vol. 11 - blog

date published: march 27th, 2026

written by: andrue/voupie

Welcome to FRIENDCITIES VOL 11!

A photo drop for this zine is available HERE! These photos were taken by both Déesse (one of our contributors), and Giselle (a local photographer and part of one of our partners, I WEAR PLUTO)! We wanted to capture the unique energy of the swapmeet where small business, good food, good music, and great deals all come together.

• FUCK I.C.E. is a prompt that proudly shows our stance on I.C.E.’s presence in our schools, churches, cities, and public places of gathering. Their presence instills fear in immigrants and American-born citizens alike. So many of our friends and family are being wrongly incarcerated and put under inhumane conditions. Some people have gone missing entirely with no explanation. We are protesting I.C.E.’s occupation through artwork, numbers, and interviews. In the future, we want to make more art and create more resources to help our readers stay safe amid the violent activity that we see on PHX streets and to our friends on a daily basis.
• YEAR OF THE HORSE 2026 is the year of the horse, more specifically the Fire Horse. According to Chinese tradition, the horse represents freedom while the fire represents intensity. You may think that your zodiac year is a lucky year, but it is actually seen as when you are at your most vulnerable and Chinese people wear a red bracelet all year round during their zodiac year as a way to protect themselves. 2026 is predicted to be about taking bold risks and having courage so be wild and free!
• BESTFRIENDSFOREVER is honestly a pretty important prompt to us. We are Friendcities after all, and this prompt celebrates close friendships that have lasted a long time. The majority of our contributors have paid homage to their closest threads in a variety of ways. We hope that these pieces inspire you to reflect on your own friendships, or maybe you might decide to try to be friends with one of us. :)
• YOU’RE SO FRUITY there's a prompt that doesn't necessarily have an intended meaning. Initially, some people took it to literally mean fruit, especially since the swapmeet has a plethora of fruit stands and vendors at your service. Then we thought a little bit more, and some people took it to mean queerness, like when someone says you're a fruitcake or someone is fruity. Typically this means that someone is gay or has gay energy, whatever that means. We hope you enjoy our pieces that incorporate both fruit, queerness, and a few things in between.
• THE BEAT CONTROLS ME is a prompt that connects back to something that Friendcities loves: MUSIC! Sometimes there's a song that really just makes you wanna move; maybe you don't know the moves to that specific song but honestly, you can just make it up. When you let the beat control you you really connect with the music, the artist, and with yourself. We made some pieces of art that are inspired by the way that music makes us feel and the way it makes us move.

A video interview with one of the swapmeet vendors, Alfonso Cruz, is available HERE on our videos page!

Déesse's interview with Jo Contag of Cloudboy is available HERE! You can also find it on our video page

Keauthor did an interview with Karsyn and Thomas of Truck Violence! Check it out HERE!

This volume of Friendcities features an ad for our friend CAIT!

We have another ad for our old friend CHERRIGEKKO! She is putting out more music soon and we can't wait to hear it! Keep up with her on instagram HERE!She also sent us her next project's cover early! Take a look:

Check out Déesse's PHX Fashion Photodrop HERE!

Read Andrue/Voupie's submission for You're So Fruity HERE! It's an article analyzing gaydars from 3 different perspectives.

Song recommendations Spotify playlist: