Heartlines Spec, Issue 3 (Fall/Winter 2023)

In our third Issue, the protagonists throughout the works hold true to those who matter the most. Just like real families, sometimes those choices aren't the best and sometimes they are. There are those who choose their biological family and those who find their own. Many of these pieces discover that blood doesn't always make a family; families can come in any shape and size so long as they are the people we choose and choose us in return.
Editorial by Emily Yu
Short Fiction
I Hear The Starwhale Sing by Kanishk Tantia
Italic & Bold by Dan Peacock
Nerves Into Circuits by Lyra Meurer
You, Neverland, and I by Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li
From Heaven Itself, They Fought by Alex Langer
Full of Sound and Fury by Yelena Crane
Yaka Mein Lady by Vivian Chou
Poetry
Limitless by Lynne Sargent
The Rainmaker by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe
We Are Orphans by Avra Margariti
The Adar Llwch Gwin or the Egg by Elis Montgomery
Non-Fiction
"Hang in there, kiddo": A 20-year Animal Crossing Friendship by Sarah L. Hawthorn
My Platonic Love Letter to Krobus by Sam Lesek
Heartlines Spec is an online speculative magazine focused on long-term friendships and relationships. It's the comfort of the known, the fierce hug of someone that knows you best. Issues are released three times a year.