Aaron King is a nonbinary game writer, zinester, and collage artist. What follows are collage examples and links to game work, writing and editing, and organizing experience.
Beaubee’s Burden
The Governor of Guilder
The Heartless Princess
Carouser’s Guide
The Sub-Gothi of Storms
Doomster
Goodwalker
Game work:
- “The Sub-Gothi of Storms” in Codex: Storm, published by The Gauntlet
- “Acorn’s Wayshrine” in Languard Locations: Beyond the Walls, published by Raging Swan Press
- RPG zines on itch.io
Writing & editing:
- Comic Cartography, maps in comics and essays thereon (writing, layout)
- Seven Rare Birds, short stories (writing, layout)
- OH NO EVERYTHING by Brett Elizabeth Jenkins (editing, layout, design)
- Over the Moon by Brett Elizabeth Jenkins (editing, layout, design)
Organizing:
- Twin Cities Zine Fest, 2016-2017 (co-organizer)
- Boneshaker Books, 2012-2017 (store collective, events committee, ordering committee)
Statement: Aaron creates collages using public domain images sourced from library digital archives, mostly for use in game writing. These games are tabletop roleplaying games (think Dungeons & Dragons) that focus on reframing fantasy and community. They’re an effort to pull fantasy away from a racist and male gaze, away from the Tolkienesque views of evil Others and chainmail bikinis. These games are written and run for young, queer Minneapolitans who usually haven’t played these games before (often because of active gatekeeping).
Fantasy is often built on images of the past. The fantasies of Aaron’s contemporaries—queer, in debt, and mentally ill—look vastly different from the fantasies supplied by mainstream media. Given a safe space to play, these contemporaries feel free to try new things, and their approaches to play can be cathartic and therapeutic.
