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happygirl2oo2 · 5 months ago

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Queer Sports Romance Books Recs For Pride Month 🌈 (all are books I've either read or currently have on my own tbr list)

Hockey

Rookie Recovery (Bobcat Boys #1) by Jemma Croft and Lex Veia [mlm]

Vancouver Orcas interconnected series by Amy Aislin [mlm]

Hometown Hero (Whistleport Hockey #1) by Declan Rhodes [mlm]

Hockey Guys interconnected series by Sarina Bowen [mlm]

Prove It by Stephanie Hoyt [mlm]

Fake Boyfriend interconnected series by Eden Finley [mlm]

Caught off Guard by Catherine Cloud [mlm]

Chicago Thunder interconnected series by Jodi Oliver [mlm]

Don't Look Down (Best Laid Plans #1) by Jessica Ann [mlm]

Hockey Ever After interconnected series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James [mlm]

Love & Other Inconveniences by Catherine Cloud [mlm]

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid [mlm]

Relationship Goals interconnected series by Brigham Vaughn [mlm]

Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver [mlm]

Puckboys interconnected series by Eden Finley and Saxon James [mlm]

Hot Shot (Orlando Storm #1) by Marissa James [mlm]

Breakaway partially-interconnected series by E.L. Massey [mlm]

Delay of Game interconnected series by Hannah Henry [mlm]

Offsides interconnected series by J.J. Mulder [mlm]

Roughing (Portland Seabirds #1) by Michaela Grey [mlm]

Stick Side interconnected series by Amy Aislin [mlm]

Let's Do This (IFU Hockey #1) by Loren Leigh [mlm]

CU Hockey interconnected series by Eden Finley and Saxon James [mlm]

Back to Center (Mohegan U Hockey #2) by Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood [mlm]

Penalty Box interconnected series by Ari Baran [mlm]

Shenanigans (Brooklyn Hockey #6) by Sarina Bowen [m/f with a bi mc]

The Inside Edge by Ashlyn Kane [mlm]

Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei [mlm]

Hockey Bois by A.L. Heard [mlm]

Three Is The Luckiest Number by Catherine Cloud [mlm]

Not Over You by Samantha Wayland [mlm]

Wake Up, Nat & Darcy by Kate Cochrane [wlw]

It's a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson [wlw]

Off the Bench Duet Series by Kimberly Knight [mlm]

Twincerely Yours by Eden Finley [mlm]

Car Racing

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery [mlm]

Lights Out Series interconnected series by various authors [mlm]

Fast Love (Fast Love #1) by Kerry Lockhart [wlw]

Driven By Passion (Gamble Racing #2) by Renee Dahlia [mlm]

Redline (Redline #1) by Emma Barlowe [mlm]

Furious by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos [wlw]

Bowling

The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee [wlw]

Baseball

The Prospects by KT Hoffman [mlm]

Batting Style by Louisa Masters [mlm]

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian [mlm]

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes by Danielle Dawsen [mlm]

Volleyball

We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller [wlw]

Always More (Sports #1) by Nicole Pyland [wlw]

Roller derby

Mighty Millie Novak by Elizabeth Holden [wlw]

False Start by Santana Knox [wlw]

Basketball

How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly [wlw]

Love and Sportsball (Atlanta Cannons #1) by Meka James [wlw]

Zone Defense interconnected series by Becca Seymour [mlm]

Fencing

Fence comic series by C.S. Pacat and Joanna the Mad [mlm]

Football

One Last Play by E.B. Neal [mlm]

Coming Out on the Sidelines by Dev Hahn [wlw]

Forward Entry (Sydney Swallows #1) by Aurora Crane [mlm]

The Game (Charleston Condors #2) by Beth Bolden

Atlanta Lightning interconnected series by Riley Hart [mlm]

Fumbled Past (San Diego Seals #2) by Cecelia Storm [mlm]

Onside Kiss (Domingo #1) by Octavia Jensen [mlm]

You Started It (Fan Service Series #3) by Hinsel Meyer [mlm]

Tigers and Devils (Tigers and Devils #1) by Sean Kennedy [mlm]

Roosevelt College interconnected series by Christina Lee [mlm]

You & Me by Tal Bauer [mlm]

Crushing on the Quarterback by Baylin Crow [mlm]

Tennis

Deuce (Tennyson Bend #2) by P.T. Ambler [mlm]

Soccer

You Don't Have a Shot by Racquel Marie [wlw]

Everything for You (Bergman Brothers #5) by Chloe Liese [mlm]

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner [wlw]

Pull Me Under by Zarah Detand [mlm]

The Game Changer (Denver Defiant, #1) by Finley Chuva [wlw]

I Like Me Better by Robby Weber [mlm]

Finding a Keeper (Sports #4) by Nicole Pyland [wlw]

Don't Hate the Player by Shelby Elizabeth [mlm]

Endgame by Zoe Reed [wlw]

Hotshot by Clare Lydon [wlw]

Rugby

Attractive Forces by Jax Calder [mlm]

The Tighthead (Lincoln Knights #1) by Charlie Novak [mlm]

Softball

The Unexpected Dream (Sports #3) by Nicole Pyland [wlw]

Chess

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill [trans boy x boy]

Wrestling

Alondra by Gina Femia [bisexual girl mc]

Lacrosse

Catch and Cradle by Katia Rose [wlw]

Swimming

Tears in the Water Margherita Scialla [LGBTQ+]

Badminton

Shy by Ashish Rastogi [mlm]

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vintagegeekculture · 2 years ago

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Beloved by toy collectors and perverts alike, the Takara Cy Girls line were GI Joe-like 1/6 scale action girl figures, the high point of which was the highly detailed Aurora Space Cop.

Intriguingly, the Cy Girls line is mainly remembered because they were able to make figures of licensed characters, including the only action figure (for the time) of superspy Joanna Dark from the beloved Nintendo 64 first party title, Perfect Dark, as well as Beka Valentine from Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda (which dates this line to a very specific year).

#toy history #90s

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18catsreading · 1 month ago

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I love Aurora Nebbins so much. The face and the screeches or roars Brennan makes are just peak 🤌 Ally just said it reminds them of Joanna from Rescuers Down Under. Its so true!! 🦎

#brennan lee mulligan #dimension 20 #dropout.tv #a starstruck odyssey #ep 7 dying tomorrow its a pleasure #ally beardsley #siobhan thompson #emily axford #brian murphy #lou wilson #zac oyama #aurora nebbins #who's a good dog!

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wardrobeoftime · 2 months ago

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Master Post - N to Z

If you notice any show, movie or character missing that I’ve made gifs of, please let me know. Characters are sorted alphabetically by first their last name and then their first name.

Go to A-M | Last updated: November 3rd, 2024

Nussknacker und Mausekönig (Louise Stahlbaum | Marie Stahlbaum | Zuckerfee/Sugar Fairy)

Oktoberfest 1900/Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood (Clara Prank | Curt Prank)

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland (Alice | Cora Mills | Anastasia Tremaine)

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Agatha Danbury | Queen Charlotte | Violet Ledger | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Princess Charlotte of Wales)

Rise of Empires: Ottoman (Katarina Branković | Mara Branković | Gülbahar Hatun | Hüma Hatun | Constantine XI Palaiologos)

Romeo & Juliet [2013] (Juliet Capulet)

Sechs auf einen Streich (see the individual movies)

Shadow and Bone (Tatiana Lantsov | Zoya Nazyalensky | Genya Safin | Alina Starkov)

Sisi [2009] (Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria | Archduchess Sophie of Austria | Helene “Néné” in Bavaria | Charlotte of Belgium | Eugénie de Montijo)

Sisi [2021] (Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria | Archduchess Sophie of Austria | Helene “Néné” in Bavaria | Karl Ludwig von Grünne | Eugénie de Montijo)

Sissi Trilogy (Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria | Archduchess Sophie of Austria | Helene “Néné” in Bavaria | Ludovika, The Duchess in Bavaria)

Snow White and the Huntsman (Ravenna)

Sophie - Braut wider Willen (Sophie von Ahlen)

Still Star-Crossed (Guiliana Capulet | Juliet Capulet | Rosaline Capulet | Tessa Montague | Princess Isabella of Verona)

The 100 (Emori | Clarke Griffin | Lexa)

The Age of Adaline (Adaline Bowman)

The Last Duel (Marguerite de Carrouges | Jacques Le Gris)

The Little Mermaid [2023] (Vanessa)

The Crown (Catherine Middleton | Queen Elizabeth II | Princess Margaret)

The Empress (see Die Kaiserin)

The Eras Tour (Taylor Swift)

The Gilded Age (Bertha Russell | Peggy Scott | Extras)

The Greatest Showman (Jenny Lind)

The Hunger Games Trilogy (Katniss Everdeen | Peeta Mellark | Johanna Mason | Finnick Odair | Coriolanus Snow)

The Huntsman: Winter’s War (Freya | Ravenna)

The Other Boleyn Girl 2008 (Anne Boleyn | Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard) | Mary Boleyn)

The Pillars of the Earth (Empress Matilda)

The Princess Switch (Margaret Delacourt | Fiona Pembroke)

The Royals (Princess Eleanor Henstridge | Queen Helena Henstridge | Wilhelmina “Willow” Moreno)

The Scandalous Lady W (Seymour Fleming)

The School for Good and Evil (Emma Anemone | Clarissa Dovey | Leonora Lesso)

The Serpent Queen (Catherine de Medici | Diane de Poitiers | Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots)

The Spanish Princess (Catherine of Aragon | Henry VIII | Mary Tudor)

The White Princess (Mary of Burgundy | Elizabeth of York)

The Young Victoria (Victoria, The Duchess of Kent (née of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld) | Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen | Queen Victoria)

Three Thousand Years of Longing (Hürrem Sultan | Kösem Sultan)

Trenck - Zwei Herzen gegen die Krone (Anna Amalia of Prussia)

Tulip Fever (Mrs Overalt | Sophia Sandvoort | Mrs Steen)

Tut (Ankhesenamun)

Vampire Academy [2022] (Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir)

Victoria (Queen Victoria | Victoria, Princess Royal)

Vom Reich zur Republik (Victoria, Princess Royal)

War & Peace [2016] (Natasha Rostova)

What We Do In The Shadows (Marwa)

Wolf Hall (Anne Boleyn | Catherine of Aragon)

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homosexuhauls · 1 year ago

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By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

June 14, 2023

WARSAW, June 14 (Reuters) - Abortion rights supporters marched through several cities in Poland on Wednesday after the death of a pregnant woman whose family believe she could have survived if she had been offered a termination.

Protesters chanted "stop killing us" as they marched through the capital Warsaw towards the health ministry headquarters, some carrying placards that said "We want doctors, not missionaries" and "Hell for women," a common slogan used to convey how the measure affects those who are carrying an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy.

Poland's anti-abortion laws, among the strictest in Europe, have provoked mass protests in recent years and the death of the 33-year-old named as Dorota in May has stoked anti-government sentiment among many liberal Poles ahead of elections due in October or November.

In 2021, the nationalist government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki put into effect a constitutional court decision banning terminations of pregnancies with foetal defects, as conservative policies increasingly take root in one of Europe's most devout Catholic countries.

Abortion rights activists have said that there were at least five cases of pregnant women dying whose families came out to the media, blaming the restrictions on abortion for their deaths.

Last month, Dorota died of septic shock in a hospital after her water broke in the 20th week of pregnancy. Her husband said nobody informed them of the option to induce a miscarriage, even though the child had very low chances of survival.

In 2021, a 30-year-old woman in the 22nd week of pregnancy, named Izabela, also died of septic shock after doctors waited for her unborn baby's heart to stop beating.

"We've had enough ... we protested when we found out about the death of Izabela almost two years ago and at the time we shouted 'not one more,'" Agnieszka Czerederecka, a founder of the Women's Strike movement in Warsaw, told Reuters. She added that there were protests in around 80 cities.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party leader said that by law women could have abortions if there was any threat to their life or health.

"There is no such issue. It's been made up," he said in response to journalists' questions on Wednesday, accusing critics of the policy of "propaganda" and creating an "imaginary reality."

However, critics say that since the Constitutional Tribunal ruling, doctors have been more reluctant to perform terminations even in such cases.

A poll by IBRiS for private Radio Zet showed this week over 70% of Poles believe the strict abortion rules constitute a potential threat to women's life and health.

"I hope the law will change and I will not be afraid to get pregnant in Poland," said Joanna Jędrasiak, 36, an economist.

"I would like to have children very much, and to experience pregnancy, give birth to a healthy child, without the kind of problems that a few women have had and whom we commemorate here today."

Reporting by Karol Badohal, Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Aurora Ellis

#poland #abortion #feminism #reproductive rights #radfem safe #radical feminism

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dear-indies · 4 months ago

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hey ! hope you're doing well. i'm looking for a faceclaim female (20 - 30 yo), dark hair, that could fit to replace tamika fawcett or jennica sanchez plz. can you help ? thxxxxx

Lais Ribeiro (1990) Brazilian [Black, Unspecified Indigenous, White].

Medalion Rahimi (1992) Iranian, Iranian Jewish - uses she/they - has spoken up for Palestine!

Paloma Elsesser (1992) African-American / Chilean-Swiss - has spoken up for Palestine!

Inanna Sarkis (1993) Assyrian Syrian / White.

Mina El Hammani (1993) Moroccan - has spoken up for Palestine!

Mia Khalifa (1993) Lebanese - has spoken up for Palestine!

Raveena Aurora (1993) Punjabi Indian - is pansexual - has spoken up for Palestine!

Huda Elmufti (1994) Egyptian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Zorzo Nathanan Akkharakitwattanakul (1994) Thai.

Zión Moreno (1995) Mexican [Unspecified Indigenous, Spanish] - is a trans woman.

Neelam Gill (1995) Punjabi.

Raven lyn (1995) African-American, Puerto Rican, Unspecified Indigenous, White.

Charlee Fraser (1995) Awabakal.

Gazini Ganados (1995) Palestinian and Bisaya Filipino.

Imaan Hammam (1996) Moroccan / Egyptian - has spoken up for Palestine!

María Isabel (1996) Dominican - has spoken up for Palestine!

Sagonia Lazarof (1996) Assyrian.

Yumi Nu (1996) Japanese / White.

Blair Lamora (1997) Ojibwe / Argentinian.

Natalie Nootenboom (1997) Japanese / White.

Janella Salvador (1998) Bisaya Filipino - has spoken up for Palestine!

Joanna Pincerato (1998) Mexican, Syrian, Swedish and Italian - has spoken up for Palestine!

Lauren Tsai (1998) Taiwanese / White.

Alina Khan (1998) Pakistani - is trans.

Natasha Stroeva (1999) Yalut.

Sherry-Lee Watson (1999) Arrernte - has spoken up for Palestine!

Sharon Alexie (2000) Cameroonian.

Karen Vega (2001) Mexican [Oaxaca].

Mika Schneider (2001) Japanese and French.

Aaron Philip (2001) Afro-Antiguan - is a trans woman and has cerebral palsy - has spoken up for Palestine!

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (2001) Tamil - has spoken up for Palestine!

Shay Zanco (2001) Libyan / White.

Denise Julia (2002) Filipino - is pansexual - has spoken up for Palestine!

Hey anon! I'm not familiar with many models / Instagrammers so some of these are actresses.

#fc help #rph #rpc

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rhetoricandlogic · 9 months ago

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Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed

By: S. Qiouyi Lu

Issue: 24 February 2020

Nick Prasad has always been Joanna “Johnny” Chambers’s sidekick. Friends since a young age, Johnny has rocketed into an early and brilliant career as a child prodigy scientist, while Nick has lived a quiet, mundane life in which his biggest concerns are work and family. But the two of them still have a regular, teenage friendship, one filled with banter and misadventures. So when Johnny comes up with a new invention that could change the world, Nick doesn’t think much of it at first: after all, this is the seventeen-year-old girl who has already fitted the world with solar panels, created lifesaving medications, and perfected tools that assist millions of people’s lives—to name just a few of her accomplishments.

When strange things start to happen, Nick soon realizes that this invention isn’t like the others. An aurora borealis that shouldn’t be visible from their latitude heralds the coming of monstrous creatures, relentless in their pursuit of Johnny and her new invention. Bit by bit, the scale of what’s happening comes together: there are other realms beyond ours where terrible evil lurks and waits for its opportunity to trigger the next apocalypse. Those beings, “The Ancient Ones,” are responsible for the annihilation of civilizations ranging from Carthage to Cahuachi to Çatal Hüyük to Atlantis. And now, they’re after Johnny’s invention and the power it can unleash to destroy the world again.

But that’s not all. Suspicious of how much Johnny knows about the origin of these monsters, Nick pries the truth out of her and discovers that she’s made a covenant with the Ancient Ones. One of their terrifying pursuers, Drozanoth, is here to uphold that covenant, and will do anything to make Johnny hand over the invention responsible for calling the Ancient Ones back to Earth. Now, only she has any idea how to close the gates that are opening between realms. Determined to help stop the apocalypse, Nick embarks on a wild scavenger hunt with Johnny across the Maghreb and the Middle East to gather the items they need to put an end to the invasion.

Beneath the Rising, Indo-Guyanese author Premee Mohamed’s debut novel, is a rollercoaster of an experience. Although Mohamed draws from cosmic horror tropes as classic as Lovecraft’s, she challenges the oppressive foundations on which Lovecraft built his career. The novel is set in an alternate history shortly after a failed terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The impact of September 11 doesn’t go unnoticed: instead, it, and the period setting of the early 2000s, deeply inform the characters’ every movement through the world and the global context around them. Nick, who is Indo-Caribbean and often refers to himself as “brown,” details the various ways in which his racial and class background affect how he sees the world, and how the world sees him. Unlike Nick, Johnny, the wonder-kid know-it-all seemingly blessed with endless genius, is White and rich. Although the sexism she faces is made clear, her privilege on other axes is called out in a way that feels natural to the characters and important to the narrative.

Lovecraft’s work often relies on racism to fuel its narrative and to lend horror and dread to cosmic horror elements. Mohamed, on the other hand, lays out the intersecting foundations of that marginalization and shows how those systems of oppression are the all-too-mundane backdrop against which otherworldly cosmic horror can play out. On top of that, Mohamed brings a genuinely global scope to her doomsday narrative. It is not just the West that faces an imminent catastrophe in Beneath the Rising. Rather, most of the main events occur in the Maghreb and across the Middle East. The rise and fall of civilizations across a broad set of cultures at the hands of the Ancient Ones feels like a smooth integration of all parts of the world, creating a truly global and historically linear scope of events that adds urgency to the narrative.

When it comes to the technical details of craft, Beneath the Rising shows Mohamed’s masterful command of description, pace, and emotion that renders powerful characters and settings. The prose is lean and deliberate, a short story writer’s novel. Mohamed, who also has several short fiction publications to her name, makes sure that every sentence, every paragraph, every simile serves multiple purposes. A sentence can reveal period- and character-appropriate details while also being embedded in an unusual, yet apt, metaphor that vividly describes and furthers the events of the story:

[Johnny] was trembling so hard she was almost flickering, like a poorly-tracked VHS tape. […] This [fear] felt more like something from outside of me, like secondhand smoke, greasily invisible, sinking into my pores, blown from someone unseen. (pp. 56–58)

Mohamed’s command of the rhythm of a sentence shows through in her control over the pace of the story as well. When Nick and Johnny have room to breathe, the prose is denser and slower as it lingers on fuller descriptions.

In the moment of relative safety I craned my head to try to take it all in, wishing I had sunglasses or a hat—it was so bright it just seemed like a spangled kaleidoscope of car windows, men in suits, tiny booths hawking electronics, sunglasses, clothing, CDs, food, tiles, everyone gabbling around me in languages I didn’t know, plus blessedly recognizable if not actually comprehensible French and English. People bumped and buffeted me apparently without even noticing. I had been picturing … I don’t even know what. Some mud-brick city from Raiders of the Lost Ark? Flowing white robes? Tintin books, for absolute sure. (p. 144)

But when Nick and Johnny are on the run, Mohamed’s prose goes into fight-or-flight mode, highlighting only the barest of actions, reactions, and sensory details. The reader barrels along, breathless, with the characters.

I shut the closet door, hearing first a bang, and then—oh shit—the musical tinkle of falling glass from the living room. A multilegged shadow, all spikes and floppy appendages and translucent nodules, firmly struck the hallway wall, like an ink stamp. I cast about, left, right, left, right. Kids. Bedroom. Two quick steps: empty. (p. 103)

At the same time, Beneath the Rising isn’t just an action-adventure chase after a string of McGuffins against a backdrop of tentacles, shadows, uncanny eldritch pawns, and imminent apocalypse. It’s also a slow tale about a different kind of unrequited love between two teenagers who were forced to grow up too early, and who have never had the space to address their lingering PTSD after surviving a shooting during a hostage crisis. Woven between the multidimensional chaos of the Ancient Ones’ return is a poignant, melancholy tale of what growing out of childhood ideals means and feels like. As Nick confronts the codependent nature of his love for Johnny, who turns out not to be the person he thought she was, he shores up memories and emotions that illustrate the processing he’s doing internally while also showing his growth as a character. The vindication of his fury and betrayal feels both earned and deserved.

The biggest strength of the novel, however, comes from the shocking reveal toward the end of the book that explains the true nature of Nick’s “friendship” with Johnny, and why he was even dragged along on such a dangerous journey he had no hand in creating. I’ll be including spoilers from here on in order to fully discuss the impact of the ending.

Instead of being a magnanimous scientist who simply wants to help the world, Johnny practices “altruism” as a reflection of her own need for power and worth. She may be doing good with her work, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t channel great evil and also be a villainous mad scientist. Her prodigal power and inhuman brilliance stem from a covenant she struck with the Ancient Ones. In exchange for time off of her life, Johnny can speed up her mind, like a supercomputer’s processing power getting a boost, to do what she does. But with that covenant came another clause that Johnny only reveals to Nick when she can no longer hide it. Afraid that her unbelievable talent would alienate her from the rest of the world, leaving her alone forever, Johnny bargained for Nick to be forever by her side as a companion. Nick’s true relationship to Johnny is as a slave.

This Faustian covenant, however, didn’t have to take place. Johnny admits that, if she’d refused the covenant, she would have still lived a comfortable, successful life, and would have still been a great scientist. But, lured in by power and the opportunity to influence the world, saving millions of lives in the process, Johnny agreed to a deal with the Ancient Ones. She justifies her actions with all the good she’s done—but Beneath the Rising is, at its heart, a novel about the true cost of power, and whether the ends can justify appalling means. After all, the Ancient Ones would never have been attracted to the world if Johnny had refused the covenant in the first place. The millions of lives potentially lost in a global apocalypse don’t factor into Johnny’s calculations of how much good she does and her positive impact on the world.

Therein lies the extended metaphor that forms the secret crux of Mohamed’s narrative: Johnny’s covenant, and Nick’s role as her “companion,” are tools to critique the legacy of colonialism; in particular, slavery. In a key character turning point, Nick reminds Johnny that his family, of Indian descent and from Guyana, descends from indentured servants who were exploited for the sake of the British Empire. Nick takes deep offense at the way Johnny doles out money, as if to buy people and solutions to her problems. Johnny’s race is actually the most insignificant reflection of her position as a symbol for colonization and empire. It is her utilitarian attitude toward people and her perceived self-importance as a representative of “the greater good” that motivate the true horrors that Johnny commits. Loyalty can always be bought. Nick’s loss of agency, the loss of his potential livelihood, and the psychic toll of not being a genuinely free individual, never enter into Johnny’s mind. Nick isn’t truly a friend, an equal, or even a person to her. He is a sidekick, a person to be uprooted from place to place so that Johnny can always have someone to carry her when she is weak, provide strength when she has none, and sacrifice his life if she needs him to. Nick is merely a resource she can exploit as an extension of herself. How many families, societies, and whole cultures have similarly been torn apart to support the advancement of Western civilization?

No matter how euphemistically slavery is named, whether as “indentured servitude,” “incarceration,” or “debt bondage,” it is ultimately the real covenant that robs people of their time and life force. The lasting socioeconomic impact of slavery, too, oozes through Beneath the Rising as the gulf in wealth between Nick and Johnny, as well as the gulf in opportunity and attitudes toward self-worth between them. No eldritch covenant needs to be made for oppressors to keep subjugating the oppressed. Through Johnny, the whole empire of colonization is laid bare and exposed: for all the “advancement” purportedly created by colonizers, for all the status colonizers lay claim to, millions of people whom colonizers considered as second-class were sacrificed. When Johnny sets out to “save the world,” what she is truly saving is the status quo of her own world of privilege. Nick’s world, the world of the subjugated and oppressed, has long since been lost.

On a micro scale, Beneath the Rising is the best inversion of the sidekick trope I’ve ever seen. The effect of a reckless superhuman crashing through the world are called out early: who will clean up? Who will pay for property damage? Who will handle witness protection? Insurance? Jobs? How will people recover from the trauma of such a disruptive event? Then, when the true nature of Nick’s slavery is revealed, we see the rare story of a sidekick walking away—of codependency not being romanticized, but called out for the real destruction it can cause. Nick’s anger and betrayal are validated narratively as he sets boundaries at last and recovers from Johnny’s exploitation. The scale of Johnny’s betrayal and the evilness of her act are never downplayed, even as Johnny herself, like many benefitting from the legacy of colonization, remains clueless of her impact, even going so far as to still believe that she is doing good, and that all the devastation behind her can be a footnote to her altruism.

Beneath the Rising is a near-flawless debut novel. While it works well as a standalone, the story and worldbuilding leave room for sequels as well. Multilayered and richly rendered, Beneath the Rising is a darkly humorous romp through unspeakable cosmic horrors that also paints a portrait of two hurt teenagers grappling with their place in the world and their relationship with each other, all while navigating complex inner worlds impacted by the legacies of colonization, slavery, racism, and sexism. Like a doomsday device, Beneath the Rising is compact, powerful, and devastating as it hurls the reader through a brilliantly crafted narrative. Prepare for an epic journey, and don’t forget to bring a barf bag for the turbulent ride.

#Premee Mohamed #Beneath the Rising #mahreviews #long post

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softasawhisper · 9 months ago

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TEN SONGS

Tagged by the ever lovely @onemoore .

If you'd like to do it too then I tag you, since idk who all has already been tagged (sorry!)

There were no rules written except it needed to be 10 songs so I assume it's recommendations? But I'm not sure. Here are some songs I find myself listening to on repeat, rather frequently, In no specific order. y0utube videos of the songs are under the cut so you can give them a listen, in another tab, if you so desire.

Use Somebody (PMJ Vintage Soul Cover) by Rogelio Douglas Jr.

End of Beginning by Djo

Polly Pocket by Daniela Andrade

Divers by Joanna Newsom

Memorial by Susanne Sundfør

In Bottles by Aurora

Marks (Acoustic Version) by Richard Walters

Holding Back the Years by Simply Red

Never Ending Story by Limahl

Venice Bitch by LDR

youtube

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clint-bennet · 10 months ago

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Intro Post for Clint

[Cis-male, he/him] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [CLINT BENNET]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [GARRETT HEDLUND]. You must be the [THIRTY SIX] year old [SCUBA CLUB BOAT DRIVER]. Word is you’re [HARD WORKING] but can also be a bit [ABRASIVE] and your favorite song is [GLITTER AND GOLD BY BARNES COURTNEY]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [FISHERS COVE].

Full Name: Clint James Bennet

Age: 36

DOB: June 10th 1987 (Gemini)

Parents: James Bennet (Father) Joanna Michaelson (Estranged Mother)

Siblings: Michael Bennet (Older Brother)

Hair color: Dirty Blond

Eye color: Blue

Height: 6'3"

Piercings& Tattoos: None

Sexuality: Bi-Sexual

Occupation: Scuba Club Boat Driver

History under the cut (Triggers: Childhood Physical Abuse, Drug Abuse)

Triggers: Childhood Physical Abuse, Drug use Clint grew up in Houma Louisiana out in what was considered the sticks. Having an abusive father and an absent mother, he and his brother preferred to spend his time out in the wilderness, enjoying the company of gators, raccoons, and whatever other wildlife he shared he space with over that of his family and his father's drunken rage. When he was 10, his older brother of 16 ran off to escape his father’s abuse, leaving Clint to take it all on himself, it didn’t take long before his father gave him a blow to the head at 13 that resulted in him losing most of his hearing. While it was a hard adjustment to make, Clint was able to adapt by learning lipreading and sign language through his school. At 15 a few DCF calls by his teacher resulted in Clint being removed from his home and his father’s abuse. A double edged sword, while he was saved from the physical and psychological violence he was also removed from the only sense of normalcy he knew and was instead shifted from foster home to foster home, having no real connection to any extended family nor the families he was homed with found themselves with a difficult teen. He tried to get away on several occasions, becoming a frequent flyer and a regular face in the town jail to wait to be picked up by the social workers and returned back to whatever foster facility or family they placed him in. In his late teens he started to experiment with drugs, introduced to him through other teens in the system.

After leaving the foster system and setting out on his own with some aid from social services, he was able to get his own place but found more difficulty in dealing with the trauma and the effects it had on his mental health, resulting in him spiraling into drugs more. He took whatever jobs he could locally to make enough money to keep a roof over his head and to get his next high, in just a couple years he had gained the reputation of being a junkie and began using more manipulative tactics to get what he wanted, what he thought he needed. As his reputation spread and he became more desperate, he found himself behind bars by the time he was 25 and forced into an in patient rehab center before he could be put on parole. Already having a bad relationship with the systems that be, he found rehab difficult and actively fought against it until he met one of the volunteers, an older Jamaican lady, that helped turn him around and start dealing with his problems. At 28 he was released from rehab and at 30 from his parole though being out on the same streets that had fueled his addiction, he found himself craving again. He convinced his social worker to help him get away, move as far from Southern Louisiana and it's influences as he could, bringing him to Southern California. Again he worked odd jobs, kept himself busy, he wasn't one to go to therapy, having a difficult time talking about the things he went through and the guilt he carries from his time using. Once he was feeling more settled he even got a dog from the local animal shelter, a border Collie named Luna. It was through a reference of a coworker at a bar he bounced at when he was 34 that he made the move to Aurora Bay to help the local scuba club, captaining the boat for their excursions which he had been enjoying for the past 2 years Personality: Clint is really hard around the edges at first meeting, he's sarcastic and likes to joke but has little patience for people he feels are bullshitting or putting on a facade, he'll try to break that facade down, many times by pissing them off or trying to get under their skin. He respects people more if they're straight with him. After he's warmed up he's much more mellow, though still sarcastic. He's a fish out of the water in this community, despite living within the community for the past 2 years, he's mainly kept to himself, living in a small bungalow in Fishers Cove. Recently he's started to try integrating more with the locals, but finds it difficult. Luna follows him everywhere he goes and is a social butterfly. He enjoys going out with her on his small fishing boat on his time off

Headcanons:

Clint has a tendency to keep people at arms length when it comes to serious topics especially about himself

Clint has a THICK southern Louisiana accent. The only time you won’t see the accent in the dialogue is when he’s signing.

He masks a lot with sarcasm and humor, a coping mechanism he learned from his childhood. At times, especially if Clint is feeling anxious or unsure how the other will react, it’ll be hard to get a straight answer from him

Clint is not completely deaf, he is Hard of Hearing (HoH) and can hear pitches of peoples voices and sounds past a certain decibel, if someone is talking softly, he won’t be able to detect their voice, but if he does hear someone talking he’ll normally turn his attention to them in order to read their lips

Reading lips is not an exact science and requires Clint to do a lot of guess work using context clues. Sometimes he’ll mess up or need to ask for clarification if he’s unable to fill in the blanks himself.

If someone is speaking to him, he needs to look directly at them in order to understand them if he doesn’t have his hearing aids in.

If Clint gets drunk, he has a harder time understanding what other people are saying even if he focuses hard on their lips, usually in those situations he just gets quiet, if he's REALLY drunk, he'll just make shit up.

Clint does have a hearing aid, but he only wears it when he’s working as a preference (He doesn't like how they feel in his ears, nor does he like the noise as it can overwhelm him).

For those that Clint cares about, he’s extremely loyal to them and protective. He would do anything for the happiness and safety of those he loves.

Though Clint isn’t super educated, not being able to achieve a high school diploma, he’s very witty, has great street smarts, and is quick on his feet, adapting quickly to changes in situations and coming up with plans to overcome challenges. Many people’s first impressions of him are that he’s aloof and messy in the head, which he doesn’t mind people thinking, but he spends a lot of time observing his surroundings and the people in it.

#aurorabay.intro #aurorabay.aesthetic

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