#age of legends trilogy

[slaket-and-sprash]

Playing through the Zelda Oracle games so enjoy this shitty meme I made. Ricky and Sheila are both trans.

[littleprincerianne]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could do a spyro the dragon agere moodboard? Thank you 💜

i learn something new every single day cuz why am i only now finding out this purple dragon's name is spyro (⁠ノ⁠ಥ⁠,⁠_⁠｣⁠ಥ⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻ hope you like this !!

edit: saw the reblog by @spy-flair-extraordinaire about where the middle picture thingy i used is sourced from so @travisthedragon00 :D hi

[mrneighbourlove]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Trilogy is Amazing

Yes, I said trilogy. It’s amazing we got three games in the span of six years that cover this story. Breath of the Wild, Age of Calamity, and, I know in my heart the final game will be, Tears of the Kingdom are spectacular.

BOTW was breath of fresh air. The adventure from waking up from failure over 100 years to have a second chance at defeating the greatest evil that has plagued the land and infested it like a cancer. Meeting so many fantastic characters of both the present and the ghosts of the past you wanted to avenge was a wonderful experience. 

If you didn’t play this game due to gameplay differences, you’ve done yourself a massive disservice. I see this as a Future Trunks situation akin to Dragon Ball. You can’t change what has occurred in Breath of the Wild. That world was ravaged over 100 years, with good people having suffered and died at the hands of the Calamity. That can’t be changed. Despite this, you can save at least one world from that suffering. This story works spectacularly well, pulling at the heart strings due to the bonds you have with these characters. It’s due to those bonds that you celebrate, despite the struggles and the wave of evil crashing down around you, that just this once, everyone lives. 

After saving this world, we have the ball in our court. We have one more fight to make sure Ganondorf and his Calamity can’t tear away the freedom we fought for. For me, these games represent three goals: In Breath of the Wild we liberated the present. In Age of Calamity we saved the past. Finally, in Tears of the Kingdom, we shall secure the future. 

[azuresage]

People who say "we need a botw 3 to round out a trilogy!!!" are such FOOLS. Age of Calamity is RIGHT THERE. we ALREADY HAVE a trilogy. The story arc is already fully rounded out.

[tenrose]

I just finished the Fifth Season and HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE

I need a recovery therapy cause so many traumatic events happening like what the hell?????? So many questions left unanswered, and I didn't buy the next book 😭😭😭😭

But the last fucking sentence?????? They don't have a m-????? Is that what he means when asking???? Is that the thing that has been missing??? Are you fucking kidding me????? And you throw that at my face while I'm trying to recover from some very fucked up situations???? What am I supposed to do with all of this?????

Anyway so far, best book I've read in a while, 100% would recommend to go to therapy over this book

[clockworkcheetah]

if i had a penny for everytime i knew elijah wood for a voice role before i saw him in anything live action i would have 3 pennies

[deathsmallcaps]

To be fair, The Magician’s Nephew WAS the second to last book he wrote for the series. They weren’t written in order. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was written first, then (I forget the exact order but I don’t think The Horse and His Boy was written second) THaHB through The Silver Chair. Then TMN then The Last Battle.

And anyways Lewis was mad chaotic compared to his buddy Tolkien.

never has there been a series with more underutilized background lore than the Chronicles of Narnia. book one establishes that there exists a world-between-the-worlds, an infinite glade that can be accessed only via ancient Atlantean magic, fractaling in all directions with infinite crystal-clear pools of water representing the various dimensions of the multiverse—dimensions which contain realms of gods and technology, and magic of various types, and different magical systems for each dimension, and dead worlds, and worlds that have not yet sprung to life, and a million other wonders. book two has a talking beaver

[nimata-beroya]

Note: Since my old masterlist is getting notes again (and I'm hosting @tbb-appreciation-week this year), I thought it's a good time to release a new version with a lot more resources. If any of you know another site or thing that it's missing from the list, let me know and I'll include it!! [Altho, I'm getting this close 🤏 to the hyperlinks limit on this thing 😆]

Note 2: To avoid tagging the 3 people from whom I got multiple resources repeatedly, I've placed 1-3 asterisks between square brackets after the links, depending on the OP. I give the respective credit to them in a legend at the end of the post.

PLACES / TIME

Interactive Galaxy Map by Henry Bernberg

Map of the Galaxy

List of planets and moons [Wikipedia /needs expanding]

Planet Name Generator 1 [SciFi Ideas]

Planetary System Generator [Donjon]

Tatooine Location References [*]

Various locations Cross-Sections (Jedi Temple, Palp's office, Tipoca City & more) [**]

Republic - Separatist - Hutt space during the Clone Wars

Hyperspace Travel Times (to calculate how much time would take to go from point A to point B within the GFFA)

Standard Calendar and Holidays [including month names!]

Galactic Standard Calendar [wookiepedia // including week day names]

Date converter according to SWTOR [Google sheet]

Dated Star Wars Chronological Order (Movies + live-action shows + animation)

TCW Chronological Timeline by @mauvrix

Estimated date for: shared by @spectres-fulcrum

Partisans' attack on Onderon

Siege of Lasan

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

General

Star Wars Name Generator 1 [Donjon]

Star Wars OC flow chart by @thefoodwiththedood

Star Wars Name Generator 2 [FantasyNames]

Star Wars Name Generator 3 [FantasyNames]

MetaHuman [Unreal Engine]

The character creator

Droid Name Generator

Star Wars Randomizer by @aureutr

Character Picrew [Twi-leks, Zabraks, Torgutas and Nautolans] @/megaramikaeli

Jedi

Taking a Closer Look at the Jedi Order in Star Wars Canon [Meta/Reference Guide] [**]

Jedi Order Structure Flowchart by @rileys-nest

Mandalorians

Mandalorian Armor design by MandoCreator

Keepers of the Way (Mandalorian Lore) [*]

Clones

Complete List Of Named Clone Troopers shared by @propheticfire (Organized by Unit)

Clone Creator [MandoCreator]

Clone Picrew

Star Wars Character Templates by SmacksArt [the ULTIMATE battery of template for any human/humanoid original character in any era. From troopers to droids, from Jedi to Sith, from KOTOR to the sequel Trilogy. 100% RECOMMENDED]

Basic Guide to Clone Trooper Armour by @odekiisu

GAR structure summary by @intermundia

The Clone Wars Republic Military Hierarchy Flowcharts [***]

Clone Trooper Lore [*] [Ranks, Culture, Training, Organization, etc.]

Clones and Kamino [*]

The Bad Batch Characters Concept Art shared by @shadowthestoryteller

MISCELLANEOUS

Star Wars Character Age Comparison Chart by @the-yearning-astronaut

Tusken Raiders lore by @snarwor

Materials (fabrics, leathers, silks, plastics, construction, metal composites, etc.)

Materials in Star Wars by marvel_dc_heart_throbs

Star Wars Fashion [*]

Leisure, Art, Musical Instruments, Ethnography [*]

Political and Criminal Organizations in the GFFA [**]

Financial reference about credits by @thecoffeelorian

List of TCW Opening Quotes

Transcripts of all the TCW episodes shared by @book-of-baba-fett

Star Wars Crawl Creator [not exactly writing-related, but just for fun]

HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Canon Medical Lore [*]

Real World reference for Field organizational structure for corpsman (medics) [*]

Kaliida Shoals Medical Center (Republic Haven-class medical station) shared by @clonewarsarchives

GAR Battalion Aid Station [*]

GAR Clone Medic Q/A [*]

More combat medicine, shipboard medicine, veteran issues, and military culture [*]

SHIPS AND VEHICLES

Ship Generator 3D

Ship Name Generator

All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE) shared by @stairset

Republic Vessels Reference [*]

Low Altitude Assault Transport/Infantry (LAAT/i) [*]

List of GAR Flagships in the Clone Wars by @meandmyechoes

Layout of the Havoc Marauder

Dimensions of various ships from the Clone Wars [**]

FOOD AND DRINKS

Star Wars Menu Generator

In-Universe Alcoholic beverages

Canon Cocktails (recipes) [*]

Another In-Universe Drinks list shared by @systemic-dreams

Teas in Star Wars by marvel_dc_heart_throbs

Foodstuff [*]

Canon Star Wars Holiday Recipes [*]

Trask Chowder Recipe (from The Mandalorian) [*]

LANGUAGES; PHRASES AND SLANG; VOCABULARY

Languages of the Galaxy [*]

Script of different languages in the GFFA by @lucif-hare-blog

In-Universe phrases and slang [Google sheet]

List of phrases and slang [wookiepedia]

List of equivalents to real-world objects [wookiepidia]

Talk Like a Clone Trooper shared by @archeo-starwars

Aurebesh Translator [Aurebesh.org]

Learning Aurebesh Tools [Aurebesh.org] Reading - Writing.

Mando'a Database [Mando.org]

Mando'a Transcripticon [MandoCreator] (Create your own text in the Mando'a script.)

@project-shereshoy (Blog that collects and posts sources for Mando'a from all over the internet.)

Mando’a Categorized Spreadsheet

Learning Mando'a Tools [MandoCreator] Reading - Writing.

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Spaceport [Writers helping writers]

Fan-created Conlangs

@dai-bendu-conlang (Jedi Culture Explored) (This blog is the home of the Dai Bendu Conlang, invented by the Archive of Our Own Users aroacejoot, @ghostwriterofthemachine, and loosingletters for the Jedi Order in Star Wars.)

Lasana Lexicon by Anath_Tsurugi (fandom lexicon of the Lasat Language)

HELPFUL BLOGS & SITES

The amazing @fox-trot, who not only makes astonishing art and write an amazing fic, she also responds to medical questions and gives all kinds of references for writing medic characters. Check her #medicposting tag and you'll find tons of information. Also check #star wars reference and her art tag while you're at it.

@writebetterstarwars, which seems to be inactive, but there are a bunch of references there.

@howtofightwrite The place to find out how to write a good fight scene.

@scriptmedic no longer active, but it has a great deal of useful information.

@scripttorture for your whump needs. Major trigger warning for all its content.

@sw-anthrobiology A blog dedicated to collecting headcanons about the biology and cultures of Star Wars species.

@archeo-starwars In-universe sources on culture and history.

@clonewarsarchives Resources & Concept Art Blog for The Clone Wars animated series.

Wookiepedia If you don't find something in here, it's probably because it doesn't exist, neither as a canon nor legends reference.

Star Wars Databank: The official Star Wars website's reference guide. All canon.

WRITING IN GENERAL (For those who don't want to die like Stormtroopers)

SlickWrite: Completely free; online. Checks grammar, punctuation, flow, and writing style according to different settings (including fiction writing).

ProWritingAid: [RECOMMENDED] One of the most thorough online proofreader I've ever used. Although when using a free account gives extremely thorough feedback, with +20 different in-depth reports, for only the first 500 words. However, you can earn a premium account license (for a year or for life) if you get 10 or 20 new users signing up for free; (if you wouldn't mind doing so using the link above and help me earn mine, please). The settings allow you to check your writing according to your needs, from general to formal to creative. It has a bonus that you can check depending on the genre you're writing. For example, in creative, you can choose romance or sci-fiction (there are 14 sub-genre in total). And just like google docs, you can share a document, and people can view, comment or edit it too.

LanguageTool: [RECOMMENDED] Another excellent proofreader. It also has a word limit in free accounts, but if you use the add-on for Google Docs, it counts each page as a new document, so hitting the word limit is nearly impossible. It helps you to rewrite a sentence (3 a day), even if it doesn't raise any flags; it's very useful for when your sentence is grammatically correct, but it doesn't feel quite right.

Grammarly, Hemingway Editor: No so great, but they do the basic job.

Legend

[*] Shared by @fox-trot [**] Shared by @gffa [***] Shared by @cacodaemonia.

[phoenixkaptain]

I love it when pre Original Trilogy era shows how much effort went into making the Death Star. It took decades, literal decades, and it took so much money and so many people and it was such a secretive thing and it’s staffed by millions because it’s the size of a small moon.

I cannot express how much all of the added information makes it so much funnier that Luke blew it up.

Luke destroys literally everything Palpatine built. He blows up the Death Star, which was referenced in universe as early as the second movie. He blew up the weapon of mass destruction twenty years in the making. And he blew it up pretty much directly after it’s first and only successful attack. It was operational for fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes that Palpatine had the thing he’d been building for longer than Luke has been alive, and Luke blows it up. First day retirement, but first hour retirement.

Luke convinces Darth Vader to turn back to the light side, a feat thought literally impossible by literally everybody. Sidious clearly doesn’t see Vader’s betrayal coming. Vader’s betrayal was not in his plans, nor was it something he was prepared for. Sidious is a powerful Force user with all four limbs while Vader is a man in the tin can Palpatine put him in. If Palpatine had seen Vader turning coming, he would not have allowed it to happen.

Luke literally should not even be alive. Palpatine almost definitely got Padme out of the way on purpose, and he almost certainly was trying for her unborn child as well (there was way too big of a risk that a cute liddol bebe would bring some humanity back to Anakin, and Palpatine did not want Anakin to have any humanity) Luke living is literally the first step in Palpatine’s ultimate downfall, especially once Vader finds out that Luke is his son. His very alive son. His son that is not dead, despite Palpatine claiming Anakin killed Padme. Implying that Anakin killed Padme and she posthumously gave birth. But, she didn’t give birth on Mustafar, which was the last place Anakin interacted with her. And once the mother dies, you have to get those fuckers out fast or they die too.

I imagine Darth Vader piecing all of this together is that meme with all the math floating around his head, because how could Padme have died by his hand and then given birth like two hours later?

Luke killing Palpatine is what ultimately leads to the dissolution of the Empire as an omnipotent entity. Luke killed the Empire. Luke spends a good amount of his adult life killing Empire remnants. We see that in the Mandalorian, since he’s so recognizable that Gideon immediately knows he’s fucked just by seeing an X-wing. We read it in Legends’ continuity, where Luke terrifies Imperials because he can walk into their changing room and stand in their for a minute and they don’t even notice.

Luke destroyed Palpatine’s life’s work. Everything Palpatine spent his whole life working towards, and Luke kills all of it. He blows up not one, but two Death Stars (he may not have pulled the trigger on the second Death Star, but without him, it never would have been destroyed). He convinces not one, but multiple Sith and Dark Jedi to return from the Dark Side. He is the only reason that Obi-Wan Kenobi, the biggest pain in Palpatine’s ass ever born, lives long enough to make it to the Death Star.

Palpatine went through so much effort. And just when he had finally won, when he finally had a weapon capable of destroying entire planets with a single blast, making it impossible for any planets or peoples to go against him, Luke shows up nineteen years late to the Jedi party with space Starbucks and a droid twice his age and almost singlehandedly destroys everything Palpatine ever had a hand in creating.

Luke manages to become even worse than Obi-Wan Kenobi, the ultimate thorn in the side of politicians, and Luke doesn’t even understand any politics. He wasn’t trained in diplomacy like Obi-Wan and Leia, no, he’s a farmboy who left home for the first time in his entire life, just this morning. And he is the one to destroy the Empire.

If they rewrote Star Wars and had it entirely from Palpatine’s perspective, Luke Skywalker would be his greatest foe. Luke Skywalker would be the final boss. Luke Skywalker is the antithesis of everything Palpatine believes in and he is the one character that Palpatine cannot predict. He isn’t as moldable as Anakin, he doesn’t respond to threats very well, he’s apparently impossible to kill via Force lightning (still the funniest scene of all times, the progression of Palpatine’s face falling and him looking like “what the fuck??? Is this kid rubber??? I’ve electrocuted him eight times???”), his unwavering faith in his father’s goodness makes Darth Vader want to be a better person, Luke Skywalker is the big bad of Palpatine’s story and—

There is nothing in this world that is funnier than someone’s biggest antagonist being Luke fucking Skywalker. Luke Skywalker, who saved the galaxy with the power of love and who shouldn’t exist, by Jedi rules and by Palpatine’s own attempts, and whose best friends are literally droids, which Palpatine canonically hates!

Everything about this is hilarious, this is the funniest thing in all of media, Palpatine loses absolutely everything to some backwater farmboy who fucking likes droids.

[maingh0st]

i know i'm not the first to say this, but the acolyte's cancellation has confirmed how tired i am of disney's decision-making when it comes to their content. i know nostalgia is the easiest way to a big payout, but we can only take so many spinoffs before the universe starts to feel too small. but then fresh content—content that's building on the canon by looking to old star wars lore while asking new questions—fizzles out.

it's the sequel trilogy all over again. we're promised something new, something that actually expands the canon rather than just recycling it, even bringing in concepts from legends, and then the rug is ripped out from underneath us & we're punished for ever caring about any of it. silly babygirl! palpatine was always the big bad (don't worry about the fact that this is thematically nonsense and not foreshadowed in any way), and rey isn't a nobody ("your parents sold you because they loved you"), and this isn't a story about how the force transcends human categories and dynasties (represented by a grey jedi force dyad between a legacy skywalker and a nobody orphan from a backwater planet, fulfilling not only balance between light and dark but also transcending the old to become something new). silly idiot!!! rey's a palpatine by birth and a skywalker by self-adoption and god forbid she create her own identity outside of these names our fans recognize. watch as she stands alone on a sand planet that has no personal significance to her, ending her arc almost exactly as she began. but look!! two suns! neat

i don't even know if fanservice is the right word. at a certain point, it just starts to feel like they're quaking in their boots at the thought of doing anything new. i had my gripes with some of the choices in the acolyte, but at least it was unique. it explored a new era and asked questions that star wars has only ever flirted with. like: what happens to the children who are uprooted from their homes at such a young age, yet can't find their place in the jedi order? how does one survive in a supposedly honorable system that nevertheless relies on the repression of some of humanity's most fundamental emotions? is it possible that an organization dictating exactly how one ought to interact with the very life force of the universe... could perhaps be faulty and shortsighted? what happens when the ways of that order clash with other cultures and worldviews? (spoilers: space colonialism). and that's not even to mention the ideas they play with re: the force itself (vergences! plagueis! force witches!)

i know not everyone loved the show, but a lot of people really did care about it. a lot of people, like me, were excited to see these new questions being raised. but forget it—the disney gods have decreed that it didn't hit some magical threshold of streaming hours or reach a "broad enough" audience in the two months it's been out. but don't worry guys. turn your brains off and tune in for the next spinoff 2 chewy 2 bacca

[shy-sapphic-ace]

List of queer books I read, loved & recommend!

(There isn't any particular order, I wrote these as I remembered them)

Master Of One - Jaida Jones & Dani Bennett (mlm, fantasy, very cool worldbuilding and magic system, funny, cool characters)

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree (wlw, fantasy, very soft & chill vibes)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (wlw, high fantasy, cool worldbuilding, kinda reminds me of LOTR but with more dragons and feminism and lesbians)

Even Though I Knew The End - C.L. Polk (wlw, supernatural noir, cool 1930s detective story with angels & demons, I loved this one!)

The Love Interest - Cale Dietrich (mlm, science fiction, very cool concept)

The Darkest Part Of The Forest - Holly Black (side mlm, fantasy, cool fae lore)

The Weight Of The Stars - K. Ancrum (wlw, not quite science fiction but space stuff is involved, lovely and complex characters)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz (mlm, fiction, very nice in general, there is also a sequel)

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee (mlm, historical and vaguely fantasy, nice story but I preferred the sequel honestly)

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee (wlw, the sequel to the one before, more fantasy elements than the first, asexual main character!!)

Gallant - V.E. Schwab (no romance, but in the background one of the characters(?) uses they/them pronouns, very cool dark fantasy vibe)

Stranger Than Fanfiction - Chris Colfer (gay main character, trans main character, coming-of-age, nice book)

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (yes it's the Love, Simon book, mlm, fiction, pretty nice)

They Both Die At The End - Adam Silvera (mlm, sci-fi ish but mostly fiction, cool ideas, but the ending is sad! Very amazing book though, I haven't read the prequel yet)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (wlw, bi main character, historical fiction, cool story, just a neat book in general)

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (wlw, sci-fi, very cool time travel stuff!! and very beautiful, it felt like reading poetry most of the time)

One Last Stop - Casey McQuinston (wlw, background trans & pan & queer characters, sci-fi or fantasy idk, but time travel, I loooved this book, great)

The House In The Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, THIS BOOK oh my gosh you should read it!!, just cute and lovely and good)

Under The Whispering Door - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, this book is also sooo amazing, great character development and awesome relationships and stuff, it's been a while since I read it but it was so good)

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune (mlm, ace main character!!, sci-fi, now THIS is found family, oughh feelings. argh, tj klune you’ve done it again, a human and his family of funky robots… I love them)

And They Lived... - Steven Salvatore (nblm, fiction, about gender identity and learning to love yourself, read it a while ago but it was very nice)

I Wish You All The Best - Mason Deaver (nblm, fiction, about finding your identity and people who care about you, very cute and sweet)

The Song Of Achilles - Madeleine Miller (mlm, historical, very good in general)

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (mlm, background wlw in the third book, fantasy, it's a trilogy, basically Harry Potter if it was gay and also better)

Silver In The Wood - Emily Tesh (mlm, fantasy, very pretty, lots of fae stuff and lovely descriptions, it has a really good sequel too)

Pretty much anything by Alice Oseman (all cute and lovely and great, though I've only read Radio Silence so far I hear only good things, Solitaire is on my to-read list)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuinston (wlw, fiction, it's been a while but I liked this book)

The Falling In Love Montage - Ciara Smyth (wlw, fiction, this book was so cute and funny and deeply emotional it made me Feel way too many things, I'd definitely recommend it)

What Big Teeth - Rose Szabo (a bit of queerness all around, fantasy, werewolves and monsters, this one was pretty cool!, lots of original ideas for the world/character building)

His Quiet Agent - Ada Maria Soto (mlm, asexual, fiction, about like spies but this book was so gentle and sweet I wanted to cry in the best way possible)

Some By Virtue Fall - Alexandra Rowland (wlw, historical fiction(?), theatre drama!! rival romance!! duels!!, a very good read in general)

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend - Emma R. Alban (wlw, historical fiction, I’m not usually one for regency romances, but I really liked this!!, very cute and lots of drama, and there’s a sequel coming out soon!)

[antianakin]

Hey, I have a question to ask, and I'm gonna ask this to a few others cause I'm not a huge Star Wars expert on this.

Ever since The Acolyte aired, the jedi have been portrayed more as space cops. But, since when were they space cops? I thought they weren't like that. Am I wrong?

They AREN'T space cops, you're entirely correct, it's Leslye Headland who is wrong.

Here's the thing you have to understand about Leslye Headland and fans like her: they will claim to their dying day that they love the Jedi while sitting there talking about how the PREQUELS Jedi specifically were awful failures who doomed themselves by being heartless assholes who failed and/or abused Anakin and helped bring about the destruction of the Republic because they were simultaneously too political and not political enough.

When the Prequels first came out, they were received... poorly... by a large chunk of the adult audience. And it became a THING to hate the Prequel trilogy for a long time. After a while, people started deciding they didn't want to hate the Prequel trilogy, but they didn't actually LIKE some of the things in the films that were different from the legends canon that had already existed for years (primarily the way the Jedi had been interpreted), and so they chose to come up with interpretations that allowed them to "like" the Prequels better. The primary one that's become so popular as to basically end up considered the actual real intended message of the films is that the Jedi had become corrupt by the time of the Prequels, they were too old-fashioned and strict and stuck in their ways (specifically in that they forbid their members to love and were beholden to the Senate) and that this allowed Palpatine to win and Anakin to be seduced to the dark side, so they're the REAL villains of the entire story and the audience is SUPPOSED to dislike them.

In fairness to these fans, there IS a theme in the Prequels of an institute that's supposed to stand for peace and goodness being corrupted into an organization that is run by fear and greed. It's just that the institution in question is the SENATE, not the Jedi. And we spend a LOT more time with main characters who are Jedi, going out and doing cool fun Jedi adventures, than we do in the Senate with any of the known Senate characters doing political things. The only Senate character who could be considered a main character in the Prequels is Padme and a LOT of her more political scenes got cut from the films in order to focus on Anakin's story instead. Even in TCW, most of Padme's "political" episodes and storylines just devolve into action adventure plots instead. So it isn't hard to understand why people focused in on the Jedi and assumed that the story was ABOUT the Jedi rather than the politicians and picked up on a theme about corruption that was very much THERE and just misapplied it. But it's still wrong.

Leslye Headland appears to be one of those fans. A LOT of Star Wars fans of a certain age tend to follow this particular headcanon. Dave Filoni is another one of them, despite his reputation as George Lucas's "padawan" and the person who understands Star Wars the best after Lucas (spoiler alert: he's not).

So what we're getting in the Acolyte is a VERY intentional critique of the Jedi becoming more political I guess, more beholden to the Senate, and therefore becoming more like "space cops" instead of... I don't know... space Knights of the Round Table maybe? I think there's this concept that the Jedi should be more free spirited like... fairy god parents wandering the galaxy just handing out random miracles to worthy people and smiting the unworthy or some shit instead of being intergalactic ambassadors for the Republic, helping to resolve conflicts with legal backing and power.

This is something that's been around for DECADES now. It's in plenty of other books and comics that have come out during and since the Prequels, it's in TLJ, it's in TOTJ and TOTE, it's in the Ahsoka show, and now it's in The Acolyte. And it's obviously floated its way around fanfiction plenty, too. It's almost impossible to avoid if you talk to any other Star Wars fans from that age group (and even honestly fans YOUNGER than that age group because a lot of the older fans basically taught their children and younger siblings to hate the Prequels or that the Prequels were about the corruption of the Jedi, or younger fans just picked it up via osmosis if they spent almost any time within fandom the way I did). But it's becoming a thing that newer shows are really hammering in as if it's real canon. Headland genuinely believes that it is and we know that to be true because she's flat out SAID THIS in an interview she gave before the show aired. She 100% believes that the point of the Prequels, George Lucas's intended message in those films, was that the Jedi were corrupt and had fallen from grace. Her show is written with this misinterpretation of the films as a foundation for how she portrays the Jedi.

And that's how you get the Jedi suddenly feeling like "space cops" when that's so very clearly not what they are in anything Lucas ever created.

[medievalandfantasymelee]

We are now just a few days away from the end of the submission period for the Hot Medieval and Fantasy Men Melee, and our Entrants stand numbered at 250!!!

Submissions will close on the 27th of June, so if you have a hot medieval/medieval fantasy guy (or multiple of them) you'd like to see compete, send them in!

Here is a list of our Noble and Worthy Contenders so far.

If your man isn't here, that means he has not been submitted.

The Contenders

So Far…

Adhemar, Count of Anjou [Rufus Sewell], A Knight's Tale (2001)

Prince Aemond Targaryen [Ewan Mitchell], House of the Dragon (2022-)

Alessandro Farnese [Diarmuid Noyes], Borgia: Faith and Fear (2011-2014)

King Alfred the Great [David Dawson], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan [Antonio Banderas], The 13th Warrior (1999)

Antonius Block [Max von Sydow], The Seventh Seal (1957)

Aragorn, Son of Arathorn [Viggo Mortensen], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

King Arthur Pendragon [Alexandre Astier], Kaamelott (2004-2009)

King Arthur Pendragon [Bradley James], BBC’s Merlin (2008-2012)

Athelstan [George Blagden], Vikings (2013-2020)

Ash Williams [Bruce Campbell], Army of Darkness (1992)

Brian de Bois-Guilbert [Ciaran Hinds], Ivanhoe (1997)

 Brother Cadfael [Derek Jacobi], Cadfael (1994-1998)

Carlos I [Álvaro Cervantes], Carlos Rey Emperador (2015-2016)

Prince Caspian [Ben Barnes], The Chronicles of Narnia (2010)

Cesare Borgia [Mark Ryder], Borgia: Faith and Fear (2011-2014)

Cesare Borgia [Francois Arnaud], The Borgias (2011-2013)

Prince Chauncley [Daniel Radcliffe], Miracle Workers: The Dark Ages (2020)

Prince Daemon Targaryen [Matt Smith], House of the Dragon (2022-)

Khal Drogo [Jason Momoa], Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Lord Eddard Stark [Sean Bean], Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Edgin [Chris Pine], Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023)

Éomer, Son of Éomund [Karl Urban], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Étienne de Navarre [Rutger Hauer], Ladyhawke (1985)

Faramir, Son of Denethor [David Wenham], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Finan [Mark Rowley], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

Sir Galahad [Michael Palin], Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Galavant [Joshua Sasse], Galavant (2015-2016)

Gawain [Dev Patel], The Green Knight (2021)

Geralt z Rivii [Michał Żebrowski], The Witcher (2002)

Geralt of Rivia [Henry Cavill], The Witcher (2019-)

Sir Guy of Gisborne [Basil Rathbone], The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Sir Guy of Gisborne [Richard Armitage], BBC’s Robin Hood (2006-2009)

Prince Hamlet [Laurence Olivier], Hamlet (1948)

Hubert Hawkins [Danny Kaye], The Court Jester (1955)

King Henry II Plantagenet [Peter O’Toole], The Lion in Winter (1968)

King Henry V Plantagenet [Tom Hiddleston], The Hollow Crown (2012-2016)

Prince Henry [Dougray Scott], Ever After (1998)

Hugh Beringar [Sean Pertwee], Cadfael (1994-1998)

Inigo Montoya [Mandy Patinkin], The Princess Bride (1987)

Jareth [David Bowie], the Goblin King, Labyrinth (1986)

Jaskier [Joey Batey], The Witcher (2019-)

Prince John Plantagenet [Claude Rains], The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Lancelot [Santiago Cabrera], BBC’s Merlin (2008-2012)

Legolas Greenleaf [Orlando Bloom], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Madmartigan [Val Kilmer], Willow (1988)

King Mark of Cornwall [Rufus Sewell], Tristan and Isolde (2006)

Mikoláš Kozlík [František Velecký], Marketa Lazarová (1967)

Merlin [Colin Morgan], BBC’s Merlin (2008-2012)

Niccolo Machiavelli [Thibaut Evrard], Borgia: Faith and Fear (2011-2014)

Prince Oberyn Martell [Pedro Pascal], Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Peregrin “Pippin” Took [Billy Boyd], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Pero Tovar [Pedro Pascal], The Great Wall (2016)

Ragnar Lothbrook [Travis Fimmel], Vikings (2013-2020)

Ravenhurst [Basil Rathbone], The Court Jester (1955)

Richard Cypher [Craig Horner], Legend of the Seeker (2008-2010)

King Richard [Timothy Omundson], Galavant (2015-2016)

Richard III Plantagenet [Aneurin Barnard], The White Queen (2013)

Robin Hood [Errol Flynn], The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Robin Hood [Michael Praed], Robin of Sherwood (1984)

Robin Hood [Cary Elwes], Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Robin Hood [Tom Riley], Doctor Who: “The Robot of Sherwood” (2014)

Rodrigo Borgia [Jeremy Irons], The Borgias (2011-2013)

Rollo [Clive Standen], Vikings (2013-2020)

Samwise Gamgee [Sean Astin], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Sandor Clegane [Rory McCann], Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Sid [Luke Youngblood], Galavant (2015-2016)

Sihtric Kjartansson [Arnas Fedaravicius], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

Thorin Oakenshield [Richard Armitage], The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

Tom Builder [Rufus Sewell], The Pillars of the Earth (2010)

Mr. Tumnus [James McAvoy], The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Vlad III Dracula [Luke Evans], Dracula Untold (2014)

Westley [Cary Elwes], The Princess Bride (1987)

William Thatcher [Heath Ledger], A Knight’s Tale (2001)

Will Scarlet O’Hara [Matthew Porretta], Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Will Scarlett [Patrick Knowles], The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Will Scarlett [Christian Slater], Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

[bekolxeram]

Human remains as props — the Billy Boils of old horror movies

In this week's Halloween themed 9-1-1 episode, Buck rented a mummy replica from a Hollywood prop shop which turned out to be a real human body. This set off a series of misfortunate events for the firefighter, that might or might not be the result of a curse. Once again, the writers have surpassed themselves in terms of over-the-top silliness that has become the trademark of our beloved weewoo show. There's no way someone can accidentally get their hands on a real corpse... right?

Oh, you'll be surprised. You too may have seen a real cadaver or two on the silver screen.

The Economics of prop dead bodies

Using real human remains as movie props was such a common practice back in the days that prop masters working on the 1979 Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now were totally unfazed when body broker (later revealed to be a grave robber) brought several dead bodies to the set. The plan to use those bodies as props for maximum authenticity was only scrapped after a producer ruled against it.

Source: The Independent

Interestingly, films that ended up actually featuring real bodies were the low-budget, fake looking ones. In the age before 3D printing, creating a set of realistic human skeleton was a very labor intensive process. That combining with the cost of the material used, the price of a plastic replica was in fact more expensive than a real skeleton.

A special effect make-up artist who worked on the 1982 Spielberg classic Poltergeist explained the film's decision to use actual human remains on a podcast:

Source: Snopes

Eerily, two young actresses who worked on the Poltergeist trilogy passed away unexpectedly shortly afterwards, leading to the urban legend of a curse on set.

The story of Elmer J. McCurdy

In late 1976, the production crew of the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man was filming scenes at the Pike, a then amusement zone in Long Beach, California. While shooting a scene at a thrill ride, a member of the prop department spotted a wax mannequin covered in fluorescent paint dangling from a noose. Worrying it would get in the way of the camera, they gave the dummy's arm a tug in an attempt to remove it, but instead of the whole thing coming off, only the arm broke off, exposing a human bone and muscle tissues.

A penny from 1924 and ticket stubs to the "Museum of Crime" were found in the body's mouth. Investigators contacted the museum owner's son, who identified the body as Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw killed in 1911 in the middle of a shootout with police following a botched train robbery in Oklahoma.

Unlike the fictional McCurdy in 8x05, the real McCurdy was a simple petty criminal looking for some extra cash to support his alcohol habit. Utilizing the skills he learned from the army, his robbery method of choice was explosives, but he was very terrible at it.

Source: KCRW

His body was subsequently taken to a funeral home, where he laid unclaimed for the rest of his stay. The undertaker embalmed the body, shaved his face, dressed him in a suit, but refused bury him until someone come forward to claim it and pay for the service. As time went by, the owner of the funeral home decided to dress the body as a gunslinging cowboy and allow visitors to see "the Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up" for the price of a nickel, in order to fund his burial.

5 years later, two men claiming to be McCurdy's long lost brothers came forward to take custody of the body for a proper burial. End of the story, right? Well, of course they were travelling carnival owners lying to acquire the body for their shows. In 1922, the body was sold to yet another travelling exhibit called "Museum of Crime", which featured wax figures of other famous outlaws in history.

For the next 3 decades, McCurdy's body travelled all around the country as an attraction. He even had a brief film career. He was once used to promote the 1933 film Narcotic!, then he had a small cameo in the 1967 B-movie She Freak. In 1968, the Museum of Crime owner's son decided to sell his father's exhibits to the Hollywood Wax Museum. There, McCurdy's body started getting mixed up with other wax figure, and his origin story long forgotten.

Following over half a century of voyage, McCurdy eventually became fully mummified. The wax museum believed that the body was too gruesome and unlifelike to be showcased anymore, so he was finally sold to The Pike, an amusement zone in Long Beach, where he began his new life as a thrill ride decoration dummy.

After the shocking revelation by TV crew in 1976, McCurdy was transported back to Oklahoma, where he took his last breath 66 years ago, and finally laid to rest after a graveside service attended by 300 people. (Under 2 feet of concrete, to prevent grave robbing)

Source: Atlas Obscura

[azuresage]

Theorycrafting a DLC Expansion for AoC that explains how TotK's setup works on its timeline split

I just wrote this up for funsies. AoC and TotK do not contradict each other, and I wanna dive into how. I doubt they're ever going to officially revisit AoC's timeline split, but if they ever did do it at all, this is how I'd like to see it done.

TotK main story spoilers under the cut.

Thanks to TotK, we know that Ganondorf's seal broke because of the Great Calamity of 100 years ago, not BotW's present day story. Which means the Great Calamity of AoC should still weaken his seal like on the main branch of the timeline, however this time we're on a new branch and 106 years later there won't be a hero and princess combo to save the day anymore when Ganondorf wakes up. So you would think that doesn't fit with TotK, right? UNLESS...

... Unless we consider events that are unique to AoC's timeline, as well. First we should establish what we know about AoC's timeline split. We know that Terrako had to have gone back in time pretty far comparatively, because Link didn't yet have the Master Sword and hadn't yet met Zelda and Daruk the ways BotW described they did. The very start of AoC must happen much earlier on than the earliest point we ever see in BotW's memories. Knowing that, it makes sense why things happen so much differently than the history BotW's memories painted. We can assume there were so many more monsters that massive-scale battles the likes of which were unheard of in BotW's history became necessary because Astor and Harbinger Ganon were going around creating more monsters for the purpose of expediting the Calamity's revival. We never hear of Astor in BotW's history, because Harbinger Ganon wasn't around to choose him. So because of these two mucking things around, the Calamity's revival actually happened earlier than it did in BotW's history. This is important information for later.

So we know that because this is a timeline split that occurs just before the events of BotW's 100-year history, the setups of TotK's history still apply. On the main timeline, it took 106 years for Ganondorf to wake up after the Great Calamity weakened his seal. On the split timeline, the Calamity was averted, but the damage was still done, and the battle dragged on longer and had Aster and Harbinger doing things that never happened in BotW's history. Most notable of these is fully reviving this timeline split's Calamity Ganon, which we know was done by Harbinger Ganon absorbing Astor and assumedly merging with the Calamity Ganon that was already present in this timeline. We know they had to become one at some point because when they defeat him, Calamity Ganon is gone and the Calamity is over. So he did in fact fully revive, something he didn't get the chance to do in BotW's history because Zelda stepped up to seal him away for 100 years while he was still a cloud of malice. Because of this major difference, and because of the connection between Calamity Ganon and Ganondorf, I think it's fair to propose that this split timeline's Ganondorf can wake up after a similar timeskip as seen between BotW and TotK. Meaning, we can still do a "6 years later" after AoC's ending for this and it would still make sense. TotK's prologue can still commence as it did on the main timeline.

So how could this work here? We can't send AoC's Zelda back in time because even in this timeline the Light Dragon should still exist. As a matter of fact, on this timeline we'd end up with two Zeldas and two Master Swords. Kinda awkward, huh? Here's how I think we can make that a little less awkward...

Gloom starts seeping out as it did in TotK. Link and Zelda go under the castle to investigate as they did in TotK, BUT this time they have Terrako with them. That will be the key that changes how this goes. Link still gets his Master Sword and his arm messed up, but Terrako is the one to intervene and prevent Zelda from getting yeeted back to the past by her sacred stone. Call it plot magic or triforce magic or whatever you want. Instead he yeets her up to the Great Sky Island while Rauru does the same to Link as in TotK. Upheaval still happens. However this time we can't really have several weeks or months pass from this point to when Link wakes up, yeah? So instead of starting the Great Sky Island chapter as Link, you would start it as Zelda and Terrako as Rauru guides them across the island to find Link, to parallel TotK. Fighting through a Warriors map full of Soldier Constructs with Link as the end goal. He would hold on to the Decayed Master Sword and the Master Sword weapon itself would become unavailable to use in-game for a while. This is where we can diverge to make a Warriors-themed story.

I'm not gonna write out the whole plot here, but there are still other things we have to make sense of, namely: what happens to the Light Dragon and the Sages on this timeline? I have answers for this, too.

There are two options for the Sages; 1. have Terrako yoink them back from the future, post-TotK this time, giving Sidon, Yunobo, and Riju new costumes and weapons and giving us playable Tulin while poor Teba gets left out. Or 2. make the Champions into Sages this time (Revali is a bit iffy here because he's not outright stated to have family ties to Teba and Tulin, but Revali's Gale and Tulin's Power of Wind being almost exactly the same thing seems to suggest some kind of blood connection). Mineru, whose soul was hidden within the Purah Pad, can still resurface the same way she did in TotK, just make the Construct Factory and Spirit Temple into a Warriors map and the rest can work itself out. Playable Mineru Construct would be sick. As for the Purah Pad, it doesn't have runes like the Sheikah Slate did so I'm hesitant to say it can be a new tier of her Sheikah Slate weapon, but that's probably what's gonna have to happen. Just have Terrako work his plot magic on it I guess.

Now, as for the Light Dragon... On this timeline, she'd be stranded in a different history than the one she'd come from and that's depressing... but I think it has merits as an emotional story beat if handled right. At some point, maybe halfway through the story, say after the Champions become Sages and Mineru appears, she can return to human form here and become a separate playable character from the regular Zelda, labeled as the Sage of Time. And the second Master Sword that she was carrying can still be passed on to Link. There are two options for this, as well; 1. it does some goddess magic or whatever and merges with the Decayed Master Sword that Link had originally. The easy way out, and not as interesting to me. Or 2. Sage of Time uses the magic she'd been storing up over millennia to fix this timeline's Decayed Master Sword too so now Link gets to dual-wield two Master Swords as a new weapon type. A bit silly, yeah, but it would be goddamn cool and it'd be fitting of the nature of Warriors games. I'd prefer it that way, honestly. You would regain access to the old singular Master Sword + Hylian Shield, and then the Dual Master Swords becomes its own separate weapon that you can choose to use, and that would become Link's main weapon for the story from then on out.

Now, I said before that Link's arm would still get jacked up so he'd still get Rauru's arm here. So how I would introduce the hand powers into AoC's format, without interrupting the runes, is I would put them on the same trigger button as the runes, but on the d-pad so that the runes can still be used on the face buttons. Similarly, we can select a few choice zonai devices to put on the other trigger with the magic rods and apples, doing the same thing with the d-pad. We could then incorporate these new abilities into environmental and combat mechanics, with Terrako sharing them between all the characters like he does with the runes.

Ascend is easy. It would still work the same way as in TotK, but it would see the most use on new maps with more verticality. Would also be good to use it on Battle Taluses like in TotK. Recall would also work the same way as in TotK; use it to reflect non-metal projectiles and also as an environmental gimmick like when enemies try rolling spike balls at you. Fuse could be used on zonai devices laying around, which I would have sprinkled throughout the maps as a new environmental thing you can do. Stick something to your weapon for a quick effect. And Ultrahand would basically function as Autobuild to snap some of these environmental zonai devices together into a preset construction that will either attack enemies or allow you to traverse gaps in the map i.e. flinging yourself across a gap between sky islands, similar to how the little paraglider bits in AoC were. You would also be able to collect zonai capsules as a drop item, which then can be used on the R trigger where the magic rods are (but only certain ones, like maybe the rocket). Fuse could also be a new mechanic at the blacksmith to upgrade Link's weapons further. We already have weapon fusion in base AoC, but here we could have a separate menu for a new way to do it like how it works in TotK.

As for the map screen, do what TotK did and make it possible to tab between the Sky and the Depths to access more points of interest. Add all the new points in the Zonai green color so they don't get lost among all the old Sheikah blues. This will give plenty of space for more stuff without overcrowding the already-pretty-full map we currently have in AoC. Also, we can make Ganondorf a new playable character (Demon King form costume included) and maybe even Rauru & Sonia ghosts as a playable duo as an extra treat. So new playables would be Sage of Time, Mineru's Construct, Ganondorf, and Rauru & Sonia. Also Tulin if we do option 1 for the Sages. If we do option 2, we can give the Champions the Ancient Sage helmets as a costume maybe and just further upgrade their current Champion Weapons since that's what the TotK Sages used, anyway. All characters would get upgraded abilities and new moves and increased level cap, as well.

I want this to be DLC instead of a second game because I think the nature of AoC makes it much easier to just pick it back up and continue on, and I wanna keep all my upgraded weapons and stuff (and I don't wanna buy yet another full priced game lol). I just think it makes more sense to do it as an expansion instead of a sequel. Now, would they actually make an expansion for a 3-year-old game like that? Unlikely. I would just prefer it if they did. Like I said, I'm not saying that they're going to do this; just that if they did it at all, this is how I want it to happen. The only snag with that, though, is that AoC also sort of sets up for TotK with the Future Champions and the DLC which first introduced Tulin as having Power of Wind. I believe that the current play order to best experience the story of these three games is BotW > AoC > TotK. So this DLC expansion would then make that BotW > up through Guardian of Remembrance of AoC > TotK > the expansion of AoC. That's kinda awkward. Even so, I'd still prefer it as DLC...

That wraps it up. I hope you found this interesting to read. The plot can still work like this! AoC does not contradict BotW or TotK! They all still work together! I will die on this hill until Nintendo says otherwise. Hopefully this post was able to invite more people to join me on this hill.

[le-trash-prince]

I feel like I’ve been able to read so many speculative fiction wlw books in the past few years that I get a little frustrated when ppl complain that wlw relationships are always sidelined in stories. So I’m just gonna make a list of the ones I’ve completed, for posterity. There are so many interesting books out there and all of these deserve more attention.

To reiterate, this is speculative fiction (sci-if/fantasy) where the primary relationship is wlw.

Ash: Chinese and fae influenced retelling of Cinderella (+Huntress, a prequel)

A Restless Truth: historical magical murder mystery set on a Titanic sister-ship. This is the second book in a series but my favorite so far

Burning Roses: European fairy-tale/Chinese legend mashup featuring older ladies

Cinderella is Dead: YA fairy tale dystopia

Crier’s War: human x android enemies to lovers political intrigue

Even Though I Knew the End: supernatural detective noir, super quick and super fun

Gearbreakers: enemies-to-lovers with mecha

In the Vanisher’s Palace: Viet influenced Beauty and the Beast where the Beast is a dragon lady

Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom: middle school age mythological fantasy adventure, I wish I had this growing up

Labyrinth Lost: bruja fantasy underworld adventure

Last to Leave the Room: WFH doppleganger horror + toxic coworkers who hate each other (they really don’t)

Legends and Lattes: Simple and sweet DND inspired cafe AU

Once and Future: King Arthur but in space with ladies. Wish this one had been poly

Roots of Chaos series: high fantasy with dragons and so many queers.

Strictly No Heroics: the struggles of villain henchmen

The Abyss Surrounds us/The Edge of the Abyss: kaiju pirates, enemies to lovers

The Burning Kingdoms Trilogy: desi epic fantasy, enemies to lovers

Spear: Arthurian sapphics

Someone You Can Build a Nest In: shapeshifting monster falls for a monster hunter

The Locked Tomb: wlw necromancers in space. Enemies to ???

The Luminous Dead: spelunking thriller set on another planet—this one is fucky everyone should read it

The Memory Librarian: short stories set in Janelle Monae’s android world

The Mimicking of Known Successes: detective noir set on Jupiter—ex-lovers reunited by circumstance

The Red Scholar’s Wake: space pirates, enemies to lovers, human x spaceship

The Salvation Gambit: con-artists breaking out of a sentient prison-world ship

The Space Between Worlds: inter dimensional corporate exploitation, handler x agent mutual pining, this one is so underappreciated

The Witch and the Vampire: YA vampire x vampire hunter

This is How You Lose the Time War: everyone knows this one

We Set the Dark on Fire: YA Latine political intrigue, school rivals to lovers

If you have any others please add, I’m always looking to grow my reading list