#imaginarystormz

[cyberdragoninfinity]

For the character meme I’d love to know your thoughts on Trey Arclight so far!

TREYYYY ;__;

favorite thing about them: sobbsss i love him so much i think hes my fav of the Arclights (which is a hard pick as it is, I love all of 'em). I just love that he's this very sweet kid but also, like the rest of his family, A Little Bit of a Freak. And I'm also just a major sucker for characters who are devoted to their family for better or worse, that shit makes me go WILD!!! he just wants his family to go back to how it was and for everyone to love each other again and he was willing to do a murder-suicide over it....GOD. 😭

least favorite thing about them: i want. to like his chronomalies so bad. because the concept is really cool. but when so many of them are like "this is a piece of ancient indigenous artwork From Real Life but it's like a weeEEEIrrrrDDD extra-dimensional time-displaced thinggg!!! Where'dddd this come from ooOoooOOO!!!" I'M A LITTLE LIKE 😬 I DONT KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE CHIEF. I DONT KNOW ABOUT THE LITTLE WHITE BOY HAVING THIS ONE CHIEF.

favorite line: can't speak for the sub but I think a lot "it's your family. they give you power. it's not the same with me. my family is different than yours." a LOT. he's so upset when he says it and it makes me want to explode!!! KIDDO ;_;

brOTP: wahhh his dynamic with his brothers!! Especially with Quattro, I love yugioh siblings and these guys just knock it out of the park. I love the concept of this little pink macaron of a kid getting along all things considered very well with his maniac older brother. Their Duel Links interaction dialogue is so good.

OTP: not sure if I have one really, I'm not terribly interested in ships with zexal's younger cast..... trey/yuma is pretty cute though. Activating each others' special interests in yuma's point and click adventure game of a room.

nOTP: if you ship him with his brothers i will beat you to death ❤

random headcanon: autistic little guy perhaps headed towards some Gender in the future. Has 600 hours in like. Civilization V. Likes fancy iced coffees.

unpopular opinion: i dont even know what zexal opinions are unpopular or not. i guess i like 'Trey' as a codename better than 'III' but I'm also Dub Name Liker Extraordinaire

song i associate with them: SOBS I DONT HAVE ONE FOR HIM YET though im only halfway through zexal...takes me a while to simmer on songs for ygo guys i like. im certain I'll find one for him in the future.

favorite picture of them:

this one i think..... im so continually bowled over by how cool Zexal's lighting is. Also his sickass armor he had in his duel with Yuma RULES and I love his little smirk here <3 unwell 15 year old <3

[pocketsonny]

For the character ask meme: 2, 8, 14, and 16 for Ryoken and 18, 24 for Jin! :D

Ryoken! <3

2) When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

It's so hard to pin-point THE moment...like, I always liked him but I think with his face reveal I started to really like him JKASKJD I'm weak for white haired pretty boys okay! xD

But back in S1, I would've said my fave was more Yusaku and Ai than Ryoken. As the series progressed tho, and I started to pick apart Ryoken's character more...as I wrote him...I just came to love him a lot!! And I kept going back to s1, and appreciating his S1 self more, analyzing his actions...now I can ramble for days about this guy. SO MANY LAYERS TO HIS GUILT!

8) Your favorite outfit of them

He wears the same blazer and ankles pants every day, what outfit KASKJD Okay listen this guy has 10 of the same outfit, he's stupidly practical, SOMEONE TAKE HIM OUT SHOPPING!!

I do really like his avatar looks tho, I'm a fan of 👽 S1 alien look, but his s2 avatar is very pretty as well (I'd say I like the color scheme of his outfit more in s2 more!).

I do think he'd looks sooo good in turtlenecks...

14) Best storyline they had

S1 storyline for Revolver/Ryoken is very solid, you can draw a lot about Ryoken's character and actions, his way of thinking at that time. I love to go back to it to pick his character apart. PLUS HE'S SO GOOFY BACK THEN, I love that (even though it gets sad when you think he got to have that much fun because he was gonna...sacrifice himself with the Tower and everyone else so like, he didn't care! fuck it! he can be terrible cause nothing will matter in the end! GAH o|-<)

THO I also love the storyline(? if it can be called that) he had with Soulburner/Their duels. I always wish we'd got more of them...like I know i'm biased cause I love the ship and them individually, but their final duel is SO GOOD!!

16) A childhood headcanon

HMM the one I'm thinking of right now is cute/sad: he learned a bunch of like, tricks? Or stuff that would impress potential friends he made, like yo-yo tricks or card tricks , small things that'd make him look cool LOL. but he never got to show anyone.... :''')

Also he read a lot about astronomy...he always liked stars.

Jin!! :D

18) How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

I think Jin was a bit of a shy kid, but cheerful back then. He was always going somewhere with Shoichi, holding onto the back of his shirt when he was scared...they played a lot together. Shoichi had other friends from his grade, but Jin struggled to meet other kids his own age, which made Shoichi spend so much time with him so he wouldn't be lonely :') Also partly what made him so protective from early on.

Jin also always liked reading a lot--he's very curious! Liked fantasy when he was younger, mystery novels...

24) What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

HMMM 🤔

I do have a HC to kinda work with canon's "all of jin's memories of the incident where deleted when lightning used that 1 LP". Because I think that's dumb BUT...what if what that made was just repress the memories.

Like. Jin is AWARE there's a gap in his memories. And he's aware Shoichi is hiding something from him--but he hasn't told him that. Because whatever it is, seems to make him brother terribly sad, even when he hides it.

Jin often has vivid nightmares that he doesn't know the source of, either. He hasn't told Shoichi--if some mornings he's particularly exhausted, it's because he stayed up reading again. Doing homework. Playing a game. He doesn't want to cause his brother any more worry, because while his memories are foggy, he does remember Shoichi caring for him for a long time, he remembers the care facility he stayed at, but he doesn't know WHY he was there. He's just pretending all is normal now.

It does frustrate him though that Shoichi won't talk about it, or tell him--he feels people around him know something he doesn't.

This something i want to write for Future Circuit but the biggest secret may be that when he heard about the L.I on TV, something tugged at him...and he may have started to investigate on his own about it, trying to piece things together. Part of him doesn't want to know what's behind those nightmares and visions--too afraid to really KNOW but he also hates how people seem to be keeping stuff from him.

THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT AKJSKJDS he may have other. smaller, more chill secrets like. secretly uses his parents credit card for gacha games--JK JK (but what if lol )

[aygozineproduction]

On this day 13 years ago, the Zexal anime was first aired in Japan! Thank you for all the joy and friends you've brought to all of us!

A special thank you to Mod @imaginarystormz for the wonderful artwork!

[larmegliamori]

Zexal Month, Week 5 Day 5: V for Victory!

@zexalmonth

And so, this Zexal Month has come to an end too. Time has really flown away this year, and for the first time I find myself wishing to have some more time to relax, create and admire what August has to bring.

First of all, thanks to my colleagues @pyrachan and @scattered-irises: it's always a pleasure working with you, and I really feel we make a great team together. ❤️ Even as an admin, I feel this year's theme put a really fun spin on the prompts and I am so glad we worked for it!

This year's Zexal month was filled with so many new faces (handles?) and I was so happy to see all the submissions! I gotta especially shout-out @raemanzu, @galaxygirl-katie27 and @imaginarystormz for their gorgeous art. Keep up the good work!

It's been a while ever since I last re-watched Zexal, but I feel another re-run is due soon for fanfic work. Anyway, the story and the characters have always had a dear place in my heart, and always will.

Thank you all for your service, and see you soon! ✨

-Mod Fla

[ygocookbookzine]

Introducing our new mod (and the creator of these spotlights) @imaginarystormz !!

[zxal]

For the character ask meme! 1, 2, 12, and 14 for Jin Kusanagi!

GGRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHH JIN

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I like jin because i went through almost all of vrains being like "this is pretty cool but i'm not particularly attached to anyone" and then the lightning reveal hit me like a truck (don't ask me why i was surprised when 1. i could do the math with how many lost incident kids were left and 2. it was obvious. whatever.) and it was like, yeah he was horrifically traumatized and used as a puppet, but he forgot about all the bad stuff that happened to him so he's fine in the end and i was like WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK? THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE'RE GOING WITH? and i've been unwell about it ever since ❤

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

MY ABSOLUTE FAAAAAAVORITE canon thing about jin is how he represents light (lightning) and yusaku represents darkness (ai). every fucking tiiiiime the light/dark dichotomy gets subverted like that i go a little nuts for it. how for yusaku darkness is comforting and protective and for jin light is harsh and blinding. how they're total opposites in the relationships they have with their ignises (igni?) and with their trauma. it makes me crazy (in a good way)

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

based on what little jin content i've seen i think I tend to hc jin as more of an asshole than other people do. like i see a lot of jin as this oblivious naive idiot and it just Does not compute to me. in terms of losing his memories, i don't believe for a second that all of that stuff is just gone, and even that aside i just like……………don't think jin is a very nice person. to be more specific I hc that jin has a lot of pent-up resentment about how he's treated postcanon and how everyone seems to be keeping things from him. not that every ignis is exactly like their origin but this IS the kid that lightning came from

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don't know much about fashion but i REALLY like this art by @imaginarystormz of scene(?) yusaku and grunge(??) jin :) EDIT: HEY I'M STUPID. THATS YOUR ART YOU DREW THAT! thank you for drawing that :)

for this ask game!

[thesilverlock]

∘✧ 9 people you’d like to get to know better ✧∘

Tagged by @/Cozymochi 🩵

➣ Tags

1. Three ships: Pierce🗡️ bc it’s thEIR YEAR! And then ofc Golden⚜️. And Tainted. 2. First ever ship: Oh God. It was something like Ben+Summer (the playable protags) from the Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs game😭 3. Last song: Bless Me by 6LACK 4. Last movie: The Secret of Nimh 5. Currently reading: Re-reading Six of Crows, gotta immerse in the youth-running-mafia aesthetic for ,,,👀 reasons. 6. Currently watching: Almost strictly youtube content? Haven’t been able to re-subscribe to my streaming services, so am a bit out the loop show-wise :< 7. Currently consuming: Mist's episodes. Studying them for ,,,👀 stuff. 8. Currently craving: a second dose of coffee 9 people to Tag: @/pallotdip, @/oddberryshortcake, @/imaginarystormz, @/scattered-irises, @/forhope, @/cyberslasharpie, @/itsana004, @/tilldusk, @/husbandomail

Only if you wish to! And also any who sees and wishes to! 🩵

[merryfortune]

For the ship meme, either zinnia or daybreak if you’re feeling it!

Zinnia

who is more likely to fall asleep on the couch

its pretty evenly matched

who makes meals and who is more likely to hoard take-out menus

Aoi does both but Miyu is lazier and loves her takeout

who gives nicknames

Miyu

favourite non-sexual activity

karaoke came to mind but i like to think Miyu is part of an athletics/sports/swimming club at her high school and Aoi’s a supportive gf when Miyu’s allowed to have guests at her meets and stuff

who leaves notes for the other to find

neither?

who crosses the street to pet a cute dog

Miyu. she has no impulse control.

who takes notes on the other’s favourite foods and makes sure the fridge is stocked

Aoi but it’s not hard. Miyu loves, like, everything

who apologizes first after a fight

they both try to do it first but more often than not, Miyu

who is more protective

Aoi

who says “I love you” first

Miyu!!

Daybreak

who is more likely to fall asleep on the couch

tempted to say its evenly matched but Jin likes to be Comfy so it’s Yusaku lol

who makes meals and who is more likely to hoard take-out menus

they both live off Shoichi’s cooking

who gives nicknames

neither

favourite non-sexual activity

cuddling/sharing blankets. jin’s a total cuddle bug

who leaves notes for the other to find

neither but I can kind of imagine Jin doing it

who crosses the street to pet a cute dog

Jin does and Yusaku is thankful because his introversion/anxiety makes it difficult but yay for Jin’s bizarre impulse control

who takes notes on the other’s favourite foods and makes sure the fridge is stocked

neither lol

who apologizes first after a fight

its mixed; it really depends but more often than not Yusaku since I perceive Jin as slightly more passive so Yusaku does it so Jin doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable trying to do it first

who is more protective

Yusaku

who says “I love you” first

Jin does

[incorrect-vrains-quotes]

Maybe 2, 4, 6, and 29 with safeshipping for the otp meme? :D

2. Who is the big spoon/ Who is the little spoon?

Shoichi is the big spoon and Akira is the little spoon.

4. Who wakes the other one up with kisses?

Shoichi wakes Akira up however, I would like to point out that Akira always kissed Shoichi good night 

6. Who would have really deep emotional thoughts at the middle of the night/ Who would have them in the middle of the day?

Shoichi used to have them pretty much all the time so he’s had to train himself to have an excellent poker face so his thoughts don’t suddenly make it look like he hates the customer in front of them. Akira is during the night kind of guy; during the day its just depressing since he’s working and therefore all revelations are about the blight of capitalism and being a dog of the system and that’s, well, depressing

29. Who is the better cook?

gosh this is extremely difficult but I’m going to stick to my guns and say Shoichi because he’d be the one who’d make meal plans I prefer. Akira eats salad and its disgusting whereas Shoichi has a nice repertoire of various things you can do with meat.

- Mod Playmaker

[theassthatisguarded]

Morally Grey

You helped the hero's once, but only for money. And you sold them out later, but only to save your daughter from slavers. Your actions and motives are constantly contradicting, with no end in sight. Twitter and Reddit are divided in very different ways. Tumblr wants to eat you raw.

@doujinshi @hungwy @his-shining-tears @polararts @suppermariobroth @sarakipin @implodingpotato @imaginarystormz

I was tagged by @ex-supreme-archangel-gabriel but it seems the post is no longer rebloggable. So I’ve decided to start a new post!

What to do:

Post the results from this quiz.

Create yourself in this picrew. (or attach a drawing of yourself instead!)

Tag some friends!

I’ll start.

So Much Fanfiction

You have so, so much fanfiction, either because you're so shippable, or because you're hot. Maybe both. Probably both. You definitely flirt with everyone, either way. Tumblr and Twitter love you and showers you with queer headcanons. Reddit keeps a safe distance.

Thank you, for the tag Gabriel! I… well. we do seem rather popular online. and have had people meddle in our personal lives affairs so much so we have finally ended up together.

@thedemon-crowley , @the-angel-muriel , @imthebentley , @bentleysbeetle , @samael-your-guardian-angel , @asmodeus-fallen-principality , and anyone else who would like to join in! There’s no obligation to join in, I simply thought it was fun!

[blooming-blooming]

For the ask meme, maybe 20, 26, and 27 for whichever yugioh(s) you're feeling!

What is the purest ship in the fandom?Wishshipping probably wins it for the entire franchise tbh. It's so soft..... I love itMost shippable character?JUDAI YUKI. There are very few characters I can't at least /see/ potential for, even if I only actively ship a handful of them.Least shippable character?Prooooooooobably Kaiser, in terms of major YGO characters (bc there are a lot of easy answers with x villain or y oneoff). I like pre-canon - season 1 Idolshipping a lot, but I can't see their relationship going past that once Kaiser hits his slump.

[aygozineproduction]

KATTOBINGU! Zexal Zine Line Up!

Hartland City welcomes you to the most exciting event of the year, and we're honored to introduce our exciting and talented lineup! Come check them out!

ARTISTS:

@6amcoffe | @angeat | @bassomega | Cera | cinnamonconi | @cyberdragoninfinity | @imaginarystormz | Koko | @laststrix | madicham | MoltenGates | NiaLumin | Njike | @onegroovyrose | @popflythesky | @thesilverlock | @thetrainticket | @warchord | @zakurarain

WRITERS:

EvilBalwan | @pleuvoire | Sorrel | @darkxyzduelist

GUESTS:

@ayabit | jadenyugi9 | Kiya | @justanotherotakuandartist | RheaLightning | Rukuluc

OTHERS:

@borreloadsavagedragon [COSPLAY] | Veguito [COVER]

[seasaltmemories]

Sharing the Spotlight

Rating: PG

Summary:  Sawatari stands by his belief that there is only room for two entertainers at You Show.  With Dennis stealing away his rival, Sawatari is determined to prove that belief once and for all. For @imaginarystormz

There was a lot Sawatari had put up with to pursue a career as an entertainment duelist.  His father had almost blown a gasket when he had dropped out of LDS to enroll in You Show.  Leaving LDS meant losing out on a lot new cards, and dear lord had dealing with those B-list stars been painful at times too.  Still Yuya at least had potential.  His presence alone had made it bearable.  Getting to face and challenge his rival at any point kept his skills sharp in ways LDS had never been able to.

Still even that small advantage was slowly being taken away from him now.

When that Dennis fellow had arrived in Standard, Sawatari had found no reason for them to accept that traitor.  He had never felt completely comfortable about that Sora guy, and this one had been unstable enough to apparently card himself.  Still apparently Yusho knew him, so that was that.  He might have been able to tolerate at least having to see his face around occasionally if Yuya didn’t all of a sudden become so attached to him.

It just didn’t make sense.  Dennis was hardly flamboyant and showy anymore.  Sure sometimes he could put on a show for the younger students, but there was nothing he could do that Sawatari couldn’t.  It wasn’t like he was jealous of him for getting Yuya’s attention.  It wasn’t like his blood boiled every time Yuya brought him to a lesson with his arm hooked in the crook of Dennis’, smiling and laughing and doting on the pathetic traitor.  He wasn’t jealous of all.   He had just decided that Yuya might need some persuading on who the better entertainer really was around here.

“You want to do what?”  Yuzu shot him a wilting look once he proposed his idea.

“It can’t be that hard to pull off can it?”  He sighed in exasperation.  Neither of them were too fond of the other, but she had already managed to tolerate him for all these years as it was.

“I’m just not sure how well our decks will mesh together.”  She shrugged, but Sawatari couldn’t help but think there was more to it than that.

“If you’re worried about losing, then don’t.  I can carry the two of us perfectly fine, but I know they won’t accept unless it’s a ‘fair’ fight.”  He cupped his head in his hands with a nonchalant smile, waiting for his words to set in.  And oh, she tried so hard at first, but it was plain to see her competitive side was starting to grow heated.

“Don’t kid yourself Sawatari,”  Blue eyes hardened.  “I can handle it.”

“Then how about we challenge them before my Pendulum lesson to the kids?” “As long as it doesn’t cut into my Fusion one, then we’re good.”

“Alright,”  He walked away with a smug grin.  He couldn’t waste a second if he was to properly fine-tune the details of his deck.

The next day, Sawatari cut right to the chase.  As soon as Yuzu finished the last of her curriculum, he swung into action.

“Boys and girls, and students of all ages,  for your good behavior this week, Miss Hiragi and I will challenge Mr. Sakaki to a duel for you!”  From his position broadcasting the announcement to the entire school, Yuya appeared completely caught off-guard while Yuzu gave him that ‘I can’t believe this is really happening, but it is so you might as well go along with it,’ look.

“And that’s not all.  If I am defeated, then I pledge to take the entire class out for ice cream!”  He darted out of the room before he could observe the kids’ reactions, but when he joined the Yuya and Yuzu, their expression told enough.

“Well Yuya, are you going to disappoint your audience so?”  Sawatari couldn’t hold back the excitement in his voice.

“2 against 1 isn’t very fair, you know,”

“Oh, well you can pick a partner of your own,”  He tapped his chin as if pondering the subject.  “How about Dennis?  Or is he asleep at this hour?”

A quick yet painful glare from Yuya told him he had crossed the line with that conflict.  Thankfully before  he could start to feel real guilty about it, Yuya’s expression turned neutral.

“If he’s up for it, then I guess why not have some fun?”

The next five minutes were spent wrangling Dennis, preparing the tag duel, and making sure all the kids were there in one piece.  While they counted as students too, with the expanded Junior program, Mr. Hiragi requested them more and more to take on part-time teaching roles.  It wasn’t half bad if he was honest with himself (at least not when the kids weren’t crying).  Still Sawatari was too caught up in his dream of stardom to think about settling in a boring job like that.

Soon you’ll see up close why I’m destined for greatness, Yuya

The two teams took their sides and with a flourish of an arm, the duel began. Sawatari and Yuzu got off to a great start, bringing out their aces quickly.  Still Yuya and Dennis held their own.  It was to be expected.  Excitement took time to build, no use ending things too soon.  Sawatari kept adding more sparkles and pizazz as each turn proceeded, outshining Yuya’s and Dennis’ individually.  Frustratingly, Yuzu wouldn’t go along with the act at all.  When he complained about her not cooperating, she’d just give a tired sigh and insist she was simply doing things her way.

When she ended her turn once more, Sawatari was about to complain again when suddenly, a call came in on her duel disk.

“Hold up a second, while I take the call,”  She motioned to Yuya right as he was about to pendulum summon again.  “Yeah...Dad?!...wait a sec...alright I’ll be there,”  With that she took off her duel disk and began strolling to the exit.

“What are you doing!  We’re in the middle of a duel here!”  Sawatari couldn’t hide the panic bubbling up his throat.

“I got more important matters to handle than your jealous tiff.  I’m off.”

And like that, she was gone.

The duel didn’t last much longer after that.  As great as he was, 2 against 1 really wasn’t fair, and Sawatari’s deck wasn’t designed to handle multiple opponents.  He fought until the bitter end, but that annoyingly endearing phrase of Yuya’s sealed his fate.

“Are you ready?”  Dennis said with a smile brighter than usual.

“Mmhm, the fun has just begun!”  Yuya returned to him an equally intense one, and Sawatari tried to ignore the way his heart shriveled up.  “With that, Odd Eyes attacks you directly!”  Sawatari went flying as his life points hit zero.

So much for outshining them.

The defeat hurt more than the impact had.  All this time he had been chasing Yuya and he was still as far behind as usual.  Maybe Dennis really deserved to be his rival instead.

“Hey, you alright?”  Sawatari looked up to see Dennis approaching him, almost looking concerned.

“Considering I was just humiliated, no.”

“What for?  It was a good duel.”  He shot Sawatari a quizzical look.

In that moment, it occurred to Sawatari for the first time that maybe this competition was only one-sided.

“If you’re worried about paying for the ice cream, I can pitch in,”  Dennis offered his hand to help Sawatari up.

“Please, my father is the mayor,”  He sniffed and turned his face away.  Besides considering Dennis was still living with the Sakaki’s it was unlikely he had much cash of his own.

Still in the end he took Dennis’ hand.

“I guess you can repay me with a rematch later.”

After all, who said you could only have one rival?

[ygocookbookzine]

Here’s another one of our excellent artists, @imaginarystormz !!

[vrship-blog]

Hey! I was wondering what the best/most common smushname would be for Akira/Shoichi? I've been told a few different things, I just want to make sure I'm tagging right. The rules page says this is the place to ask. Thank you, and thanks for putting this blog together!

AkiSho and ShoAki seem to be being used about equally from what I can see - I’d suggest AkiSho out of those two, personally, since it reads back more easily even without the uppercase and is alphabetical.

[contrast-firestormzine]

A Post Mortem

From September 15th, 2019 until now, this zine took nearly three years to get out the door. This post will give you the summary as to why this happened, in part because I’m sure some people are wondering, and also as a warning to anyone who wants to do a zine and has not before! Don’t be me!

The tl;dr is to not do a zine solo... At least not without having participated in mod roles for other zines first. 

So when I started this project, I had a lot! of excitement! about VRAINS and TakeYusa and as someone who, in theory, has gotten through much more difficult life projects, I thought to myself that I could strongarm my way through a zine, how hard could it be to keep all the organizational ducks in a row, learn how to format a zine, make sure prose got edited, make sure art was the correct file types, get the book printed and do all of this in a timely fashion? I’ve made video games! This surely can’t be harder than that!

Boy howdy, this was WAY HARDER. For a number of reasons!

Firstly, I was very much in a position of not knowing enough to even KNOW that I didn’t know enough. Keeping track of as many moving pieces as this, I got overwhelmed, I freaked myself out and avoided the problem instead of asking for help. I could do it! I will do it tomorrow! Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow oh no, it’s been a month. 

I kept in touch sporadically with contributors, and ultimately did accept that I had a problem, and I had to do SOMETHING to get this out the door. So I hired a professional editor friend of mine to edit the prose to clean up grammar and all of that, and Erin (imaginarystormz) came to my rescue in so many different ways I owe her my LIFE. 

Erin was able to get the books formatted and ready for print, she made the digital versions, I had a printer recommendation from a friend so I got in contact with them, sent off the files... and ultimately stalled out several more times because they would ask me a question I didn’t have the answer to, and I would just shut down. 

Eventually, I get through this (Erin, again, to the rescue) and the books are ORDERED. I RECEIVE THE BOOKS. They are BEAUTIFUL. I have also ordered my bubble mailers at this point, gotten a postage scale, gotten everything ready to get these books shipped! At this point, I had enough sense to enlist the help of a local friend who was able to help me quality check the books and also help me put together the packages to ship out contributor copies.

If you are a contributor reading this and you HAVE NOT received your copy, please email mybloodtypeisc AT gmail DOT com at your earliest convenience and I WILL get you sorted out! 

So I ship out all the packages, the postal service decides to eat one of them, but as far as I can tell the rest of them all made them to their destinations. I post the above aside JUST in case. 

So now I just need to finish up the shop right? I just need to make the listing, I need to punch in a price, I need to punch in shipping information... and here we go again! I get overwhelmed and shut down and Erin has to fix it for me fo the fiftieth time. This was six months ago.

And then there’s like two things I have to do and my brain fails on me again, and here we are today! I finally did those tiny things!

It is ridiculous that it took me so long, even with help, to get this out the door. I can say that within the past few months, I was diagnosed with a mental health condition that explains not only my entire life, but also all my issues with this project in particular. So okay, I have an explanation, but it unfortunately does not allow me to go back in time and resolve this. 

In between all of this, there were of course Life Adventures as one has but really, 90% of this was me getting overwhelmed and shutting down and just handling it poorly. COVID certainly contributed to my stress, but that was only part of it. 

So if you’re reading this and thinking to yourself “Wow I don’t think I could ever trust Pachi to run another zine in any fandom” I do have good news: I am not going to! I severely underestimated the amount of work involved, and I am never touching another zine. I am never managing something like this again in general!

And to make sure these all get SHIPPED in a timely manner, I will be going to said local friend’s house each Saturday that I have any orders to get them packed up and RIGHT out the door. 

There’s not really anything else I can say. I felt bad about this the entire time. I feel bad about it now. I should not have done my contributors like this, and it will not be something that happens again. 

If you are thinking to yourself “I want to do a zine!” for the love of all that is holy and everything else, do not do it solo. You might pull it off, more power to you, but you’re more likely to just overwhelm yourself like I did and have 99 problems along the way. 

If you read all of this, thank you for your time! I don’t get alerts on the askbox here, so if you have any comments or concerns you want to make sure I see, please email mybloodtypeisc AT gmail DOT com.

Quick note on the price of the books

I have not pulled together the full details of that yet but I can quickly note that the books were a little over $1000 to print because of the fancy cover effect with the foil, there were 100 books produced, a small number of them were just dinged enough that I didn’t want to sell them. I paid for domestic and international shipping out of pocket for each contributor, and each contributor got two books. That leaves me with 70ish books to sell. The cost of each book is roughly $15 BEFORE I add in what I spent on shipping to contributors, packing supplies, editing, etc. 

So regardless of how many of these actually sell, buyers will get them at less than it cost to produce them when all is said and done. I do want to share the cost breakdown for educational purposes, but I didn’t want to delay things AGAIN by waiting until I had THAT done to do all of the rest of this.