#i have issues with a lot of popular authors and i tend to keep it to shit talks with the besties so enjoy my 1am word vomit LOL

[nicosraf]

i’m sorry that because of one person’s horrible actions you (and others in the space) feel they have to justify themselves and who they are. it’s grossly unfair and i can’t imagine how it must feel for you. i hope it’s a reassurance that we trust you and believe in you and support you. sendings hugs your way, i know this must be such a difficult day 🫂

Thank you.You know, when this came out, I didn't even think that someone would accuse me of lying, and it was actually a friend who warned it might happen. I said I wasn't worried; the idea sounded nonsensical to me.

I don't use Mexicanness as a marketing tactic in either myself or my books particularly. I'm actually pretty critical of "Mexico" in my fiction; my short story Midnight Invitation is about a mestizo guy sleeping with a white settler, and The River Boy is a pre-Colombian story. I have a lot of love for my culture, but I also critique it. I was actually interviewed last year on "latin fantasy" but I refused to shared the completed article because they cut out what I insisted they keep in: I think most of the popular "Latine fantasy" books have an huge indigenous appropriation problem.

I have a small suspicion that the main person who attacked me was Taylor trying to "take me down with them" because they know I don't want to show my face, but I've shown my face to other author colleagues and more importantly I think I have ways to "prove" I'm Mexican that aren't my actual body or skin-deep (ha) references to Dia de Muertos or Chocolate abuelita, how Taylor/Freydis attempted to do on their old race-faking account:

I have a tie to a specific place in Mexico with a specific culture within a specific time, with a specific language even. And culture isn't that vague aesthetic anglo-white people believe you partake in sometimes, it tends to come with real, constant material conditions.

And I can talk about those conditions just fine; I can talk about what Felipe Calderon's failure of militarization in Mexico, and I can talk about the issue of Mexican-American ICE recruitment in Mex-Am enclaves along the southern border. I can talk about very specific experiences of being told "Ta-ta-ta-tamaulipas!" by the border patrol. So on and so on.

I'm sorry for this essay, but I keep seeing "how does this keep happening that the industry boosts a race-faker more than the actual racially-ethnically marginalized people?" It's because the industry (I'm including the wider white book community here) only want the aesthetic of diversity. They want a white experience and white understanding in a racialized trenchcoat and that's exactly what a racefaker is.

It's been difficult to learn that a friend turned out to be a complete monster and liar, but I'll survive this and laugh about it in time as long as Taylor doesn't bother me again. And if Taylor is reading this, I don't hate you. I just feel very sorry that you're spending your life doing this. Please don't bother me or anyone else again

[antianakin]

hiii, it's me again, someone who keeps popping in to say things nobody asked for lol. i was wondering if people who've been in the fandom longer (like you) agree with my impression that the novelizations are reallyyy important context for fanon interpretations? i didn't realize this until a discussion i had today iwth someone who helpfully summarized some of the popular prequel novels, which seem to match up really well with headcanons & fanon personalities. apparently stover emphasized obi-wan's devotion to anakin and how he's a ride or die for him. and apparently another popular novel wrote an adult obi-wan "as if a teenager in emotional maturity" which also would, you know- explain a lot.

the novels i've actually read are the jedi apprentice series, which i don't have much issues with, even though they certainly spin the trauma wheel lol. maybe it's been qui-gon and obi-wan both feel as if they are trying their best and their misunderstandings due to mutual action, rather than pure passivity? or maybe that even though the books have very dramatic conflicts that certainly put obi-wan in woobifiable situations, they more often than not help draw out distinct characteristics and strengths of his through those situations?

Just for clarity, I have NOT been in this fandom all that long by my own standards. I obviously did watch Star Wars as a kid and read some Star Wars fanfics when I was really young, but in terms of "participating in fandom" as such, that's really only been happening since like... 2021 maybe? It was basically a COVID byproduct, I had the time to consume some Star Wars stuff I'd never managed to get around to before and things devolved from there. And I honestly have read hardly any of the novels or comics myself, including the official film novelizations. Like you, the only books I've actually read are the Jedi Apprentice middle grade books, and that's really it.

So while I can speak to some of the experiences I've had in this fandom since I got into it a few years ago, I cannot speak to what fandom has been like since those novelizations were released almost 20 years ago now.

Matthew Stover's ROTS novelization seems to be pretty popular and considered one of the better novelizations. I've had people tell me that there's SOME evidence Lucas had something to do with the book and so it's often considered a fairly high level of canon as a result.

But the passage you're referencing where Stover emphasizes how Obi-Wan is "ride or die" for Anakin is genuinely one of the reasons I've never bothered to read it, no matter how pretty people say his prose is. If you want to actually see it yourself, I'll copy it below.

The line in question comes from an extended version of the scene in ROTS where Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu are discussing Anakin's reaction to being asked to spy on Palpatine as Yoda heads off to Kashyyyk.

“I think," Obi-Wan said carefully, "that abstractions like peace don't mean much to him. He's loyal to people, not to principles. And he expects loyalty in return. He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him." Mace and Yoda gazed at him steadily, and Obi-Wan had to lower his head. "Because," he admitted reluctantly, "he knows I would do the same for him.”

Interpret the scene how you will, I guess. The Anakin characterization meshes with how I tend to understand the character, but the Obi-Wan characterization could not be farther away from how I see him in canon.

I don't know anything about whatever novel wrote Obi-Wan as though he had the emotional maturity of a teenager. That doesn't ring any bells for me. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there are authors who've written Star Wars books that just simply don't like Obi-Wan all that much and so if he shows up in their work, he could come across as having the emotional maturity of a teenager because that's how that author chose to write him. It would seem odd for it to show up in an official film novelization, I would expect it more in some of the Legends content, but I suppose it's not impossible.

Legends content in general DOES have an impact on fanon and fan interpretations of Star Wars because, for a long while, it was the only way to GET more Star Wars content beyond the films themselves. For a lot of people, they were canon because there was nothing to refute them. And even once there was, people sometimes were still so attached to those stories that they preferred them to the story told in the films.

So, yeah, it can have a major impact on people's understanding of things. Often if you get into discussions about, say, the Jedi or the Force, people will bring up Legends content to prove their arguments. You shouldn't feel like this means you personally have to consume any Legends content you don't want to consume. I tend to avoid it most of the time. It is perfectly for you to just stick with the films or the shows or whatever books you find most interesting. And even within that, what you consider canon doesn't have to include literally everything you've chosen to consume. I've read the Jedi Apprentice books and enjoyed them, but it ISN'T real canon and I don't necessarily take any of it into account in my own interpretations of the characters. Legends content and Disney EU content is, in many ways, just officially licensed fanfiction. If you don't consider every fanfic you read to be canon, you do not have to consider every Legends book or comic you choose to read to be canon, either. Sometimes it's fun to just see other people's takes on Star Wars even if there's no way to fit into the canon story of Star Wars (as a side note, this is why I love Star Wars: Visions so much as a show).

I don't know if this really answered your question. As someone who doesn't consume a lot of Legends content and hasn't read a single one of the official film novelizations, I may not be the right person to ask about this.

[blueberryforestelf]

Russian Influence in Moral Orel:

Okay so a while ago I just finished watching Moral Orel and I noticed that there were some connections between it and Russian culture. I also noticed that the show had just become popular in Russia and there are dubbed episodes available on VK. Even though Moral Orel is an American TV show and the creator of the show is of Greek descent, here are some connections on the show that linked to Russian culture and social cues:

The heavy alcoholism on the show: Clay and most of the people in Moralton are straight-up alcoholics, and even Bloberta was an alcoholic before she met Clay. Of course, alcohol is a significant part of Russian culture and the country has the highest consumption of alcohol in the world. Not only are alcoholic beverages are consumed in high amounts, but is also very much socially accepted and encouraged. Even underaged children are encouraged to drink. In the episode Maturity, Orel thought drinking would make him “wise and mature” like his father and in Help young Bloberta stated that drinking alcohol “makes us better people”.

There’s a city in Russia called Orel.

Orel means ��Eagle” in Russian (and other Slavic languages). So in the Russian dub Orel’s name is Eagle.

Ms. Censordoll loves pickled eggs and keeps a jar full of them in her library. Russian cuisine consists of a lot of pickled foods, including pickled eggs, cabbage, potatoes, fish, watermelon, etc.

If you notice in the Puppington household, you’ll see an oriental carpet on the living room floor. Oriented carpets are very common in Russian households and are often on floors or hung on walls.

Clay’s reckless driving and Russia is famous for its many reckless drivers and very frequent traffic accidents (I just had to add this to the list lol)

Clay’s car looks like a Lada (a Russian brand of cars).

The “depressing”, conservative, perfectionistic, and collective culture of Moralton is quite similar to that of Russian culture. The entire town is centered around a church which literally controls everything in the town and how it operates. The people are fed Christian propaganda and are not allowed to think differently or do things differently than what is socially acceptable, otherwise they would be outcasted and have to face harsh consequences. This pretty much relates to Russia’s Soviet/Communist Era of when housing, stores, businesses, etc. were all controlled by the government and not the people. People were not allowed to solely own their own property or businesses, and if they were to speak up about problems and issues facing their economy or speak out against propaganda or the government, they would would face the harsh and legal consequences (i.e. prison camp or deportation). Moralton is quite similar to that, except it’s in the United States where people have more freedom to do want they want and express themselves.

Many people in Moralton tend to be “cold”, reserved, strict, and cynical, which is a common stereotype among Russians.

The townspeople’s love for classical arts, music, and theatre, like in the School Pageant episode. Also Bloberta comes from a family of choir singers/musicians and her singing voice is similar to that of an opera singer. Russians are known for their love for classical and opera music as it is a very significant part of their culture. I’ve met many Russians who come from a family of musicians, are talented musicians outside of their occupation, or happen to own a musical instrument in their homes.

Moral Orel is a satire that explores the hypocrisy of religious and social institutions with a touch of dark humor and irony, which is similar to the works of Russian authors like Fyodor Dostoevsky, who used similar techniques to critique religious and social mores.

Moral Orel is a stop-motion animated series and Russians are very fond of stop-motion animation as it has a rich history in Russian media and cinema. Famous Russian animators such as Roman Kachanov, Ladislas Starevich and Ivan Ivanov-Vano were pioneers of stop-motion media during the Soviet Era. Many beloved animated films and shows made during the Soviet Era were stop-motion animated. Also a lot of stop-motion animated media known today (such as Coraline, Corpse Bride, Isle of Dogs, etc.) are becoming very popular in Russia. Also, Orel loves making little stop-motion movies!

Thanks for reading! 😁

[alicefromwhichplanet]

Reply to my reader’s comments on “Demons”:

(The fic’s link 🔗 is at the bottom)

Thank you, reader, for reading through and liking my story. This work is one of my very first transformers fanfics, also kind of experimental. I wanted to write a psychological thriller, so I used first person pov. Later I learned that this pov is not so popular on this site, so I’m really grateful for your patience.

About Scourge— it’s true I wrote him as a villain that did not get redemption in the end, but may arouse sympathy from readers as well. I did this kind of like a challenge to the screenwriters of Rise of the Beasts: I will keep their idea of worldbuilding and the characters’ personalities, but I will enrich the background stories and motivations of the characters, so let’s see how this story can be improved by me. I think the biggest problem with ROTB is that the playwright’s understanding of characters is very shallow: they wrote them based on tagging adjectives: Optimus is a serious leader, Scourge is a crazy villain, Mirage is a joyful character that develops bromance with Noah. They didn’t even bother to think why these characters are like this in the first place. For me, this is inadequate writing. So I’m here to do what they failed to.

And talking about Scourge again. My impression of him came from fanarts that made him the son of Megs and OP, and while watching the movie, I felt his appearance quite similar to the two in a way. So I decided to write him as a “fallen child”. Scourge is the average son of two super brilliant people. He is also a vulnerable kid that needs to be raised in a lot of love and encouragements. Sadly, (in this story) neither of his parents is careful enough to give him these. He is torn between a strong urge to prove himself to his parents and his inner insecurities. His defection from the autobots is more of a cowardly act than a brave one. It came from his secret urge of self-destruction. He is like the desperate child that tries hurting himself to make his parents “regret”.

This version of Scourge is an archetype of tortured children in many Chinese/East Asian families. In the culture I grew up in, parents have almost unshakable authority over the children. Many kids spend their whole lives trying to please their parents, while the parents keep dismissing their efforts as “not good enough”. I can resonate with Scourge in a way as well. Scourge’s problem is that he is more vulnerable and sensitive than most kids. However, he not only faces a father that has high expectations for him (and secretly admires toxic masculinity), but also a traumatized one. It’s true that Optimus loves both Megatron and his son deeply, but when harm comes in his way, he tends to suppress his feelings and put on a nonchalant expression. But his gloominess, his hidden sorrow and self-blame are nowhere to hide from Scourge, his spark-bond son, and that has aroused in Scourge a second trauma of guilt and self-blame.

Although I think in most universes, Optimus is capable of being a wonderful parent, but from what I saw in ROTB, he is a grumpy old man who clearly has mental issues but the playwrights failed to give any plausible reasons. So I decided to explore this unexplained plot, and finally connected the dots with a family tragedy. This is how I made the whole story.

And: This story is also largely based on the song “Demons”. All the lyrics can be found in my plots (for example,

“When the days are cold,

And the cards all fold,

And the saints we see,

Are all made of gold”

corresponds to the part of Scourge remembering Optimus taking the young Scourge to see the statues of the Primes.

These are the ideas behind the creation I wanna share with you. Hope you like them as well. If you want a more lighthearted version of Scourge’s story, please read “Old World, New World”. It’s unfinished, but Scourge(Skystrophe) is the same person with the same personality, only nutrued in a much better environment with enough love.

[luveline]

You probably won't see this because your inbox must be overflowing but I have always wondered how you got started here? I do requests as well and for nearly two years I have been practically begging for them and no one really wants to ask for anything and if they do and I fill it, no one really reads it. I know the first response for many is probably well maybe my writing is the problem but being modest, I have posted plenty of fics in my time that get a lot of positive attention. It just seems to be requests that are the issue. I have all but given up on asking for them at this point because it feels embarrassing to keep begging and even more mortifying to post them and have the notes not hit 20. I've noticed people tend to inundate the same authors (like yourself) with requests rather than spreading them throughout blogs. Did you ever have this issue at the beginning? If so, how did you overcome the sadness and disappointment and continue to want to give to others and the community? If not, do you have any advice? Because the lack of response is so disheartening that it makes me not want to write for others anymore.

Hello! Just to preface, I’m worried my answer isn’t very helpful, so before you read please know I’m absolutely not trying to be an idiot or insensitive, I hope this doesn’t read that way! pls think of a /gen tag the whole time lovely

omg no I would honestly never assume it’s down to writing! I fear with tumblr it’s sort of like a lottery for if your fic will get seen cos of the tag system, like if it’s not a super popular tag then you have to hope it gets reblogged enough to get into the TOP section but that barely ever happens especially for requests! I got started writing fics just by writing them, but I do remember of course the early stages of my blog where I didn’t have many followers and didn’t get many requests, and I remember too how disheartening it was!! But, that being said when I first started writing fics I had no idea just how popular they could get, so I think I was saved from becoming too upset because I literally didn’t realise more than 200 people could like a fic if that makes sense? I remember my first Remus fic, baby fever, got like 100 notes in a few days and I just was so happy, so whenever I’m feeling disheartened by a lack of response I try to remember how grateful I was back then for much fewer interactions, and at the same time, a lot of my works I was writing because I was lonely and desperately wanted company, so sometimes it didn’t even matter to me if people read them because I was writing them as a sort of self indulgence, so I think that helped me not feel too down. I feel worried saying this because you say that your requests aren’t hitting 20 notes so I really don’t want to sound tone deaf suggesting you try to keep your head up, because I do think if my fics were not reaching my audience I’d feel just as disheartened. I’ve found that my fics do better now because I have more followers that see the fic/request, and I’ve collected them over time through many many fics and I have to assume much luck with the tags! Like, I believe whole heartedly that you write well, and if you’ve been doing it for two whole years, the only reason I could think of that you’re not getting the attention you deserve is bad luck, it’s really not nice to spend a lot of time and energy on something and have it go unseen. I think when I first started I just kept thinking, if I keep writing, this next one will be the one people like, and I still feel that way now, and I still feel disappointed sometimes when not many people comment on one cos it feels like a reflection of the quality of your work, but I think there are just so many factors so try not to blame yourself for it, I think it’s just a weird algorithm or something. I wish I could tell you why some blogs get more requests than others but I’m honestly not sure why it happens!! And I think it’s okay to not want to write for others if you feel unappreciated genuinely, it must feel really awful to put effort into things and then wonder if the person who asked managed to read it!! I hope whatever happens that you can find joy in writing and find an audience, and I think you know already that your writing isn’t the issue !!

[lesbianmarrow]

hey you seem to have a lot of knowledge about comics and their structure, I was wondering if you had any recommendations for some good comics? like ones with good flow/eyelines?

ahh thank you, i am so flattered! it's funny you ask because just yesterday i was thinking about the flow/eyelines in the book i was reading. it's called feeding ghosts: a graphic memoir by tessa hulls. it's a monochrome graphic memoir about the author's family history, the family's history of mental illness, and how that's all linked to the history of china. it reminds me a lot of fun home in some ways. because the author is describing not only her family's history but also her experience of learning about and processing her family's history, she'll often draw her adult self in the panel along with a young version of her mother or her grandmother. that implosion of linear time is a core theme of the book and the author uses some really interesting page layouts and ways of manipulating the eye around the page to emphasize that.

another book that comes to mind for me is laura dean keeps breaking up with me by mariko tamaki and rosemary valerio-o'connell. i remember being really impressed with the lettering in that book. it was really beautiful and fit the gorgeous, dreamy art while doing a stellar job of guiding the eye along the page in an unobtrusive way. so often it is the lettering that does so much of the heavy lifting in making a page visually legible to a reader - once i started noticing it, i couldn't stop. rosemary's art in that book is also so stunning. she has such an ornate, intricate style that nevertheless manages to be dynamic, which is what was needed for this book. also i'm biased bc i met both mariko and rosemary and got my copy of the book signed by both of them >:)

erica henderson is also a comics genius. i feel like i learned so much of what i understand about how comics function from reading her patreon posts. recently she did a harley quinn annual at dc, and it's just a one-shot story of harley quinn and zatanna on a cruise together solving a murder mystery. henderson wrote, drew, and colored the issue herself. she's a master of comedic timing and the story has so many amazing visual gags. and her page layouts are always very thoughtful and interesting. i wish dc would do more of that, just get a really great writer/artist to do a 40-page one-shot of some popular characters. i guess the black label minis are kind of a bigger version of that. but i do love a humble one-shot.

if you've not yet checked out the shortbox comics fair i highly recommend doing so! it's an annual online-only comics fair, meticulously curated, where you can browse their selection of all-new indie comics and buy pdfs of the ones you like. all money goes to the comics creators. it's october-only so now is a good time to check it out. i bought some comics from them at the beginning of the month and there was some seriously incredible stuff. personally i really loved in the fading light and wednesday's child.

finally if you're not already familiar with silver sprocket i recommend checking out their stuff as well! they publish a lot of comics that tend to be more experimental than stuff you'd find at more mainstream publishers and they skew pretty queer and trans. in general i like looking at what smaller presses are putting out - avery hill publishing and uncivilized books also have good stuff.

i hope that helps! i'm always happy to recommend some good comics :)

[crusherthedoctor]

🍬 🧩

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Sage is still an overrated void of a character on her own who I struggle to take seriously for all her build up (NANANANAAAA), which would be unfortunate enough, but it's made a lot worse by how she affects Eggman's character for the decisively not-better. The latter is why ignoring her presence is not an option for me: I can't do that when they and everyone else keeps shoving the dynamic in my face.

"It won't make him softer! Wait and see!" Guess what, chum: I've been waiting and seeing, and so far I've not been swayed, since whenever they reference Sage (MoStH, Twitter Takeovers), it's to prop up how special she is to Eggman. That most of these post-Frontiers examples aren't fully canon doesn't change the impact they have on the fandom, nor does it change the fact that they're knowingly pandering to the Eggdad crowd. And on top of all that, fans like to sidestep the core issue that regardless of whether Eggman would be a good dad or a bad dad (spoiler: he'd be a bad one), him being a dad at all doesn't line up with the kind of person and villain he is.

Just because something works for Bowser, or some other villain, doesn't mean it works for Eggman. You can't just place square kegs in round holes and expect the same results, you gotta treat the character as them.

Also, "it won't make him softer" rings hollow when it comes from fans who sing up and down that Sage fleshes Eggman out, who make fics and fanart portraying him as a good father to her, who criticise Dream Team because Sage isn't on every wall and ceiling in Eggman's dreams. How am I supposed to be reassured when they loudly advocate for what they're telling me won't happen?

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Predictably, whatever I consider a detriment to Eggman's handling. Whether that be Eggdad, Sonegg, Mr. Tinker being passed off as Eggman's true self, muh Sonic X standards, getting killed off by Shadow Recolour #504, etc.

Beyond that, most fics that don't appeal to me have the courtesy to advertise themselves as such right out the gate, like high school fics, or adaptations of games that have already been tackled a thousand times (read: SA2). So at least with them, I know to just not bother with them and be on my merry way. For me to be actively reading a fic only to then be slapped in the face mid-read, it would usually require something seriously OoC or degrading, especially if it's a character I love. Like Rouge being made an outright villain because "that's what she was in SA2 (not really)". Or Tails being useless or small-time compared to "real" heroes like Shadow and Silver. A lot of fics also tend to flanderize Sonic's snarky side to the point of making him an unbearable arsehole, or go down the "marry me SONIKKUUUU or I'll kill you/myself/other lady" route with Amy.

For a pettier example, I tend to immediately peace out if I see any signs of the author fellating themselves over how superior and mature their writing is over SEGA/Sonic Team's. This was common even back in the 00's, and for obvious reasons, it's became twice as frequent over time. Coincidentally, many of these fics tend to have Archie/SatAM elements and influences.

[pub-lius]

What in your opinion makes a good/well written history book? Can you give some examples?

i miiiight have talked about this before like 6 months ago so you might be able to find more info from me on this but idk. to answer this, im just sitting on the floor in front of my bookshelf HEJWBW

So contrary to popular belief, there are just as many factors that go into a non fiction book as a fiction book, and they all have their different styles. to make the comparisons im making, im gonna keep it between Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger, The Three Lives of James Madison by Noah Feldman, and John Laurens and the American Revolution by Gregory D. Massey and George Washington’s Indispensable Men by Arthur S. Lefkowitz, just referring to them by their author(s)’ last name. these are all books i have on hand that ive fully read and annotated

Most history books will be in a biographical or chronological style, where they retell events relating to a person or period in order, and others will take a more narrative style, like what Kilmeade and Yaeger have done, but this is often used to enhance understanding by not constantly referring back to previous events. neither one of this is better or worse, but they open different opportunities for how the author will broach certain subjects.

this is where we get into the author. just like in fiction, the author’s opinions, biases, and preferences alter the way the book is written, mainly because they will highlight certain information that they personally believe is important, and their historical reasoning will reflect their personal biases.

the two authors that i think are most different in this respect are Feldman and Chernow. as we all know, i really don’t like Chernow, for the primary reason that his evidence is contradictory and his theories tend to be misogynistic. the contradictions in his book make it hard to take anything he says at face value and it eliminates all chance of his book being easy to read, along with the fact that he is very wordy.

when it comes to Feldman, his biography of James Madison is a lot shorter than anything Chernow has ever touched with a pen, even though Madison lived a great deal longer than Hamilton. this is because Feldman utilizes brevity more in his writing. the thesis of his book is in the title: that Madison’s life can be broken down into three sections, and he spends the book proving that while also describing his life. this book is therefore more academically reliable, but also easier to read and more trustworthy. he also uses sources for each one of his claims and chernow just pulls things out of his ass but thats neither here nor there.

speaking of sources, when you’re buying a book, flip through the index and see if they have both primary and secondary sources listed. they almost always do, but it’s important to make sure. don’t trust a book with no primary sources. there also should be a LARGE index, like enough that when you separate it from the rest of the book you’re like “oh! i dont have as much to read as i thought i did!” not only does this give you hope that you might have a life outside of this book, it shows that the book has been thoroughly and adequately researched

another factor is how much information is in the book. this has less to do with how long it is and more about the subject matter along with the length. for example, Dolin’s book is about pirates, which are largely very obscure historical figures, so you can infer that the book will be less about the individuals and more about the time period, being the Golden Age of Priacy. and it is! and there’s nothing wrong with that, its just going to give you less information on the individuals.

now when it comes to a book like Massey’s, it seems like an adequate length for a biography of one person. however i think a larger issue with Massey’s book is that he doesn’t give you the full picture of a lot of things, and that is my biggest gripe with this book. he doesn’t give the reader a lot of wiggle room when it comes to making their own theories, because he tends to state his opinion first and give minimal evidence afterwards.

im always on here ranting and raving about how good of a job Lefkowitz did, but he doesn’t really fit the criteria ive mentioned here. his book isn’t in formal writing (which isn’t a requirement but i prefer it), he leaves out a lot of details, and his book is pretty lengthy. however i think he can really be praised for just easiness to read. the truth is, history is boring, and its hard to find authors who don’t make it worse. Lefkowiz’s book is well sourced and well written and does give a really good picture of the time period and a good starting point for further research, and that is how you become my favorite book and my most frequent recommendation

its always gonna depend on your personal preferences and biases. studying history isn’t about getting rid of your biases, and more of using them as a tool or at the very least factoring them into your research. my biggest tip: just keep reading! find what you like and what you don’t bc im still doing that. get nitpicky. get funky with it. GO TO THE LIBRARY‼️

and remember kids, Ron Chernow meets his maker when he encounters me in the Denny’s Parking lot, bare fisted and ready to throw down. you can’t outrun destiny, Ron.

(for legal reasons, that’s a joke)

[just-antithings]

Is it just me or can a lot of the transphobia tied to omegaverse instead be attributed to cis authors who rely on trans- and homophobic stereotypes of trans people to write their fanfic?

Especially since tropes are ever evolving. I don't know about you but I don't think it has to be a requirement to make omegas especially sweet and loving and caring and "uwu soft bean, most protecc, can do no harm ever <3333", or to make alphas inherently aggressive and territorial and protective. That kind of projected radfem-brand of gender essentialism is, I think, only really baked in there because people keep insisting it is and that it'll never change when... it could change. It could Very Easily Change, if people were willing to change it.

Not to mention, as a trans person, I feel like omegaverse can provide a LOT of opportunity to explore gender (especially if you go into the realm of having characters be trans not just in terms of primary sex, but also (and potentially in addition to) in terms of secondary sex) and how it interacts with who you are and who you want to be.

While yes, there can definitely be a lot of transphobia embedded if it's not written with care, so can pretty much everything. I feel like the trope itself isn't necessarily as transphobic as people tend to act like it is, but rather it's the authors writing with an unintentionally transphobic bias a lot of the time. Of course, there are some popular elements that are used that do lean on transphobia and gender essentialism, but... those elements don't have to be used.

I dunno, maybe there's something I'm not thinking of, I'm just tired of people acting like omegaverse is uniquely evil and transphobic where other tropes can't be (for... some reason that's never specified as to why other tropes can't be as bad as they claim omegaverse is?) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tl;dr, I feel like people are making omegaverse out to be more transphobic of a trope than it actually is, when a lot of that supposed transphobia can be attributed to cis authors relying on trans- and homophobic stereotypes along with widespread radfem-brand gender essentialism within fandom, and that while some popular elements of omegaverse can be transphobic, those popular elements don't have to be essential to omegaverse and can pretty easily be done away in my eyes.

Yea its kinda wack. I definitely feel like omegaverse gets a lot of extra bullshit The other porn tropes just don't get?

I am trans but am also a weird type of tyranny faggot trans. Ya know?? I am extremely attracted to omegaverse because the omega male/alpha female body type is my ideal. I mean, I'm salmacian picking a side just isn't for me. I am capital T trans. I have no desire to look or be cis of either gender. The only thing I wanna pass as is a freak. I was a dick small tits and a pussy it's a weird set up and I only see rep I get to see myself in is omegaverse.

Basically, what I'm getting at is that there is no perfect representation. Some people find omegaverse transphobic, but as a trans person myself, it's the only time I get representation. It's not a one type fits all sorta thing. No rep is.

Sometimes, you just gotta ignore folks and do what ya want. Write what you want and read what you want. You never know what will grab someone and speak to them. People who want to take issue will make them regardless.

[8hsaturn]

I saw your post about free readings.. I would like a natal reading

Natal Chart Reading:

disclaimer:

many of the negative interpretations of specific placements and aspects could not manifest if the native grows up in an environment where the tensions are well-managed and used as opportunities for growth, the potential of the clash is there but like everything in astrology, it can be handled both positively or negatively.

a birth chart is extremely complex, so there are always more things to say, so please keep in mind that as detailed of a reading as this could be, there will always be more things to learn.

BIG 3:

6h Scorpio Sun ruled by 6h Pluto and 7h Mars, square 4h Moon in a scorpio degree and 9h Saturn in an Aquarius degree, conjunct Jupiter, in a cancer degree:

you seek depth and substance in every aspect of your life, the type of person to focus on every detail and not be too fund of the mundane. You might have heard jabs here and there about how you look way too deep into things, but you just happen to see deeper than the superficial side of things.

you seek to hold control in the workplace and have enough authority to self determinate in your job. You could prefer to own your business or to have an arrangement that allows you full control on most aspects of your job. You might be scared of losing control over your routine and daily life.

you could be prone to headaches or STDs. Make sure your partners are clean and safe.

You could be one thought away from spiraling everyday, prone to anxiety as well as overthinking daily social interactions which could manifest in social anxiety, or self-esteem issues. Be careful of letting your relationships control your mental stability, or attempting to micromanage other people.

you could find that your ultimate desires in life, worldly ones specially (recognition, wealth, fame, popularity…) clash with what brings you emotional satiation. You could crave being surrounded by a group of loved ones, building your own family and dedicating your time to your safe space and family -including the one you choose. However, you could also crave autonomy and being recognized by most of the people you interact with daily and not simply your family.

Alternatively, the conflict could be between your desire to be of service to people, to help them overcome emotional hurdles and their dark moments, regardless of whether they appreciate or even recognize your efforts that cost a lot of your energy VS only focusing and what brings YOU satisfaction and only truly helping those who were here for you as much as you were there for them.

you could’ve also grown up in a household charged with tension, or ego clashes between your parents: on one side, a more family-focused but critical mother, who might’ve been either very self-deprecating and unconsciously ingrained you with self doubt and anxiety, or could’ve been straight up obsessed with molding you to her expectations of perfection. and on the other side, a father who might’ve either travelled very often or was very busy with his higher education and aspirations and was relatively absent, might also have been as strict as the mother but more on the matters of education and discipline. Nevertheless, the father could’ve been irresponsible towards the native and undisciplined. A father who might’ve been disciplined when it comes to their own aspirations but not so much towards the native. He could also overindulge at times, and might’ve been very lucky with business deals and partnerships.

You could’ve struggles with spirituality a lot growing up: might have had some form of religious trauma or simply felt put-off by religion, this however could’ve changed as you grew older especially after your first Saturn return. You could also find blockages were very frequent when it comes to traveling or pursuing higher education.

Despite all these limitations, you tend to be very determinate when it comes to overcoming the obstacles and limitations you encounter, and the latter end up making you grow into a stronger, more mature person.

you could’ve always had a deep curiosity about the world and a desire to acquire wisdom through studying its. This could’ve led you to either finding it an interpretation of the world through religion or coming up with your own ideologies. you could also have a pretty skeptic view that refuses to accept beliefs based on faith only.

you could be extremely generous and a big dreamer. You don’t like to limit your aspirations. You have this incredible presence that’s noticed by people around you, like a superstar, and you just look like you were born to be on the spotlight. you’re very magnetic and might find yourself inspiring happiness in people and helping them take big leaps that might’ve otherwise though to be overly-risky.

Gemini rising with Lilith on the ascendant, ruled by 7h Sagittarius mercury in an Aquarius degree:

your chart ruler is in fall, which could push you to have a hard time relating to any of the Gemini rising traits. you might not be as malleable or flexible in your opinions as a Gemini would be but might find yourself with a “preacher” sort of attitude, you might be very hard to sway out of a conviction and might influence people surrounding you to believe the same, however, you’re still plenty open-minded and like to expose yourself to new information constantly. The upside though is that you’re very influential especially when it comes to one-on-one interaction. Nevertheless, you might still relate to the “chameleon” traits of Gemini risings as Sagittarius is mutable too, you could also be very curious and constantly crave to learn new things

with the Virgo moon Scorpio sun combo, your close circle may see you as the person to talk to when they feel down and need a pep talk.

7th house stellium: righteous type of individual, the social justice warrior of your circle. You learn about yourself through others, so relationships are an important focus of your purpose in this lifetime. Pay attention to what relationships make you happiest, which ones make you learn more, and which ones stunt your growth.

random aspects:

Neptune conjunct Venus: be careful of idealizing your partners, rose-colored glasses,

Uranus in the 8th house: you might realize that uncomfortable changes come to you extremely suddenly shocking you in the process. you might be uncomfortable with emotion but you’re one with the collective and your social network, as well as aware of trends.

Pluto trine MC: coupled with the 7h stellium, you know how to instantly read a room.

hope you find this accurate <3

[hello2bello]

Military macaws face many challenges, yet they are lovable and intelligent; they have bright unique coloring and are very social birds. They are endangered and there are less than 10,000 alive globally. The reason for their low population is loss of habitat and bird smuggling. Unfortunately, because they live so long another issue they face is that they are prone to diseases and overgrown beaks. According to one article, “the abundance of the Military Macaw has now decreased to less than 10,000 globally. This decrease is mostly due to deforestation and the capturing of wild birds for the pet trade industry.” As the author discusses, military macaws have decreased significantly due to many factors. Deforestation, meaning destruction of habitat, and bird smuggling; bird smuggling is the illegal taking of birds and usually selling them. One expert writes in “Military Macaw: Bird Species Profile,” “Macaws may be long-lived birds, but, like all parrots, they are prone to a viral infection called macaw wasting syndrome and overgrown beaks. Like other pet parrots, military macaws may resort to self-mutilation by feather plucking if they feel neglected or bored.” Because of how long they can live in captivity, they can start to develop harmful things. If any macaw isn't taken proper care of their beaks and claws can become overgrown. Macaw beaks never stop growing so they have to be maintained by either a person or something the macaw can use to keep it down. If a macaw has a beak too long, it curls back into them and can cause discomfort and be dangerous in severe cases. If the nails of a macaw get too long, they have a harder time gripping things. Macaws tend to hold pieces of their food or other things so this can make it difficult for it. Also, they might have a harder time gripping certain surfaces if their claws are too long.

If macaws feel neglected or bored they may pluck their feathers. The reason they do this is to keep themselves occupied or because they are so stressed or frustrated that they may take it out on themselves.

On a happier note, military macaws typically have friendly personalities and are very intelligent birds! In the article: “Military Macaw: Bird Species Profile,” the author writes, “Though this bird is not naturally as good a talker as other parrots, you can train it to be talkative and it can learn a handful of words and phrases. Like all macaws, these birds will rise with the sun each morning, and they scream to let you know they are up. This alarming call happens again in the evening when readying for bedtime. While they're generally considered one of the quieter macaws, they can screech and have a distinct croak. This noise level is usually not suitable for apartment or condominium living.” As the author stated, Military macaws are very vocal birds yet still one of the quieter macaws! They make sure to let you know they are awake with a scream. Oh, look—now you are too! They don’t seem to be very cuddly birds, but they will have different personalities. Their personality will also be slightly shaped on how they are raised and taken care of. They are also extremely intelligent birds! They are popular birds when it comes to tricks because they are extremely treat motivated. They also have the ability to comprehend and recall how to do the trick. One silly fact is that some military macaws are even potty trained, and they only go in their cage or where they were taught to go. Military macaws have a sad history, but they are slowly recovering and repopulating. Fortunately, there are many military macaws with happy lives and lots of treats!

If I got anything wrong please tell me and if anyone has any silly bird facts ALSO TELL ME.

[namazunomegami]

in my opinion, Gege suffers from the same problem that Tite Kubo suffered from: rushing.

this is partly due to the nature of Weekly Shōnen Jump as well as his own health issues, but not completely.

Both Kubo and Gege have this problem in which they have a plan of how to get from point A to point B, but tend to not flesh that out.

However, a lot of the outrage I’m seeing towards the current situation in the manga comes from people who tend to be unable to seperate canon Gojo from fanon Gojo because when you put fanon at the back of your mind as just take Gojo and JJK as a whole (and not for what we wish they could be), the character’s reactions to what’s going on and what’s happening to Gojo do not really surprise me at all.

ANON I'M SO SORRY THAT I KEPT YOU WAITING FOR SO LONG!!! I got sick and spent most of my days with recovering. And now, with newfound strength, I'm ready to yap!! Hope you can forgive me for taking some time off from tumblr.

cw: minor spoilers from Bleach, especially from the new TYBW arc, endless yapping

I absolutely agree with you that Weekly Shounen Jump is Satan's bastard child. I'm not surprised that mangakas eventually choose another, yet a not as popular magazine for publishing. Shounen Jump also takes a lot of creative liberty from authors or not give them enough money, it doesn't matter how popular their work is (just look at poor Togashi, Shounen Jump has been slowly killing him). Literally the same thing happened to Araki and I think it's actually better that Jojo's has a monthly release schedule in terms of writing and pacing. As well as my goat Ishida Sui who got horribly burnt out by Tokyo Ghoul and now moved to Tonari Young Jump which is an even weirder kind of niche, I think they mostly publish horror and seinen but the magazine is a completely online platform. And Ishida now has an irregular release schedule, meaning he publishes a chapter whenever he feels like it. So... sometimes I don't hear anything from Choujin X for months and sometimes I get three chapters in a row every week. But I care about him and his art more than my own incapability to keep up with stuff.

The main problem (for me at least) with Bleach that it gets repetitive quickly. Substitute Shinigami arc? That's a good introduction arc tbh, sense of wonder is there, we're slowly building up the world, provide explanations at a nice pace. Ichigo was a one of a kind shounen protagonist in the early 2000s because he didn't want to save the whole world, he wasn't above to kill his enemies, he didn't want to be the Hokage/Pirate King/the Strongest/whatever, he just wanted to protect those who are close to him and couldn't give a shit about others and that's the reason he was so relatable to many readers. He was a delinquent, a punk compared to the usual happy-go-lucky protag formula.

Soul Society arc? Rukia is off to be executed and Ichigo rescues her with the help of the gang and gets a few power ups. Arrancar arc? Orihime is kidnapped by Aizen and Ichigo wants to rescue her with the help of the gang and gets a few power ups. Fullbringer arc? Sado gets friendly with Xcution and Ichigo's initial trust in them starts to crumble so he wants to protect him with the help of the gang and gets back his shinigami powers and also a few power ups. TYBW arc? Ishida betrays the gang and leaves with the nazis-but-dressed-in-white so he wants to save him with the help of the gang but oh shit the Soul King is killed he must save the whole world too and gets a few power ups. Great success!

I know, I know that's oversimplified but I love Bleach with all of its faults.

Rushing was definitely a problem with Kubo especially in the last arc. I'll forever be bitter about the ending (and no, not because of the ichiruki vs ichihime ship war, I couldn't care less but I admit that I'm an ichiruki and ulquihime fan and Studio Pierrot was always heavily biased in terms of ships) and because Kubo literally failed his own main cast.

I remember that I saw a post on DeviantArt where the original poster shared their thoughts about how they imagine the main four's ending and I'm almost completely on board with that. I can go for so, so long how Kubo did Ishida and Sado dirty, but maybe in another occassion, I'll get deeper into that.

Another problem with TYBW arc is that he made the Quincy ridiculously op. The fights weren't fair and some of the abilities are beyond of any logic (I'm looking at you Gerard, Yhwach and Pernida) and he needed a few asspulls to make the Shinigami win. And some of the truly powerful Shinigami couldn't get utilised. And Byakuya should have remained dead.

But at least I'm giving Kubo credits for that he's willing to correct his mistakes with the new seasons and the light novels.

Gege... Gege just completely lost it. His mind, the plot, character development, everything. He gets inspired by wonderful authors, but can't use them in a satisfying way, the execution is just bad. When you spend such a small amount of time to write your characters the fandom will do it, and that's why fanon Gojo and canon Gojo is just two different characters. But that's sorta true for all of the characters in the cast.

And some fans are just horribly delusional, sorry not sorry.

[dejwritesarchived]

omegaverse is actually pretty popular in bl mangas so you're not wrong 😂

here's my take:

omegaverse acts like "secondary genders" in a way. like, you can have a male alpha (which is how it usually goes 😐 gimme more female alphas please), a male omega, or a male beta. ofc, in fandom spaces and especially x reader spaces, Reader is 99% of the time the omega.

everyone has a particular "scent" to them, which is why you'll see a lot about "scenting" in A/B/O fics (and tbh one of my favorite aspects of it. not the knots and the heats, but the scents lmfao)

omegas go into "heat" (like some animals do) and they give off this pheromone of "hi I'm in heat every alpha in the vicinity please fuck me ASAP because I literally cannot function otherwise", which is usually the major draw for people writing A/B/O fics. and alphas are almost always what a typical "alpha" sounds like: loud, in charge, snarling at the competition and acting like they're in charge of everyone they encounter, leaving the poor weak omegas quivering in their presence and the betas backing down in fear.

btw, betas in A/B/O fics? almost always side characters. they essentially function as "regular" people. for some reason.

see, I have my own issues with Omegaverse or A/B/O fics, but at their core they function as plot devices for characters to fuck relentlessly. and that's usually the beginning and end of most of those fics. it's when Omegaverse is used in a longer story that my issues with it tend to creep up. for example, Omegaverse is (usually) based entirely on disproven wolf pack dynamics, so things are very extreme and cut-and-dry.

plus, with a lot of these stories there tend to be warnings for dubcon/noncon because, well, omegas have a biological urge to get completely fucked by every alpha they're around and usually consent isn't given. and...that's not normally my cup of tea. ofc this isn't always the case, and things are different for everyone!

for me personally, I've always disliked the lack of autonomy given to omegas. like, where are my omegas that are putting these dumb meathead alphas against one other for their affection - like how it would actually go? where are my omegas that are super pissy and aggressive during their heat and will kill the nearest alpha that looks at them too long - like how things could actually go?

anyway, I'm getting off-topic! Omegaverse can go a lot of different ways depending on the author and the setting, and it's a super diverse genre imo. smut usually tends to be the end-all, be-all, so the larger issues either rarely come up or take on the extreme issues without exploring other nuances.

seriously, the amount of female animals in the wild that will straight up maim and/or kill a partner in the wild is too high for us to keep having these weak-hearted omegas 😤😤 I built an entire Omegaverse based on lion dynamics instead of (false) wolf dynamics and the outcome is VERY different from the norm!

Okay, so it’s honestly more or so how a fic writer or somebody portray it and build it up themselves. interesting

[arytha]

why do you only read chinese fiction?

I'm going to hope this isn't in bad faith and that you're actually just innocently curious. If you're not being innocent about this, I don't have to explain anything to you about what I decide to get into. Thanks 💜

Anyways, I've certainly leaned towards reading mainly Chinese fiction lately, but its not the only thing I read. (See: ORV and TCF obsession, both Korean novels) I've been reading a lot of chinese novels lately bc I like them? I mainly read on my phone, so translated novels and the like are the easiest to get into. I mainly find novels through NovelUpdates, and I tend to want to read similar things bc it keeps my brain in check. I also take recommendations from friends, which is how I found out that I like these novels in the first place. I'm also (now) comfortable enough about what I know with MTL translation errors in Chinese that I can read unfinished translations without too many issues besides using more brain power with some phrasing (and completely avoiding novels set in the palace bc mtl does not play nice with all the terms of address), which opens me to reading more novels, because if I'm reading something I prefer it to be complete because of how I read.

I grew up reading mainly English authors. In my teens I read a lot of Japanese visual/web/light novels (Fate, Umineko, Shield Hero, Death Mage, DenYuuDen, etc) and manga, but its harder for me to get into manga rn (latest was Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun). I've been wanting to read more Korean novels, but I haven't found many that I like, and I'm totally up to suggestions. I actually tried reading Worm (english webnovel) last year due to popular demand but couldn't get through it bc I wasn't in the right mindset. It is still on my list of stuff to read later tho!

I rotate through hyperfixations, and I just happen to like a lot of the tropes (Infinite Flow, I'm fascinated by Cultivation novels, etc) and novel types that Chinese novels have to offer right now. I guess I'll probably rotate out of this and off to some other obscure-or-not media type that's as weirdly niche at some point. Idk. I just need something to occupy my brain while going through my day and reading helps me with that.

[goldenhour-studies]

As I've mentioned in my pinned intro post, I'm seriously considering becoming an ESL teacher (ideally for adult learners). With that in mind...

I started the free Coursera program Foundations of Teaching for Learning: Being a Professional which is presented by the Commonwealth Education Trust—an Australian organization, I believe. This is the first of nine programs in the “Foundations of Teaching for Learning” series. This series seems to be geared towards grade school teachers (what would be K-12 education levels in the USA) for professional development. I’m taking these programs as a prospective ESL teacher, because I want to find out whether or not teaching is a good fit for me before I drop 800 USD on a TESOL certification program.

I have a hunch that I’ll enjoy being an ESL teacher, though; being a DM for D&D + an assistant dog trainer has shown me that I really enjoy helping people succeed in their lives, meet their goals, and learn new things. Thanks to my personal experience having friends & partners who are neurodivergent, I tend to be good at keeping calm during emotional crises and helping folks come out of anxiety attacks—so those are also points in my favor, I think. But I’ve never taught human beings as my job before, and I must admit that I’m kind of nervous about it. I don’t want to burn out!

Anyway, the first discussion post for Week 1 of the first “Foundations” program has this prompt:

One of the issues for teaching is that many responsibilities that were once taken on by parents and communities are now being passed on to the school and to teachers. Is this reasonable? Do families and communities have the right to be involved in the education of their children? What are the advantages and barriers to this?

I'll share my thoughts below the cut, but for organizational purposes this is:

Foundations of Teaching for Learning 1/9: Being a Professional

Week 1/6, discussion post 1/3

Schools and teachers are part of their surrounding communities, not separate entities. When I was very young, my elementary school’s librarian was my neighbor! (And I had the fright of my life when she came to my parents’ house one day to ask why I hadn’t returned my overdue books, haha).

If you believe that “it takes a village to raise a child” (which I do) then you should also believe that the work of raising a child cannot fall solely on the shoulders of their immediate blood relatives. I, personally, do not believe that the nuclear family is a good child-rearing unit all on its own. Children are intense and have a ton of needs—physically and emotionally—that 1-2 parental units cannot adequately provide for without a lot of support from figures like the childrens’ grandparents, uncles and aunts, youth group leaders (scoutmasters, coaches, tutors, religious authority figures, etc) and, yes, teachers as well.

I would also argue that families and communities are already involved in the education of their children, even if we follow the worldview that schools and teachers are indeed separate entities from the rest of the child-rearing ecosystem. At least in the US (where I am from & currently live), residents of a county within a state elect the members of the school board by way of the popular vote.

This is admittedly somewhat limited, since the school board’s decisions only affect public K-12 education (private and charter schools are beyond its purview), but the parents and the larger community have the power to elect the representatives who oversee the allocation of the county’s education budget and who create its policies. Should the school libraries have their print collections expanded? Should certain books be banned from those libraries? Should the schools’ arts programs receive more funding, or should the sports programs receive more? These decisions all affect the education and opportunities that the children within the US public school system receive.

Moreover, are not teachers, principals, and professors members of their communities? Do they not go to the same grocery stores and food markets, attend our sporting events, watch the same movies in our theaters, and walk on our streets? Of course they do, because they are us. They are just as much a part of our community as anyone else, and they most likely carry the same biases and cultural attitudes as other members of the community.

For example, many decades ago, what we would now call domestic abuse used to be referred to as “home discipline” in the US. Parents could and did intentionally physically harm their children, and that abuse could and was likewise carried out by teachers upon their pupils (read more on this topic here, but MAJOR CONTENT WARNING for child abuse). Now, however, American culture is losing its blasé attitude towards corporal punishment of children. A teacher hitting a student in 21st century America would most likely be seen as (at best) disgustingly unprofessional, and would result in swift and severe disciplinary action—upon the teacher! With all of that said, I believe it is clear that communities are already influencing the way their children are being educated.

Lastly, I will argue that there are advantages to the extant community members influencing the way its children are educated, as well as disadvantages and barriers. For a start, a community of people is never a monolith; there are Black, Asian, Latinx, and Native people living cheek-and-jowl with white people in the US, just as there are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian, and pagan folks rubbing elbows with Christians of various denominations. However, at least in the part of America where I grew up, the dominant cultural group was very WASP-y.

The result of that kind of dominance within education is that things are fine and dandy if you and your children either are part of or assimilate to that dominant cultural group—nothing is amiss, everything agrees with your sensibilities, and all is well. If you are not a member of that dominant group and refuse and/or are unable to assimilate into it, however, suddenly you are a square peg in a round hole. Until recently, my local public school district didn’t give any vacation days for the Jewish High Holy Days… but it has always provided vacation time for Christmas and the Gregorian calendar's new year. Muslim holidays have yet to be acknowledged in any way, shape or form.

This discussion post has grown very long, and I want to stop here before I end up writing a book. However, since I spent the better part of two hours typing out my thoughts like this, I would sincerely love to hear yours in return. Please tell me your thoughts on the original question above, and/or my response to it.

[goombasa]

Why Aren't They Numbered?

This is just a quick little fart of a rant that I had in mind while I was reshelving books at the library where I work. I noticed that we have a lot of books by the same authors, especially in the mystery and thriller section. These authors write series with recurring characters, and while a lot of the books don't directly relate to one another, there is still an optimal reading order. It's like watching a television series that might be overall episodic, but does sitll have a recurring cast of ensemble characters that shows up now and then, and may reference things that have happened in past escapades, or might even have something resembling a myth arc that is slowly built up over multiple stories.

So then why aren't the damn books numbered?

Look, when it comes to younger fiction, even going into young adult, if a book is a part of a series (that being a collection of books that follows a recurring cast of characters, even if the books themselves are not necessarily following one continuous story) you're going to know it. Every book is given a number to denote the reading order for them. I'm not joking when I say some of the most popular books at my library are the long-running series in the kids section. We're lucky if we can keep any Wings of Fire or Warrior Cats books stocked on the shelves.

Now the same can be said for prolific adult authors like James Patterson, David Baldacci, Daniel Silva, Elin Hilderbrand, and Geraldine Brooks. In fact, these authors tend to have many series going on at the same time (and some of them publish like four books a year, which is terrifying to me) but despite how popular they are, despite how often their books fly off the shelves at the library, I can't count the amount of times I've had someone approach me and ask for help in finding the proper reading order of the books because it's not made clear either on the book's cover or even on the inside itself, and it drives me up a wall.

I beg you, if you're writing a book series aimed at an adult audience, make it clear what the reading order is. Even if each book is a separate story, if it has recurring characters or makes reference to past books, at the very least indicate somewhere on the cover or on the first few inside pages before the title page what books someone should read beforehand to have a grasp on everything that's going on. Or, better yet, have a brief prelude that summarizes the last few books so that someone can keep up with plot references to them, it'd honestly be very helpful, and you'd be saving your librarians a lot of headaches in the future.

I really don't understand why it's mostly something limited to young adult fiction where books are numbered properly, and I know this isn't a universal issue, but it's a notable enough one that, at least for me, it comes up much more often than I would like.