A Fields of Mistria Fanzine

About

Welcome to Mistria is an unofficial fanzine celebrating the early access period of Fields of Mistria. It will be a SFW digital zine, raising funds for charity via direct donation.

The zine will be framed as a copy of the promotional pamphlet Adeline sends out to the Adventurer’s Guild that ultimately results in the Farmer making Mistria their new home. This could include:

  • letters or transcribed interviews from the townsfolk to prospective neighbors sharing their favorite parts of the town

  • illustrations of Mistria’s foremost attractions — locations, areas ripe for exploration, and perhaps even potential romantic partners

  • anything else that might support Adeline’s campaign to find the perfect new resident to add to the community

As the project will be set just prior to the start of canon, it will not focus on or include any Farmer characters (except as the intended audience of the pamphlet itself), and should comply with currently known canon insofar as it is possible.

The goal is for any reader to be able to engage with the finished zine as a way to enrich their experience of the game and immerse them further in the world and characters we love.

Schedule

Interest CheckMarch 1st - March 22nd
Contributor AppsMarch 29th - April 26th
Application ResultsMay 3rd
Acceptance DeadlineMay 10th
Pitch Adjustment DeadlineMay 14th
Pitch ConfirmationsMay 17th
First Check-inMay 31st
Second Check-inJune 28th
Third Check-inJuly 26th
Final SubmissionAugust 23rd
Formatting PeriodAugust 30th - September 20th
Charity Bundle Pre-OrdersSeptember 27th - October 30th
Charity Bundle ReleaseOctober 31st
Free Zine ReleaseDecember 10th

Mods

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is a “zine”?
    A zine – also called a fanzine – is a collaborative passion project, made by fans, for fans. Zines may come in a number of different shapes, sizes, and formats, but at their core they are curated love letters to a fandom, character, ship, etc. Multiple creatives come together to contribute writing, art, etc. and at the end the final submissions are formatted into a digital or physical booklet.

  • Will this zine be digital or physical?
    Welcome to Mistria will be a digital zine, to ensure accessibility.

  • Will the zine be for-profit?
    No. The zine will raise funds for charity via direct donation – meaning the mod team will handle no money directly – before being released as a free download at a later date.

  • What charity will donations go to?
    The mod team has chosen two charities to highlight, based on the submissions in the interest check:
        - World Central Kitchen, with a mission focus on providing food to victims of humanitarian and climate crises.
        - Farmworker Justice, which works to support and empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

  • How old do I have to be to contribute?
    Participants must be 18+ at the time of their application.

  • Are AUs or Original Characters allowed?
    Due to the theme of the zine being framed as a snapshot of Mistria prior to the arrival of the Farmer at the beginning of the game, AUs and Original Characters will not be allowed. All submissions should focus on the NPCs of Mistria.

    Hints and subtle references to current early-access canon – as of the March 10th update – may be incorporated, but should not be the primary focus of any piece.

  • Will the zine allow shipping?
    Due to the theme of the zine, the focus is primarily gen, so shipping will not be a significant aspect. Subtle hints at potential interest between NPCs may be incorporated if it fits with a given submission. Examples:
        ~ A candid “photo” of two NPCs, with one looking at the other warmly
        ~ A transcribed interview where one NPC goes on a short tangent about another

  • What is Marginalia?
    Marginalia are notes, doodles, or general embellishments in the margins of a text. For this zine, these will be small additions that will make the project feel more immersive. The primary difference between spot art and marginalia is that marginalia is not required to relate directly to the text it is formatted together with. Examples:
        ~ Doodles in the margin's of Adeline's notes
        ~ A crayon drawing from one of the child NPCs

  • What is Spot Art?
    Spot Art is small – typically quarter-page maximum – illustrations designed to accompany written works. For the zine, these will be a collaboration between artists and writers/alternative creators. Examples:
        ~ An illustration of a finished dish accompanying a recipe from the Sleeping Dragon Inn
        ~ A “photo” of Henrietta accompanying a letter from Hayden

Have a question you don't see answered here? Submit an ask on our Tumblr or send us an email!

Contributor Guidelines

General

  • Contributors must be above the age of 18 at the time of submitting their contributor application to participate.

  • All project updates and coordination after contributor applications will be via Discord. As such, contributors must have or be willing to make a Discord account to join the project server.

  • All submissions to the zine must be original works made by the submitting contributor for the zine. Use of generative AI of any kind is strictly prohibited.

  • Contributors are responsible for ensuring they can abide by the stated schedule and deadlines. While the mod team is more than willing to work with life circumstances that arise unexpectedly, contributors should ensure that they are communicating their concerns as early as possible.

  • Contributors retain full creative rights to their work, but will be expected to refrain from posting them publicly until the scheduled spotlights/final reveals.

  • Datamined characters, information, or images are not eligible for inclusion. Hints and subtle references to current early-access canon – as of the March 10th update – may be incorporated, but should not be the primary focus of any piece.

Page Artists

  • Page artists will be creating a one- or two-page illustration representing any of the canon characters accessible at the beginning of the early-access iteration of Fields of Mistria, and/or any of the significant landmarks of the town from the same period of time.

  • Submissions must follow the stated formatting guidelines shared upon acceptance in regard to dimension and DPI.

  • Traditional art will require a high-quality scan that meets the same formatting guidelines.

Writers

  • Writers will be creating 1 - 2 short-form written pieces for the zine, framed as in-universe documents, such as letters, notes, reports, etc. These may be from any of the canon characters accessible at the beginning of the early-access iteration of Fields of Mistria.

  • The allowable word count may vary by the style of writing chosen and formatting, but should not exceed 2 pages when formatted, about 500 - 2000 words.

  • Writers must be willing to collaborate with a spot artist for their submission.

Spot Artists

  • Spot artists will be expected to work with 1 - 3 writers or alternative creators and design at least 2 pieces of spot art for each paired submission.

  • The number of writers a spot artist is assigned will be determined based on the artist’s submitted preferences.

  • Spot art should not exceed a quarter-page maximum, and should relate to the paired writing in some fashion.

Marginalia Artists

  • Marginalia artists will be expected to create 2 - 4 pieces of marginalia to be included in the formatting of the zine.

  • The number of pieces will be determined based on the artist’s submitted preferences.

  • Marginalia should not exceed a quarter-page maximum, and does not need to directly relate to any particular written works in the zine.

Digital Merch Artists

  • Digital merch artists will be expected to create 1 - 2 digital merch contributions.

  • Some examples include: emoji sets, wallpapers, printables, etc.

Alternative Creators

  • Alternative creators may submit musical compositions, recipes, fibercrafts, etc. that match the theme of the zine.

  • All contributions, including recipes, must be the intellectual property of the submitting contributor, or they must have explicit, direct permission to use them for the zine.

  • Physical artwork submissions such as cross-stitch will require a high-quality image of the finished work with thematically appropriate framing.