Ace of Spades
BNHA mafia zine
About
A fanzine surrounding the characters of the Boku no Hero Academia series in a mafia-esque alternate universe setting.
What is the theme?
The essence of this zine resonates around the theme “mafia” or ヤクザ (yakuza), as the Japanese would call organized crime syndicates. We chose to use the English term rather than the Japanese equivalent to allow contributors more freedom in their creations. Besides, like us thirsty mods, we know your are here in search of some spicy content and irresistible hero-turned-criminals dressed in their preferred killer suits.Derivation
The name “Ace of Spades” conveys the relevance of the highest card of the deck - the trump card that ends the game. The name revolves around the idea of mafia-converted BNHA characters being the death card in the game of life. In this zine, we present to you the most notorious mafia members who has made a name for themselves in this godforsaken fictional world.Design by Mod Kit
A reproduction of “The Great Wave of Kanagawa” painting is used to give our mafia theme some extra flavor. This painting was used to illustrate traditional Japanese designs often preferred by yakuzas. The association between secrecy surrounding Japanese gang tattoos brings upon both beauty and personalized expression behind each complex masterpiece. In the same way, we would like to include a little easter egg fun for both our contributors and audience.
Would you like that for to-go or would you to dine with us?
Sip and savour the artistic flavor of sweet alcoholic burn that defines elegance and class, for an after-dinner digestif. Become intoxicated in the mafia-induced aroma of pleasure and scandals. Surrender yourself to the perfect accompaniment that is sophistication in an unadulterated drink. Ace of Spades is serving you a specially made NSFW issue branded under the name Whiskey Neat. We hope you feel warm tonight.
Content Specification
Safe for Work?
“Ace of Spades” will be featured as our SFW zine, alongside a scandalous NSFW issue named "Whiskey Neat".SFW: Ace of Spades
While this zine will be rated PG-13 – for Parental Guidance – the appearance of weapons, skin exposure, mild coarse language, and slightly more alluring clothing, to name a few, may be present. All artwork and written pieces will be thoroughly reviewed by our mods to ensure the content is appropriate for everyone before release.NSFW: Whiskey Neat
All contributing applicants must be of legal age of 18 to participate.
Content warnings will be provided clearly stating your discretion and a disclaimer for purchasing our products. The moderators and contributors take no responsibility for any material that may cause trigger and/or trauma.For Charity or Profit?
All profit earned will go towards production and supporting our contributing artists and writers.Digital or Physical?
Two Zine Books
We aim to make Ace of Spades (SFW) available in both physical and PDF copies.
Update: Whiskey Neat (NSFW) will be physical and PDF as well!How many total contributors from SFW and NSFW?
2 Cover Artists, 1 Preface Writer, 21 Artists, 24 Writers, 7 Merch Artists
(Guests included)
Click to view our full list of contributors and guests categorized into SFW and NSFW, respectively.Read Our Terms
Schedule
Current:
COMPLETE
NEXT:
COMPLETE
Team
Head mod & Social mediaDinopiggie
Wedding planner by day, bartender by night... Dino here to bring your fantasies to life!Please welcome my team of mods, fresh to the zine industry, who will support and learn alongside me in the creation of BNHA’s first Mafia-themed zine!
Qualitfications
Strawberry Lemonade: A Summer KiriBaku Zine - Social Media Mod (ONGOING)
BakuDeku Big Bang - Art Mod & Beta (ONGOING)Fiery Keys Fairy Tail Discord Mod
Blade and Soul Raid Leader & Clan Veteran / Advisor
Accredited Event & Wedding Designer (AED Certification)Organization & Promotion Planner / Communications
Graphics DesignerKit
Never worked on a Zine before but it has been something I have wanted to do for ages. I am an artist and have worked with design work as well as most mediums of art through my college career. I look forward to working with everyone and am excited to see the outcome of this Zine.
Qualifications
Been working with art for more than 10 years and in the last 5 years have learned a lot about graphics, publishing, and most forms of art. I am currently in the process of making my own children's book as well as my own adult coloring book which has helped me to learn publishing and publishing layouts. I have been working at my local artist alley's for the last 5 years as well as helping me understand product creation, and manufacturing times. As of recently I have been getting more into fic writing as well which has been fun to figure out as I go.TodoBaku "Subzero" Big Bang
Taking Dynamight - Graphics and Art Mod (ONGOING)Layout / Format Editor
Writer mod & FinancesPiper
Hello! I’m Piper. I’m a trans masc and pansexual mod from sunny CA! I’ve never helped run a zine before, but am excited to be working with the rest of the mods here on this super fun theme!
Qualifications
Previously assisted with handling the finances for a nonprofit outreach. I have been writing for many years—poetry and fanfiction as well as original fiction. Currently, I am contributing as a writer in two zines. I’m also a mod in multiple servers and admin of my own (non-BNHA)."Sylvix" Big Bang 2020
Merchandise & ShippingBobbinslave
You can call me Bobbin. I'm almost 30, so I've been around the block on fandom and its changing landscape through the past 10+ years. I'm excited to help mod my first zine and I hope everyone is just as excited to participate! I'm always happy to assist whenever you need an ear and I'll do my best to help work you through it.
Qualifications
No previous mod experience, but I currently run a small time Etsy store under the same name. (I also organized events back in my university days.)Secondary Writer Mod
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Ships? We are aiming for the SFW issue to be as general as possible, with some light implications of a ship, however, shipping will receive its own mini chapter. The NSFW issue will be open to explicit shipping-portrayal, but we are looking for a good mix of pairings with no particular bias for any one ship over the other.
What qualifies as "extreme" age gaps specifically for ship content? This refers to ships surrounding an underaged character with another that is much older (e.g., All Might x Deku). We are not accepting any ships that fall under this category. Examples of accepted ships: Endeavor x Hawks, Dabi x Shouto
Is incest allowed? We are only permitting incest in the NSFW issue. All potentially problematic content and concepts will be reviewed by our mods before acceptance. SFW will remain as generalized as possible in regards to ships, lightly implied or platonic, at most.
Contributor FAQs
When will contributor applications begin and end? Applications will be made available shortly after Guest contributors have been announced. Please refer to our Full Schedule.
Are we allowed to apply for more than one position? Yes. All who are interested are allowed to apply for multiple positions, but only one position will be finalized apart from an exceptional few.
How many contributors are you accepting? We are currently looking at about 30 total contributors per issue, excluding merch artists: 20 artists, 10 writers. These numbers will vary as we sort through applications.
How will contributors know if they have been accepted? All contributors will be sent acceptance/rejection e-mails in a timely manner. Please refer to our Full Schedule. The official list of contributors will be released once all contributors have been informed.
How will contributors be compensated? Seeing that we are still early on, no absolute compensation has been set as it depends on pre-order sales. However, we aim to distribute the earned value equally among all contributors along with a guaranteed PDF copy of “Ace of Spades”. Should sales be overwhelmingly successful we hope to provide each category of contributor with a specialized merch bundle.
Can contributors request critiques? Of course! Please let us know during the application process.
Are contributors allowed to sell their own art made for this zine? Definitely! However, contributors are strictly prohibited from publicly previewing and selling their works until notified, as this will interfere with production and sales. Failure to implement this rule will result in consequences.
For the contributor application, are NSFW works allowed to be submitted or should I keep them to SFW? Yes, NSFW works will be permitted for SFW applications. Please feel free to submit explicit works for the NSFW application as it will allow us to better recognize your abilities and experience. We recommend at least one NSFW work. For more details on contributor applications, please refer to our Guidelines.
Can I apply to the zine even though I’ve never published BNHA content? Yes! Our guideline requirements state “at least 1 BNHA piece” but we are encouraging everyone to apply despite this since we will be scoring on writing ability as well. The purpose of this specific requirement is to give us an idea of how well you are able to sympathize with the series and character interpretation, hence a greater chance of acceptance.
Will contributors be allowed to share their piece for the purpose of applying for other projects or jobs? Contributors may submit WIPs, an excerpt, or completed works made for Ace of Spades (before official previews are released) to other zine applications as closed access files, as long as the desire to do has been communicated with the AOS mods before applying. Please also notify the mod team of the zine you are applying to that said pieces are not to be shared outside of the team. This applies for job and big bang applications, as well.
(This page will be updated over time)
Check our CuriousCat for more answered questions.
FULL SCHEDULE
Interest Check: 30 Nov 2020 - 3 Jan 2021
Mod Introductions: 4 Jan 2021 - 9 Jan 2021
Guest Invitations: 11 Jan 2021 - 22 Jan 202 (extended)
Guest Response Deadline: 22 Jan 2021
Guest Announcement: 25 Jan 2021 - 5 Feb 2021
Contributor Applications: 1 Feb 2021 - 1 Mar 2021
Shortlisting Period: 2 Mar 2021 - 15 Mar 2021
Contributor Results E-mailed: 15 Mar 2021 - 21 Mar 2021
E-mail Response Deadline: 28 Mar 2021
Announcing Contributors: 31 Mar 2021 - 2 Apr 2021 (extended)
Concept Check-in: 29 Mar 2021 - 9 Apr 2021
First Check-in: 1 May 2021
Second Check-in: 1 Jun 2021
Third Check-in: 1 Jul 2021
Final Check-in: 1 Aug 2021
SFW Submission Deadline: 17 Aug 2021
NSFW Submission Deadline: 18 Aug 2021
Previews: 13 Sep - 4 Nov 2021
Pre-Orders Open: 27 Sep 2021
Pre-Orders Close: 7 Nov 2021
Production Period
Shipping: April - May
Leftovers Sale: Jan. 14'23
(Dates are subject to change without notice)