Yaddle has taken charge of a Force-sensitive youngling who has seen a lot of pain and suffering over the last several days, before she'd really been trained to handle it. And this is set during the High Republic era, showing that the Jedi have been consistent about why they train younglings so early and why it's not that younglings are bad if they've suffered or have trouble letting go of the pain, it's that they struggle with what it means to be a Jedi and the abilities granted to them and their place in the galaxy. And it's not that the Jedi aren't willing to try--they're trying with Cippa, they'll try with Anakin, as this scene feels like a giant neon sign pointing out the parallels--but that it is harder when you don't have the foundation needed to deal with the psychic weight of what dealing with your emotions means in the Force. The Jedi aren't perfect, but they were genuinely trying and their reasons are very much in line with what the narrative intends to say. It's not that I think Anakin never tried or didn't want to master himself, but that ultimately he didn't want it more than he wanted to hide away from the hard work. That I've said many times I think he may have made it and been an incredible Jedi if it weren't for Palpatine's influence, that I've noticed the stories that end without his interference tend to end with Anakin figuring his way through the struggle and connecting with Obi-Wan and the Jedi, but in stories where Palpatine is involved, he tends to end up more isolated. (Cue that quote where George Lucas said that, had Anakin been found when he was younger, he would have been trained to love people but let them go when time.) It's the same with Yaddle's view of Cippa here, that the pain and suffering isn't this child's fault, but it does make it harder when she's already got a foundation of coping that will have to be undone. It's difficult to teach children to let go of fear when fear is so much of what they've known, because when your connection to a mystical energy field that lets you crush people with your mind is wholly dependent on your thoughts and feelings (ie, your emotions are the light or the dark, they are the same thing), you need to have a rock solid foundation. (Star Wars: The High Republic: Cataclysm)

The reason we never see Hua Cheng's POV. It's just this:

Let me spoil you bbg 🤭🤭

36 chapters into moby dick. some thoughts:

- take a shot every time he expresses his love for nantucket or whaling trivia

- i know everyone said it was queer and usually i've come to expect that as hyperbole but this time they weren't joking

- CHILDE HAROLD REFERENCE?!?!?!?!?! BYRON QUOTED?!?!?!?! not surprised bc it is the romantic genre which byron & chp helped inspire & he was the best selling writer in early 19c usa & is noted for his oceanic refs & he & esp childe harolds pilgrimage esp are both noted on wikipedia's "nautical fiction" page but like. i had no idea they were immortalized in moby dick

- "Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian." AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

- does gay cannibal tumblr know about queequeg & ishmael?

- utterly obsessed with captain ahab for numerous reasons but does anyone else notice how similar he is to captain flint from black sails? like he's literally him but a bit older & combined with silver's leglessness.

- the part where ahab calls stubb a dog lmao

- ishmael getting worried for queequeg when he couldn't find him omg...

- "Where's that girl ? — there, Betty, go to Snarles the Painter, and tell him to paint me a sign, with — 'no suicides permitted here, and no smoking in the parlor;' — might as well kill both birds at once." MRS. HUSSEY!!!!

- i'm sure that all the focus on queequegs spirituality & his consultation with his god yojo wherein he was informed that ishmael had to pick their boat bc yojo demaded it TOTALLY won't prove to have any prophetic and symbolic consequences later on or anything

- love how the chapters are nice and short but on the flip side that means theyre tricking me into thinking i have less to go than i actually do... as long as i get more ahab i'm good i guess

-melville, at random: and now we take a break from our regularly schedule programming to give you . . . WHALE FACTS! [whips out multiple books on the history of whales and whaling, begins to recite]

@roach-works // Melissa Broder, "Problem Area" // Mary Oliver, "The Return" // @annavonsyfert // Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer // Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance // David Levithan, How They Met and Other Stories // Tennessee Williams, Notebooks

obsessed with mass market paperbacks. their pleasing rectangular proportions. how they fit badly in a hoodie pocket so you can drag them around everywhere with you like a temporary little buddy. the way they fit in your hand because they're MADE for human hands and not as bookshelf decoration. the way the pages feel when you riffle them gently with your thumb. How pristine and crisp they look when you get them and how creased and folded they look when you're done, even if you try to be nice to them. how that wear is okay, how that's correct actually, because they're made with the philosophy that books aren't meant to be PRETTY, they're meant to be read. that little ripple new ones get on the left side from where you hold them when you're reading, the way the ripple only goes as far as you've read, because u change stories by reading as they are changing you. how you can find thousands of these creased and folded and loved little dudes in every thrift store and used book shop and neighborhood library and you can instantly see the ones that someone carried around in a backpack for weeks or read to pieces or gave up on halfway through because they wear being read like fresh snow wears footprints. I love these poorly made, subpar little rectangles so much. truly the people's books.

🦇 🫀

“You just wrote your medieval fantasy setting to have medieval gender roles and homophobia and prejudice because you secretly fantasize about being able to be sexist and homophobic in a land with no PoC without any pushback! It’s fantasy, there’s dragons and wizards, it doesn’t have to have prejudice unless you, the writer, want it like that! In *my* D&D setting, there’s no sexism or homophobia, so that gay transgender women of all races can be holy knights fighting to protect the good kingdom from the endless hordes of the evil dark race that has threatened its borders for a thousand years!”

Dark past ideas

A dark past can be really intresting in books .here are some ideas:

Mysterious Orphanage Escapee: A character who grew up in a sinister orphanage and narrowly escaped its dark secrets.

Traumatic War Survivor: A soldier who witnessed unspeakable horrors on the battlefield, leaving deep emotional scars.

Secret Criminal Past: A reformed criminal who once led a life of violence, but is now trying to make amends.

Kidnapped as a Child: A character who was abducted at a young age and endured years of captivity before escaping.

Tragic Family Betrayal: A character who was betrayed by a close family member, leading to a life filled with distrust and pain.

Cult Escapee: Someone who managed to break free from a dangerous cult, but is haunted by their past involvement.

Haunted by a Violent Crime: A person who accidentally caused harm to someone in their past and has been tormented by guilt ever since.

Dark Addiction: A character who battled a severe addiction that nearly destroyed their life before seeking recovery.

Betrayed by a Friend: A friend who turned out to be a traitor, leading to significant emotional trauma.

Abandoned in Isolation: Someone who was left alone and abandoned in a desolate place, struggling to survive.

Witness to a Murder: A character who saw a murder as a child and was forever scarred by the experience.

Childhood Experimentation: A person who was subjected to unethical scientific experiments in their youth, leaving lasting physical and emotional scars.

Kidnapped and Forced into Crime: A character who was abducted and forced to commit criminal acts against their will.

Betrayed by a Mentor: Someone who was betrayed by a trusted mentor, leading to a deep sense of betrayal and loss.

Survived Natural Disaster: A survivor of a catastrophic natural disaster who lost everything they held dear.

Abusive Relationship Escapee: A person who managed to escape an abusive relationship, but continues to struggle with the trauma.

Witness to a Dark Ritual: A character who stumbled upon a sinister occult ritual in their past, leaving them haunted by the experience.

Family Curse: A character burdened by a dark family curse that has brought suffering to generations.

Identity Theft and Framing: A person who had their identity stolen and was wrongfully accused of crimes they didn't commit.

What Are You Going Through

Published in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, 4/2/23

YOU WILL PRY FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS THAT MACE AND QUI-GON WERE FRIENDS (Star Wars: The Living Force | John Jackson Miller)

Imagine thinking one of the world’s most famous authors needs to pay $8 a month for a blue check because he needs clout.

On my experiences being the youngest

aroar - #6, unknown, ajr - turning out, taylor swift - soon you'll get better, paula hawkins - into the water, ethel cain - hard times, unknown, anne sexton from a letter to anne clarke written c. october 1964, halsey - graveyard, mccafferty - trees, unknown, unknown, michael cunningham - the hours, jodi picoult - my sister's keeper, unknown, alec benjamin - if i killed someone for you, jodi picoult - my sister's keeper, unknown

Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena // Alain de Botton, Essays in Love // Eden Robinson, "Writing Prompts for the Broken-Hearted" // Chloe Liese, Always Only You // Anne Carson and Euripides, An Oresteia // Two—Sleeping At Last // Studio Bones, SK8 the Infinity // Trista Mateer, "is it okay to say this?" // @moodylilac // D. H. Lawrence, "The Rainbow"