What is speculative fiction?
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for everything out of the ordinary. Science fiction and fantasy are the big ones, but spec-fic also includes stories set in worlds one step to the right of our own – ones with superheroes and meddling gods, things that go bump in the night, or with one change that sets off a domino effect that alters the course of our history.Some examples of speculative fiction genres:
Fantasy – high or low. High fantasy is usually partially defined by being a world apart from ours, while low fantasy (and urban fantasy) is more world-within-a-world, with its feet in reality. Fantasy often includes magic and mythical creatures. ex. Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves (2023), American Gods (Gaiman)
Science fiction – speculative futures. Often includes technological advancements beyond the scope of current research, such as interstellar travel, robots, and even time travel. Science fiction often includes alien worlds and societies, and often crosses over with utopian fiction and fantastic horror. ex. Star Trek (1966-present), Metropolis (1927)
Alternate histories – A butterfly flaps its wings and something changes, which affects the course of history. These stories are often about how a different outcome of a historical event may have affected the social, cultural, and technological aspects of the future. Also linked to retrofuturism, which invokes historical sensibilities of imagined futures to create a retro aesthetic while exploring the advancements of the future. Sometimes involves parallel universes or time travel. ex. The Man in the High Castle (1962), Fallout (2024)
Superheroes – often considered a subgenre of both sci-fi and fantasy, superhero genres focus on extraordinary individuals and their superhuman abilities. Superhero fiction often involves personal struggles of identity, and threats from the mundane to the world-ending. ex. Superman (DC), The Boys (2019-present)
Apocalypse or Post-apocalypse – The world is ending. Here’s what happens next. Often focuses on survival, and may have horrific or dystopian elements. These genres may reflect anxieties about real-world issues, such as climate change, nuclear war, or sickness. ex. Mad Max (1979), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Adams)
Fantastic horror – Supernatural or paranormal horror. Creeping dread, unnerving images, startling twists. Often includes monsters, demons, or malevolent spirits. Horror in general can be about transgression and violation of norms, and often explores painful, personal truths. ex. La Llorona (2019), A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Myths, legends, and fairytales – Gods, heroes, cautionary tales! Folklore encompasses the stories, concerns, and traditions of shared culture, including belief systems, monsters, and celebrations. Most tales are couched in fantasy to some extent, and there are rich veins of lore thousands of years deep. ex. Orpheus and Eurydice, The Poetic Edda, The Seven Wives of Bluebeard, The Death of Koschei the Deathless
What do you need to know about the zine?
Free, digital-only zine
Applications open June 1st
Fic: up to 3.5k
Art: spot illustrations or full pages
Want to create something else? Drop us a line!
This will be a free, digital-only zine. We’re aiming for a mid-late October release, with applications open between the 1st and 15th of June.We are interested in anything that falls under the umbrella of speculative fiction. This includes (but is not limited to) science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, supernatural horror, monsters, utopias and dystopias, fairytale retellings, and superheroes! These stories should be the sorts of things to keep you warm as the nights get colder – or send a shiver down your spine. Curl up, strap in, and let our fantastical creations whisk you away.For writers, we’re open to fics up to 3.5k. These are stories outside the ordinary – we want you to have space for worldbuilding… or whatever else you need it for. 😉As for art, you can do spot illustrations or full pages. If you have something outside of that you’re interested in offering, by all means drop us a message!Anything else: fancy making a podfic of one of our works? Writing meta or essays? Translating something? Playing a collaboration game and contributing to a wonderful, chaotic whole? We’ve got those too!
What do we want?
Fic, art, and meta
Speculative fiction genres
All characters and ships
Collabs and transformations
In this zine we want to explore the extraordinary, look past the mundane, and go beyond the boundaries of what we know. Go wild! Create something unusual. Look into the eye of the monster. Create a utopia. Rewrite Season 1 from the perspective of an all-powerful god trapped in the body of a seagull.This is not a zine focused on a particular Our Flag Means Death character or ship: we love gen, rarepairs and side characters alike. We are hoping to be able to include a broad spectrum of topics and characters, so get Magic Man into a wizard costume STAT!We also encourage meta focused on the fantastic, both at a show level – like exploring the use of magical realism, or discussing historical superstition through the lens of Frenchie’s fears – or on a broader level, such as interrogating the role of folklore as a palimpsest in modern heroic fiction. We are also interested in running a roundtable discussion of folklore, fantasy, and fandom. This would be largely participant-led, so if you have an interest in this area, please consider signing up to take part!We’re big on collaboration, so if you think you might want to contribute to a direct partnership, or participate in a collaboration game (like a Round Robin or Exquisite Corpse) then you should consider signing up! We also welcome podfic, translations, and other transformations.For examples of collaboration games and a roundtable we’ve run in the past, consider checking out the Canyon Writers’ Workshop zine here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55858399.
mods
Ewelina (ewelinakl)
Ewelina is a staple of fandom events, as both a participant and a mod. They’ve contributed to multiple OFMD zine projects and recently helped Swev and Zee run one – and immediately said “let’s do it again!”Co-captain of the Good Ship Bellhands and Charles Vane propagandist, Ewelina is no stranger to a genre fic. They’re out here turning guys into all sorts of Creatures, from leshies to incubi to eldritch deities, with a special interest in Slavic folklore. They love the intricacies of worldbuilding and plotting, and can’t write a short fic to save their life.
Nads (nadsdraws)
EdIzzy understander and stone cold angst lover, Nads has helped run multiple events now, including the OFMD Reverse Bang. She’s previously released a Good Omens zine, and has an Ed/Izzy zine in the works ready to be released later this year. Luckily, Swev sweet-talked them into coming to play with us over here as well.Unfortunately, Nads’ favourite scene is “ooh daddy,” though “best I could” is a close second, so we can forgive them. Nads loves AUs, fantasy, and all things monster.
Swev (sweveris, sweven, swev.art)
Writer, artist, and burgeoning professional ziner, Swev has been participating in and running fandom events for years. After recently releasing a lovely zine with Ewelina and Zee, she barely let the (digital) ink dry before coming up with another amazing project to keep her busy!Swev adores the weird and otherworldly, from monsters and magic to far futures and the fuckiest of scifi. She loves the dark and the dangerous, the creeping things that wrap themselves around your spine and settle there.And vampires. Gotta love a vampire.
Zee (redshift)
Writer and watercolour brush maestro, Zee has contributed to multiple OFMD zines and recently created one with Swev and Ewelina. They are an eagle-eyed editor, and a terrible photoshop maniac. As a long-time fantasy fan and mythology nerd, Zee has written several fics in this realm – including a witch/familiar AU for the Fate & Fortune challenge – so a spec-fic zine was right up their alley.They can’t wait to put their little guys into some extraordinary situations and fantastical scenarios!
schedule
May 15-31 — interest checkJune 1-15 — applicationsJune 16-23 — resultsJuly 14 — 1st check-in (you should have a solid idea by then)August 11 — 2nd check-in (we'll ask about your progress thus far)September 1 — final check-in (you should be mostly done; if not, ask for extension)September 15 — submissions deadlinelate October — releaseWe'll be running some collaborative events for our contributors between July and September. If you'd like to know more about this, make sure to check the about section.
Looking for inspiration?
Below you'll find a mock-up of a table of contents, including some non-traditional formats that we hope can serve you as a springboard.Remember — the sky is the limit. Create a quiz or a travel guide. A page from a bestiary or a cookbook. Write a song. Get in drag. Bring in needlecrafts. Dig deep into folklore and mythology. Get some cryptids in here. Base an AU on that anime you watched or the comics you loved as a kid. Boldly go where few have gone before.
