#Smallishzine asks

[smallishzine]

to all the people asking if we aren’t just actually Joel smallishbeans…no comment winky face emoji.

[smallishzine]

dude, now that joel's won, this zine is gonna be CRAZY with all the joel stuff we can create now!!!

Being crazy was already a requirement for a Joel zine. Also yes I’m typing in a calm and measured tone to hide the fact that I am exploding with joy and smug “I told you so”-ness. Hahahahahahahaha we won hahahahahahahaha. I can’t wait to draw a fanart for it and feel pretty proud of it, post it, and then immediately have my ego annihilated by all the more talented artists posting art this is gonna be gold.

[smallishzine]

do you have pronouns

Yes! He/him!

(I love this ask sm because it conjures the mental image of a group of adventurers happening across an eldritch horror, counseling extensively with each other, before eventually sending out a terrified party member to ask the monster: “do you have pronouns?”. If you were to ask me why I think of this, I would not be able to tell you, but nevertheless thank you op)

[smallishzine]

we received a question about shipping, so here is our answer: (there is also important zine info unrelated to shipping at the bottom of the post)

Yes, ship art/writing is allowed, *however*, this is still a zine dedicated specifically to Joel, so if you choose to incorporate that into your piece, it must:

Have Joel as the central focus of the piece

Have something in the piece contributory to the zine besides shipping

be entirely sfw. This goes for any piece anyone makes, keep it Family Friendly. You don’t have to make it, like, toddler safe, and you’ll have a lot more leeway in gore and blood and violence and arson and all that good stuff because it is Joel we’re talking about, but please take pity on the ace-spec minor modding this zine.

try your best to stick to c!Joel’s canon relationships. We’ll be polling about this later but current plan is for the zine to feature pieces dedicated to all the eras of Joel’s content creation as like the thing that our zine is. I don’t know if we’re gonna go as far back as mousyluvscheese, and we’re probably gonna focus on just his Minecraft content unless someone expresses specific interest in doing a piece for something he did outside of that, but yeah that’s currently the plan. With that in mind what I mean by stick to canon is basically with the current plan everything we make up will be based off of what’s already there, so if your ship requires you to retcon and rewrite then probably no. The one exception is probably Lizzie, if she was on the smp then you are allowed to ship them as romantically (or non romantically qprs and other aroacespec headcannons are totally okay) as you want. I’m not sure if I’m explaining myself well so if you want me to elaborate further then feel free to send in an ask.

also I know that everyone has different definitions of ship art so like if you make it with romantic intent but it could also be interpreted as platonic then you don’t even really need to ask if that’s okay (in terms of shipping we’re still gonna make you run your ideas by us before you start working) Also if it happened in canon exactly the way you depicted it, such as Real Life smp smallidarity, double life boat boys, or esmp2 mythicalbeans, then you’re also probably in the clear.

also!!! And this is extremely important even if you definitely aren’t planning on including shipping!!! The plan for what’s going in the zine is in no way set in stone, it’s just a starting place to work off of right now, if you guys wanna do something else then fine by me! However, if the idea gets more difficult/complicated, then I’m gonna need your guy’s help to pull it off. If you wanna tell a complete story, like hotguy comic zine did, I’d love too!! But I’d need you guys to help come up with the story and write it and stuff, as I’m rather incompetent at most things. It was probably a bad idea to put me in charge of this thing. If you wanna make an in universe art book documenting a specific thing Joel has made, like scarland art book did? Sure, super down for that! But you guys would need to pick what thing. You wanna do something that’s never been done before in the zine scene? I’d love too! But you guys would have to come up with the ideas and then let me know, cause currently I got nuthin’. Don’t be afraid to send me asks, if there’s something you want to see Let Me Know!!! Everything is subject to change, and I love getting input from people who want to see the zine get made. If you’ve got ideas, send em’!

wow I got really off topic.

-mod Dinn

[smallishzine]

hey guys thank you for the lovely responses to the interest form, I appreciate everyone calling me handsome and amazing and tall, and also to everyone calling me an idiot you’re in fact correct but guess what you’re the one filling out the form and I’m the one who made it so shut up shut up hahahaha. Sorry. I don’t mean that, please don’t shut up I’ll be very sad if everyone shuts up and I’ll have no one to talk to. This post is to address some of the things that you pointed out as us having forgotten, and we preemptively apologize for burying important info in this mess. It’s like a scavenger hunt! Or bureaucracy. Take your pick.

how humble we are (true, true. So humble. The humblest.)

smallishbeans (I’m fairly certain we remembered this one)

an ego check (yup, still there)

Eefo (you’re so right it’s a crime that we’ve forgotten him we will rectify this mistake immediately)

many variations of “timeline?” which we answered in this post

that you, the form fillers, are tall and handsome as well (indeed)

that one of you was watching shrek 2 as they filled out the form (good job. We approve. Not that you should care what random people on the internet think of your taste in movies, but 👍)

more smallishbeans (it’s like they knew)

how much one of you loves ldshadowlady, sparkle heart emoji (true and real. Only correct take. We also love ldshadowlady)

chicken murder (we decided to put the chicken murder before the form rather than in it, so as not to distract from your form filling experience. We apologize if this isn’t what you wanted, we will be sure to include more chicken murder in future forms.)

A spot for obvious professionals in form filling to rate the form, so they had to do it in the what did we forget box. we received the following ratings: 5/10, 10/10 (< a genuine thank you to whoever submitted this one), 0/10 (:(), 7.3/15, 6/20, and several more

multiple variations of “age limit?” Which we answered in this post

Jeremys blessing (which we actually didn’t forget you stupid idiot haha I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me I promise you are not a stupid idiot even if you don’t finish reading forms before submitting)

that one of you likes shrek but is cooler than us so really the form is egregiously incorrect (egregious is a bit harsh. More, stupendously incorrect! Or, fantastically incorrect! Also, if you’re so cool, why don’t you prove it by participating in the zine huh? Huh? Thought so. 😎)

That I am cool, and I haven’t forgotten but you wanted to remind me (I am mod Dinn and I approve this message)

our epic arson related plan of action for when the ship burns (I’m afraid I have some bad news for you…)

“Can I join??” (yes)

hey it’s you dailyboatboys let you in let you in let you in (absolutely)

other words of affirmation that we greatly appreciate. Everyone who called me cool, handsome, amazing, and other good things or who complimented the form or who expressed excitement and interest in the zine hold a special place in my heart. I read through every response so far and to every person who said that I was really cool, or that they were super excited for the zine, or that the interest form was really good, or that they were so down participate, thank you. Now enough with being sappy back to answering questions, lightly worded hate mail, and people who are also obsessed with Joel smallishbeans!

you’re all idiots (due to limited funds we cannot afford to purchase our own suggestion box, so we are currently borrowing the permit office’s. Did you hear that sound that sounds exactly like sizzling lava consuming a piece of paper with your eloquently worded submission on it? That’s the sound of our complaints department hard at work to remedy this issue. Thank you for filling out the form!)

can you write ships? (This is a really complicated question which we have a lot to say on so we’ll make a separate post explaining more in depth, but the gist is: yes, but that yes has an asterisk attached with a footnote a mile long)

a spot for ideas about what pieces you may contribute, which is actually a good point we’ll probably poll about what things people most want to see/art pieceify (writing is art too) at some point. As for your admission of obsession, gender-neutral-dude, what do you think we are?

these are just some of the responses we received, thank you to everyone who has filled the form out so far, and you haven’t, what are you doing here go fill out that form!!

-mod Dinn

[smallishzine]

Just a small heads up, if you include shipping you may wanna make it clear that there are ships and what ships are there. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with shipping, especially since I’ve seen people say Joel thinks it’s a bit weird to be shipped with anyone other than Lizzie (needs to be fact checked, this is just what I’m seeing in boat boys comment sections). Maybe consider making the ship stuff a separate section or just telling people in advance (pinned post, bio, anywhere clear works) that it includes shipping so those who don’t like it can walk away.

important info about the zine plz read even if you didn’t send the ask:

thank you for the heads up! We’re about to get super rambly and vaguely off topic but we promise all your points get addressed. This is actually a great opportunity to clarify, because I realized I didn’t explain myself particularly clearly, if some one does choose to include shipping, its all going to have to be subtext (as always except for shadowbeans whose alternate ship name I still refuse to use), but that is for non-canon ships. Regardless of how people feel about it, c!Joel and c!Jimmy did in fact kiss in Real Life smp, and c!Joel and c!Sausage did in fact have a child together in esmp2, so we’re not gonna rewrite events. Basically when I say shipping in the context of this zine I mean taking relationships the c!Joel had with other people and creating moments that didn’t necessarily happen but feel plausible for the characters that are able to be interpreted as romantic as well as platonic. Also, everyone’s definition of ship art is different, so the level that I was thinking is pretty mild (and btw I’d like to interject here that this is not me dissing on shipping or ship art love shipping so much that I found a ship called the relation and I never left it, but I also know that people have all sorts of comfort levels with different things so this zine is going to be dry docked but I assure you that out there on my super secret personal blog we are very much lost at sea). Like, to give some examples of what would be okay versus not okay for the zine: kissing is pretty much off limits, honestly mostly because that’s a pretty boring zine piece, there’s nothing going on except the ship, but anything where any sort of romance is up to the interpretation, such as hugging, handholding, spending time with, these are all normal things, but also this can’t be the focus of the piece. Please no one just draw like Joel and someone hugging and call it a day. Implied shipping is allowed to feature in your piece, not be the main focus of it. That’s just not an interesting zine piece. Valid art/writing, still amazing stuff keep sharing it on the internet it’s very interesting, just not in the context of this zine. Anyway, you are correct about not everyone being comfortable with that stuff, so if any piece comes off as really shippy without violating the guidelines we’ll make sure to label it correctly, but also, I should make it clear, I’m really hoping that shipping doesn’t become the focus of this zine. It is a Joel zine, so Joel should remain the focus, and any shipping would be subtextual and not central to the zine. There are many great Joel ships out there with lovely content to consume, but that’s not really the focus of this zine. Also, that aside, if Joel doesn’t want his character (because we are talking about shipping cs here. Cc!Joel is a lovely person, but this zine is going to be in-character. Also while cc!Joel should absolutely be respected in what sort of fan content he wants people making about him, his character is, well, just that: a character. Its like saying you can’t ship two characters from an animated tv show because their irl voice actors aren’t comfortable being shipped. It’s just two different things) shipped with characters who don’t belong to his wife, he should probably stop making his c! kiss all those men. And have children with them. And send them love hearts in the mail. And call them babe. If he did it in canon it’s probably safe to say we’re good having them do it in fan content. But again shipping should be an extremely small part of the zine if it’s there at all and should be subtextual enough that even people who don’t ship can still positively engage with the zine!!! If it needs a warning, it’s probably too shippy.

also all this aside if I’m handling this wrong guys I’m sorry I’m only one person and it’s really stressful trying to please everybody I promise I’m trying my best but I just wanna get together with a bunch of other people who share this strange fascination with the bean man and make art and writing about it I don’t wanna get canceled or something I promise I’m trying my best. I’m really struggling to balance my love of creating shipping fan content and realizing that not everyone is comfortable with that and it’s really difficult and stressful I just can’t we all just draw and write what makes us happy I just want this to be a fun experience and being yelled at on the internet for drawing two characters who’s ccs aren’t in an irl relationship being something other than friends is not my definition of a good time. I’m not accusing you anon of doing anything like that the ask was very respectful but I’m worried this post will prompt less polite people to come and yell at me.

-mod Dinn

[smallishzine]

when should we expect to recieve confirmation/rejection emails?

our current goal is February tenth, but also if for whatever reason we can’t get it by then, then it will not be a huge deal to push that date back. Basically, if you are not emailed by that date then check the blog because I will have posted either that the emails have all been sent, in which case you should dm to let us know that you were not emailed and we will fix that, or that the email sending date was pushed back, in which case slaughter your horses (why would you hold the things when you can kill them?) and wait patiently.

[smallishzine]

Hello! I am unsure if i missed it and apologies if i did, but do you have a timeline for this zine? I don't believe I will be able to commit to anything before i know how the timeframe during which i will need to be creating and available.

Thank you for the reminder! Here is a loose schedule graciously put together for us by mod Hyde:

A somewhat inaccurate, very loose and prone to change Smallishzine schedule. This is like, mostly a rough suggestion of time that you will at the very least have for this zine. The creation period is around 125 days, we can expand it to 365 if we really needed to. We could go to until fall 2025. Maybe we go until etho finally logs off mcci and stops fishing.

pre-creation period

interest check – 9th Nov. 2024

mod applications open – 2nd Dec. 2024

mod applications closed – 16th Dec. 2024

contributors applications open – 9th Jan. 2025

contributors applications closed – 1st Feb. 2025

actual zine creation period

discord opens, invites and emails are sent – 10th Feb. 2025

first check in (aim : outlines and vague plans) – 13th Mar. 2025

second check in (aim : at least "30%" progress) – 14th Apr. 2025

third check in (at least "60%" progress and / or first drafts) – 16th May 2025

fourth and final check in (done and submitted, this date is the most subject to change) – 17th Jun. 2025

We will be open throughout to extending the process and deadlines to accommodate for everyone and make sure no one is too stressed about it (also because we’ve barely started and I’m already sad about it ending lol)

[smallishzine]

hi I just found this and was wondering, how does applying work? Like, it seems like you don't automatically get a spot on the zine, so I'm just wondering how you choose who does and doesn't get accepted?

So, basically we’ve got this spreadsheet of all the applicants, and each mod will go through and read the application and look through the portfolio and stuff, and then score it, and then all the scores are averaged, and if the score is higher than the cut off then the applicant is accepted. We’ll figure out the cutoff based on what makes sense once we have all the applications in and rated. I’ll admit I have been not super helpful for this part because I have been super busy with real life stuff lately, so huge shoutout to the other mods for stepping up to help!! Also, that sounds all formal and intimidating and stuff, but really it’s just like. Not. Like idk how to explain it but like we’ve got a fancy system but like the actual rating and stuff is just like. Vibes. Ig. I’m probably explaining it badly, we are just like going around giving out metaphorical little star stickers of appreciation to all our favorite arts and writings.

[smallishzine]

Just curious, how big is the mod team?

so huge that we impossible to comprehend. Or perhaps so small that we are invisible to the unaided eye. Hard to say, hard to say. We will get the job done but you shan’t fathom our numbers.

[smallishzine]

will the finished zine be pwyc or a set price?

Currently there are no plans to profit from this zine! We’re just doing this for fun, and the only cost to us to make it will be our time, so the only thing we want in exchange is for people to give us their time in return by reading it and appreciating all our hard work! In other words, the digital release will be free to read, and frankly I’m too busy trying to write essays and do math homework to figure out a way for people to donate lol. (We really really appreciate the sentiment though like genuinely thank you I am flattered <the internal battle between the knowledge that I can’t just speak for everyone and the knowledge that it’s not all about me cause im not the only one working really hard on this project that occurred while writing this sentence was legendary lol) If in the future we decide we want to release a physical version, this answer is possible to change, as that would cost actual real life money, but we’ll burn that bridge when and if we get to it or whatever the saying is.

[smallishzine]

it was mentioned in a previous ask response that the zine would be able to accept more contributors due to how it’ll work. i was wondering on if you’d be able to explain how the zine will be working?

Yes, that’s a good point. I think the last time I posted about that was like… uhh forever ago. Okay, so the gist is that a while back I did a poll on what sort of zine people wanted it to be, and everyone was pretty divided. A couple people sent in asks wondering if we could do multiple, and, especially because the idea I was most excited by didn’t win, I was pretty on board with that. Eventually, the plan evolved into: once all the contributors are admitted and have joined the discord, we’ll start putting out polls trying to get a sense of what everyone wants to do, and then as best we can divide people into teams, with a mod or two for on each team to be their like idk team leader ig, there to answer questions and keep the group moving forward and making progress, which also helps me keep tabs on all the different projects. From there, each team will work together in what I’m hoping will be a very collaborative way to put together their section of the zine. Essentially the underlying idea is that everyone can do what excites them the most, work together with fellow Jeremys and make new friends and have fun, and we’ll put it all together in the end in a big compilation to express our love and appreciation of Smallishbeans YouTube. It’s probably gonna be messy, and disorganized, and the plan is probably gonna fall apart at some point, but that’s okay, because we’re just aiming for a community passion project, a sort of particularly insane scrapbook. We’re Joel fans, so let’s make it chaotic and let’s make it wild!

(That’s just been the line I’ve been throwing at everyone to make my distinct lack of organization seem intentional lol. Also apologies to all the other mods I’m sorry that you got stuck with the most disorganized boss with the most ridiculously unrealistic plans thank you for going along with the madness. The same goes for everyone else who is contributing to this project in any way shape or form, thank you for helping bring this idea to life <3)

[smallishzine]

is there a specific email address we should expect to get the mesages from? just asking bc my inbox is a MESS lmao and i wanna make sure i dont miss it......

I definitely understand a messy inbox lol… *side-eyes my 217 unanswered emails*

just to avoid any potential spam I won’t say it on the post, but feel free to dm the blog and we’ll let you know! Just make sure to dm from the account you listed in the application, just so that we can verify that you are an applicant (This all goes for any other messy inbox havers who want it as well)

[smallishzine]

THE APPLICATIONS ARRIVE!!!! yippie :)

YIPPPIEE!!!!!!! ALL THE YIPPIESSSSSS!!!!!!!

[smallishzine]

this is the most fantastic blog i've ever seen congratulations

Thank you congratulatory asker, your congratulations are appreciated! We assure you we try.

…but now we can stop trying because we have achieved most fantastic status!! Get ready for us to be really boring from now on guys!/j (I say as if I haven’t been giving the most beige bland and boring ask answers recently. Guys I promise I’m still funny I just have too much school stuff right now *somewhat jokingly sobs in homework assignments and long term projects*)

(Also genuinely thank you so much)

[smallishzine]

When will acceptances be sent out, or have you guys decided yet? (don't take this as a rush btw I'm just curious and I'm very excited even if I don't end up accepted)

I believe we are aiming for around February tenth, though that date is potentially subject to change.