docs: def create(cls, fields=None, **fields_kwargs):
          """
          create an instance of cls with the passed in fields and set it into the db
  
          fields -- dict -- field_name keys, with their respective values
          **fields_kwargs -- dict -- if you would rather pass in fields as name=val, that works also
          """
          # NOTE -- you cannot use hydrate/populate here because populate alters modified fields
          instance = cls(fields, **fields_kwargs)
          instance.save()
          return instance