Vellichor

vel • uh • kawr
n. the strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time [...]

A BNHA Dark Academia Zine.

Mod Team

---

LA — she/they
Head & Graphics
“You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.” — Sean (performed by Robin Williams), Good Will Huntingcarrd | X | event experience

---

Gato — he/him
Organisation & Social Media
“Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every night afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth.” — Mary Shelley, Frankensteincarrd | event experience

---

Alex — she/her
Writing
“Never trust a dog with orange eyebrows, Always get the young man’s name and address, Never get between two mirrors, And always wear completely clean underwear every day because you never knew when you were going to be knocked down and killed by a runaway horse.” — Terry Pratchett, Witches AbroadAO3 | X | bsky | event experience

---

Ren — she/her
Art
"Greed may do your bidding, but death serves no man."
— Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crowscarrd | event experience

---

KAL黒 — they/them
Finance & Shipping
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
— Marcus Aureliusetsy | tumblr | instagram | event experience

---

Lily — any
Layout & Formatting
“Books are letters in bottles, cast into the waves of time, from one person trying to save the world to another.” ― Amal El-Mohtar, This is How You Lose the Time WarX | instagram | event experience

Schedule

FAQ

What is a fan zine?
A fan zine– short for “magazine” – is a compilation of creative fanworks centred around a particular theme, character, ship for a particular piece of media.What content will this zine feature?
Vellichor will feature works based on BNHA as seen through a dark academia lens, including SFW (suitable for work) and NSFW (not suitable for work) content, across both canon and alternate universes.Who can apply?
We ask that all interested applicants be at least 18 years old as of February 24, 2024.What are the guidelines for applications?
➞ Check them out here!What's the financial nature of this zine?
Our zine will be a hybrid for profit-charity project. In accordance with our Interest Check, we will be prioritising contributor compensation and incorporating for-charity elements. The charity will be determined through a contributor vote. For more detail, review our answer here.How will contributors be compensated?
All contributors will be guaranteed a digital copy of the zine and merchandise. If sales allow, our goal is to be able to send all contributors a full bundle including the physical zine and merchandise.Are there hard limits for content in this zine?
Yes, this zine will not include underage, paedophilia/lolisho, gratuitous gore/non-canon-typical violence, vore/cannibalism, scat, noncon, adult x minor ships, or student x teacher ships.Will this zine include spoilers?
Creators may include spoilers in their works.How many contributors are you planning to include?
Final numbers may vary, but we are planning to host 10 authors, 20 artists, and 4 merch artists, distributed among the SFW and NSFW sections of this zine. These figures include guests.➞ What is 'dark academia' in the context of this zine?➞ Zine Overview.

Contributor Application Guidelines
General Guidelines
• Previous zine experience is not required.
• You may apply for more than one section of the zine but might not be accepted for both.
• Please ensure files and links are easily accessible. An easy way to ensure this is opening links from a Private/Incognito tab on your browser and making sure you can view its contents.
• NSFW content must be warned for where prompted in the application.
• Please include trigger and/or content warnings where necessary.
• Please make sure you’ve looked at the schedule carefully and can commit to the timeline.Writers, Artists, & Merch Designers
➞ Role-specific guidelines can be found here!Application Forms
➞ Writers
➞ Artists
➞ Merch designers

Writing Mod Alex- Head Mod of Midnight Scribblings with 8+ Projects under my belt. In this tiny mod project I took over the roles of graphics, formatting, beta reading, contributor moderation.
- Head Mod of Heroes United (and writing mod) @TBxBNHAZine
- Head Mod of Night and Day @Shadowsk8zine
- Head Mod (and writing/graphics mod) of At Your Service @BNHAMaidZine
- Head Mod (and writing/finance mod) of Luxury
- Head Mod (and graphics/finance mod) of Cherry Bomb
- Head Mod (and writing/graphics/finance mod) of Stern Bild Style @TBFashionzine
- Head Mod (and graphics/finance mod) of Head Over Heelers @blueyzine
- Head Mod (and writing mod) of Guardian @Guardianaizawa
- Co-Head Mod (and writing mod) of Hero Worship @AllMight_Zine- Writer Mod for Money Talks a BNHA Giran Zine @MoneyTalksZine
- Writer Mod for Instinct a BNHA Omegaverse Zine @instinctzine
- Writer Mod for Bound & Bonded @BoundBondedDKBK
- Writer Mod for Apple Blossoms @appleblossomsbd
- Writer Mod for Showstopper @showstopperzine
- Writer Mod for Dandelion @Leonezine
- Beta Mod for Hero For Hire @Krdkcareerzine
- Beta Mod for Maker's Dozen @makersdozenzine
(and more!)Finance & Shipping Mod KAL黒- Finance & Production Mod for Chrobin Zine
- Finance & Shipping Mod for Wild Police Planner: Unofficial DC Fan Planner
- Finance Mod for With Bare Hands, We Reach
- FInance & Shipping Mod for 2023 Unofficial Daiya no C Calendar
- Finance Mod for Anthem for the Broken
- Moderator & Artist Contributor for 2023 Genshin Collectable Cards

On the scope of Dark Academia

'Dark Academia' is a tricky term to define since it's characterised for being defined after the fact. For this zine we're interpreting 'dark academia' in a loose enough sense to lend space and opportunity for creativity, but we will be following some basic principles of the genre to outline our definition. Get ready, because this is a bit of a lengthy read!Academia
The genre typically focuses on liberal arts, a.k.a. humanities. This means history, philosophy, arts, among others. Though there's usually a focus on higher education especially (just because there's usually more freedom by the time you reach college/university), it's not limited to it. Fundamentally, the key aspect (more so than the context) is the passionate pursuit of knowledge. This means that while traditionally sciences (biology, physics, chemistry, etc) aren't conceived as part of the genre, for this event it'll be less about the subject itself and more about the devotion to academia.Time period
The genre itself, while timeless, is very reminiscent of a bygone era. This is evidenced moreso in the details (clothing, upkeeping of tradition, usage of pen & paper where we'd usually use the notes app, etc) rather than explicitly mentioned in works. I'd say the focus in this area is less a definite time period and more the portrayal of nostalgia for the past in general. Ultimately — and especially considering BNHA is itself set in the future — we don't want to limit creators to a specified period reference and will guide works more towards being wistful independently of the time period they take place in.The 'dark' of dark academia
The term 'dark' here is very versatile. It refers not only to the literal dim-lit cinematography, but also a general solemness of the works that characterise it, as well as a penchant towards battling repressive institutions and authorities. This last element takes many forms... wanting to break free from societal conventions, solving a covert crime that's being swept under the rug, standing up against parental expectations, etc. In essence, the 'dark' in 'dark academia' refers to the fact it's never a perfect world, but it could be, if someone were passionate enough about fixing it. It's worth noting, then, that the hope for a better/different world characterises the dark academia genre just as much as the longing for it.Aesthetic
The rhetoric surrounding dark academia encapsulates 1) the adoration and romanticisation of academia as the means to fix a flawed world, and 2) devotion and the passionate pursuit of understanding (of a topic, of oneself, from others, etc). Visually, dark academia sways towards modest clothing, muted colours, dim lighting, 'oldschool' technology (the definition of which changes according to the period a work is set in — such that it could range from candelabrums and torches to tape recorders and old tube tvs).This event will have a moodboard for contributors, to help both guide and inspire works, but we encourage contributors to make use of their own interpretations of 'dark academia' as well and will be flexible when judging what fits the motif or not.Tropes
There are many recurring elements in popular 'dark academia' works... They're typically set somewhere cold, in a not-urban enough setting that there may be forests, lakes, gardens, etc. Architecture tends to be large and imposing, often gothic or victorian. The 'subject' the work revolves around is typically niche and understudied, dangerous or taboo, or either highly artistic or decidedly cerebral. Protagonists tend to be exceptional individuals, distinctive in one particular trait that's central to the story, broody, complex, and eccentric. Oftentimes there'll be a vice or hamartia — smoking, drinking, excessive ego, insecurity…Magic and general fantasy elements tend to feature in dark academia works in greater proportion than in other genres. For this zine, fantastical elements will be allowed as we think it’s an exciting way to include or allude to quirks, but will not be the focus of the zine. In order to ensure a varied dark academia repertoire, we might decide to limit the number of magic-adjacent works.On deciding what falls within the scope of the zine
While common and definitely in line with the theme, neither the elements mentioned in the ‘aesthetic’ component of this explanation nor the ‘tropes’ will be treated as a checklist for judgement on the 'suitability' for this event. While the general sombre tones are expected, ultimately, the reigning factor for this event will be the sentimentality — the yearning, the devotion, the pining and ambition and resilience — in the context of academia.


We hope this has been a helpful guide for defining what Vellichor: A BNHA Dark Academia Zine is about. For further explanations or guidance, feel free to drop us a question or reach out to us on our social media for more specific matters!