“Give me one of every face that has ever been called ugly. Give me one of every skin that has ever been called excessive. Give me a way of moving that no space can admit or accommodate, and then reshape the entire world to hold me.”

The Android That Designed Itself by Julian K. Jarboe

Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe

goodreads

In this debut collection of body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, these are the tools of storyteller Jarboe, a talent in the field of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation, the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be "fixable."

Mod opinion: I haven't read this one yet, but it is on my tbr, it sounds so interesting!

Don't you ever wish you'd been just a little better, or more useful? Isn't there anyone you could have just been kinder to?"

— Julian K. Jarboe, from "As Tender Feet of Cretan Girls Danced Once Around an Altar of Love" in Strange Horizons, October 16, 2017.

I don't want to feel better; I want to know better. I should have known that God is not in the meal but in the sharing of the meal. I should have told you that holiness resides in needing each other, in acts of survival made generous.

Julian K. Jarboe

You can't quote the "God made me transsexual" quote from Julian K. Jarboe and then in the next breath be antisemitic. That quote comes from the teachings of Rabbi Akiva, it's a *Jewish* quote, and the way it's thoughtlessly parroted by antisemitic queer goyim is yet another example of how the modern queer movement benefits from Jewish activism and voices and teachings while simultaneously excluding and demonizing us. You can't have it both ways. You can't use Judaism for your own self-validation while not cherishing Jews.

wishing everyone who celebrates a happy easter and an even happier transgender day of visibility 🐣🪩🫶🪽

God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason he made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine: because he wants humanity to share in the act of creation.

— Julian K. Jarboe

Short Story Tournament

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO by Edgar Allen Poe (1846) (link) - tw: death

“I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose around us.”

I AM A BEAUTIFUL BUG! by Julian K Jarboe (2019) (link) - tw: bugs, themes of transphobia

Once at the clinic, I brought my copy of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka to my brief pre-surgery consultation. I pointed to the inside cover illustration, and said, “Gimme the works, doctor! Just like Gregor Samsa!"

“Why does God create grapes and wheat but not wine and bread? God does this because God wants us to share in the act of creation. To be how you made me, to become how God made me, through you, I can remake myself. You and I: we are already whole, and shifting towards the divine.

Julian K. Jarboe, “The Android that Designed Itself”, Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel

Julian K. Jarboe, Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel

Look to the stars. Look at how the winners get history and the losers get culture. Close your eyes and ask God for light and look for it.

Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe

“God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason God made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine, so that humanity might share in the act of creation.”

Julian K. Jarboe

okay fuck it posting self care (julian k jarboe) lines again

here’s the book on goodreads etc

Don't you ever wish you'd been just a little better, or more useful? Isn't there anyone you could have just been kinder to?

Julian K. Jarboe, from “As Tender Feet of Cretan Girls Danced Once Around an Altar of Love” in “Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel.” (Lethe Press, March 5, 2020)

[Image description: a digital drawing of two people who have their faces close to each other. On the left is a dark-skinned person with short, slicked back wavy pink hair; they have a gold choker, a gold earring, a couple gold piercings and a gold cuff bracelet whose design displays angel wings, two knives and a pair of grapes; on their chest are golden top surgery scars. Their expression is sad, and their hand is the other person’s face and neck, their thumb by the other person’s ear. The other person has their face tilted up towards the first person, and their expression is neutral and unreadable. Their hair is long and light blue. They have paint in the colours of the trans flag on their cheek, and small gold jewelry in their hair; they’re only shown from the shoulders up, so we can only see the dark purple shoulder of their clothes. The background is light blue, light pink and gold, and displays the artist’s signature (@dandelion-roots) in the corner. End description.]

I painted a denim jacket to wear to pride this year! I wanted something more personal than the shirts and things I could find online, and was primed on the jacket thing by seeing a bunch of gorgeous painted denim at a flea market. I picked the last bit of this quote from Julian K Jarboe to illustrate:

It’s not totally done - I want more of the lightning outside the one back panel, but think I’m gonna have to tape it to get the lines clean, which will take a while. I’m happy with how it came out so far, though, especially because I don’t normally do physical painting. I learned a lot of great and terrible things about acrylic and denim and the interactions they have that I did not know before!