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Oankali Politics
Oct. 20th, 2024 03:18 pmI finished the Lilith's Brood trilogy by Octavia Butler recently and I found it a really easy and engaging read. Not sure how much of that has to do with my interest in the story concept and how much is to do with the writing style, but I just breezed through it.
The Oankali are so fascinating in the contradictions they embody. They judge humanity as needing to have our autonomy stripped from us because they believe us to be inherently hierarchical. Eventually it's shown that the Oankali don't have any leaders and make political decisions via consensus. I really enjoyed seeing how their political process works. They do a sort of mind meld where they are still distinct entities but are able to very directly interface with each other to make decisions.
I love the detailed worldbuilding in this series.
The Oankali are so fascinating in the contradictions they embody. They judge humanity as needing to have our autonomy stripped from us because they believe us to be inherently hierarchical. Eventually it's shown that the Oankali don't have any leaders and make political decisions via consensus. I really enjoyed seeing how their political process works. They do a sort of mind meld where they are still distinct entities but are able to very directly interface with each other to make decisions.
I love the detailed worldbuilding in this series.
Clean Energy in The Galaxy Far, Far Away
Sep. 8th, 2024 03:40 amHow many gigawatts do you think unlimited power produces? Can Palpatine's force lightning be used to operate a power plant? Could you plug him into a spaceship and use him as a battery?
My Genre Preferences
Feb. 15th, 2024 01:58 amWhile I've always read both sci-fi and fantasy, I feel I leaned more towards fantasy when I was younger and more towards sci-fi now. I don't think either genre is more literary (nor has that ever been a reason that I read either genre), but when I was a kid I leaned more towards the fantasy aesthetic whereas now it seems I enjoy the scifi one more.
I've branched out to other genres more as an adult, but these are still the ones I read most often. The most essential thing a novel must do is hold my attention. How? Well, that is the mystery of my mind. But it does tend to help if they are fast-paced, have a lot of action, or character development. I also enjoy a well-executed plot, and as might be surmised by my genre preferences, detailed worldbuilding.
So a while back I made a post on pillowfort asking for hard sci-fi recs that had a focus on characterization. One of the recs was for the novel Mickey7, which I've recently finished. Here's a spoiler-free review.
This novel not only fulfilled all the specifications I set out, but it was fast-paced and suspenseful enough for my capricious attention-span. There's also some great world-building, from both a technological and sociological standpoint. The latter is something that I feel many scifi stories are pretty weak on, especially hard sci-fi. The main character is a historian (a hobby, apparently his society doesn't have historians anymore, largely due to anyone being able to look up any historical knowledge they could want to know at any time).
There are some extended infodumps to fill out the worldbuilding, but they're all plot-relevant and actually pretty interesting stories in their own right, since you get to learn a bit about the history of this spacefaring society called the Union.
He's also an Expendable, which is a person whose physical and mental patterns are all uploaded so they can produce a perfect replica of him after they have him do whatever fatal mission-critical task they need to have done that can't be automated (the reasons for which are explained in the story).
The story starts when Mickey7 has fallen down a hole on the ice world of Niflheim. Theoretically this is no big deal, right? He's technically immortal, after all.
Practically, though, Mickey doesn't really like dying. He should know, too, since he's the only person on the Drakkar crew that remembers it happening to him. More than once, actually.
I enjoy that a major antagonist of the story, the colony commander, is someone who has personality traits and motivations rather than just existing as an obstacle to be brought out as needed for the plot. I really enjoy antagonistic relationships.
Though the friendships and romantic relationship in the story are also complex. I really enjoy the social dynamics between the characters. Mickey also has a certain amount of antagonism for his best friend Berto, both for reasons that become clear early in the story and for reasons that are implied later on.
Mickey7 is a fast-paced, fun, frightening, and thoughtful look at the intersection of technology and society.
Darth Plagueis' Science Show
Jul. 20th, 2023 10:56 amSometimes I just crave a character who expresses their enthusium for science with horrific science experiments. And that's why Darth Plagueis is one of my favorite characters. No pretension of ethical integrity, just all of that starry-eyed fascination with discovering how things work while coldly stabbing people to death. I feel like if Plagueis had become Emperor, he'd be doing a weekly science show. Like one of those shows where the goal is clearly to educate young children and inculate them in the joys of science, but he starts each episode by, like, stabbing someone in heart or something. Then he's like 'Welcome, welcome, to another episode of Mysterious Biology! Today we'll examine this intriguing specimen's midichlorians as they slowly drain out of him. Can you say midi-clor-ians? They're the powerhouse of the cell...'
I'm a huge fan of the Phasma novel, and I really enjoyed her portrayal there, but it's not how I envisioned her backstory and if I ever did sequels fanfiction (which would require overcoming several logistical hurdles regarding my...issues with the sequel), I'd probably rewrite her backstory to line up more with my conception of it. There's two big things I'd want to change:
1. More focus on what she was to Finn. I just remember that scene where Hux and Phasma are talking about Finn (who she refers to as 187) and they bring up his baby picture on the screen and I'm wondering how long Phasma has been training him. Because even though it looks from the positioning of the scene that Hux was the one who brought up the picture, she was the one that gave the report on him, and was the one who gave his orders in the previous scene. Hence why I think she's the one he's had the most direct contact with.
I'd want to rewatch them to get all the nuances, but even his scenes in The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker with Hux seem to validate this. Finn's rancor towards Hux seems impersonal, simply due to the threat Hux poses to the people he cares about, but his anger towards Phasma always seems very, very personal. I think it's utterly tragic that the extended scene with Finn and Phasma was cut in The Last Jedi. I also wish she had survived to the end of trilogy because I feel it would have been way more fitting for their final fight to happen in the last movie.
2. I've always had a headcanon that Phasma was an ardent devotee of Palpatine and was perhaps even the only one of the villains besides Snoke to have ever met him in person before he 'died'. It was that little bit of trivia about her armor being made from the exterior of a Naboo starship (specifically because Palpatine was from Naboo no less!) that put this thought in my mind. In the Rise of Skywalker rewrite I'm envisioning she's the devotee of Palpatine and not that new rando old guy.
I think probably the biggest problem with the sequels was a 'too many cooks spoil the broth' issue. Even though I have many, many issues with the prequels, I think the fact that they present one unified narrative goes a long way towards making them considerably stronger than the sequels.
1. More focus on what she was to Finn. I just remember that scene where Hux and Phasma are talking about Finn (who she refers to as 187) and they bring up his baby picture on the screen and I'm wondering how long Phasma has been training him. Because even though it looks from the positioning of the scene that Hux was the one who brought up the picture, she was the one that gave the report on him, and was the one who gave his orders in the previous scene. Hence why I think she's the one he's had the most direct contact with.
I'd want to rewatch them to get all the nuances, but even his scenes in The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker with Hux seem to validate this. Finn's rancor towards Hux seems impersonal, simply due to the threat Hux poses to the people he cares about, but his anger towards Phasma always seems very, very personal. I think it's utterly tragic that the extended scene with Finn and Phasma was cut in The Last Jedi. I also wish she had survived to the end of trilogy because I feel it would have been way more fitting for their final fight to happen in the last movie.
2. I've always had a headcanon that Phasma was an ardent devotee of Palpatine and was perhaps even the only one of the villains besides Snoke to have ever met him in person before he 'died'. It was that little bit of trivia about her armor being made from the exterior of a Naboo starship (specifically because Palpatine was from Naboo no less!) that put this thought in my mind. In the Rise of Skywalker rewrite I'm envisioning she's the devotee of Palpatine and not that new rando old guy.
I think probably the biggest problem with the sequels was a 'too many cooks spoil the broth' issue. Even though I have many, many issues with the prequels, I think the fact that they present one unified narrative goes a long way towards making them considerably stronger than the sequels.
The Sith in STEM Club
Jun. 6th, 2023 03:30 amIt gives me great amusement to think that Palpatine didn't join the Sith in STEM club until relatively late in his life so his dynamic with Plagueis would have been something like this:
Plagueis: I will teach you the forbidden knowledge and we can commit atrocities together with science!
Palpatine: I'm totally onboard with the atrocities part but does it really have to involve so many equations?
Plagueis: Atrocities calculus and chemistry are not electives.
Little Lost Maul
May. 31st, 2023 02:45 am(First published Mar 21, 2018 for Alien April)
Summary:
Summary:
Plagueis and Palpatine lose their tiny Sith Apprentice during a vacation to Yavin IV, and now must search for him.
Notes:
- For pileofsith.
This is my first time writing a gift fic, so I hope that it is an acceptable one. Just something I came up with that lives in its own little AU. At 4,223 words, this is the shortest fanfic I've ever posted. This is a complete short story with one goal: finding a very tiny Maul.
"How could he have vanished so quickly?!” Plagueis exclaimed in dismay.
"He's got to be somewhere," Palpatine said, looking behind a tree. "Why are children so small?!"
Plagueis pulled up some scrub on the forest ground. "I thought you were watching him!"
"I was! I looked away for three seconds and he somehow disappeared!"
"Maybe this is a manifestation of his latent Force powers," Plagueis said. “Though enhanced speed does not usually manifest this early…”
"Maul," Palpatine called out in a singsong tone. "I have this whole cake I made just for you! It's full of sugar and incredibly unhealthy!"
Warning: Incoherent Scifi Thoughts Ahead
May. 25th, 2023 08:33 amCurrently in simultaneous 'obsessed with this' mode for both Star Wars and Star Trek, on the Star Trek end because I've watched a lot of Star Trek lately and found I really missed out on a lot the first time I watched the older shows. Have also seen a lot of the new Trek shows and have many Thoughts. Not sure if that will ever coelesce into much of anything, but it's definitely...there.
On the Star Wars end, there's Andor and also, to my surprise, Star Wars Visions. I have to admit, I didn't bother to watch Visions when Season 1 came out because while the animation looked impressive, I wasn't expecting to get much out of the stories. I've watched them all now, and while there were definitely a fair few with little substance to them, there were also a few really thoughtful ones. Also quite a few I really enjoyed. There were a lot of interesting episodes that involve the Sith in some way, but I especially can't stop thinking about Screecher's Reach. Getting spoiled on that episode was actually what convinced me to watch Visions in the first place, and it remains my favorite of all the episodes. I also really like that there are so many miners in the different episodes. Just fascinated by how that is a significant element of the plot of more than one of the episodes, given that they are not otherwise related by their narratives or characters.
On the Star Wars end, there's Andor and also, to my surprise, Star Wars Visions. I have to admit, I didn't bother to watch Visions when Season 1 came out because while the animation looked impressive, I wasn't expecting to get much out of the stories. I've watched them all now, and while there were definitely a fair few with little substance to them, there were also a few really thoughtful ones. Also quite a few I really enjoyed. There were a lot of interesting episodes that involve the Sith in some way, but I especially can't stop thinking about Screecher's Reach. Getting spoiled on that episode was actually what convinced me to watch Visions in the first place, and it remains my favorite of all the episodes. I also really like that there are so many miners in the different episodes. Just fascinated by how that is a significant element of the plot of more than one of the episodes, given that they are not otherwise related by their narratives or characters.
Maquis in Star Trek
May. 25th, 2023 06:21 amI have so many feelings about the Maquis in Star Trek, and I just don't even think I can articulate them all. But ever since I found out that the name was taken straight from real-life antifascist resistance groups, I've had...even more feelings about their narrative treatment in Trek.
One of the things I enjoy about Voyager is that Tuvok gives the show a more consistent vulcan presence, which was missing in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine (where the most memorable episode with vulcans put them at odds with Sisko, albeit in only a mildly antagonistic way). So it seems that Tuvok was the first new major vulcan character since Spock? Anyway, vulcans are one of my favorite Star Trek aliens and Tim Russ did a great job getting the vulcan mannerisms down while imbuing his character with his own distinct personality.
Star Wars as Slasher Film Series
Apr. 28th, 2023 04:56 amPalpatine is like if one of those supernatural serial killers from a slasher movie decided to go into politics. Star Wars is a horror story.
Which is why 'somehow Palpatine returned'.
Reflections on Voyager
Apr. 12th, 2023 02:20 amI've been (re)watching Voyager lately. Not as fastidiously as I (re)watched Deep Space Nine, but I've watched a fair bit of it lately, and started watching the borg alliance arc where they first encounter Seven of Nine. I never actually saw this whole arc the first time I watched the show, so the arc itself is new to me even though I'm familiar with all the characters including Seven. I first saw Voyager when it first aired on television and while I know the characters and have seen sporadic pieces of it, there was a lot I didn't see the first time around.
Anyway, Voyager is such a fascinating show because it combines some of the worst of Trek with some of the best. Voyager has some of the most wild concepts (a holographic doctor, two crew members fusing together, the ship itself getting sick, Federation team-up with the borg) and can ask some really deep questions. It also has an episode that canonically turns two crew members into lizards. It infamously employed a guy who had long been exposed as having falsely claimed Native American ancestry to advise on Chakotay's character. It's impossible to predict from the beginning of an episode or arc whether it will turn out amazing or absolutely squander all its potential.
I'm really enjoying watching the borg team-up arc. There's a lot of meta I could write on the borg and what I think their depiction says about American anxieties and insecurities re: individualism, but also just on all the fascinating in-universe questions they bring up, such as whether the Vidians, Caretakers, and Ocompa could account for why they largely left the area of space Voyager first entered the Delta quadrant in alone. They're also unintentionally a fascinating examination of assimilation and assimilationism, which is a prominent aspect of American culture, though employed differently than in say, French culture. But that's more than I have time to go into now, and I can find it difficult to articulate my thoughts on these kinds of things even in the best of times. So I'll just leave it at that for now.
Anyway, Voyager is such a fascinating show because it combines some of the worst of Trek with some of the best. Voyager has some of the most wild concepts (a holographic doctor, two crew members fusing together, the ship itself getting sick, Federation team-up with the borg) and can ask some really deep questions. It also has an episode that canonically turns two crew members into lizards. It infamously employed a guy who had long been exposed as having falsely claimed Native American ancestry to advise on Chakotay's character. It's impossible to predict from the beginning of an episode or arc whether it will turn out amazing or absolutely squander all its potential.
I'm really enjoying watching the borg team-up arc. There's a lot of meta I could write on the borg and what I think their depiction says about American anxieties and insecurities re: individualism, but also just on all the fascinating in-universe questions they bring up, such as whether the Vidians, Caretakers, and Ocompa could account for why they largely left the area of space Voyager first entered the Delta quadrant in alone. They're also unintentionally a fascinating examination of assimilation and assimilationism, which is a prominent aspect of American culture, though employed differently than in say, French culture. But that's more than I have time to go into now, and I can find it difficult to articulate my thoughts on these kinds of things even in the best of times. So I'll just leave it at that for now.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Sep. 21st, 2022 02:14 amWell, I finally finished reading The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'd started it years ago and gotten perhaps 80 pages in before I stopped. I had a much easier time getting into it this time around. I found it interesting and thoughtful, though the over half-century between now and when it was written certainly shows. I think that even stories that try to imagine cultures starkly different from their own as this one does still can never quite escape their own in ways that may be quite subtle to those in that time and place, but quite obvious to those outside it. Though I will say that of the books I have read from LeGuin, she is the sci-fi and fantasy author I've seen make the most effort to reimagine culture.
It's simply that I can still see the bones of that culture, that time and place, even here in this alien world and especially in this human who hails from what would still be an unimaginable society to us, seeking as it does only trade and companionship with other worlds, and not control or domination. I think all stories are, to some extent, rooted to the culture they arise out of, as we can never entirely understand what we dwell within. But this is a larger attempt to dwell outside that culture than other sci-fi I've seen, from any time period.
I don't know if it's supposed to be incomprehensible, but I never could understand why Genly distrusted Estraven for so long, and it meant I found him quite unlikeable for a good portion of the story. Naturally my favorite character was Estraven.
I had also been under the false impression based on what others had said about this story that there was sex in this novel. There is no sex in this novel. Just aliens who go into heat. On a frigid cold planet. With a human who is always cold there, and sometimes must huddle, naked, with those aliens for warmth. Who is sometimes completely alone with their dearest friend, who is in heat. This is, I think, a very important thing to understand about this novel.
Anyway, I was glad to finally finish this story. I found it much easier to read through on my second attempt.
Bismuth is Still a Crystal Gem
Aug. 21st, 2022 08:44 pmThe thing that sticks with me the most about Steven Universe is that Bismuth isn't left to just become another example of someone who Went Too Far that the narrative ultimately discards as Just As Bad As Their Oppressor, but actually reconciles with and ultimately rejoins the rest of the Crystal Gems. Plenty of people will say that Steven Universe is unrealistic in how it handles certain conflicts, which is an assessment I'd agree with, but I'd also say that there are plenty of stories just as unrealistic in that regard that are also significantly less aspirational when it comes to characters like Bismuth.
