#zine shit

[ofstormsandfire]

I've noticed that, sometimes, the opportunities I'm most hesitant to go for end up being some of the best experiences if I do go for them.

@thelostdex was an easy example of this - it's a project that aimed to make a sort of in-universe pokedex for beta pokemon, and as such needed (expanded) pokedex-esque entries for these various beta pokemon. they were looking for extra writers, and honestly I knew... basically nothing about beta pokemon going in, but it sounded like the sort of thing some of my buddies in the fandom would be really invested in and so I was like. hm. do it for them. can't hurt to apply-

and then I got in and it was so much fun.

anyway, my own pokedex entries for the LostDex can be found here on ao3 <3

[lil-artist-blog-fandoms-ocs]

Reblog this to blast your sleepy mutual with the forbidden super melatonin

Different versions because it's a vibe

[punnybee]

WOW OK SO having hosted a zine, i guess i’ll ramble about the things i would have done differently

1. never ever ever have your release date be on or near a holiday. schedules clash far too much. even if it’s a sentimental date, PICK A DIFFERENT DAY TO RELEASE IT. Or! if you’re confident in your team, make sure everything is 90% done a month before the release date, so you have time for all issues to be resolved

(side note i DID plan for what i thought would be enough time, but there were mod complications. which leads me to my next point):

2. make sure you have a backup mod in mind. particularly the graphics mod who’s putting this all together. i had to scramble for a new person because the first one dropped out (irl stuff, no judgments!) but it did cause a lot of scrambling last minute to get stuff together

3. be stricter about deadlines. again, there were complications since one of our contributing artists got a hand injury that made it hard for them to complete their piece by the due date. what i should have done was said “hey, this free silly fandom zine isn’t worth risking hurting your hand more. get some rest. it sucks that your piece won’t be in it but it’s probably what’s best.” <- i mostly say that because after the piece was done, the artist mentioned how much their hand hurt. just… don’t mess with injuries. ever.

4. if at all possible, as the host, try to understand how to do each mod role at least a little bit. the graphics department was where majority of complications arose, and it was the one thing i couldn’t figure out how to do myself.

[scarlettohairdye]

PSA to printed zine makers

As a 37 year old who's been running a sole proprietorship for the last 10+ years, I just want everyone who is planning to run a fandom project that involves accepting money for printing & shipping costs to know that you're actually running a small business and you need to plan for taxes. It doesn't matter if you don't make any profit: that is business income and the IRS will see it as such if you get audited.

If you only take enough money in to cover the cost of printing & shipping then you can write that off as a business expense and probably not pay taxes on it, But in order for that to fly you actually have to do business accounting, especially if you're doing it at scale. Like, you can probably skate by without reporting a $500 project; I absolutely would not fucking risk it with a $5000 project.

Back when I was producing shows there were years when I was where I made $20k in ticket sales only to turn around and immediately pay $18k to my performers. I only made $2k for myself, but I had to report the entire $20k, because it was ALL INCOME. (I only paid taxes on the $2000, because that's how writing off expenses works!)

Yeah this is boring grownup shit and I'm getting my boring grownup fingers all over your fun fandom, but boring grownups doing boring grownup things are the reason fandom spaces exist at all (paying for servers is deeply boring), and I'm way more fun than an audit

[itsnicsalad]

finally able to post the pieces i made for the 'our duet' raeda zine✨ old art so im not the biggest fan of these lol (i have the urge to redraw these-)

[avephelis]

somehow forgot to post this for five months but DIGGING UP MY SPREAD FROM DONZINE ✌️✌️ which you can still check out btw!! donnie my garden warrior

[ratanarchist]

so of course i made a zine inspired by disco elysium

view on my website

[the-jennnster]

Something about the way bibliopunk/punk academia is treated on here Bugs Me and I think it can be best summed up as this:

You can't just throw the "punk" descriptor onto whatever you like and call it an aesthetic

Punk is not an aesthetic

Punk is a mindset, it's a philosophy-- it's a rebellion against societal systems

When I say bibliopunk, I don't mean sweater vests and old library photos and quotes from classics.

Bibliopunk, to me, a punk librarian, is about freedom of information. It's about making sure everyone and anyone can have the resources they need to learn, whatever that means for them. It's no late fees and fighting against censorship. It's defunding the police and funding community resource centers that specialize in making sure there's a place where people can go to ask for help, to read books on any subject they can think of, to connect with events and organizations that exist to help THEM. It's about making zines and learning how to bookbind, because fuck the idea that traditional publishing and Amazon are the only people that can make something a book.

Punk academia, which is used colloquially here, is related to this-- it's saying fuck the academic systems that keep out the poor, the people of color, and the disabled. Fuck your Ivy Leagues, education is whatever the hell you make it. College should be free, classes should be accessible WITHOUT being forced to give up all of your personal financial and health information, curriculums need to include as many varying perspectives as they can because fuck the idea that a cishet abled white man is the authority on any given topic.

Bibliopunk, punk academia, and any other Tumblr "aesthetic" with the punk descriptor is not just a moodboard of photos you stole from Pinterest.

Because what's more punk than a public library?

[jiyaneru]

finally, here's my contribution for supercorp zine volume 5!

@supercorpzine

[solcarow]

desperately trying to fend off art block with hankim stupids

[ofstormsandfire]

if you've been looking at my ao3 recently (which I do recommend, it's the most reliable way to keep track of what the hope doing at any given time considering how often I post things and then forget to tell anyone about it) you may have noticed quite a few oneshots marked with the "Originally Posted Elsewhere" tag. in most cases, this means a fic I wrote for a zine.

Familiar Faces, Unfamiliar Names is not an exception. I wrote this one for @themummyzine, which just released recently for free and can be downloaded from their pinned post if you want to see a whole bunch of cool stuff about The Mummy (1999). yes, that mummy movie, the one that just had its 25th anniversary. the recent release was not a coincidence.

this piece was born out of me realizing, after rewatching the movie, that Ardeth's name is never actually said in the first movie. but it's said by Evy near the beginning of the second, she clearly recognizes him, so... when did that change? when did she actually figure out his name?

thus. comedy of errors.

(this may have also been partially inspired by how easily I forget people's names. or never get them to begin with. lol)

also, if you happen to like that movie and/or Ardeth Bay, keep an eye out! I've got one more oneshot that's already written, that I actually entirely wrote to apply to that zine in the first place, and... really the only thing keeping it off ao3 at this point is the difficulty of figuring out a title I like. y'know how it is with titles.

(re: the above, I did actually figure out a title, it's already up but it'll get its own post later)

[gynii]

~ The Rot and The Roses ~

My piece for @dreamoirezine go check out the full zine and the writing @/thscus did, for which this is a companion piece for :D

[pissditching]

"for when you are burned for what you believe, you are not ash-- you are embers. and i shall remain everlasting."

[words from jehanne by gerard way. art by me.]

[gachahugs]

my piece I did for @hxhtravelzine !

[noctilin]

I'm amused people dug up this post yesterday when i have been also shuffling things around in the background--

I've been planning of setting up a small preorder run for charms (limited as to not overwhelm myself) and these are one of the options i've been leaning into. ive sold them before locally and here's a sample of it. they're double sided with the bloody side at the back.

other stuff I'm digging for this are old persona charms/stands I'm still fond of (probably one of the akiham and ryuji ones) but I'm open to suggestions especially people have been requesting for prints for years. I'm not sure if I'll do prints but hearing out which ones you guys specifically want (prints or otherwise) will help me weigh what options I'll end up with!

feel free to message me or reply to this post and I'll consider it! thanks!!

[bismutharts]

said to my friends "i'm thinking i should make a zine. it'd be good for my soul. or something"

i think it was

this is the first zine i've ever made. initially i opened up inkscape on my computer with the intention of a zine about blackwork embroidery. but i felt overwhelmed immediately. being able to worry about fonts is bad for the soul. at least when you do it too much