current phase:
interest check results soon
-
mod apps open on feb 12th

Welcome to Slavic-Themed Genshin Zine, a fanmade, non-official PG-13 SFW zine. This is an Alternative Universe Zine where the Genshin characters meet Slavic folklore - creating space for all the colorful beauty to be seen in art and writing by all talented contributors.
This project is not related to Rodnovery.

We focus on folklore costumes in this Zine.
As for thoughtful context and inspiration for the creators, we will also include some more common festivals or events. We are aware that Slav culture is not as well-known and easy to learn about as other, more popular folklores, so instead of overwhelming everyone with detailed information, we want to invite everyone to learn a bit about it and have fun. If this project will inspire at least one person to do more in-depth research, we will be more than thankful. We treat this project as an enjoyable invitation to explore Slav traditions.

Contributors will be divided into five groups.
The groups go as follows: East Slavs x2, West Slavs and South Slavs, and Balkan People. Due to the huge positive response in Interest Check, we have added Balkan People as historically those nations had (and still have) a lot in common and our cultures often overlap a lot.

Disclaimer
Everyone who meets our age requirement is welcomed to apply regardless of the experience. However as the Zine is SFW, we will strictly forbid all NSFW as well as all hateful, harmful, or disrespectful comments. Plagiarized and stolen work is also prohibited. Anyone who breaks these rules will be dropped from the project.

FAQ

❁ What is a Zine?
A fan zine is a collection of unofficial, fan-made works gathered into a book format. Works can include fanart, fanfictions, poems, merch and more!

❁ What is this Zine about?
The Slavic Genshin Zine is a project where the game’s characters dress up in traditional Slavic Folk Costumes - this is the main theme of the Zine. To make it more fun and add cultural depth to it, we will also include festivals as events for context, followed by a brief, educational explanation.
We include festivals and events but it is not mandatory to put a strong focus on the traditional activities in your work.
Example: If you don’t feel confident about describing Kupala Night in great detail, step by step, you can simply describe the warm summer weather, eating food together, some people singing in the background, etc. - your character may decide to learn how to dance, and you describe how clumsily they are, or their thoughts of trying certain foods for the first time! You may describe the festive mood, how nice it is that everyone are together, etc.
In other words, it serves as inspiration to set certain moods, to set time of the year, etc.

❁ Is this zine SFW of NSFW?
The Zine is SFW, PG-13, which means all content including NSFW, extreme gore, violence or sexual acts will be prohibited. Including NSFW anywhere on any stage of the Zine (applications, creation, previews, etc.) is prohibited and will result in automatic drop of the contributor.

❁ Will there be a NSFW add-on?
Due to the nature of the project and that Slavs often struggle with stereotypes related to sexualisation, there won’t be any NSFW stuff accepted in the zine. We aim to cover the topic respectfully.

❁ Are you physical zine or digital zine?
We will be a Physical Zine, releasing an A5-sized zine. Additionally, we will also release a digital PDF of the zine, followed by both physical and digital merch.

❁ How will contributors be compensated?
We will guarantee all digital items and digital PDF provided to the contributors. We will do our best to cover full bundles for every contributor, but if that will not be possible, contributors will be able to order their copies at production price.

❁ How many contributors will you accept?
We will accept: 5 merch artists, 15 page artists, 10 writers. Additionally we will invite artists and writers to work on spot artworks and add-on PDF about cuisine - either within contributors or invite additional contributors.

❁ Where will be the funds go?
We will confirm the charity after Mod Applications, so all Mods can be included in deciding.

❁ Will ships be allowed?
Yes! One of the events we want to include is The Crowning, which is a marriage.

❁ Are contributors allowed to partner up?
Yes. We will gather contributors under around 5 festivals and every contributor will be required to do one work related to the assigned festival - collaborations will be allowed, but not necessary.

❁ Is it possible to apply for more than one position?
Yes. However, you will only be accepted for one position. Artists will be able to provide additional spot artwork to compliment writing pieces.

❁ I am not Slavic. Can I contribute?
Yes, of course! This zine is for everyone to learn more about the culture and folklore together.
There will be a team of Cultural Mods to whom you always reach for in case you need help.

❁ I have no knowledge about Slavic Culture. How can I contribute?
All information necessary to do the work will be provided. Keep in mind the Zine is inspired by the Slavic Culture but the zine is not strictly educational, so we are welcoming to all who are interested.

❁ There are a lot of Slavic countries, how are you going to include everyone?
We will divide contributors into five groups, which will each focus on one subgroup of Slavs, with addition of Balkans, as historically those nations had (and still have) a lot in common and our cultures often overlap.

❈ East Slavs: 2 groups
❈ West Slavs: 1 group
❈ South Slavs: 1 group
❈ Balkan People: 1 group

We decided to include two groups of East Slavs because it is a group which includes Russia, which is the most popular Slavic country. Not wanting to overshadow other East countries, we decided to give them more space in our Zine.

Detailed dividation of groups goes as follows:

• East Slavs: Belarusians, Russians, Belarusianns, Russians, Rusyns and Ukrainians
• West Slavs: Czachs, Kashubs, Poles, Slovaks and Sorbs
• South Slavs: chiefly Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croaths, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes
• Balkan People: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Schedule

Moderator Team

moderators & interns
application info

What Mod position we will look for:
❁ Shipping mod
❁ Writer & Beta mod
❁ Cultural Mods
❁ Interns

General Requirements
Applies to all positions except Interns

❁ 18 or older by the day the application closes
❁ Uses or willing to use Discord
❁ Check our schedule and confirm will have enough time in that time frame to work on the zine
❁ Communicate all issues which might cause delays as soon as possible
❁ Unless stated elsewhere, experience is not necessary but welcomed.

Shipping Mod
❁ US-based
❁ Willing to work closely with the finance mod and will communicate with them
❁ Experience is necessary for this position.

Writer and Beta mod
❁ Writer portfolio (3 samples of best works of excerpts of max 1,5k words) + link to portfolio

Cultural Mods
❁ Must be from Slav or Balkan country (will have to pick one of the 4 groups)
❁ Must have knowledge of traditions, folk & old/traditional beliefs or skills/resources to quickly look up any needed information (like costumes of certain region, translating a part of article for contributor about some tradition, checking contributor’s work if everything’s okay)
❁ Will be accepting 3-4 mods

Interns
❁ 15 or older at the day of applications closing
❁ Uses or willing to use Discord

We will accept 1-2 Interns and they can choose from positions below to shadow:

❈ Social media
• Must have to access to twitter and will have small tasks like scheduling tweets or attempt writing posts on their own
• Must be in the same time zone as social media mod (Central European Time) or close enough to make the communication smooth

❈ Writing/Beta
• Must include works (3 samples of best works of excerpts of max 1,5k words + link to portfolio)
• Will help with tasks assigned by writer/beta mod such as: check if writers sent in their works for check-in, help with beta reading, etc

❈Artist Mod
• Must include art portfolio (link to 5-10 works picked + portfolio/social media link)
• Will help with tasks such as: checking if contributors send in files for check-in.