Advertise on podcast: Octavia's Parables

We meet Mary, child of Doro, grandchild of Anyanwu, small and strong-willed. She is powerful, long-sought and nearing a challenging transition. She's in love with Doro, but he has other breeding plans.  You can support Octavia’s Parables on Patreon - we are ad-free and independent, and your support helps us stay that way. We appreciate you! Transcripts are at readingoctavia.com, and you can follow us on twitter @oparables, and on instagram (finally!) at @oparables.

We are once again with Doro and Anyanwu, who we left at the end of Wild Seed - but we are now in modern times. Doro has continued to breed his powerful offspring, with the same flawed results, full of suffering. Anyanwu, going by Emma now, continues to carry the weight of his cavalier arrogance.  You can support Octavia’s Parables on Patreon - we are ad-free and independent, and your support helps us stay that way. We appreciate you! Transcripts are at readingoctavia.com, and you can follow us on twitter @oparables, and on instagram (finally!) at @oparables. 

Anyanwu and Doro find an uneasy peace. But Doro will not, cannot, understand or respect what is sacred to Anyanwu: those she loves. She is done. But yet again, Anyanwu chooses life. At the end, she draws boundaries and makes compromises. Is this survival? Toshi and adrienne break down the final chapter and epilogue of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. We’ll be back in a few months, with Mind of My Mind. And we’re working on merch! So check out our Patreon for more info soon. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

Conflict with Doro, and a suicide. Anyanwu, in her grief, returns to the sea to heal. And when she comes home, Doro is waiting. She finds strange comfort in this long-known being, and as always, danger. Toshi and adrienne break down chapter 13 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. What would look different in the US if we had enough space for the grief that we’re currently holding? How vulnerable are we when we are tired? Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

Doro left his son with Anyanwu, to marry her daughter. But the son, Joseph, is a sly, vicious, untenable danger. A murderer, a rapist. Only the leopard can respond. Toshi and adrienne break down chapter 12 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

Forward in time. Doro has been hunting Anyanwu for decades. He finds her, her children, generations of her line. All she has built, he wants. Yet again, she compromises to keep her people safe. And yet again, there is so much he fails to understand. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 11 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider.  Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

A short but fierce chapter. Funerals for Nweke and Isaac. Doro’s emotions push him to change bodies. Anyanwu’s emotions push her to flee. As a dolphin, as a bird, she finds a new clarity, and finally, finally a new sense of her own power. If not partners, then adversaries. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 10 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

We learn more about Doro’s childhood, and more about Anyanwu and Isaac’s love. Nweke’s transition continues with Anyanwu’s support. But Doro’s breeding program doesn’t go to plan. Isaac, Nweke, and everyone come to grief. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 9 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

A specific trigger warning for this chapter, for abusive relationship. Anyanwu helps her daughter Nweke in her transition; Doro leaves them to it. We see anew the power of Anyanwu’s empathy, and Doro’s inability to understand it. We learn of Nweke’s fraught conception, rooted in punishment, power, and death. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 8 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

A specific trigger warning for this chapter, for child sexual abuse and incest. Fifty years have passed. Anyanwu is married to Isaac, and is mother to many. Her daughter Nweke is nearing her transition; Doro returns, called by the girl. When he arrives, he sees in Nweke an opportunity to replace and humiliate Anyanwu, and takes it. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 7 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

Anyanwu, Doro, Isaac and the rest of the Silver Star’s passengers arrive at Doro’s land. Anyanwu is adapting to new language, new food, new customs and expectations. The extent and goals of Doro’s breeding program becomes clearer to us, and to her. Intimacies and abominations. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 6 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.

Anyanwu reveals more of her capacities to Doro and her shipmates. Her danger, her hunger, her transformations. Isaac’s powers become more clear. And Octavia graces us with some of her most sensual writing, on the pleasures of being a dolphin. Toshi and adrienne explore chapter 5 of Octavia E. Butler’s Wild Seed. And as always, offer questions for you and your people to consider. Follow us on twitter at @oparables, and support us on Patreon at Octavia’s Parables. Visit our website at readingoctavia.com for transcripts and more.