“From The Shadows: The Women of Dai Gyakuten Saiban” is a free digital-only zine focusing on the female characters of Dai Gyakuten Saiban, especially secondary/minor female characters, or female characters’ roles within wider stories in which they only play a small part.
“From The Shadows: The Women of Dai Gyakuten Saiban” is a free, not-for-profit fan project that is in no way affiliated with Capcom, The Great Ace Attorney or any affiliated persons or organisation.
Schedule
Please note our schedule is subject to change, please check back often for updates!
| Zine Announcement | April 10th 2023 |
| Interest Check Open | April 15th 2023 |
| Mod Applications Open | May 12th 2023 |
| Interest Check Close | May 15th 2023 |
| Contributor Applications Open | May 25th 2023 |
| Mod Applications Close | June 16th 2023 |
| Mod Emails Sent | June 19/20th 2023 |
| Contributor Applications Close | July 1st 2023 |
| Contributor Emails Sent | July 20th-21st 2023 |
| Pitches Due | August 1st 2023 |
| Check-in One | September 1st 2023 |
| Check-in Two | October 1st 2023 |
| Check-in Three | November 15th 2023 |
| Final Pieces Due | December 1st 2023 |
| Zine Released | Late winter/Early spring 2024 |
Mods
Mod Rowan
Head Mod, Writing, Social Media
They/Them
Rowan has loved DGS since the moment they started it in 2022, and women since forever. They've taken part in a range of zines and projects, including writing for "Twisted Samurai" and "Colorful Beginnings" and shadow moderating the "Curtain Call" AA musical theatre zine.Favourite DGS women: Courtney Sithe, Gina Lestrade
Mod June
Merch Mod
She/Her
June is a long-time Ace Attorney fan and women enjoyer. DGS is her favourite entry in the AA franchise, and she has participated in about a dozen zine projects as an artist.Favourite DGS women: Gina Lestrade, Susato Mikotoba
Mod Cas
Art Mod
He/Him, They/Them
Cas is a self taught artist who likes bright colours. He is super excited to be part of this project as the girlies always need more love.Favourite DGS women: Iris Wilson, Susato Mikotoba
Mod Crow
Formatting Mod
They/Them, Mew/Mews, Iel/Il (Fr.)
Crow is a writer and artist with a lot of zine moderation experience under their belt, and is very pleased to be helping format "From The Shadows"' Zine!Favourite DGS Women: Maria Gorey, Iris Wilson.
Zine Contributor Guidelines
For this zine, we are tentatively looking for around 10 writers and 20 artists, not including potential guest contributors. If there is enough interest, we will also be looking for 3-6 merch artists. These numbers are subject to change depending on our interest check.Please check our Info Doc for full contributor guidelines and what to expect from Applications.
Due to the nature of some content in this zine, all contributors must be at least 16 years old at the time of Contributor Applications.
Pieces must be made specifically for this zine. Previously posted fanworks will not be accepted from contributors.
As this zine focuses on secondary/minor female characters and female characters’ roles in wider stories, we ask that contributors pitch for a variety of female characters. There will be a very limited number of pieces about the main female characters (Susato, Gina and Iris).
Fanworks can include canon-typical depictions of blood and violence, up to the level of Dual Destinies, as well as some strong language. Pieces can also include themes of sensitive topics present in DGS canon. Due to the theme of this zine, discussion of depiction and discussion of era-typical bigotry, particularly misogyny, will also be allowed. Other sensitive topics may be discussed in works but are subject to moderator approval. Of course, you are more than welcome to create content with happier themes!
Sexually explicit works, as well as works depicting sexual assault, will not be allowed in this zine.
This zine will not be ship-focused and romance in your work should be implied at most. With the exception of canon relationships all ships will be subject to moderator approval. As a rule of thumb, minor/adult and incest ships (including adoptive/foster family) will not be approved. We will not be taking questions about this decision.
By accepting a position within the zine, Contributors are agreeing to stick to the schedule as closely as possible and let a Mod know as soon as possible if you need an extension or to drop out. By accepting a position as a pinch hitter, Contributors are acknowledging they will have less time to complete their piece.
The Mods have a right to remove anyone from the zine who does not follow the zine’s guidelines or who break the rules of the server at any point.
Absolutely NO AI usage, whether for writing or image generation, is permitted in this zine.
Q&A
Have a question? Feel free to send it over to our ask box on tumblr, or include it in your response to our interest check! We will answer as soon as possible and add it here if nececessary!Q. Is this a sapphic zine?
A: No, this is not a romance-focused zine and therefore not a sapphic one. You can, however, explore queer/sapphic themes in your piece.Q. Will you be accepting transfeminine headcanons?
A: Yes! Themes of gender identity and roles, and by extension transfeminine headcanons, can be explored in your piece.
As much as we love them, this zine will not be including pieces focusing on transfeminine headcanons for characters depicted as male in canon.Q: Can I create something for female characters with no name, appearance or speaking role within the game? How obscure can I go with female characters?
A: Yes, absolutely!! In general, if a female character is named, appears or is mentioned in relation to the plot or characters in-game you can include her. For example, Ayame Mikotoba (named), Lady Baskervilles or women of the jury (appear but not named) or Kazuma's mother (mentioned in direct relation to characters/the plot) would all be allowed. Characters who probably exist but are not named, appear or mentioned (for example, Ryunosuke’s mother) will not be allowed. Characters from ACD canon who do not appear in DGS will also not be allowed.Q. Do I have to identify as female to be part of this zine?
A: No! This zine is open to anyone of any gender as long as you are over 16.Q. Will this zine contain spoilers?
A: Yes, this zine will contain spoilers for all the The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.Q. What does 'CWs' refer to in contributor applications?
A: CW stands for “Content Warnings”. Essentially to warn for sensitive or potentially upsetting content, including graphic depictions of violence, blood and horror-based content, and photosensitive images (such as flashing gifs or videos).The inclusion of sensitive content, as long as we are warned, will not affect whether you will be accepted. As stated in the info doc/carrd we will be judging applicants on quality of their samples/portfolio and suitability for the zine.
Applicant Guidelines
Here is what to expect if you are planning to apply to our zine! Contributor applications will open May 25th 2023!
There will be a link on the carrd as well as on all ou social media when they open.General Guidelines:
Due to the nature of some content in this zine, all contributors must be at least 16 years old at the time of Contributor Applications.
All contributors must have a discord for ease of communication throughout the creation process, and must remain in the server until release day unless they have dropped out.
There is an option for a full portfolio, which must be visible and fully accessible. This can be a google drive, ao3 (for writers) or even a specific tag on your social media for your work (such as your art or writing tag). Essentially, it should be a lot of your own work in one place.
Sexually explicit content in your portfolio must be properly tagged and avoidable, such as censored on twitter, rated E on ao3, or kept in a separate labelled folder on your google drive. We will not take your ability to create this sort of NSFW content into account for your application.
Please not that you will be asked to include content warnings in your application for both your samples and portfolio.
Applications will be judged on quality and suitability for the zine.
Page artists will be expected to create one complete original piece for the zine, focusing on one to three female characters. This may span a single page or a double spread – the latter subject to Mod approval. The Cover Artist will be expected to create an original piece for the cover of the zine including at least three female characters. Page artists may choose to collaborate with a Writer.
Writers will be expected to write a complete original piece between 1.5 and 3k words long, focusing on one to three female characters. Writers may choose to collaborate with a Page Artist.
*Merch artists will be expected to create one large piece of digital merch (such as a laptop wallpaper or printable poster) or two to five small pieces of digital merch (such as discord emotes or icons).