dark gray clouds hovering over him so close it's suffocating. If it weren’t for the rain he wouldn’t have seen Yachi’s manga, and he wouldn’t be having dumb thoughts about Kageyama acting like a proper shoujo boy, and right now he’d still be playing volleyball and everything would be fine.

Hinata changes quickly, grimacing at the way that everything in his bag seems to be slightly damp and cold, the rain water that found it on his way to the gym sinking in and pressing wet fingers to everything inside. He shivers as he slips a shirt on, his jeans snagging against his skin as he forces his legs in. At least his hoodie survived, adding a fraction of warmth and comfort, though not as much as the Kageyama daydream.

He shakes his head again, groaning loudly. “C’mon, Shouyou, pull it together!”

He fishes his umbrella from his bag, making to leave and get home early to spend the evening moping on his bed, when an idea strikes him. The only real way to combat a problem is to face it head on. Tanaka and Noya taught him that, and they haven’t failed him yet. If it’s a shoujo scene he wants, then it's a shoujo scene he’s going to get, and hopefully then things can return to normal.

Practice should be ending soon, so Hinata acts quickly. He steps outside, looking around to make sure no one is watching, and flings his umbrella with all of his strength, watching it glide through the rain and land heavily with a splash on the roof of the club room. Well, that’s one way to get rid of it, though he’s sure he’ll regret it next time it rains.

The gym doors open, laughter reaching Hinata’s ears through the sound of rain, and he quickly retreats back inside, positioning himself nonchalantly on the floor. When the rest of the team files in he pretends to dig through his bag, painting a concerned look on his face.

“Everything okay, Hinata? Are you feeling better?” Suga asks, kneeling beside him.

“Yeah, I’m fine Suga, I just can’t find my umbrella,” he says, speaking loudly on purpose to make sure everyone hears him. “I must have left it at home this morning.”

“I saw you with it earlier. The cute green one with the froggy eyes,” Yamaguchi pipes up from his other side, and Hinata’s cheeks flare red.

“No, I was just holding that for a friend! Besides, my umbrella is way cooler than that,” he laughs nervously. Yamaguchi knits his eyebrows together, confused, but doesn’t comment further.

“Well, maybe someone can share with you for part of the walk home,” Suga suggests. “We don’t want you getting sick after all.”

Yes, this is all going according to plan! “Yeah, sure, I’ll ask someone.”

After everyone is dressed the team leaves together, walking the familiar path towards Ukai’s store. Hinata hangs back, walking close to Kageyama but trying to seem casual.

“Where’s your umbrella?” Kageyama asks him, as if he hadn’t heard the conversation in the club room at all. Though, knowing Kageyama, he probably hadn’t.

“I forgot it this morning,” Hinata sighs, trying to look cute and pathetic. His mother always said he had good sad puppy dogs, so he might as well use them to his advantage.

“Dumbass. Didn’t you see the forecast?”

“Yeah, but I was in a hurry and left it by the door.” He shoves his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, kicking at a puddle of water.

“Don’t get sick. I need someone to hit my tosses.” And with that, Kageyama keeps walking, his long strides leaving Hinata behind. His jaw drops open, starting to shiver as the rain water soaks through his hoodie and touches his skin. He was so sure that would work, but now he’s cold and wet and even more upset at the rain than before.

“I am a dumbass,” he mumbles, ducking his head and continuing on his path. The rest of the team is far ahead of him now, but he doesn’t care, he wants to be alone to wallow in his failure. He hopes he catches a cold, he deserves it.

By the time he passes the store the rest of the team is already gone, and he doesn’t bother going in, knowing they bought all of the meat buns. He keeps walking, when a flash of blue to his side stops him.

Suddenly the rain stops, or at least it stops just over his head, and a warm arm slinks around his side.

“You’re soaked, dumbass. What were you thinking?” Kageyama’s voice is in his ear, and Hinata doesn’t know what to do or say, frozen as his mental image comes true, though not quite in the way he’d pictured it. Kageyama must have been waiting for him here. The thought makes Hinata’s heart flutter. “Here. I got you this.”

Kageyama holds out a bag with a meat bun, and Hinata silently takes it. There’s a bite taken out of it, but he can’t formulate the words to comment on it. He’s almost too shocked to even eat. Almost.

“I...I forgot my umbrella,” he mumbles around his stuffed cheeks, the food restoring his ability to speak.

“I saw it on the club room roof. The green frog one,” Kageyama says, starting to walk again and pulling Hinata along with him.

“No, that’s not-,”

“Yes it is.”

There’s a pause as Hinata’s brain frantically searches for an excuse, but he can’t think clearly enough, his entire mind focuses on Kageyama’s chest pressed against his shoulder and the hand resting on his hip.

“Alright fine, yes it is.” He looks up, meeting Kageyama’s eyes that seem to shine a brighter blue in the gray of the rainstorm, and he swears he sees a hint of a smile pull at the corner of his lips.

He doesn’t question him further, and Hinata is grateful, finishing his meat bun in the silence.

“You’re a dumbass,” Kageyama says, pulling Hinata a fraction closer, the wetness of his hoodie seeping into his jacket. “You’re going to get sick.

“You could’ve offered to share with me earlier,” Hinata replies, unable to stop himself from smiling.

“It’s not my fault you ‘forgot’ your umbrella. What is this, a shoujo manga?”

Hinata’s face burns, warmer than Kageyama’s touch. “No, of course not. Who reads those anyway?”

Before Hinata knows it they’ve reached his front door. He was so engrossed in the scene, in Kageyama’s warmth, that he hadn’t realized how long they’d been walking or where.

“You didn’t have to bring me all the way home,” Hinata says, feeling immediately cold as he steps up to the door, fishing his keys from his bag.

“Like I said, if you get sick I won’t have anyone to hit my tosses,” Kageyama shrugs, starting to turn away.

“Hey!” Hinata calls after him, not sure why or what to say. “Uh..thanks. For coming to my rescue.”

Kageyama doesn’t reply, just waves goodbye before continuing on his way home. Hinata watches him go, growing smaller and smaller on the horizon before turning and disappearing completely.

The raindrops seem different somehow, lighter and less assaulting as they patter against Hinata’s window that night. He lays awake listening to them like music, the walk home replaying over and over in his head like a happy movie. Maybe if he’s lucky, the rain will last a few more days, and Kageyama’s warmth will last even longer.

#kagehina #haikyuuwriters #haikyuu!!#haikyuu!! fanfiction #inktober #mari writes #mari collabs #seriously go check out Ainu's art!!

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