o7 spicy gatorade!!!

There's not many people who post much, but! What I can do is make a list of the people I know who have read it! They may not all post often, but they all like it and most will likely engage with anything they see or respond to prompting (an ask, for example) !!

@lexalovesbooks - Lexa! (does post)

@livingasaghost - Jenna! (occasional posts)

@let-them-sing-of-others - Julien! (has posted)

@three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat - Midnight!

@soryasongsaa - Ink!

@isilee - Isi! (occasional posts)

@fandomsareforlife - Xavier! (occasional posts)

@lgbtqforeverything - A.J.! (has posted)

@timeisamanysplendoredthing - Trax!

@lyssq - Lyssa!

@youarentreadingthis - Any name, I call them Flash!

@thevoidhasarrived

@nandarine - Nanda!

@morhath - B!

@i-dont-talk-much

@arynneva - Cole!

@mackaronicheese - Mack!

@fintan-pyren - Fin! Reading it currently :)

I'm sure I'm missing people so if I am please please please remind me! And this is not meant to be like an exclusive exclusionary thing--I just know it's hard to find other people who like acod, and this circle has taken me several years to build, so if I can speed that up for someone else, great!

The 2025 Best Keeper Character is WYLIE ENDAL!!

2nd place: Maruca Chebota

3rd place: Sophie Foster

portrait by @soryasongsaa

Wylie Endal by @soryasongsaa

Mr Snuggles by @bookwyrminspiration

Umber by @soryasongsaa

The National Indian Child Welfare Association is an organization working to protect indigenous children and families through education and advocacy on child welfare and kinship rights. The original Lilo & Stitch is very relevant to the ICWA as it shows a US government agent attempting to separate an indigenous woman from her child ward to put her into the care of the state, something that has happened and continues to happen to indigenous children. Nani's "Aloha 'Oe" scene was added as a way to parallel their situation with the colonization of Hawai'i; the original song was written by the last Queen of Hawai'i as the United States forced her to cede her ancestral lands to them, which they then proceeded to colonize and commercialize. Nani is unable to find a job due to the tourism business taking over her land and Lilo is objectified enough to mirror the behavior (taking photos of white tourists rather than white tourists taking photos of her) and gets removed from her traditional dance because of a rich white or white-passing bully.

The original movie is subtle in its messaging but very clear if you know anything about Hawai'ian history, and the movie ending with 'ohana being kept and Nani being able to keep her sister, who she loves, because she now has a support system who can assist her in her own shortcomings is presented as a happy ending for everyone, and the ideal community that we should strive for.

The reboot, if you haven't seen it, has Nani (played by an actress whose mother is a Hawai'i realtor) literally look Lilo in the eye and tell her that 'ohana is a fantasy that can never be reality and that their parents abandoned them by dying. She AND the film see Lilo as a burden on her that is alleviated when she gives up custody and goes to the mainland for college. Why not have her go to a Hawai'ian college, or do classes online while staying with her sister? Because they didn't think about her actually caring for and loving her sister. They thought about how she should go pursue the generic American Dream, and this neurodivergent traumatized child should be passed off to someone else. They literally have an indigenous CPS agent tell her to do this. Her happy ending is giving up custody of her sister to a neighbor and going to a white-dominated university.

Even the non-indigenous characters get removed from the 'ohana, as Jumba is now solely evil and irredeemable and serves as the final antagonist instead of Gantu, which also provides the wonderful(/s) message that criminals cannot be redeemed and government agents are never wrong. The reboot looks at you and tells you that family means nothing and indigenous people should give up their children and culture and assimilate. The director literally said in an interview, "Some people get left behind."

All this to say, we're definitely donating to the NICWA today. They fight to protect the Indian Child Welfare Act that prevents indigenous children from being kidnapped away from their cultures and assist indigenous families in protecting and caring for each other.

Binged this show in one day 😳 here is my mizu art contribution

BLUE EYE SAMURAI (2023)