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charlottan · 6 months

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every book i read at least a good chunk of in 2023 ranked under the cut grin😁

1. American Gods (2001) by Neil Gaiman (currently reading) - simply a terrific book. Neil Gaiman at what I believe to be his best. Classic novel

2. Dhalgren (1975) by Samuel R. Delaney (currently reading) - monolithic 70s postmodern book that touches on issues of gender and race. very very good

3. Shantaram (2003) by Gregory David Roberts (currently reading) - very loveable and long book about the true story of an Australian man, arrested on heroin charges, who escapes prison to India and gets involved in arms trading. I'm only on like page 70 out of 900 but I'm deeply in love.

4. Going Postal (2004) by Terry Pratchett (currently reading) - discworld’s postal service! Plenty of hijinks. excellent book

5. Catch-22 (1961) by Joseph Heller (currently reading) - classic anti war satire, what can you say. Still ridiculously funny, the humor really doesnt age at all. it’s very screwball in a way that holds up. Such a joy to read

6. Sirens of Titan (1959) by Kurt Vonnegut - beautiful book, definitely my favorite of the three Vonnys that i finished this year. you can feel his love, as always

7. Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021) by Anthony Doerr- Charming book that spans multiple characters and time periods, all concerned with an ancient codex that symbolizes a sense of faith. I don't really remember this one much but I know I had a lot of fun reading it. Would recommend to anybody

8. Hell’s Angels (1967) by Hunter S. Thompson (currently reading) - very interesting book about, of course, the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club. Thompson becomes a fly on the wall, giving the reader a very, very, perhaps almost too close look at the bikers’ ways and rituals. Very good book if you’re into that sort of thing

9. Infinite Jest (1996) by David Foster Wallace (currently reading)- not much to say about the old Jest. classic annoying book. i read a good chunk this year :thumbsup:

10. Bag of Bones (1998) by Stephen King - average 90s era King. still just as gripping as his 70s and 80s work but with a more comfortable writing style i think. pretty good

11. Detransition, Baby (2021) by Torrey Peters (currently reading) - not much to say about this one really. Its pretty good so far though, pretty classic transfem lit

12. The Dead Zone (1979) by Stephen King - this book had a terrifically gripping second act but then it kindof goes off in a different direction in act 3. Or rather, it feels like act 3 could have been its own decent short story, with the first two acts together being their own novel.

13. Equal Rites (1987) by Terry Pratchett - transmasc king. Girl wants to be a wizard instead of a witch, average discworld novel, nothing memorable but still pretty good

14. Galapagos (1985) by Kurt Vonnegut - Ok vonny book. It definitely had some strong Vonny moments but overall felt a little Different from the rest of his stuff. But maybe in a good way

15. Deadeye Dick (1982) by Kurt Vonnegut - middling vonnegut novel. It was ok. But an ok kurt vonnegut book is still a really good book

16. On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac - classic beat novel. pretty good if you're into slice of life 1940s/50s stuff, which you probably arent, but if you are and you haven’t checked this out, go for it!

17. Nevada (2013) by Imogen Binnie - Decent, however it felt very bare bones in a way that, for instance, Detransition, Baby makes up for.

18. The Rum Diary (1998) by Hunter S. Thompson - To be honest I don’t remember this one At All but i know i read it in like 3 days so its gotta be good. Still cant put it too high in the ranking though sorry hunter

19. And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (1945) by Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs - first ever book written by either of them, and it’s ok. It’s supposed to be a murder mystery but the murder doesnt happen until like the last 20 pages so idk

20. The Colour of Magic (1983) by Terry Pratchett - first discworld. Not that memorable but i wouldnt say it was bad either

21. 1Q84 (2009) by Haruki Murakami (dropped) - I really wanted to like this one. And i did, *mostly*. However, Murakami has this writing style that is obsessively technical and formal and makes for incredibly unnatural monologues, for one thing. This is just a personal preference though; I know it's very acclaimed. I'm honestly sad I couldn't make it past the writing style to enjoy it at least enough to make it through.

22. The Road (2006) by Cormac McCarthy (dropped) - too edgy

#book talk

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ihatepeoplesomuchuwu · 11 months

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@abyssleaves GIRL I FUCKING LOVE YOU HOLY SHIT. You dropped this queen 👑

This person right here, you have said it so perfectly and have inspired me to say something. I will also probably get hate but you know what? That's fine at this point 😎

This carnivorekitty situation? I'M SO OVER IT!!! I don't even 100% agree with tom but, most of you guys are getting upset at OPINIONS AND DARK HUMOR LIKE HOLY SHIT. I want you all to think about this. What part of it is beliefs? The belief of not understanding neopronouns? No no no he didn't say "hate." he said he didn't agree with them and wasn't going to hate people for using them. But nah, instead of maybe sitting down with a cup of tea, you all jumped the gun and said, "THE NERVE?! HE DOESN'T AGREE WITH ME?!". Pssst hey lean in close...... I don't understand them either 😐 If you approached me, though, and told me your pronouns, I would never hate you for using them. It is YOUR life and I will respect/use your pronouns(I use any pronouns btw UwU) and I can't tell you what to do, and as long as you're not hurting anyone, who cares right? But don't demand me to understand or get why because I don't want to, and I'm just too stupid to care.

ANYWAY TO THE TRANSPHOBIC TOPIC!! Okay, this confused me for so long on why people called him transphobic because even I understood that people of the lgbtq+ have different opinions on things and deal with stuff differently. Him saying that kids/teens having medication and surgeries are life changing and then most definitely are. Most medications are safe, but did you know that their was a birth control that was FDA approved and it worked for a long time! Until women started having babies missing limbs and parts of them. Medical stuff can happen at anytime, it being safe of not it can still happen. And the surgeries? I agree that people shouldn't have surgeries until they are 18. Why? Because you have jackasses that aren't trans/have medical needs who take advantage of that for their own benefits and you have people who find out that they are not trans/non-binary/so on later in life and detransition.

Also, can no one like dark humor anymore??? A trans person likes a dark humored trans meme it's end shattering, but people still adore famous people making 9/11 jokes? Yeah, okay, love you guys ❤️ and don't get me started on the nazi shit because WOW WE GOING FOR IT WITH THAT ONE!!! Did anyone read the post Tom made at all? Hm? He said, and I quote, "I don't see anything on how he's a nazi however, that seems like a stretch. However, if anyone can provide actual proof of these claims, you can let me know." He ASKED for proof and said he doesn't agree with all of his posts, yet all of you jumped on him instantly calling him a "nazi sympathizer"? I literally saw one, FUCKING ONE PERSON show him the proof of it instead of jumping him like zombies 🧟‍♂️ 🧟‍♀️

My last take is the pride parade stuff which is just silly to get mad about?? As a person who has basically raised my siblings as my own children and wanting kids of my own some day, I can understand about the not wanting children to see half naked people and honestly who would? What I get is that it is a pride parade and they are mostly known for people doing that, they usually make a flyer or post saying if it's going to happen orr not so please look first. What pisses me off is when people defend that and call them something-phobic for not agreeing 😑 "Agree to disagree" is perfectly put for this, People can have opinions on this without being hateful. You guys come OOON

That is all I have to say for this, I would touch on the racism aspect but I must say out of that whole thing I could understand why people were mad/hurt and I am a pale ass white-irish person who has never experienced racism(only the "HA HA YOU'RE AN ALCOHOLIC" jokes due to me being irish 🤣)so I have no right to say anything in that.

Anyway, I'm gonna just rant here, so feel free to hate on me in my inbox because I could honestly just chill with anyone even if they scream at me UwU

#carnivorekitty #lurking for love #l4l #lfl #jacob alden #just ranting #niwinoodle

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pleuvoire · 4 months

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2023 books i liked recap because why not

top faves, new entries on the all-timers shelf:

piranesi is like a sweet spot of novels made for me i swear. aesthetically beautiful (as far as mental images go), themes of wonder at the beauty of the world, a slowly unfurling mystery, a simple plot but with vibrant beauty and meaning layered on top. It's Good

giovanni's room also has a very simple plot that is so overlaid with soaring passionate emotion i swear it feels like an opera in book form. timeless classic. it's good idk what to tell you

oh man ancillary justice is such good sci-fi. when you start out reading it you're like this is rather dry but it pulls you in so hard. the worldbuilding! the themes of identity! breq is such a good character!

not quite all-timer shelf but still really good

fish swimming in dappled sunlight is ultimately a story about stories and memory and constructed narratives and the reliability thereof. it takes place over a single night and mostly just consists of characters sitting around talking, but manages to pull some crazy twists on you regardless. love the prose style too

i'm glad my mom died lives up to the acclaim. mccurdy has a real talent for narrative voice, effortlessly inhabiting the viewpoint of her younger self at various ages. balances humor and tragedy with frank candor. i sound like a review pull quote here so i'll stop

infect your friends and loved ones is actually a novella so pretty short! it's by the author of detransition baby and has definitely gotten me interested in reading that. really vivid meditation on trans womanhood and transmisogyny that bounces between post-apocalypse and pre-apocalypse settings. pdf here

less stand-out but i still liked it

what are you are looking for is in the library is a nice little series of loosely connected vignettes about people who are stuck at some point in their life and find inspiration at the library. all the staff at my library job wanted to read it so the hold list was a mile long lol. has inspiring themes about always being able to find a way forward when you're in a rut and the power of community and stuff

a people's history of heaven is about the life and times of a group of girls living in a slum in bangalore, india. i liked how it interwove different people's life stories together and used lots of vivid detail and i like how the trans girl's story was written. some aspects were hit or miss for me but it was still nice

temple alley summer is a kids' book but i like kids' books so that's fine. it's about a boy who sees a ghost and the next day she's a student at his school and everyone seems to already know her but him and it turns out this is because his house was built on top of a mystical temple. i like the meditations on life and death and the simple heartwarmingness. it takes a long unexpected detour in the second half which threw me for a loop but ended up working for the story

stuff i started reading but didn't finish and i swear i'm going to try to get to it this year

to shape a dragon's breath is pretty long so i didn't get that far in before i had to return it to the library but i really liked what i read. the worldbuilding is really interesting and the narrative voice feels fresh and unique and deftly avoids the samey YA mold that tends to grate on me. and it's got commentary on colonialism! definitely check this one out

i got halfway through radium girls which is an accomplishment for me since it's long. rare nonfiction entry on this list. goes into insanely meticulous historical detail complete with fiction-style descriptions and embellishments of the girls' lives which just makes it more tragic

i own a copy of the haunting of hajji hotak but it's seriously harrowing stuff so i had to take breaks. it's good man. but whew it does not shy away from the realities of living under war and occupation. death to america

ok that's everything i think seeya next year

#rosemary reads

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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"I just don't get why that's an interesting plot to read/write? It slaps of bio essentialism, pro life, lack of bodily autonomy, ultimately really lack of any autonomy for omegas/women"

Has anon by any chance ever read misgendering fantasy porn by trans men? Because a lot of misgendering fantasies read like this omegaverse plot anon is complaining about. Things like getting HRT taken away from them/covertly replaced or otherwise having bodily autonomy taken away, being objectified or "put in their place" are very common themes. Breeding kink is also a common element. Do we assume that the trans guys who write and share these in fact believe in bioessentialism outside these fantasies? We don't!

But why is it that anon and the other omegaverse anons on this blog seem to be very keen on assuming that omegaverse writers do actually believe bioessentialism is good just by looking at their writing 🤨 Seems like "don't assume what the writer believes solely from their fic" is only reserved for good writers now huh? Fuck the randos on the internet who write hamfisted trashy leaky ass baby porn for fun on the internet if they're not good at writing I guess.

Misgendering kink anon here with a correction to my previous ask -- it's actually detrans/forced detrans kink, not misgendering kink, though misgindering is a major element. Sorry about that.

My point still stands though. It's ridiculous to assume that omegaverse writers who play up the bioessentialism in their fics actually think bioessentialism is cool and good when you wouldn't assume that a trans man who writes detrans kink porn actually wants to detransition and that they're just "playing at being men".

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forustothinkistobealive · 5 months

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9, 13, & 14 <33

9. Best month for you this year?

I'd say June. I've got very vivid memories of scoring Eras tour tickets and also summer in general. But October was also pretty good because I was in Rome then.

13. How was your birthday this year?

A bit underwhelming tbh. I celebrated with one of my friend groups and it's a bit annoying since I couldn't invite my other friends because those two groups don't get along because two people dated for like 1 week and one of them still hasn't moved on from it two years later. And I'm in a bit of a tough spot with the first group in general. Celebrating with my family was okay though.

14. Favourite book you read this year?

Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson.

I've also loved Vergissmeinnicht, Astrid Parker doesn't fail, Bunny, Detransition, Baby, Hellbent and People we meet on vacation.

(I've read a lot of books this year.)

#thanks for the ask!#daydadahlias

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thetragicallynerdy · 8 months

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People I’d like to get to know better!

I got tagged by @ginbiscuit a while back and forgot about it until now, thanks for the tag friend!!

Last Song Played: Dial Drunk by Noah Kahan (y'all this song is so fucking good)

Currently Watching: Taskmaster NZ, it's good low-key fun! I'm also slowly re-watching Deadloch and in about an hour or two will be watching OFMD season 2 (HYPED. IM SO HYPED FOR IT)

Currently Reading: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Current Obsession: This feels obvious but the gay pirates lmao. Yeah, OFMD still has a strangle hold. However, in non-media, I am also a little bit obsessed my garden. It's so fun.

I'm gonna tag @draculafemme, @zombiethingy, @ladythmpr, @primelinchen-the-second - but only if you feel like doing it! If it's not your thing I am waving hello!

If you're seeing this and didn't get tagged but really want to do it, please consider yourself tagged :3

#tag game #thanks for the tag buddy!!!

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spookfished · 4 months

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nov 2023 media roundup

hello again :3 welcome to the world from 2024!! im doing backlogs of media reviews lol. well i was really busy. and then i was super busy playing umineko!! looking back at this month, it seems like i didnt read a whole lot this month, but then i forgot that ruzhui is literally 300 chapters long. so.. a couple of these i read uh quite a few months ago by now so the review might be a bit stale. however i had like 80% of this written for several weeks so theres only a couple! this will be posted on my neocities at some point

books:

ruzhui by please dont laugh: f/f. after a terrible breakup, college yun an is happy to leave her life behind for some TIME TRAVEL! but while disguising herself as a man to avoid discrimination, she gets looped into a matrilocal marriage with businesswoman lin buxian?! intended as a fluffy palate cleanser after pdl's previous work a clear and muddy loss of love, i think it still kinda ended up getting mired in politics two thirds of the way in, when a lot of us were here for the moments with miss malewife yun an and her powerhouse wife? on the other hand, its hard to stretch out fluff for an entire 300 chapters without contriviances. i also really enjoyed how it managed to balance like. idk. 'returning to the simple emotions of the past' with 'holy shit guys the past actually sucked ass lmfao'. its a pretty relaxing read, so id recommend checking it out if youre into f/f!

the devil comes courting by courtney milan: f/m romance. can romance bloom while trying to create the first telegraphic encoding for chinese...? sooo cute im a huge fan of courtney milan as always. surprisingly goes into some pretty heavy topics including like. forced assimilation via child stealing?????? i thought it was well handled though the ldr stuff and the way amelia grows as a person was soo nice

the marquis who mustnt by courtney milan: f/m romance. the son of a conman returns home for one final trick. meanwhile, naomi just wants to take her medic class. the two become engaged on false premises and of course, catch feelings. once again extremely cute im very charmed. also liked the pottery details :3 i think in every fake engagement the whole 'pretending to themselves they dont have feelings' is a little ridiculous so i liked that they just like. acknowledged it at the outset. i think its honestly more compelling to be like 'yes my feelings are sincere and true however X still outweighs '. loove a guy shackled by duty

wandering souls by cecile pin: follows anh and her two siblings, refugees of the vietnam war. ok honestly i dont remember a lot about this book :( sorry but i did like it! its a really fast read and made me really sad so id recommend. (DISCLAIMER: AMERICAN) i also feel like i dont read a lot of non-american diaspora books so thats pretty interesting as well. nice prose also :]

detransition baby by torrey peters: a trans woman who yearns for motherhood, her detransitioned ex-boyfriend, and his pregnant partner struggle to find a way to live--together, or apart? ok sorry this is another review written in january so its kinda weighted more negatively. i had a LOT of thoughts about this in november but i forgot most of them. this novel is a deep look into a very specific kind of queer subculture--a subculture which is both very white and very annoying. sorry. the characters feel like a vivid, true-to-life depiction of the poeple i try to avoid at my little liberal arts college. however, it ALSO feels like the kind of really good gossip that you love to hear secondhand. also, the author shoehorns in discussions of race in ways that are really jarring and also, kinda bad? i honestly really loved the inner voices of all the characters which is why it sucked when i got to suddenly read a copy-pasted twitter thread about intersectional oppression instead. (especially coming from the mouth of a cis wasian woman..?) it feels all the more tokenistic since we immediately go back to the inner struggles of ames and reese instead. ugh. however, it sparked some really interesting conversations with me and my friends. i also got to learn more about ah i guess transfem detransition? as opposed to transmasc detransition. they are very different! um but i guess id recommend?

comics/manga:

surviving romance: action/horror webtoon?? the woman living in the body of a romance novel character is determined to get her picture-perfect happy ever after-- at all costs. everything goes according to plan until the day zombies attack the school. chaerin is forced to bond with the faceless extras of her story, and find out what is rotting at the core of *love every day*. very solid writing!! i like how the author gradually introduces characters, and how the tension ratchets up as more people to care for becomes more people that can be lost. definitely goes into some orv-lite type themes, which i appreciated. i guess my only complaint is that despite the solid execution it didnt really ~wow~ me in any way... still worth checking out though :3

run away with me girl by battan: f/f romanceish? two high school lovers meet again after midori decided that their relationship was just a childish whim. but even though midori has decided shes straight (and is married with a kid on the way!), maki still has feelings for her. dude soooo cute the art style is not personally my thing but i felt like all of the characters were really grounded and the introspective parts were really interesting. some beautifully atmospheric parts! would recommend :3 witch hat atelier kitchen (reread) by shirahama kamome: a spinoff of witch hat atelier, where the two teachers qifrey and olrugio make food together after hours! gorgeous art as always, and some cute recipes too! i reread this since an official english translation came out lol. monotone blue: short furry m/m about apathetic, aloof cat hachi, who meets aoi--a shy transfer student who happens to be the only lizard in the whole school. pretty lighthearted for the most part, but also heavily implied a sexual assault scene?? or at least the vibes?? in a way that treated it far too lightly and left a bad taste in my mouth. possibly worth reading for the art, but idk :/ definitely falls into the romance trap of having a love interest go "ill save you from these bad guys!" for like a cheap plot device and then not really going into it

movies/tv:

parasite: class-focused comedic thriller? the kim family finds a way out of choking poverty by working for the extremely affluent park family. its almost too easy--until it isnt. man everyone says parasite is so good. AND IT IS!!! i cant believe i took so long to see this movie i got to see it with some friends over thanksgiving break and it was so good :] had me stressed for my fucking life sitting at the edge of my seat. has a lot of meat to bite into analysis-wise but is also just so crushing in many ways.. the ending stuck in my head for a long time. rewatching it this january was honestly more stressful in some ways haha

revolutionary girl utena: allegory-heavy commentary on shoujo and princess narratives and the nature of heroism and-- f/f. utena is a girl who aspires to be just like the prince of her dreams. she is somehow wrapped up into an engagement with anthy himemiya, who calls herself "the rose bride." ahhhh i still havent watched the last two episodes actually. people always say "utena is a fantastic show but PLEASE mind every single trigger warning" and its true! utena tackles some really heavy subjects in a way that is delicate, understated, and vicious. i watched a bunch of these episodes late at night in the computer lab and they honestly left me breathless. has so many layers of symbolism to dig through that it can honestly be overwhelming, but also very compelling just on the surface! watch utena. also watch this amv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THN3gYKYojs

the wonderful story of henry sugar: a netflix adaptation of one of roald dahls stories (within a story). it was cute :3 not a lot of sticking power lol but i think this is the first wes anderson production ive ever watched. very visually distinctive!

video games:

lethal company: cooperative horror game about trying to collect garbage in a dystopically capitalist world ft. proximity chat! dude this game is blowing tf up i tried playing it with neil but 1. we are huge pussies 2. its really only feasible with 3+ people

music:

TILT by nanoray: anime breakcore is one of my truly guilty pleasures. i see the anime girl on the cover and cringe a little bit HOWEVER nanoray is a really good artist. the intro is so liquid... i think the album as a whole really just sweeps you up into a groove. some of my favorite tracks are into and DOGWALK2000 THE LONELIEST TIME by carly rae jepsen: i was so mean to carly rae jepsen in middle school. im so sorry miss jepsen i was just so tired of hearing call me maybe everywhere. im now a changed man. just a really well constructed pop album 👍admittedly not as iconic to me as emotion, but joshua tree and talking to yourself are my favorites atm SAYONARA WILD HEARTS OST: ive never played sayonara wildheart, but i think its a rhythm game about girls fighting each other on motorcycles? with bisexual lighting and tarot cards? but anyways this is a synth-y lush pop album thats super fun! it feels like it tells a story (probably bc it does) and it always makes me want to listen all the way through :3 my favorites are sayonara wild heart and their clair de lune remix

anyways if you read to the end, thanks as always! its really interesting to try and condense my thoughts about something into one paragraph.. sometimes its easier than others huh! im almost done with the december one so please look forward to that 👍

#txt

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americascomic · 5 months

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My first year of transition, I really refused to engage in any trans literature, whatever theory, non-fiction or fiction. The exception is I read Andrea Long Chu's essay "On Liking Women" within days of coming out and I think I was still so close to just that raw rush of realizing that I am trans that it earnestly hurt to read and I had not nearly enough distance to really look at with a healthy perspective.

The trans community I first landed into at the time was this very urbane, overly white sorta vague Bushwick transbians types who engaged with trans authors as this sorta fixation on trans media - it felt very competitive and made me feel insecure and I couldn't keep up. Detransition, Baby was big at the time and everyone read it, everyone had a hot take on it and I was just getting footing with my queerness. I think this was sorta emboldened by a lotta of the girls around me "always knew they were trans" and were studying up on the issues beforehand it made me feel like I was coming into school mid-semester.

I think it was actually very much high school, and a lot of the girls (we kinda found ourselves and started transitioning at the same time, and at the same age - in our mid-to-late 30s) were insecure and I think wanted to look more confident going into this scary new world then they wanted to let on.

The books were really scary for me. Especially Whipping Girl and Detransition, Baby. I was terrified of my lived experience being talked over and feeling flattened and isolated and alientated.

Additionally, I experienced a lot of transmisogny in my first year of transition from other non-femme queer people and I sorta created this reflex for myself to be ashamed of self-advoacy and maybe even shame for my trans-femminity. And I retreated in something that I think is understandable, which is to focus on the racial aspect of queer liberation and read books on anti-racism and Black history. (I should say I'm white here)

Then, about a year and a half into transition I had family members do something incredibly painful to me. Like, it was such a shock from people that I thought I could trust and I would describe the experience as psychedelic in just how much it opened my eyes. Seeing that level of cruelty was just sobering and it made me come to terms with a lot of stuff in my transition that I was in denial about. It made me (somehow) admit to myself I was a lesbian. And it made me finally wake up and realize that I experience transmisogny, and that there is bigotry that is directed squarely at me and that I'm not somehow this proxy war for other intersecting battles, or that I need to give defrence to those who suffer more than me as some sort of token in order to speak on my own discomfort.

I told a non-binary friend about this, about how I basically "you know, I'm starting to think transmisogny is a thing I experience" and they put their hand on my hand and was basically like "this is why you should be doing the homework."

I don't know if Whipping Girl was right to have read right when I came out. Those self-protection measures were in part there in the reason. And I despise - especially as a trans woman - playing in games of woulda couldas. I just am happy that I am finally doing the homework and the book is opening me up to further revelations. Like taking ownership that i'm femme for femme. And that I'm a high femme and I should be proud of that, and take ownership that I am a high femme for it's own good and not as some consesion to a larger society.

I still have some contempt and nervousness over "trans homework assignments" but I read so much, and books ultimately are about letting another voice in your head and I deserve to have a trans woman in my head.

#Julia Serano #whipping girl #transfemme #transmisogny #trans femme

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pesbianlanic · 1 year

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march 2023 reading

books in bold are especially recommended! i had the pleasure of reading some absolute bangers this month.

Gilded by Marissa Meyer - 5/10. i dunno. i loved the Lunar Chronicles, which is the main reason i picked this up. while i enjoyed a lot of the horror-lite world-building, there were parts of it that confused me. i also thought that the pacing and the ending were off. i’m going to read the sequel in hopes that it gets better. we’ll see.

Empty by Susan Burton - 7/10. hard to get through. but i appreciated the writing and her insights.

On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden - 8/10. beautiful art and cute gay story. what’s not to love?

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller - 9/10. y’all. i am obsessed with this. i want to live inside sam j. miller’s mind because OH MY GOD this was amazing. we love queer-centering anti-capitalist speculative sci-fi about a world after climate change! literally want a tattoo inspired by this book immediately.

Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang - 10/10. i was once again entranced by Kuang’s prose, world-building, and commentary. i’ve been thinking a lot recently about the *apparent* inevitability of imperialism and capitalism, so this was very cathartic.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon - 9/10. an enchanting and powerful book. i will be thinking about this one for a long time.

Our Colors by Gengoroh Tagame - 8/10. i always love gay coming-of-age stories.

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo - 8/10. i think i preferred Ninth House, but this sequel still holds up! it’s fun, bloody, mysterious, and magical.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters - 9/10. i enjoyed this novel. it was an interesting exploration of gender and parenthood, and it made me go down a rabbit hole investigating queer temporality.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - 10/10. DEVASTATING! I NEED ALECTO THE NINTH IMMEDIATELY. I WILL NOT BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS BOOK

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - 2/10. the more i reflect on this book, the more i wish i hadn’t wasted my time reading it. a few reasons why: (1) the characterization of the two Black people in this book seemed racist in a song of the south way. (2) i think i’m losing my patience for straight people lit. i think i’m becoming heterophobic. (3) kya gave me mary sue vibes (don’t get me started on her poetry). (4) the ending was rushed and cliche, and i skipped most of it. (5) also, SPOILERS but kya did turn out to be the murderer in the end, so where was my murder scene hm???? i wanted to see that asshole get killed. it gets a 2 for its excellent descriptions of nature, because that is clearly delia owens’ true wheelhouse.

The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins - 9/10. excellent exploration of US-backed anticommunist violence (mass murders), its personal and devastating effects for the victims and survivors, and how it shaped the world we live in today.

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - 10/10. holy shit. this was everything my queer, religiously traumatized ass needed. this is the kind of queer representation i’ve been waiting for. beautiful, messy, horrifying, cathartic, and inspiring all at once. i will be following AJ White! i’m so excited to read The Spirit Bares Its Teeth later this year.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - 8/10. this was a really interesting exploration of work culture, non-conformity, and the ways that essential workers (such as the titular convenience store woman) are looked down upon by society.

Dolly Dingle, Lesbian Landlady by Monica Nolan - 8/10. a fun, modern take on lesbian pulp fiction of the ‘50s/’60s! don’t expect anything too deep or artistically aspirational, because that is not the point. it’s just an entertaining, gay, easy read.

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia - 9/10. a beautiful, magical, queer book that examines the complexities of immigration, empire, and violence in the guise of a blood magic fantasy novel.

The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long - 6/10. as a telling of the author’s father’s real experiences in the ‘60s, it’s personal and compelling. however, this graphic novel mainly centers white people grappling with racism (because we don’t have enough stories about that /s). could be appropriate for introducing young (white) kids to the history of the Civil Rights Movement and issues of racism.

bonus - a book i stopped reading:

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith. the premise of this book was intriguing and sounded like exactly the kind of thing i’d enjoy reading. however, something about the characterization and dialogue grated on my nerves. the main character, claire, especially annoyed me. also, when i see 8 ellipses within the span of a few paragraphs, i start to get peeved. it made me want to reread Good Omens as a palate-cleanser with similar vibes. maybe i’ll try it again at some point, but for now this book is not for me.

goodreads shenanigans here

#jules tries to read books again #books #blackfish city #nona the ninth #babel rf kuang #babel #hell followed with us #the bruising of qilwa

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peraltasass · 1 year

Text

books i read in 2022

✩✩✩✩✩ - ★★★★★

Fiction:

Myth Retold: Iphigenia by Winter J. Kiakas: ★★★★✩ (cute!)

Heroes by Stehen Fry: ★★★✩✩ (too much whitewashing)

Loveless by Alice Oseman: ★★★★✩ (was frustrated that at the end, only one type of friendship (deep, intense, emotional) was once again posited as the “right” type of friendship to have)

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: ★★★★✩ (read these once when I was like 12?)

Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan: ★★★★✩

The Wave by Morton Rhue aka Tedd Strasser: ★★✩✩✩ (ik it’s like a big thing but. the writing didn’t catch me at all - maybe it was the translation or maybe it is just not as well written as claimed)

Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan: ★★★★✩ (ah yes, we all know that girls saying no to love = saying no to men)

Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan: ★★★★✩ (just stop it with the jealousy between girls jfc)

Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan: ★★★★✩ (didn’t remember the ending at all, was surprised by how okay I was with it)

we are the ants by Shaun David Hutchinson: ★★★✩✩/★★★★✩ (am incredibly indecisive about how I feel about this one. made me feel more feeling that I thought at first but also frustrated me quite a lot)

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes: ★★★★✩ (very powerful, I only have tiny notes)

Ulysses by James Joyce: ★★✩✩✩ (I don’t cARE if it’s the bEsT nOvEl Of ThE 20th cEnTuRy, I did NOT have a good time)

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao: ★★★½✩ (I hate to say it but it was too much like Percy Jackson for most of the main part)

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus: ★★★½✩ (did get me eventually; as someone who wrote their ba thesis on the breakfast club it was nice to see the stereotypes deconstructed but also frustrating at times)

Ausser Sich by Sasha Marianna Salzmann: ★★★½✩ (VERY overwhelming at times, but also intensely powerful)

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender: ★★★★✩ (cute)

Die Götter müssen sterben by Nora Bendzko: ★★★★★ (my new fav book)

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters: ★★★★✩

Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa: ★★★✩✩ (for uni)

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: ★★★★★ (re-read)

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater: ★★★★★ (re-read)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater: ★★★★★ (re-read)

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater: ★★★★✩ (re-read, still the least good of all of them)

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman: ★★★★✩ (cute quick and easy read)

Non fiction:

A Year Without a Name by Cyrus Dunham: ★★★★✩ (for uni)

Wir können mehr sein by Aminata Touré: ★★★½✩

Und jetzt Du by Tupoka Ogette: ★★★★★ (@German white people: READ THIS)

Read This to Get Smarter by Blair Imani: ★★★★✩

Queer Gestreift by Kathrin Köller and Irmela Schautz ★★★★✩

My Left Foot by Christy Brown: ★★★★✩ (for uni)

Read This to Get Smarter about Race, Class, Gender, Disability & More by Blair Imani: ★★★★✩

Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon: ★★★★✩

Graphic novels, comics, and webcomics:

Tidesong by Wendy Xu: ★★★★✩

Princess, Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill: ★★★✩✩ (too short!)

This Place: 150 Years Retold: ★★★★★

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu, and Joanette Gil: ★★★★★

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell: ★★★★✩

Suki, Alone: ★★★✩✩ (liked it, wish it had given me MORE)

Fine. A Comic About Gender by Thea Ewing: ★★★★★ (STRONG recommend!)

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill: ★★★★★ (too short but SO CUTE)

#text #me #books #my books #yeah so may be mostly inactive on tumblr but I always track my reading progress in my drafts lol #i read so much this year and it feels really good #my books 2023

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