Welcome to June, friends!

These past few weeks have been tough; my partner and I said goodbye to our cat of 12 years, Ajax. He was 14 or 15 years old (shelter cats, who really knows) and he was very ill. The decision was the right one, but that doesn’t really make it any easier, as anyone who has said bye to a fuzzy loved one knows. But he got to cross the rainbow bridge at home, curled up snug next to me, and that felt as right as the moment possibly could.

Eulogising him has been difficult because, to be honest, as far as cats go he was kind of a dick! He threw up a lot, mostly on rugs and carpets, he would bite because he felt like it, and he was extreeeeeemely picky about food.

But he also slept in our bed for twelve years, and the night after he passed I reached for him and found empty air and cried. So goodbye, Ajax, I hope you’re eating endless fishy treats in the sunshine somewhere ☀

On a happier note, June also brings us into Pride season!

If you’d like to read something gay to celebrate, Issue 2 of OTHERSIDE is out now - for purchase digitally from most places you can think of! It will be all free to read online on our website on June 15th, but for now it’s purchasable on the site.

This issue is beaaaaaautiful and dreamy - we have stories and poems about tiger princesses, mushrooms, cyborgs, cannibalism - all the best things in life. Check it out!

I have two things out that you can read for free now!! Heads up - they’re both downers, in different ways. Sowwi.

First up, my poem “consumed” at Nightmare Magazine (still can’t believe I get to type that) is free to read! This poem was borne of a lot of rage, and goes into the way women and AFAB peoples’ bodies are controlled, used, discarded. Ultimately, it asks: what if someone could vanish the parts of yourself you don’t like? Would there be anything left? Would you take the bargain?

The next poem I have out is “we are all made of star-stuff” at Small Wonders, which is a downer but in a quieter way that might sneak up on you a little. This one came about when I was thinking about grounding techniques, and what being grounded might mean to different people.

I’ve clearly been in a bit of a poetry mood (maybe because of editing OTHERSIDE, who knows), so the first rec I have this month is a poem! This gorgeous divided poem from Manuela Amiouny in Radon Journal is split just the way many of us are these days; between the little happinesses we can get, and despair at the state of the world.

My next rec is “The Bathhouse for Long Life” by Claire Jia-Wen in Apex Magazine. Honestly there isn’t a story from Claire that’s a miss, but this one in particular really stuck out to me. The narrator is an immortal woman, the daughter of a minor spider god, and the tender of the bathhouse of both abortion and conception. This story packs an impressive amount of worldbuilding into just over 6,000 words - there’s the bathhouse itself and its efforts, but there’s also political conflict with invaders, and the narrator’s own relationship with her mother. Just an immensely beautiful story.

Hen Fever by Olivia Waite

I’ve been really enjoying the Queer Collective Podcast lately, especially as sort of background noise to other tasks I’m doing! They tackle a lot of great issues in queer community with a conscious effort at intersectionality.

The Great Divide - Noah Kahan (don’t talk to me, I’ll be here for awhile)