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playasmo · 1 year

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IM BRAINROTTING ON THE OBEY ME CAST AS FATHERS,

how would they name their children???😩😩😩

how the obey me brothers would name their children

disclaimer; these are my personal headcanons, feel free to tell which names you liked the most!

edit;;i posted the side characters version too! go check it out if you want <//3

genre; fluff

lucifer;

lucifer would either name the baby with a variation of his name, or homage somebody or something dear to him

if it’s a boy, lucian or lucius. both names means light, if it’s a girl, he would call her lilith. danica is a second option: the name means morning star.

mammon;

he would either name his baby after something expensive. another option is mashing up your names together

if it’s a boy he would go for midas, which means touch of gold, or straight up fortune,

if its a girl, esmeralda which means emerald. or diamond, the name speak for itself.

leviathan;

definitely name his baby to reference something he likes. some people may think he would name his children after an anime character he likes, but that is not the case

if it’s a boy, henry without a doubt, the name means house ruler. he would also like christopher, to simeon’s joy, which means bearing christ. very very ironic.

if its a girl, mira, which means ocean. he also likes umiko, a japanese name that means child of the sea.

satan;

he takes inspiration from human literature and would name his baby after a character or author he particularly likes.

if it’s a boy, william which means protection and desire. he chose it because of william sherlock scott holmes, probably the most famous fictional detective in the history of literature, it’s also a reference to shakespeare. another boy name is dante which means everlasting, after the italian poet dante alighieri, that wrote “the divine comedy”, which is set in heaven, purgatory and then hell.

if it’s a girl he would name her juliet which means youthful, another tribute to shakespearen literature. emma, after jane austen’s book, is also a name he likes, it’s means whole or universal.

asmodeus;

he only choose the name if it’s pretty. often goes for floral and fancy names that sound aesthetically pleasing to him.

if it’s a boy, narciso which means of narcissus, named after the myth.

he briefly considered cupid but he threw away the idea and choose a simple but pretty name like prince, which means royal son.

if it’s a girl, regina which means queen, or bellerose which means beautiful rose.

beelzebub;

he is a family-oriented person, and will try to pass his values to his children.

if it’s a boy, titan which means defender. despite being the name of a fruit, he also likes açaí which means weeping fruit.

if it’s a girl, ohana which means family in hawaiian, another name he consider is belarmina which means beautiful armor, he choose it because it’s starts with ‘bel’, just like his and belphegor’s name.

belphegor;

big fan of space-related names, it’s even easier for him since there are a lot of stars and constellations he can get his inspiration from. like lucifer, he would also try to pay homage to lilith.

if it’s a boy, sirius which means glowing, named after the brightest star in the earth’s night sky. he also likes badar which means full moon.

if it’s a girl, a name variation of lilith, something like lilithe or just lili. he also likes alrisha, one of the brightest star of the pisces constellation, since pisces is his and beelzebub’s zodiacal sign.

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 7 months

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That was amazing! This will be my last request around Eri!Reader until you reopen your requests so I’m not spamming you! (Thank you so much for writing these, I get so excited whenever you post since your so amazing and talented!! 💞✨)

Part 14 After returning to Water 7 to heal from their battle (And happy to learn Franky is going to make them a Ship and join them) Garp the Fist comes in, and reveals to be Luffy’s Grandfather, but before he could continue beating the snot out of Luffy, Reader stops him (Garp is happy to finally meet his one and only Granddaughter Reader!)

However Garp ends up pissed when Luffy told him Spadam hit her, and wants to get his hands on him! (No one puts their hands on his Granddaughter!! NO ONE!!)

Though Reader calms Luffy and Garp down from wanting to go back/to Enies Lobby to beat Spadam up (Garp’s cackling after learing that his sweet Granddaughter hit Spadam in his ‘Royal Jewels’, as he’s very proud of her for doing that) and leaves the Straw Hats alone after telling Luffy about his dad Dragon (Not before promising to spend time with Reader and gives her one of his Rice Crackers)

For the next 3 days the Straw Hats and all of Water 7 had a huge party, with Reader playing around with Chimney and Gonbei in her bathing suit Franky gave her (Including little Arm Floats that look like Starfish/Kitties)

And with Nami’s help, Reader calls Ace to talk with him, and Ace was holding in his rage after hearing what his little sister went through (As she told him it was scary) and the fact she got slapped, but he started laughing when Luffy told him what Reader did to Spadam’s ‘Jewels’ (Whitebeard and his sons were doing the same thing as Ace, angry and furious, but proceeded to laugh hysterically after learning what Reader did to someone’s ‘Jewels’)

I love Whitebeard so much (He’s so protective and caring about those apart of his family) he’s just a giant softie

They all see not only Zoro, Luffy, Robin and Reader’s Bounties upgraded, but everyone get a Bounty themselves (And everyone screamed when Reader’s bounty Skyrocketed again at 320-350 Million)

Reader also comforts her Brother Sanji about his Wanted Poster by giving him one of her own drawings of him (It’s a kid drawing, but compared to Luffy, it’s 100x better than his art skills and she drew it out of love)

I’ll wait until next time to ask you for a Garp and Eri!Reader Special (They’re going to spend a whole day together!) it’s just pure. unadulterated. Fluff.

-It had been two days since you and your family arrived back from Enies Lobby, as many of you were severely injured, you were luckily, being the least injured, but after overworking your quirk, you were just as tired as the rest of them.

-You were so happy that Franky was a part of the crew and that Usopp was back, as you felt protective of your family, you never wanted any of them to leave- you never wanted to be apart from them.

-Franky was super nice to you as the others were slowly waking up, both him and Iceburg treating you to breakfast as you were the first to wake up.

-You were in awe, seeing Luffy still sleeping but also eating, unable to look away until Sanji and Nami yelled at him to wake up while Robin and Usopp were laughing lightly at the sight.

-A knock then came from the door before it burst open and Franky dropped his shoulder, wrapping his arms around you, shielding you from the debris.

-A large man then entered, a marine which made you clutch at Franky’s Hawaiian shirt, scared as everyone was quickly able to recognize this man, Monkey D. Garp!

-Luffy’s jaw was dropped, “Grandpa?!” everyone quickly turned in shock, hearing this, yelling in shock while your little hands came to your face in shock.

-Garp then made you gasp as he punched Luffy, sending him flying into a wall. Zoro and Sanji were stunned, ready for a fight, seeing that he was able to hurt Luffy.

-You pushed on Franky’s chest and you managed to slip out of his arms and you ran over as Garp stalked towards Luffy, cracking his knuckles, ready to discipline him before you ran in front of your brother.

-Your arms were spread and you had big fat tears in your eyes, “Please don’t hurt my big brother!” everything froze, seeing you protecting Luffy and Garp stammered, trying to tell you that he wasn’t going to hurt Luffy, just discipline him.

-The tears fell from your eyes and Garp instantly fell to his knees, hugging you close, “Grandpa’s so sorry little Y/N! I didn’t mean to make you cry!”

-You sniffled loudly as Luffy struggled to his feet, a bit dizzy, before you spoke, “You’re my grandpa?” Garp glared at Luffy, his eyes turning red, “You didn’t tell her about your one and only grandpa?!”

-You tugged on Garp’s shirt gently, not seeing him as someone so scary now, “I have two grandpas- you’re my second one!”

-Garp turned to stone in shock before crumbling into a sobbing pile while Robin picked you up, holding you up on her hip, he cried, lamenting that he wasn’t your first grandpa.

-He then shot up, looking completely fine, looking fired up, “So who was your first grandpa?!” he wanted to find out to take that title from whoever got to you first, no matter who it was.

-You beamed brightly, your arms lifting to the sky happily, “I’ve never seen him but I’ve talked to him with Big Brother Ace- he said his name is Whitebeard!”

-The flames around Garp seemed to increase, growing hotter as his eyes turned red, furious that his adorable granddaughter had been adopted by Whitebeard of all people and that you saw him as your first grandpa, while Garp was in second place!

-He could only imagine you (in cartoon form), in Whitebeard’s arms, laughing with him as he stood on the 1st place spot of a podium while Garp was on his knees in second place.

-Garp wasn’t going to deal with your crew at the moment, instead joining you all for a meal, you sitting on his knee as you held a cup of juice.

-Garp noticed the bandage on your head, “What caused this?” you lifted your hand to your head and Nami was the one to answer, “It was that marine, Spandam- he hit Y/N for trying to protect Robin.”

-Garp froze, turning white, hearing that a grown adult- a grown man, put his hands on a child, injuring you as he was quick to get fired up, “Where is the bas-basket case!” he caught himself, not wanting to swear in front of you.

-You didn’t know why he was calling Spandam a basket, before his face appeared in your head, and his mask did look a bit like a basket.

-Your family was also still furious at Spandam, glaring and voicing their own anger while you were eating a cookie Garp gave to you.

-Nami pointed at him, scolding him, “Oi! Don’t be giving her cookies for breakfast!” you flinched as Garp just beamed brightly, “It’s fine- it’s fine!” Sanji grabbed you, “It is not fine! She needs healthy food in the morning.” Garp pouted, wanting to spoil you.

-He then spoke again, “So where is Spandam?” a few grins appeared as Franky ruffled your hair gently, “Y/N here took care of him, with a well-placed headbutt to the family jewels!”

-Garp laughed loudly, finding it hysterical, before he ruffled your head, praising you before he stood, telling Luffy about Dragon, his dad and you had question marks floating around your head, as you didn’t know any dragons.

-Luffy told you that he would tell you all about his dad and Garp gave you a bag of cookies, “I have to leave now my little Y/N~ I’ll come back to spend some time with you.”

-You smiled up at him, holding your hand up to him, extending your pinkie finger, “Pinkie promise?” Usopp was the one to teach you about pinkie promises, and Garp as well as several others around, Usopp, Luffy, Franky, Iceberg, and Sanji, all collapsed to the ground, clutching at their chests at your cuteness.

-After Garp left and all the damage caused by Aqua Laguna was fixed, everyone celebrated! There was a huge party with drinking, eating lots of barbeque, and you got to run around with Chimney in the water, being a normal kid for one, wearing your starfish shaped water wings that Franky gave you over your wet suit.

-Franky was confused why you were wearing a wet suit as he was your lifeguard, letting you sit on his leg, asking you and you pulled your arms in close, looking down at your hands, “There’s…” you couldn’t speak, instead pulling your sleeve up, showing him the scars, at least some of them, on your arms.

-His eyes were wide, seeing his as he held your hand gently, before a hand on his head pulled him out of his shock, and you both saw Luffy there who kneeled down, seeing you showing Franky your scars, “Someone hurt Y/N- badly. We don’t know much, but all we know is that he will never touch her again.”

-You gave Luffy a small nod before you all decided to head to the ship for a private party, having a bath with Robin and Nami while the boys started up a barbeque.

-You ran out to Luffy, grabbing his hand, pulling him away from the fire, looking excited as Nami grinned, walking out with Ace’s DenDen Mushi, “Nami and I are gonna call Ace and grandpa!”

-You sat on Luffy’s lap while he continued to eat, not bothering you heard it ringing before you heard Ace, “Is this my most favorite little sister~?” you giggled warmly, “Hi Ace!”

-Aboard the Moby Dick, their own drinking party, because it was Wednesday, everything went quiet as most everyone huddled around Ace, hearing the voice of their adorable little sister and granddaughter.

-You and Ace talked about your most recent adventures, including where Robin was kidnapped and then you were taken too. Ace was furious, flames surrounding him as they all heard that Spandam hurt you- and Whitebeard was ready to call for an attack before Nami had to tell Ace that you took care of Spandam yourself, taking out his family jewels.

-It was silent on the other side, all their anger instantly leaving before you flinched back into Luffy’s arms, hearing the roar of laughter from the other side.

-Once Ace was able to breathe again, he spoke, “What else happened?” you beamed brightly, “I met another grandpa- his name is Garp!”

-Ace shivered deeply, recalling his own memories of Garp before he managed to force a smile, “Oh? And how was he?” you thought for a moment, “Kinda loud- and he cried when I told him that Whitebeard is my first grandpa, while he was my second.”

-Whitebeard beamed warmly, hearing that he was your first, but he couldn’t help but imagine Garp lamenting over the fact that he was the second.

-The following day, you woke up to loud shouting and you wandered out of your room, a little delirous as you wandered over, rubbing your eyes as you grabbed Zoro’s pants, “Why is everyone yelling?”

-He kneeled down, putting his hand on your head and your eyes went wide as everyone showed you their new bounties, your eyes immediately sparkling brightly.

-Robin then smiled, “Here Y/N- this one is yours.” You looked exited, taking it while Luffy was pouting lightly, seeing your 400,000,000 beri bounty while you were gawking, “So many zeros!”

-You quickly ran to put it up on your wall, showing the other bounties as well and you beamed, feeling proud of yourself.

-You then noticed Sanji looked sad when you came back out and you quickly found out why, because the marines didn’t have a good photo, so they used a crudely drawn one by Luffy instead and Sanji was upset because it didn’t look a thing like him!

-You quickly ran back to your room, coming out with your drawing materials Usopp had given you and you got to work, making a new bounty poster to make your big brother happy!

-It took you over an hour to draw, everyone who had seen you saw the focus on your face before you ran to Sanji, “I made it better!”

-You drew your own bounty poster, including ‘bounty’ being spelled wrong, and a children’s drawing in the middle, showing Sanji making food with hearts surrounding him.

-Sanji fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he held it up to the sky, overwhelmed with happiness before he cried into his elbow, thanking you warmly, making you beam before your smile grew as he put it on the fridge, “So I can see it every day!”

-You celebrated with your crew, having a big feast to celebrate the new bounties, unaware of the, literal, darkness on the horizon.

#one piece x reader #eri reader #luffy #zoro #nami #sanji #usopp #chopper #nico robin #franky

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factual-fantasy · 6 months

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I have 25 Asksskssks :0000

No one in the group can pacify, no. <:/

But this just made me imagine Seam pulling up with a Ralsei and he's just like "Ok do it now-" Ralsei pacifies Jevil and he falls flat on his face. Totally asleep, just- dead to the world.

"Thank you, I can never get him to sleep. What a stubborn jester he is." Seam picks Jevil up and just walks away with him XDD

@dragonlover123456

Whenever I feel like drawing it. Heck, I might not draw another series at all 🤷‍♂️

Yeah! I figured it would be restricting if the clothes on the animatronics were real <XD

Also THANK YOU! :DDD I'm usually not so sure about that part of my comics, so I'm glad to hear that you like it! :}}}

Oh! No no, Sunny and Moony are the same person. The daycare attendant is 1 animatronic, with 1 personality. He is 1 person.

In the true swap, DA swaps with DJMM.

In the partial swap, DA doesn't swap with anyone. Him and DJ's theme both just get changed up a bit.

@scrimbly-mc-scrombly-iii

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDDD 💖💖💖

@kaiserdarken

I don't think the animatronics would understand the significance of Christmas like we do..

To them, Christmas is just that time of year where the Pizzaplex gets decorated with trees and shiny things. Their cued songs change and they get temporary redesigns for about a month or so. Then suddenly all the decorations get torn down and everything goes back to normal. :/

I can see Freddy liking just a simple Pepperoni. :) Same with Bonnie!

Chica probably likes all pizzas, but maybe her favorite is a pizza with absolutely all the toppings. Spinach, Black olives, Sausage, extra cheese, Mushrooms, onions- just put everything on there! XD

I'd like to think that Foxy is surprisingly a bit picky with his pizza and prefers a plain cheese. :00

Monty probably likes most pizza's but maybe he openly prefers Hawaiian pizza?

Roxy probably also likes Hawaiian pizza but is afraid of being judged so never eats it :(

@thelocalbadartistta

I DO love slime rancher! :DD I "beat" the first game and I forgot to play the second one- :x

Also thank you! :DD

Thank you!! :DD I'm glad you like what you see! :}}

@insanityislife101

I have seen that episode but I don't remember much of it... what headcannon are you referring to..?

Jevil would probably see all these people who are trapped and losing their minds and offer to take them all with him. Out into the multiverse to find freedom and a new home..

Although I wonder if he could even do that. Their digital nature might prevent them from traversing into the multiverse <XD

@badlyblurry

Those penguins look like they live an a tropical environment.. Which Peso's family does not... :((

Also my Peso isn't an Emperor, he's a Royal! :)

AWWWW I LOVE THAT IDEA!! I think I've seen the comic you're talking about! :DD

@trainer-sean

@itsgemystic

In the edn..

In the... eden...

In.. the...... e d e n

Google seems to say that male calico cats are possible. They're just extremely rare (1 in 3,000 up to 1 in 10,000) and they have an XXY chromosome which can cause Klinefelter's Syndrome.

After all the googling I did I decided to add this fact to my Calico Jack lore XDD

SO my new canon is, on Kwazii's mom's side of the family there are generation after generation of Calico daughters. Having a male calico is extremely rare so most of his moms family are all female calicos. BUT, his great, great, great, etc- Grandfather was a rare male calico. His name was Jackson something Calico. He was pirate legend and all that stuff.

Jackson had some daughters and then generations later the second male would be born to the calico line. Kwazii's grandfather! They named him Jackson too after the first male Calico in their bloodline. Jack is aware of his rarity and is very proud to bear the name Jackson.

Now Kwazii's dad was an orange tabby. So he was born male and has most all the fur patterns his dad did. Say for there being a little more white than is usually seen in tabby's coat. Maybe he got a bit of that from his Calico mom.?

@yeetmysoulintothevoid

SKLSKASJN WAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! THAT MEANS THE WORLD TO MEEEEE!!! 😭😭😭💖💖😭✨✨

Also I actually haven't heard of that game.. it sounds interesting though! 👀

Bash would probably take all the clay, make it into a ball, and then add spikes to it. Wait till it hardens, and then through it at people XDD

@dovelylittlebird

WAAA THANK YOU VERY MUCHH!! THAT'S SO KIND OF YOU TO SAYYY WAAAA💖💖💖

I don't recall making a post like that.. anyhow, my algorithm now is "I post whatever I want, whenever I want" <XDD

I don't have a schedule or an algorithm I'm trying to follow. I just draw whatever I want and post them whenever I want to.

The ask posts though, those are dependent on my followers. Usually when I get to 30-40 askes stored up I compile as many as I can and answer them in one go. :0

I don't take any requests, no. But if someone asks about my AU's and wants more insight on something, that usually interests me enough to want to draw something for it. Like just now I have two asks stored away because I'd like to draw something for them..👀

But that doesn't mean that every ask like that will get a drawing. A lot of the time those asks just make me think and I type out a response instead. I'm always open for those asks though and would read all of your suggestions! Just don't ask them expecting me to draw them because 9 times out of 10 they wont get a drawing-

@skellacant

My advice would be to base your OC on an already existing animatronic. That way it looks related to the other animatronics and fits in a little better :0

So in my opinion your options are animatronics like Ballora, Circus Baby, Puppet, Ennard, Balloon boy.. you know, the "human" characters. You could use one of them as a reference and make something similar but with a skeleton theme.

For example, the Puppet. You could make your own puppet with maybe different proportions, and a skull mask instead of a clown(?) one. Maybe instead of stripes on the arms it could be a cartoony bone pattern. Instead of buttons on the chest it could be 2-3 ribs on each side. Stuff like that! :}

Oh no no- The partial and true swap follow the formula of the classic AU.

So in the partial swap, Foxy was sane and helped guide Gregory through the pizzaplex. Gregory escapes with Foxy's help, but later returns. Foxy takes him to the basement where Gregory snoops around and finds Chica. Later on Chica and Gregory snoop around and find Freddy. Monty, Roxy and Bonnie don't remember Gregory and they're not aware that he's in the basement.

Now in the true swap, Bonnie was sane and helped guide little Vanessa through the pizzaplex. She escapes with Bonnie's help, but later returns. Bonnie takes her to the basement where she snoops around and finds Chica. Later on Chica and Vanessa snoop around and find Freddy. Monty, Roxy and Foxy don't remember Vanessa and they're not aware that she's in the basement.

Seam is currently collapsed in the snow somewhere having big old man sleepy time✨

@beryl-shade

Actually, in the most recent FNAF comic that I made, that's exactly what Gregory was doing! :00 He was trying to take the arm off to hopefully tape it onto Bonnie and give him a new arm <XD

Who's to say it would have worked-

#my response #fnaf security breach #octonauts #deltarune #undertale #transformer ocs

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minnowtank · 3 months

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so basically in my oc story it’s 2412 and everyone on earth lives on the planet exodus now due to a biological warfare accident which continues to affect people centuries later in the form of Fosse syndrome. the world has like a really weird version of communism where withering of the state doesn’t occur and religions and national differences and therefore the social constructs of race persist i’m sorry this is so bad you need context for this like it involves a hawaiian communist terrorist named kauhane becoming a saint in what later becomes neo-catholicism because a bunch of radicalized christian americans believed he could see into the future (he actually could) and he was like chosen by god and the communist terrorist also believed this and it made the politics all weird as a consequence. and then other stuff like the fosse gas affecting the state of politics. still working on the politics but that’s basically a theme of like oh everyone’s on a different planet are nations arbitrary ?? is anyone really anything anymore? and people like want to know where they “really” come from etc. and stuff and that’s a theme

so the plot is that a neo-catholic novice in the year 2412 named bianca must use her future-seeing abilities to stop a swedish ethnonationalist from creating a new hybrid species of super-swedes and the swedish guy in question is using these immortal worms that go in your brain and give you the ability to regrow limbs and stuff that are actually Adam, Eve, and Cain which would also take a while to explain lol but his name is stefan and he’s like wow sweden sucks now we used to be so great and he had a meltdown about ikea no longer existing once canonically and he becomes obsessed with Old World notions of racism and basically there are barely any ethnic swedes left due to a bunch of reasons involving eugenics in the past (they wanted to get rid of fosse syndrome in ethnic swedes) and so there are like barely any ethnic swedes and he wants to use the worms and yeah the worms can do stuff like “build themselves in the womb” and then it opens questions about like what the ideal human would actually look like if the fetus had the ability to create itself while in utero etc and things like that so whatever. he has a son with fosse syndrome that makes him have schizophrenic that cannot be medicated bc being fosse makes you resistant to a bunch of modern medicine. and the son has the adam worm while stefan has the cain worm and the son who is named alex btw is like i don’t wanna make a super race please let me kill myself instead but he’s being controlled by stefan and the worms. and then there’s that whole thing👍and there are other mutations regarding fosse syndrome and there’s like “epicentre nations” and other stuff and eugenics plot lines and things that will also take a while to explain. and the son and stefan are the remaining descendants of the long defunct swedish royal family.

also if the hybrid species super swede is born it will destroy the reality due to it breaking the law of evolution and i will explain that in the story also the virgin mary exists and like there’s that whole thing too and god exists but he left the universe and there’s the “purpose paradox” going on with god and stuff and yeah

and yeah there are a bunch of characters and there are 5 “main” protags: bianca, jacquie, enji (he has the eve worm and there’s backstory for that), sloane, and yousef and the plot is complicated and i’m not done but i want to keep going with it so idk. oh also settler colonial states don’t exist anymore there’s a country called the union of new world republics and it’s connected to the weird saint terrorist guy but like that guy was involved with their movement while also kind of being weird on the side but he was helpful to them despite being a massive catholic because his future vision constantly saved their asses from assassination and their views like clashed with his

#🐟

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triviareads · 1 year

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do you have diverse modern romance recs?

Yep! I've (mostly) organized it by author:

Naima Simone: I'm obsessed with literally everything this woman writes, both Harlequin and not Harlequin. Naima writes a lot of fabulous Black heroines (and she writes great body diversity as well) and a decent amount of POC heroes as well. My favorites include . Black Tie Billionaire (Black heroine, Asian hero), Secrets Of A One Night Stand (Black heroine, Pacific Islander hero), and Trust Fund Fiancé (both the hero and heroine are Black). The best thing about Naima's books is just the uniformity in how she writes every body type as attractive and desirable and the sex is very hot. Would absolutely recommend.

Katrina Jackson: I haven't talked about Katrina enough, when she's out here doing the most for mafia romances and spy romances with diverse characters. I could happily read her novella Beautiful & Dirty over and over, but it's a prequel to the mafia series which ends with my favorite, The Don, which has a Black heroine. Katrina also wrote a spy series (The Spies Who Loved Me!) and the first in that series, Pink Slip, has a Black heroine who's lusting over her married bosses (the wife, Monica, is Latina I believe) and surprise, they're both into her too.

Angelina M. Lopez: Angelina writes excellent Latino rep. Her fictional town Freedom, Kansas, which is the setting in multiple stories, has an amazing Mexican-American community she builds on. I'd recommend After Hours on Milagro Street, which has a Mexican-American heroine, as well as her upcoming Full Moon Over Freedom, which is next in the series. The way she melds culture, magic, and romance is gorgeous. Also! Lush Money, which is set within this universe, has a Latina heroine and is very fun and worth reading.

Tara Pammi: If you want to read about Indians in India or Bollywood-centric romances, Tara is the author. I liked Claiming His Bollywood Cinderella and The Secret She Kept in Bollywood (that man is suuuch a DILF he's great).

Jadesola James: I've talked about her before (see here) but Jadesola has written a couple Harlequin Presents stories set in Africa. I'd recommend The Royal Baby He Must Claim and The Princess He Must Marry, which are about sisters who are Nigerian princesses.

Talia Hibbert: The Brown Sisters books are bangers, sexy and emotionally comforting at the same time. I'd recommend all of them: Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Take a Hint, Dani Brown, and Act Your Age, Eve Brown. I also love her novella Guarding Temptation, which has both a Black hero and heroine and Wanna Bet? which has a Black heroine and a British-Indian hero (thanks for reminding me @viscountessevie).

Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai: The hero and heroine are in-laws (well, her husband, his brother, is dead) so the romance was very emotional and slow-burn, but the pay-off was absolutely worth it. The heroine Sadia is Pakistani-American, and the hero Jackson is of Japanese and Hawaiian ancestry. Alisha also delves pretty deep into South Asian family dynamics which hit a liiiittle too close to home, but I can't deny the accuracy.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan: This a romance between an actress and her director (both are Black) and I particularly appreciate the amount of research Kennedy Ryan put into the Harlem Renaissance, Black artists of that era (she created a fictional artist to base the movie off of), as well as their contributions to the Civil Rights movement which I think isn't discussed enough.

Sink or Swim by Tessa Bailey: See here.

From what I recall, Katee Robert did a pretty good job of body diversity without super explicitly mentioning race in her Fairytale Villains Who Fuck Wicked Villains series.

#naima simone #angelina m lopez #talia hibbert #tara pammi #jadesola james #kennedy ryan #alisha rai #tessa bailey #katee robert #contemporary romance #book recs #ask

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lolotheparagon · 4 months

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Sofia the First Season 2 in a Nutshell

Two Princesses and a Baby - 10/10

Amber wishes she wouldnt have to share her birthday with her twin James, so he gets magically turned into a toddler. Hijnks ensue. Another brilliant moment of character growth for Amber and showing how much she really cares for James, despite them being polar opposites.

The Enchanted Feast - 9/10

Miss Nettle returns disguised as a visiting sorceress in order to steal the amulet but Sofia is having none of that shit so she gets her critter army to stop Nettle. Also Snow White is here in properly the best media appearance she will ever get since Kingdom Hearts

The Flying Crown - 3/10

Sofia befriends the brooding jock Prince Hugo cos apparently she doesnt have a life. Look, I know you need to work with him to do your flying derby race, Sof, but dont bother with this Hunter expy.

Mom's The Word - 10/10

Its Sofia's first Mother's Day in the castle and she gets left out when her mother is spending more time with Amber and James. One of the show's core themes is teaching kids about blended families and Sofia struggling to adjust sharing her mother with her step siblings is very potent.

The Silent Knight - 4/10

Aunt Tilly falls for some NPC knight, when Cedric is right over there. Like show, if you were gonna ship any couple. I want sorceror failhusband and chaotic adventurer wife. Or hell, the drama teacher Miss Elodie for a gay option.

Enchanted Science Fair - 7/10

James, Amber, Vivian, Khaled and Desmond fight each over a science project but they all realise that Sofia is always right and they would all be dead without her.

King For A Day - 6/10

James tries being king to see what its like and yknow, this episode's hilarious to watch in hindsight cos its revealed James isnt even the heir to the throne lol

When You Wish Upon a Well - -4/10

Amber does something incredibly illegal but gets off the hook cos Sofia and their dad are enablers

Gizmo Gwen - 8/10

Aw cool, a castle maid who's also an inventor and engineer! What a wonderful addition to the ca-annnnd she's not gonna appear for the rest of the series, is she?

Sofia the Second - 10/10

Sofia learning about how to keep promises even if it means giving up something else? An evil Sofia clone who's a delightfully evil gremlin? Sign me the fuck up!

Mystic Meadows - 8/10

Sofia's girl scout group goes to a wizard retirement home where Cedric's parents live and she helps Cedric win his dad's approval and stop his micromanaging bs. Also, Hell canonically exists in Sofia the First and that fact alone is both disturbing and hilarious

Princesses to the Rescue! - 9/10

James and his friend Jin get captured by a discount Tai Lung and their dads end up being captured too cos theyre that stupid. So its up to Sofia, Jun and Amber to save the day. Also Mulan is here and its a nice touch they gave her the armour she worn throughout most of her original movie.

Ghostly Gala - 7/10

On Halloween, Sofia befriends the undead and convinces everyone in the castle that they're not seeing things, honest. Seriously, this girl could befriend Eldritch monsters and convince everyone that they're chill.

The Emerald Key - 10/10

A Hawaiian princess has lost a precious heirloom and washes up on the shores of Enchancia, calling for help. Another Hawaiian princess shows up, declaring shes the real deal. The Enchanican royal family immediately decide the best way to tell these two indigenous princesses apart is to get them to partake in white royal etiquette and activities and automatically assume the one doing the best at all of them is the real princess. Sofia realises that the imposter is always the whitewashed one.

Scrambled Pets - 5/10

Pet hijinks: the episode

The Princess Stays in the Picture - 3/10

Man, after Amber became a good person, the writers really doubled down on making her friend Hildegarde the new alpha bitch. Supposedly this was the episode to humanise her but honestly after watching this whole series, she really hasnt improved since this episode so it feels like lightning in a bottle we will never get again. The highlight was definitely Sofia yelling at Hildegarde's constant know it all attitude.

Baileywhoops - 8/10

Finally, Baileywick gets a good episode. I love the idea that Baileywick is such a good steward that EVERY OTHER STEWARD IN EVERY KINGDOM WANTS TO BE HIM OR WANTS HIS JOB. He's like the Alfred of this show.

The Curse of Princess Ivy - 10/10

Amber steals Sofia's amulet out of jealousy, unleashes an evil princess by mistake and now all hell's broken loose. Sofia really rakes Amber over the coals in this special and its glorious. Again, another episode that develops Amber as a character and its great to see the message of earning forgiveness and actually putting the effort in to change, instead of putting pressure on the victim to just enable their abuser's behaviour. Rapunzel's there as well with a banger song.

Winter's Gift - 8/10

Sofia meets a fawn named Autumn, who freezes everything she touchs and she fucking hates it. (Hmm, wonder why Elsa or Anna didnt show up in this ep?) However, Autumn fears the witch who gave her the powers in the first place won't do it cos she hasnt got her a nice enough gift in return. Turns out the witch is super nice, actually.

The Leafsong Festival - -8/10

Clover's dragon friend Crackle gives up her fire powers so she can be in a talent show but she has to get it back or THE ENTIRE KINGDOM WILL FREEZE TO DEATH AND APPARENTLY A SMALL DRAGON CAN MELT A KINGDOM'S SIZED COAT OF ICE.

Substitute Cedric - 10/10

Cedric begrudgingly decides to be substitute at Sofia's school for a day but turns out he really enjoys teaching and helps the kids practice magic on some wizard bullies. Cedric becoming more of a cool uncle is the best. Also, Sofia yelling the phrase "prank day is over!" to the wizard bullies as a war cry is really badass.

Clover Time - 4/10

Clover acts like a shitty roommate to Sofia, which is weird cos I thought Clover already lived with Sofia. Yknow, him being her pet and all.

In a Tizzy - -5/10

Ruby gets her own fairy godmother to help her build a cart and practice for a go-cart race. Thats neat! And yet, this all could've been solved if Ruby's mum was in the episode

A Tale of Two Teams - 6/10

I love how despite being a royal for like a year now, Sofia always chooses her old friends whenever she can. Neat how this is the episode where Jade actually needs glasses as her vision is causing her problems during kickoff. Amber also learns to manage and be a good coach. Man, the writers really put their all into giving Amber little intricacies with her character and James has...knight stuff

The Littlest Princess - 7/10

Sofia befriends a group of freeloading spirites who cause havoc in the castle and has to find a way to convince them to leave since that's the only way to get rid of them. I like how Sofia's flaw of being too trusting to everyone she meets causes trouble and Miranda gets to shine as being the best parent/role model in Sofia's life.

Buttercup Amber - 10/10

For some reason, Amber joins Sofia's girl scout camping trip and unlike the last experience with Baileywick, this one is actually fun. Seriously, Amber brought her entire wardrobe of dresses to camp and the girls inspire her to create a huge tent out of them. Nice to see Amber has changed a lot since Season 1 already.

Carol of the Arrow - -8/10

Ah yes, I love watching Sofia the First talking about anti-royalism, despite being set in a world where the royals are super friendly and interventionalist, there is no classism between the royals and commoners and that colonialisation doesnt exist. And yet we have a non-furry Robin Hood trying to help the common folk and Sofia's standing there like 'oh she's my fave celeb i cant be a royal!! i'll pretend to be a commoner again so i can show her royals can do something' but SHE'S GOT NO REASON TO HIDE HER IDENTITY COS SHE'S A FAMOUS PRINCESS AND ISNT EVEN HIDING HER NAME AND APPARENTLY FEM ROBIN HOOD FINDS OUT ABOUT HER AND REALISES OH HEY MAYBE ROYALS ARENT LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHINGS AFTER ALL. WASNT THERE A SCENE FROM TWO EPISODES AGO WHERE THE ROYAL FAMILY WAS GIVING AWAY FREE GIFTS TO ALL THE PEASANT CHILDREN IN ENCHANCIA. WHERE DID SHE GET THIS PRECONCEPTION FROM? ASPFSCEVRH WHAT IS GOING ON??!

Sidekick Clio - 3/10

Hildegarde acts like an abusive bitch to her friend Clio but instead of Clio leaving her and finding a new group of friends, she forgives Hildegarde after one apology. Oh and before you ask, Hildegarde doesnt retain her lesson from this in later episodes. I feel so sorry for Clio. Especially since she has a lot of fun potential as a side character.

#sofia the first

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freehawaii · 9 months

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"THIS IS FOR US, GENOCIDE"

NATIVE HAWAIIANS FEAR MAUI WILDFIRE DESTRUCTION WILL LEAD TO THEIR CULTURAL ERASURE

CBC News - August 17, 2023

Keʻeaumoku Kapu has been handing out water, clothes, and emergency supplies to families in need out of the Walgreens parking lot in Lahaina, Maui. He said it is a way to keep himself occupied while he grieves the losses of his community. "I'm afraid we're not going to recover from this," said Kapu, speaking to CBC from his cellphone at the distribution centre Monday. Kapu is a Kanaka Maoli (a Hawaiian word for their Indigenous people) community leader in Lahaina, and head of the Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural Center — which was destroyed by the fire that ripped through Lahaina. While members of the community are still grappling with their immediate needs and the death toll from the fire is still being counted, Kapu said he is "frantic" to make sure he is included in the conversations that are happening about what is next for Lahaina. "I'm hoping that we can get over this hurdle, but at the same time the fear of being erased ..." said Kapu. "Because our island is now turned into a cheaper commodity because there's nothing more important to save here, you have people coming in willing to buy burned-out places." Maui land grabs Kapu said his family and other members of his community have been contacted by realtors asking to buy their burned-up property. The office of the governor of Hawaii released a statement warning Maui residents about predatory buyers trying to capitalize on their fear and the financial uncertainty for those who have lost their homes. In a press conference Wednesday, Governor Josh Green said he is working with the attorney general to put a moratorium on property sales in West Maui. Social media posts from residents are pleading with people to not sell their properties to these realtors, fearing it will lead to Native Hawaiians being displaced from their homelands. A non-profit organization called Hawai'i Alliance for Progressive Action has started an online petition to call on governments to use their powers to stop Maui land grabs, support displaced families and ensure decisions are made with Native Hawaiians at the table. Kapu is urging people not to sell but is worried that people's fear and desperation may drive them to accept these offers.

"You're gonna make our children tomorrow orphans within their own land," said Kapu. Lahaina holds deep cultural significance to the Hawaiian people and was once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. The city is where King Kamehameha III had his royal residence and modernized the Hawaiian central government with the creation of Hawaii's constitutional order. Many Hawaiians still recognize it as the original capital today, long after the capital was moved to Honolulu in 1845. The fire destroyed Lahaina's historic Front Street, where the cultural centre Kapu ran was located. Inside, the building held many cultural artifacts, like feather capes and helmets, implements, maps and documents. They were all destroyed. "Our place was a living place, it was a living museum. It was things that you could actually touch, books that you could actually read, maps that showed a lot of families where they originated from," said Kapu. But the loss is bigger than that. Kapu describes the centre as a gathering place for Indigenous people internationally, where culture was shared for the next generations and people could learn from each other. Kapu is heartbroken over the loss, and holds himself responsible for the care of the objects inside, though he barely escaped trying to save it, only having time to grab his laptop as he ran out. Ten minutes later the building was engulfed in flames. "For Lahaina, I'm afraid what this place can turn into now," said Kapu, who worries the historic buildings that have been lost could be replaced by private development. "This is, for us, genocide."

Maui Fires Linked To Colonization The devastation of the Maui fires is directly tied to colonial greed, said Uahikea Maile, who is Kanaka Maoli from Maunawili, Oahu, and an assistant professor of Indigenous politics in the department of political science at the University of Toronto. Maile said pre-colonial Lahaina was a wetland ecosystem abundant with life and that was one of the reasons it was chosen for the royal residence. But Maile said in the late 19th and early 20th centuries white-owned sugar plantations on Maui started to illegally divert water to their crops, drying up the wetlands. "It's really devastating to think about the situation that over time transformed this place because it was strategically and purposefully altered to feed colonial forms of profiteering and wealth accumulation and greed," said Maile. These plantations also introduced non-native plant species for animal grazing that have helped fuel the Maui fires, said Maile. "The question of what to do next? How to heal? How to regenerate? And how to rebuild? Is a really crucial one that is on the minds of everyone," said Maile. Maile can see the island's colonial history repeating itself with realtors exploiting the wildfire devastation to generate future wealth. "It's a really important time in Hawaiian history to ensure that our people have a say in their own lands," said Maile. Native Hawaiian Land Control But how much control Hawaiians have over their land can be a complicated question. The first concept of private land ownership in Hawaii can be traced back to the Mahele, or division of lands, in 1848, where King Kamehameha III divided the land into three categories: Crown, government, and lands for the Hawaiian chiefs. Lance D. Collins is a private practice attorney in Maui who researches Hawaiian law during the American colonial period. Collins is also Kapu's attorney, representing him in cases to show his family's claim to their ancestral land in Kaua'ula Valley. Through the Mahele, about one-third of the land was given to Hawaiian families. That land has been passed down, usually to a person's children, but after several generations and for those without children it has led to confusion over who has interest in the land, said Collins. "Most Hawaiians know which lands they have an interest in, but as long as there's no contest over use, there's no issue," said Collins. The state is obligated to preserve and protect Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights. Meaning if a private development was proposed on a parcel of land that was used for traditional practices, this right would limit the developers ability to exclude Hawaiians from the land. "There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for the Hawaiian people and for the Lahaina community, and there's also grave, grave danger," said Collins.

#free hawaii #hawaiian kingdom #maui strong #lahaina strong

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kiloskywalker · 9 months

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An update

I know I said I was gonna try to be more active on here but life kinda got in the way.

As many of you probably know, there was a devastating wildfire that tore through the island of Maui in Hawai'i leaving billions of dollars in damage, many people without homes, businesses destroyed and as of now over 100 people dead. I made several trips in the aftermath of the fire between the West Coast and Kahului as part of my airline's decision to send aid and evacuate people from the island. All in all, I've made about 7 round trip flights between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Kahului helping as many people as possible get aid that they need and, trying to evacuate as many people as possible. I'm back for the time being with a few days before resuming a normal flight schedule, so I hope to be back to constantly obsessing over Tarlos (as per usual), writing more of my fic (I'm currently at a little over 100 pages!), and watching and rewatching the "Red, White, and Royal Blue" movie! If you are wondering how you can help some of the victims of the Maui Wildfires check out these links below:

Hawaii Community Foundation Maui Strong fund: Focusing on rapid response and working with local nonprofits to understand community needs. More details.

Maui Food Bank: Collecting and distributing food to help the hungry in Maui County. More details.

Maui United Way: Providing direct relief to families and nonprofits. More details.

The Salvation Army Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Division: Providing food and resources for evacuees. More details.

Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation: Partnering with the state Department of Education to support school communities in West Maui through Oct. 1. More details.

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement: Working to match every donation to Maui fire victims as of Friday evening. More details.

Catholic Charities Hawaii: Actively working with other organizations to assess the critical needs of individuals affected by the wildfires.

Maui Humane Society: Supporting shelters for displaced people and animals, and caring for injured animals. More details.

Hawaii Chamber of Commerce Hawaii Business Relief Fund: Assisting the business communities on Maui.

World Central Kitchen: Providing meals to people in need by partnering with local organizations. More details.

Hawaii Lions Foundation: Matching up to $25,000 in donations for Maui disaster relief efforts. More details.

Hawaiʻi People’s Fund: Providing immediate relief to those directly impacted by the wildfires on Maui Island. More details.

#kilo writes #kiloskywalker #kilo talks #ask kilo

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pokadandelion · 7 months

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Queen Emma of Hawaii wearing the Grand Cross of the Most Noble Order of Kamehameha I

#queen emma of hawaii #hawaiian royal family #hawaiian history #house of kamehameha

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lehuablossom · 3 months

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Hulihee Palace, Kailua, Kona

(captured 1940) Originally built in 1838, this royal residence was occupied by the past royal Hawaiian families up until 1914. Today however, this is a museum thought to be haunted by the Hawaiian Monarchs of ancient times.

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doctorwhoisadhd · 10 months

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what are your thomas england thoughts? like what do u think thomas was like b4 they died

ok so thomas england is DEFINITELY one of the players who i imagine as part of the Prehistory Fridays Gang. so first he was around for everything in prehistory (along with fletcher berger, sebastian diaz and his partner, erickson hendricks, rhonda elliott, our lady of perpetual friday, fenry marlow and their dog homer, fitzgerald massey, jessi wise, and mrs silk who was then miss silk. and then also baby york and his dad parker, who was dating miss silk. obv not all of these people were necessarily fridays players at the time though maybe they worked behind the scenes). so THAT was a whole thing.

honestly part of the problem of being LITERALLY retconned out of the game is nobody remembers you anymore. thomas england was only around long enough to get joke lore, we were only really just starting to flesh out relationships between the players when he got incinerated, and he didnt get any of that. and what adds to this problem is, well in the fridays style of lore, we dont necessarily think about what a player does outside of blaseball, or at least we DEFINITELY didnt early on (and didnt get ANY new entirely unlored players until relatively late af in the game — so like, after sixpack on s4d86 our next two were fenry and yass statter jr in the s13 and s19 elections respectively). so as a result there isnt any kind of a precedent to fall back on for what i think about what he did?

but here's what i DO know;

i disagree with the wiki on this one: neither of his parents are from the UK (there is no way). i like to think like, at least one of his parents is native, and hes lived there his entire life

his legal name is thomas england + thats whats on all his blaseball stuff, but typically with other islanders he'd use pelekane (which is what some of the last few members of the hawaiian royal family called england in ʻolelo hawaiʻi). so its like, his career name is thomas england

hes transmasc B) also ADHD

he played first base

he loves doctor who, and not just because its from the UK. like, hes seen the TV movie and at least one of the peter cushing movies and most of classic who, listened to a whole bunch of audios, reads the comics and the novels and like every EDA, has a subscription to dwmag, his bar for media quality is on the fucking GROUND so its literally all good he just loves dr who so much. he also probably has a cosplay of literally every doctor (including the shalka doctor and like the curse of fatal death ones too)

despite this he DOES. NOT. know ANYTHING about UK culture. he is constantly having amelia bedelia type misunderstandings of what things are. (ex: beans on toast = toast, peanut butter, jelly beans / "the tube" = "big pneumatic tube like the one for salmon, except people sized" / thinks john lennon's name was actually "john lemon")

he cant tell a single british accent apart he just identifies all of it as "british accent". fitz massey is from australia and is completely unaware that he thinks they are british. it is extremely lucky that he has never met anyone from ireland because they would probably strangle him. (weirdly though: despite him identifying approximately 50% of kiwis as british seemingly completely at random (absolutely no common criteria has been found at all. not looks not age not location nothing), he identifies 100% of scottish accents as "aotearoan")

he plays ʻukulele! maybe he worked at a ʻukulele store for a time at some point, even if it was like a summer job during high school... i like to think he's what got heat into playing :')

obsessed with choose your own adventure stories. he loves them.

(fridays angst train incoming) so york grew up with the whole Prehistory Fridays Gang as his family, and when york was really really little he couldnt say "thomas" (or england or pelekane, for that matter) but would ask him if they could play "docka who" all the time, so eventually what stuck for thomas england was he became york's "uncle who"

#thomas england #blaseball #fridays #hawaii fridays #hawai'i fridays #hawaiʻi fridays #york silk #stevenson heat #fitzgerald massey #ari opinion hour #askbox

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 1 year

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reading update: February

ahoy, gamers! after an uneven start to my reading year in January (high highs, low lows) I've had a pretty consistently excellent February! yes, I'm including Red, White & Royal Blue. it may not have been good, but it was definitely fun. more on that in a minute, but I cannot recommend enough if you, like me, are a rancid hater.

what have I been reading?

Sharks in the Time of Saviors (Kawai Strong Washburn, 2020) - @dykerory came upon this book in a pretty fruitless search for good adult novels that prominently feature sharks, a weird gap in the market that seems to ignore that SOME OF US don't ever stop thinking sharks are fucking sick. (don't talk to me about Jaws. even Peter Benchley regrets Jaws.) while Sharks in the Time of Saviors actually has much less shark action happening than one might hope based on the title, it's very much a case of "came for the shark on the cover, stayed for the phenomenal writing." the novel follows the lives of the three Flores siblings: athletic oldest son Dean, academic little sister Kaui, and middle child Noa, who possesses odd abilities that seem to be a gift straight from Hawaiian gods and just might be the savior his impoverished family needs. spoiler alert: growing up as a demigod in the 21st century is hard, and success is hardly guaranteed. Washburn writes beautifully about the the suffocating realities of struggling to survive poverty, and the ways it can both tie families together and creature fractures that are difficult to heal. apparently this was Barack Obama's top novel of 2020 and I am forced once again to acknowledge that the war criminal has taste.

Blue-Skinned Gods (SJ Sindu, 2021) - okay so this is ALSO a book about a boy being raised to believe he's channeling the divine; I accidentally struck a bit of a two-book theme. Blue-Skinned Gods follows the early life of Kalki, a boy born with blue skin and raised in a isolated Indian ashram by parents who assure him (and their many paying devotees) that he's the final incarnation of Vishnu. from a very young age Kalki is placed on a pedestal and expected to behave as a perfect spiritual leader, and you guys won't believe what happens next -- it turns out that really fucks with a kid. what follows is a coming of age story unlike any other, following Kalki's growth from a self-assured child god to a young man with a lot of questions about exactly how he fits into the world. Sindu's writing is smooth as hell, impossible to put down, and takes Kalki down some thrillingly unexpected twists that complicate every notion of identity and self. 10/10, made me want to go read all of Sindu's other work immediately.

My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1 (Nagata Kabi, trans. Jocelyne Allen 2016) - I was not remotely joking last month when I said that My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness was so good that I would be tracking down all of Ngata's other work in short order. her solo exchange diary continues to document a journey of self-growth with none of the usual unbearable fluff that phrase entails, instead highlighting all the discomfort that comes with realizing you can no longer keep living the way you were and finding yourself pissing, shitting, shaking, etc, in the face of learning how to do something different. I really admire the way Nagata's vulnerability is upfront and prevents her from ever sounding like some kind of self-help guru who claims to know everything; her self-discoveries are presented as unexpected gems rather than universal truths, the discoveries of someone as pleasantly surprised by her own progress as all of her readers. there's something immensely comforting in these graphic novels, which I think is the reminder that there's literally no wrong time to start wanting and doing better for yourself.

Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism (Alison Phipps, 2020) - I added this book to my TBR because I noticed that Phipps seemed to be drawing the ire of a lot of TERFs on twitter, which is (in my experience) usually a pretty good indicator that someone is doing something interesting worth checking out. having finally circled around to her book, I can see why Phipps (who seems to have since deleted her twitter account) was making TERFs so angry: Me, Not You doesn't even get to page 10 without plainly stating its thesis statement that trans exclusionary feminism is inseparable from other reactionary conservative ideologies such as racism, colonialism, and misogyny itself. so that's a super promising thesis, but how about the actual content of the text? eeeeh. Phipps drops a lot of the right names -- especially Sara Ahmed, and I can certainly never object to Ahmed -- and she's certainly sincere, but I can't help feeling that many of her arguments come across as a bit shallow and under-supported for the sake of time. if I were assigning this book it would be the first week reading for, like, a semester-long exploration of white feminism, with more substantial reading to follow. not a bad primer on the whole, but lacking if you've, say, already read most of the writers Phipps is influenced by.

Nightbitch (Rachel Yoder, 2021) - this is a book that I have been MEANING to read since it came out in mid-2021, and I have FINALLY gotten around to it. having done it: I would say worth the hype. Nightbitch is an intensely internal meditation about the mundane horrors of motherhood, of isolation and endless repetition, of time and energy lost and creative pursuits stifled seemingly forever. its terror is that of the loss of self and endless stagnation in the face of duty, and how sometimes you get tired of being nice and just want to go apeshit turn into a dog and run howling through the night to kill small animals and take a shit on your republican neighbor's lawn. I don't even have a kid and it sounds good, so you can imagine how delighted I was when (vague spoilers) the book ends with Nightbitch absolutely winning. go, girlboss!

Mongrels (Stephen Graham Jones, 2016) - in another accidental two-book thematic streak, I immediately followed Nightbitch with Stephen Graham Jones' books about the saddest, grossest werewolves ever. Mongrels pulls no punches about the bloody realities of shifting perpetually between forms -- werewolves have to avoid wearing anything that won't tear away when they transform, because it will simply meld with their skin when they change back and kill them slowly; they have to dispose of their trash constantly, or risk eating something that will kill them slowly when they next turn into a hungry wolf; when human women give birth to werewolves they have to be killed quickly or, you guessed it, turn into half-dog monsters and die slowly. but despite the horrors, Jones' werewolves take grim pride in what they are and the solace they find in each other on their endless nomadic quest to avoid discovery and live the best lives they can. it's only February, but I'm absolutely confident saying that this blood-splattered book is going to be one of my favorites of the year.

Book Banning in 21st-Century America (Emily J.M. Knox, 2015) - I was lucky enough to recently see Dr. Knox lecture at the university where I work, and I'd hopped on my local library's website to place this book (her dissertation) on hold before she'd even finished speaking. while the text is a lot dryer than her very charming in-person presence, I think it's extremely important reading for anyone who has a vested interest in, you know, book banning and the prevention thereof. Knox cannily summarizes the attitudes that lead to challenges to the accessibility of various reading materials, offering examples from real challenges and interviews with challengers, creating a comprehensive study of the symbolic power exerted by fighting to remove a book from a library or high school curriculum. I think these kinds of studies are so vital, because understanding the mindset of people to whom you're pretty much completely ideologically opposed can be illuminating in many ways. I was particularly shaken by one grandmother's objections to the book I use when teaching human development to 4th-6th graders, which I consider incredibly tasteful and the grandmother in question considered pornography that was hellbent on destroying the fabric of American society. the more you know!

Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston, 2019) - look, I pretty much already said it all here. this is a romance novel for adults who want to read about gay sex without having to see the word "penis" and believe that voting democrat is the best solution the all of America's ills. the plot is nonsense and reading it made me feel insane. I enjoyed almost every second of it because I experienced the correct way, which was reporting its many sins live to my wife, my creative partner @dykerory, and any other hapless passerby I could force to hold still and listen for five seconds. yes I will be watching the movie. no further questions.

sorry this update isn't in bulleted list form like normal, tumblr told me I had too many fucking characters and wouldn't let me post it until I separated them 💀

#reading updates

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