Edited by Lusus and Radha Kai Zan
INTRODUCTION
Drawn to Love explores a tale that is as old as storytelling itself but happens uniquely here in the Age of the Internet: people falling in love via their original characters! Characters born from fandoms, cultivated in a collaborative story, or original OCs created for a tabletop campaign can be vessels for their creators’ self-expression. People who make characters explore different relationship dynamics, gender and sexual identity, and themes of their deepest desires. It’s unsurprising that collaborating together through story and bringing characters to life adds a level of intimacy to relationships between creatives that is hard to explain. If you have found love through your original characters, we want to hear about your experience!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
We want your stories about falling in love through your original characters! As a jumping off point, here’s some things we’d like to see explored in your submission:
- How did you and your partner/s meet?
- What were your characters like and what was their story?
- How did chemistry between you and your romantic partner start? What was it about your characters interacting that shifted your relationship from friendship to romantic?
- Is there fictophilic element to your relationship?
- Do you feel a stigma about you and your partner/s relationship?
- How do you and your partner’s characters relate to your IRL relationship?
- How do your characters’ genders, sexualities, or kinks relate to yours and your partners?
We’re looking for finished work in the following mediums:
- fiction (under 3k words)
- creative nonfiction (under 3k words)
- comics
- art
- hybrid work
Content guidelines:
- Art does not have to be polished, we encourage any level of finish. Color or B/W is welcome.
- We welcome a range of content from non-erotic work to work that may be triggering or taboo, there’s no wrong way to respond to the theme as long as you’re expressing your experience with your relationship and your OCs.
- Work should be formatted to vertical letter size (8.5″x11“) and 100 DPI min.
How to submit: E-mail your submission to radhakaizan@gmail.com along with the title of your piece and an optional print-ready bio and link to your website/socials. You may also remain anonymous or use an alias.
ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY
- This will be a FREE DIGITAL ZINE with an option for contributors to print and distribute free copies themselves. The zine will be made freely available on the editors’ and contributors’ website or platform of choice eg. itch.io, personal shop, etc.
- The anthology will be curated by editors Lusus and Radha, not all submissions will be included.
- Page count TBD.
- By submitting, you agree to allow Lusus and Radha to publish your work in the PDF and use excerpts or crops to promote for the release. Other editors/contributors will not use or sell your work for profit or personal gain. Contributors retain full rights to their works.
SCHEDULE
Submissions Open: August 21st, 2025
Submissions Close: January 1st, 2026
Release Date: February 14th, 2026 (Valentine’s!)
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Lusus is a nonbinary transgender horror artist whose work explores the limits of the body and the transgression of boundaries. They are interested in themes of rupture in relationships, destruction, post-traumatic growth, and unequal power dynamics. Their art plays with the chaotic and the erotic, the esoteric and the fantastic. They see the body as a site for potential transformation, terror, and adoration. Lusus is Radha’
Radha Kai Zan is Lusus’ fiance, an editor, artist, and storyteller working across different mediums. As a visual artist, they indulge in the aberrant and sensual, centering often on the body and its mutable, mortal nature. As a writer, their fiction skews towards the speculative with a particular interest in exploring the macabre, erotic, and adventurous.
Have a question or concern? E-mail radhakaizan@gmail.com