#aids zines

[ali-ali-al1]

Doing my EPQ (extended project qualification, UK thing) about queer history is great, apart from the fact that every time I try and sit down to research I end up on the verge of tears

Big Feelings Babey 👍

[lrndvs]

Blood Moon Rising Now that the zine I was in has shipped, I can finally share my piece!

[unionyaoizine]

INTEREST CHECK FOR THE UNION YAOI ZINE IS GO!

Please fill out the interest check form if you're interested in buying or participating in this zine!

All proceeds will go to IATSE's mutual aid fund (AID IA) which goes into the hands of animation workers who are struggling to pay their bills due to layoffs!

Form will close Friday August 30th! Turn on notifications for updates!

[andromeddog]

my piece for the History is Full of Wars zine!

[hkthatgffan]

Here are some amazing Gravity Falls fan projects currently going on that I feel deserve some further promotion and discussion. Check them out and support them if you can. Gravity Falls fans rock!

@tenyearsofbillcipher: A Zine celebrating 10 years of Bill Cipher. Currently available for pre orders that have been extended till the end of September!

Order Here!

@gf-seasons-zine: A non-profit Gravity Falls zine centred around the Pines family hanging out in the different seasons of the year. Pre-orders for the zine will open September 24th.

Carrd Link

Back To The Mystery Zine: Organized by @awhphooey and CelestialCherri, this is a zine celebrating the return to Gravity Falls, where the weirdness never fades. Currently in interest check for 7 more days!

Interest Check Form

@mystery-twin-mystery-bags: Organized by my friend @fordtato. Stickers, pins, posters, buttons, charms & more by your favorite Gravity Falls fan artists for randomized packages. All proceeds going directly to Gaza relief! Currently accepting applications!

Application Form

[arctic-hands]

[Image Description: the above and following photos are of a very small printed out zine in black and white. The cover has the word "Missing" in big letters with a black background, and the words "current as of Dec 2, twenty twenty-four". At the bottom it says "a WhatsApp story". In the center are three photos in black and white, the top one showing a man and a woman, a second showing the same man and many children gathered around a table, and the bottom photo showing the family posing in the middle of a city street.]

[The first page of the zine, saying in handwritten lettering "She messaged me goodbye last Sunday." In the middle of the page is a screenshot from WhatsApp, showing the sender saying "I'm sorry, my friend, but if we don't communicate anymore, be sure that I will be killed, burned, hit by a missile that tore me apart, or die of hunger and cold." The next message, by the receiver, starts out "I'm so sorry this is" but cuts off. The second page shows a simplistically drawn "Breaking News" sign in white on black. The text says "Two days before, we were cheering the I.C.C. arrest warrants."

[Third page says the words "We, a world apart from each other, began to see an end to her nightmare." The picture is of a simple circle representing a globe, with a point labeled Me on the very left edge, and a point labeled Her very close to the right edge. The fourth page has a repeat of the Breaking News sign, this time black on white. The text says "Three days after, a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect."]

[Fifth page shows drawings of crowded tents in various states of sheltering as it rains, forming water in front of the tents. The text says "But she's not in Lebanon." Sixth page has inverted white-on-black, with the text starting in a rain cloud and stopping in the middle of the rain. It says "I don't know where she is now. Laid out in the rain, maybe."]

[Seventh page has no picture, just the words "My therapist told me to have hope..." The eighth page shows a pen-scratched dark tunnel with a small circle of light towards the end. The text says "...but Hayam ran out of it. She told me if she survived the night, she would have a nervous breakdown."]

[Ninth image says "What could I do a world away?" The circle globe is filled in completely dark. Tenth page says "I couldn't even say anything meaningful back to her." The image is of another WhatsApp screenshot. The sender texts three messages: "Kids not stoped craying [sic]", "I am fineshed [sic]", and "I hope if I just die". The receiver says in response "I don't know what to say. But you've got to keep going a little bit longer".]

[Eleventh page is without image, saying "Did I have the right to say that?" Twelfth page shows two flags, one the year twenty twenty-four merging into twenty twenty-five, and the other a crudely drawn American flag. The text says "As of now, I don't know what her life is like for myself. As bad as it is, and as bad as it may get, I don't have her frame of reference."]

[Thirteenth page shows a notebook with a grid in it, made up squiggle words, and at the very end it says "Fuck everything". The text says "I haven't written in my diary since the election. So I'll write it down here. But even as I am a victim of what's to come, I'm still complicit in the now." The next page is blank, saying "What could I do but apologize?"]

[The back of the zine, showing a simple drawing of a boarded up door on a brick rowhouse with one boarded up window and one shattered window. On the door board it is written "If I must die, you must live to tell my story". Besides this is an arrow saying "Refaat Alareer, killed in Gaza twenty twenty-three", and another arrow that says "Actual graff in Baltimore". At the top it is written "Donate to help Hayam's family." And at the bottom is a typed-out link to a GoFundMe. End I.D]

Fundraiser verified by @nabulsi here, Hayam's story detailed here and here

@leieryx is doing art comissions in exchange for donations to the GFM here

I'll let you all know whenever I hear back from someone. In the mean time, please continue to help Hayam and her family.

(zine formatted and printed using the Electric Zine Maker program)

[biophonies]

election results / increasingly horrific world events got you down? well get energized instead!!! made precisely for these times, I have a new zine that just came out with Silver Sprocket that's all about community empowerment via urban foraging, boycotts, mutual aid, and more, with recipes for lovely little beverages to sip along the way~

this was made for folks who need a lil' political pick-me-up, a lil' push, if you will. there's even a BDS friendly pumpkin spice latte recipe ok??

pre-order it here !

[trektasticzine]

Our fundraiser for Palestine is now live!

Badges and stickers are now for sale on our shop website!

All profits made from these items will be donated to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), which works to provide urgent medical care to Palestinians suffering under occupation, in Gaza and the West Bank as well as in refugee camps in Lebanon.

The QR code on the "are you on the side of genocide?" sticker links to the Palestine Matters resource carrd when scanned.

Now we need you! 🫵

Please share this post to get this project more exposure!

Link to our shop:

Palestine Matters carrd:

[worldbeyondzine]

hey, let's talk about our chosen charity!

the contributors for the World Beyond the Veil overwhelmingly voted to support Medical Aid for Palestinians with a donation of all leftover profits upon conclusion of our zine sales. MAP works to provide healthcare and advocacy for Palestinians ranging from emergency care to mental healthcare and disability support.

while a horror zine can grant a moment of escapism and catharsis, we want to do what we can to help fight the real horrors that are facing innocent Palestinians every day under the continuing and violent onslaught. we were able to donate around $700 to our prior chosen charity (Rainbow Railroad) earlier last year, and hope to be able to donate as much as possible to MAP later this year.

you can read more about their work here:

and you can preorder a copy of the World Beyond the Veil today if you'd like to help contribute to our final donation!

ID: Simple graphic with a green border and black background, text reads: "This zine supports Medical Aid for Palestinians. Profits made by World Beyond the Veil sales will be donated to MAP after sales are complete." The MAP logo is centered in the graphic in red.

[optictuna]

Just finished this up!

A collection of strategies and my own thoughts on how to get started using your art for mutual aid and community strengthening.

Available digitally (free) and physically (paid).

[pixelsandpapers]

We're looking for indie comic features right now!

As we work on our first magazine edition we'll be hunting for independent artists to promote. Our first theme covers topics such as greek/roman mythos, doorways and openings, beginnings, coming of age, and options and resolutions. If this matches your comic or one you enjoy please give us a recommendation either on this post or in our asks box along with how to contact the author. We will not be too strict about theme as this is our first issue.

For more terms, specifications, policies etc. please check below.

We do ask that all submissions be SFW for a general audience (if you have questions about what is and isn't appropriate please contact us, we will be happy to discuss)

Fancomics are welcome

Less popular comics are preferred and will be prioritised

Yes you may absolutely submit yourself or your works

Yes we have a separate column for additional artists that don't make comics

No comics will be featured without consent from the author

Spreads, interviews, articles, etc will be approved by the author in question before release to the public

This is NOT an official publication, we receive no funding, nobody gets paid. This is all volunteer work offered by a couple of comic artists with too much time.

There are no contracts involved with this and no small text other than "help us spread our magazine"

finished magazine will be posted on Tumblr, Tapas, and Webtoons. Authors may share the magazine anywhere else they please.

Ask box is always open to questions and concerns. Questions are free too!!

[midwesttranssurvivalcollective]

legality of diy 101

[this is from bits of a zine we’re working on - feedback and additional info very welcome]

before we get into it: two disclaimers and a tl;dr

disclaimer 1 - Trans people have always created our own means of survival both inside and outside of the law. The hope of this zine is to provide you with enough information to make informed decisions for yourself, and to provide you with the confidence and grounding to take whatever steps you need to survive without shame. If you are someone who has a lot of fear around doing things outside of the law, I’d actually encourage you to seek out queer/trans focused prisoner support spaces, and build relationships with currently incarcerated trans people through letter-writing.

disclaimer 2 - In the past there’s not been much of a precedent for prosecution of unprescribed hormone possession. It’s impossible to say with certainty what this will look like in the future - which is why taking extra precaution now is just good practice. As we’re seeing with a few high profile cases of prosecution of abortion-seekers, sometimes people get singled out as faces of a larger cultural panic and honestly that informs how court cases go more than anything else. A goal of ours is to make sure no trans person is left behind or abandoned to the system - that we can support each other regardless of what any law or judge says.

tl;dr: It's complicated. If you're in the U.S. you should assume it's illegal and therefore do as much risk mitigation as you can, that prosecuting small individual use of hormones is probably not a priority, and that trans people have always found extralegal forms of survival and you should not feel any shame about steps you take for your own survival.

General legal info:

Estrogen is broadly considered to be lower-risk as it's not a controlled substance, meaning a substance whose possession and use are regulated by law. It is technically illegal to import without a prescription and posession without a prescription is a gray area, but in general it's not seen as a major legal concern. If anyone is curious, if you were somehow to be caught and prosecuted for possession of estrogen, it would probably fall in the realm of a misdemeanor. Information about how to access DIY estrogen is decently accessible online.

Testosterone is a schedule III controlled substance, so its possession and use are regulated by law, and illegal posession or use could in theory land you a felony. [lots of legal talk incoming] There are federal and state laws relating to controlled substances, and state by state it varies a lot, ranging from misdemeanor to felony. Federally possession is a felony with a charge of ~1 year in prison and a $7,500 fine. The main things the actual charge would depend on would be whether you are caught by local law enforcement or federal law enforcement, the state you’re in, the amount you have (larger amounts sometimes indicate intent to distribute, which can increase the charge), if you have any other illegal/controlled substances that are found, and if you have past drug-related offenses. A package being delivered to your address is not sufficient proof for possession! A single person, buying only enough for themselves, with no proof of intent to distribute, no prior offenses, good operational security, and any level of plausible deniability shouldn’t be putting up legal red flags. Testosterone is also used by cis men without prescription, though, and there's a pretty extensive culture around testosterone use and discussion in weighlifting/gym forums.

Again, the priorities of law enforcement would probably be more oriented towards sellers of the controlled substance, meaning that even if a package of yours was seized, they would probably care less about finding you and more about finding the person who’s selling to you. That being said, because it is a higher risk hormone due to its status as a controlled substance, it is more important to be careful and take better precautions. 

General practices of ordering:

-If you're ordering online, try to order domestically rather than internationally as packages are most likely to be seized in customs

-When ordering online, use good operational security! Don't use google to research DIY because your search records on google can be accessed by law enforcement and used in court or easily seen by family/friends. Don't message people about your purchasing of DIY or post on social media or Tumblr or Reddit specifically saying you've ordered it online. Use a VPN (but not any of the VPNs you see advertised on Youtube! I like ProtonVPN and use the free or $5 tier). For browsers, use DuckDuckGo (limits tracking and cares about your privacy) or Tor or Tails (will share more about these in a future post). Consider the levels of privacy you might want (i.e. hiding the websites you’re visiting from your Wifi provider, from someone who might be using your computer, and hiding your personal information from the sites you visit).

-If you’re up for it, try buying Bitcoin, then exchanging it for Monero, which is a more privacy-oriented cryptocurrency that makes it more difficult to connect the person to the currency.

-If you can ship to a P.O. box rather than your own address, that's a good risk mitigation step. Same if you can use a different name, although if it's more suspicious for you to use a different name (i.e. if you live with family members who might throw the package out or open it), keep that in mind.

-If you have a packaged seized, you'll receive a letter from customs letting you know that your package was seized. This is okay, it doesn't mean anyone's coming after you, and it's difficult to actually prove you ordered something even if it was addressed to you (all the more reason to be good about your security when ordering). Consider ordering from a different site, to a different address, and with a different name for the foreseeable future.

General practices of possession:

-Be conscious about where your hormones are. Are they somewhere an unsupportive family member or roommate could find? Are they in a vehicle (police can legally search your vehicle if you're pulled over without any need for probable cause)? Are they on your person in a moment when you might get searched by police? Are you bringing them to the airport, where your bags might be searched by TSA? Best risk mitigation practices would be to not ever have your hormones anywhere they could be found by anyone, and particularly avoiding having in them in a vehicle or while traveling. Sometimes this might mean missing a dose or two, or ordering a new bottle at your destination for a longer-term trip/move. 

as always, if you’ve got things to add, or questions for us, please reach out! we have a protonmail (badsands@proton.me) and are on here.

[all-things-are-nothing-to-me]

I'm tabling a mutual aid fair on Saturday.

[the-hot-zone]

i saw the AIDS memorial quilt for the first time this weekend. nothing prepares you for seeing the size of the panels in real life: the average size of a grave. the grief makes you want to lay down into a panel to fit yourself to a grave's dimensions. the quilt is one of the largest pieces of folk art in the world according to one of the volunteers & each square is so meticulously personalized with poetry, words in other languages, music, photographs, handprints, messages, and more--you can feel the grief physically. and it remained one of the emptiest locations at pride for the entire weekend.

[apricotbuncakes]

Please help me raise enough funds for surgery. We're 48% complete (almost halfway)!

$2,861/$6,000

Gofundme

Paypal

[jojotier]

Hey all, guess who got to write a piece for the incredible @worldbeyondzine! Here's a little taste of what you can expect with my piece- a werewolf in love...

It was a blast working with so many talented creators bringing their own unique and gorgeous spin on transmasc horror, and I can't wait for y'all to see the amazing work everyone's put in!

Preorders are open now!! All profits will go to various Palestinian gofundmes when all is said and done