#fswd23

[fswintersdelight]

Four Swords: Winter's Delight 2023 is live and the event open!

It has been a lot of hard work, not only for myself, but also for all of our featured artists and writers, and for our technical editor. That said, it's finally here: Winter's Delight 2023, the e-zine.

You can view and download it, either by clicking on the image or by clicking here. It will take you to a PDF shared through Google Drive.

Alternatively, you can follow the instructions here to get a print copy.

The zine itself contains:

New fanart by nine artists

New fanfics by six writers

Three interviews with prominent and active fans in the Four Swords fandom

An overview of a fan's online shop with Four Swords themed items

Seven reading recommendations from fellow fans

The final results of the Fandom Awards

31 prompts for artists and writers in December

You might find the fanart posted by the individual artists on their social medias (full information on where to find them in the zine) throughout December. The fanfics might appear on Ao3, where our official collection for 2023 is Winter's Delight: A Four Swords Calendar (2023).

We invite all fans of Four Swords, on Tumblr or elsewhere, to join us in making this December a creative and joyful month for the fandom. Use the prompts (or not), take inspiration from other artists and writers (or not), and share what you create (please do!). Even if you don't consider yourself a creator of any sort, we would love for you to feel like you can test the waters this December.

Our themes this year are WINTER and COZY NIGHTS, so if you create anything pertaining to these, feel free to tag us (@fswintersdelight) so that we can see and share your creation with others! Our overall guidelines for participation can be found here, and an individual post with our December prompts here.

Finally, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has made this zine special: our general editor, @pokegeek151; our artists, @astrolabe-blade, @dergshadow, DKS01 Gaming, @fourswordsfairworld, @kaenith, @mckittyarts, @nextik, @sleepygremlin11, and @umbrenshadow; our writers, @1esor2, @adel-memes, @vagueandominousvibes, @zarvasace, @pokegeek151, and @hey-adora; and our interviewees, @hauntinghyrule, @hey-adora, and @zarvasace. This zine would never have seen the light of day without you. Thank you.

Hugs, spice, and all things bright,

Kalh

PS: We're testing printed options for those who might want a hard copy. Assuming it works as it should, we will provide the necessary documents and instructions for individual printing through Lulu.

[zarvasace]

@fswintersdelight day 5 prompt: holiday traditions in another country. KFC is Christmas food in Japan. :)

Went back to ibis app for this one, it’s certainly different than procreate but I like it more for a lot of reasons, and less for fewer, tbh.

[pokegeek151]

The Four Swords Winter's Delight zine is out, so I can post my work!

A Great Miracle Happened Somewhere, a Four Swords Chanukah fic

Thank you @vagueandominousvibes for putting this all together!

[nextik]

maybe i should like, actually post the art i did for fswd23 ??? hey guys i totally didn't forget i even did this. happy holidays!

[zarvasace]

@fswintersdelight day 6 is about recipes! I’ve made this soup a bunch, it’s nice and light on my stomach but it feels really hearty and creamy. It feels like a cream soup without the cream, thanks to the potatoes. Big fan.

[fswintersdelight]

Reader Contributions

Almost all our Featured Artists & Writers have now completed their contributions to our e-zine, and we have come to the conclusion that we would like to diversify the e-zine.

In addition to new fanart and fanfics, we would like the e-zine to also include:

Fandom Awards

Fanfic Recommendations

Creator Interviews (fandom-specific, no personal details required)

December Prompts

And this is where we ask your help. We have a brief list of people we would love to interview and will be reaching out to them in the near future, but for fandom awards, fanfic recommendations, and December prompts we would love the Four Swords fandom's help.

Fandom Awards

To further spread joy and brightness in December we have decided to do an unofficial Four Swords Fandom Awards season. We say unofficial, because there is no reward for having the highest score, beyond bragging-rights. The primary goal of this is for fans to show that they appreciate each other.

The awards are divided into two sections — one for followers, and one for artists & writers:

You can give however many awards you would like, as long as you do it before the 1st of November!

Here's the form to do so.

Fanfic Recommendations

We want to help people find enjoyable fanfics in the month of December. To do so, we need your help. What's your favourite Four Swords fanfic?

Tell us what it's called and what you like about it, and we'll include it in the recommended readings section of our e-zine! If you don't want your name to be sited under the recommendation, you can choose to be anonymous.

Here's the form to recommend fanfics.

December Prompts

Do you have any ideas for writing and/or arts prompts related to our themes, WINTER and COZY NIGHTS? Drop us an ask!

[fswintersdelight]

IT'S HERE!

For all those who want a physical print of Winter's Delight: A Four Swords Zine, the PDFs are now available to download here. This is a Google Drive folder containing the files "Print_cover.pdf" and "Print_interior.pdf". These have been tested and adjusted to fit Lulu's printing system. You will need both files to order a print copy through Lulu.

(We also want to put in print here that we make no money off of this, nor do any of the artists, writers, or interviewees featured here. This has been, and continues to be, a wholly voluntary project. The only costs involved are printing and shipping costs, which are paid directly to Lulu upon ordering.)

To place your order, do the following steps:

Download "Print_cover.pdf" and "Print_interior.pdf".

Go to https://www.lulu.com/create.

Scroll down to 'Magazines' and click 'Print Your Magazine'.

Click 'Start Your Magazine'.

At this point Lulu might ask you to either sign in or create an account. Follow directions on screen.

Once you have signed in or created an account, you should be taken to a page called 'Start Your Project'. Here you want to make sure you select all the correct options.

Under 'Select a Product Type', ensure 'Magazine' is selected.

Under 'Select a Goal', ensure 'Print Your Magazine' is selected.

Under 'Magazine Details', use any variant of "Four Swords: Winter's Delight 2023" for 'Project Title', select 'English' as language, and select 'Entertainment' as category.

Click 'Design Your Project'.

Under 'Interior File Upload', upload "Print_interior.pdf". This may take a moment. You may here receive a notification that some of the content in the file has a low resolution. Disregard this notification. This is due to the section breaks in some of the fanfics, which have printed perfectly fine in the test copy.

Once the PDF has been uploaded, continue to 'Book Size and Page Count'. These sections should have been automatically filled in, but if they haven't, ensure the book size says 'US Letter (8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm)' and the page count '110'.

Under 'Interior Color', select 'Premium Color'.

Under 'Paper Type', select '70# White - Coated'.

Under 'Magazine Binding', select 'Paperback'.

Under 'Cover Finish', select either 'Glossy' or 'Matte'. The test copy is matte, but if you prefer a glossy cover, it makes no difference with regards to the final price.

Under 'Design Your Cover', select 'Upload Cover File' and upload "Print_cover.pdf". Again, this may take a moment.

Once the PDF has been uploaded, you can check under 'Magazine Preview' that all the pages have been uploaded correctly.

When ready, click 'Review Magazine' towards the bottom of the page.

You will be taken to a new page called 'Review Your Magazine'. Here, click 'Confirm and Publish'. Once it has processed, you should be able to order your copy.

Happy reading and enjoy your printed copy!

— Kalh

[fswintersdelight]

We have now confirmed a fantastic line-up of artists and writers for the e-zine — some of whom you saw last year and some who are new — and we still have five spaces left!

If you're into Four Swords or Four Swords related AUs, or if you know someone who is, and if you want to help make this December a warm and welcoming month, consider signing up to our e-zine by filling out this form. For guidelines, see our pinned post.

[zarvasace]

Aha finally posted my piece for the @fswintersdelight !! Lots of fun to work with everyone, I'm just a slowpoke :)

[fswintersdelight]

Poll for Second Theme

Thank you to everyone who has made suggestions for the second theme of the Winter's Delight: A Four Swords Calendar event!

There are some really lovely and interesting ones. The only suggestion I haven't included in the poll is STORY (wherein the participants try to tell a consecutive story through their submissions). It's a really good idea — I feel it would require more coordination within the fandom though, so I'm saving it for brainstorming for Winter's Delight 2024.

Thank you for voting and reblogging! Let's try to get as many on board this year as we can, yeah?

[fswintersdelight]

Emphasising that even though the zine is out, you can still take part in FSWD23!! In fact, we encourage you to!!

Art, writing, whatever your jam is — as long as it's themed (our themes this year are WINTER and COZY NIGHTS) — if you post it on Tumblr in December and tag us, we'll reblog it during the month! We also have a collection over on Ao3 you can add your fanfics to, and four pages of December prompts at the back of our zine in case you're stumped for ideas!

The goal here is to fuel our fandom's love and affection for the Four Swords story and characters, and the more people participate throughout December, the better the vibe. So get creating!! :D

— Kalh

[fswintersdelight]

December Prompts for Four Swords: Winter's Delight

ID below.

KEEP CREATING!

31 Prompts to Get you Through December

"Dad?" "Yes?" "Where do babies come from?"

Night comes early, and the lights flicker to life.

Five books he wishes he read sooner, and one he hopes will burn in Hell.

Help! I'm trapped in a hallmark Christmas movie and I can't get out!

Show a foreign country's holiday traditions.

Share a recipe you love and can't get enough of.

Adapt your favourite holiday song to art or writing.

"Dear Shadow, I'm writing to let you know ..."

Show a scene from the perspective of snow.

Pick an obscure holiday tradition. Tell the story of how it became a tradition.

Winter holiday in the mountains.

One morning he opened the door, and everything was wrong.

Winter surprise for dad!

Vio contemplates snow.

The holiday is upon them and they're trapped in a mission. How do they mark it?

It's Christmas Jumper Day at work, and this year, the worst jumper wins a box of chocolate.

Five Ways to Make Someone's Day; or, Shadow goes out of his way to help strangers.

They haven't seen each other for years, but tonight they've been stood up in the same bar.

"Would you rather be Santa's elf or Santa's reindeer?" "What kind of question is that?"

December Blue(s).

Hot chocolate has been made illegal. Why?

The Case of the Missing Mistletoe.

Outside it's dark and dreary, but Red has found a magical land behind the fridge!

It's the last flight before the holiday, and it has been delayed.

How to Make a Memory.

There's a wizard in the attic, and he has a terrible cold.

I never thought I'd willingly go on a date with you, yet here we are.

Every month they receive a letter from a stranger. This month it's an unusual one.

Ten Places to Find Hope. Describe in detail.

The world ended at 23:59.

Revisit a piece from earlier this year. What happens next?

Pages 102–105 of Winter's Delight: A Four Swords Zine (2023).

[fswintersdelight]

Second Theme Announcement

Voting for the second theme has closed, with the final result at 34% being: COZY NIGHTS.

Our two themes this year will therefore be COZY NIGHTS and WINTER. Participants' submissions should include at least one of these themes, but does not have to include both.

If you would like to be featured in our e-zine as an artist or a writer, we still have available spaces. You can sign up by filling out this form here. The form is available until the 31st of August.

For general info about this year's event, see our info post here.

[fswintersdelight]

General Info for Featured Writers

We hope everyone is doing well and working towards their deadlines.

With regards to writers featured in our e-zine who may wish to take advantage of our host's offer of feedback and editing, we wish to let you know our host has tested positive for Covid.

Feedback on texts may therefore be delayed. Your final deadline will be extended accordingly, so that you have an additional week to make any suggested changes.

We apologise for the inconvenience and hope you are keeping safe and healthy.

[fswintersdelight]

Reminder to all Featured Artists and Writers

Please provide an update on your submission by the end of today (17th of September). This can be done via Discord, where you have all been contacted by our host.

For featured writers: If you would like feedback on your text before the final deadline, please ensure you share your text via Discord by the end of today (17th of September).