Who are the mods for this zine?

Deepa (fiercynn on Tumblr and AO3; fiercynonym on Twitter) and science (sciencebluefeelings on Tumblr and AO3): science is in charge of art, graphic design, layout, formatting, and other zine logistics, while Deepa is in charge of communications with contributors, zine promotion, and the donation process. Most of these posts are written by Deepa!

What is a fanzine, and why are you making one?

A fanzine is a fan-made “magazine” that can take many, many different forms! In our case, we’re making a digital zine with fanfic, fan poetry, and fanart from sixteen different contributors. The final zine will be a PDF in full color. We chose to make a fanzine for this project because, as far as we know, there hasn’t been an English-language Bad Buddy fanzine like this so far in the fandom, and we thought it would be a cool way to raise money and attention by having fanworks that are exclusive to the zine.

Why a digital zine?

We originally considered making a print zine, but since both of us are new to modding zines, we thought it would be too ambitious for our first time! We also didn’t want to have to worry about how many donations we would get and whether that would make the printing worth it, since a digital zine only costs our labor and the labor of our contributors to produce, and our contributors are generously donating that. However, since we surpassed our stretch goal of $1,200 USD donated before the end of the pre-order period, we will be raffling off two print copies of the zine among everyone who pre-ordered!

Why a fanzine for Palestine?

The recent escalation in genocidal violence is Israel’s latest effort to completely wipe out Palestine and its people, as evidenced by the almost century of Zionist settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, occupation, apartheid, and genocide. As Israel continues without impunity, it’s crucial that we keep supporting Palestinians, both monetarily, by protesting, and by keeping their voices in the forefront. 

What does a Bad Buddy fanzine have to do with Palestinian liberation?

Just the same as anything else in our lives has to do with Palestine: because all of our liberations are tied together. Bad Buddy fandom is a place where we’ve seen profound and meaningful conversations happen about queer justice and queer futures, and we know it’s been a space for queer and trans fans to come together. We cannot be free while Palestinians are not free, so we hope that this zine will not only raise funds for an organization fighting back against Israel’s suppression of Palestinian stories, but also encourage people to keep talking and listening and fighting themselves for long after Israel hopes that we will forget about Palestine. 

Whose work will be in the zine?

We featured each of our sixteen contributors in our #contributor spotlights, including who they are, why they wanted to be part of this zine, what other Bad Buddy fanworks they’ve made in the past, and where else you can find them online! Some of our contributors also shared #zine previews of their work.

Why should I trust you with my money? How do I know it’ll actually go to the right organization?

You won’t have to trust us with your money at all! You will be making your donation directly to We Are Not Numbers or a GoFundMe for a WANN writer, and you can then send us proof of your donation. The How To Order Your Zine post has instructions on how to do that, and how to redact any identifying information from your proof of donation to protect your privacy.

How much will the zine “cost”?

You will be required to make a minimum $10 USD donation to We Are Not Numbers or to a GoFundMe for a WANN writer to purchase the digital zine. You are welcome to donate more than $10 USD if you have the means.

I don’t have a credit card. Is there another way to donate?

If you have a friend that you trust who has a credit card, they can make the donation on your behalf and you can send them the money whatever way is easiest for you. They will just have to share the receipt that they receive by email, and you can use that to fill out the form. If it’s a person who is also buying a copy of the zine for themselves, they can just fill out the form for both of you and share the PDF with you when they receive it.

If you don’t have someone with a credit card who can make the donation for you, email us at BadBuddyFanzine@gmail.com and we’ll work with you to figure out another option.

When I receive my copy of the zine, can I share it with other people?

Please do not share your copy of the zine with anyone else unless they have also donated or you are donating on their behalf. This will be on the honor system, since we’ll just be sending you a PDF of the zine, but given that this is a fundraiser, we ask that you respect this requirement! If you are donating on someone else’s behalf, you’ll need to donate a minimum $10 USD for each person you are the proxy for.

How about sharing the art or writing with others, either online or otherwise?

No, not unless those people have donated for their own copy of the zine, or if you have donated as a proxy person for each of them. We know this is kind of unusual for fanworks, which are usually meant to be shared widely. But because this zine is intended to both raise donations and awareness for Palestinian liberation, we want people to donate in order to see any of the content, and to receive the full copy of the zine where they can read more about what they can do to support Palestine and why this zine was created.

You can, however, share any art that is posted on our Tumblr or Twitter, most of which is promotional art for the zine by @sciencebluefeelings! We just ask that you share a link to our socials as well so that it’s fulfilling its purpose.

Why We Are Not Numbers? Why not a direct-service or humanitarian aid organization?

There are countless organizations doing incredible and necessary work in Palestine right now. A lot of attention has gone to humanitarian organizations who are on the ground providing medical aid, food, water, e-sims, and more to people who have been injured and displaced by Israel’s genocide - which is of course crucial! But in the fight for Palestinian liberation, it’s also important to be supporting people and organizations who are fighting for longer-term change to dismantle Israeli settler colonialism. 

We Are Not Numbers is a youth-led organization based in Gaza that employs and empowers youth in Palestine to tell the stories of Palestinians beyond numbers and fight for their liberation. Build Palestine lists them as a trusted organization, and they accept international donations online. We also thought it was fitting that a zine of art and writing supports artists and writers in Palestine. 

Why was this zine not opened for submissions?

Since this is a fundraiser zine and we wanted to get started on it as soon as possible, we decided to reach out individually to creators that we thought might be interested to shorten some of the timeline. If you are a Bad Buddy writer or artist and were not invited to join, it is not a reflection of your talent! 

How can I get updates on the zine?

You can also follow us here and/or on Twitter! You can also email us with any questions at BadBuddyFanzine@gmail.com.