#Star Wars is escapism

[delicatefury]

This is a Fantasy Story, not a grimdark tale of the suffering of the universe. A slave wins the race, a farmboy saves the day. Love convinces the monster to turn on his evil master. There is hope even in the darkest of times.

What a beautiful through-line in the 6 Star Wars mainline movies. Too bad Disney and its “creators” didn’t get the message.

I found a Filoni/Lucas interaction over the creation of Ahsoka, and I'm chortling.

Basically Filoni wanted Ahsoka to be a serious commentary on war and child soldiers and her lack of preparation because she's not trained for it

But then George basically told him:

So, in other words: She's got this, and lighten the fuck up :D

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: black science fiction

As february and black history month nears its end, if you're a reader let's not forget to read and appreciate books by black authors the rest of the year as well! If you're a sci-fi fan like me, perhaps this list can help find some good books to sink your teeth into.

Bleak dystopias, high tech space adventures, alien monsters, alternate dimensions, mash-ups of sci-fi and fantasy - this list features a little bit of everything for genre fiction fans!

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Something massive and alien crashes into the ocean off the coast of Nigeria. Three people, a marine biologist, a rapper, and a soldier, find themselves at the center of this presence, attempting to shepherd an alien ambassador as chaos spreads in the city. A strange novel that mixes the supernatural with the alien, shifts between many different POVs, and gives a one of a kind look at a possible first contact.

Nubia: The Awakening (Nubia series) by Omar Epps & Clarence A. Hayes

Young adult. Three teens living in the slums of an enviromentally ravaged New York find that something powerful is awakening within them. They’re all children of refugees of Nubia, a utopian African island nation that sank as the climate worsened, and realize now that their parents have been hiding aspects of their heritage from them. But as they come into their own, someone seeks to use their abilities to his own ends, against their own people.

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Novella. After having failed at establishing a new colony, starship Calypso fights to make it back to Earth. Acting captain Jacklyn Albright is already struggling against the threats of interstellar space and impending starvation when the ship throws her a new danger: something is hiding on the ship, picking off her crew one by one in bloody, gruesome ways. A quick, excellent read if you want some good Alien vibes.

Dawn (Xenogenesis trilogy) by Octavia E. Butler*

After a devestating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Includes darker examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson*

Utterly unique in world-building, story, and prose, Midnight Robber follows young Tan-Tan and her father, inhabitants of the Carribean-colonized planet of Toussaint. When her father commits a terrible crime, he’s exiled to a parallel version of the same planet, home to strange aliens and other human exiles. Tan-Tan, not wanting to lose her father, follows with him. Trapped on this new planet, he becomes her worst nightmare. Enter this book with caution, as it contains graphic child sexual abuse.

Rosewater (The Wormwood trilogy) by Tade Thompson

In Nigeria lies Rosewater, a city bordering on a strange, alien biodome. Its motives are unknown, but it’s having an undeniable effect on the surrounding life. Kaaro, former criminal and current psychic agent for the government, is one of the people changed by it. When other psychics like him begin getting killed, Kaaro must take it upon himself to find out the truth about the biodome and its intentions.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

Young adult. A century ago, an astronomer discovered a possibly Earth-like planet. Now, a team of veteran astronauts and carefully chosen teenagers are preparing to embark on a twenty-three year trip to get there. But space is dangerous, and the team has no one to rely on but each other if - or when - something goes wrong. An introspective slowburn of a story, this focuses more on character work than action.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

After the planet Sadira is left uninhabitable, its few survivors are forced to move to a new world. On Cygnus Beta, they work to rebuild their society alongside their distant relatives of the planet, while trying to preserve what remains of their culture. Focused less on hard science or action, The Best of All Possible Worlds is more about culture, romance and the ethics and practicalities of telepathy.

Mirage (Mirage duology) by Somaiya Daud

Young adult. Eighteen-year-old Amani lives on an isolated moon under the oppressive occupation of the Valthek empire. When Amani is abducted, she finds herself someplace wholly unexpected: the royal palace. As it turns out, she's nearly identical to the half-Valthek, and widely hated, princess Maram, who is in need of a body double. If Amani ever wants to make it back home or see her people freed from oppression, she will have to play her role as princess perfectly. While sci-fi, this one more has the vibe of a fantasy.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Life on the lower decks of the generation ship HSS Matilda is hard for Aster, an outcast even among outcasts, trying to survive in a system not dissimilar to the old antebellum South. The ship’s leaders have imposed harsh restrictions on their darker skinned people, using them as an oppressed work force as they travel toward their supposed Promised Land. But as Aster finds a link between the death of the ship’s sovereign and the suicide of her own mother, she realizes there may be a way off the ship.

Where It Rains in Color by Denise Crittendon

The planet Swazembi is a utopia of color and beauty, the most beautiful of all its citizens being the Rare Indigo. Lileala was just named Rare Indigo, but her strict yet pampered life gets upended when her beautiful skin is struck by a mysterious sickness, leaving it covered in scars and scabs. Meanwhile, voices start to whisper in Lileala's mind, bringing to the surface a past long forgotten involving her entire society.

Eacaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus duology) by Nicky Drayden

Seske is the heir to the leader of a clan living inside a gigantic, spacefaring beast, of which they frequently need to catch a new one to reside in as their presence slowly kills the beast from the inside. While I found the ending rushed with regards to plot and character, the worldbuilding is very fresh and the overall plot of survival and class struggle an interesting one. It’s also sapphic!

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah*

In a near future America, inmates on death row or with life sentences in private prisons can choose to participate in death matches for entertainment. If they survive long enough - a rare case indeed - they regain their freedom. Among these prisoners are Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker, partners behind the scenes and close to the deadline of a possible release - if only they can survive for long enough. As the game continues to be stacked against them and protests mount outside, two women fight for love, freedom, and their own humanity. Chain-Gang All-Stars is bleak and unflinching as well as genuinely hopeful in its portrayal of a dark but all to real possible future.

Parable of the Sower (Earthseed duology) by Octavia E. Butler*

In a bleak future, Lauren Olamina lives with her family in a gated community, one of few still safe places in a time of chaos. When her community falls, Lauren is forced on the run. As she makes her way toward possible safety, she picks up a following of other refugees, and sows the seeds of a new ideology which may one day be the saviour of mankind. Very bleak and scarily realistic, Parable of the Sower will make you both fear for mankind and regain your hope for humanity.

Binti (Binti trilogy) by Nnedi Okorafor

Young adult novella. Binti is the first of the Himba people to be accepted into the prestigious Oomza University, the finest place of higher learning in all the galaxy. But as she embarks on her interstellar journey, the unthinkable happens: her ship is attacked by the terrifying Meduse, an alien race at war with Oomza University.

War Girls (War Girls duology) by Tochi Onyebuchi

In an enviromentally fraught future, the Nigerian civil war has flared back up, utilizing cybernetics and mechs to enhance its soldiers. Two sisters, by bond if not by blood, are separated and end up on differing sides of the struggle. Brutal and dark, with themes of dehumanization of soldiers through cybernetics that turn them into weapons, and the effect and trauma this has on them.

The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds duology) by Micaiah Johnson

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s a catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying. As such she has a very special job in traveling to these worlds, hoping to keep her position long enough to gain citizenship in the walled-off Wiley City, away from the wastes where she grew up. But her job is dangerous, especially when she gets on the tracks of a secret that threatens the entire multiverse. Really cool worldbuilding and characters, also featuring a sapphic lead!

The Fifth Season (The Broken Eart trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter. While mostly fantasy in genre, this series does have some sci-fi flavor, and is genuinely some of the best books I've ever read, please read them.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings*

In an alternate version of our present, the witch hunt never ended. Women are constantly watched and expected to marry young so their husbands can keep an eye on them. When she was fourteen, Josephine's mother disappeared, leveling suspicions at both mother and daughter of possible witchcraft. Now, nearly a decade and a half later, Jo, in trying to finally accept her missing mother as dead, decides to follow up on a set of seemingly nonsensical instructions left in her will. Features a bisexual lead!

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

South African-set scifi featuring gods ancient and new, robots finding sentience, dik-diks, and a gay teen with mind control abilities. An ancient goddess seeks to return to her true power no matter how many humans she has to sacrifice to get there. A little bit all over the place but very creative and fresh.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson*

Young adult. Young artist June Costa lives in Palmares Tres, a beautiful, matriarchal city relying heavily on tradition, one of which is the Summer King. The most recent Summer King is Enki, a bold boy and fellow artist. With him at her side, June seeks to finally find fame and recognition through her art, breaking through the generational divide of her home. But growing close to Enki is dangerous, because he, like all Summer Kings, is destined to die.

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gifted duology) by N.E. Davenport

After Ikenna's grandfather is assasinated, she is convinced that only a member of the Praetorian guard, elite soldiers, could’ve killed him. Seeking to uncover his killer, Ikenna enrolls in a dangerous trial to join the Praetorians which only a quarter of applicants survive. For Ikenna, the stakes are even higher, as she's hiding forbidden blood magic which could cost her her life. Mix of fantasy and sci-fi. While I didn’t super vibe with this one, I suspect fans of action packed romantasy will enjoy it.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

1960s classic. Rydra Wong is a space captain, linguist and poet who is set on learning to understand Babel-17, a language which is humanity's only clue at the enemy in an interstaller war. But Babel-17 is more than just a language, and studying it may change Rydra forever.

Pet (Pet duology) by Akwaeke Emezi

Young adult novella. Jam lives in a utopian future that has been freed of monsters and the systems which created and upheld them. But then she meets Pet, a dangerous creature claiming to be hunting a monster still among them, prepared to stop at nothing to find them. While I personally found the word-building in Pet lacking, it deftly handles dark subjects of what makes a human a monster.

Bonus AKA I haven’t read these yet but they seem really cool

Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes

Alternate history in which Africans colonized South America while vikings colonized the North. The vikings sell abducted Celts and Franks as slaves to the South, one of which is eleven-years-old Irish boy Aidan O'Dere, who was just bought by a Southern plantation owner.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Young adult dystopia. Ellie lives in a future where humanity is under the control of the alien Ilori. All art is forbidden, but Ellie keeps a secret library; when one of her books disappears, she fears discovery and execution. M0Rr1S, born in a lab and raised to be emotionless, finds her library, and though he should deliver her for execution, he finds himself obsessed with human music. Together the two embark on a roadtrip which may save humanity.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Lelah lives in future Botswana, but despite money and fame she finds herself in an unhappy marriage, her body controlled via microchip by her husband. After burying the body of an accidental hit and run, Lelah's life gets worse when the ghost of her victim returns to enact bloody vengeance.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Young adult. Fen de la Guerre, living in a quarantined Gulf Coast left devestated by storms and sickness, is forced on the run with a newborn after her tribe is attacked. Hoping to get the child to safety, Fen seeks to get to the other side of the wall, she teams up with a scientist from the outside the quarantine zone.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A neo-victorian alternate history, in which a part of Congo was kept safe from colonisation, becoming Everfair, a safe haven for both the people of Congo and former slaves returning from America. Here they must struggle to keep this home safe for them all.

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Space opera. Enitan just wants to live a quiet life in the aftermath of a failed war of conquest, but when her lover is killed and her sister kidnapped, she's forced to leave her plans behind to save her sister.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The City We Became (Great Cities duology) by N.K. Jemisin, The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull, The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

[inky-axolotl]

Decided to redraw that one Obi Wan drawing I did- *checks time* 4 years ago! Happy to say I’ve grown a bit in the past 4 years art wise.

(2020 one here)

[womp-womp-chomp-chomp]

Regardless, Rex can’t escape.

[oh-biwan]

You'll be my father You'll be my brother You'll be my lover

[shapelytimber]

Hooking up and having fun with a cute girl, this definitely will not have consequences :)

[PRINT] - [COMMISSIONS]

For the uncensored art, you can either find it on my inprint or bluesky

Process and usual rambling below vvv

Also quick reminder, in sw 1 maul is 22 and obi wan 25 :)

Ok so this fucking drawing beat my ass fkfjckcn it took me a whole week (I usually manage to do a detailed colored illustration like this in 3 or 4 days), and I hated it for 6 of those days. I was kind of art blocked, and I decided to brute force this by hitting my head again the wall that was this fucking drawing until it worked- and it did ! After 2 failed attempts, and immense frustration at every step of the way <3

I find the older obimaul (around 50yo) dynamic much more compelling, because of the whole baggage desperation loneliness it has going for it, but after failing to draw it (this time, I will come back to it one day)- I decided to settle for the second best obimaul dynamic : young strangers hooking up ! No baggage yet, only fun :)

So they are drinking caned bear in a cheap hotel room (I imagine Coruscant having capsule hotels, being an overpopulated city planet ! Even tho I made it way bigger than a regular one-) to escape responsibilities and just enjoy a good time ! There is no chance to develop an unhinged hatred-obssession-love onesided dynamic here haha :)))

The yuri is not yet toxic, but we'll get there

PS : this is t4t btw :) because @quijicroix is a genius and pointed out the potential of the "of course I know him, he is me" line for a trans obi wan <3 you can also thank them for the tasteful Palpatine censoring

PPS : I've never seen the 3d animated clone wars show, this is only based on the movies.

[honeybuns-bb]

made this to distract myself. happy bad batch eve

[redbean-nom]

omega: i just found our way out >:) sami, jax, eva: :0 bayrn: bbbbbabababa buh :DDD

[copalcetic]

One of the things that strikes me, rewatching Rebels, is how often Kanan is the voice for negotiation and non-violence.

Yeah, he’s the “cowboy Jedi.” Yeah, he’s not unwilling to cause a little (or a lot) of mayhem when called for. But he’s also the one telling Sabine throughout “The Protectors of Concord Dawn” not to kill anyone (“You love making this hard for me,” says Sabine), and the one who confiscates Ezra’s lightsaber before sending him into the spider’s den in “The Holocrons of Fate” (“He’s gotta learn how to solve problems without it.”) His character arc in the show is learning to embrace the Jedi’s role as peacekeepers, and this is the legacy he wants to pass on to his students.

And so it’s notable to me how much they struggle to hold to that after his death. When I watch “Family Reunion and Farewell” I’m struck by how cold-blooded their plan is. The Imperial Dome has the stormtroopers garrison, sure, but it’s also an administrative center—it’s where the minister’s offices are, it’s where civilians go to work. And the plan isn’t just to destroy the Dome; it’s to deliberately lure all Imperial personnel to it using Protocol 13, and then kill them en masse. “All personnel.” Not just all military personnel.

It’s a very effective plan. It’s the sort of plan that would make Saw Gerrera proud. Luthen Rael would be impressed.

But when Sabine says “For Kanan” as she pushes the button, I find myself wondering: would Kanan actually have approved of this plan, if he’d lived?

[snawleyy]

fair's in town

[indistinctchatt3r]

Omega using the straw to make another Lula rather than to make something to escape

[mcqraw]

[autumnwoodsdreamer]

🎶 all my life’s been a road to you 🎶

Road to You — Five for Fighting

I was just thinking you know who I haven’t drawn yet? Phee. And, of course, I adore her and Tech. So I drew them together. On their wedding day. You know? The one we saw in S3 EP16? That was such a beautiful way to end the series. (I’m not delusional. You’re delusional.)

(Cleaned-up sketch, base colours, and an un-sparkly version under this li’l cut right here)

Phee’s got little gold beads in her braids because why not? And Tech doesn’t have his goggles because I couldn’t get them to look right, so he just took them off for the picture, okay? Can we live with that? Good. Thank you.

[oh-biwan]

"You will always be my Master."

[skeletons-eat]

Merlin au

"Ser Sevander!", came the voice of his youngest sister, screeching in a way that only ten-year-olds managed to do, "What about this one?"

The redheaded man, Ser Sevander as Cody had gathered, turned his head towards Omega who held up an uprooted flower in one of her, very much dirty, hands for him to inspect.

But before he could give her an answer to the inquiry her twin, Cody's youngest brother, interrupted her, offended.

"Hey! Wait for your turn, Di'kut" Boba spit at his sister, "I was here first!"

"Now Children..." Ser Sevander interrupted in a low voice, frowning.

"-ody! Ka'ra, are you even listening to me?"

He was snapped out of his eavesdropping by Fox's annoyed tone.

"Who's that?" Cody asked instead of giving his own twin the satisfaction of an answer.

"I-", Fox pinched the bridge of his nose, " are you SERIOUSLY asking about the twins new tutor?"

The twins had a new tutor.

Huh, he didn't hadn't approved that.

"No, Cody, Grandfather didn't let you approve this one because he knew you would scare them all off before the twins could."

Fox was stressed and annoyed, tension in his upper body and pace too controlled and fast to be anything but.

Cody was aware about how the upcoming celebration placed a lot of stress on the Commanders shoulders, and he almost pitied him.

Well, If it weren't for the fact that the same celebration would be the day their father announced his retirement, effectively handing over the mantle to his oldest son, Cody hinself, he would truly reserve the sorryness for someone who wasn't himself.

They turned another corner towards the the main council chamber where all generals, the current ruler, Jango of clan Fett, his heir, Cody, to his own eternal despair, and the head of the guard, Fox, would assamble once a month, discuss the current state of affairs inside Manda'yaim and out.

Cody stared at the Fox.

Fox sighed, "No, you didn't say that out loud, yes, ba'buir thought you had enough to do already, and yes you should probably go to sleep."

The grand doors of the meeting room opened in front of them, distracting both brothers momentarily, although Cody couldn't help but think back to the new tutor again.

Ser Sevander. A man he had never seen before and yet..... Someone who seemed eerily familiar to him. Too familiar.

[theres-no-such-thing-as-luck]

Omega is putting together a child prison break against the empire fuelled by nothing but spite and I absolutely love her for it.