Tower of the Wizard King, by Rax E. Dillon (personal zine, 2022)

[lb_lee]

"This is a plural board game."

Blurb: "it's about plurality, differential consciousness, and a board game from 1993 that has been literally living in my head for almost thirty years."

Why is it worth your time?: This is one of the most original formats I have seen a zine made in: Rax made a comic from photos of a board game with typed out captions, cards, and statuettes maneuvered around it, then cut those photos into comics panels. It uses a '90s board game to discuss a way of plural being, and is denser than you would expect such a short work to be. It's good; try it out!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, otherworld, nonhumans [fox, lion, pangolin, coyote, snow leopard]

Content Warnings: None

Access Notes: Not screenreadable, free to read online. Read it here!

The Trinity, by Laura Gilkey (fantasy prose, 2002)

[lb_lee]

"SoulBonding isn't a power; it's more—I won't say mundane—more domestic than that, more peaceable, more of a friendship. I picture myself; I retreat from the world, into my own mindscape, and I picture myself sitting in a plush recliner. There's a sofa opposite me, I imagine, and if I wait and listen for their voices, if I welcome them in, Seihara or Shining Star, or several others who I didn't tell the Mentors about, will sit down on the sofa and talk to me."

Blurb: Three teenaged soulbonders get snatched by a military program, intending to use their powers for evil, but the bonders don't play along...

Why is it worth your time?: It's a time capsule into the old soulbonding culture of the time; Laura Gilkey says she originally wrote the story for a college creative writing class, probably in 1998. Its earnest, idealistic support for soulbonding is touching to read, twenty years down the line, even though it falls into the mindframe of the mindscape being intrinsically better than the "real" world.

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, otherworld, fictioneers, nonhumans [tree, werewolf], romantic relationships, community, friendship, teamwork

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Free to read online. Read it here! (And in case of breakage, here's an alternate link.)

Misc Notes: