Apply here!

• Writer
• Spot Artist
• Page Artist
• Merch Artist
• Cosplayer

AboutA zine about the Kage of the Elemental Nations, be they past, present or future.
We're aiming to have a good spread of all the different Kage, in canon-scenarios (pre-Naruto, Naruto, Shippuden or Boruto), as well as AU or canon-divergent.
If the Interest Checks permits it, we're adding a NSFW-add on as well.

GUIDELINESWe’ll be working with a main zine, and two side zines. One will be NSFW and one will be AU.
Given the amount of answers to our IC we are aiming for a physical zine in a pay for production setting (no profit).General
Seeing as there is a NSFW add-on, we're looking for contributors of 18 years or older.
As the theme of the zine is Kages, we expect your piece to revolve around them (added side-characters or pairings are at your own discretion).
Applying with Naruto (fandom) pieces is preferred but not a requirement.
You will be expected to make something entirely new, no reusing old works.
We also won't allow any copied, stolen or AI-created art/fics.The main Zine will feature canon settings and can feature canon pairings (Minato/Kushina, Raza/Karura,...) however it all has to be SFW, without any explicit scenes (sexual or gore). Canon typical violence is allowed.The first side zine will be the AU one, or Alternate Universe one, this one can feature a canon setting with a different Kage (Madara instead of Hashirama, Temari instead of Gaara or Roshi or Han taking over from Oonoki for example). It can also feature a modern setting, high school or everyone lives, no one dies.The second side zine is for NSFW content, meaning everything overly gory or explicitly sexual. This can be in both a canon or an AU setting. Given that it’s a NSFW zine, but not a Dead Dove one, we will only be allowing pairings where all characters involved are 18 (or older). Large age gaps are allowed, as long as all characters are adults..
Anything that leans towards dead dove territory (incest, non-con, dub-con, etc…) will not be allowed.Page Artist
Page artists are expected to create 2 separate art pieces.
These can be single page (vertical orientation) or spread page (horizontal orientation).
Examples for page art could be: Scenery focussed art, character focused art, comic or manga-strip style pages, or scrapbook/polaroid-pinboard style pieces. Other ideas are also welcome.Pieces have to be provided to us in CMYK colours, fully rendered with background.We expect either;
One page art for the main zine, and one page art for a side zine (can be both)
Two page art for the main zine
Two page art for a side zine (or one for each side zine)
One page art for the main zine, and a paper/printable merch (print, bookmark, poster, pc background or phone background)
If you feel inspired to draw more, additional pieces are always welcomeWhen applying, please link your 3 - 5 best pieces in a format we can open (social media links, Gdrive or OneDrive links with permissions on viewing) so we can get an idea of your art style. Links we can't open won't be counted and anything less than three example pieces will mean you will be disqualified.Our choices will be made based on:
- Characterization
- Shading, color theory
- Backgrounds
- Basic knowledge of anatomySpot Artist
We're expecting you to add art to at least two of our writer's pieces. This can be done by up to 3 smaller pieces throughout the fic or a header and a footer piece.
Pieces have to be provided to us in CMYK colours in full colour.When applying, please link your 3 - 5 best pieces in a format we can open (social media links, Gdrive or OneDrive links with permissions on viewing) so we can get an idea of your art style. Links we can't open won't be counted and anything less than three example pieces will mean you will be disqualified.Our choices will be made based on:
- Characterization
- Shading, color theoryMerch Artist
We're expecting you to create two pieces of merch, to be discussed with the mods.Ideas for digital merch: printables, emotes or pc/phone backgrounds.
Ideas for physical merch: buttons, keychains, sticker sheets, stickers...Pieces have to be provided to us in CMYK colours in full colour.Please provide a portfolio with a minimum of 10 art pieces. 5 (or more) should be previous merch designs, the rest can be general art examples, as long as they are finished pieces (no sketches or WIPs).This can be a GDrive folder (or similar site like Dropbox/Sta.sh), a Google Slides presentation or a portfolio site (eg. Art Carrd, DeviantArt, ArtStation, Cara, Instagram, Tumblr art tag, Twitter/BSKY Media Tab provided it only contains your art). Please make sure that viewing permissions are enabled/that your profile is set to public and can be viewed without having an account. Links we can’t open/view will lead to automatic disqualification.Our choices will be made based on:
- Characterization
- Variety of art styles
- Variety of previously made merch piecesWriter
We're expecting you to create two fics of about 2000 words. One for the main zine and one for a side zine (you can create three fics if you feel so inclined).By the theme of the zine, the pieces should either be in the POV of a Kage or the POV of someone else about a Kage.
Pieces have to be provided to us in a sharable format, so Gdrive or OneDrive.When applying, please link your 3 - 5 best pieces in a format we can open (AO3 links, social media links, Gdrive or OneDrive links with permissions on viewing) so we can get an idea of your writing style. Links we can't open won't be counted and anything less than three example pieces will mean you will be disqualified.Our choices will be made based on:
- Characterization
- Length
- Depth of the storyline
- ability to tell a story within the given word count limitCosplayerYou’ll be expected to take 3-5 pictures for the mods to choose from.
We encourage cosplayer to create new cosplays or cosplay assets (eg. accessories or other props) for the zine, but you are also allowed to reuse already existing cosplays.
We only ask that all pictures submitted for the final zine are new and taken during the course of the project, in a setting that is approved by the mod team.
The cosplay is allowed to pre-date a character’s time as a Kage.When applying please give us your portfolio of previous cosplays and a short summary of what was made and what was brought. Deliver this to us in a format we can open (socials, Gdrive, OneDrive, Dropbox... with viewing permission on).Our choice will be made based on:- Commitment to the original design (if AU please add a reference)
- Overall picture/costume quality

ScheduleIC October 10th - November 10th 2024 Extended until December 10th
Mod Apps November 1st - November 30th 2024
Apps January 10th - February 15th 2025
Acceptance mail - February 21st 2025
Deadline to enter server - February 28th 2025
Pitch submissions - March 10th
Pitch distribution - March 20th
Check in 1 - March 25th (rough idea + contact between writer & spot artist)
Check in 2 - April 20th (25%)
Check in 3 - May 20th (50 %)
Check in 4 - June 20th (75%)
Check in 5 - July 20th (100%)
Final check in - August 20th (ready for formatting/print)
PO/Downloads - October 10th

Dates are relative and can be subjected to change.

Will this be a digital zine?
We're not sure yet, we're waiting for the Interest Check to see if there is enough interest to get a physical one.What's the difference between a physical and digital zine?
A digital zine will be free, and will be downloadable at the end of the project.
A physical zine, and bundle, will be printed/produced and will be shipped to your home address once everything is over and done with.Do I need to have Zine experience?
No, but working under a deadline is needed so any experience with it is greatly appreciated. This does not need to be with a zine, an event, your own timing or even IRL-experience adds to that too.I never published any of my art/writing, can I still apply?
Of course, as stated a link to Gdrive or OneDrive is just fine. We will never share or use that which has been send to us.I'm not 18 yet, but I will be by the time applications end, can I join?
Yes, you can. However, you have to be 18 by the time you enter the Discord Server (deadline is Feb 28th 2025).What will the price be?
We're waiting for the IC to decide that, if this isn't a physical one the price will be free. If it is a physical one prices can range from $20 to $75 depending on the bundle/size.I only ever watched one part of Naruto/Boruto, can I still apply?
Yes, you can. We're hoping for a spread over the different possible Kages (pre-canon all the way to Boruto), so this is fine. Be warned that there will be spoilers involved though.What counts as Kage?
So as Kage we're counting those who have officially recognized as Kage. A list can be found here. However, we're also counting those who could have been Kage's such as Nagato of the Akatsuki and Mifune of Tetsu no Kuni. We're also counting shinobi who could have been Kage (like Uchiha Madara or Killer B) in our AU side zine.