a short list this time. The last quarter of 2020’s been odd in that I haven’t read a ton of stuff I’ve loved, and have mostly just been re-reading fanfic.

Books

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

Maryse hunts down members of the KKK possessed by demons, and if she’s to stop them, she’ll have to face down The Birth of a Nation, and her own desire for vengeance.

I need the sequel now!! Fox women with vengeance swords! There’s also a TV adaptation in the works, which is really exciting, with KiKi Layne and Kasi Lemmons attached!

Pretty Deadly volume 3 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Ríos

Ginny arrives to help an old friend find out the circumstances of his niece’s death in Hollywood.

Ok, so I was meh about volume 1, though volume 2 was okay but stuck around because there’s a layout in volume 2 that was fucking amazing. Volume 3 though? Volume 3 is straight up magic. I love the fairy tale framing, the Utena-like shadow plays, and of course Ríos’ bonkers layouts.

SFSX vol. 1 by Tina Horn, Jen Hickman, Alejandra Gutíerrez, and Michael Dowling

Dystopian future set in San Francisco, where “feminism” has been co-opted by the patriarchy. Our heroine returns to her roots as a sex worker to free her husband.

This is even better than I thought it’d be, and I had high hopes to begin with. Lots of POC and I love that sex workers are talented af here. Also funny as hell, fave moment of choking a guy out with a strap on harness.

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Music

Now Is the Time by Bandits on the Run

“Now is the time for magic” gives me shivers.

Fluff by Tank and the Bangas (Ft. DUCKWRTH, Christian Scott, and aTune Adjuah)

A jam.

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Articles

Disney Attempts to Withhold Royalty Payments from Veteran Star Wars Author Alan Dean Foster As SFWA Sparks Hashtag #DisneyMustPay by Spencer Baculi

How To Negotiate Better Consent: An Asexual Perspective by Angela Chen

I also recommend her book Ace.

“If we believe that people shouldn’t have unwanted sex with strangers and that strangers, no matter how good or loving, are not entitled to sex, we should believe that people shouldn’t have unwanted sex with partners and that partners, no matter how loving or good, are not entitled to sex either.”

White Allyship Has Maxed Out by David Dennis Jr.

“When all the votes are counted, Donald Trump will end up with somewhere around 70 million votes. Over half of all White people in this country, knowing exactly who he is, decided to re-up. And now we know that this is the very best White Americans have to offer us.”

“At some point this year, we felt like we had allies. We had a summer of White people requesting book suggestions, trying to Cash App us money, and marching in the streets by our sides. This is the most they had to give. And it still resulted in the majority of White folks choosing to keep Donald Trump in office.”

INTERVIEW: Rachel True on Her Memoir-Infused Tarot Deck and Guide, True Heart Intuitive Tarot by Larissa Irankunda

“Nothing is inherently magic in the cards themselves—but what is magic are the images on them, and what it spurs in us viscerally. Because what you see in a card is gonna be completely different from what I see. And what you see in the exact same card may be different day to day: you might see it as scary one day and then exciting the next.

So my intention in all this is less ” ooh all that mystic stuff” and more “how can I use this to self-soothe, and learn new patterns that are healthier and which help me get closer to the goals I want.” It’s a way to shrink yourself, and it works brilliantly in tandem with therapy.”

A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air from El Pais

Excellent, easy to understand, with diagrams on how the ‘rona is spread through air, and how to reduce the risk of getting it.

The Wine World’s Most Elite Circle Has a Sexual Harassment Problem by Julia Moskin

Water is wet, but I hope this helps clean house.

To Reclaim Ancestral Land, All Native Hawaiians Need Is a $300,000 Mortgage and to Wait in Line for Decades by Rob Perez and Agnel Philip

“Under the current model, the department often goes thousands deep to find interested and qualified buyers, effectively bypassing low-income Hawaiians who have been waiting longer.”

“Robin Danner, a beneficiary leader from Kauai, said DHHL needs to rethink its financial requirements and give beneficiaries more flexibility to build their own housing. “Their duty is not to check my credit,” she said. “Their duty is to issue me my land.””

Gentrification Killed Alex Nieto by Rebecca Solnit

From 2016, but I somehow missed it.