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four reads for #4 of this year.. apt. putting word counts this time for fun and reading time planning please read these (mind the cw) <3

auspicium by diana dima (2.2k) "there has always been a sparrow inside me." what if we all had a bird inside of us that flies away when we die. very quietly devastating portrayal of grief

stranger seas than these by l. chan (4k) - "it is two days since our original projected mission end date. we are running out of oxygen and we are trapped in the throat of a god." a deep sea diver on a mission stuck in a submersible in the corpse of an alien godwhale with a nun and a scientist.. thematically sooo gorgeous, the whalesong scenes were BLINDING <3

immigrant girl from the end of the world by hannah yang (4.1k) - your family escapes the apocalypse by time travel back to 2004 but in a pact with your best friend (who you are in love with), you don't take the memory modification pill so you can find her again in the futurepast..

bride / butcher / doe by lowry poletti (7.8k) - a butcher entrapped in a life making her wealthy boss young and immortal through deer serum; so obsessed with the contrasting elements in this setting.. the deeply unsettling & mystical deer imagery, the texting and EDM (the scene in her bedroom!!!), the violence in the body horror and gore, the toxic exploitative erotic power dynamics. lowry poletti i will be reading more of your work for sure

A commission for Dave - thanks again Dave!

Onceler art by @teysifox