A Rainy Night In – Part One

Note about future access: The next two installments of this story are super NSFW and will be behind a password. If you’re over 18 and want to see where the story goes, you can get in touch with me via the usual avenues: Twitter, my Tumblr inbox, or my contact form here.

A Rainy Night In - Part 2

At first, it looks like the only thing that Mahreen is going to get to do with her degree and her experience is conjure up filthy fantasies for lonely customers looking for some fun. Then, on one rainy night when no one else is in the store, a golden-eyed shifter walks in with a smiling concubus at his side and a very tempting proposition for Mahreen.

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Mahreen has always liked the rain.

She even likes nights like this one when it starts storming so badly that she can sense the thunder rumbling, vibrating hard enough that it echoes in her head. Without having to glance at the forecast app on her phone, Mahreen can tell that the storm surging through sky is the kind that’ll last through the night.

That’s probably why The Sex Shoppe has been empty from the moment Mahreen had relieved Naoki from her shift.

People don’t usually come in for sex toys and fantasies when it’s pouring outside. Not customers, not Mahreen’s supervisor, and certainly not the young witches-in-training that are supposed to be working with her on this shifts.

Hell, she can’t even expect the odd actual pervert that wants her to conjure up something awful to wander in.

One would think that someone would dare to brave the storm in order to get a guaranteed spot in one of the booths and the chance to have their fantasies come to life for a few minutes or hours, but the rain is ever so helpful at clearing Mahreen’s night.

Read More »

The Stitch is on Patreon: Take Two

Patreon Banner

You’ve heard it here folks, I’m giving Patreon a second try!

This time, I have a schedule planned out for the next twelve months and a snazzy (if silly) video that talks about who I am and what I hope to get from Patreon.

If you like the content I’m creating and want to help make it possible for me to make more without worrying about how I’m going to eat or pay bills, please feel free to check out (and subscribe to) my Patreon and share with any interested friends or followers!

The Stitch on Patreon!

 

[Audio Review] Stitch Takes On… Spider-Man: Homecoming

Stitch Takes On - Spider-Man Homecoming

So I’m trying something new by making an audio review following my second viewing of Spider-Man: Homecoming! Right now I don’t have a way to transcribe the audio, but f I ever get to a place where I can afford to pay for transcription… I’ll get on that.

This review contains so many spoilers for Homecoming, a metric ton of Tony Stark Hate (ugh), some bitterness about the Miles Morales movie we could’ve had, and goopy fawning over how much I loved this movie.

I’ve got… complicated feelings about the newest incarnation of the Doctor

Jodie Whittaker

The news that Broadchurch actress Jodie Whittaker has been cast as the Doctor’s thirteenth regeneration  is great, but I have to point out that it’s also primarily a step forward for WHITE women as women of color don’t get chosen to head up these nerdy franchises.

Additionally, as we saw with the way that fans of Jessica Jones, Agent Carter, and Supergirl (to say nothing about Doctor Who) have responded to criticism about racism in their respective shows and fandoms, WOC will be expected to stay silent.Read More »

Urban Fantasy 101 – Southern Pride and Prejudice

Note: This installment of Urban Fantasy 101 deals with racism and slavery and was written in April for a grad school assignment.


 

URBAN FANTASY 101 - SOUTHERN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

People – writers and otherwise – romanticize a lot of weird (and beyond problematic) shit.

From novels about Thomas Jefferson’s clearly inappropriate and abusive relationship with his young slave Sally Hemmings (who was his wife’s younger half-sister, by the way) to the way that every year we get a handful of media telling the tale of members of hate groups (like the Klan or Nazis) falling in love with the people they have been oppressing, sometimes it feels like you can’t sneeze without spitting on media that tackles history from a point of view that feels like it does more romanticizing than criticizing.

So for this installment of Urban Fantasy 101, I’ll be tackling the way that Southern Pride plays out in the genre and how writers need to stop romanticizing a period of history that couldn’t have existed without enslaving Black people.

I’ll be talking about authors trying to showcase what they love about Southern culture and how that often goes hand in hand with failing at being respectful to the Black people who were brought to the United States against their will and whose subjugation was integral to the development of “Southern pride”.

Read More »

There’s a really creepy conversation about “Catholic School Girls” in the latest Anita Blake book…

Content Notes: This piece focuses on a conversation about child sexual abuse (CSA) by Catholic priests and a joke about “Catholic school girls” alongside talking about rape and CSA survivors in the Anita Blake series and how they’re treated. I also reference the fact that Anita is a rapist (in general) that is currently sleeping with a character that was 16 in his first appearance and is currently 19 to her 31/32.


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The second I heard that Laurell K Hamilton was writing a book set in Ireland, I actually found myself getting worried about how Catholicism would be portrayed and I’m not even Catholic.

In the Anita Blake series, a recurring historical fact is how the Pope excommunicated all of the animators (people that can raise the dead) due to the belief that only Jesus/God had any right to raise the dead and that anyone that was doing it, was basically fueled by Satan.

Essentially, it’s not an Anita Blake book if we don’t get a kind of whiny reminder about how Anita is no longer Catholic because of how backwards the church is when compared to other subsets of Christianity and how she’s so much better than the Church because she’s ~so accepting~.

(In later books, we even got the image of Anita’s existence as a “good and just” animator/necromancer being validated by the presence of angels which is… problematic not just because of things like her sleeping with an actual teenager, her being a rapist aside from that, and so much murder.)

But I digress.

The important thing to hold on to is that from the very moment that we got the first inkling that Crimson Death would be a book set in Ireland – a book heralded by Anita and LKH’s first trip across the Atlantic – I was prepared for the worst.

And well… within the first chapter, that’s what I got.

Despite somehow being the only worthwhile vampire hunter/expert in the world, that the reason why Anita isn’t initially wanted to help the Irish police with their newest case of unexpected vampires biting people is because she’s a necromancer and Catholicism frowns upon that. So they’re basically trying to ban her from a case they need help on because of their religion.

This means that we start Crimson Death with the idea that the poor, backwards, and Catholic Irish people are more interested in protecting themselves and their own religion than protecting people.

But wait, it gets better:

Anita and her friend Edward proceed to have a joking conversation that hinges on sexualizing Catholic school girls right after talking about the history of sexual abuse in the Church.Read More »

[Book Review] The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch

The Furthest Station Cover

Title: The Furthest Station (PC Peter Grant #6.5)
Author: Ben Aaronovitch (Twitter)
Rating: Highly Recommended
Genre/Category: Urban Fantasy, Ghosts, Magic
Release Date: June 30, 2017

Publisher: Gollancz

Order Here: AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE

Note: I received a copy of this review from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Whoo! Also this review contains mostly mild spoilers for the novella!

SYNOPSIS

There have been ghosts on the London Underground, sad, harmless spectres whose presence does little more than give a frisson to travelling and boost tourism. But now there’s a rash of sightings on the Metropolitan Line and these ghosts are frightening, aggressive and seem to be looking for something.

Enter PC Peter Grant, junior member of the Metropolitan Police’s Special Assessment unit a.k.a. The Folly a.k.a. the only police officers whose official duties include ghost hunting. Together with Jaget Kumar, his counterpart at the British Transport Police, he must brave the terrifying crush of London’s rush hour to find the source of the ghosts.

Joined by Peter’s wannabe wizard cousin, a preschool river god and Toby the ghost hunting dog, their investigation takes a darker tone as they realise that a real person’s life might just be on the line.

And time is running out to save them.

With this new novella, bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch has crafted yet another wickedly funny and surprisingly affecting chapter in his beloved Rivers of London series.

REVIEW

So who exactly do I have to shake in order to get an entire series of young adult books about Abigail Kumara snarking her way through London’s supernatural underworld and getting into all sorts of trouble behind her cousin’s back? Because I’m ready to start shaking some people.Read More »

“What if a white guy played Black Panther?”: The Fake Concern of Fake Geek Guys

racebending mike.jpg

Whenever I talk about racebending as a concept when it comes to comics and comics-related properties, smartasses always show up to say something snarky like “what if Black Panther or some other Black hero were a white guy”.

They crowd into my mentions or any comment field they can get a hold of, trying to shout down my commentary by insisting that they’ve finally found the one way to get one over on supporters of racebending.

It’s supposed to be the kind of comment that leaves Black comic fans stumbling around in a haze formed by our hypocrisy (because if we don’t want characters of color whitewashed, we shouldn’t keep pushing for white characters to be racebent).

Read More »

[Book Review] Injection Burn: A Dire Earth Novel

Injection Burn Cover

Title: Injection Burn: A Dire Earth Novel
Author:
Jason M. Hough
Rating: Recommended
Genre/Category: Science Fiction, Aliens, Futuristic, Artificial Intelligence
Release Date: May 30, 2017

Publisher: Del Ray

Order Here: AMAZON (KINDLE) | BARNES AND NOBLE

Note: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


SYNOPSIS

Part one of a thrilling action-adventure sci-fi duology featuring indomitable characters, incredible worlds, and plenty of rip-roaring action and thrills!

Rescue operation—or suicide mission?

Skyler Luiken and his ragtag crew of scavengers, scientists, and brawlers have a new mission: a long journey to a distant planet where a race of benevolent aliens are held captive behind a cloud of destructive ships known as the Swarm Blockade. No human ships have ever made it past this impenetrable wall, and Skyler knows not what to anticipate when they reach their destination.

Safe to say that the last thing he expects to find there is a second human ship led by the tough-as-nails captain, Gloria Tsandi. These two crews—and their respective captains—initially clash, but they will have to learn to work together when their mutual foe closes in around them and begins the outright destruction of their vessels—along with any hope of a return to Earth.

REVIEW

I finished Injection Burn desperate to get my hands on the sequel (which’ll be out this coming Tuesday because of course it would take me a month to get this review uploaded…). I also finished the book with a need for the entire Dire Earth series to be turned into a Syfy series ASAP. It’s that good.

It takes a truly amazing writer to hook a new reader at book four of their ongoing series, and Jason Hough is one of those authors.Read More »

What It’s Like Being Fandom Critical While Black

What It's Like Being Fandom Critical While Black (1)

If we adopted Scientologist terms in fandom I’d probably be deemed as a negative influence or suppressive person because of the way I talk about the things I’ve seen and experienced in fandom spaces.

I’ve had my opinions invalidated, my analysis responded to with condescension, and my inbox invaded by assholes. I even wound up linked on Tumblr In Action once for my racebending post (and boy was that a bit terrifying because we all know how bad things can get on Reddit) and I frequently have people talk down to me about fandom history and culture.

People regularly write me condescending and long essay responses to my posts, letting me know just how inferior they think I am and my opinions are. I’ve been insulted to my face and behind my back (sometimes by people I thought I was friendly with).

I’ve been called a fascist for talking about Hux getting an unreasonably huge amount of attention despite only having three minutes of screentime in The Force Awakens.

I’ve been told to kill myself, called a homophobe for talking about the racism in slash fandom spaces, a misogynist out to police women’s sexuality for talking about intersections of kink, sex, and shipping in fandom, and constantly have my thoughts on antiblackness and racism in fandom dismissed because I’m black in the US and there’s apparently no “skin-tone based racism” anywhere else but here.

I get a lot of shit and it’s still not even a third of what some of my friends in the same position do despite having anon on because I believe in the preemptive block and embarrassing the hell out of racists that message me or reblog my posts.

It’s tiring, but I refuse to stop.Read More »

White Feminism Strikes Again: American Gods Edition

I can’t imagine watching a show like American Gods where Shadow Moon (played by Ricky Whittle) is onscreen and fantastic only to then writing an honest to god article about how his undead wife Laura was the actual star of the show.

I mean, erasing a male character of color for a white woman who’s hurt him is actual textbook white feminism right there. I’ve seen it happen with a TON of male characters of color getting passed over for a pseudo-empowering white lady character (who probably hurts or abuses him in their canon) in fandom.

But Shadow is clearly the star of the show.

I mean, for once I thought fandom would do the smart thing and be all over Shadow because he’s basically perfect. (But I guess I forgot the White Feminist response to Luke Cage – show and character.)

How do you make it through six episodes of American Gods and come out thinking that anyone aside from Shadow Moon is the main character?

Is it because ensemble casts with a clear lead confuse you?

Or, and I figure that this is the more likely option, is it that you’ve been conditioned to see tiny white women doing anything as super empowering even if they’re literal scum?Read More »

[Book Review] River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

River-of-Teeth-cover.jpg

Title: River of Teeth
Authors:
Sarah Gailey (Twitter)
Rating: Recommended With Criticism
Genre/Category: Historical Fiction, Western, Queer Fiction, Hippos, Alternate History
Release Date: May 23, 2017

Publisher: Tor.Com Publishing

Order Here: BARNES AND NOBLE | AMAZON (KINDLE)

Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of the views in this review are my own.

SYNOPSIS

In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.

Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.

This was a terrible plan.

Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.

REVIEW

Honestly, there’s a part of me that’d like to thank Sarah Gailey for giving me a fear of hippopotamuses with her high-tension, hippo-filled novella River of Teeth.

Look, I live in South Florida. My corner of the state is like super marshy and already full to the brim with scary animals like gators, pythons, and everything that escaped from Miami Zoo in the wake of Hurricane Andrew back in 1992. (Including the rudest peacocks you will see on this side of US-1…)

I’m used to being afraid of wildlife.

It’s kind of my thing, to be honest.

But River of Teeth put a fear of hippos in me like you wouldn’t believe.

Read More »

Links I Liked – May

I don’t want to say that this will be a regular feature since I’m shit at regular features, but here are some links to cool and interesting things I’ve read or seen online this month!


Links I Liked

Brown bodies in white spaces: On meeting Riz Ahmed

The funny thing about writing about race is that my instinct is to always start off with an apology. Sorry, I’ll think, imagining readers clicking on the piece, sorry I’m going to make you uncomfortable.

Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

As I’ve said before in my review of Empire of Shadows, I have a complicated relationship with SJM’s books. Some of her worldbuilding interests me, as do one or two of her characters, but her worlds and stories are so problematic and so white, cis, allo and straight that now I’m just waiting to read the last books of her series to say good bye to her writing completely.

A Response to Zetta Elliott’s “Minstrelsy is the New Black”

While I certainly can’t speak for every black writer and their intentions, but based on my own work and experiences in understanding and loving blackness in all its complexities, nothing about my work speaks to the Mantans of the American entertainment world. Truth-telling, providing context within the story, and humanizing black children is my main focus. A far cry from minstrelsy.

Read More »

[Book Review] Wicked Wonders by Ellen Klages

Wicked Wonders CoverTitle: Wicked Wonders
Author:
Ellen Klages (Twitter)
Rating: Recommended (Sort of)
Genre/Category: Slice of Life, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Story Collection, Queer Fiction
Release Date: May 2, 2017

Publisher:  Tachyon Publications

Order Here: AMAZON | TACHYON PUBLICATIONS

Note: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and that’s what you’re getting. Additionally, one of the stories in the collection I’m reviewing reads as kind of not cool to me when it comes to genital reveals so I’m going to talk about the story to make sure that people interested in this book know what to expect.


SYNOPSIS

A rebellious child identifies with Maleficent instead of Sleeping Beauty. Best friends Anna and Corry share one last morning on Earth. A solitary woman inherits a penny arcade haunted by a beautiful stranger. A prep-school student requires more than luck when playing dice with a faerie. Ladies who lunch—dividing one last bite of dessert—delve into new dimensions of quantum politeness. At summer camp, a young girl discovers the heartbreak of forbidden love.

Whether on a habitat on Mars or in a boardinghouse in London, discover Ellen Klages’ wicked, wondrous adventures full of cheeky wit, empathy, and courage.

 

REVIEW

There are fifteen short stories in Ellen Klages’ newest short story collection Wicked Wonders.

Out of those fifteen, thirteen were basically everything I ever wanted in a short story. Two were… not. One of those two was a story that just didn’t catch me while the other was a story that had me invested right until it chose to reveal a characters’ genitals for what feels like shock value and then proceed to misgender them for the (short) remainder of the story. It was quite a disappointing experience.

Which sucks, because I otherwise love Ellen Klages’ writing. I’m working my way through her Tor.com novella Passing Strange, taking my time because hello I adore narratives set in or revolving around the 1920s. I think she’s a brilliant, talented writer who knows how to use words to set up mental pictures so pretty that they belong in a museum. But I mean… that second to last story sure is a doozy…

Argh!

Well, let’s get started!Read More »