HIVVER|W1NTER|XEIΜΏΝ

  • 2026 Reads 3

    Phew… round 3? And here we are starting in JUNE (ending in JULY).

    [PREVIOUS READS]

    Lets cut right to it~

    READS CONTINUED:

    [between JUNE and–JULY]

    STAG DANCE — TORREY PETERS I wasn’t sure about this anthology at first. I think there’s a pattern for self/community-hatred within trans writing that is definitely worth being critical but I’d read like 3 other books repeating the same motif (the tension between trans identities) it was starting to bum me out. Reading the actual novella I bought this anthology for (Stag Dance) didn’t disappoint, though. I think I just have a personal preference towards slightly weirder/niche interpretations of a feeling. Also the narrative voice on that one was incredible.

    I AM THEIR SILENCE — JORDI LAFEBRE I think I preferred Malgré Tout from this author (which is not saying much, both of them were stunning reads of their own right) but this story was just as fun. Murder mystery told over the course of a day. The character acting is incredible in this comic, the simplicity of the story really just has me questioning my own comics and how I can potentially make them more concise. Beautiful work. High up there on my favourites.

    LET’S GET BURGERS — ASH S. cute and fun. It’s pretty much what I expected picking it up. Made me laugh a couple times. Silly. I wish it had a LITTLE more substance, personally but It was good nonetheless.

    SLEEPING GIANTS — SYLVAIN NEUVEL I didn’t finish this one. What an idiotic book.

    SCARLET MORNING (1) — NATE STEVENSON man this was just fun. I felt like I was 12 again reading Inkheart for the first time. Lots of really fun worldbuilding. Lots of fun play with sailing and the salt floes imitating ice floes… (are we all just really into weird expeditions lately…? hmm). A fun romp, it took a few turns I didn’t expect.

    THE UNSINKABLE SHIP OF FOOLS — JONAS GOONFACE yeah sure I’ll slap my porn reads on here too, why not. Uh the art is incredible in this one but I’ve been a fan of Jonas for a while now. I thought this book was just really fun. Idk. It was just my vibe, the characters are all extremely silly, the artwork was incredible. [thumbsup]

    AUDITION — PIP ADAM incredible. I’m not really sure what I was expecting going into this but I know its going to sit with me for a while. Extremely weird type of fever dream with a real anchor to its core theme. I was left floating but thinking and thinking hard. It wasn’t difficult connecting with a lot of the emotional beats of this story. I think its gone ahead an rattled me. I’m gonna need to take a little break to soak it all in.

    THE ODYSSEY — HOMER (Translated by EMILY WILSON) I jokingly decided to binge-read this in 2 weeks so I would be fully refreshed for Nolan’s new Odyssey film which I’ll be seeing on a nice cheapie Tuesday–turns out this text was one of the ones that informed his retelling so that should be even MORE FUN. Emily Wilson’s translation is…. incredible? I think I spent even more time fascinated and inspired by her Introduction and Translator’s note leading into the text than the text itself. Reading is good actually. I think!

    I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED – JENNETTE MCCURDY oh i have a lot of complicated feelings after reading this one (personal anyway) her voice in this is incredibly addictive, both my partner and I absolutely devoured this in the span of 2-3 days. Incredibly powerful, painfully relatable in some instances. I’m happy she got out of acting and seems to be doing something she much prefers (writing). I’ve already got her fiction book on hold at the library (it had been on my radar for a little while I just didn’t click that SHE was the one who wrote it).

    GORM — NEB un histoire assez simple mais biens fait. Les illustrations sont évoquant. Le traitement des couleurs excellent, specifiquement quand les deux utilise le ‘sopp’. J’ai vraiment aimée le rythme des cases.

    DEAD WAKE — ERIK LARSON this one had been in my periphery for a long time I just wasn’t much the type to pick up nonfiction but here I am! I liked Erik’s writing style. It pretty much satiated my curiosity about the sinking of the Lusitania–18 minutes?? Damn;; It got a bit too… American by the end there. Americans have a tendency to be a bit self aggrandizing.

    Phew that’s 10 more books this year yahoo! Time to pick up something a bit more my speed.

  • T-minus 1 month

    I’m being clever–is it working? Does this make sense? Probably not.

    Okay well it’s been a couple days over one month (i’d have done it sooner if I didn’t have a con starting Friday when it was my forreal 1-month anniversary so you’re getting it now).

    If anyone is even reading this. Lol.

    LET’S see~ This is gonna get TMI as usual so if you’re easily irked out by it or just don’t wanna hear about this stuff, your loss but maybe skip these posts.

    1 month on Testo and I’m noticing:
    VOICE — YOU might not notice a difference but I sure do. I feel my voice sitting more comfortably on lower notes than it used to and I’m struggling to hit higher notes. Speaking LOUD (like at the con this weekend) meant that sometimes my voice broke from the strain. It wasn’t too noticeable from the outside but my instrument sure is feeling weird from the inside.

    ACNE — so far its like… around. But not much more than usual. Apparently its not the most normal getting acne around your period (which I usually do) and suggests maybe my androgen levels were too high before so testo is doing a good job of like evening things out. Admittedly my brother didn’t get too much during his puberty so I was pretty sure I wasn’t gonna get hit TOO hard. Seems I was right~

    STRENGTH — I don’t LOOK too different but since being on testo–my strength at the gym (upper-body wise) feels different. I feel like things that used to strain me I do with less struggle. I went up on a couple of my weights. My cardio… wow… okay so originally my cardio was rough heartrate-wise. I was easily hitting 186 if i pushed a bit too hard… now my HR hits maybe about 179-180 if I’m REALLY pushing. My cool-down HR also drops much more easily toward 135 vs my previous 159. Significant differences. It feels good ngl!

    MIGRAINES — barring my period which was a bit of a mess and was mostly due to long hours and little sleep… wow… uhhh yeah maybe if you get migraines ask your doctor about hormonal changes in your body. Testo is doing wonders for me on that front. I don’t even feel like i might MAYBE get one for pushing myself too hard. My mom’s on a different hormone treatment for her’s and it seems to be going well, too. Bodies, amirite.

    LIBIDO — god fuck almighty. Okaaaay. I heard about this going in and my dumbass brain was like, ‘thats cool but IM different’ turns out I’m not. I can look at images that used to give me the ‘in theory this is super hot and I’m into it but I’m not getting off to this’ to: ‘haha wow tiddies //hard’ like a real fucking boy–so where’s the nearest private spot i can jerk one out real quick so I’m not driving my partner fucking crazy.

    BOTTOM GROWTH — haha well its something alright.. way faster than I anticipated. It made THIS period… an event. Having pads brushing up against that all weekend at the con was soooo funnnn~ (god)

    PERIOD — ironically this is the first time my partner and I synced up. It felt a bit like a last hurrah. I’m already generally not regular at all, this one came in like a whirlwind and was pretty much done as fast as it started. I know some dudes their period was gone within a month of T… but I also know sometimes it can take longer. //shrug. It’s not something that necessarily makes me dysphoric… but man it would certainly be nice not to have to bother with it ever again LMAO.

    No change on body hair, losing or gaining or otherwise, likewise… my body still feels kinda the same? But those are both changes that get affected over considerable time.

    Mood? Well I’m feeling great. My mental health is steady and just fine. I find that my focus is sharper lately but that’s probably because I’m just happier overall haha. It’s going to feel amazing when a lot of these internal changes start becoming more visible… with the caveat that my family still struggles with my pronouns and using the wrong ones haha. Rip. It’s been 6 years now and the occasional slip is disheartening but whatever. Its not about them.

    Anyway. I started writing a memoir. Its… cathartic. Idk how much I’ll actually post/print/publish when it comes time, for now its just a project for me.


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