#check out the zine and all the other cool artists working on it!!

[trafficblrpositivityproject]

The queue is empty right now! After several hundred asks, I am all out! (✨0✨)

I would like to send out a thank you from me to all of you. Thank you all for helping me out with this project and uplifting other members of the fan base. Thank you for sharing this blog’s introductory post and helping me on my mission. Thanks to everyone who has sent in asks about me and this project. This blog literally cannot function without the help and love from all of you, so I thank you for helping me keep it running so far!

This project will continue for as long as you are willing to send in asks to it! If you have been thinking of submitting an ask, now is the time!

If you want some ideas, here are things you can send asks about.

• Your favorite artists and writers, of course! You are all very good at this so far. If you want to specifically highlight certain pieces or art or writing, go ahead! I will not take links or imbedded images—I do not want to be reposting or accidentally open the door for people to send me spam links—but if you want to describe them, that would be fine.

• Creators of less “popular” types of media like cosplay, songs, collages and web weaves, textiles, and anything else I’m missing! These art forms do not always get as much attention, so all the more reason to send them love!

• Your favorite theorists and analysts! Share about your favorite theories as well, and why you like them!

• Your friends! “My friend [URL] is really cool” is a very good ask! Not everyone submitted here needs to be a creator, or be here because they’re a creator. I do not want people to think that this blog is just for people who are “famous,” anyone can submit asks about anyone for any reason.

• Similar, people who have supported you. Friends who brought you into the series, people who regularly leave nice tags and engage with your work. Send some love back to the people who have been cheering you on!

• Events and zines! The fandom could not survive without the work of event weeks/months and zines. And I definitely do not mind being free advertising for the events and zines you all are in ;)

• Former members of the fandom who are no longer active or have moved fandoms. If they used to enjoy life series and have since moved on, they still count.

And I will remind you I am perfectly happy to take submissions on people with a degree or two of separation from trafficblr. Hermitblr and Empiresblr accounts, or bloggers posting about other overlapping SMPs and series like POW and MCC. Or participants in fan made Life Series. As long as there is some sort of overlap, I will not be fact checking.

Repeating the same person who has already been submitted is also fine. If you wanted to send me the same person every single day for a month I would not stop you. Just keep your ask positive and include fewer than 5 people, and we are golden.

All I want is to make this fandom a little more positive. I thank you all again so much for helping me so far, and if this is as far as I go, I will feel very satisfied with how we have done.

Thank you again, everyone, from the ferryman! <3

[according2thelore]

charlotte and i participated in the Wayward Sons Zine, Vol. 3! her art is absolutely fucking gorgeous, and i expect you all to act accordingly (shower her w adoration and kisses)!

i will be posting one chapter onto ao3 every day for the next five days! please go check it out!!! orrrr you can check it out in full on the zine itself now, and give love to the other incredible artists/authors that participated!

buckle in, folks!

happy birthday, sam! <3 i am sorry for what i am about to do to you! <3

thank you @digitalmeowmix for hosting and @fictionallemons for your hard work! and thank you to all our fellow participants for your INCREDIBLE WORK!!!!

-lizzy

once again a huge thank you to @digitalmeowmix for putting this together!! I had a blast putting this together—I’m so glad I bullied lizzy into using this song since it is just so THEM 🫶 It was cool to experiment with color this time around…perhaps expect more in this style in the near future! -charlotte

[tryzine]

ZINE FAQ

General Questions:

What is a fanzine? - A fanzine is a little magazine made up of contributions from fans of a certain series/show/sport/whatever. In this case, "The Reason is You" is a zine focused around Spiderbit/Guapoduo, and it'll have people contributing from all over the globe!

What is this zine about? - This zine is specifically about Guapoduo as they are on the QSMP Minecraft Server. That is to say: a canon setting with canon relationship dynamics.

Can we include Obsessedduo/Devotionduo/Mafiaduo/the Guapoverse? - Unfortunately, not this time. This zine focuses specifically on their canon relationship. You don't have to write specifically about canon events like the wedding or Festa Junina, and you can include just about any headcanon you like- Catboy Cellbit, Spider-Roier, Trans Headcanons, etc- but it will be set within the canon setting.

Is this zine related to [Insert Fandom Event/Zine Here]? - Nope, this is a standalone project, but those other things sure sound cool!

How old do I have to be to apply? - Technically you can be any age, but what will actually matter is the portfolio you'll be submitting on the application. Unfortunately there will be a bias towards experience, but don't let that get you down! Feel free to try, you never know!

When will the applications go out? - The actual applications will go out as soon as they're finished being written and translated into Spanish and Portuguese, so give us a week or two. They WILL be out by the end of April, though.

When will we know if we got in? - Since we're expecting over 100 applications, it'll take us a minute to go through them all and decide who gets in! It'll depend on exactly how many applications we get, but we're anticipating reaching out to contributors via email sometime in early May.

How will we know if we got in? - On the application, you'll be giving us your email address. If you get in, you'll get an email from us with the discord server's link and a big ol' Parabens!!!

Do we have to have both a Twitter and a Tumblr? - Nope! Not necessary, just come with what you've got!

Do we have to have a Discord account? - Yes! After emails are sent, it will be mandatory for all admins, guests, and contributors to be part of the Discord server for the project. You won't need to be online every day, but you will need to have @ notifications turned on, and you'll need to be open to receiving dms from admins when it comes to check-ins.

What is the zine's exact schedule? - We're actually finalizing the dates as I write this post, and we'll keep you guys updated. Because of the bug impacting our collective ability to enter Twitter, the project may have to be pushed back a week or so just to keep things even. We're having to adjust for that. But we WILL get a schedule out ASAP, and it will be before the applications go live.

Will we have to do anything in November as contributors? What do you mean by it "ending" in November? - The way the schedule is currently projected, writers and artists will actually be done with their work around the end of August/beginning of September. After that, translators will have September and October to translate. Then, the people helping put everything together into the zine proper (graphic designers, admins, etc.) will be working through the end of October into November to finalize things and get the zine out by the end of November.

What do you mean by "applications", anyway? Do we have to try out for this zine? - In order to keep things fair, we're going to have people apply to be in the zine. This will eliminate bias and keep us admins from just letting Big Creators and Our Friends in. This way, everybody has an equal shot!

What do you mean by "writer and artist collaborations"? - The way these would work is that we the admins would pair together a writer and an artist who both indicated in their applications that they would be cool with a collaboration with a random person. After matching them together, we'd tell them in their emails that they're working with each other. From there, they'd come up with a concept together, and the writer would write it and the artist would Art it. The specifics would be up to them.

Are collaborations mandatory? - Nope! There will be an option on the applications that tell us whether or not you want to do a collaboration. It's totally optional.

Are we only working with people we share a language with? - While we might stick, say, two Portuguese speakers together for easier communication when it comes to collaborations, the zine will be made up of people from all over the globe speaking all sorts of languages! The discord server comes with a translation bot in it and everything.

Will there be merchandise? (Ex: wallpapers, icons, physical merchandise) - Unfortunately, no. This will be a free zine, and we will not be accepting personal donations from readers or contributors. This is for several reasons, but the most important reason is that it's for Legal Reasons. We don't own the copyrights to these characters or the QSMP Server, and we don't feel comfortable profiting off of them.

Then how can we pay for the zine? - You don't! BUT, if it can be worked out properly, there will be an option to donate what you want to a charity of our choice. If you want to pay for this zine, just pay what you would want to to that charity when the time comes.

Will there be a physical version of the zine? - Nope! This is a digital zine only. It will be released via pdf and maybe epub for anybody to download for free. This is for cost reasons, yes, but also because we want anybody anywhere to be able to read this zine regardless of whether or not they can afford international shipping.

Writer Questions

What am I supposed to write? - Pretty much anything you like as long as it's set within canon! No need to stick with actual events, again, just no crazy AU stuff. If you have specific questions, you can ask an admin once the writing process begins in May.

What is the word count? - Writers will be expected to write within a range of 1,000 to 3,000 words, but allowances will be made for more or less upon discussion with an admin.

Will poetry be allowed? - Sure! Any kind of writing will be allowed, just have it in your portfolio when you apply.

What do you mean "portfolio"? - When you fill out the application, you will be asked to submit 2-3 previous works. Threadfics, Wattpad fics, Ao3 links, whatever it is! The will be more details within the application itself, don't worry.

Do we have to write in English? - Nope! Write in your native language... but I will say that there will only be translations for English, Spanish, and Portuguese. We'd love to have, say, a German or French translation, but we only have so much manpower, and we don't want translators working overtime for free.

Artist Questions

What kinds of art are allowed in the zine? - Any kind of art! It can be digital or traditional. As long as you can provide a clear and clean scan/photo of any traditional work and provide that to the admins when the time comes, it'll be fine!

What about non-traditional artworks? (Ex: crochet, sculptures) - That's all fine! Again, just give us a clear photo, and it's fine!

Do we have to draw Guapoduo themselves? Or can we draw things related to them? - As long as it relates back to Guapoduo as a focus, it's fine. So you can draw a landscape of, say, Cellbit's Castle or the wedding venue.

What will be on our applications? - Just like writers, you'll be asked to provide a portfolio of 2-3 previous works. More information will be on the applications themselves.

Translator Questions

What will our schedule look like? - As mentioned earlier, you won't be doing too much work until the last bit of the zine's creation. Don't sweat it.

What languages will we be translating from/to? - The three languages the zine will be translated into are English, Spanish, and Portuguese. To be a translator, you'll need to have a level of fluency in at least two of these languages.

What will be on our application? - You can provide a portfolio if you have experience with translating, but there will also be a little bit of a test on your applications. If all goes according to plan, you'll indicate what language you would like to translate from and then into, and you'll then be given a passage to translate. That translation will then be checked by our admin team.

Do we need heavy translation experience? - Not necessarily, but, again, there will be a test on the application. It's just a necessary precaution.

Graphic Designer Questions

What do you mean by "graphic designer", exactly? - By this, we're talking about someone who knows how to do page layouts. We're gonna need your help putting the zine together and then exporting it in a pdf. (Like, Adobe InDesign type of stuff.)

What will be on our application? - Again, a portfolio will be required. For this, we won't require as many pieces, though. As long as you can prove you know how to use programs that can Make Book, or as long as you can show your expertise in page layout and management, we're good.

-

THIS FAQ WILL BE ADJUSTED AS THE PROCESS CONTINUES. IT IS NOT YET COMPREHENSIVE.

[suaimhneas-gairid]

KÄÄRIJÄ FAN ZINE DAY!!!

This project let me work with so many amazing artists and we made a bunch of cool extras to go with it, it really is such a joy to have it in my hands 🥰🥰🥰

Please check out @kaarijazineofficial for all the other artists who worked on this, and keep an eye out for other people posting which cards they received with their zine 👀

[catlover4536]

If you were curious, here are my submissions for the Welcome Home Fanzine I got to participate in!

Want to download the full zine? Go to @welcomehomefanzine ! It's free for anyone to download and print!

Once again, I want to give a big thanks to @nosignalart and @sheriffopossum for setting up the whole thing! It definitely would not be a thing without them! But I also want to commend the other artist I got to work with! I've never done a zine before, but my first experience with everyone made it such a nice time that I have no doubt in doing another! You can see their pages in the full zine too, so please check them out!

I also want to include all our digital artist and colorist in this! So for that, I have included the transparent images for my two pages here!

Feel free to @ me if you do decide to color them! Whether you chose to do digital or physical I'll love to see what y'all do!

Reminder: We are not affiliated with @partycoffin or their team in any way, shape, or form! We're just really big fans who wanted to make something cool for Fall/Halloween!

[reverendlazarus]

my piece for @eure-k-a’s homestuck album art zine!!!!!! god I love queerplatonic people. you can grab the zine on itch.io here!! I meant to do two pieces but ran out of time, so I might finish the other one at another time. it’s rosemary as Kate Bush’s The Dreaming. Anyway, you should absolutely check out the full zine, all the artists I got to work with are so cool :)

(image id under cut, I want to start doing that for my art)

[Image ID: Dirk Strider and Jane Crocker from Homestuck as the black and white cover of Tom Waits’ album Rain Dogs. Dirk is a freckled young androgynous person with locs. Jane is a chubby white person in frilly clothes. Jane is holding Dirk’s shoulder while laughing. Dirk is slumped onto her chest. His glasses are pushed onto his forehead, and his eyes are closed. He looks uncharacteristically peaceful.]

[hermitzine]

Hello! I am new here because I saw all of the cool fanart for this zine! May I ask, what is a zine and how can I be a part of it?

Hi! Thank you for enjoying the zine!

A ‘zine’ is hobby / fan created small book or magazine based around a niche interest. If it’s for a fandom (like in this case), it often gets called a fanzine.

In our case, we’re Hermitcraft focused! Artists and writers create illustrations, comics and written pieces for a themed collection that we format and assemble into a digital edition. We’ve been around for a while, so we’ve got a bit of a back catalogue, and you can check them out here if you’re curious what a finished zine (in our case) winds up looking like.

To participate in the zine you have to apply using a google form. We select contributors based on a portfolio they show us consisting of 3-5 pieces that they consider their best work. From there, selected applicants will have 9 weeks to make a piece following the theme of the zine, with the help of other contributors and the mods.

Hermitzine 9th Edition isn’t underway just yet, but when applications for it open, we’ll make sure to let everyone know about it!

-Mod a10

[umbra-borealis]

Attention Thieves, Rogues and Crooks, ThiefNet is now LIVE!

There are a few Sly Cooper discord servers, but none of them seemed to focus on fan made content which is a shame because I do see a lot of artists, writers and more in this community. Sure we're on the smaller side, but why let that stop us?

What is ThiefNet?

It's a SFW and LGBTQ+ friendly discord server with dedicated spaces for:

Discussing the games, lore, gameplay tricks etc.

Sharing your fan art, fiction, original characters and more.

Advertizing your streams/youtube, art commissions and other projects.

Community events (which I'm most excited for and I hope you will be too, more about them below!)

A suggestion box for input and feedback from you! Yes, you there! I'd love to hear your ideas!

It will feature hand-drawn emotes made by yours truly though members will be allowed to submit their own! There will also be roles, both functional ones and 'for fun' ones that just give you a fun color and title!

What do you mean with 'Community Events?'

I recently asked around if anyone knew about a Sly Cooper zine already having been a thing, only to be asked what a zine even is. This made me feel like I had found my niche, a gap in the market! Other communities have zines (collections of fan-made content) OC battles (friendly competition featuring original characters), Big Bangs (artists and writers collab events) and so much more! I truly do think that the community has a lot of unseen talent and Sly Cooper is one of those 'hey I played that as a kid!' nostalgia things so I do believe making cool stuff together and lifting up each other's work will invite folks from all walks of life to reconnect with a dear childhood memory all over again, increasing interest in the series as a whole!

Since I have too many ideas to count I will list them/post about them within the server in it's own dedicated channel. A category known as 'Dimitri's Nightclub' will be our HUB for these events and art showcases, I could even create a sideblog here on Tumblr (and maybe other social media) specifically to host and boost the content of other fans, like you reading this right now! :D

How do I join?

Simply use the invite in this post and introduce yourself in the '#log-in' channel to be granted access to ThiefNet. The server will be a bit empty and bare bones at first so don't be alarmed, a lot of features are based on demand, so for starts I'd like to see just how much interest there is in this sort of thing! Also, sharing this post is greatly appreciated!

[saltyyetbland]

I have just posted my fic that I wrote for the Petals of a Rose fanzine on AO3. You can find it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57670000

I have a lot of thoughts about this fic, the zine and the qsmp in general so I'm just going to write it all under the Keep Reading line cause this ramble might be as long as my fic lmao.

When I saw that applications were open for this zine, I initially didn't even consider joining. I liked hideduo but I was definitely out of the fandom by then. I haven't even written anything hideduo specific (I only had like 2 QSMP related fics on AO3 and they were more trauma than romance lmao) so in my head I thought that even if I applied, I wouldn't get selected.

And I guess that mentality ironically is what made me decide to impulse apply during my Marketing class at like 8pm.

And somehow I got accepted.

You can imagine my surprise when I get an email with a discord link saying that I got accepted to be apart of this zine. I joined and then I see a bunch of cool artists and writers that I recognize and my brain immediately goes "oh shit, i should not be here wtf" but thankfully I decided to not be impulsive this time and actually stick with this zine.

And then prompt creation starts and then artists and writer match-ups and then it fully dawned on me that art is going to be created out of my fic. And that was such a complex thought to swallow as I struggled with imposter syndrome yet again (it is what it is lol) and just me trying to grapple with the concept of fan creation as a product of inspiration while being a source of inspiration as well (the fan studies/media nerd in me is jumping out).

And then the sketches and conversations from Kye and Bio started and I was just in awe by their skill and effort that it motivated me to try and write better too.

And then after months of me struggling to write the fic, it was done. I had multiple people look over it including my irl writing group as well as a beta reader (shoutout to skelepen) and I then submitted it to the final submission google form.

There is a clear memory I have in which I am simply working and I just check over at the discord and I see a photo in general chat. It is a snippet of my fic and it is Aynee saying that "damn... this fic got hands" and like 4 other comments from other members of the discord basically saying the same thing. When I tell you that this has almost made me cry at work, I'm not joking cause this was the moment when I truly felt like I contributed enough to the zine.

And now the zine is published and it is 500 pages of pure effort and I feel satisfied with myself but I also feel the looming sense of closure that I know stems from the knowledge that this is the end of my qsmp era.

I've been aware of the qsmp since its inception but I only really got into it during the ice prison event where creators like tubbo, mouse and tina joined. And though i only really lurked in this fandom and occasionally posted, i can still see its effects on me today. I have discovered my ever-growing interest of community building in media and cross-cultural communications and translations. I am currently on a 300+ day streak on Duolingo for Portuguese. I was able to revitalize some of my previous knowledge of French and Korean and actually find joy in learning languages, something that I seriously struggled with when I was younger.

And for that, even though my relationship with the QSMP is now a bit more complicated, I am grateful for it opening my eyes and for allowing me to be a part of it, even in my small amount.

All in all, I am proud that this fic has been created. I am proud of this community that I have been apart of. And even though I am closing this era, it won't be on a bittersweet note like my previous fandoms.

So, thank you.

Thanks to Kye and Bio for creating amazing pieces for my fic, skelepen for beta reading my work, Aynee for creating the zine itself, the POAR discord for being such a cool and fun place and to the larger QSMP community as a whole for being a part of my life.

[rexobibang]

About the 2025 RexObi Big Bang

What is this?

This is a Star Wars big bang event focused on the Clone Wars characters Captain Rex and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also known as the RexObi ship. 

Okay cool, but what’s a big bang?

A big bang, as described by Fanlore, is:

“A Big Bang (or “Bang” for short) is a specific type of challenge usually involving long fics and accompanying artwork. This type of challenge is a reprise of the old zine tradition of collaboration between artists and writers for internet fandoms.

Most Big Bangs have a similar format: Writers sign up to take part in the challenge and begin writing stories. When the early drafts of the stories are available, each one is assigned one or more artists, or artists might claim stories from posted summaries. Artists create fanart to go along with the story. This art can take the form of illustrations, manips, photo collages, vids, icon sets, etc.”

Awesome, I’m with you. Who can participate?

Writers and artists are both welcome, and you can sign up to be both! Please see our Writer FAQs and our Artist FAQs for more details.

We encourage both artists and writers to approach this event as an opportunity to collaborate with each other, to create something unique, and to enjoy the act of creation together. Bangs should be fun! Stressful and hectic, but ultimately fun!

Okay, so what are the paths?

We have 3 paths to choose from and are different from your standard Bangs. Please see the Writer FAQs for more details:

Does anything go? Or do you have limitations?

For writers, your fanwork must focus on the relationship of Captain Rex and Obi-Wan Kenobi, whether it is romantic, platonic, or queer-platonic. They are allowed to be in relationships with other people, but the focus of the story must be on their relationship. So, if a writer wanted to write a CodyWan or Rexwalker fic but focus on Rex and Obi-Wan’s time on Kadavo, that would be acceptable. Threesomes are also acceptable. But, we cannot reiterate it enough, the focus must be on Rex and Obi-Wan and their relationship.

Any rating is allowed, but your work must be rated.

All stories must be at least 50% completed by the posting date. We have three check in periods, with word count minimums, to check to see how on track writers are (and artists!) so we can spot any pain points in advance and work with anyone who needs it. 

All works (art and stories) must be posted to the AO3 collection. Once the collection has been revealed, stories can be posted anywhere the author or artist chooses.

Beta readers are not mandatory but are strongly recommended.

We require all content to be appropriately tagged.

You can find out more on our Rules page.

Awesome, I’m stoked! But who’s running the show?

That would be me, Jynx (or Karma). Nice to meet you. :) We also have Norcumi, Robinade (our art mod), and KC.Rumors helping run the show for 2025! Robinade is the talent behind our art this year!!

[charlythelee]

Hi! I know you're very much "in" the zine community (i loved your hqmm zine!) so I had a question that I was wondering if you could answer. on projects where it was a physical zine, how did you order them/manufacture them? because most places refuse to do fanworks. Thank you & have a good day!

Hi there & good day to you too 👋🏼

Firstly, thank you so much for the compliment, I'm really happy you liked the Murder Mystery Zine (it was a really cool project with a lot of amazing people) 💕

I am by no means a big production guru (there are mods out there with years of experience and dozens of projects more than me who really know almost every single manufacturer there is and have tried and compared them all) but I'm always happy to answer zine related questions and help to the best of my knowledge — I'll put the booklet related tips below the cut but if you have any other zine or production questions, please don't hesitate to ask again or DM me ☺️

To answer your question, for physical booklets, I, personally, tend to use Mixam UK, because in my opinion they have the best price/cost relationship (there are certainly manufacturers who deliver a better quality and more paper options, but if you are trying to keep costs low, then Mixam UK does a very good job! You need to pay attention though, because Mixam also has a US site, but I would advise against using them, because they are both more expensive and their quality is at best acceptable and at worst subpar — depending on what size and page count you have it can also be cheaper to order from the UK site with shipping to the US that ordering directly from the US site, so be sure that you are on the right Mixam site. There is also a Canadian & Australian site but I have not yet worked with them so I can't speak to how they compare—as far I remember the hearsay though, they seem to be doing okay) ☺️

I have also been part of 1 zine where the booklet was ordered with PixartPrinting (though not as a moderator), who seem to do great work with their finishing (though that was some years ago and last I checked they don't offer shipping to the US/international anymore, only EU, but you might be able to get more info if you contact customer service). I have also heard good things about Jukeboxprint and Skating Bear (especially if you want things like foil on the cover, etc), but never actually used them myself because from what I hear and the prices that I have been quoted for past projects, you need to reach a high quantity (250 & upwards) for the costs to balance out. Mixam has recently also added foil options but I have not yet tried them so I can't judge their foil work.

All of these have a website where you can order directly, except Skating Bear, who operate via Alibaba.

I have also never heard of any of these manufacturers (or any other) cancel or refuse an order because it was fan work, so not sure where you have that information from 🤔 I have only heard of a single instance where a sticker manufacturer wanted proof that you could use the designs (I guess they became suspicious because the designs had different art styles?) and it was all resolved by the respective merch artists sending them a message that the project had permission to use their designs—as far as I recall this was a very small, local manufacturer though and it was also some years ago. So, if you are trying to print locally and go somewhere in-person, small shops may very well have individual policies on not printing fan works or be more pro-active when checking the designs for originality 🤔

If you had a big/online manufacturer refuse your order because it was fan work though, I would be really curious to hear which company it was, if you don't mind sharing! That could be really helpful information for future and ongoing projects which company to avoid or have a backup plan for.

I think that was it, my 2 cents on making physical zine booklets, and I really hope that it all makes sense and was roughly the information you were hoping for 😅 If there is anything that you are unsure about or want more information on, please don't hesitate to ask or DM me directly 💕

I only got my first 2 zines to completion because I had amazing co-moderators around me giving advice and sharing experiences, so I am always open to passing on that knowledge to others and help them realize their zine ideas ☺️

[fanfic-inator795]

**Random fandom related rant incoming regarding ROT//TM//NT, don't like don't read**

Okay so, if any of you have followed me for a while, you know that I was in the Rot//TM//NT fandom for like three years before eventually leaving for the most part, save for occasionally peeking in on things (and taking part in the second Fashion zine, which is still in-progress if anyone's wondering).

When I left the fandom, my major point for WHY I left was that I felt like the fandom was becoming way too angst and gore heavy, being way too obsessed with post-movie stuff regarding the Kraang, the apocalyptic future, characters getting brainwashed/mutilated/going through ptsd/disturbing scenarios in general, etc.

This is still my main reason for why I'm still (and probably will always, regardless of how often I end up revisiting the show in the future) keeping my distance from the fandom. However, my other main reason is just the sheer fact that the fandom has a favoritism problem when it comes to the turtles - specifically the fact that Raph is essentially pushed to the sidelines in fandom works I'd say 85-90% of the time.

Just a reminder that I do not - and have not - check the tag every day so maybe my view on things is skewed, but of the ROT//TM//NT stuff that still makes its way into my Tumblr view space or YouTube algorithm, this is definitely how things seem to be.

In general, when it comes to art and fics and edits and all that, pretty much 8 times out of 10 it's going to be focused on either Leonardo, Donatello or both. Without a doubt, when it comes to fan creations involving the turtles, these two get the most solo-pieces. Like- at this point it's not even close. It cannot be denied that they are the fan favorites.

Mikey is next in line, because he's the funny and cute and chaotic youngest sibling, and then Raph is dead-last, getting the least amount of solo-pieces. Hell, half the time when I see Raph included in an art piece/fic/edit, it's only because it's centered around ALL the turtles, making him seem like an after thought. (and even then I've seen plenty of stuff where the artists/writers/editors focus solely on 'the twins' and Mikey, and then either don't include Raph at all or give him very little focus)

What's more, adding onto my frustration at just how angst-focused the fandom was when I left (and, from what I can tell based on my brief pop-ins, still seems to be) is that whenever you DO manage to find a Raph-focused fandom thing, it's him in these angsty or depressing scenarios/AUs, or he's crying over one of his brothers, or he's being the one giving comfort to his brothers.

Because that seems to be all the fandom sees him as! He's the protector, the Big Bro/Mom of the group, the one who dies first in the bad future, the one who we can project bad childhoods onto - though that's not to say that the others don't get projected onto either, they all absolutely do.

As such, you could argue 'oh well, this is just a part of the fandom, it's not a slight against Raph specifically' except it IS because while yes, all the other Turtles get plenty of angst art/fics/edits too, they also get plenty of fun stuff - memes and silly lighthearted scenarios and works where they get to be cool and badass. And as far as I can tell, Raph - for the most part - doesn't get that. At best, he'll get the fandom making jokes about how he's the dumb one or the emotional one. I remember coming across this one Hippoworm fic where all the other turtles got to participate in their wedding and form bonds with Warren and Hypno, meanwhile Raph was the one who ended up being the 'bad guy' of sorts, crashing the wedding because he was too oblivious to catch onto what was happening. This is what I mean when Raph just gets either horribly sidelined or shoved into the roll of support whenever he's not the one getting tortured or brainwashed.

Outside of specific 'Raph is best Turtle' fans/creators (who were already pretty rare back when I was still in the fandom...), you don't see the art of Raph being cool or wearing cool outfits like you do with Leo/Don/Mikey. You don't get fics where he's the full focus and gets to go on this big adventure or have this big interesting arc (AND IT'S NOT CENTERED AROUND TRAUMA, I feel like I have to emphasize this because again this fandom is just so angst heavy). What's more, you go to AO3 to find ANY non-angst/lighthearted Raph-centered fics and it's nearly impossible because, to fans, it seems like he's always got to be attached to one or all of his brothers. It can't just be him or, hey, I'll even take him and a side character/one of the villains (excluding the Mud Dogs because come on now those are literally just his brothers again). Just SOMETHING that lets him be an individual outside of his family - something that, again, literally every other character seems to get!

Even when it comes to something as simple as headcanons - I'd say 95 percent of people view the 'Donnie is autistic' headcanon as canon. But you could argue that Raph has just as many moments that come off as him having autistic traits, but most fans seem to either ignore these bits or see them as jokes, once again seeing Raph as the dumb one whenever he's not the group's shield or responsible one.

On the one hand, I can't fully blame the fandom for this as the show itself often shoehorned Raph into constantly being in a support role for his family. Going by the number of spotlight episodes he gets, it's really just "Mrs. Cuddles", "Sparring Partner" and "Raph's Ride Along", maaaybe "Mystic Library" (even though most fans only remember that ep for the Donnie Rap, let's be real here) and "Man VS Sewer", though the latter still has quite a bit of focus on the other turtles - otherwise he's strictly used as co-protagonist at best and sidekick to one of his other brothers at worst. He does get to land the final blow in "Evil League of Mutants", and gets a bit of extra spotlight in both season finales... buuut then gets kidnapped by the Kraang in the movie (which, regardless of how much it makes sense for the story, it still sucks to see Raph get tortured and put out of commission for more than half the film, essentially being used as a catalyst for Leo's development).

So yeah, hard to build off canon when the canon gives you so little. On the other hand, I still can't help but side-eye the fandom every time Raph - a large/plus-sized and not conventionally attractive character - is either pushed aside completely or strictly used to uplift or prop up the other three skinny 'pretty boy' turtles. Slotting him in strictly as the 'parent' of the group and essentially adultifying him or, even worse, putting him through tons of pain or killing him off so that the others can go through a guilt arc isn't that much better.

Now, could a lot of my feelings towards... all this be personal biases and my own bitterness at my fave being seemingly slighted by the fandom? Sure, you could argue that if you really want to. But from what I've seen, experienced and recalled from my days within the fandom, I feel confident that the points I've ranted about are founded in evidence. The fandom has a huge favoritism problem in my opinion, and it's this plus a distain towards all the angst and torture/gore-fics that have really soured my feelings towards Rise as a whole - and that feeling hasn't gone away.

That's the main reason why I wanted to just get all my feelings out (hence why I'm not tagging this rant), not to attack anyone in particular but just for my own personal benefit. I do hope that eventually I'll be able to rewatch the show (though probably not the movie) and fully enjoy myself without being reminded of all the fandom hang ups and other small annoyances I have with Rise. But for now, gonna be honest, I don't really regret leaving the fandom.

[davyjoneslockr]

42, 45, 60! for writing ask game

(For this ask game)

42. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

I haven’t actually read a ton of fics lately, but aside from other people’s zine fics that I can’t talk about yet lol, I believe it was Even With These Past Lives, I’ll Always Be Here by Eevee999 (which was actually inspired by one of my fics!! Still wild to think about)! And yes, I’d highly recommend it!! It’s a short fic about Irene and AU!Jotaro coming to terms with having vague memories of their past lives, and the author writes their relationship so so well it’s awesome. If you’re a Stone Ocean fan, or if you just like really good, bittersweet family dynamics, definitely check it out :]

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

Okay so here’s the thing. I love breaking readers’ hearts. But when I’m writing, I think a lot about the concept of Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy (sorry to be a decade-long TV Tropes fanatic on main) – where readers will adjust to a work that is constant sadness and misery, learn to expect it, and won’t be as emotionally affected when something bad happens (or worse, grow bored with the work and stop reading/watching/etc). My philosophy is that you can’t get readers invested in a tragedy unless you show what they’re losing. You can’t expect your audience to be sad alongside a character if they’ve never seen them happy. Readers won’t mourn the death of a relationship if the characters involved have never shown that they’re in love. The destruction of a beloved hometown means nothing if you’ve never portrayed it when it was standing and full of life. So it’s a balance, I think. If I never make my readers laugh, or at least show them joy, I can’t expect to make them heartbroken. Whether I actually succeed at that is up to you guys, I guess, but that’s what I try to do.

Also, my aim isn’t always just to make readers sad for its own sake. I actually prefer conveying hope in spite of sadness – something more bittersweet, sorta. I like writing growth more than anything, and in order to grow, I think you need to have a healthy dose of both misery and joy. Or else, what is going to push someone towards change, and what reason is there to keep going? Idk. Something like that.

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

I have several times actually!! And I’m lucky because a lot of them are my mutuals and friends now lol. But between AO3, working on zines, and comments I’ve seen out in the wild elsewhere, I’ve been really fortunate to get good feedback from a lot of people I respect – writers, artists, and other fandom-y types alike. And it’s always so cool!! Like. Seriously every kind thing someone has said about one of my fics rattles around in my brain and I legitimately get emotional when I think about it. Not to be sappy about my mutuals on main, but all the friends I’ve made in this fandom are so insanely talented, and I still feel like I’m some rando sitting at the popular kids’ table every time I share ideas with them, or get into some zine, or get a comment notification on AO3. Yknow that one post that’s like “warming up a frozen meal and Gordon Ramsey walks in and starts clapping and cheering.” Yeah that’s what it feels like lmao

[davidmariottecomics]

Too Many Conventions!

Hello! 

Turns out, I'm a liar. If you read last week's blog, I ended it with a whole little plan for the next couple of weeks, completely having forgotten that I'm about to enter the most convention heavy stretch I have all year! This is my last "free" weekend until April pretty much! 

A week from today, 2/25, I'll be at the Arizona Comic Book Arts Festival! If you're anywhere near the Phoenix area and want to see me to buy comics or bring your own to get them signed, this is the place to do it! I'll be bringing a pretty chunk of my stock, including stuff from Sonic, Godzilla, and pretty much what's left of my Transformers/Hasbro stock! Maybe this one, maybe in a couple more events like this, I'm going to be running out of Transformers vs. Terminator and Wreckers, so get 'em now while you can! Becca will be there too and you can get us both to sign our little mini-comic, Jimmy Squarefoot! We'll also be bringing copies of a zine we made explaining the issues with AI! And Becca will have a bunch of other stuff at their own table! 

There are a bunch of other really great people attending including Elizabeth Brei, Danny Djeljosevic, Mitch Gerads, Steve Rude, John Layman, Henry Barajas, Jay Fotos, Jeff Mariotte, Marcy Rockwell, John Yurcaba, Andrew MacLean, Alexis Zirrit, Meredith McClaren, James Owen, Ryan Cody, Tone Rodriguez, Cecil Castellucci, and so many more! So come on out and see us! 

Then, Becca got into WaifuExpo the following weekend, 3/3-3/5! It's going to be a cool little adult (18+) focused con in the Dallas-Fort Worth area! Becca's going to be in the artist's alley and I'm going to be there as their booth babe. I will NOT be bringing any of my stuff, only Becca is tabling (*tho if you are planning to attend and get ahold of me ahead of time, I might be able to pack a few things to give in person). Becca's working very hard on preparation and will have some exclusive stuff for adults debuting there! 

Similarly, lots of cool guests including some very notable cosplayers and voice actors and other artists! It also seems like it's going to be a very activity heavy con if that's your jam! 

It's also our first time in the DFW area, so if you have recommendations, those would be appreciated! 

Then, if everything goes right with the first two cons and I'm still feeling groovy, I am tentatively planning on going up to TFCon LA on 3/10. Again, this is health and finances permitting after two other back-to-back shows, and I am not coming as anything other than an attendee, but if you catch me at Jack Lawrence's table and want me to sign your Wreckers or Alex Milne's table and want me to sign your TF/Terminator or whatever, I'm happy to do so! 

And finally, I expect to be attending WonderCon 2023, March 24-26! Again, same deal as TFCon--my availability will depend a little bit on not having gotten sick/burned out from the other shows with only one weekend of "downtime" and I'm going mostly as an attendee, rather than tabling individually or with IDW, but this is the one con where I'll be most open for meetings. 

After that, I have to assume that I'll hibernate until the summer! And somewhere around there I'll get back to what I mistakenly proposed last week and do another "Ask Me (Almost) Anything". In the meantime, new posts are going to be coming to the blog, but they'll be a little irregular because they'll be coming in-between shows! 

Thanks for rolling with that change and hope to see you soon! 

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Honkai Impact (Video game--I managed to get the new Kiana and Mei back-to-back, so I'm pretty happy!), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Book), Poker Face (TV show), Romantic Killer (Anime), Warioware Inc (Video Game), The Fablemans (Movie--I cried 3 times!), Kaguya-Sama: Love is War-The First Kiss That Never Ends (Movie), Valentine's Day, Snack vs. Chef (TV show), Chainsaw Man (Manga), rearranging my desk (I had to dust the... 150 [estimate] little hunks of plastic on my desk and decided to rearrange them), Becca's first Twitch stream (more on that below)! 

New Releases this week (2/15/2023): Off week for my books

New releases next week (2/22/2023): Also an off week for my books!

Announcements: Wait, this is still a section? With all that other stuff I've already been promoting? Well... Yeah! 

Social Media - I am still primarily on Twitter because that's still where I know the most people and the format I like the best, unfortunately, but you can find me on all my socials here as I continue to try to move away from that site that is less and less functional each day! And, hey, sometimes it still works to reach people like this update on Sonic (it is good and fine and in many languages and countries). 

Aradia Beat - The past few weeks, I've been plugging this cool Magical Girl Anthology Magazine that Becca's part of! This morning, the campaign closed and they had just exceeded their second stretch goal! Thanks anyone here who contributed and if you missed out, well... you missed out! No, but give Aradia Collective a follow and they'll be able to tell ya if there'll be any other ways of getting it in the future! 

More Magical Girls - Our pals Elizabeth Brei & Danny Djeljosevic and a bunch of their friends are getting close to their goal on their Kickstarter for Sweet Little Resistance, which you should check out! And you can tell them you're psyched for it at AZCAF! 

Becca is a busy beean - Somewhere in all this con prep and the many shows we're attending, Becca's also managing regular Patreon updates (and this month, any new sign-ups will have their first pledge go to The Brown Building here in San Diego). They're also open for commissions. And they're now streaming Wednesdays & Saturdays (including tonight, but not when we'll be at shows) on Twitch! I'll usually be there too, moderating the chat and making jokes, playing the soundboard or whatever. You can check out their first stream playing Heartbreak High on their page now! I think the plan is Wednesdays will be games and Saturdays will be art, so come check it out and hang! 

Legislative Tracking - Legislators are doubling down on attempting to pass anti-trans bills. Fortunately, some of them are not managing to move forward. Unfortunately, the bad guys keep trying. Here is a legislative tracker for you to keep an eye on and hopefully if anything is happening locally to you (and on the federal level), you're able to reach out to your reps and can tell them to knock that shit off. 

Pic of the Week: A very dumb little promo I made for all of our upcoming stuff (or... well, a lot of it) to the theme of Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania, in theaters now! (NOTE: Made when Aradia Beat was still funding, it's over now, sorry!)

[mahikacorpus]

ARTIST STATEMENT

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for the support given to me to even start this project. My partner who let me call and complain to them about line weight or fingers being the bane of my existence, my professor who did her best to reign me in from biting off more than I could chew, my kasamas who let me ask them questions about schooling in the Philippines, thank you to everyone who listened or offered a suggestion. Thank you to the library for letting me check out an odd number of books, heaps at a time (and telling me that it's cool if I returned one late because its due date wouldn't change from the same day I checked it out.)

It went through many more revisions than I anticipated and had to place this project on pause a few times while life happened around me, but I finally have my bits and pieces that I'm really proud of putting out into the world! Obviously, I wish that I was able to complete the entire piece but sometimes the message you want to imbue into the world through art has to be on pause while you use your physical body to put the work in.

What made you want to make a komik?

I wanted to make a komik because I think that the visual medium of storytelling is so interesting since unlike oral storytelling or prose, the words aren't the only important element. Poses, lighting, color, detail vs lack of detail, and brush choices, are all incredibly important in tone and what an illustrator wants to convey. It was also an important medium to me based on the message of my story which puts images and words in a hard tension with each other. A picture can mean a million different things based on the text captioned underneath it. But when that caption, or those words are used to paint a unreliable narrative, it's important to wonder why and examine to what end.

What aspects of the class did you take inspiration from/where did you use your research?

Each section was inspired and based off of research I had done about the medium I was exploring. For example, with the newspaper, I took a lot of inspiration from how the news right now use certain words in order to paint the narrative that best serves a certain political idea. For example, the adultification of people of color, usually black children, in order to dehumanize them and garner less sympathy. Studies have been done by USC and Georgetown University about the negative impact that it has on young children, particularly young black girl's mental health. It is also important to note that while these intuitions have studies on the adultification bias, they also actively ignore the adultification bias that is currently affecting Palestinian children who are being murdered by Israeli soldiers.

However, I also heavily researched newspapers during Duterte's presidency in the Philippines during his war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings that took place. Language in the media was very important as is shown in the documentary about Maria Ressa: A Thousand Cuts. This documentary not only helped with the newpaper angle that I was interested in, but also the online small reporting blog that is called Snapport in the komik--after Rappler in real life. There is a very political conversation surrounding the usage of language a mainly visual based medium. When words are repressed or censored, can an image do the work on its own?

As for the final section, the Zine section, I took the most inspiration from Bamboo Girl and Call Out Queen. Along with looking into other Filipino zines from the Philippine Zine Collection. Since they tend to be the most DIY and freeform, I decided to really have fun with format and layout.

What conversations did you want to engage with?

I wanted to talk to a sort of demonization power that the media has and how it is so easy to use it to affect the social consciousness. I've thought about this a lot since learning about the Philippines under Martial Law. Because the Marcos not only had control of the narrative, mainly through cultural/media presence, but also through being the ones actively rewriting the history books. However, on the other end, how social media (which hasn't been regulated to the point of news outlets) allows for these stories to be heard and told.

I also wanted to look at the power of images versus words. In the komik, the first page is words over-powering a small image. The words are targeted and biased solely based on opinion. But as the story progresses, it's clear to see how the beginning narrative ripples through the community. How people the farthest away from the scene, mainly due to class or privilege, feel educated enough to speak up on it due to reading the news--without considering the bias the news might have toward affirming ideas of a lower class to the upper class. (This is something that has been prevalent all throughout the history of news, to the point that the first printed photo in a US newspaper was on March 4th, 1880 in the Daily Graphic, and the image was that of a shanty town. Giving the upper class something to gawk over at how people could live in such a way.)

It was important to me that the ending scene and beginning scene were the ones I focused on. I wanted to begin with words, dictating how you should feel about the blurred image of violence which is used more for shock value than important context, and ending with an image of coming together, of community and support, of love.

What was one of your biggest challenges?

Probably the most expected answer, time. It was consistently running against me, especially since I felt I kept spending the most time researching and revising rather than actually drawing. This ended up really kicking my butt, but also forcing me to pick the most important images and feelings I wanted my audience to come away from my piece with. It made me take this ginormous story which more than likely could've gotten away with me and made me distill it into its most saturated moments.

What did you fall short of?

There was so much more that I wanted to do and explore with formatting in conventional and unconventional ways that I'm not sure got across due to the small number of pages. However, I made sure to be 100% proud of the pages I produced, so I believe that's the silver lining.

[gloomygambit]

I'm one of the artists who participated in this zine!! All the work I've seem from the other participant's is so so cool, check it out!

We’re so excited to announce Pre-Orders are now OPEN! Thwip on over to our shop and web up some of our great bundle options!! 🕸️