If You’re Into It: An Erotic (or not) Choose Your Own Adventure Story About Practicing Good Consent Litzine, Celeste Inez Mathilda, Episode 1: Hit The Dance Floor, address, ofcourseyoucan.etsy.com, $4
Do you remember those Choose Your Own Adventure novels you may or may not have read on your school bus in junior high? Well, this zine is a new take on that concept. This time around, you’re at a party and the theme is consensual activities. If you are able to get through the evening practicing good consent, you may make a new friend, get some action or have a fun time dancing. If you do not practice good consent you will be destroyed, possibly by a raping, head-eating praying mantis.
I read the zine like I do all Choose Your Own Adventures; I made my choices not based on what I would do in the situation but rather by picking the options at random. It took me a while to have anything positive happen to me. First, I practiced poor moshing etiquette and was destroyed. After that I kissed a person who was asexual without their consent and was destroyed. Finally, after many failed adventures, I kissed a dance floor beau who gave me what I think was a hand job in the back room. It’s hard to tell since all the characters are non-gender specific: it’s a clever way to make the adventure work for all genders and sexual preferences. It also makes for some fairly vague but still somehow hot and sexy scenarios.
So, if this zine is an educational tool, what did I learn? I learned that everything leading up to any sort of sexy encounter is complicated; an exciting series of mutual agreements. The moment we step outside of that series of agreements to fast track our own desires or to disregard the other person, we put ourselves and the other person in the danger zone. (dustan j. hlady)