#I know the order isn't exact sometimes things switch around but yeah generally that's how it goes

[shima-draws]

How are zines normally set up? I’ve never really participated in one. Also, do participators have to pay money to work on the Zine?

Idk if you meant like the general process or what artists/writers have to go through but uh? I’ll try to give a brief rundown for you!

Normally zines start with a basic idea/theme for a fandom, and the main zine mods all communicate and discuss the general layout for what’s going to happen! Interest checks come first to gauge fandom reaction, and then if they’re needed, applications open for additional mods to handle things like financing and graphic design.

After that, artist and writer applications open, and if you’re accepted into the zine, they usually have you join a discord server so you can stay up to date with production! In the server, you can look at all the requirements of your piece. Depending on the zine you might get assigned something specific to do, or you might just have free reign. Most zines keep a spreadsheet with contributor ideas so that not too many concepts overlap or are repeated. Once your idea is greenlit, you can start working on it! Zines have 3-4 checkins once every month or so to just show your progress and make sure you’re actually working on your piece and not procrastinating lol. You are allowed to drop out of the zine if you feel like you can’t finish your piece in a timely manner or for any other personal reasons--this allows for the pinch hitters to step in and take the place of anybody who drops out during the production period.

While this is happening, the mods are handling social media, doing contributor spotlights, answering general questions, and also researching on zine costs and where to order all of the physical merch and books for it. When the final checkin happens and everybody turns in their piece, they’re all handed off to the graphics mod to assemble them and put them together and make them look all pretty within the guidelines of whatever the mods decide they’re going to print! After that, when the PDF is assembled and everything looks good, the team will get proofs of merch, and preorders will open! During preorder period all the contributors will be asked to post previews/sneak peeks of their works in order to gain interest and get people to buy the zine. When preorders close, all the ordering will happen--the shipping/handling mod will get all of the zine booklets and merch, and will have to pack everything individually to send out to all of the buyers. Normally as soon as shipping starts, or once everyone receives their packages, people who purchased the PDF of the zine will get that emailed to them. Finally sales are over!! Everything has been delivered!! And then, extra sales open back up for any leftovers.

Once sales are closed for good, all of the money the mods received from zine purchases will either be donated to charity or split among the contributors (depending on if it’s profit or not). So no, zine contributors don’t have to spend anything--if the zine is for profit, you’d end up getting paid for your work instead ^^ Usually contributors get their own copy of the zine and the merch for free (if there isn’t any overlying financial issues) so that’s a nice bonus too! 

Anyway I’m sorry that was so long adksaldm but I hope it was helpful :’D Zines are HUGE projects and take a lot of teamwork to pull off...but they’re super fulfilling and fun to participate in! The mods do most of the work lol, the only stressful thing for the contributors are meeting the checkin deadlines and getting their final pieces submitted on time.

[fountainpenguin]

In "Inspection Detection", Jorgen grades godparents based on how happy their child is. The happier Timmy is, the better Cosmo and Wanda are. But in "The Switch Glitch", Vicky's happiness was a reason to take Cosmo and Wanda away. This seems contradictory. Is there some threshold of happiness that a godparent ought to meet, while going beyond that shows the godparent isn't needed anymore? Does it depend on the godchild's testimony (which was unreliable in Vicky's case because she'd been tricked)?

That’s correct. Godparents are given to miserable kids in order to treat them to a better life than they would have otherwise had. When a godkid’s memories are taken away, the exact details of events get lost, but the hazy memories of having an enjoyable childhood stay there. 

The idea is to help neglected kids learn valuable life skills so that they can take care of themselves someday, and for a fairy to be a trusted figure that a godkid can confide in as they navigate the perils of life. If a godkid’s state has worsened since fairies have been introduced into their life, that’s obviously a problem. If it seems clear that a godkid should be able to function normally in society and that they’re on a good path for life, fairies are reassigned so that they can help someone else who’ll benefit from their company. Fairies aren’t supposed to be taken away to be mean. It’s to help as many kids as possible. 

Fairies are sometimes taken away as punishment, however. I have this tentative headcanon that a godkid IS actually allowed to tell other kids that they have fairy godparents without losing their fairies- the “good” kids who are kind, could keep a secret, would be understanding… the kids who would be allowed to have fairies themselves if they had miserable lives! 

For example, Timmy doesn’t know this, but Chester would be one of the kids on the green list (See also, “It’s a Wishful Life” and that scene towards the end of “Fairy Idol” when Chester overheard Norm tell Timmy that he, Chester, was the reason Timmy lost his godparents earlier. Chester’s a gentle child and I have a feeling that he suspects Timmy plays with magic or science as it is. He wouldn’t know all the details, but he might suspect that, say, Mark Chang is some sort of otherworldly guardian of Timmy. Remember “The Big Scoop”? He’s had an absentminded eye on Timmy for a long time).

Mikey Munroe is another green list kid. The fairies in charge of such things (Amity, mostly) have seen how kind and understanding he is with a fantastic being like Bunsen, and they figure they can probably trust him with a few of their secrets. Although of course, they would wipe his fairy memories if he just went around blabbing to people. If we want to keep with canon, Amanda most likely had hers wiped after “Beast of Friends”. I can think of no reason she’d be allowed to keep them.

But Tootie can’t keep a secret and could cause a lot of headache if she had a fairy (Especially since she’s likely to tell groups in bulk, and tbh erasing people’s minds isn’t good for anyone’s health. See also, Denzel Crocker). A.J. scoffs at magic and would be more interested in dissecting a magical being, so they’re off the table. For similar reasons, so is Trixie. 

Who else is or was on the green list? Maybe Chloe, Kevin Crocker… Sheldon Dinkleberg… Elmer, definitely; the boy with the sentient boil should have no problems suspending his disbelief for fairies. The Burger World employee! Gary and Betty are allowed to know because they work at a daycare center and see a lot of kids. After awhile, you start to recognize the presence of magic (It also helps when you’ve hung around pixies for most of your life). 

But Flappy Bob wouldn’t have been on the list for reasons that are too extensive to justify including here. And Chet Ubetcha would’ve been allowed as a kid (Didn’t I mention I love “Anchors Away”?) Uh… Probably Sam and Tucker could know, but maybe not Danny? Danny isn’t always as subtle as his pals. Maybe Rudy Tabootie, but I’m kind of resistant to that idea too (He’s a kid who would probably believe, but wouldn’t handle it well b/c ego problems). Jimmy Neutron is an absolute definite no, but maybe the Pines twins would be okay!

You get the idea. Basically, kids who are willing to believe are allowed to know, and those who are skeptical and/or would likely abuse fairies are not. Because many kids (like Timmy himself) have hearts of gold and might struggle with identifying which of their peers they can and can’t trust, they’re just told not to tell anyone (Perhaps this goes along with the “Godparents aren’t allowed to tell godkids which other godkids have fairies” rule? Although I assume client confidentiality is also involved. Oh my gosh- what if there was a thing here about fairies being taken away out of punishment for breaking client confidentiality by revealing their godkid to people, and thus implying said godkid is struggling with… Huh. Interesting… Of course, a client could grant permission, so…)

That aside, emotions are powerful things for fairies. Jorgen and those working at Amity wouldn’t want to feel guilty if a godkid tells their friend they have a fairy, and that friend becomes super jealous and acts all, “Why didn’t you tell me this a long time ago?” Yeah, much easier to just say, “Tell no one”.

So blabbing about godparents in public spaces isn’t okay (Ex: “Secret Origins of Denzel Crocker”). It’s generally not advisable to tell your friends you have fairy godparents because it might strain your friendship. I guess this green list rule functions more along the lines of “Don’t tell anyone directly, but if this person happens to find out you have fairies, we’ll look the other way unless they give us a reason to look back”. Timmy strolling up to Chester and outright admitting he has fairies who could grant all of Chester’s wishes is a different situation than Chester catching a brief glimpse of them through a window.

Amity don’t like to be mean. They want to help people, but the safety of Fairy World must always come first. They don’t like giving godparents out to kids who can’t keep secrets. What if that kid blabbed to tons of people on a subway, and the fairies lost track of who he told, and some people got away with their memories? What if they heard the part about how miserable kids get fairies, so they kidnapped some children and tortured them? So much could go wrong.

But, if a fairy felt that they were taken unfairly from a godkid, they could argue about it in court and potentially win a godkid’s memories back. Though, the Council really don’t like to do that much. This is where you get into politics like Magnifico v. Amity Angel Safety and Protective Recall Agency (the case allowing Juandissimo to become Remy’s godparent again on the grounds that Remy’s mental health significantly improved from baseline when he had Juan in his life, and significantly dropped after “reversal” when Juan left him).

Basically, Juandissimo successfully convinced the Council that Remy is more miserable than a vast majority of the kids he could be reassigned to, and that Remy should be given a second chance. Remy’s situation is very unusual, but Fairies don’t really like leaving bitter rich kids to grow up and become bitter rich and powerful adults, so the Council agreed (See also, “Remy Rides Again”).

To recap, a godparent is assigned to a kid, data is gathered, and if a godkid’s satisfaction is too low then this problem needs to be addressed. Godkid should maintain a neutral / happy lifestyle when with a fairy. Then, if you have all these miserable children in need of godparents, and all your godparents are out in the field already, you’ll take the fairy assigned to the happiest and most well-adjusted godkid, right? Because that’s the child least in need of help, who has probably reached a stable point in their life and will lead a stable adulthood too.

… Does that answer your question?