#fuck kevin j Anderson

[walks-the-ages]

You said that legends Luke Skywalker is canonically a-spec, so I'd like to see the excerpts. Not in a confrontational "prove it to me" sorta way but a "I'm curious" sorta way.

I don't have the books or ebooks on hand, but it's Barbara Hambly's duology Children of The Jedi / The Planet of Twilight books with Callista.

Yes, I say Duology, not Trilogy, because the piece of shit who wrote the book in the middle of these two is a piece of crap misogynyst dudebro who wrote an entire trilogy about Luke running away from his responsibilites because Leia nagged him too much about babysitting so he went and did a little Overpowered Gary Stu thing of raising an obsidian castle up off the shores of a corscaunt beach and spent weeks just wandering around Vader's old Castle, sitting on the ceiling and Brooding(tm) about how he's so overpowered and meant for more and he's so angsty because he has a greater destiny and he can't connect to normal people and .. yeah. Anyways. Guy who wrote the shitty middle book is also unfortunately very "popular" star wars book author so he has written a lot of the other Legends book and .... It's always very refreshing to see other people rereading then and being horrified at what they thought was amazing writing when they were kids lol.

So yeah, ignore the shitty book in the middle by what might be Kevin J Anderson? My internet isn't cooperating at the moment so that either the authors name or the name of a random unrelated actor but it's something something Anderson. Ignore his book because he tries to retcon everything to make Callista a wilting wallflower who oh so scared of Luke's power and she feels so inadequate next to him and she left out of shame and Luke spends the whole book brooding about "oh I'm so scary and strong in the force I scared poor wittle Callista away boo hoo I am so sad and angsty because I'm so scary and overpowered" and then shitty author man tries to kill Callista off along with his sexist stereotype walking female imperial admiral lady character

and Barbara Hambly took one look at his shitty "sequel" to her book and said "Nope! We are fixing literally all of that and more, what the fuck is wrong with you dude, why the fuck are you treating all of the women this way"

Woops. Rambled a bit. Kevin J Anderson or whatever his name is pisses me off to the extreme, especially because he was allowed to write so many books that butchers the original trilogy characters even more than the "sequel" trilogy did.

anyways , long story short if you want to see Aspec Luke Skywalker, you can read Barbara Hambly's Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight, and also whichever book Luke proposes to Mara Jade in.

Because even as a kid I read that book and was absolutely fucking delighted at the hilariously out of left field it was and how platonic it was.

It pretty much boils down to:

Luke and Mara Jade are stuck in a flooding cave or something where they might die.

The conversation pretty much follows as such, from what I can remember reading over 10 years ago so obviously don't quote me:

Luke: "Hey Mara. We're friends, right? "

Mara: " Hmm, I mean, yeah I guess. We interact sometimes, sure. So we're acquaintances. And I'm not trying to kill you anymore so we're not enemies. And I've saved your life a few times so... Yeah. I think we're friends."

Luke, possibly after almost drowning: "Cool, cool, cool. So. Hey....... Do you want to marry me?"

Mara thought about it for a moment. "do you mean you want to get married now as the last thing we do before we die or...?"

Luke: "no, I mean even if we survive this. Do you want to marry me, even if we get out of here alive?"

Mara pondered the question, looking down at Luke where he looked like a pathetic drowned rat. "Sure." She shrugged. "I'll marry you."

Luke: "Awesome! I wasn't sure if you would say 'yes' seeing as we've never ever even in our most private thoughts considered each other as romantic or sexual prospects and we've never dated or expressed interest in each other for the years and years that we've known each other but I just feel like it's meant to be, y'know? And--"

Mara rolled her eyes. "Luke, I already agreed to marry you despite our nonexistent romantic or sexual history together, so just chill. Or don't, I don't need you freezing to death; now that we're engaged you're not allowed to die on me, I'd look awesome in a wedding dress."

And then they survived and announced their engagement to Han and Leia who came to rescue them and were met with confusion ("wait, Leia, did they even ever date!? How did I miss that!?"" / "No, shhh han, just be happy for them.") But they did go on to get married (I think they showed the wedding in one of the comics).

#star wars #sweu #luke skywalker #Asexuality #aspec Luke Skywalker #asexual Luke Skywalker #callista ming #Mara Jade #Mara Jade Skywalker #star wars expanded universe #fuck kevin j Anderson #The Planet of Twilight #children of the jedi

[theicarusconstellation]

TELL ME ABOUT DUNE ALIA ATREIDES DUNE just anything I just need to read more about it I'm brainhungry

OH MY GOD OKAY OKAY OKAY FJSJSKNDNF

THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT DUNE ANY TIME THAT GOES FOR EVERYBODY

SO. ALIA.

my poor girl was doomed from the START from CONCEPTION😭😭😭😭once jessica drank the water of life, alia’s fate was pretty much sealed.

it’s so fucking tragic to think about her relationship to jessica and paul. jessica loved her kids, truly, she did, and we see it in how she cares for paul and alia throughout the first book, even after paul thinks, my mother has become my enemy. and yet. even before paul was born, jessica has been motivated by selfishness. she defied the bene gesserit and bore a son instead of a daughter to make leto (and herself) happy, thus damning paul to the fate of the kwisatz haderach. she drank the water of life and took on the role of the fremen reverend mother while pregnant to help implement the bg’s plans (and her own plans) even though she knew what it would do to her unborn daughter. from that point on, alia was sentient. she had the memories of billions within her fighting to gain control.

for the first few years of her life, she had a very distinct sense of self. she and paul, despite their age difference, loved each other SO MUCH😭😭😭😭there’s this one quote from dune messiah where reverend mother mohaim says, “who could understand but the sister?” in reference to paul’s struggles, and yeah. they understood one another in a way no one else could.

she had a sweet family dynamic with harah, jamis’ wife and paul’s eventual servant. their moment together in the first book is honestly the most open declaration of familial love we ever see in the books (“i love you, harah.” FUCKING RUINS ME), and right after that, alia snuggles up to jessica and takes comfort in her mother (she was so young she just wanted her MOM😭). like yeah she has many different memories within her that are not the memories of a child, but she, alia atreides, was still a child. and i know brian herbert and kevin j. anderson’s books are…certainly something😐but there’s a moment between alia and irulan in paul of dune where irulan tells alia, “you deserve to have a childhood too” and that just BREAKS ME because she never got one. since birth, she was treated like a freak and knew it. she literally said, “i know i’m a freak.” (she was like TWO when she said this MY BABY😭). when paul’s jihad was going on, she was running arrakis in his place as a CHILD. she had so much wisdom and knowledge and did an amazing job, but underneath that, you do see that she was a literal baby.

once she hit about four years old, jessica left her on arrakis. jessica went back to caladan and reverted back to her old bene gesserit ways, living in fear and disgust of the children she created. the children she once loved so. much. are now her biggest regrets, and we see this when she visits alia in children of dune and literally hesitates to call her “daughter.” once she admits it, there’s an understanding between alia and jessica that they are still family, but the “…daughter” DOESNT HURT ANY LESS.

then dune messiah comes around. she’s ≈ sixteen and already regarded as a demigoddess by the people of arrakis and has a little mini-cult surrounding her. she is paul’s closest confidante (some may argue that it’s chani, but i say again, “who could understand but the sister?”). she’s “saint alia of the knife” for a reason too. her fremen upbringing + her genetics make her incredibly skilled, so much so that breaking records is second-nature to her. however, as paul’s state declines, so does hers.

(WHO. COULD. UNDERSTAND. BUT. THE. SISTER.)

she starts slipping into spice trance, letting ancestors converse with her for longer periods of time. she’s argumentative and so, so lost. when duncan idaho’s ghola is given to paul, this 35+ year-old zombie man sees this 16 year-old and is like “yeah i’m gonna get up on that,” so he and alia get into a “relationship” that my poor girl didn’t know any better than to accept.

i think the start of her breaking point came when paul lost his sight. up until then, they had understood one another as easily as breathing, like those saplings that grow next to each other and end up twisting around one another (or turning into one tree). but when paul comes back blind yet still able to see, he knows she’s scared of him, and an irreparable rift develops right then and there (i pretend this doesn’t happen for my mental health).

once paul wandered into the desert, alia was gone. her sense of self and grasp on reality went right with him. he was the only one who didn’t live in fear of her, the only one who she ever felt truly loved by, who didn’t put her on a divine pedestal she didn’t want, who she could TRUST😭

this fucking monologue from messiah guts me inside:

“i wish i could burn this thing out of me…but i’m sister to an emperor who is worshipped as a god. people fear me. i never wanted to be feared. i don’t want to be part of history; i just want to be loved. and love.”

WHO!! COULD!! UNDERSTAND!! BUT!! THE!! SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!

the (almost) last things we hear her say in messiah are literally, “duncan, duncan, he’s [paul’s] gone! i need you duncan, love me!”

then, children of dune occurs. it’s nine years after paul wandered into the desert, AND ALIA STILL WEARS YELLOW, THE FREMEN COLOR OF MOURNING. she hates him and loves him and hates him and loves him and can’t stay out of a possessed trance for more than five minutes. rather than help her as the people around her notice her falling victim to the voices inside her, they ice her out, even her former lover, and call her abomination, trying to send her to her death and looking upon her with disgust. leto ii and ghanima, who she raised since birth, have no sympathy for her.

the only person we really see her close with is irulan tbh. which like. oh i love their dynamic. they went from being curt and uncaring with one another in messiah to being one another’s only comfort in children (for irulan loved paul too). still, irulan distances herself the more wrapped up in her own head alia becomes. when jessica returns to arrakis, she does nothing but stand by (and encourage alia’s execution) as she watches her daughter slip away as a result of her selfish choices!!

after alia finds out paul is alive, god there is so much conflict going on within her. the last time she saw him, they loved one another with a love that was more than love, but now, he’s preaching that everything they’ve built is a blasphemy and alia should be overthrown. she wants him dead but she wants him alive but she wants him dead but she wants him alive and she wants to see him but she hopes it isn’t him but she wants to see him. her big brother.

when she finally does see him, he looks her in the eyes and calls her a blasphemy.

then, paul is stabbed. alia watches him die, and to me, that is when the last string within her finally snaps. she turns to jessica and shouts, “that was paul they just killed!”

so many voices fight to overtake her, including her grandfather, baron harkonnen, who had been possessing her up until this point, but she is just so, so tired and so hurt and so unloved that she can’t do it anymore. she doesn’t even bother to fight. she jumps to her death and does not scream on the way down.

and this is what gets me too. we know it was her decision, the last decision she ever got to make of her own volition, and it was one of self-destruction. the baron was screaming at her not to do it — everyone else watched as it happened — but she did it anyway, and honestly, she found more peace in death than she ever did in life.

god i could talk about her for hours i love her so much she’s my girl my love i need to wrap her (and paul) up in little blankets and hold them so close.

also there is just…something about jessica watching both her children die in front of her. and the comparison she made in the first book when alia walks into her room and she thinks, “she reminds me of paul at that age” with both their big, curious eyes and quiet mannerisms and OH😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#god i spent forever typing this out #this is definitely more than you asked for but #oh i just love her #alia atreides #st alia of the knife #alia ): #my girl my girl my GIRL #astra’s asks #dune

[homenecromancer]

regarding this post, and the Dune sequels by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

So I haven’t picked up any of these Dune followups in about twenty years, and for all I know, the books released in the intervening time are much better. And I’m operating off memory here.

But the main reason I’m content not going back is that… they’re not all that good. At best they’re about equal to some of the fanfiction I’ve read lately. At worst, there’s some deeply goofy worldbuilding and plot decisions. I should back up and give a little context.

The books I’m talking about here are written by a team of Brian Herbert (Frank’s son) and Kevin J. Anderson, who has written a lot of spinoff novels. I went to go check out his other work — he did a few Star Wars novels and three X Files novels, among others, and here is a very telling quote from his website, describing one of his original novels:

Unpretentious, unapologetic storytelling that transports busy readers to other worlds for a quick escape and fast-paced entertainment

Which… is both a perfect description of his writing and the absolute opposite of the Dune novels that Frank Herbert wrote. I’ll get back to this in a moment, because there’s another important detail: the Herbert+Anderson team, according to them, work from outlines and notes left by Frank Herbert before he died. So far they’ve gotten seventeen books out of these outlines and notes — Frank wrote six Dune novels.

OK. So. I do not envy the H+A team the effort required to imitate Frank Herbert and live up to his legacy — Dune and its sequels are dense books that interweave science fiction storytelling with politics and philosophy, all in a prose style that’s hard to mimic. I think they’re legitimately trying their best, and working on a compressed timeline compared to Frank. (The original six books were published over the course of twenty years — H+A have put out seventeen books in the 25 years since 1999, and they are not short.)

The problem is that, unless they’ve really switched things up, the H+A team put way heavier emphasis on the storytelling, and almost none on the politics and philosophy. So their Dune novels are much quicker reads than the originals! In my paperback edition, Dune takes about 150 pages of small type until the “action” begins — Herbert really takes his time setting up his characters and setting, and begins to explore his main theme of the risks of political power. And then the main characters find themselves in nonstop life-threatening peril.

I… do not recall the H+A Dune novels having themes in the same way. A lot happens, but like. Dune is constantly saying things to the reader about how, say, carefully-orchestrated plans can easily go awry in tragic fashion, and also there are dozens of memorable setpieces. The H+A Dune novels have memorable moments, but they all feel rather shallow. The deepest thing they’re asking you to consider is gonna be, like, “wouldn’t it be fucked up if weird robots ruled over people?” And yeah, that would be fucked up, but it doesn’t have the staying power of some of the weird ideas in Dune.

Anyway I don’t bear either Brian Herbert or Kevin J. Anderson any personal ill-will. Their Dune books just don’t do it for me the same way as the Frank Herbert originals.

Also Anderson’s writing process is interesting — I can’t seem to make this a proper link no matter what I do (????) but he discusses it on his blog at kjablog.com/dictating-writing-hiking . And that method explains a lot, to me — I don’t know about him, but I would not be able to imitate Frank Herbert’s prose style by dictation while hiking, even if I had the ability to revise later. Makes sense that the text of the H+A Dune novels sounds like Kevin J. Anderson more than it sounds like Frank Herbert.

Oh and fun fact I learned writing this: Kevin J. Anderson lives in my state. Wild.

#marlowe talks dune #long post #replies #missanthropicprinciple #dune

[punisheddonjuan]

have you read Dune?

I had a major Dune phase when I was a teenager and read all six original books plus The Dune Encyclopedia at least twice over. I even tracked down a copy of the short story collection Eye which had The Road to Dune in it. I reread the first four again in my twenties but couldn't bring myself to read Heretics and Charterhouse again. There's this phenomenon that happens to a lot of sci-fi authors as they age where they just keep getting hornier and eventually they're putting phrases like "hard slap of his ejaculation" and writing scenes involving space nuns fucking underage boys to unlock past life memories in their novels. Which by that point are really just thinly veiled explorations of the author's psychosexual neuroses. The first four still hold up for me though, especially Dune Messiah and God Emperor of Dune.

I also read the six Brian Hebert and Kevin J. Anderson prequels that had been published by the time I was into the series and hated them. I never bothered reading the two sequel books they wrote which are supposedly based on Frank Herbert's and are intended to stand as the conclusion to the original novels, because after reading a brief synopsis and thinking that they sounded like the stupidest fucking thing I'd ever heard, I decided it'd be a waste of time. All their books are just absolute dogshit, completely fucking awful, and would you believe they've written another nine fucking prequel novels since then? Who is reading these books? The overwhelming consensus is that they're terrible, most fans don't even consider them canon. So who the fuck is buying them?

I have no idea.

#answered asks #anon ask #dune

[wulfhalls]

how many of the dune books have you read and how many would you rec?

all of them and all of them! (the og frank herbert series of course brian herbert and kevin j anderson are hacks who can't write for shit and should just shut the fuck up already) also some people will tell u god emperor is bad don't listen to them its the devil talking like sorry ur life is boring don't take it out on the messianic prescient 4000 year old wormhuman hybrid god who's just like. really into philosophy and being insane. also don't read anything else in between dune and dune messiah! dune messiah best book of the series!!!!!! but u need it as a chaser directly after dune to experience the maximum level of insanity possible

#asks #dune

[dragons-bones]

happy munday!

what's your go-to reclist for book series? (asking for a friend, i swear)

The number one absolutely top tier DT pick: the Firebringer Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce. Highly formative for tiny me. Non-human characters form the vast, vast majority of the cast, and it tells the story of the unicorns' reclamation of their ancestral lands (and also learn to not be bigots to everyone around them).

Number two pick: the Dragon Chronicles by Susan Fletcher. This was originally just a trilogy when I was a tiny (Dragon's Milk, Flight of the Dragon Kyn, Sign of the Dove), but had a fourth book (Ancient, Strange, and Lovely) written thirteen years ago. Dragons, and the girls who save them.

Book series that came much later for me in life and I think everyone should read:

Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee; space opera overthrowing a despotic empire, in a nutshell. Calendar math as a way of exerting actual power and technological effects on the world, which is why said despotic empire is in the mess its currently in. Incredible worldbuilding, fascinating characters, including some you will love and some you will loathe and some you will love to loathe. (Get fucked, Nirai Kujen.)

Dune by Frank Herbert; this includes the original novel plus the second two books in the series, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. These three books are basically the main arc around Paul Atriedes; Dune itself reads a bit like a traditional heroic mighty whitey story, but the end of the novel plus the next two brutally deconstruct that. Huge themes of religion, psychology, ecology, politics, and the messiness of humans trying to harness all these forces for their various competing ends. Do not read from God Emperor onward. ESPECIALLY do not read anything by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, it's all trash.

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien; his writing style is absolutely not for everyone, but his themes of hope and compassion even in the darkest times has resonated with me for decades. Every "traditional" fantasy novel is a poor imitator who completely missed the point.

The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson; The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages were my introduction to Sanderson and his absolutely godly ability to worldbuild and foreshadow. A post-apocalyptic world where the bad guy won, a bunch of thieves work to overthrow his empire, and the consequences thereof. Highly recommend Sanderson's other stuff, too, but this is the trilogy that started it all for me.

The Nightside series by Simon R. Green, for no other reason than I think they're fun, pulpy novels. The terrible, dark netherworld of London, where noir meets fantasy and scifi. High literature? Absolutely fucking not. Rollicking good time? Very much so! If you are using your brain to read these books you are doing it wrong.

#blackestnight #dt answers things

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Do you give recs? I'm looking for some woke-free medias to consume (books particularly, but it can be anything)

It's hard to give recs without knowing your taste, but I'll try. Necessarily, many of these will be older things, so sorry if that bothers you

Books:

The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell (sci-fi)

The Nightside series by Simon R Green (urban fantasy/detective noir)

The Deathstalker series by Simon R Green (there are gay side characters in a few of the books, but the books themselves aren't woke. Just good sci-fi/space opera)

Any Conan the Barbarian story written by Robert Howard or Robert Jordan (fantasy)

The Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson (disclaimer I'm only up to book 4 out of 15 and the last book was published in 2020 so it may have gotten woke or started to suck later on, but right now it's pretty good and pretty pro-American. Alternate history action sci-fi)

The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher (urban fantasy)

Any Dune book by Frank Herbert or Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert (sci-fi)

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (only read the first three out of nine so same disclaimer as Destroyermen. Alternate history fantasy. Napoleonic Wars with dragons)

The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell (also the excellent film adaptations of the books with Sean Bean if you can find them. Historical fiction. You follow Richard Sharpe through the ranks of the British army during the Napoleonic Wars)

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (the grandfather of modern fantasy)

The collected works of HP Lovecraft (definitely not PC or woke. His cat makes an appearance in one of his stories. Horror)

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker (horror. Hellraiser was based on this novella. tentative rec because it's good, but there's a lot of mentioned sex and very liberal attitudes towards sex so I don't know if you'd consider that woke or not. The sex obsessed characters are the bad guys though)

Any of the pre-Disney "canon" Star Wars expanded universe books.

Any of the Star Trek books written by William Shatner (they're all a connected series though so read them in order)

If non-woke is your main criteria, I'd suggest giving the Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski a try. I personally hated the little bit of the first one I read, and I hate the Witcher series in general, but no one can argue that the Witcher is in any way woke, lol

Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher (fantasy)

Phantoms by Dean Koontz (also recommend the movie with a very young Ben Affleck, but if you rent it on Prime use headphones. Audio is all fucked up through a surround sound system. At least it was when I rented it a few years back. horror)

The Legend of Drizzt series (and the associated sub-series) by RA Salvatore (fantasy. I stopped reading at the Transitions series--books 20-22--because I personally didn't like them and the way they changed the characters and the setting, but YMMV. I'd highly recommend books 1-19 though. Great fantasy series in my favorite D&D setting, the Forgotten Realms)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (young adult book, but has a great message of individuality and anti-government)

Since you wanted books mostly I'll just breeze through movies, shows, comics and games with a few of my favorites:

Movies - Equilibrium, Lord of the Rings, pre-Disney Star Wars, Alien, Aliens, Predator, Predator 2, Hellraiser 1 + 2, Friday the 13th series, Halloween series, The Patriot, In the Mouth of Madness, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 + 2

Shows - Jericho, X-Files, Star Trek (OS, TNG and DS9 especially. Anything nu-Trek is easily skippable), Chernobyl, Avatar The Last Airbender, Lost (it's not confusing if you just pay attention!)

Anime - Fullmetal Alchemist (both series are good but Brotherhood follows the manga more closely), Death Note, Bungo Stray Dogs, Yowamushi Pedal, Ace of Diamond, Yuri on Ice (super gay but funny and heartwarming and not woke beyond the two male leads being stupidly in love with each other even if it's never mentioned explicitly), Street Fighter II V. Honestly most anime isn't woke at all, so just look around for things that seem interesting to you and you're probably good there

Comics - Batman: No Man's Land, Batman: Knightfall, Batman: Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitive, Batman: The Killing Joke, any Marvel Masterwork collection, any Dark Horse Alien or Predator or Alien vs Predator comic, Spawn. Special mention: Isom and the Rippaverse. The Rippaverse is a new shared comic universe created by Eric July, self-described anarcho-capitalist and contributor to The Blaze that's specifically designed from the ground up to not be woke and offer a customer first mentality. They promise that the various books they're planning on releasing will focus on story and characters, not politics or social justice crap. So far, only Isom #1 has come out, and I haven't gotten my copy yet, but most people who've read it seem to love it, and that one comic alone has already sold over 43,000 copies and made $3.7 million so early adopting is probably a safe bet.

Games - Metal Gear Solid series, Batman: Arkham series, Halo 1-3, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Greedfall, Dishonored series, Edge of Eternity, Metro series, Mafia 1+2, Elden Ring. Pretty much any game before the mid-2010s is a safe bet for non-woke, so like anime, you should just look at older games you think you might like, or their remasters, and go from there.

So that's my list. It's by no means complete, and there's no real order to the recs, so just look them up and see what, if anything, appeals to you. If you, or anyone else, want more specific recommendations or an opinion on a certain title or series that I mentioned or even ones I didn't, feel free to ask. I'll help if I can. Mostly what I read and watch are sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and things like that. I don't really read typical bestsellers or westerns or comedies. So I might be much help with those genres.

[spockandawe]

Wow, the first Callista book was agonizing and the second one is off to a fabulous start as well!!! Also, Jedi Academy by kevin j anderson has been my least favorite trilogy so far annnnnd guess who wrote this one. When I mentioned him to my dad, I hadn't even started ranting about how bad those books were yet, but his immediate reaction was 'isn't he known for writing really mediocre sci fi?'

Yes. Yes he is.

Anyways, it would be REALLY RAD if this franchise could stop being weird and gross about tuskens for like two fucking seconds. 1976? Okay. I hate it, but I GET it. But the nineties books won't lay off either, this is 1995 and I haaaaaate how tahiri has been presented (even though the character herself is very.... whatever, divorced from her origin story), but then Darksaber shows up and decides to set the tone with relentless wow, check out these exotic Barbaric Tribal Customs, and this book is so long and I'm only half a chapter in but I'm already so Done.

(and)

#kevin..... new enemy just dropped #mark of duneinfo dot com #I'm forgetting at least one other star wars enemy #every time an author introduces an additional sexy redhead all of them lose approval points #its a rare phenotype in our world because star wars took em all apparently #oh #alan dean foster has big enemy points just on the merits of splinter of the mind's eye #i felt as slimy as leia probably did after her sexy mud fight #spock reads star wars #racism/ #time to go reread ast to bury myself in respectful takes on tusken culture

[illdesigns]

2 6 10 17 19 20!

2. What’s next on your ‘to-read’ list? (Fan fiction or otherwise)

fic wise, it’ll be whatever catches my eye as i scroll through the tag on ao3, because it’s been a second since i’ve checked. so fingers crossed there’s some good stuff there (there probably is)

otherwise wise, i’ve wanted to reread kevin j. anderson’s clockwork angels, which is a novelization of rush’s album of the same name :}

6. What’s the last thing you read that made you laugh?

okay this shows how badly i need to play catch up with everyone’s writing because of work, because i believe it was the “awful game of footsie” line from gluku’s and you do turn away (that whole scene is so good but that one line still sneaks up on me and makes me snicker)

10. Mutual pining or enemies to friends to lovers?

it honestly depends on the ship and the setting? because sometimes “please god just ask them out you fucking doofus” is just so fun to write. i’ve personally not tried enemies to lovers in any kind of capacity, as far as i remember, but who knows that might change. and i really like reading both! :)

17. Describe a fic that is still in the ‘ideas’ stage.

i’ve been drawn in with the siren song of melmord and he’s been sitting around in my brain rent free, so i’ve been thinking of doing something maaaybe with him and charles when they were much, much younger, like college-ish or so.

19. What’s your favorite character headcanon?

oooh there are so many in this fandom i really like? idk it’s so funny that some dudebro [as] show has so many lgbt headcanons that have like full on canon basis, but it’s always really nice to see those period you know?

20. Do you have a favorite fanfic or author? If so, tag them/post a link and share the love!

god i have so many, because i casually wandered into a fandom full of ridiculously talented people so uhhh let’s go...

@lampmeeting

@insomniac-pens

@pikaflute

@wumbo-calling

@gluku-pikron

you!! :p

and honestly just about every piece of writing i’ve encountered has been amazing so like...all those people too

[clarey-potter]

★ Catch-up tag game

Rules: tag some people you want to know better or you want to catch up with!! thank u @softlystarstruck

Favourite Colour: loyalty dictates i say yellow (has been my favorite color since the yellow power ranger was my favorite power ranger). but like.... i also really like dusty rose. and teal

Last Song: “the plan (fuck jobs)” by the front bottoms

Currently Reading: Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (the original dune books are sadly so, so much better and while his son tried his best the characters are SO STUPID i cry. but i’m committed now and i wanna see how they were supposed to end, at least the plot was planned out by frank herbert) and also Taming Draco Malfoy by becstar7 haha. also Super Natural Simple by Heidi Swanson if cookbooks count and erm Medical Medium by Anthony William

Currently Watching: The Witcher

Sweet/Spicy/Savoury: can i just say crunchy???? i love salty/crunchy things so. much. but also sweet stuff (mainly chocolate tbh)

Currently Craving: those salt and pepper kettle chips

Tea/Coffee: i love both but i drink tea a lot more often these days

tagging (only if you guys want to!): @cartificial @moondraconis @triggerlil @chuckandpuppy @chellamour

#thank u bee!!!! #it was fun reading your answers #i love the fact that youre reading like a billion things at any given time #lady after my own heart #also #a librarian???? so cool #tag game

[homenecromancer]

one thing about Dune that’s still really refreshing is that there are only a few references to things a modern reader would find familiar — like, the planet Earth is only referred to in passing, in an adjectival form, as the original home of animals now found on Dune. as the books go on, there are more references to, like, real-world political figures — but there’s a science-fiction excuse, in the form of Other Memory, for why the characters making these references would know these names.

like, this is a thing that Brian Herbert + Kevin J. Anderson notably fail at in their sequel/prequel novels. it is compelling and makes sense if your characters who live 10,000+ years from “now” don’t even know what Earth is. it’s not relevant to their lives! 10,000 years is a long fucking time! but no, Brian Herbert + Kevin J. Anderson reference multiple real-world artists (like Van Gogh) in their first Dune sequel, and then things get dumber from there

#marlowe talks dune #these are My Personal Opinions and are not rly generalizable #like i fuckin looooove the locked tomb series. which has multiple meme references per book! #(and they ALSO have an in-fiction excuse for why these turns of phrase show up) #hmmmm that half glass of prosecco is kicking my ass i guess

[wizardrynerd0]

So yes I am completely new to this so don't make fun of me or I will fucking cry :)

So recently on about Tuesday elliot page formerly known as Ellen Page came out as transgender and non binary. And it's really beautiful to me if you ask me

So I just thought I would go ahead and share the history of this fine gentlemen :)

.

Elliot page was born February 21st 1987 in Halifax Regional Municipality Canada

Some shows/movies he was in

⬇️

Elliot page starred in "the wet season" (2002) as a portrayed character named Jocelyn also featuring Maury Chaykin and Valerie Buhagiar (elliot page was 15 years old at the time)

Elliot page starred in "marion bridge" (2002) portrayed as a character named Joanie also featuring molly parker and Marguerite McNeil(elliot page was 15 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "Touch & Go" as a portrayed character named Trish also featuring Cassie MacDonald and Patricia Zentilli (elliot page was 16 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "love that boy" (2003) as a portrayed character named Suzanna also featuring Nadia Litz and Adrien Dixon (elliot page was 16 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "wilby wonderful" (2004) as a portrayed character named Emily anderson also featuring Paul Gross, Sandra Oh and Rebecca Jenkins (elliot page was 17 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "hard candy" (2005) as a portrayed character named Hayley Stark also featuring Patrick Wilson and Sandra Oh (elliot page was 18 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "mouth to mouth" (2005) portrayed as a character named sherry also featuring Natasha Wightman and August Diehl (elliot page was 18 at the time)

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Elliot page starred in "X-Men: last stand" (2006) portrayed as a character named kitty pryde also featuring Hugh Jackman and Famke Janssen (elliot page was 19 at the time)

Elliot paged starred in "an american crime" (2007) portrayed as a character named sylvia likens also featuring Catherine Keener and Ari Graynor (elliot page was 20 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "juno" (2007) portrayed as a character named Juno McGuff also featuring Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and J. K. Simmons (elliot page was 20 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "The Tracey Fragments" (2007) portrayed as a character named tracey berkowitz also featuring Maxwell McCabe-Lokos and Ari Cohen (elliot page was 20 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "the stone angel" (2007) portrayed as a character named arlene simmons also featuring Ellen Burstyn and Dylan Baker (elliot page was 20 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "smart people" (2008) portrayed as a character named Vanessa weatherhold also featuring Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church (elliot page was 21 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "whip it" (2009) portrayed as a character named Bliss cavendar also featuring Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig (elliot page was 22 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "peacock" (2010) portrayed as a character named Maggie Bailey also featuring Cillian Murphy and Susan Sarandon (elliot page was 23 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "inception" (2010) portrayed as a character named ariadne also featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (elliot page was 23 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "super" (2010) portrayed as a character named Libby/ boltie also featuring Rainn Wilson, Kevin Bacon and Liv Tyler (elliot page was 23 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "to Rome with love" (2012) portrayed as a character named Monica also featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Allen (elliot page was 25 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "the east" (2013) portrayed as a character named Lizzy also featuring Brit Marling and Alexander Skarsgård (elliot page was 26 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "touchy feely" (2013) portrayed as a character named Jenny also featuring Rosemarie DeWitt and Allison Janney (elliot page was 26 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "X-Men: days of future past" (2014) portrayed as a character named kitty pryde also featuring Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender (elliot page was 27 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "tiny detectives" (2014) portrayed as a character named detective Ellen also featuring Kate Mara and David Marciano (elliot page was 27 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "into the forest" (2015) portrayed as a character named Nell also featuring Evan Rachel Wood and Max Minghella (elliot page was 28 at the time)

Elliot page starred in and was the producer of "freeheld' (2015) portrayed as a character named Stacie andee also featuring Julianne Moore, Steve Carell and Michael Shannon (elliot page was 28 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "tallulah" (2016) portrayed as a character named tallulah also featuring Allison Janney and Tammy Blanchard (elliot page was 29 at the time)

Elliot page starred in and was the producer of "my days of mercy" (2017) portrayed as a character named Lucy Morrow also featuring Kate Mara and Amy Seimetz (elliot page was 30 at the time)

Elliot starred in and was also the producer of "the cured" (2017) portrayed as a character named Abby also featuring Sam Keeley and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (elliot page was 30 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "flatliners" (2017) portrayed as a character named Courtney Holmes also featuring Kiefer Sutherland and Nina Dobrev (elliot page was 30 at the time)

Elliot page starred in "umbrella Academy" (2019) portrayed as a character named Vanya Hargreeves also featuring Robert Sheehan Aidan Gallagher (elliot page was 32 when started)

Some Facts about elliot page

⬇️

Elliot page married Emma Portner back in 2018

On February 14th 2014 "Ellen" page came out as homosexual

December 1st 2020 elliot page came out as transgender and non binary

Elliot page is 5'1

Elliot page is a Pisces

Elliot page is vegan, in 2014 peta named elliot and Jared leto the sexiest vegetarians of the year

Elliot page has a net worth at $14,000,000

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If I missed something let me know :)

#transgender #trans rights #celebrities #movies #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtq community

[wulfhalls]

I wrote a whole essay in a tiktok arguement to justify why the Brian Herbert books were bad 😔🙏

u only need to read like 3 pages into anything he and kevin j anderson have written to know that 😭 money obsessed incompetent fucking shills both of them 😒

#asks #dune #still sexi of u to fight the good fight 🙌

[atamascolily]

Extremely subjective opinions about Star Wars planets

Inspired by @carmarthenfan. I did my top ten faves, and then gave up trying to put these in order, so they're literally in the order they occurred to me.

(This is not conclusive; I left a bunch out. There are a lot of Star Wars planets, y’all.)

1. Tatooine.

Iconic. Terrible place to live. Great place for making your characters suffer. Who cares that the ecology makes no sense when you have wide open spaces, exposed rock layers and salt flats, and a rockin' aesthetic? Not to mention wretched hives of scum and villainy and also, like, ACTUAL DRAGONS.

(Thesis: literally half of what makes ANH so compelling is that it's set on Tatooine.)

2. Yavin IV (Legends)

AKA Jedi Jungle Friendship Camp or Space Guatemala. If I was going to live anywhere in the GFFA, it'd be here. Temple ruins (even if they are infested with Sith ghosts), hot springs, rainforests, biodiversity, awesome eclipses and a giant blood-red gas giant constantly overhead, not much in the way of development... what's not to like? (Okay, the Sith ghosts are a problem, but they got rid of those eventually.)

3. "Forest moon" of Endor, ROTJ

Redwood forests are awesome. I'd totally live in an Ewok treehouse. They're the only place in the galaxy with handrails!!

4. Coruscant

I'd probably hate to live there, but it's a great setting for fic. A surprisingly large amount of wildlife and plant life, despite the rampant development. Epic architecture, lots of culture, Luke has a cool retreat in the Manarai Mountains and Han and Kyp go skiing at the poles. Home of "the room where it happens".  

(most of my fics to date are set on Tatooine, Yavin or Coruscant, lol)

5. Alderaan

Too bad the Empire blew it up. :( IDK about the whole Killik business, but Space Switzerland seems great, and I'd live there in a heartbeat. An actual multi-biome world, wow! I should write more fics about this place.

6. Myrkr (Legends)

Jungle planet with metallic trees and furry, Force-repelling lizards. Also giant vornskrs that use the Force to hunt. Don't forget Talon Karrde's awesome tree base!

7. Dagobah

I love this place, even if living there would be a challenge. Actually kinda has a functioning ecology in canon. Love the sheer abundance of snakes, plus dragonsnakes and the mangrove-like gnarltrees, which are the adult form of giant white spiders (I love plant-animal weirdness like this).

8. Mulako Comet (Legends)

Not technically a planet, but how can you not love a resort carved out of a giant frozen comet HOW. 10/10, we stan. The perfect place for a romantic getaway, especially if you are a water nerd like Luke.

9. Vjun (Legends)

The Gothiest goth place ever to Goth. Has names like "River Weeping" and carnivorous moss that nibbles on Obi-wan. <3. Vader's Goth castle was originally here before the writers moved it to Mustafar.

10. Honoghr (Legends)

Another terrible place to live, thanks to the Empire's sabotage, but I love there's actually an attempt at an ecological plot line here (Timothy Zahn is surprisingly good at those). A single biome world, but for a legit (and sad) reason. I should write some fics about this place.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Corellia (Legends) - It's okay, I guess? I'm not sure how I feel about the Corellian trilogy in general, but there are some things with the Selonians and the Drall that could be interesting for fic? Also, Treasure Ship Row is cool.  

Kessel (Legends) - Hell-realm. Not sure if Kevin J. Anderson's "glitterstim" is the same as "spice," but Han and Kyp have to fight off giant spiders in the dark underground mine, which is certainly dramatic. Had a moon until a prototype Death Star blew it up.

Ithor (Legends) - JUNGLE PLANET POPULATED BY BOTANY NERDS, SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. But they won't let you actually explore the surface, because it's sacrilege. :(

Belsavis (Legends) - Hoth on the surface, Yavin in the rift valleys (but with, like, plantations), plus underground tunnels full of monsters and Jedi artifacts. Home of a secret Jedi botany master and his plant friends, so I'm in favor.

Chad (Legends) - Mostly ocean planet--I guess Space Earthsea, but with more geological activity? Callista makes it sound dreamy and idyllic in her flashbacks, but all the native Chadra-Fan are trying to GTFO, so I dunno.

Nam Chorios (Legends) -Like Tatooine, I would probably hate living there, but it's a great setting for a fic. The perpetual twilight would get old fast, but I love the terraformed ecology, the sentient rocks and the Force storms. Drochs are super creepy, though.

Hijarna (Legends) - There are ruins and sweeping vistas. What can I say, Karrde knows how to pick a secret base. :)

Dathomir (Legends) - Rancors have to be native to somewhere, so why not Dathomir? Courtship of Princess Leia is hokey and weird as all get-out, but it did give us Teneniel Djo, and I love her.

Hapes (Legends) -100% better at you than everything, and they know it. Leave them to it.

Yavin 8 (Legends) - Giant snakes and giant eagles... who literally eat children. Kinda weird being in a place where humanoids are on the bottom of the food chain. Love the Melodies' amphibious lifestyle, though.

Wayland (Legends) - Endor with the serial numbers filed off. Still love it, though. And Palpatine built a lair in a giant mountain! Props to him.

Ryloth (Legends) - sounds like an actual hell realm, but a desert planet? One half in perpetual sun, one half in perpetual darkness, and only a very narrow habitable zone? I’m game.

Msst (Legends) - Terrible, if accurate, name. All we ever see is the eponymous mist, plus giant pink creatures that numb you with poison and devour you alive.  Brakiss's home planet. No wonder he hates everything. On the plus side, his mom got to see Luke Skywalker naked, so good for her.

Kashyyyk - TREE WORLD, WE GO HARD (part II). Except I don't think the Wookiees have handrails, do they?

Hoth - Ice, ice, baby. Ecology makes no sense; it's a fucking glacier. I would hate living there, but I've read so many fluff fics about snowfall fights and sex in X-wings and supply closets that I feel a kind of fondness for it.

Byss (Legends) - Dark. Hidden. Secret. Goth as fuck. I like it. Exegol, but with more class.

Ahch-To - Skellig Michael is great, but too recognizable as itself to really be a good stand-in for somewhere else. Puffins are better than porgs. Great place to hide, but I stand by my claims that the Jedi order could not have arisen there. Love the aesthetic. The Caretakers deserved way better!  

Naboo - Space Italy. Would definitely live there. Closest thing we see to Dinotopia in the GFFA. (Tell me Theed isn't Waterfall City!)

Kef Bir - why not just let the original forest moon have multiple biomes? It's okay to have multiple-biome worlds, I promise, we wont get confused. Epic sweeping grasslands, steep cliffs, massive waves. I love what little we see of it.

Crait - you're going to film a Star War on the Bolivian salt flats and NOT make an epic dream sequence with the night sky reflected on the salt?? What. Hoth with red dust. Crystal foxes look like Vulpix from Pokemon, and I like them.

Ilum - cool ice planet gets turned into planet-destroying superweapon and blown up. Not a fan.

Bespin - I don't know about the ecology, but 10/10 for aesthetics.

Nal Hutta / Nar Shaddaa - Ecological disaster. Gross and full of Hutts.

Niraun (Legends) - I don't like caves and that's pretty much all we see. Especially if those caves are filled with carnivorous hordes of Space Army Ants.

Gamorr (Legends) - "Procedures programs for visiting Gamorr consist of a single line: DO NOT VISIT GAMORR. Really!” Especially do not visit in the season known as "slushtime".

Af'El (Legends) - I know very little about it, but it seems cool? "The Dark World". Home planet of the "wraiths" (Defel) and the homunculus wasps.  

Kijimi - "Disneyworld with space facism". Swirling snow and stone looks cool at night. Too bad that fight scene was such a mess. 

Takodana - it's the English Lake District, I'm never going to be able to suspend my disbelief to believe it's anything else.

D'Qar / Ajan Kloss - Yavin IV knockoffs. If you want me to care, you're gonna have to give me something better.

Exegol -  this “planet” is just a CGI soundstage with a floating pyramid/arena whatever, and lightning. Weather instantly improved when Palpatine died, which strongly suggested he liked it that way. Knockoff Byss.

Mustafar - Literal hell-realm. Lava does not work like that. And apparently, ROTS insists it also has snow and trees, which seems like a little too late.

Canto Bight - you'd think people with that much money would have a better-looking planet. ughhhh.

#star wars #ecology #fictional natural history #fic ideas

[gunnerpalace]

hey there! so i used to be a huge fan of bleach, and loved ichiruki, and i was reminded of them today but i haven't been involved with the fandom since the series ended. however, i've heard of different variations of why the series ended/ships happened the way they did, and was wondering if you knew or could direct to me a post that explains that? i apologize if i'm bringing up bitter feelings, but i've always been curious if bleach's ending was a big FU from kubo or if he always intended rr/ih

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a post that really goes over it structurally in that kind of way (from a shipping perspective). I’ll get back to what you actually asked me after some asides, because it’s not so simple to just analyze the ships in a vacuum.

I’ve had my own post about why the ending was a fuck you moment, thematically, because it failed to resolve any of the themes and momentum of the series in a way that would be appropriate (either internally or in the context of the supposed genre of shounen.)

I would also say that the ending was a fuck you moment in terms of lore, backstory, and mystery, because all of the historical and political dimensions (i.e., things involving the Soul King and Great Houses) were unceremoniously shuffled off to Can’t Fear Your Own World. Not that any of those things were ever brought up properly in the manga to begin with; the proper and natural time for that would’ve been at the conclusion of the Soul Society arc, when Ichigo and co. spent a week there, which we saw none of. So I would say that everything in CFYOW is basically retconned bullshit hung off prior convenient plot hooks, and that the same was true of TYBW and LSS/TLA/Xcution as well. There may have been some notes and forethought, but it’s about as “valid” as Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert’s Dune works are compared to the original Frank Herbert ones; it’s second-hand, at best.

(This is setting aside that Bleach was clearly made up as it went along. For example: Noriaki literally admitted that he didn’t know who had killed Aizen in Soul Society until he realized that Aizen not being dead was the most shocking answer; the clear baiting and abandonment of Kisuke as the villain hinted at through various means such as his unclear and later retconned reasons for being exiled, and so on. Bleach was very much a J. J. Abrams-style mystery box work that was made as it went with, at best, rough notes, which is why its themes and focus change, for the worse. I also have a post about why it stopped being special, which is part of a running series I intend to write on how to rewrite it to fix and preserve that)

The best recent thing to compare it to is, really, HBO’s adaptation of Game of Thrones, wherein D. B. Weiss and David Benioff openly admitted to removing or deemphasizing story elements, and ignoring themes in adapting the work. The difference is that Bleach was not being adapted from anything; it degraded due to its own creator not understanding what he had created.

(To put it very simply, because this would be the point of Hyperchlorate Part II and would take a whole post to explain: the ending of the Soul Society arc did not properly establish and flesh out Soul Society as a place with a history, space, and purpose. Instead, the Arrancar and Hueco Mundo arcs decided to be a thematic inversion and deconstruction of the Karakura and Soul Society arcs. This again had an ending that did not establish or flesh anything out after Aizen’s defeat, with an even greater diffusion of focus onto ancillary characters. The Xcution arc tripled down on this by addressing something entirely new and retconned in, only to abandon it midway through in favor of going back to invoking Soul Society. And Thousand-Year Blood War took all of these problems to 11. tl;dr: Noriaki tried themes, people hated it, and so he just shoved in more and more dumb sword fights between people nobody cared about, half of whom hadn’t previously existed.)

So, let’s get back to your question. Let’s talk about ships. I’ve clicked a lot of keys and spilled a lot of ink on this subject over the years, but I no longer particularly feel like searching my own archives (really ought to go back through and organize them better) beyond this post and my own follow-up to it about the chronology of IR interactions, so I’m just going to repeat myself.

First, let’s say that Bleach was not ever a manga about ships.

I’m not disavowing that what Rukia and Ichigo had was special. That was called out multiple times through the focus of the art, the dialogue, and by the characters themselves. (Directly by, for example, Orihime’s outright statement to the effect in Soul Society, and her later jealousy regarding it. Indirectly by, say, Uryuu’s acknowledgement that him saving Rukia first would piss Ichigo off. In fact, the biggest indirect indicator doesn’t even involve Ichigo and Rukia; Shunsui asks Chad why he’s there and Chad says he wants to save Rukia, Shunsui calls bullshit that two months isn’t enough time to risk your life for that, and Chad agrees and says he’s there because Ichigo wants to do it. Shunsui moves on, but his argument is left hanging: why was two months enough for Ichigo? Because, as Orihime will later say out loud, Rukia is special.)

What I’m saying is that that was never the focus. It was explicitly constructed that way.

How do I know? The Grand Fisher fight. The Grand Fisher fight is emotionally charged, bringing up both Ichigo and Rukia’s greatest traumas, and is their one real moment of not understanding each other for a time. It was a triumphant moment that made them truly glad to know one another, and you can see it in their reactions afterward (Rukia thanking Ichigo for not dying, Ichigo asking Rukia if he can keep being a Shinigami). There was a lot to unpack there, and you can see it in the way they look at each other.

What happened immediately after the Grand Fisher fight? Noriaki skipped a whole month. We go from June 18th of 2001 to July 17th of 2001. He deliberately skipped all of the emotional impact of that event, and Rukia being around for Ichigo’s 16th birthday. Just never happened. We never hear about it. Wasn’t his focus as a writer.

Now, I’m convinced that was because he was scared of what he had on his hands. He wasn’t willing to commit to either a couple’s battle shoujo or a shounen with male and female seemingly-heterosexual co-equal deuteragonists who clearly had a strong emotional bond. More specifically, he wasn’t willing to make Rukia a centerpiece of the manga despite having designed her first, having made her the moral and philosophical core of his manga, and having based Ichigo entirely around completing and complementing her. But hey, that’s just my opinion, right? Except it kept happening.

From the Grand Fisher fight onward, the name of the game in the manga, structurally, became keeping Ichigo and Rukia apart.

The moment she was taken back to Soul Society, her prominence dropped. We got emotionally charged scenes of them regardless. Right at the conclusion, after yet another emotionally heavy set of Ichigo and Rukia interactions, we again skip almost a month, from the end of the first week in August of 2001 to September 1, 2001. (Due to some completely unnecessary timey-wimey bullshit with the Precipice World.)

In the Arrancar and Hueco Mundo arcs, they have roughly a day together over the course of three months. What happens after every meeting? They’re shuffled apart and split up, and we cut away. This time, for over a year!

Ichigo and Rukia again have a very emotionally charged meeting in the Xcution arc. And what happens at the end of that arc? We skip ahead another month to TYBW. (Xcution ended sometime in May of 2003, TYBW starts June 11, 2003.)

And in TYBW, Rukia and Ichigo barely meet up at all. Indeed, the focus is scarcely upon them.

In CFYOW, neither of them even appear, let alone have any relevance to the plot.

The implication, in my opinion, is pretty obvious: Noriaki was deathly afraid of dealing with the outcomes of their interactions, and that ultimately became him being deathly afraid of allowing them to interact at all to begin with. Why? Well, as I said in one of the last linked posts:

As an author, sometimes you will find your characters will do things you didn’t anticipate or plan for, and you’ve got two choices: you can go with the flow and do what’s natural and deal, or you can fight it and try and impose your vision anyway.

He refused to let his art take the direction it needed to go in.

Now, some people might say he got bored of them, or of having them together. I say that’s bullshit. And the reason I say is down to three things:

He didn’t ignore them, he did his best to keep them apart. I outlined this above.

He did not emphasize anything or anyone else instead. His focus was all over the place. While, admittedly, Ichigo’s prominence also declined, so did everyone else’s.

It would have served him well to focus on their interactions to expand his universe and explore its lore. The things that were detailed in the databooks and CFYOW could’ve been presented naturally and easily if they were together. But that came with a cost of shifting the focus. A cost he refused to pay.

Let’s talk more about (2) and (3) now.

Regarding (2), Chad and Orihime are inextricably linked in Bleach, because they essentially have the same relationship to Ichigo. “But Orihime loves Ichigo, and Chad is his no-homo bro!” someone proclaims. So what? They’re presented as equal and parallel at every step.

They both gain their powers at approximately the same time.

We are told they gained their powers due to the Hogyouku (in Rukia at the time) interpreting their wishes (and no one else’s, such as Tatsuki, Keigo, or Mizuiro), meaning they probably had the same strength of desire.

They both go to Soul Society “for Ichigo.”

They both utterly fail against Yammy and Ulquiorra.

They both spend most of the Hueco Mundo arc doing nothing.

They are both featured prominently in the Xcution arc, and both fail to see through Tsukishima’s powers despite their love for Ichigo. (Meanwhile, Byakuya coolly tries to murder someone who he thinks is his mentor, in Ichigo’s name.)

They both get sidelined in Hueco Mundo with Kisuke in TYBW, doing little to nothing.

They both are utterly ineffectual in the final fight in TYBW.

They are often portrayed together, they are often as effective as one another, and they are equally as developed in their relationship to Ichigo going forward, which is to say: not at all. The loss of focus on IR did not come with an attendant rise of focus on IH, any more than it did with the sudden rise of IchiChad. Nothing was built in IR’s place. There was no emotional or human content which filled its gap.

This is where the IH ending coming “out of nowhere” stems from: it indeed came out of nowhere, because Ichigo was never shown to have any interest in Orihime in all this time, nor an especially close relationship with her. He never hangs out with Chad or shows a bond with him either. He never hangs out with anyone, in fact. (Indeed, “friends” in Bleach do not do any of the things that friends actually do in real life. Nor do parents. You might say that interpersonal relationships and communication largely don’t exist in Bleach. But that’s its whole own topic.)

I would honestly say that more time and emphasis was given on Ichigo’s pseudo-surrogate mother relationship with Ikumi than was spent on him interacting with Orihime. (I would say Noriaki has serious hangups about relationships of any kind, be they romantic, familial, or friendly, and also has some severe hangups regarding mothers and fathers, but that is also its whole own topic.)

Regarding (3), Noriaki apparently wanted this big, Game of Thrones-style world with a long history and political machinations and so on. This is the whole point of TYBW and CFYOW. Trouble is, early Bleach was successful because of its small-scale intimacy. So how do you go from one to the other? You have to lay the foundations at every step. And Noriaki steadfastly refused to do so at every step. Having Ichigo and Rukia interact, and focusing on Rukia while Ichigo was sidelined without powers, would’ve permitted that organically. Indeed, if RR was the endgame, it would have given time to establish that, were it his desire. (Because Rukia never showed any interest in Renji, and frankly Renji always seemed way more preoccupied with Byakuya.) It didn’t serve his goals, but he did it anyway.

It’s much simpler to say he lost focus, and that he started to hate the manga as a whole. Why else would you have Mayuri fighting a giant hand when that achieved nothing, and Kenpachi fighting Thor when that achieved nothing? It became empty. Hollow, you might say.

But that takes us back to the question you posed: where did the ships come from? Nowhere. IH, RR, and fucking TatsuKeigo weren’t established anywhere. They just appeared. Why?

Well, why did every single character wind up doing the exact opposite of their intended and stated goals in the end?

Why did Soul Society revert to its previous attitude and rebuild the Sokyouku?

Why did nothing get resolved?

Why did nothing change?

Why was it all revealed to have been completely and utterly pointless?

In my view, it’s because that ending was a giant fuck you to the readership and Shueisha. There is no other way to interpret an author pulling a 180° and completely nullifying their characters’ arcs, and their work’s themes. Aizen’s little speech at the end is the cherry on top. I read it as Noriaki saying that he’s showing “courage” in telling us all to fuck off.

As to why? That’s an open question. His relationship with Shueisha was contentious, so maybe he was mad at them. (They gave him a deadline once he was dragging his feet, and reclassified Bleach as a joke manga.) His readership was on the decline after the Soul Society arc ended, so maybe he was mad at the audience. I don’t know. I also don’t really care. What I am convinced of is he decided to blow up his franchise and to not leave a single stone unturned when he did so.

That’s where that “ending” comes from, which is why despite it featuring IH and RR, both are thoroughly unsatisfying and without setup: it was the only way to piss absolutely everyone off, including people who wanted that outcome.

In a way, it was his greatest success since the early days of the manga.

Anyway, this was messy, but it’s not a simple topic to address. The tl;dr is that Bleach was a trainwreck from the very beginning that only succeeded on the merits of its characters, and that Noriaki deliberately avoided the promise it had to be something unique and grand. The ships are just a part of that, and cannot be understood in isolation from it.

#Asks #Bleach

[aslanjadecarlyle]

Master List of Black Creators, Owners, & Public Figures

Master List of Black Creators, Owners, & Public Figures

DISCLAIMER: I am fucking whiter than white. I compiled this list to boost black creators and public figures, but if I am overstepping at all PLEASE let me know! 

Also, I tried to research these in a timely manner. If anyone in these lists is problematic or should not be supported, let me know. :)

(Of course, this is only a TINY portion! Feel free to add more names, businesses, and creators!)

——

Activists:

•Naomi Anderson

•Maya Angelou

•James Baldwin

•Lillie Mae Bradford

•Mari Copeny

•Frederick Douglass

•Ruth Ellis

•Erica Garner

•Alicia Garza

•Ernest Green

•Fannie Lou Hamer

•Frances Harper

•Langston Hughes

•Marsha P. Johnson

•Alberta Odell Jones

•Quincy Jones

•Martin Luther King Jr.

•Audre Lorde

•Bree Newsome

•Huey P. Newton

•Rosa Parks

-Bayard Rustin

•Sojourner Truth

•Harriet Tubman

•Madam C.J. Walker

•Ida B. Wells

•Malcolm X

Actors/Actresses & Directors:

•Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

•James Avery

•Angela Bassett

•Halle Berry

•John Boyega

•Levar Burton

•Nick Cannon

•Michael Clarke Duncan

•Zendaya Coleman

•Terry Crews

•Viola Davis

•Idris Elba

•Jamie Foxx

•Morgan Freeman

•Whoopi Goldberg

•Tiffany Haddish

•Skai Jackson

•William Jackson Harper

•Kevin Hart

•Steve Harvey

•Jennifer Hudson

•Ice Cube

•Spike Lee

•Phill Lewis

•Bernie Mac

•Eddie Murphy

•Keke Palmer

•James Pickens Jr.

•Chris Rock

•Will Smith

•Raven Symonè

•Denzel Washington

•Jesse Williams

•Chandra Wilson

•Oprah Winfrey

•John Witherspoon

Authors & Poets:

•Elizabeth Acevedo

•Tomi Adeyemi

•Kwame Alexander

•Maya Angelou

•Rena Barron

•Paula Chase

•Dhonielle Clayton

•Brandy Colbert

•Jay Coles

•Dana Davis

•Tanita S. Davis

•Sharon M. Draper

•Paul Laurence Dunbar

•Akwaeke Emezi

•Sharon G. Flake

•Kristina Forest

•L.R. Giles

•Whitney D. Grandison

•Nikki Grimes

•Justina Ireland

•Tiffany D. Jackson

•Kimberly Jones

•Claire Kann

•Kekla Magoon

•Janice Lynn Mather

•Tony Medina

•Candice Montgomery

•David Barclay Moore

•Britney Morris

•Bethany C. Morrow

•Greg Neri

•Nnedi Okorafor

•Tochi Onyebuchi

•Morgan Parker

•Junauda Petrus

•Ben Philippe

•Jason Reynolds

•Debbie Rigaud

•Ilyasah Shabazz

•Nic Stone

•Liara Tamani

•Mildred D. Taylor

•Angie Thomas

•Brian F. Walker

•Booker T. Washington

•Renée Watson

•Alicia Williams

•August Wilson

•C.E. Wilson

•Ashley Woodfolk

•Jacqueline Woodson

•Nicola Yoon

•Ibi Aanu Zoboi

Black-Owned Bookstores:

•Grassrootz Bookstore (Phoenix, AZ)

•Eso Won Books (Los Angeles, CA)

•Malik Books (Los Angeles, CA)

•Marcus Books (Oakland, CA)

•Shades of Afrika (Long Beach, CA)

•Shop At Matter (Denver, CO)

•Pyramid Books (Boynton Beach, FL)

•For Keeps Books (Atlanta, GA)

•Bunnie Hillard (Decatur, GA)

•Challenges Games & Comics (Decatur, GA)

•Semicolon (Chicago, IL)

•Wild Fig Books (Lexington, KY)

•Frugal Bookstore (Boston, MA)

•Loyalty Books (Silver Springs, MD)

•Loving Me Books (Detroit, MI)

•Source Booksellers (Detroit, MI)

•Mind’s Eye Comics (Burnsville, MN)

•Eye See Me (St. Louis, MO)

•Source of Knowledge (Newark, NJ)

•The Lit Bar (The Bronx, NY)

•Cafe Con Libros (Brooklyn, NY)

•Megabrain Comics (Rhinebeck, NY)

•The Schomburg Shop (Harlem, NY)

•Sister’s Uptown (New York, NY)

•Fulton Street Books (Tulsa, OK)

•Third Eye Bag (Portland, OR)

•Amalgam Comics (Philadelphia, PA)

•Harriett’s Bookshop (Philadelphia, PA)

•Uncle Bobbie’s (Philadelphia, PA)

•Turning Page Bookshop (Goose Creek, SC)

•Black Pearl Books (Austin, TX)

•The Dock (Fort Worth, TX)

•Loyalty Books (Washington DC)

•MahoganyBooks (Washington DC)

Other Black-Owned Businesses:

•228 Grant Street Candle Company (228grantstreet.com)

•Aamir Graphics (jaizthedesigner.mystrikingly.com)

•Ailey Extension (aileyextension.com)

•Aminah Abdul Jillil (aminahabdujillil.com)

•Anya Lust (anyalust.com)

•AphroChic (aphrochic.com)

•Basbaas Foods (basbaassauce.com)

•Beauty Bakerie (beautybakerie.com)

•Beauty Stat Cosmetics (beautystatcosmetics.com)

•BedStuyFly (bedstuyfly.com)

•Bel Lumière (thebellumiereco.com)

•Beneath Your Mask (beneathyourmask.com)

•Black Enterprise (blackenterprise.com)

•Black Girl Sunscreen (blackgirlsunscreen.com)

•Black Girls Run (blackgirlsrun.com)

•The Black Home (theblackhome.com)

•Black Pepper Paperie Company (shopbpco.com)

•Blavity (blavity.com)

•BLK MKT Vintage (blkmktvintage.com)

•Body Space Fitness (bodyspacefitness.com)

•Bold Xchange (boldxchange.com)

•Bolé Road Textiles (boleroadtextiles.com)

•Briogeo (briogeohair.com)

•Brooklyn Circus (thebkcircus.com)

•Brooklyn Tea (brooklyntea.com)

•Brother Vellies (brothervellies.com)

•Camille Rose (camillerose.com)

•Carlis Design Studio LLC (carlisdesignstudio.net)

•Castamira (castamira.com)

•CBAAF (comebackasaflower.com)

•Celsious (celsious.com)

•Cherry Blossom Intimates (cherryblossomintimates.com)

•Clare (clare.com)

•Cool and Casual Studios (coolandcasualstudios.com)

•CurlBox (curlbox.com)

•CurlMix (curlmix.com)

•Curls (curls.biz)

•Cushnie (cushnie.com)

•Custom Collaborative (customcollaborative.org)

•Diop (weardiop.com)

•Divine Nature Cosmetics (divinenaturecosmetics.com)

•Drift Taxi (thedrifttaxi.com)

•Edas (edas.store)

•Effortless Composition (effortlesscomposition.com)

•Essence (essence.com)

•Esusu (esusurent.com)

•Fix My Resume Services (fixmyresume.net)

•Flat Fifteen (flatfifteen.co.uk)

•Flaunt It Beauty Supply (flauntitbeautysupply.com)

•The Folklore (shopthefolklore.com)

•FUBU (fubu.com)

•Golde (golde.co)

•Golden Krust (goldekrust.com)

•Goodee (goodeeworld.com)

•Grillz and Granola (grillzandgranola.com)

•Hanahana Beauty (hanahanabeauty.com)

•Haus Urban (hausurban.com)

•HealHaus (healhaus.com)

•House of Aama (houseofaama.com)

•Iconoclast Fitness (iconoclastfitness.com)

•Ilé Ilà (ile-ila.com)

•International Smoke (internationalsmoke.com)

•Johanna Howard Home (johannahoward.com)

•Jones Bar-B-Q (jonesbbqkc.com)

•Jungalow (jungalow.com)

•Justice of the Pies (justiceofthepies.com)

•Kahmune (kahmune.com)

•KAI (kaicollective.com)

•KNC Beauty (kncbeauty.com)

•Kutula by Africana (shopkutula.com)

•Label by Three (labelbythree.com)

•LaQuan Smith (laquansmith.com)

•Lauren Napier Beauty (laurennapier.com)

•The Lip Bar (thelipbar.com)

•Lit Bklyn (litbklyn.co)

•Local European (localeuropean.com)

•Love Notes Fragrances (lovenotesfragrances.com)

•LUXE Honeymoons (luxe-honeymoons.com)

•Maison Noir Wines (maisonnoirwines.com)

•Maki Oh (makioh.com)

•Malene B (malenebarnett.com)

•Manual (manualphoto.com)

•Marché Rue Dix (marcheruedix.com)

•Marie Burgos Collection (marieburgosdesignthestore.com)

•Market*TING (market-ting.com)

•Mateo New York (mateonewyork.com)

•McBride Sisters Collection (mcbridesisters.com)

•Melanin Haircare (melaninhaircare.com)

•Mented Cosmetics (mentedcosmetics.com)

•MyaVana (myavana.com)

•Nandi Naya (nandinayanyc.com)

•Natty Garden (nattygarden.com)

•Neighborhood Fiber Co. (neighborhoodfiberco.com)

•Nerdz World (nerdzworld.com)

•NightLight Pediatric (nightlightpediatrics.com)

•Nude Barre (nudebarre.com)

•Octave Jewelry (octavejewelry.com)

•Oma the Label (omathelabel.com)

•Orange Culture (orangeculture.com.ng)

•OUI The People (ouithepeople.com)

•Partake Foods (partakefoods.com)

•Pat McGrath Labs (patmcgrath.com)

•Peace & Riot (peaceandriot.com)

•Peju Obasa (pejuobasa.com)

•People of Color Beauty (peopleofcolorbeauty.com)

•Pipcorn (pipsnacks.com)

•Post-Imperial (post-imperial.com)

•Pottery by Osa (potterybyosa.com)

•Rebecca Allen (rebecca-allen.com)

•Red Bay Coffee (redbaycoffee.com)

•Reparations Club (rep.club)

•Riot Swim (riotswim.com)

•Rochelle Porter (rochelleporter.com)

•See Line Ceramics (seelineceramics.com)

•Sheila Bridges (sheilabridges.com)

•Sincerely, Tommy (sincerelytommy.com)

•The Sip (thesipsociety.com)

•The Sixes (thesixes.com)

•Slashed by Tia (slashedbytia.net)

•Sol Cacao (solcacao.com)

•Sol Sips (solsipsnyc.com)

•Something Unique Accessories (shopsomethingunique.com)

•T.A. (shop-ta.com)

•Tackussanu Senegal (tackussanusenegal.com)

•Tactile Matter (tactilematter.com)

•T&C Management Tax & Financial Services (https://xu625-feb5c6.pages.infusionsoft.net )

•Telfar (telfar.net)

•TLZ L’FEMME (tlzlf.com)

•Total Resistance (thetotalresistance.com)

•Tree Fairfax (treefairfax.com)

•UniBuyz (unibuyz.com)

•Unlimited Treasures Chest (utchest.com)

•Unsun (unsuncosmetics.com)

•Unwrp (unwrp.com)

•Uoma Beauty (uomabeauty.com)

•Urban One Inc. (urban1.com)

•Victor Glemaud (glemaud.com)

•Wales Bonner (walesbonner.com)

•Whetstone Magazine (whetstonemagazine.com)

•The Wrap Life (thewrap.life)

•Yam (yamnyc.com)

•xN Studio (osxnasozi.com)

•Yowie (shopyowie.com)

•Zafa Wines (zafawines.com)

•Zou Xou Shoes (zouxou.com)

Book Reviewers:

•Black & Bookish

•Black Books Matter

•Bookaddict4real

•Brazen Babe Reviews

•Doddy About Books

•Fine Point Scribbles

•Kaybee’s Bookshelf, A Literary Blog

•Literally Black

•Ms. Shabria Gxo

•Sometimes Leelynn Reads

Models:

•Adwoa Aboah

•Adesuwa Aighewi

•J. Alexander

•Karen Alexander

•Leomie Anderson

•Alanna Arrington

•Yasmine Arrington

•Tyra Banks

•Corey Baptiste

•Tyson Beckford

•Yasmin Benoit

•Akech Bior

•Minah Ogbenyealu Bird

•Maria Borges

•Adonis Bosso

•Cindy Bruna

•Naomi Campbell

•Dorothea Church

•Yaya DaCosta

•Agbani Darego

•Bruce Darnell

•Khoudia Diop

•Nadège du Bospertus

•Jourdan Dunn

•Selita Ebanks

•Paloma Elsesser

•Cora Emmanuel

•Staniel Ferreira

•Malaika Firth

•Diandra Forrest

•Imaan Hammam

•Winnie Harlow

•Beverley Heath-Hoyland

•Marsha A. Hunt

•Broderick Hunter

•Chanel Iman

•Beverly Johnson

•Toccara Jones

•Grace Jones

•Liya Kebede

•Jayne Kennedy

•Janet Langhart

•Shakara Ledard

•Precious Lee

•Noémie Lenoir

•Damaris Lewis

•Sessilee Lopez

•Donyale Luna

•Anais Mali

•Eva Marcille

•Denny Mèndez

•Jillian Mercado

•Ariel Meredith

•Lineisy Montero

•Muna

•Katoucha Niane

•Mayowa Nicholas

•Emanuela de Paula

•Lais Ribeiro

•Valentine Rontez

•Shaun Ross

•Kimora Lee Simmons

•Naomi Sims

•Joan Smalls

•B. Smith

•Arlenis Sosa

•Sal Stowers

•Duckie Thot

•Jasmine Tookes

•Eugena Washington

•Veronica Webb

•Alek Wek

•Jessica White

•Slick Woods

•Kara Young

Musicians:

•Aaliyah

•Akon

•Louis Armstrong

•Pearl Bailey

•Harry Belafonte

•Chuck Berry

•Beyoncé

•The Black Eyed Peas

•Blackstreet

•B.o.B.

•The Bobettes

•Soulja Boy

•50 Cent

•Chance the Rapper

•Ray Charles

•Chubby Checker

•The Chords

•Ciara

•The Clovers

•The Coasters

•Nat ‘King’ Cole

•Zendaya Coleman

•The Contours

•Sam Cooke

•Taio Cruz

•Andra Day

•Bobby Day

•The Del-Vikings

•Jason Derulo

•Destiny’s Child

•The Diamonds

•Bo Diddley

•Daveed Diggs

•DMX

•Fats Domino

•Dr. Dre

•The Drifters

•Earth, Wind, & Fire

•Missy Elliott

•Flo Rida

•The Four Tops

•Aretha Franklin

•Bobby Freeman

•Marvin Gaye

•Gloria Gaynor

•CeeLo Green

•Billie Holiday

•Whitney Houston

•Ice-T

•Sharaya J

•Janet Jackson

•Michael Jackson/The Jackson 5

•Kamille

•Alicia Keys

•Khalid

•Sean Kingston

•Eartha Kitt

•Lenny Kravitz

•Patti LaBelle

•John Legend

•Leona Lewis

•Lizzo

•The Marcels

•The Masqueraders

•M.I.A.

•Mickey & Sylvia

•MKTO

•The Monotones

•Nelly

•Ne-Yo

•The Penguins

•Leigh-Anne Pinnock (of the girl group Little Mix)

•The Platters

•Prince

•Otis Redding

•Little Richard

•Rihanna

•The Ronettes

•Diana Ross

•Darius Rucker

•Run-DMC

•Travis Scott

•Shaggy

•Tupac Shakur

•Nina Simone

•Shirley & Lee

•The Silhouettes

•Snoop Dogg

•Jimmy Soul

•Jordin Sparks

•The Supremes

•The Temptations

•TLC

•T-Pain

•Ty Dolla Sign

•Usher

•Bill Withers

YouTubers:

Jackie Aina

Alissa Ashley

Yasmin Benoit

Berleezy

Raye Boyce

Patricia Bright

Marques Brownlee

Alyssa Forever

GlamTwinz

GloZell

Bri Hall

Todrick Hall

Aysha Harun

Alonzo Lerone

Oneika the Traveller

Shanna Malcolm

Shameless Maya

MakeupShayla

Chris Smoove

Nyma Tang

TheAjayII

AdrianXpression

#black lives matter #blm #black creators #black owned #black businesses #black authors #black actors #black activists