#why it takes so long to get ready

Hey all, Drew here (aka @boggled-senseless on Tumblr) and I’m one of the music and finance mods for this zine! I’m currently doing a degree in technical theatre production, specializing in audio design, and I’ve been performing music for most of my life, starting piano at 8yrs old and percussion at 12yrs. This is my third time as a mod for a zine and as soon as I saw this project even being thought about I was thrilled! As a member of the LGBTQA+ community as well as an artist, having a project like this that encourages not only LGBTQA+ work, but original stuff as well is, I think, greatly needed. Plus I’ve never seen a zine involving music before and am extremely excited to share and collaborate with the mods and participants!

Hello lovely folks! I’m Finn, a mod for this zine - with a focus on working with the writers! For social media I have two (2) tumblr accounts with my main being @milk-is-nutritious, which ranges from memes to political issues, and my slow going writing blog under the handle @finwritesthings - I also have a twitter by that same name! A little fun fact about me is that I’m a huge nerd when it comes to the ocean - especially sharks! I once spent half an hour info dumping about sharks to someone I had just met about an hour prior to that conversation. I also spend a lot of my time educating folks on queer issues, which played a huge part in wanting to help make this zine a reality. That and the fact that Nick is an incredibly talented and well organized person who I knew would propel this zine into being a complete smash! I work part-time as a peer support worker at an HIV/AIDS and trans health clinic as well as sitting on my city’s pride committee as the youth outreach and coordination personnel. I have spent the last few years since coming out as trans doing various workshops education staff at schools, students, health care providers, and various organizations on queer identities, language, and how to be more inclusive. This zine is not only an opportunity to create queer rep, but is also an opportunity for queer folks to create that representation themselves - which is even harder to come by than queer rep made by cishet folks. I have also worked on 7 zines as a writer as well as currently running my own zine. I am so ecstatic for this project and I can’t wait to continue forwards with it!

Hi, my name is Haryuu and I’m a Mod for the Lion Pride Zines! You can find me as “haryuusart” in basically any social media (Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.) I love creating art in any form, from drawing to music, and I hope to transform this passion into a job. That’s one of the reasons I am motivated for this zine: projects like this give people the possibility to create and share their work, and it’s so beautiful in my opinion. Plus, being part of the LGBT+ community myself, I feel represented and I hope everyone will feel the same way.

My mod roles are general organization, music and art, and what qualifies me is my experience in these fields: I participated in a lot of zines and events, both as a mod and a contributor, and I recently organized my own zine, so thanks to these I learned lots of things;

I love music immensely, it’s one of my biggest passions: I’ve played the piano for many years and recently started learning the ukulele. I wrote some original songs and did covers of my favorite ones, and I’m so happy I can mod this part of the zines because it’s very original and new.

Finally, as I said, I love creating; I’m a traditional and digital artist, I’ve drawn since I was very little, so art has accompanied me through basically my whole life. I have a Diploma in Ceramic design, earned after five years of an artistic high school. l I’ve done commissions and illustrations for short books and fics, and I hope to share my passion with as many people as possible.

I can’t wait to start this wonderful journey with the other mods and the participants!

Isaiah @galacticcannibalisms on tumblr and instagram or @galacticanibals on twitter) is one of the graphic design mods for Lion Pride. I’m a graphic design/printmaking major with aspirations to go on to graduate school and then become a professor myself. This zine speaks to me because it aligns fairly closely to one of my dreams, creating an LGBT+ focused publishing company for stories about and by members of the community. 

My mod rules consistent mostly of focusing on the layout of the zine itself, as well as any additional design that’s needed. This is the second zine I will be taking care of in this way, but I’ve had outside experience in collating and formatting large volumes on information and creating my own layout designs that are both functional and artistic.

Hiya! I’m Jay, a mod for Lion Pride Zines! You can find me on Tumblr as @agentnavi or any other social media site as jaythefae. I’ll be working as a mod for finance, art, and music for this project. My finance experience comes from my time spent as a Campus Activity Moderator in college. As a campus activity moderator, one of my duties was to budget the supplies necessary for multiple events throughout the year. In addition to this, researching products to find the best possible price was also something I took care of as part of my responsibilities. For my art and music experience, I took up piano at the age of 8 and have played ever since alongside picking up the flute at age 11. I have a bit of experience playing the tenor saxophone as well as clarinet and have started teaching myself guitar. I have also been a fine arts student since age 11, attending an arts-focused middle school and independently pursuing my interest independently beyond that time. Being involved in this zine is super important to me because not only is it supporting original works by a multitude of creators, it’s supporting LGBT+ works, potentially giving people the springboard they need to get their content out to more people and that’s super cool to me!

Heya! I’m Nick, (@nikneedsalife on Tumblr, @nïck on Pillowfort). I’ll be working on social media, writing and the general organizational aspects of Lion Pride zines! This project is my baby, and I love it very much, because I adore LGBT+ fiction—you can usually find me in a corner getting emotional about it. I also really hope to give LGBT+ creators a platform for their work!

I’ve written for about eleven zines, mainly fandom, and have experience in modding about five others! I usually work mainly with social media and writers, but I’ve also gained a lot of experience in dealing with the general work, communication and organisation that comes with a zine. 

Hello! My name is Noah, also known as Fricz (@fricz-art over tumblr and FriczArt on twitter) and I’m one of the art and graphic design mods for this project. I majored in Animation and Visual Effects and soon I’ll start a master in Concept Art and Storyboard (I’m really excited for this!). I have always been an art kid, I started with music and writing and finally found my true vocation with drawing. I’m very happy to be part of this project, since it’s an excellent way for creators to show their original works and express themselves as part of the LGBT+ community. I’m excited to help and see how this project will evolve!

• Lance and Allura’s relationship, despite popular belief, had been growing since season 1 of the show.
• Lance and Allura made each other better. Its not that they got absorbed in each other, they had to be there for each other.
• Lance has an absolutely fantastic epilogue for him. He now spends time with his family on his family’s farm, who he has missed since the beginning of the show.
• He is spreading Allura’s message and educating younger generations. He is making a difference.
• And no, he did not necessarily change races. He literally just has marks on his face. He’s still Cuban, always have been, always will be.
• Lance over the course of the series has become more confident and more trusting of other people. He doesn’t need to flirt to gain attention anymore. He doesn’t seem to need attention anymore to completely boost his self esteem. He knows better now, he’s grown and become a stronger, better person.

• I understand the frustration of seeing yet another strong POC die on screen, trust me I get it. But.
• Allura did not die a victim. She did not die in pain. She died a true hero. She saved all life, everywhere.
• Her entire character is strength. No matter what it is, she pulls through and sets things right.
• Allura was an educator, a diplomat, family, friend, lover, warrior, and hero. If that isn’t worth looking up to, then I don’t know what is.
• Allura’s development was absolutely golden. She started as a confused girl who was mourning the loss of her family and planet. She rarely fought, not that she didn’t know how but no lion had accepted her at the time. She was alone and knew little about Altean alchemy. But she grew to become a Paladin. She found her new family while reuniting with her old family. She found someone who she could always rely upon, someone who loved her unconditionally. She was accepted into Oriande and gained incredible magical strength. And she became a hero who saved Every. Single. Reality.

• Understand all that Shiro has gone through. He nearly died of disease, he got abducted, he lost his arm, he actually DIED and was cloned, and he lost his fiance to the war.
• Also understand who Shiro is. He is a disabled gay Asian man.
• However, none of that has made him weak. He has always been revered as incredibly strong, possibly stronger than the entire team.
• Shiro is a leader, a teacher, a brother, a friend, and now a husband. There is absolutely nothing he cannot do. I am glad that he represents how strong an LGBT character can be, and paves the way for other shows to create more powerful LGBT characters.

• I understand perfectly well that constantly food and fat jokes are annoying.
• However, Hunk’s connection to food wasn’t just through his stomach. It was conveyed several times that he uses food to bring people together. Certain foods reminds him of his family, which made him happy. And now he is using his incredible chef skills to also serve as a diplomat.
• Not to mention, Hunk is incredibly strong. Just like Keith said, Hunk was always the most scared but he NEVER backed down.
• He fights just as hard as the other paladins. He is the leg of Voltron, he holds them up and gives Voltron strength and support. It’s not a role that just anyone could handle.
• All in all, Hunk is an extremely sweet, strong, and powerful character.

• Katie Holt was dauntless throughout the entire series.
• Just for a recap, she changed her entire persona just to save her family, picked up alien radio chatter from a device she built HERSELF, she became a Paladin of Voltron, she single handedly saved her brother, and with his and the Paladins’ assistance, she saved her father.
• She gained intelligence everywhere she went, and has saved the team from total destruction DOZENS of times.
• She is still defending the universe within her epilogue without actually being behind the controls of the Green Lion.

• Keith began as an insecure, knee-jerk emo kid who had lost his mother, father, AND brother figure stuck in the desert all by himself. He had no family, nobody to trust, and nobody to take care of him.
• However, Keith was able to forge his own destiny. He gained a new family within the Voltron team. He found Shiro. He even found his mother. He grew stronger and learned to accept himself, even with the Galra blood within him.
• He learned how to become a true leader, and think with his head rather on his feet.
• At the end of the day, he learned how to trust and create life long bonds.
• Within his epilogue, he is still helping the universe by providing aid wherever needed. He turned the Blade of Marmora from a group of space rebels into a relief provider.
• Not to mention, he helped to reunite the Galra Empire under peace, not war.

• Understand that it was Never. Going. To. Happen.
• Keith started WAYY too untrusting to be in a relationship. He could barely handle friendships at first, nonetheless romantic relationships.
• Keith and Lance’s relationship is much more than a yaoi fanfiction fantasy that the fandom is trying to create. They are confidants and make each other stronger when they need it most. They started as enemies, and now they have an incredibly strong friendship. That in itself is enough for me.
• None of their interactions can really be seen as romantic. The bonding moment? Didn’t really happen. Keith never “cradled” Lance in his arms. He helped him up. Lance going to Keith for advice? Did I mention that they’re confidants? Also that they are friends? And that Keith is their leader? Lance should be able to trust Keith. He should be able to ask him for advice.
• The show is not a bad show. If you keep a tunnel vision, ship driven view of the show then OF COURSE you will dislike it. Voltron is not necessarily about romance. You should appreciate the show for its characters, its plot and its message.
• Ship what you want, but attacking people over it when you don’t get your way is NOT the way to go about it. It’s not fair to the fans who just want to enjoy the show, and its especially unfair to the people who put their blood, sweat, and tears into making this show.

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Lion pride zines are a collection of digital charity zines, promoting original LGBT+ content. The theme for the first volume is “Fantasy & Fairytales”, and we’ll be accepting artists (illustration and comic), writers (prose and poetry), and musicians. Applications will be open from 15th December 2018 — 15th January 2019.