#the book of gand

[findswoman]

Chapter 8 of The Book of Gand, Part the Fourth: The Findsman’s Secret is now up. (Banner by @jedi-valjean !) It’s looking like there will be eleven chapters total in part four, which, barring all RL catastrophe, I am hoping to finish by about November 15 or so. Wish me luck!

[jasposeyblog]

Artist gift to me. Laurel Gand by Dean Lee

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

What is/are the Red Herring(s) of “Rings of Power” Season 2?

In Season 1, the major red herring was “The Stranger = Sauron”, with several characters assuming that the being that fell from the sky was Sauron returning to Middle-earth, and with the visual clues teasing it several times. So, the red herring/plot twist of Season 1 was connected with the “mystery box” of “who is Sauron?” 

Assuming Season 2 is following the same formula (and my guess is it is, because show writers love this kind of stuff), what’s the red herring of Season 2? Similar to Season 1, it has to fulfill the following requirements:  

It has been mentioned throughout the season;

Talked about by several characters;

Drive the plot forward (in some way);

Be resolved at the finale (2x08).

Season 2 has two mystery boxes remaining concerning identities: “who is the Stranger?” and “Who is the Dark Wizard of Rhûn?”  

(yes, I’m straight up ignoring all those crack theories about Adar = Celeborn or Mirdania = Celebrían)  

Sauron rises in the West; the Dark Wizard in the East. Every soul in Middle-earth is in danger. Tom Bombadil warns “The Stranger”, for push him into finding his wizard staff and earn his name.  

The Stranger = Gandalf

Ever since Season 1, the show has been dropping clues that “The Stranger” is actually Gandalf, with 1x08 confirming he’s one of the Istari (“Order of Wizards”). For context: the Istari were a group of Maiar sent to Middle-earth by the Valar to help the Free People defeat Sauron. And they were five: Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast and the Blue Wizards (Alatar and Pallando).  

We have to forget the timeline of the books here because, obviously, the show isn’t following it, and as Adar told Galadriel in 2x06: there were many stories about what happen, and since the “The Silmarillion” is somewhat written from the Eldar (mainly the Noldor) POV, the show can afford to take some liberties (I know this makes the Tolkien purists fume, but oh, well).  

In Season 2, in particular, the clues that “The Stranger = Gandalf” are everywhere, with Tom Bombadil going as far as using some of Gandalf iconic quotes. Poppy talking about “gand”s, and The Stranger’s quest of finding his wizard staff and earn his name (which will happen in 2x08). But is it possible that the show is pushing the “The Stranger = Gandalf” so hard, for it to end up being the red herring of Season 2, and him turning out to be an entirely different Istar at the finale?  

My main issue with this is: the red herring of Season 1 was already connected to The Stranger’s identity, and doing the same thing in Season 2 would be kind of lazy writing. It does fill all the requirements to be the “red herring”, though. But I don’t think so, my guess is “The Stranger” will be revealed to (actually) be Gandalf at the finale.  

"Who is the Dark Wizard of Rhûn?"

I don’t think there is any red herring here, mostly because we don’t have enough clues about who he is, at this point. I think Season 2 might even leave his identity ambiguous, mostly because, in 2x08, we’ll have the big reveal of “who is the Stranger?” in that plotline.

Let’s analyze the strongest contenders: 

Beware: there could be more than one red herring, because we can’t forget that in Season 1 we also had the "reveal" that Halbrand was, in fact, the lost heir to the throne of the Southlands, and we all know how that turned out...

I would also argue that the petals of Nimloth (the White Tree of Númenor) falling because of Galadriel’s presence on the island was also a red herring, back in Season 1 (it was clearly about Sauron/Halbrand, and maybe he was the one who caused them to fall, in the first place, to prevent Galadriel from leaving without him).  

1) Celebrimbor’s death at Sauron’s hands

Celebrimbor being at risk of Sauron’s corruption is not exactly a “red herring”, because we know it happens, and he’s deceived by Sauron/Annatar into forging the Seven and the Nine rings of power.

However, there is a sense of urgency throughout Season 2 in saving Celebrimbor, not only his mind from corruption and stop the "rings of power" project, but his very life. Several characters (mainly Galadriel and Elrond) have mentioned how Celebrimbor’s life is in danger, and it’s highly implied that Sauron will kill him in Eregion (Galadriel’s vision; Elrond remembering his father’s prophecy of how, one day, Celebrimbor’s life would be on his hands).  

But, will Sauron actually kill Celebrimbor, himself?  

In the books, it’s established he does. However, Season 2, right from the start, in 2x01, has shown us, the audience, that Sauron has some interesting methods of killing his enemies. Because Sauron is a mastermind, a deceiver, and so he enjoys manipulating others into doing his dirty work for him (like we saw with Waldreg and the Warg).

Can Sauron employ someone else into killing Celebrimbor? Could it be that, Celebrimbor and all other characters believe that he safe and sound (because Sauron has left Eregion and won’t return), and, boom, Celebrimbor gets killed by other character, doing Sauron’s biding?

2) The Three Elven Rings are free from Sauron’s influence 

The current ring-bearers (Gil-galad, Galadriel and Círdan) seem to believe the Three are free from Sauron’s influence. Galadriel, mainly, seems to trust Nenya completely, using the visions it provides as guidance. However, Círdan did say they have, yet, to discover the whole truth about the Elven Rings of Power, and that they should be, indeed, feared. Elrond, from the start, suspects the rings might be connected to Sauron, because he, as Halbrand, worked alongside Celebrimbor for some time, trying to find the right alloy for the mithril.

In “Rings of Power”, the Númenóreans say “the sea is always right”, and in this house we say that “Elrond is always right” (and his only sin was not throwing Isildur and the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom)! Because the Three are not, in fact, free from Sauron’s power.  

In the books, the Three Elven Rings do not bind their ring-bearers (Gil-galad/Elrond, Galadriel and Círdan/Gandalf) to Sauron’s will, but they allow the Dark Lord to look inside their minds, and that’s how the smiths of Eregion knew that they were deceived by Sauron and perceived he forged the One Ring. The Three also lose their power after the One Ring is destroyed by Frodo in the Third Age, so they are, indeed, connected to Sauron’s power in some way, and perhaps Season 2 will reveal this to the audience. 

3) Galadriel will resist Sauron’s temptation

While several characters (Gil-galad, Elrond and Adar) do foreshadow that Galadriel might succumb to Sauron if she faces him alone in the finale, there’s always a sense of certainty she’ll resist him. With Adar being the exception here. However, Galadriel seems to be utterly sure that she can resist Sauron again, and defeat him (or die trying).

Galadriel believes that she can resist Sauron’s temptation because: (1) what he offered last time (power) isn’t enough to tempt her, and (2) she’s aware of his deceptions and manipulations, meaning there is nothing he can tempt her with. Or is there?

Sauron will bring the big guns this time around, and so the question is: will Galadriel be able to, in fact, resist him, again? 

4) Balrog of Moria

Season 1 revealed it, and Season 2 has been teasing the Balrog of Morgoth that dwells deep in the mountains bellow the kingdom of Khazad-dûm, in the mines of Moria.

Both Disa and Prince Durin are already aware of its presence (they doesn’t know what it is, only its something dangerous, ancient and powerful). And Sauron/Annatar is also aware of its presence. Now, we see Sauron performing some kind of blood magic in 2x06, which might lead the audience to believe he’s “summoning” the Balrog or trying to control it, for him to join the Battle of Eregion or something of that sort. Hence the red herring.   

In book canon, we know that Sauron can’t control the Balrog, because they are the same kind (both Maiar corrupted by Morgoth), and the Balrog doesn’t join his forces. You see, the Balrog just wants to chill in the mines and be left alone.  

Season 2 has been teasing that the Balrog might have a bigger role than it’ll actually have. In the canon, the Balrog was, literally, dig out by the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm, due to their greed, and we already saw Disa and Prince Durin trying to stop the Dwarves from digging near its lair.

By bet is: Durin III, guided by his ring of power (controlled by Sauron), will dig out the Balrog himself, while the Dwarves are busy in the Battle of Eregion. And like in the books, the Balrog will kill him, and earn the nickname “Durin’s bane”. And that’s pretty much it for the Balrog plotline.

That's it, folks. Is there any other potential red herring that you can think of? Do you agree or disagree that some of these clues are, indeed, red herrings?

[raybiesrntcool]

I have a fic in my head, that will be written. It's a Renkaza fic. Modern au, where the demons are just a gang. Where Akaza decides to fucking book it because reasons hes leaving a gand thats all that matters. Where Muzan thinks he has information on the blue spider lily, so Akaza has to live his life in literal fear.

And then the Regokus come into his life. And its so different from his own, he cant help falling head over heels for Kyojurou. No matter how hard he pulls away, he just gets sucked back in.

But Kyojurou is a law enforcer, and that... complicates things. So hides that chapter of his life from everyone. As far as everyone else knows, his life starts at twenty. And mitsuri becomes his best friend. But he gets too comfortable, and the truth comes out anyway.

I dont really know what happens after that, but my first chapter is out if youre interested! (Astrology by Ominis_Ranboo_420) Just message me if ur intrested in beta reading new chapters!

[klerothesnowman]

The Idea That Mandalorian Culture Is Even Slightly Positive Is Legitimately Disgusting To Me

Full mask off with this one. I think you people are misguided at best, imperialism apologists at middling, and full blown fascists at worst.

Get clickbaited baby. Okay, I was being extra harsh. Kind of.

Not really.

Like I said with the Sith ramble, it's totally okay to think Mandalorians are cool and roleplay Mandalorians and all of that, but just like with the Sith you NEED to recognize what these people are. People are internalizing some intensely fucked up beliefs with Mandalorians, and covering up the things they don't like with headcanons that align with their beliefs.

But guys, there is a REASON nearly every major appearance of Mandalorians cast them as villains, this includes Clone Wars and Rebels. There is REASON the Mandalorian character option in SWTOR is aligned with the Sith Empire. There is a REASON so many Mandalorian roleplayers turn out to be weirdo alt-right cryptofascists.

And the thing that blows my mind is that it's not even a fandom issue. Star Wars writers have had characters proudly stand tall and say "My culture was taken from me by the Mandalorians and that's a good thing", and then had other characters go "Wow, that's really made me think. Maybe your culture of genocide committing crusaders aren't that bad..." It's insane.

So what is a Mandalorian? Like, what is a Mandalorian really?

Out of universe, a Mandalorian is a Boba Fett. Someone in a cool iconic outfit to automatically signal to the view "This guy is tough". Knowing that Boba Fett's design had a certain je ne sais quoi they brought his design back for Jango Fett, and then mixed it with the design of Stormtroopers to make Clone Trooper Armour.

But this opened the door to a horrible, horrible mistake. The same mistake Star Wars makes time and time again. By implying that the armour was more than just a dude's outfit they gave a writer room to invent a culture based off one or two characters. And so just like Rodians and Gand, the entirety of Mandalorian culture was formed around the fact that Boba and Jango were bounty hunters with wrist weapons and jetpacks.

Their culture was developed by one Karen Traviss, someone who's a little "Controversial" in circles, she made a warrior culture based on the Celts and other general Warrior Culture vibes. And boy howdy did they go hard on it, Mandalorian lore expanded, they got a religion, a history of genocide, cool robots, tons of armour and weapons, mythologized as the greatest warriors in the galaxy. Jedi cut through metal? Well not MANDALORIAN metal, their metal is the BEST metal. They even get an entire language, and a tradition of adopting people into their culture.

I haven't read too much of these books, what I have read strikes me as a little... I don't want to say edgy, but it's got that "US Army propaganda permeates our entire understand of war" vibes. Military men are valorized and women are kind of treated like shit, and while researching these books a little I kept finding people point even more awful shit in them. They're pretty nasty. But one of the consistent things I've noticed from them is a kind of... I want to say, acknowledgement that this stuff is bad.

The main Mandalorian guy is a violent, drunken asshole who emotionally abuses "his boys", the things soldiers do are horrific and are treated as such. Mandalorians aren't exactly given a squeaky clean image here. It's presented as an ugly, violent culture with a lot of misogynistic undertones.

I've got issues with the presentation, but I don't have beef with them. I have beef with what came after.

The fandom perception of Mandalorians is "Distressing". The fandom perception of Mandalorians is that they're this perfectly accepting and welcoming culture of kind hearted warriors who will be so gentle and kind within their clan but absolutely destroy anyone who dares hurt their dear friends. They're this huge mishmash of different cultures all mixing together in a delicious soup, the Echani Mandalorian teaches everyone their cool martial arts tricks while the Devaronian Mandalorian cooks everyone a nice spice traditional Devaronian meal while the Rodian Mandalorian regales everyone with some opera how nice and wonderful true found family there.

They're also not at all sexist, there is no difference between men and women, Mandoa doesn't even have gender in it but also Mandalorian women are super respected as brutal warriors equally as much as the men.

I hope I'm getting across that this is absolutely fucking bullshit. Let's start with the language thing because it's kind of indicative of the entire problem with gender here.

Mandoa absolutely is not "Gender Neutral", it seems like it is, Karen Traviss even said it is, an attempt was made to make it Gender Neutral. But here's the thing, what do the abusive dad character in those books call the Troopers? "His Boys". What do they all call each other? "Brothers", what is the translation of Vode An, that song Mandalorians love so much? "Brothers All".

Mandoa is extremely gendered, it wasn't made to be gender neutral, it was made to be masculine and then they applied it to women too. It's about Brothers and Brotherhood and real Manly Men stuff. It is positively dripping with toxic masculinity.

And again, this is basically how all of the women Mandalorians are treated. One of the mentioned things in lore is that Mandalorian women are "even fiercer fighters than the men", and that you should never flirt with a Mandalorian woman unless "you intend to marry her". You never see any of this though, in fact you more often seen the female Mandalorians taking care of kids and working in the kitchen. Even if you did see it, it's not exactly female empowerment here, it's just more hyper machismo bullshit "The only kind of woman that could satisfy a strong mandalorian warrior is another strong mandalorian warrior" you know what I mean?

But let's get to the real juicy thing. The imperialism.

So like, these guys are Crusaders. You know, those things that have never been problematic ever.

These guys are nomadic warriors, attacking and conquering planets, and taking spoils into themselves. You see that big machine the central guy is riding? That's a Basilisk War Droid, or "Bes'uliik". They're pretty iconic for Mandalorians, they're mini Metal Gears that have animal-like personalities and guns for faces, they're pretty cool.

Mandalorians didn't make them. They took them from the race they wiped out and appropriated it into their culture. They do that a lot, there's a big list of races that the Mandalorians genocided. You can read it on Wookiepedia it's all aright there.

This is the truth of Warrior Cultures. This is what they do. This is what the cultures that the Mandalorians were based on do. They conquer people and then "assimilate" them into their culture. They don't respect people's old cultures, they erase them.

The kotor comics tried to put a positive spin on this and it's fucking insane

The Mandalorians are not a multicultural or diverse people. They have more in common with the "Schools" white people kidnapped the indigenous kids to in Australia and Canada.

Even the Foundling thing is rooted in that kind of stuff. Mandalorians find a lost child on the battleground (I wonder why there's a lost child on the same battleground as a Mandalorian hrm, thinking emoji) and then take it and force their culture on them. It's kind of fucked up innit?

And their culture too. Let's unpack it a bit. Specifically the Resol'nare, this thing is considered the core pillar of the Mandalorian culture. If you do not follow these things you are literally soulless and you are not going to heaven.

This stuff is kind of not great. It's kind of fascist. Or maybe religious fundamentalism. But crucially, that subtle kind of where it seems reasonable until you start analyzing what it actually means and what it does.

Because remember, if you do not do these things you are not a Mandalorian. More than that, you are Dar'manda, which again means you are literally soulless and you are not going to heaven.

If you don't dress the way they want, not going to heaven.

If you don't speak the way they want, not going to heaven.

If you don't put your family first, not going to heaven.

If you don't do what the absolute ruler says, not going to heaven.

And if you let your kids make their own choices you're also not going to heaven.

Except it's actually more than that, it's also if you don't follow the Resol'nare you don't have a soul, you're already less than a person.

The Resol'nare is othering and dehumanizing, it's defining who isn't within your mandated circle of people to care about, and then telling you that the people outside of that are less than you. Something that is real handy when you need to kill people outside of your circle.

The language gets in on that too. The word for non-Mandalorians is Aruetti. That's incidentally the same word they use for Traitor. Not being a Mandalorian is synonymous with being a scumbag.

A lot of this stuff is retconned and removed for Disney Era Star Wars. I have problems with that too but it's more of a "missed opportunity" thing so I'll save it for another post. But the core of the Mandalorian Culture is deeply rooted in some rancid stuff, and it's being sanitized and refluffed as progressive by people who really want their violent warrior culture to be morally okay.

Despite my very inflammatory title, I don't think it's a bad thing to think Mandalorians are cool. But just like with thinking Sith are cool, it's really important you recognise that these fictional cultures are rooted in some really problematic shit. This is one of the pipelines people use to convince people of their shitty rhetoric for years, headcanons and bullshit like "when you think about it the Empire is good because they brought stability". It's just more obvious with the Empire because they're straight up Nazis.

[cantsayidont]

September 1990. One of the bright spots of the continuity-related editorial battles that beset the "v4" LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES book was Laurel Gand, introduced in LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #6 and retroactively inserted in Legion history to replace Supergirl, who in this period was considered editorially off-limits. Laurel was a Daxamite, with the same powers as Supergirl (albeit with slightly different weaknesses), but she wasn't tied to Superman and she wasn't a time traveler, so her place in the Legion wasn't constrained in the ways Supergirl's had been. Like Supergirl, Laurel dated Brainiac 5, but after their messy breakup, she later got involved with his best friend, Rond Vidar, probably at least partly in hopes of getting a rise out of Brainy. However, Laurel then caught feelings for Rond and had a baby with him, while still secretly carrying a torch for Brainy. Oops! None of that would have been editorially permissible for Supergirl, nor would Laurel's super-thong.

I always liked Laurel and wish the series had made more use of her, but DC in this era was in the throes of its recurring misconception that allowing other characters with powers like Superman's somehow weakens the Superman franchise. She was apparently killed off after Keith Giffen and the Bierbaums left the book, and while a version of Laurel was reintroduced following the dreadful ZERO HOUR reboot, she was recast as a literal space nun, "Sister Andromeda"! Awful.

[cheezeybread]

I know that literally nobody asked for it, but I've been thinking about it for a while.

You have mermaids like you see in movies where it's a conventionally-attractive person on the top-half and a fish tail. (Like the guard in book 3 when MC and the Gand is trying to go into the Museum)

And then you have mermaids that are based on animals, like the Tweels and Azul.

So I've been thinking, like, WHY are there different kinds of mermaids?? Shouldn't there be one or the other???? Why am I thinking of problems that don't exist??????

Maybe I'm just dumb for wondering so much about this and wasting so many braincells on it, but I eventually came up with a solution.

With humans in Twisted Wonderland, there's two different kinds: "Normal" humans who are just that, and the Beastmen who are descended from animals.

So I guess with mermaids, it's kind of the same thing?? There are "Sirens", who are the regular pretty mermaids, and then there are the "Beastmen" type of mermaids who are descended from sea animals.

With this, my brain can finally rest

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Dandelion, into the wind you go

Read it here or on AO3! Thanks @sulkybender for beta-reading.

Canon compliant, slice of life Zukka:

Training Aang at the Fire Lord’s beach house should probably feel weirder than it did. 

And sure, while everyone else had made plenty of comments about how bizarre it was to be hiding in plain sight under the Fire Lord’s roof, Zuko felt more comfortable here, with these people, than he had ever felt when he visited Ember Island with his family.

They had fallen into an easy routine: meditation and firebending training in the morning as the sun rose, earthbending drills with Toph in the afternoon, and then a dinner break before an evening of waterbending with Katara. Sokka and Suki, as the resident non-benders who were not responsible for Aang’s training, spent their time sparring and doing weapons drills. Zuko often joined in, partly to stay out of the way of earthbending and waterbending training. They also seemed to have appointed themselves the Fun Activities Committee. So far, this had included sand-castle building contests (handily won by Toph, though Aang put up a decent fight), body surfing on wavy days, or shopping in town.

“Come on, guys!” Sokka grinned as he grabbed Zuko’s hand and pulled him out of the courtyard. “Tonight’s sunset is going to be gorgeous. Let’s go!”

Zuko reclaimed his arm once the whole gand got outside. “Do you know where you’re going?” 

“I figured the beach would be as good a view as any?”

Zuko flashed him a grin. “I can do you one better. You all up for a short walk?”

“Have I mentioned I love how much you smile these days?” Sokka laughed, poking him lightly in the ribs, and Zuko’s grin was immediately replaced with a furious blush. “Show the way, o fearless leader!”

After a short hike up the hill, they came to a west-facing cliff overlooking the bay that sheltered the Ember Island beach. The hilltop was covered in dandelion blossoms, all gone to seed this late in the summer.

Katara settled herself underneath one of the scrubby trees near the edge of the cliff, smiling as she attempted to brush the tenacious seeds off her skirt.

“I’ve seen these flowers all over the place in the Fire Nation. What are they?”

“They’re called dandelions,” Zuko replied. “They’re a pretty common weed around here, and they’re the bane of every gardener’s existence.”

Sokka brushed his fingers over one of the round seed heads. “I like them! They’re fluffy. Fluffy is good in my books.”

“My mother liked them too.” Zuko admitted. 

“Really? She wasn’t too prim and proper for a common weed?” Katara joked, a grin tugging at her lips. 

“No, she was always… a little unusual for a Fire Nation lady.” Zuko ruffled the back of his hair self-consciously. 

“Seems like that runs in the family.” said Toph, flopping onto the ground next to him.

“Well I for one think that Zuko is the very model of a proper Fire Nation lady.” said Sokka, casually draping an arm across Zuko’s shoulders. Zuko tried, and failed, not to freeze at the sudden contact as the rest of the gang laughed. Sokka’s nonchalant physical touch was something Zuko would probably never get used to. He took a deep breath, trying not to think about the erratic heartbeat that Toph could undoubtedly pick up on. 

Sokka let his arm drop, misinterpreting Zuko’s rigid shoulders as him not wanting Sokka’s touch at all. Not wanting Sokka to be close. The other boy scooted closer to Suki and let his head drop into her lap. Zuko swallowed, and looked back towards the setting sun. 

“She actually used to tell us a legend about the spirit of the flower. If you pluck it after it goes to seed, and make a wish while you blow the seeds away, the spirit might grant you its favour and make your wish come true.”

“Wow, really?” Aang sat up from where he’d been lounging, his robes already covered with seeds. Zuko had the fleeting thought that an airbender might have a distinct advantage when it came to blowing seeds. From the boy’s furtive glance over at Katara, Zuko had a pretty good idea of what his wish might be. 

“I have no idea.” Zuko shrugged. “But it’s a cute story.”

“Let’s all make a wish!” exclaimed Aang. He leaped to his feet in the way only an airbender could, carefully plucking several of the fullest, fluffiest flower heads and passing them around the group. Once everyone had been allocated their flowers, Aang turned back to Zuko. 

“Okay Sifu Hotman, now what?”

“What do you mean? You just make a wish and blow the seeds away.”

“No prayer? No offering to the spirit? Just make a wish and go?” Aang looked puzzled. 

“I… No?” 

Sokka butted in. “I think the spirit is probably just happy that we’re spreading the seeds around and making more gardeners’ lives miserable. Hey Suki, wanna see who can blow their seeds the farthest? Aang, no, airbenders not allowed in this competition.” Aang visibly deflated as Sokka and Suki readied their dandelions and Toph sucked in a breath that would give an airbender a run for their money.

Zuko paused, contemplating the flower in his hand. There was a wish, half formed, barely on the edge of consciousness. 

It wasn’t something he could let himself wish for. 

The fluff of hundreds of seeds soon filled the air, as they all plucked more and more flowers and made more and more ridiculous wishes.

“I wish for the firelord to fall into a heap of bison dung!”

“I wish I could become a master firebender!” (“Wait, really Toph?” “Well yeah it seems pretty fun.”)

“I wish a thousand delicious fruit pies would be accidentally delivered to our house!”

Zuko allowed himself a small smile, surrounded by the warmth and light of his friends. Even faced with so much hardship, even with the threat of the battle to come, they were all still kids. They could still laugh. They could still wish for things.

Zuko’s dandelion still hung limply in his hand. 

The sound of laughter mixed with the ocean breeze, scattering the seeds far and wide across the island.

“Zuko, you’re not wishing for anything?” Sokka said, noticing Zuko’s dandelion seeds still  intact. 

“Yeah, come on Sparky, make a wish!” Toph prodded his thigh with her big toe. 

Keenly aware of everyone’s eyes suddenly on him, he took a deep breath and blew the seeds into the breeze, following their drifts and spirals as they caught the last of the shimmering sunset. 

“What did you wish for, Zuko?” Suki asked.

“... Peace” he eventually replied.

Toph lifted a sceptical eyebrow, which he studiously ignored. The rest of the gang nodded, their silly mood suddenly sober as they contemplated what they were fighting for. Peace, victory, safety, home… 

Katara sighed, stretched, and the spell was broken. “Come on, we should get going before the light fades completely.” With a chorus of grumbles, groans, and shaking off dirt and dandelion seeds, they all clambered to their feet. 

As they turned and walked back down the hill, Zuko hung back and plucked one more dandelion. With a tear in his eye that he would never allow himself to shed, he blew the dandelion seeds towards Sokka’s retreating back. Hardly daring to let himself even think it, let alone whisper it out loud.

Somehow… Please, let him know.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Appendix XI: The Market and the Mediæval City

In a work on the mediæval city (Markt und Stadt in ihrem rechtlichen Verhältnis, Leipzig, 1896), Rietschel has developed the idea that the origin of the German medieval communes must be sought in the market. The local market, placed under the protection of a bishop, a monastery or a prince, gathered round it a population of tradesmen and artisans, but no agricultural population. The sections into which the towns were usually divided, radiating from the market-place and peopled each with artisans of special trades, are a proof of that: they formed usually the Old Town, while the New Town used to be a rural village belonging to the prince or the king. The two were governed by different laws.

It is certainly true that the market has played an important part in the early development of all medieval cities, contributing to increase the wealth of the citizens, and giving them ideas of independence; but, as has been remarked by Carl Hegel — the well-known author of a very good general work on German medieval cities (Die Entstehung des deutschen Städtewesens, Leipzig, 1898), the town-law is not a market-law, and Hegel’s conclusion is (in further support to the views taken in this book) that the medieval city has had a double origin. There were in it “two populations placed by the side of each other: one rural, and the other purely urban;” the rural population, which formerly lived under the organization of the Almende, or village community, was incorporated in the city.

With regard to the Merchant Guilds, the work of Herman van den Linden (Les Gildes marchandes dans les Pays-Bas au Moyen Age, Gand, 1896, in Recueil de travaux publiés par la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres) deserves a special mention. The author follows the gradual development of their political force and the authority which they gradually acquired upon the industrial population, especially on the drapers, and describes the league concluded by the artisans to oppose their growing power. The idea, which is developed in this book, concerning the appearance of the merchant guild at a later period which mostly corresponded to a period of decline of the city liberties, seems thus to find confirmation in H. van den Linden’s researches.

[chernobog13]

Laurel Kent, originally a throw-away character created by Jim Shooter and Mike Grell for the Legion of Super-Heroes series in Superboy (vol. 1) #217 (June, 1976).

She was popular enough that she was later brought back into the book as a recurring character in the Legion Academy, usually palling around with another cadet, Comet Queen.

Here she is posing in her Vampirella-inspired original costume by Mike Grell. But if you think that's risqué--

--her one piece bathing suit was replaced by a VERY loose Superman cape-style poncho. It was very much implied that Ms. Kent was going completely commando underneath.

I think artist Keith Giffen was the first to give her the poncho during his long run on the Legion title, during which time he redesigned many of the team's costumes (as many Legion artists are wont to do).

Unfortunately, post-Crisis On Infinite Earths, Superman-related characters are forbidden from appearing in the Legion's stories (which caused no small amount of stress for the LSH editorial and creative teams, but that's a story for another day).

So Laurel Kent was no longer a 30th Century descendant of Superman. Instead, she was secretly a sleeper Manhunter android, which became activated during the company-wide Millennium event, when the Manhunters try to destroy every superhero on Earth. Laurel did not destroy the Legion, but instead opted to self-destruct.

A few years later Laurel's character was combined with the pre-Crisis Supergirl's to create Laurel Gand. Laurel Gand was a 30th Century descendant of the 20th Century hero, Lar Gand (originally known as Mon-El, but now codenamed Valor). Laurel Gand became Supergirl's replacement in the Legion, just as Valor was Superboy's replacement.

Until they went away, too. But I ain't gonna talk about that now.

[semusepsu]

It's been a while since star wars was my special interest. Let's see how many alien species I can name from the series

Gungan, toydarian, dug, gran, Hutt, zabrak, twi'lek, nemoidian, clawdite/changeling, besalisk, kaminoan, geonosian, togruta, Kaleesh, Utai, Pauan, mustafarian, Jawa, tusken raider a.k.a. sand people, aqualish, duros, ithorian, wookie, roodian, devaronian, h'nemthe, gotal (I'm p sure I spelled it wrong), talz, uggnaut, trandoshan, gand, ewok, amanaman, quarren, mon calamari, bothan, givin, b'ommar monk, gamorean, elom

And from the EU, we got: iron knights, ssi-ruuk, yuuzhan vong, chiss

If we're counting the alien animals: wampa, krayt dragon, womp rat, dianoga, bantha, mustafarian lava flea.

I used to know more, which is frustrating, but those are the ones that stand out to me as more iconic. There was an EU book which had giant cricket people who made the juice in healing tanks and I've forgotten. Ive also forgotten what those dudes from the techno union were called. And my star wars obsession was born and died before the sequels so I don't know any of the aliens they made for those.

[findswoman]

The twelfth and final chapter of The Book of Gand, Part the Fourth: The Findsman's Treasure is up at last! What a journey it has been—I thank my lovely beta reader Kahara_the Ghostly_Galoomp, @jedi-valjean for the wonderful banner, and all those who have read and supported this story over the years. I plan to start work on Part the Fifth, which (if all goes well) should be the final part of the story, at some point in the first half of next year, after a brief hiatus to work on some other projects. Enjoy, and many thanks once again to all who have read, reviewed, followed, and enjoyed! 🤎🩶💛

[jasposeyblog]

My acquisition of Mon-El and Shadow Lass by Dean Lee

[pwlanier]

Karvovsky A.V. "Rest" 1961. GZ23 Cardboard, mixed technique.

Alexey Vasilyevich Karvovsky (Alex AKAR) (1903-1976) - decorator, illustrator, member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. He emigrated to France. He studied with Laurent and Nyum. He worked in French decorative ateliers, painted scenery for cinema. In collaboration with Pierre Gand, he made screensavers for books, engravings and illustrations. In the early 1930s, he exhibited still lifes and portraits at the Salon des Indefendants. Participant of the exhibition of the Paris group of Ukrainian artists in Lviv (1933).

He worked on painting the walls of Parisian cafes and restaurants. In 1945-1947 he participated in exhibitions of Russian artists and sculptors organized by the Union of Soviet Patriots. Participated in the annual exhibition Beaux-Arts et Arts Décoratifs in Agnières (France, 1950), two works of the artist from this exhibition bought Paris.

He designed theatrical productions in Moscow and Magnitogorsk, worked as an artist at the Central Puppet Theater and headed one of the workshops of the Combine of Decorative Arts. Personal exhibitions were held in Moscow (MOSH, 1959; Central House of Art Workers, 1964; MOSH, 1984). In May 2010, the Yaroslavl Art Museum hosted a memorial exhibition "Alexey Karvovsky. Painting, graphics, documents."

Art Molotok

[berkinix]

Hi, thanks so much for the kind shout-out! 🙂 May I ask about “The Miseducation of Molulci Rossunto,” if someone hasn’t already? (Whoever that character is has an awesome name!)

Of course! Thanks for the ask!

Molly is a Selonian OC I created for another story of mine called Broken Bonds. She was originally supposed to be a background character only. I actually made her name by looking at other Selonian characters from the old video games and then trying to create something that was phonetically similar, but not by too much. There's also a super cool Star Wars name generator (well, there are several) that can create names based on the species of your character. I don't tend to use the names that the generator spits out, but I like to read what it comes up with to get a feel for how names from these races might sound like.

Anyhow, sorry for going off on a tangent! After Broken Bonds, I couldn't get Molly out of my head, and thought it would be cool to try and write a story from a non-Human (or near-Human, even) perspective. So, it is a sort-of sequel to Broken Bonds (although it's not necessary to read that story, and it might even work better if you haven't), but it's populated by mostly these OCs I made for that story. It takes place before the prequel trilogy. Anakin Skywalker's probably an infant or toddler around this time.

By the way, Molly's adventures don't directly affect the Skywalker saga. She is never involved in major events from the movies or TV series. The galaxy is vast. She's out there, doing her own thing.

Oh, and her tale is deeply steeped in bounty hunter lore and politics. A kind of "how did a Selonian become a bounty hunter anyway?" type of story. So, I guess it shares a bit in common with your Book of Gand series in that sense.

Thanks again for asking! Sorry for rambling!

Okay, sorry! Sorry! Last thing! I had to post the only artwork I have of her! (My brother made this for me; he's the best! Thanks @xvlvxvr !)

[wild-karrde]

I’d like to submit my wonderful friend @findswoman’s work! Her masterlist is here. She specializes in writing OCs, the Ghost crew, and Zuckuss. Her main WIP is The Book of Gand, an origin story for Zuckuss.

HECK YES! I am all in on anything Rebels-related (I need to see my live-action found-family like yesterday), but I'm going to out myself as someone that had to Google who Zuckuss was (I'M SORRY, MY STAR WARS DEGREE IS NOT IN BOUNTY HUNTERS. I'M DOING MY BEST), but now I can say I am QUITE INTRIGUED. I do really love learning more about the different background bounty hunters (my husband is all about IG-88, so that may have started with him). Also, I am staring at that Lasan series with GREAT interest. This is such a cool and unique set of recs! Thanks so much for sending it in!

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)