Barbara > Recent Status Updates

Chapter 16 (Chapter the Sixteenth) is a hard read, but it's so good

Yeah I'm 100% certain on how Tova and Cameron are related now

And who's supposed to be paying for the service of this cell phone that's being forced on Tova???

I have a bad feeling about how two of these characters are connected

Curious to see how this cast might eventually come together

"the devastating luxury of panic" is such a good phrase

"People think that intimacy is about sex.

But intimacy is about truth.

When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is "You're safe with me"-that's intimacy.

And by those standards, that moment with Celia was the most intimate one I'd ever had with anyone."

The Masker: 4/5. Incredibly uncomfortable read, but I think that's intended. Even if I don't entirely agree with the MC's choice at the end (there was a third option of not doing what either Sally or Felix said, after all), I still understood his logic behind it. And what a powerful ending it lead to, too.

Stag Dance: 4.5/5. The best written story so far (still one more to go of the quartet). It feels like a good view of the trans experience through the lens of the time period, has some strong character voices, and I really felt for "Babe" through the whole thing.

"I accord them all their faith out of courtesy! [...] I nod along with my fellows no matter what mystical claptrap they proclaim. I wish them well on their mortal journey! There's boys all types of strange that find woodsy refuge! And seems to me that ought to include one very large and very ugly skooch!"

"But it seemed an affront to my new maidenly status to just squat in the open--for hadn't I made myself available for courting? Even if none had yet courted me? […], so I went to the crapper, which, once inside, I reminded myself to call a "comfort station" for a more ladylike effec--even if only in my mind. For the process of changing oneself, I've heard said, begins with self-talk."

The Chaser: 4/5. Expected a different (or more to) the ending from the title, but it still made sense with the ending we got. Both the MC and Robbie are teenagers and act believably, even if it's frustrating from a reader's perspective.

2/4 stories involving feeding pigs and I'm not sure if it's coincidence.

Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones: 3.5/5. The novella length doesn't do the story here any service; I would've liked more of this one with the world and history that was set up. Great ending though.

Having a lot of mixed feelings with this one, I think I'm just a little too old for it (especially since I'm almost 20 years older than one of the MCs)

"I'm not trying to get canceled right as we really sync up"

I haven't heard canceled used in this context and I'm not sure it's correct

You've gotta be kidding me

Yeah I wasn't holding out much hope for the plot twist I thought might come