Y2[areyouo]K Zine Team Interview-Part 1!
Who are you and what do you do for Y2[areyouo]K?
Hi! My name is DLP (they/them). Folks online call me bambiraptor9. I’m the creative manager for the zine’s second issue, which means I take the vision of Missy (the editor-in-chief) and Sam (the creative director) and turn it into reality as much as possible. I redid the website for the zine, focusing on the graphics, as well as the social media banners, icons and graphics for posts, refining it for our new theme-Cyberspace in the early 2000s!
How did you find the project?
I was on Bluesky last year and came across a post promoted by an author community I’m part of called the Spoonie Authors’ Network. There was a call for zine contributors and the zine was about the year 2000, which I am nostalgic for given my age (elder millennial ew haha!). I decided to throw my hat in the ring as it were with an art submission and well, here I am now! ☺️
What made you join the team?
Missy sent out an email asking past contributors to help out with developing the second issue, with the theme of Cyberspace, and I immediately jumped on board. I interviewed with Missy and Sam and our vision for the zine aligns really well. I’m driven to help this venture succeed for a second time.
What does Y2K mean to you?
Y2K in many ways marked a period of transition in my life. I was a teenager in that time, just starting high school, and still figuring out who I wanted to be versus who my parents envisioned (I’m technically still struggling with this decades on, oh well!). It was a time in my life where I sunk a ton of hours into video games, computers were brand new, and I created art and stories to cope with tough times as well as express joy.
Why do you think Cyberspace was chosen as this issue’s theme?
Cyberspace in the 2000s is the way that most people in my age range remember as how the Internet and technology utilizing it should be, as a place to escape to rather than escape from. It was a new world in many ways for the general public, and that meant endless possibilities for self-expression, connection and community. Weaving this feeling of hope and wonder into the art and stories we tell is something that the current world of Cyberspace lacks, and I think this issue of Y2[areyouo]K will bring back this feeling to readers again, giving a sense of what we were promised in the age of the Internet’s beginning.
A word to people who want to submit?
In the words of Pat Benatar: hit us with your best shot! ☺️ I think we need a zine like ours in the world right now and we couldn’t get it made without you. Your voice is valued now more than ever, in the art you create and stories you choose to tell. Share what the year 2000 and it’s promise of Cyberspace means to you! I look forward to seeing it and a glimpse of you beyond the binary of the tech world we’re living in.
Who are you and what do you do for Y2[areyouo]K?
Hi everybody! My name is Xeya, my pronouns are she/they and I am a writer. Here, I am also the ✨editing manager✨for Y2[areyouo]K. My job here is to manage the submissions as they come in, create a rubric to categorise them, and make sure they stay anonymous for when we review them. It’s a slow one, though, so I help elsewhere, like on our Tumblr, and other places that could use my two cents.
How did you find the project?
I found the project on Tumblr (my beloved). I was looking at the new posts on a zine-centred community and saw one where Missy was calling out to anyone who wanted to help with Issue #2 on this Y2K nostalgia based zine. That got me curious and so I checked out their page and Issue #1. I absolutely loved it.
What made you join the team?
I love the opportunities zines provide and the culture behind them. The Y2K experience was also an important part of my formative years. They were looking editors and that is something I know how to do so I thought to shoot my shot. I’d never been part of a team before yet always wanted to, and we all have to start somewhere. Missy and Sam interviewed me after I responded to Missy’s Tumblr post and now here I am! And what a great experience it’s been so far!
What does Y2K mean to you?
Y2K, to me, was my childhood. I wouldn’t be who I am today without the flash games and the 2000s TV shows my older cousins watched so I got to see too. Without the 90s anime and the obscure movies we’re just now remembering. Without the 2000s romcoms and the Disney boom. I don’t remember the scare, I was far too young. But I do remember the possibilities that it created, the infinite knowledge it presented. I’m a learner and a creative because of the Y2K and at the time I didn’t even realise it.
Why do you think Cyberspace was chosen for this issue’s theme?
A big part of what made the turn of the millennium memorable was the technology. The computers. Even though they had already been around for a hot minute, the internet was new. And the Y2K surrounded itself with this innovation. The internet was a place you could go to. To play, to chat, to learn. Everyone had their own blogs and people had no worries about cringe or cancel culture. Kids these days have a much different internet and we’d like to show them what it was like. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
A word for the people who want to submit?
Honestly, I’ve mentioned a rubric, but what that truly is is just a way for us to get organised. What matters most to us is that there is passion behind your piece and that it fits this theme of Cyberspace. Main true criteria. Bad art is subjective anyway. And while it is true that there is the chance we won’t like your piece, you won’t know it until you try it!
If you enjoyed reading this post, consider submitting to our zine!
Submissions for Y2[areyouo]K are open now!
Our entry progress is at 6/50 so far… Help us get to 50 entries by July 16th!
pixelskylines
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
theartofmadeline
prguitarman
vaporwave
izzy806
![New AOL Message from Y2[areyouo]K!](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f1f8facab1381fff354429a4c37cd8d6/15e95e7a95d27995-2b/s1280x1920/817a935d15c97df1e6ad791ecdbecac6a6edc832.gif)
