Her Voice Is A Backwards Record by Ozy Brennan (sff novelette, 2024)
"If all physically possible universes exist, so do all physically possible girlfriends… including the one you’re imagining who’s imagining you."
Blurb: Ana’s parents, who hadn’t heard that it wasn’t game-theoretically optimal to punish her for dropping LSD, packed her away to a troubled teen camp. During the day, Ana faces the harsh Utah desert, near-starvation, and torture in the name of “therapy.” At night, she seeks desperate comfort in the arms of her alternate-universe girlfriend, Yuya, one of three hundred wives in the harem of the Emperor of Every World. But as their respective prisons wear away at their very selves, both girls face a choice: to become the monsters those in authority want them to be, or to die trying to escape.
Why is it worth your time?: It's a really good exploration of the ways being in awful situations can make you a worse person, and also how you can help lift others out of it even if the other people are arguably 'only in your head.' It also contained a wrenching dialogue about multiversarial philosophy that made me cry.
Plural Tags: abuse (high focus), romantic relationships, type: on purpose.
Content Warnings: Institutional abuse including forced exercise torture, abusive therapy, moral injury, attempted child murder.
Accessibility Notes: Available as ebook on Amazon. Also available on hoopla in some libraries.
Misc. Notes (if any):
Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium
It is for kids, teens, adults, or everybody?: Adults
no subject
"If all physically possible universes exist, so do all physically possible girlfriends… including the one you’re imagining who’s imagining you."
Blurb: Ana’s parents, who hadn’t heard that it wasn’t game-theoretically optimal to punish her for dropping LSD, packed her away to a troubled teen camp. During the day, Ana faces the harsh Utah desert, near-starvation, and torture in the name of “therapy.” At night, she seeks desperate comfort in the arms of her alternate-universe girlfriend, Yuya, one of three hundred wives in the harem of the Emperor of Every World. But as their respective prisons wear away at their very selves, both girls face a choice: to become the monsters those in authority want them to be, or to die trying to escape.
Why is it worth your time?: It's a really good exploration of the ways being in awful situations can make you a worse person, and also how you can help lift others out of it even if the other people are arguably 'only in your head.' It also contained a wrenching dialogue about multiversarial philosophy that made me cry.
Plural Tags: abuse (high focus), romantic relationships, type: on purpose.
Content Warnings: Institutional abuse including forced exercise torture, abusive therapy, moral injury, attempted child murder.
Accessibility Notes: Available as ebook on Amazon. Also available on hoopla in some libraries.
Misc. Notes (if any):
Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium
It is for kids, teens, adults, or everybody?: Adults