#i can't wait to see the final zine!

[ninjakk]

Very excited to be part of the 2023 edition of @mxtxfoodzine, which is packed full of fanfic, gorgeous art and yummy recipes for you all to try at home. Out the 31st of October!

I could not resist combining my love of cooking, writing and MDZS 🥰 So much so, I ended up with two fanfics instead of one haha.

I can't wait to see what you guys think! I have a canon universe, burial mounds settlement fic - which I absolutely adored trying my hand at writing WQ for the first time. There's also a modern au, established Wangxian, fluffy adoption fic - which is something I'm very proud of as well ❤️

Here's a little taster for you all!

In A Pickle - with tasty pickled radish recipe and cute chibi artwork by @daynight139

"What are those?" Wen Yuan's tiny voice whispered in wonder.

"Chillies. They are really hot, so don't touch them, otherwise they will burn you and make you cry," Wen Qing cautioned the child, shooting him a sharp look of warning as she spoke.

Perplexed, Wen Yuan glared at the chillies, quietly wondering why they would want to burn him and make him cry personally.

And my second fic...

Bun In The Oven - with a recipe offering two tasty baked bao fillings and adorable artwork by @daynight139 which is full of hidden things for you to spot!

Lifting the two trays of golden baked bao out of the oven, he turned to place them onto cooling racks.

"Congratulations Lan Zhan, we're now the proud parents of an abundance of little ones!" Back to his usual chirpy self, he sent his husband another cheeky wink as he held a bun up towards him. "Shall we have a whole brood too, er-gege?" he giggled as he placed the last bun down to cool.

"Hmm... Let us start with one, for now." Lan Zhan's low voice sounded by his ear as two strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him in close.

I really hope anyone who reads my two new fics enjoys them as much as I relished writing them 💞

In the meantime, you can download the 2022 edition of the zine to get a flavour of what's to come.

Yes, I'm aware I have a thing about puns... I can only apologise 🤣

[knowoah]

Happy cirno day (09/09/23) !! Here's my full piece for the @dotzines Fairy Fiesta-Fairytales zine! I absolutely loved working on it and especially seeing everyone else's pieces

[salemlinnet]

and finally the matching illustration, also found in @sunshine-soap-zine's fixit zine! i loved working on these, this illustration especially. i can't wait to see how all three zines turned out, i anticipate some amazing stuff from the other contributors.

[antimony-medusa]

Do you like DEADLINES? Do you like writing to someone else's prompts, staying away from the stuff they said they DID NOT LIKE? Do you like CHALLENGES?

WELL HAVE I GOT THE ACTIVITY TO YOU.

Ever wanted to save someone's day?

I've been helping out with the big @fiabex exchange, and the final deadline passed last night, and there are— a lot of pinch hits from people who didn't make deadline. A lot of people had a bad October. It took three posts to post them all. All of these gifts have to be fulfilled before the exchange opens.

The reason I am here today though is that there's a segment of MCYT on the pinch hit list, and it's always hard to fill MCYT pinch hits cause there are less MCYT people who do exchanges! So here I offer you the breakdown of the mcyt pinch hits:

PH 72 - needs 3k 2k - fandoms are Dream SMP, SMPEarth, The Mandalorian (TV). You can see all of the requests at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/Kryon CLAIMED

PH 77 - needs 1k - fandoms are Dream SMP, 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Hermitcraft SMP, SMPEarth, Hotguy Comics Zine - Various (DFE), Origins SMP. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/Odaigahara CLAIMED

PH 102 - needs 1k - fandoms are 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Hermitcraft SMP, Good Omens (TV), Hamlet - Shakespeare. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/adlerthetranscender CLAIMED

PH 103 - needs 1k - fandoms are Dream SMP, 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, QSMP | Quackity SMP. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/amaranthinecanicular CLAIMED

PH 144 - needs 8k - fandoms are QSMP | Quackity SMP. You can see the entire signup at https://autoao3app.fandom.tools/#/Fic_In_A_Box_2024/user/WhyB (I SPECIFICALLY want to draw attention to this one, cause it's only one fandom so that means they won't hold the exchange for this pinch hit to be filled but it being 8k means the person already turned in that much, so if you know anyone who can help with fitpac or animations family— let them know) CLAIMED

If these have gone out for pinch hit, this means that these people have already delivered a gift of at least this amount, and they need an equivalent gift. The due date is November 13th at Midnight EST— can you get a gift written in that time?

But wait, you could maybe write 1k, but not the 3k that PH 72 needs— that's fine! We can take it in small bites. You can just tell the mods that you can take 1k (or 2k, or however much you can take) and then the mods will drop the "needs amount" to 2k, and then we're that much closer to everyone having a gift. If 8 people do 1k, we can get WhyB completely covered!

If you can write a gift fast, adhering to someone's Do Not Want list, about the requested characters or worldbuilding prompts, you might be exactly what we need here. We've got Emduo requests! Animations family! DSMP Fiances! Scarian! Fitpac! Cletho! Boat boys! Preyduo! Watchers prompts!

You can take a pinch hit by either commenting on the dreamwidth post where the PH you want is posted here (tell them the pinch hit you want, an email to reach you, how much you want to take, and the Ao3 account you'll be posting from), or emailing the mods at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com— (tell them the pinch hit you want, how much you want to take, and the Ao3 account you'll be posting from, they already have your email, but check the post to see if the PH has been claimed before you email just to save yourself some time).

And if you can't take it, I'd appreciate it if you'd reblog this, cause if we can get this in front of as many eyes as possible that increases the possibility of someone who says "great british bake off beeduo? yeah I can do that", etc!

[lucifer-kane]

Finally finished my little zine for the fiction podcast zine event! Messy and wonky due to my hand tremors but I love how it turned out regardless. Audio drama is so very important to me as a person in the last 11 years, and I can't wait to see how things go in the future <3 edit: forgot to add the Stories from Voturn tumblr. It's over @storiesfromvoturn

[ludi-ling]

Romy friends! Here's my third and final teaser for Home & Harbor, the upcoming @rogue-gambit-fan-zine! Since pre-orders will be opened next week, I thought I'd share a teaser of my art for the front cover.

It was such a blast to get back into the drawing groove with it; and it was also a real honour to be able to be asked to do the front cover. I hope I did our fave Marvel couple justice! ❤️ (Because let's face it, Rogue and Gambit are just so damn hot!) 🔥

Can't wait to see what you all think next week when the pre-orders are finally opened! 😁

[riotwritesthings]

Unrequited Dreams

WinterIron, M, 3.5k - Soulmate AU, Angst, hopeful ending

I can finally share my piece from the Reforged WinterIron Zine! I'm so excited, I'd had the idea for this fic for years and it was delightful to finally bring it to life. And now I get to share!

Thank you to all the mods over at @reforgedzine for making this happen!

~~~

The night before his thirteenth birthday Bucky is so excited he can barely fall asleep, because he’s going to have his first dream about his soulmate.

The anticipation has been building for weeks, for years; his family has taken to fondly rolling their eyes because Bucky can't talk about anything else. He can’t wait to find out something, anything about his soulmate, about how they'll meet for the first time. He can't wait to start trying to make sense of the hazy details the dream will leave him with.

In the morning, Bucky wakes up sobbing, because now he knows that his soulmate is gorgeous and graceful. That knowledge is crystal clear even if few other details are.

And now, Bucky knows that he's going to put a gun in his soulmate's face and pull the trigger.

~

Thirteen year old Tony wakes up feeling cold and hollow except for a sharp ache settling deep in his chest.

Apparently, it was stupid to be excited, just like Howard always said. Because now he knows that their first meeting involves his soulmate pushing him away.

Literally.

Tony knows that dreams are funny things. He read all about soulmate dreams and how easy it is to misinterpret them, how they tend to exaggerate, back when he was dumb enough to look forward to them. But he would swear that the shove felt hard enough to knock the air from his lungs, felt strong enough to throw him clear across the room.

The ache in his chest lingers the entire day, and every morning that he wakes up from the same dream, the pain is agonizingly fresh, digging a little deeper.

So Tony grows up and learns how to push people away first. He tells himself that when he meets his soulmate, he’ll be ready.

~

Bucky never tells anyone about the dream, even when his parents give him concerned looks. Eventually people stop asking.

Every time he has the dream, Bucky remembers a little more. His soulmate is dressed in mostly black, moving gracefully and carelessly through a room in chaos. His soulmate has gorgeous eyes and a wicked, beautiful smirk.

Every time, Bucky shoots his soulmate in the face and wakes up nauseous.

At least when he joins the army, no one else talks about their dreams either. Most nights, Bucky is too exhausted to dream at all, and it’s almost a relief when nightmares start to overtake the few times that he does.

~

Most nights, Tony drinks until he falls into a short, restless sleep, just to avoid the one dream he doesn't want to have.

He doesn’t want to see his soulmate’s cold, emotionless eyes. He doesn’t want the all-too-brief feeling of his soulmate's hand beneath his own before he's shoved away.

When Tony does dream, it’s of clenched fists, feeling frustrated, helpless. Feeling like his entire life is falling apart around him, and it’s all so stupid.

So he refuses to figure out any other details because he’s already going to have to live through it at some point. He doesn't want to know if that fleeting contact of hand against hand is a first meeting, doesn’t bother trying to remember anything about the large, bright room the dream takes place in or the people around them. He doesn’t care if it's a charity gala or something else. None of it matters.

Tony wakes up and drinks more.

He builds and smiles for the press. He does his best to not lose the few people he has, and tells himself that he won’t care when his soulmate doesn’t want him.

Sometimes he even believes it.

~

The Winter Soldier doesn’t dream at all.

Not during the short, fitful sleep he gets on missions. Certainly not while he’s frozen.

He forgets.

~

When the moment finally happens in real life, they don’t recognize it.

Bucky isn't in his right mind. He’s barely clinging to awareness past the hold of the conditioning in a room in chaos. He doesn't recognize the graceful motions of the gorgeous man who jumps into the fight, or the moment he points his gun in the man's face.

The bullet doesn't connect, and when Tony doesn't die, the Winter Soldier rips his hand away from Tony’s, shoves him across the room and knocks the air out of his lungs.

Tony isn’t thinking about the brief contact of his hand on Barnes’ over the barrel of a gun, of Barnes’ hand splayed across his chest. He’s thinking about the fact that his life is falling apart, and that he needs to stop a rampaging Winter Soldier. He doesn’t have time to think about the splinter itching at the back of his mind.

They don’t even notice when they stop having the dreams, after that moment.

~

Tony is alone in his workshop, in the too-empty compound, when it hits him that he doesn’t even remember the last time he dreamt of his soulmate.

It’s not just because he barely sleeps, not just because when he does dream it’s of his friends falling from the sky, of cities and worlds crashing to the ground. He’s spent so much time trying to ignore the dream, apparently he’s even been ignoring the fact that it’s gone.

It’s a stupid thing to be upset about.

Tony has always known how they would feel about him, known they wouldn’t want anything to do with him, but he still has to sit on the cold tile floor as his legs give out. He blinks back tears, wondering how far he must have fallen, if he doesn’t even deserve a soulmate who pushes him away anymore, doesn’t deserve anyone.

He wonders if his soulmate dreams about someone else now.

~

Bucky is in Wakanda, trying to find peace, when a doctor asks about the dream.

For a second Bucky doesn’t remember. And then he does. And he can’t breathe.

He doesn’t dream much anymore. When he does, it’s always nightmares. He hasn’t dreamt of his soulmate since before the war.

Before the Soldier.

And Bucky realizes he’s probably already killed his soulmate, and doesn’t even remember it. Everything goes fuzzy.

No one asks about the dreams again. Bucky has so many regrets to move past, he just shoves this one down with all the others. His soulmate is probably long gone. There’s no need to think about it.

So, he tries not to.

~

Having everyone back at the compound is exactly as awkward-as-hell as Tony thought it would be. It only makes him feel a little better that he’s clearly not the only one feeling it.

The reasoning is sound, the threat is coming, but that doesn’t mean Tony has to be happy about it.

But he smiles, shakes hands when he has to, and reminds himself this is for the best. He can bury his hurt feelings for the good of the world. He can be an adult, pretend everything is fine. He shows everyone to the residential wing, despite most of them already knowing their way around, and doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he says to make themselves at home.

Slowly, they start putting the team back together. There’s lots of talks about trust and honesty that feel hollow and stilted, but Tony supposes it’s progress.

They still work well together in the field, but that was never the Avengers’ problem.

Around the compound, though, the split remains obvious. Everyone seems torn between walking on eggshells and the urge to act like nothing’s changed even though it has, Tony among them.

The different sides of the war still give each other wide berths in the hallways, and Steve still stands protectively between Tony and his shadow of a best friend when they happen to run into each other in the gym.

Tony spins on his heel with a lazy wave, doesn’t even care if he’s too obvious. For just a moment, Tony’s gaze meets Barnes’ as he turns.

For just that moment, Tony finds himself caught in that deep blue stare before the doors slide closed behind him.

~

Bucky spends a lot of time wandering the compound.

He’s aware everyone thinks it’s a paranoid-perimeter-check thing, which it partially is. But it's also just him enjoying the novelty that he can spend his time wandering aimlessly. He can go where he wants when he wants, never has to sleep unless he chooses to.

He’s still getting used to it; remembering how to enjoy the freedom.

Which is how he runs into Stark in the kitchen at three AM, when he’s trying to outrun his nightmares. Tony is apparently making pancakes.

Bucky freezes in the doorway as they stare at each other. Just when he’s preparing to back away, Stark’s lips curl into a tiny smile. Stark tips his head towards the rest of the kitchen, obviously inviting him to stay instead. Bucky grabs an apple and sits at his usual spot at the far end of the table, trying to look comfortable, and it’s somehow easier than he’s expecting.

It’s only a couple minutes before Stark finishes making and neatly stacking his pancakes on a plate. Then he dumps everything in the dishwasher and shoots Bucky only the briefest look before leaving with his plate of food.

Bucky tells himself to avoid the kitchen around that time. He should give Stark some space, because he’s so clearly uncomfortable with everyone being back.

But two sleepless nights later, Bucky’s feet carry him on a familiar path without thought.

Stark is making waffles this time. He barely even looks up as Bucky takes up the same space at the table. Stark glances at him again as he’s preparing to leave, at the power bar Bucky’s been picking at, then transfers one waffle to a smaller plate. He sets the small plate on the table, just within Bucky’s reach. Then to Bucky’s surprise, Stark sits at the counter instead of leaving.

Bucky pulls the plate closer, and they eat in total silence. They’re not even facing each other and Bucky is actually a little relieved. He doesn’t know what to say to anyone these days, much less Stark.

It’s the first time they’ve done more than pass in the hallways, but it’s not as uncomfortable as it should be. When Tony stands to leave with a wave and a small, warm smile, Bucky finds himself disappointed.

~

As the weeks go by, Tony notices Barnes getting more comfortable around the compound, sometimes with Steve but most often alone.

Not that Tony lets himself wonder why he cares, why he scrolls through security feeds of the hallways like he needs to check on Barnes. It’s just morale has been slowly improving, and that’s the last bridge Tony has to mend. Or, the last bridge to build from scratch over a giant chasm, in this case.

He’s coming back late from a charity event, a little tipsy with plans to head to the lab, but gets sidetracked when he passes through the living room and realizes Barnes is on the couch watching Star Trek. Tony pauses for a second, filled with nostalgia, but he tells himself to leave Barnes to his marathon in peace.

To his surprise, Barnes looks at him with a tiny smile, unsure but devoid of suspicion or impatience. Tony sinks into an armchair, asking himself why. They proceed to watch four and a half episodes in silence.

Tony wakes up to Steve and Sam clomping through after their morning run, slumped down in the chair with a blanket carefully draped over him.

It becomes a habit, and Barnes becomes Bucky, even if they haven’t actually spoken yet.

So maybe Tony has FRIDAY alert him when Bucky is queuing up the next episode so he can head to the living room. After the first time, though, Bucky waits for him to arrive before hitting play and greets him with a smile that gets brighter every time.

Tony doesn’t let himself wonder about the why’s. Like why he spends so much time simply existing in the same room as Bucky, why that doesn’t feel awkward at all. Or why it seems to be the only thing that helps Tony ignore the empty pit in his chest.

One night, Tony realizes he hasn’t seen Bucky in a while. There’s been no marathon nights despite being due to start Next Generation. He tells himself it’s not creepy to flip through security feeds., He’s just curious how Bucky is spending his sleepless nights now.

Tony’s heart leaps into his throat when he finally locates Bucky on the roof of the hanger, standing on the ledge. He’s breathless by the time he makes it to the hangar, heart racing and legs shaking from the sprint. He doesn’t even know what he thinks is happening, except…

Bucky looks at him with wide, exhausted eyes when Tony bursts through the door, and he could swear Bucky’s shoulders drop in relief. Tony doesn’t have time to think. He just starts talking, because Bucky looks so haunted, and Tony knows a thing or two about distractions.

They’re still on the roof when the sun comes up., And Bucky has to stop pointing out all the constellations he can remember while Tony fills him in on the new star science he’s missed.

~

After the roof, something shifts.

Bucky can’t put his finger on exactly what it is, or even when it happens. But that one stilted conversation about the stars becomes less stilted conversations about whatever’s on TV becomes friendly debates about the merits of different toppings as they make pizza at midnight.

Before Bucky knows it, he feels like he’s home.

He finds a groove with his new life and starts branching out, starts connecting with the rest of the team. He’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be a person. To actually interact when he passes people in the hallway and eat with a group.

To be more than a ghost, to be part of something good.

Always though, he gravitates back to Tony. Because Tony actually makes him laugh and it fills a void in his chest Bucky has long gotten used to. Because Tony is always trying to do better and god Bucky wants to learn how.

Because when Tony’s been on an inventing binge, Bucky can trick him into taking a nap by putting on home improvement shows, and it makes Bucky feel like he’s doing something right. The team smirks when they walk in on Tony drooling on his shoulder, but it’s not like that.

He recognizes the look Steve and Natasha start to give him, smug and knowing. And fine, maybe Tony would have been exactly his type, before. But it’s not like that.

Because Bucky is the man who killed his soulmate. He doesn’t let himself think about that kind of thing.

~

When Bucky decides that he wants to officially join the Avengers, Tony leaps at the chance to make him new gear.

He does the same for the entire team, after all, making sure everyone’s safe. It doesn’t make Bucky special. No matter what the wide grins from Rhodey try to imply.

Tony just loves a challenge, loves the excuse to build something new. So maybe he gets more input from Bucky than anyone else, offers to help Bucky test all the gear on top of team training, but it’s not an excuse to spend more time together. He just sees what Bucky is trying to do, and he’s all too familiar with that struggle.

Despite the knowing looks from everyone, it doesn’t mean anything that he lets Bucky into the lab to see the prototypes, even if it is Tony’s only place of solitude in the compound. Even if eventually Bucky just hangs out there with him for hours.

Tony keeps telling himself it means nothing.

Watching Bucky try to teach DUM-E checkers is the final straw, though. Warmth fills Tony’s chest so fast and hard that he can’t breathe around it. And he finally admits that maybe it all means something.

But Tony is the man who doesn’t deserve a soulmate, who never even got to meet them. Who’s not sure he’d want to meet them anymore, as guilty as it makes him feel.

Maybe he can’t lie to himself anymore. Maybe he’s completely in love, but Tony knows better than to say anything.

~

Days spent in the lab with Tony run together in the best possible way. It’s a blur of playing with the bots, watching Tony create the future, and trying to convince him maybe the new reboots of Star Trek do have something to offer.

Bucky knows what a privilege it is to be here, to see Tony at his most relaxed and occasionally unhinged. He tries not to let it go to his head, give him ideas, even though every day he falls more in love. He’s even getting used to the pangs of guilt over the soulmate he should miss.

Until one day they’re watching a movie on the lumpy couch in Tony’s lab. When it’s revealed that Tony called the plot twist from the very beginning, he smirks at Bucky at just the right angle.

Bucky’s heart drops into the floor.

He knows that smirk. He’s seen it a thousand times in a thousand dreams, even if he hasn’t had it in years, he remembers.

And of course it’s Tony, who’s smart and gorgeous, graceful and just the right amount of wicked. Who Bucky already loves so much he can’t breathe sometimes.

Tony, who he still can’t possibly deserve.

So Bucky says nothing, as happy as he thinks he’ll ever be. Tony is here, alive. Bucky’s soulmate is too smart and too tough to die. Bucky gets to watch the way he laughs when their friends do something stupid, to watch Tony’s back in fights while they both try to do better.

He’ll never get to taste the edges of Tony’s smile, but he shoves that aside. Tony is alive. That’s more than enough.

~

Tony’s first thought when he wakes half-buried under rubble is that he’s officially over alien invasions. The second is that the power of the suit fading in and out, causing the concerned shouting over the comms to cut in and out, is really not helping with his throbbing head.

The aliens swarm into what’s left of the nightclub, stealing his attention before Tony can work up the breath to answer, and all the suit’s questionable power has to go to blasting the ones that get too close. The oversized bug-like soldiers just keep coming, and Tony starts to wonder if he’d be better off ditching the deadweight of the armor.

But he’s not sure he can make a run for it. His head is spinning and he’s dimly aware of blood filling the suit, and the aliens are still coming—

There’s a roar of approaching gunfire and then Bucky is bursting into the destroyed building, wielding a large knife and the only gun Tony has built in years.

And the thing is…Tony knows those movements.

He knows that brutal fighting style, the blank rage in those blue eyes. He recognizes the wrath of the Winter Soldier. He’d been dreaming of it most of his life.

Tony can’t believe he never put it together before, because of course it’s Bucky. Resilient and brave and so kind, Bucky who still deserves so much better than Tony. Of course.

Maybe it’s just easier to recognize him with unconsciousness trying to drag Tony under. Maybe Tony’s already dreaming.

He must be, because suddenly Bucky is leaning over him. His eyes are warm, and scared. Tony doesn’t know this part of the dream, doesn’t know what happens next.

Everything is going black. Tony struggles to find his words, to plead. To beg not to be shoved away again.

~

Bucky sits unmoving beside Tony’s hospital bed for three days, even though all he wants to do is run.

He saw the recognition in Tony’s eyes, he knows that Tony knows. He wants to leave before Tony asks him to, because what else could Tony want from a soulmate like him?

But that’s not what Tony had said. Tony asked him to stay while sounding so scared, so resigned. Like he knew Bucky wouldn’t and it was already breaking his heart.

So, Bucky stays.

He’s staring at his fists, trying to stop himself from wondering, when the heart monitor starts beeping triple time, giving away that Tony is awake. Bucky jerks his gaze up to meet Tony’s big brown eyes, watches the flashes of fear and hope that go through them.

Bucky knows he must look terrible, hasn’t slept or shaved in days. He’s barely eaten, and he can feel the lines of worry set into his face. But Tony’s still looking at him with something like awe, just because he’s here.

When Tony smiles nervously the wave of hope that crashes over Bucky nearly overwhelms him, could crush him beneath it.

Bucky smiles back.

[dcafanzine]

Hi everyone! We’re super excited to start introducing our contributors! Let’s let them introduce themselves!

————————————————————————

hello ! I'm enduu and I really like Sun and Moon. I was very lucky to be part of the Backstage Pass bonus zine! This is my first time joining a group and contributing, so to be honest, I'm still in a daze. When I first saw these two, I was so deeply impressed by the narrative, and I was curious about their daily lives, so I started drawing them, and here I am! We will continue to move forward for the happiness of these two!!!

Twitter | Tumblr

————————————————————————

Hello hello!! My name is Melody and i'm one of the artist on the main Glitches and Glitterglue zine! I haven't done zines in a long time so i'm both nervous and excited! I honestly have no idea how I fell into the DCA hole the two just grabbed me by the ankles and into this lovely fandom it seems >:)) it's been absolutely amazing seeing all the art and writing that's been brought together by the lovely mods so I can't wait for you and I to see the final result!!

My Instagram! @/Mellytunee

————————————————————————

Heya! My name's DJ, I'll be writing one of the pieces for the main zine! I've never worked on a zine before, but I'm super excited to do so, especially since it's about the silly jester lads. I can't say the hyperfixation took me by surprise; I've always loved robots and jesters! I'm in love with Sun and Moon's designs, and they're just so full of personality (plus I adore Moon's wheezy gremlin giggling)

Though I have a few small accounts here and there, you can find me primarily at @dragonjesterwrites.

[manofbeskar]

finally got the green light to post previews! i had the pleasure of drawing web-slinger for @thespiderversezine and i can't wait for you guys to get to see the complete piece. it's still one of my favourite works i've done in years. preorders open tomorrow so get your hands on the zine and the awesome merch if you can!

[terrified-spider]

My main piece may have been finished for a while now, but I've also gotten to design the formatting art for @curseofsergei's Memento Mori zine!

I've gotten to see some of the formatting previews, and I can't wait for it to finally come out! (:

[nuwho20zine]

Time for a...

Mod Team Update

Hi everyone! I'm currently looking to see if I can finalize the Mod Team this month, so that in July we can properly start this thing and we have everyone in the right places, but I need your help.

We currently have enough Writer Mods to help writers with their pieces (thank you to everyone who was happy to take on this role!!) but we're still missing on other roles. In particular:

💫 Artist Mod: we have one person on the team as an Artist Mod, but I'd like to have at least one other person. This Mod would be responsible for mostly helping artists out with their pieces and keeping an eye on their progress. These skills are out of my skillset, so I need other people to fill in!

💫 Layout/Graphic Design (LGM) Mod: this is the position that I absolutely need to someone to fill. I don't have any sort of knowledge or skills in this department and someone has to be able to put this thing together!! If you want to take everyone's pieces and make them into a cool, pretty, awesome zine, this position is for you!Honestly, not getting someone to do this has been what I have been most scared of since starting this thing, so let's hope one of you wants to do this part!!

💫 General Mod: this position is pretty much for my right hand person, someone to help me out with the more admin side of things. Technically, I believe I can do without them - but I also believe it'd be easier and more enjoyable to have someone helping me out. If you think you'd like this, then reach out! (Update on 7/jun: position filled!! We're doing it guys!!)

One thing of note: I really don't want to have anyone alone in any position (in this zine, responsibility is shared!!) so I'm looking for 1-2 Artist Mods and 2 LGM Mods.

There is no form to fill out for this! If any of these positions interests you, then comment on this post or send me an off-anon ask and we'll talk. I am of course available to provide more information on expected tasks, work timeline, etc - I'm just trying not to make this post too crowded.

If you aren't able to help/don't want to, but still would like to see this project completed, then please please share or reblog or tag someone you think would be a good fit. Anything helps!!

Thank you guys so much! I really appreciate you all and your support.

Update (13/06): Mod Team closed!!

Can't wait to announce it to you all. I'm so happy we did this!!!! Thank you for all your support, I'm really excited about this project and it's so good to feel like I have the people to bring it to fruition 💛✨

[wbasnfanzine]

Fans of Witherburn After School News:

Hi!! I'm Kya, and I'm the one managing the Tumblr account for the (currently in the works) 2024 WBASN Fan Zine. It's new project and a kind of confusing thing, even for me still, so here's a few pieces of basic info on how it's happening thus far, done in Q&A format:

What is the WBASN Fan Zine?

The WBASN Fan Zine is a project that a few like-minded friends and I have come together to bring to you. We all love Witherburn, and we wanted to find a way to give back to the creators and the community that have been here for us and given us a place to express ourselves for so long. This seemed like a good way to do that.

Who's working on it?

We currently have five cocreators for it (including myself), those being Wolf (@wolfatemybaby), Madi (@lwfllygndrfld), Jamie (@jamiegeode, Keely (@lukas-broken-bow), and me (@kyathedino)!

Are you accepting more cocreators?

That's a difficult one. I suppose the most straightforward answer is not necessarily? If you have ideas, feel free to shoot us an email or dm (all creative suggestions taken will be credited). And if you really, really want in on the project, then send us a message of any kind (email, dm, etc) and we will take it into consideration, though there is no promise of acceptance.

Where can I look for updates/to contact you?

Updates and public info on the project of any kind (including access info for the final version) can be found either on here, our tiktok, or our Instagram. Contact can be done primarily through our email. All of this is linked here, on our Carrd.

https://wbasnfanzine.carrd.co/

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Either way, we hope to see you on the journey that this Zine takes us, however long that is (we don't have an official release date yet). There's a lot to be done, and a lot of awesome ideas going around right now, and we're still kind of figuring out how to organize everything.

If you want to help out a bit in streamlining the process, we also have a Kofi, which is on our Carrd as well, though donations, while appreciated, are not mandatory.

Regardless of if you end up contributing or not, we can't wait to show you what we have in store, so stay tuned!!

-The WBASN Zine Team

[goldensunartinitiative]

Lonesome George is Lonesome no more!

We have reached the final preview from the Golden Sun Art Initiative pixel portrait side project. The next time you see any of the pixel art that GSAI has commissioned, it will be in the form of a zine!

And for the record, progress is being made, slowly, by our new compiler. For now, check out George!

This portrait features none other than Lonesome George, made by Tacocrepe (on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tacocrepe) who also crafted the other trading game animals. As well as Li'l Turtle, since we all could use a friend.

There are 33 pixel portraits in total in this bonus collection and I can't wait for you to see the others!

[lekrow]

Hey, y'all! I'm super excited to finally share a peek of a piece I've been hard at work on for weeks and weeks: it's my contribution to the Queer OC Zine 2024!! 👀 And of course it's Decimus. This bad boy's made entirely of gouache and the colors are so funky and fun. It'll be a while yet until I can share the full picture--with all the collage parts hehe--but I can't wait for y'all to see it! (Also this is my first time doing anything for a zine, I'm STOKED 🤠🤠)

Of course, I'm just one of dozens of other artists and all of us worked super hard with the stellar folks at @queeroc-zine to share our lil blorbos. The art and writing coming out of this project has been absolutely delicious and 😎 pre-Orders are available right now right here! Get one! More info is here. (Proceeds are going to charity for queer refugees!! 🩷)

If you're interested, check out @queeroc-zine for updates/info and to peep some of the other amazing talent on this project! And consider spreading posts about the zine around cuz it's for charity and it supports queer artists 🥰

[applejacks1552]

Preorders for Home & Harbor, a Rogue & Gambit Charity Fanzine are right around the corner and we contributers can finally show y'all a few sneak peeks of what's inside!

My writing piece for the zine was inspired by the infamous basketball game in X-Men #4 (1991), but finds our couple in more recent times from the comics.

I always adore when the X-Men are hanging out together as a family. And I've loved Rogue and Gambit since X-Men the Animated series, so I am beyond excited for X-Men'97! Let's go Romy fans! This is our year!

Here's a little snippet from my story:

I really hope you all will check it out and support the zine. I had the distinct honor of working with @emyryld who drew some mindblowingly amazing sketches for this story! They're just SO good. I can't wait for everyone to see them!

[grayseeker]

The Spark of Inspiration: Why Starscream Means the World to Me

I vividly remember the moment I became a die-hard Transformers fan. It was in 1985, during the episode Starscream's Brigade. The scene where Starscream confidently flies up to perch on Bruticus' shoulder took my breath away. There was just something about him. His attitude, his defiance. His sheer audacity in standing up to Megatron's attempts to put him in his 'place' - and all of this balanced by a emotional vulnerability that I found all too relatable.

For me, Starscream embodies the quintessential outsider striving for acceptance and power; an archetype that speaks to anyone who has ever felt overlooked or underestimated. His clashes with Megatron mirrored my own experiences with bullying, as well as my struggles to find my voice. His relentless pursuit of his ambitions taught me the importance of sometimes being just a little 'selfish.' That prioritizing one's own needs–for time, space or creativity–is an act of courageous rebellion in a world that pre-defines one's 'correct' role as being in service of others.

Despite being labeled a coward, Starscream's never-say-die attitude in the face of setbacks provided me with a model of courage and resilience that has inspired me for decades. Even his death in Transformers: The Movie couldn't suppress his passion for life. Following the open-ended finale of Ghost in the Machine, I felt compelled to continue Starscream's story. He got me past my fear of the dreaded blank page, and kicked off what has become a lifelong passion for storytelling.

Starscream also awakened my sense of myself as a queer person, and inspired me to explore gender, sexuality and identity in ways I might not have if he had not planted the seed through his delectably flamboyant brand of queer-coded villainy.

Starscream perched on Bruticus' shoulder.

Why Supernova, Why Now?

It's safe to say that Starscream is more than a character to me. He is my Muse. He swooped into my life in '85 and took up residence, capturing both my heart and my imagination. Supernova, one of my upcoming zine projects, is a way to extend that love to a wider community, inviting others to bring their own Starscream-fueled perspectives, experiences and creativity. Supernova will accept submissions in the form of art, fiction, comics, poetry, and essays in what I hope will become a vibrant homage to the inspiration Starscream has provided me and many other fans, both old and new.

Want to join in?

Supernova is currently in the interest-check phase. Fill out the interest-check survey below, and let me know what you’d love to see included in the zine. I can't wait to see what we create together!