About

Heavy is the Sword is a fanzine celebrating the character Peko Pekoyama from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Once the zine is complete, it will be released as a free and digital PDF with free digital merchandise.The zine will focus on Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman, and will include content focusing on both her as a character and her relationships with other characters from the Danganronpa series which will be decided based on pitches that
our contributors provide.This zine will include page art, writing, and merchandise from contributors selected by our mod team. If you are interested in being a contributor, our applications will be open from November 19th to December 19th! Please keep in mind that this zine will include spoilers for Goodbye Despair and potentially other entries in the Danganronpa franchise.

FAQ

What is a Zine? A “zine” is short for magazine and is a collection of art, writing, and merchandise created by fans in appreciation for a part of media such as a character, ship, concept, etc. They can be either digital or physical. This particular zine will focus on the Ultimate Swordswoman Peko Pekoyama from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and will
be free and digital.Is This Zine SFW? Yes, this zine will be SFW, though due to the content within the Danganronpa series, canon-typical gore and violence will be allowed and may not be suited for some viewers.Will Ships be Allowed? As much as we love ships, we want this zine to celebrate Peko as a character. However, including other characters is okay as long as Peko stays the focus and they are interacting in a platonic way.Will AUs be Allowed? Yes, AUs will be allowed as long as it complies with our guidelines and any design changes still allow the characters
to be recognizable.Am I Allowed to Make Changes to Canon Character Designs? As long as it is done in good faith and the characters
stay recognizable.Can We Use Content From Danganpa 2x2? Canon divergence will be allowed in the zine, however, as we learn more about 2x2 we encourage our contributors to avoid focus and conversation about it so that others can learn more about it at their own pace.Will This Zine Contain Spoilers? Yes, this zine will contain spoilers for Dangaronpa 2: Goodbye Despair and potentially for other entries in the franchise.How Old do We Have to be to Apply for the Zine? We ask that our contributors be 16+ by the time result emails are sent out (planned to be December 26th).Can We Apply for Multiple Roles? Yes, however you will only be accepted for one role.Is This Zine Beginner Friendly? Contributors will be decided based on how fitting we think they are for the zine and not for how much zine experience they have.How Many Contributors of Each Position Will be Accepted? This will be decided based on how much interest there is for the zine.Will There be Guests? Potentially, we will include a question on our interest check for if people want guests and suggestions for who.If your question has not been answered, please either send us an ask on our
Tumblr or email us!

Mods

Foldable Mattress
Head & Formatting Mod
She/herIntro:
Hello, I'm Mattress! This is my first time running a zine and I'm very excited! I fell in love with Peko before I even played SDR2, she's such an underrated character.Experience:
-Formatting Mod for Selfless Devotion
-Graphics and Formatting Mod for Past, Present, Future
-Merch Mod for DR2 Canon Divergence Zine
-Page and merch artist for several other zinesWhat is your favorite thing about Peko?
I absolutely love her design, and I am such a sucker for stoic characters with a soft side!

Q
Head & Socials Mod
He/him she/herIntro:
I'm Q (24 y/o, he/him she/her) I'm a tired artist who loves animals, character design, and podcasts. Peko has always been my fav DR girl of all time and im so excited for her to get her flowers with this zine. Along with Danganronpa, I enjoy Date Everything, Podcasts, Cartoons, Dungeon Meshi and a bunch of other stuff.Experience:
-Art Mod for Tenko Zine
-Merch Mod for DR Pokemon Zine
-Graphics Mod for Lamplighter Taz Amnesty Zine
-Mod for Islandmode Gift Exchange
-Mod for Taz Candlenights Gift ExchangeWhat is your favorite thing about Peko?
I love a stoic character who has so much depth to her. Her struggles with making connections and her want to protect those she loves has my HEART i love her so much, she is best girl to me.

Kittybox101
Graphics Mod
She/herIntro:
Yellow! It’s a me Ari! A puertorican dr artist extraordinaire at your service! Been into this franchise for 5 years now and ever since I discovered zines I have never been the same. Am super happy to be part of this team and I hope you enjoy you like looks at these graphics
cuz I made them!! >:DExperience:
-Mod for SHSL-Islandmode-Events Gift Exchange
-Page Art Mod/Page Artist for Veiled Identity: An Ultimate Imposter Fanzine
-Graphics Mod for Love Across the Universe Valentine’s Day Zine
-Art Mod for DR2 Canon Divergence ZinePage Artist for:
- Danganronpa Critical Dice! Zine
- Past Present and Future: A Hagakure Family Zine
- Sweet & Sour, A Hiyoko Saionji Zine
- Selfless Devotion: A Kirumi Tojo Fanzine
- Faith and Strength: A Sakura Ogami Fanzine
- Gallery of the Divine: a Angie zine
- Ultimate Trainers: Dr x pkmn zine
- And many more!What is your favorite thing about Peko?
Strong & Pretty girl with an inter soft side!? Sign me up also her eyes,, so pretty (and deadly)

Harper
Merch Mod
They/heIntro:
Hi hi! I'm Harper! I love zines and I love Peko, what more could you want? I've modded a few times but this will be my first time as a Merch Mod. I've been a merch artist for several zines at this point though, so I'm excited to be on the other side of things in that regard!Experience:
-Graphics Mod for Death's Final Dance and Idolatry
-Organization and Graphics Mod for Our Manly Bond
-Formatting Mod for Gallery of the DivineWhat is your favorite thing about Peko?
I love how intense her character is! It's a really cool
way to write a character

Kalcifer
Writing Mod
They/themIntro:
I posted my first DR fanfic in 2016, and somehow it's almost a decade later and I'm not only still writing but still writing for DR. (The fic itself, on the other hand, is best lost to the sands of time.)Experience:
-Writing Mod for Digital Love: A Saiibo Zine
-Finance Intern for Faith and Strength:
A Sakura Ogami Zine
-Writer for around 20 zines, including All Jumbled Up, The Scars Are Fading, Memories of You, and
Unfinished SymphonyWhat is your favorite thing about Peko?
I always love a character who doesn't think of themself as a person, and Peko in particular is so compelling because of the tension involved - she's only able to do what she does because of how much she cares, which is such a human trait, even as she's convinced she doesn't
have the capacity for it.

hellscap3
Art Mod
He/himIntro:
I'm a commission and fan artist who is big into danganronpa, genshin, Nintendo, and nostalgic content. Some of my favourites are Kamukura,
Scaramouche and Pokemon ^^Experience:
Zine ExperienceWhat is your favorite thing about Peko?
She's just cool in every way.have the capacity for it.

Schedule

Zine Announcement: October 5th
Interest Check: October 12th - November 12th
Contributor Applications: November 19th - December 19th
Results Sent: December 26th
Pitches Due: January 9th
Pitch Results: January 16th
Check-in 1: February 16th
Check-in 2: March 16th
Check-in 3: April 16th
Final Submissions Due: April 30th
Formatting Period: May - June
Zine Release: June 30th (Peko's birthday)

Guidelines

General
-Contributors must be 16+ by the time email results are sent out (planned to be December 26th) in order to participate in the zine
-Contributors must have a Discord to properly participate in the zine. This will be our main form of communication and providing feedback
-All work must be original and created specifically for the zine. PLAGIARISM, HEAVY TRACING, AND USE OF AI WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
-Contributors must not post their piece or any WIPs to their social media until a week after the zine releases. Afterwards, you are free to post and use your piece as you pleasePage Art Guidelines
-You will be required to provide three finished images of your work, preferably in the same or similar style that you will be using in the zine
-At least one of your pieces must be Danganronpa related (Peko is not required but strongly encouraged)
-At least one of your pieces must include a background (doesn't have to be detailed, we just want to see how well you're able to fill a page)
-If you plan on making a comic, at least one comic example will be required
-All examples must be SFW (canon-typical gore and violence is fine)
-All page artists will be required to create a fully rendered piece within the timeframe given in the scheduleMerch Artists
-You will be required to provide three finished images of your work (background not required for merch artist applications)
-At least one of your pieces must be Danganronpa related (Peko is not required but strongly encouraged)
-We encourage you to include examples related to the merch type you want to work with (for example: having one of your samples being a mobile background)
-All examples must be SFW (canon-typical gore and violence is fine)
-Merch artists may be expected to make more than one piece depending on merch typeWriting
-You will be required to provide three finished pieces of your work
-Examples must be between 2k-3k words in length
-All examples must be SFW (though canon-typical gore and violence is fine)
-All writers will be required to create one finished fic