My afterwords are long, rambly, and self-indulgent. This will not change here, if anything it'll be longer than usual, but let me start this off with the most important thing I can say:
Thank you all so much. I love you.
This has been a long, hectic, often beautiful, often painfully difficult year. Both for personal and farther reaching reasons, I've been stressed and hopeless at a lot of times, but I'm writing to you now from a place of a great about of optimism. I think I burned all my worry and stress, all I can do, and all any of us can really do, is live the best we can with our heads held high. No matter what life throws at you, I hope you can all do the same. That's why I want to thank you, and express just how much your readership has meant to me. You've helped make this year brighter than it otherwise would be, and you've helped me feel less alone in a world that often feels frighteningly cold. I can't despair at my own situation, or the world at large, when I know it is as full of warmth and joy as what you've all shown me since I began writing here.
So again, thank you all. I love you.
That's, I hope, fairly informative about what Rina's story is and what it's turned out to be over three volumes. A story about a woman who is so at the end of her rope that she doesn't care if she dies, who finds love, warmth, companionship, and a deep fulfillment in the company of others who love and care for her. Yes, this is mostly a silly story about a loser dog who wants to be bullied and humiliated, but I promise every feeling behind it was sincere. No matter how silly or embarrassing you might feel your own needs and desires are, we all deserve people who love and accept us the way everyone ultimately came to love Rina, be that as a pet, a moo cow, a spark of hope in a vulnerable time, prey, a rock, or a useless mutt. No matter what form Rina took, and no matter how alone and lost she felt, she was always cared for and loved. Nothing was ever hopeless for her, because I believe nothing ever truly is.
That's maybe high and mighty of me to say about a series that literally started from me sleepily thinking it'd be nice to be a succubus's pet, but here we are.
The truth is, this volume was a scary swerve for me. I knew what I wanted to do, I knew what story I wanted to tell, and I knew that it'd divide readers, in the end. I wish it didn't, I wish I could make something that makes everyone happy, but I can't, and chasing that would be impossible, so I decided to write what makes me happy, and hope that it makes others happy too. Still, this was a big shift in a lot of ways, leaving Rina outside of herself for much of the volume. Honestly, I got scared of the reception partway through. I knew some people were beginning to dislike what I'd done, and I got scared to check comments every week. I didn't need to, the words you all left were lovely and made me so happy, but if you noticed I slowed down on replies, that's why. Thank you for understanding. Beneath everything, I am tremendously anxious and shy, so to be met with love and kindness means the world.
To those of you who enjoyed it, and to those of you who tried but couldn't, thank you so much for reading. That I felt bold enough to take a risk like this shows just how much confidence and strength you've given me. I will carry that forward into everything I write.
So what's next for Rina? The truth is…I'm not sure.
I know that's probably disappointing, but I went into this third volume treating it as something of an endpoint. Rina and the others have reached a happy ending, they can walk forward together into a world that's rapidly changing, ready to face all of it the same way they always have: By bullying the mutt. Rina and the others are thriving, and in my eyes, always will.
That's not the end, I suppose. I don't want this to be an absolute-final-I-can-never-go-back ending, I want to be able to tell more stories with these girls, or at least do more with this setting, but right now, I'm satisfied. All I can promise is that when another story hits, I will write it. I can't not. Writing is my favorite thing in the world, and I will always persist.
But what's next for me? That I'm a little more concrete on.
I've got a new book that I'll start publishing sometime soon, early next year at the latest. It's a romantic comedy set in a world of demi-humans, mostly from within a house of dog-girls. There's less sex (right now), but I hope that if you liked my characters here, you'll love these girls. I'm very proud of them, and while that's one volume right now, I have plans for more in future. Additionally, I've written a gender-bender novel about a boy turning into a gyaru. I love it a ton.
Beyond that, though, is The Big One. An urban fantasy harem series with a cast of pervert girls and a sprinkling of action borne from my desire to write a cool, unbearably beautiful princely girl with a katana. It's fun, it's sexy, and every bit as personal as this ended up being. I am tremendously proud of it, and if it takes a while to go up, it's only because I am making sure that three volumes are completely written before I publish a word of it. Two of them are finished, and I am beginning the third as we speak. I've been working on this and fleshing out the core idea for years, and I'm so excited to be able to share it with you all. I am going to do everything I can to get this out next year. You have my word. I was diagnosed this year with severe ADHD that can greatly impact my productivity, so progress can be slow and difficult, but I will try my very best.
Also the gyaru gender-bender thing is technically a spinoff of it, so I'd better hurry lol. I have a lot of irons in the fire. They are all my precious children and I'm so excited to get them out in the world.
On a personal note, I've made it pretty clear for a while now that I'm broke. It sucks to feel like I need to do this, but I'll open a patreon in the coming here, probably with the start of that demihuman novel. There's no obligation to donate to it, but I've been waffling on getting one set up for far too long and I need to take this step for me. I want to keep writing with everything I have. If you can help with that, thank you so much. If you can't, that's OK. Thank you for reading my words, all the same. I hope they've given you some degree of warmth or comfort. If any of you want to talk further, despite my slowness with reading comments lately, please reach out. I'd love to talk with all of you.
At the end of this all, as self-indulgent as this has been yet again, I'll repeat what I've already said. You could argue I've said it too much, but I'll argue there's no such thing as too much in matters of sincerity:
Thank you all so much. I love you.
Wan wan~!