Welcome to the Chhibberverse

This is it, the inaugural edition of whatever this thing is going to be! First of all: thanks for signing up, second of all, a preemptive (PREEmptive, get it???) I’m sorry for the disasters I am sure are coming to your inbox.

This month you’re getting book news, recommendations, a giveaway, and, of course, a [RPattz-Bats-tastic] shitpost because I deliver on my promises.

Also a moment of genuine gratitude, not wrapped in my-I-am-uncomfortable-with-feelings-nonsense, I appreciate you all hanging with me and being interested in my work. It’s a really weird time for all of us, but I’m glad we can still connect in the absurdity and horror of 2020.

Words, Words, Words

Avengers Assembly #1: Orientation came out on August 4th, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Stories of Light and Dark is out tomorrow! I put all our favorite characters through the ringer. Some with jokes, some with a healthy dose of ~teh angst~. (Guess who gets what.)

In Stories of Light and Dark I take a look at the season one episode “Hostage Crisis” but entirely from Anakin’s perspective. Here’s a very short sneak peek of the actual book that I have not asked permission to share, so be cool and don’t narc:

Earlier this morning we dropped a mini-episode of Desi Geek Girls where I interview professor, activist, and writer Simran Jeet Singh about his brand new book Fauja Singh Keeps Going. Listen here.

Preeti Rec’d

Raji Video Game You may have seen me talking about this on Twitter, but there’s a new game that dropped on the Nintendo Switch last week called Raji. Branding itself as an “Ancient Epic,” the game is set in India — but in a delightful twist, it was actually created by an Indian game company called Nodding Heads Games. The story is about a girl, Raji, whose brother has been kidnapped by demons. She’s sent on an adventure and aided by the Gods to get him back. I’m still only very early into the game, but there’s already so much authenticity in the narrative. The Goddess Durga initially narrates, joined by Lord Vishnu later on. They tell us about Raji, but also discuss and disagree on her potential amongst themselves — can she save her brother and humanity? Hinduism (to me) is a very self-owned religion. Meaning your interpretation is the correct interpretation, regardless of what others say, but what others say can change what you think and both your past and future beliefs are valid. The writers at Raji bring this to the table, allowing us to hear these Gods debate Raji and her potential and what she can possibly do. Now, this may change as the game goes on, but right now I am sold on the storytelling. I definitely recommend it if you’re playing on a regular Switch — my experience on the Lite has been that I wish I could see it on a larger screen. If you are playing this game, and enjoying it, pick up A Thousand Beginnings and Endings <3 Clothe Me in Seasons, Dress me in Snow Avatar the Last Airbender fanfic Now that Avatar’s on Netflix, it’s gotten a huge resurgence in the public discourse. If you, like me, came out of it as a Zutara shipper, here’s a VERY SAD, beautifully written canon-compliant fic for you to pick up. I’m not kidding, I cried a lot. How the 2010s Broke Our Sense of Time Essay I think we’re all in similar boats right now with how we’re processing (or not processing) everything that’s always, always, always happening. In Fall 2019, Katherine Miller wrote this essay on how our brains are being impacted by how intensively and cyclically information is released. It helped to contextualize some of the anxiety I was feeling at not being able to internalize every single piece of news as it was released. It’s a great read, and might be worth following up with Hasan Minhaj’s piece on How to Survive 2020:

Excluuuuusives

There were two gags that never made it into Avenger’s Assembly #1: Orientation. The first is this bit from the brainstorm document that did not get to the first draft even though the idea of Coulson including Wolverine but being mad about it still makes me laugh.

Then there’s this Peter-Parker Spidey moment that got cut for space:

I’ve got a signed copy of ORIENTATION to give away to one of you lovely readers. First person to tweet out #AvengersAssemblyNL and a link to this newsletter (preeti.substack.com) gets a signed copy and what will be a very bad drawing of Spider-Man from me (Continental US only).

Sh!tpost

Did you get a chance to check out the Hot Dog Party? You should.

Advice from My Friends

Every month (or maybe every other month, we’ll see how this goes), someone I know will give out free advice. It’s free, so maybe it won’t apply to your specific situation. And maybe it won’t be expert. But it will be advice!

This month’s advice is writing-oriented and comes to you from my fellow Star Wars author, and all around kick ass writer friend, Zoraida Córdova (who also has a pre-order giveaway running through midnight tonight to win some very cool holographic skull stickers):

What would Mando do? Lately I feel overwhelmed by the world. My manuscript is my Baby Yoda. There are adversaries at all sides and I have to protect it at all cost. - Zoraida Córdova

Please, this country is on fire

Black Voters Matter is an organization committed to increasing the voting power of the Black community byway of voter registration and battling disenfranchisement. Please consider donating or sharing their message.

Lastly, Just a Nice Thing

Chris Hemsworth bringing some positivity our way.