Use the Falchion

It was originally the second trilogy. Wax & Wayne was supposed to be Mistborn 1.5. But that confused a lot of people, so W&W eventually became Mistborn Era 2 and the '80s thriller trilogy aka the Modern Mistborn Trilogy is now Mistborn Era 3. Next we have the potential cyberpunk stories, and finally the Space Opera. So it may look like: Mistborn Era 1 (3 books) Misborn Era 2: Wax & Wayne (4 books) Mistborn Era 3: '80s thriller (3 books) Mistborn Era 4: Cyberpunk (3 books) Mistborn Era 5: Space Opera Crossover (3 books) The more likely result is that the Cyberpunk books will just be novellas, since Brandon really doesn't have time to write them as full books. But you never know. Wax & Wayne proved us wrong, and if something like Dawnshard occurs, where the length becomes technically novel-length, why not market it as a novel?

I mean, it was originally it was a trilogy, but it's been shortened to novellas. Ha! If the Cyberpunk trilogy does happen, I'll be happy. It'll mean that Mistborn would be a 16 book series when all is said and done! Pretty fitting, no?

The Apocalypse Guard. It was supposed to be the sequel series to the Reckoners, going into more detail about who/what Calamity was, how Megan's powers really worked, and all of the workings of the Epic powers in the first placed. The story followed Emma (IIRC), an intern in the organization called the Apocalypse Guard - a group of heroes who travel to dimensions and save them from apocalyptic events. Emma gets trapped on a dying planet without backup and must save the planet with a ragtag group of heroes. Brandon originally wrote the book in 2016-2017, but it didn't work out and actively got worse during revisions. So Brandon brought his friend Dan Wells on board, and after working with it for some time it seems they've figured out how to fix it. Sanderson still needs to revise the ending, though. If he can revise that, then the book is probably good to go. From earlier this year: Here's some concept art and a reading of the first chapter from LTUE in Feb. The reading

To be fair, I have some lactose-intolerant friends who would agree with the original sentiment.. ...and some lactose intolerant friends who would fight through the pain because they think it's worth it.

I started Stargirl last night, and now all I can think of is shipping PS5 Spider-Man: Miles Morales' titular character Miles Morales with Stargirl's titular character Stargirl. Miles and Courtney are both high schoolers as well as legacy characters, and I think Courtney would benefit from having a friend who understand what it's like to not only want revenge (and have the power to seek it), but to also be a sort of legacy character. (I also find the idea that Miles has a thing for blonde hair in every multiverse/universe funny. In Into the Spider-Verse it's Gwen, and in this iteration it'd be Courtney.)

As much as I'd like it sooner, I could definitely live with a Thursday or Friday release. I probably wouldn't read it until Friday anyways...

It's a thing, and it's a weird thing. You can substitute the pumpkin for butternut squash too. I've had it before, and I didn't find it bad, but it's not something I prefer in my ravioli. (Cheese or bust!)

@Spren of Kindness I'm going to respond here because I want to try and drag the Star Wars convo to the Star Wars thread. (It was partially my fault for derailing us, so I think I should take some action in trying to re-rail the threads.) First off, thanks for sharing your Star Wars story. It's always amazing to hear stories of those who connect with Rey. As a black man, I really connected to Finn in TFA. To me, he was not only a sign that we could have black people (and men specifically, yes) as non-antagonistic main characters*, but also as protagonists. At the time I saw Star Wars as the next great mythic story for Sci-fi/fantasy in the veins of Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time. I was curious about where "my" place in the story was; Finn and Rey were signs that the franchise was moving in a more open direction. And seeing Finn wield the lightsaber in the teasers and the poster? I was utterly stoked. Finn's battle against Kylo was amazing, because to me it showed a man facing his fear to protect someone/something he loved. And then the ending of TFA happened, and I felt...weird. It would be for another few months to a year before I could say why I felt weird, but I knew something was off. Even still, I loved the movie. And then TLJ came out, and it became clear that Rian Johnson felt stronger about Rey and Ren than he did about Finn. (I'm not just talking about Finn's arc in the movie - Finn has more cut material than all of the other characters. Rey has her third lesson cut, while Finn has multiple scenes of his infiltration cut.) Even still, while I disagreed with RJ's interpretation of and arc for Finn,** I was happy he at least had an arc. But I still had hope that they could turn Finn's arc into something truly special by the last movie! ...and then TROS came out...and that stung. Finn resumed his role as the heart of the trio, but he wasn't given any real arc or reason. His accomplishments were handed to him, and his own powers went unexplored. His romances were stripped away*** and all that was left for me to see was a man screaming to help a woman who seemingly ignored him at every turn. It stung not just because of Finn's arc, but because it took place in a Post-Black Panther world. Black Panther showed the world that there's a need for black heroes on the big screen, and that there's an audience for them. That there are little boys and little girls who want to see people who look like them in movies not tailored just to them, but to everyone. Something that they can share and have in common with their friends of different races and genders and ethnicities that they would all know about. And Lucasfilm really dropped the ball on that one. Overall I'm sharing this not to devalue your experiences or opinions, or tell you that you're wrong for liking the ST, and I truly apologize if it sounds that way. I'm just trying to share a different perspective. You enjoy the ST because of nostalgia and the connection you have with Rey. Others like me may not enjoy it as much as we'd like to because of the connection we have with Finn. (I can't speak for the nostalgia - I grew up with the Prequels lol!) *HIs whole "I have something to tell you" screamed "I love you" to me, especially how reluctant to say it in front of others he was. **RJ's idea of having each character "hear the worst possible thing" for them is a good one, but I don't believe that Finn's worst possible thing was "The Resistance and the First Order are the same. Live free, don't join." Finn already knew he didn't have to join a side. Finn already knew he could live free, and how terrible the F.O. was. Finn needed to see the Resistance be different, and that's what RJ should have made his arc. How much more powerful would Finn's arc have been had he stayed behind while Poe went on the mission, and Holdo refused to tell her plans because she believed "people like Finn (stormtroopers, but the subtext would allow for racial interpretation) would never change." How much more powerful would it have been for Finn to ultimately decide that it's not up to someone else to choose his own fate; that the world can see him how it wishes, but he knows who he is. How much more powerful would it have been for Holdo to be proven wrong in her assumptions? The world will never know... Also, Finn didn't need to fight Phasma again. He beat her the first time by outsmarting her, forcing her to become a traitor to save her own skin, and gaining his own agency. Beating her in a fight (which he really didn't do - BB-8 did) was superfluous. Now Poe fighting her? That's a cool matchup...and allows for BB-8 to save the day without feeling too much like a Deus Ex Machina. ***Why friendzone Rose in-between movies and off-screen in the book it happens, if not to get with Rey or Jannah? (In Resistance Reborn Rey asks about Finn's relationship with Jannah. Finn responds by stating that he and Rose talked about it and decided to be better off as friends.) But neither happen, so Finn is just left being single when they had a romance option they could have at least explored. My inner cynic has a few answers to why they did this, but I'd rather not go that dark.

I'll try reading it that way next time! I didn't mind it, but it always threw me out because I couldn't remember a time before that moment where the characters spoke that formally/archaic. I usually don't mind when it's not how people talk, simply that it's consistent in-universe. This...didn't feel as consistent. I guess one could call it the inverse "Lift effect," lol!

I don't disagree entirely, as Calamity is easily my least favorite Reckoners book and probably my least favorite YA book of his; but I'm also willing to wait and see if he can make sense of it in The Apocalypse Guard...assuming it ever comes out. (But yeah Megan's powers were really confusing and should have been simplified.) Yup. In screenwriting (and writing) classes and whatnot you're warned about the difference between what actually say and how dialogue is written. There's a fine line to toe between sounding realistic and being realistic. Sanderson doesn't always toe this line well ("stretch forth thy hand" comes to mind), but "medieval" fantasy is dealt an even harder hand, because you have to factor in how people think characters should sound now. Audiobooks are probably blurring the lines even more now, since they might expect the books to sound more like spoken dialogue instead of the written dialogue they were intended as. There are exceptions of course, and audio-originals are turning that exception into a niche.

Between a socially distanced outdoor brunch, making curry in record time, a nap, and finishing up multiple group projects, I started Stargirl this evening and I like it so far! The production value is still television level, but it's definitely a higher quality than what CW superhero shows usually have. Or maybe it's the directing. It feels more...cinematic, for lack of a better word. The setting of the show is modern, but the atmosphere is closer to the 1960s & '70s so it's more in line with the Silver Age of comics. This is fitting for two reasons. First is that the Golden Age has passed in-world, so now it's time for the Silver Age. Second is that the Silver Age "ended" in the 1980s with Crisis On Infinity Earths. But this time around, the CW's own Crisis On Infinite Earth's storyline starts the Silver Age. I'm really liking where the story is going too. Stargirl is recruiting her allies at this point, and it sort of reminds me of certain Power Rangers season, but a slower burn. The tone of the show so far is more like Shazam and MCU Spider-Man, and Into the Spider-Verse in a lot of ways. The main character, Courtney Whitmore, is a girl who knows she has powers and is so sure of status as a legacy character. She's up for the adventure, even if her allies aren't as sure. I'm sure this will be subverted later on...in fact, I'm almost positive it will be, because I may have spoiled myself on certain aspects of that. But for now, I'm enjoying the ride. I do wonder if this will cross over with other DC-CW shows, but I sort of doubt it. Keeping them separate for the time being is probably for the best. Supergirl is ending, Batwoman needs to refind its footing, I'm pretty sure Flash and Legends are on their last legs, and I have no idea what's happening in Black Lightning right now. (And Black Lightning's crossover with the rest of the DC-CW shows was honestly a bit of a letdown. Jefferson Pierce should have talked with Oliver Queen and Joe West about the nature of fatherhood, and how scary it is not only being a dad, but being the father of vigilantes/superheroes. (Barry may be able to weigh in on this topic, but I'd rather he not right now.)) Overall is another fun DC show that reminds me more of Shazam than what CW shows usually are (no love triangle, better - but still bad - graphics, and semi-decent acting!). If you like those things, go for it. (Also I had a silly thought that PS4/PS5 Spider-Man's Miles Morales and Courtney somehow end up dating for a time, and it just becomes this running gag that like how nearly every version of Peter falls in love with Mary Jane, every version of Miles falls in love with a Blonde (be it dyed or natural). Spider-Verse Miles and Gwen, PS5 Miles and Courtney...yeah, it's silly, but it was fun.)

I finished Agents of Shield and Happy Endings this week. Maybe it's time to finish up Daredevil too. But honestly, I'd like something a little lighter first. I need a new comedy - at some point or another I've already watched Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Community, Parks & Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Black-ish, and now Happy Endings. (Being completely honest, outside of Black-ish and Friends, I started and finished the above list this year.) I could try The Big Band Theory, but I only find that funny in tiny YouTube clips. I don't actually care about the characters. So...yeah. Maybe I'll try New Girl, but from what I've seen it doesn't look that funny either. Things like Fresh Off the Boat, Modern Family, and Meet the Goldbergs are also choices, but I haven't resonated with what I've seen of them either. FOTB has some really funny moments though, but that's because Constance Wu and Randall Park are hilarious. If I want to see Constance Wu, I'll re-watch Crazy Rich Asians...which I really need to do at some point. Happy Endings ended...happy...but it felt very unresolved. I think it needed one more season. That's not to say I really enjoyed the show, but it was distracting, and that's exactly what the doctor ordered this year. Agents of Shield's final season was good and kept the momentum that Season 5 & 6 started. It never fully reached the heights of Seasons 2 & 4, but "The Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D" is a series highlight. Overall it was a bittersweet ending, but hopefully not a final goodbye for all of them. It'd be easy for characters like Mack, May, Skye, and Yo-Yo to pop up again in a Disney+ show as supporting characters for something else.

...I'm just going to say that outside of my dislike of Zutara, I don't think that's the way to go. Star Wars' Sequel Trilogy tried something similar with Kylo Ren and Rey, and it ticked everybody off. Reylo fans were mad, Anti-Reylo fans were mad, and FinnRey fans were mad. There are a couple more things in your post I disagree with, but I like that you went into so much detail and were so thoughtful about your ship! Last night I was thinking about this, and realized we need to add Toph to the mix. She'd have way too much fun (and would probably see Lissa as a Cool Aunt, halfway between Katara and halfway between Aang). ...and now no one is safe.

They didn't just suppress technology though. You keep leaving out that they're suppressed people. If you have no place to find or store the data and no one wants to spread it by word of mouth because of fear, the information dies. The Empire intimidated people who mentioned any time before the Empire whenever they could, and killed those who actively spoke of the Jedi. Again, those Rebels and Fallen Order examples. Besides, the Empire has all of the technology, resources, and manpower that the Republic had. They had direct, unfiltered access to Jedi history and knowledge. Palpatine turned the Jedi Temple into the Imperial Palace (probably because the temple itself was built upon the ruins of a Sith temple). If you're sitting at the hub of your enemies information, wiping it off the face of the planet is easy. All you have to do then is destroy the other temples and places that Jedi would store data...which they did. Here, let's try a different example, if that's okay. A certain thing took place in China June 4, 1989. Asking anyone from China what happened that day and where would be impossible, not only because you (or they) may be arrested, but because the general populous literally doesn't know. It was erased from history. The lives of people who witnessed it were erased from history. Pictures and proof were erased from history. And that took place around the same timeframe to us as the Jedi Purge did in-universe to The Mandalorian. And that was just one country. But now it's not just one country, it's an entire galaxy. There are other examples in our world I could provide, but I'd rather not go that dark. As for Luke, sure, he was pivotal in the fall of the Empire, but where's your proof after the first Death Star? How do you know that he's wasn't just an incredibly lucky pilot? Oh, he says he's a Jedi, and he has one of those laser swords, but have any of you even seen him do anything outside of that? And if he's so important, where is he now? He's not in the government, or where other heroes went? How do I know his name wasn't a codename or use for propaganda? We only know Luke exists because we see his story. Others who may not have seen his story, or have only heard filtered versions of it, may not believe. The Rebellion most likely wouldn't want to keep too many records of their actions for fear of a paper or electronic trail, and most people he worked with have died. He has no living family other than a person he claims is his sister, but they have no birth records to back that up, nor are they willing to explain their family tree. To an outsider, it's perfectly possible to doubt Luke's existence, or at least parts of it. And you're also forgetting that most perspectives we see about the Jedi are from those in the Outer Realms or the outskirts of society. Basically what happened is that The Mandalorian went to his clan's armorer/shaman and said The problem from there we're discussing is twofold. First is the fact that The Mandalorians have had active contact with Jedi outside of their stories from eons ago, as proven in The Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows. There's a discrepancy between the culture of the Mandalorians in the show (which is closer to the Legends/Old EU version) and how they were portrayed in the animated shows. Second is that finding out about the Jedi shouldn't be as hard as it is, since we've seen them and there is seemingly undeniable proof that they exist. @Aspiring Writer and I actually agree on the first point. But our disagreement after that stems from the fact that I don't think it's bad writing or planning yet, while @Aspiring Writer does, if I'm interpreting the argument correctly. The show hints at the fact that something happened in the 5-6 years between the end of Rebels and the start of The Mandalorian; and the creators and main brains behind this show - Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau - worked together on the Mandalore storylines in TCW and Rebels. Add in some rumored cameos and it feels more like they're planning something, which is why I'm more willing to wait and see. The second point is a larger point of contention and the one we're all engaged in right now. Edit: @Aspiring Writer I just saw your post about Snoke in the Controversial Opinions page, and I just wanted to say that Rian knew what he was doing. He saw what Snoke was (a Palpatine stand-in) and decided to take the more interesting path by having Kylo step up to be the Big Bad. No more "what is thy bidding, my Master" villains. Kylo had finally achieved what Vader couldn't in overthrowing his master. Kylo was no longer torn about what to do with the Light. He decided to silence it once and for all. That was the point. No more puppet masters. And then JJ decided to bring Palpatine back (which could have been acceptable if he used the threat of Palpatine coming back instead of him actually being back...or at least The World Between Worlds) and decided to make Kylo emotionally confused again so he could be redeemed. Was RJ's use of Snoke perfect? By no means. But I think what he did was the far more interesting path. Snoke was cool because he was mysterious, but once any reveal happened, his purpose in the story would have been repetitive. Rian was actively trying to buck that trend for the next director.

Because Luke was nearly mythical to the point some people didn't believe he actually existed. Those around him knew he was a Jedi, and those he worked with knew he claimed to be a Jedi. Luke's vanishing act after the Empire fell didn't help things either. And the Empire was taken down by a Rebellion, not one man. They're comparing what the audience knows as common knowledge to what people in-world may not know as common knowledge. We know Obi-Wan escaped Order 66, but The Empire didn't know until ANH. We know more Jedi escaped and where they went, but not everyone else in-universe does. The point was to be cautious of what is seen as "common knowledge," as it's not seen by everyone in-world in the same way. Or in another way, we know what Szeth is wielding and what it can do, but not everyone else does. His sword is "weird" to them, but how are they supposed to know anything about it when the creators are missing? We can't claim "it's Nightblood it's so obvious!" because to people who don't know the magic and the rules behind it all, it's not. Not yet anyways.

And then he purged all knowledge of them. The first episode of Rebels has people literally arrested for talking about the Jedi and pre-Clone Wars time. In Jedi: Fallen Order, a character is killed for it. Changing the perspective was simply the first step, not the last. None of this should have affected the Mandalorian's lore however, since Mandalore has its own sordid past with the Jedi. But if the titular character wasn't raised on Mandalore and instead somewhere else where those sorts of things weren't talked about, then it might make sense. There are some special potential cameos that have been heavily rumored for the show, and at least one has been confirmed IIRC. If both are true, then we should get an explanation about why our hero doesn't know about the Jedi before the season is up.

It does, as do all shows, but this may or may not be one of them. I'm putting it in the "promise" category until they actually address this issue. Jedi are still rare, and those who work with them are always flabbergasted that more survived (Saw's reaction in Fallen Order and his reaction in Rebels prove that). And as far as we know, The Mandalorian wasn't raised on Mandalore or near those who've been in contact with Jedi, nor was he raised in a culture that even talked about the Jedi. Should he know about them fighting in The Clone Wars? Probably, but Palpatine purged the Jedi from the popular knowledge to the best of his ability (as shown in the Darth Vader comic by Charles Soule and the very first episode of Rebels). Those that survived hid, and even then they weren't always lucky. I can believe that The Mandalorian doesn't know what Jedi are. My issues lie in them talking about the Jedi in such archaic ways. But again, the show still has time to address these things, so it's not a screw up until they officially don't.

I completely agree. That's a major problem I have with the show. It feels like they're writing the show as a sequel series to the OT and ignoring anything that's not in the movies. This is clearly not the case, as the Dark Saber came from TCW, and Cobb first appeared in the Aftermath trilogy's interludes, but the feeling is still there (which would make it an interesting experience for someone who only watches the movies and live action shows and is finally convinced to go back and watch the animated stuff). There's this gap between what the titular character and his allies know and what we've seen, and the show really needs to clear that up. Hopefully this season. This discrepancy doesn't ruin how much I enjoy the show, but it does cast a giant shadow.

It's been mostly memes and jokes instead of Star Wars discussions, and there have been other Star Wars threads in the past. Besides, you're here now! Loved it! It easily ranks within the top 3 episodes of the show. It's not my personal favorite, but it was phenomenal.

Thank you for giving me a reason to like TROS! It's apparently not a story of good vs evil, but rather

I'll watch it later. But the context does work. We know enough about Rey to know what she wants, where her history lies, and what her desires are. TFA explicitly tells us that. What we don't know is whose legacy child she is, but that's a question of where she comes from, not who she is.* We've never seen a rogue stormtrooper like Finn before. (And yes you might say Kyle Katarn, but he was a Legends/EU character than not everyone knew.) Heck, we've never seen a POC protagonist in Star Wars before - Lando was a main character, but not a protagonist. Watching him grow a conscious, come to care about people, and eventually do the right thing was incredible. And Rey! While she wasn't the most interesting protagonist (a title she shared with Finn in TFA that RJ later gave to Kylo), she wasn't Luke or Anakin. Luke wanted nothing more than to get off his world. Anakin was torn, but he didn't resist. Rey actively fights against leaving and what other people kept telling her. And Kylo Ren! Kylo was the anti-Vader. Where Vader was cool and collected, Kylo was petulant and threw tantrums. Where Vader killed officers who failed him, Kylo took out his rage on equipment, actively sparing the lives of those he worked with. Where Vader and Tarkin were allies that respected each other, Kylo and Hux seem to hate each other. There was also the parallels between the relationships that went with everyone. Poe's relationship with Leia reflected what Kylo's should have been; his past is repeating itself - yet reversed - in Finn's arc in this movie.** Rey and Kylo share a bond in their connection to Han, and Kylo recognizes Rey as the asset she could be; he even offers to teach her. Rey doesn't want to go back to the Resistance because "it's the right thing to do" or "to join the fight" like Luke did. She wanted to help someone she saw as a kindred spirit and then go back home. Finn didn't originally want to fight the First Order, he wanted to run but chose to fight. I'm not saying that it should have repeated everything it did - it very much shouldn't have. But TFA did what it di so in order to make fans focus on the characters, and it worked out well. People were excited to see where Finn would ultimately end up after TFA. There were hundreds of theories about who Rey could be related to and why. And Snoke! The theories...the theories. The time immediately preceeding and following TFA was a renaissance period for Star Wars. Ultimately, that's what TFA set out to make sure happened. And it succeeded. *One of the big problems of the ST was JJ refusing to stick with what RJ said about her past. Making her history stretch out through all three movies was a terrible choice and Rey's character suffered from it. But that's a problem in TROS, not TFA. **When Kylo Ren yells "TRAITOR," is he yelling it to irk Finn, who seemingly is okay with this? Or is he projecting his own guilt, shame, and anger onto Finn, the one person who actually gets it?

I said that it's bad for the story, not it was a bad story. So let me rephrase: TFA was good for the franchise and bad for the overarching story, including the trilogy as a whole. But it is not a bad story. It's the Hero's Journey. You know, the same thing that the Misborn trilogy, Avatar: The Last Airbender , Horizon: Zero Dawn, pretty much every Superhero Origin movie, and so many other stories are. TFA's story is literally the same story told in ANH. Which was a great idea. It allowed for fans who knew the story to focus on the new characters who were awesome and fresh and exciting and held so much potential. For fans who didn't know the story, it was a nice way to explore the main Star Wars formula with updated graphics. (And yes it was the main Star Wars formula, since ANH, ROTJ, and TPM all follow that exact same pattern.) Not everyone's first Star Wars movie will be ANH. For some, TFA was the first because they just reached that age and the parents wanted to share that experience with them. For others it may have been TPM - which, you know, also tells the same story as ANH but with more Jedi and politics. TFA's job wasn't to reinvent the wheel, it was to revitalize interest in the wheel. And I can say it did that swimmingly. The problem with retelling the ANH after the OT was that it reset everything. The Empire is back and the New Republic is destroyed, undoing the sacrifices the Rebellion made; Han and Leia broke up, undoing their entire romantic arc; and Luke is missing, undoing his call-to-action at the end of ROTJ. Some of these couple have been expounded on and addressed in TROS, others...yeah, bad ideas in the long-run. Again, good for the franchise, bad for the overarching story. I'm not 100% sure I agree, but I'm 100% behind you on this!

Hard disagree. TFA is a great fun movie for the most part IMO. I always say it was great for the franchise but bad for the story. TLJ is a movie I have a lot of fundamental problems with, but I respect Rian Johnson and what he was trying to accomplish. In many ways, I also agree with what he was trying to accomplish. TLJ was Rian breaking the mythic chains of Star Wars. It was his way of telling the next director to "tell your movie. Don't just follow what the old movies did." And there are tons of great things in the movie! That tense opening battle, the beauty of the Holdo Maneuver, the humor on Ach-To; Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher easily gave their best performances during that movie. Also, if you've seen Knives Out, you should know that RJ can indeed write. TROS...I actually agree with you here. It's the worst of the three by far, not very memorable, and frankly a terrible ending to the trilogy. Maybe with a little more distance we can all look at TROS a little more favorably, but as it stands...yeah, not a fan. Rogue One is at the bottom of the list for me, only above TROS. Not because the movie is bad, but because I cannot stand that soundtrack. It feels like a bad bootleg version of the normal Star Wars soundtrack. Heck, I've seen better bootleg movies! Solo was great! I don't deny it was an attempt at nostalgia and the movie has a ton of problems overall, but no other movie gave me as much of the Space Western vibes that the OT Star Wars does so well than this one. And that's counting the fact that TFA is ANH but with new characters. The soundtrack was new and fun, Glover's portrayal of Lando was perfect, and the heist was a nice addition. The Mandalorian is doing fine. I have some issues with the presentation of the Jedi in the story, but overall it's fine. But just because I like a majority of these things doesn't mean I'm happy with the direction Star Wars is heading right now. Star Wars needs a vision. The Cosmere and the MCU thrive not only the talents of their creators, but because fans know that the story is leading them somewhere, to something. There's a vision. Star Wars clearly has none, and that's what it needs to get back in the game.* Mando and Solo are both worth seeing. Mando has a strong outing, a weak middle, and a great ending. And with all of the rumors of cameos for Season 2, it's bound to surprise people. Solo is a really fun movie. Was it necessary and did it make things more confusing? Yes and Yes, but so did the Wax & Wayne series at first. I'd just recommend watching The Clone Wars beforehand. It might ruin some surprises (that Rebels fans may already know about), but it will help make things make a little more sense. *Simply having a vision won't always cut it, as the DCEU and other failed cinematic universes noted. But they also put too their cart before the horse. Have the vision, build the characters, and then slowly work towards that vision.

Kamala's awesome! I have the first volume of her first comic run around the here somewhere...I still need to read it... But for me, the best will forever be Peter Parker. Spider-Man has had my Marvel heart for decades, and my superhero heart as a whole for about 15 years or so. But we can make these controversial opinions! Nightwing is better than Batman in-world. He has the cooler name, the better attitude, and is overall a more fun character. He needs a sidekick though. And Duke Thomas should have taken over as the next Robin. Damian needs to grow into a new identity. It's been almost fifteen years. It's time.

I don't disagree. Although I've learned to simply celebrate all of the cool things that have happened since Rothfuss and Martin's last full-fledged book release. To recognize a few things: Community and Parks and Rec ended, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine came out. Star Wars released its sequel trilogy, two spin-offs, and The Mandalorian. A new generation of manga/anime was born in My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Seven Deadly Sins, The Promised Neverland and more, while (relatively) old classics such as Naruto, Bleach, Toriko, and Kuroko no Basket ended. Miles Morales was introduced in one comic universe (the Ultimate universe, or Earth-1616) only to travel and become a mainstay in the main one (Earth-616). Before all is said and done, he'll have had several comic-book runs, appeared in a Spider-Man cartoon (voiced by Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino) and was a main character in a different Spider-Man cartoon, will have starred in at least one animated movie (that won an Oscar in a year where Disney had two animated films), and will have starred in his own videogame. That's a LOT of exposure for a character that's not even ten years old yet. Going along with that, Kamala Khan was introduced into the Marvel family, and now she's one of the most popular characters. And she's even younger! The MCU and the superhero genre as a whole exploded during that time, changing the geek landscape. We've had all four Avengers movies, a new Superman (two if you could the CW Superman), two new actors in the role of Batman, a whole host of C-list heroes transform into household names, and so much more. Gaming-wise, a generation and a half has passed (we were halfway through the PS3/Xbox 360's lifecycle when those books came out). If you really want to see the differences, go play PS3's Uncharted, or Mass Effect 2, or even Assassin's Creed 4. And then go play God of War. The gains we've made are exceptional! Fire Emblem nearly died and is now experiencing a sort of renaissance,* as did the Persona franchise. Since 2012/13, we've had the release of: three original Fire Emblem games, two spin-offs, a remake, the lifecycle of a trading card game (RIP FE Cipher 2015-2020), and now a QoL updated, localized version of the first game. And the Persona franchise isn't going anywhere either. Persona 5 has had a remaster in Royal, an anime, a stage-play, multiple audio dramas, and a Musou spin-off/sequel. Pokemon made the switch (heh) to the 3DS and the Switch in that timeframe; and Pokemon Go was a worldwide phenomenon! In terms of books, we saw the death of the YA post-apocalyptic dystopian future genre.** Sarah J Maas came onto the scene in 2012, and her popularity within the YA fantasy genre has exploded ever since. Her work paved the way for other talented women such as Marie Lu, Leigh Bardugo, Veronica Roth, and Marissa Meyer. You have Sabaa Tahir's An Ember In the Ashes series, Pierce Brown's Red Rising series, the massive popularity of The Expanse, the ending of The Wheel of Time (and a television show that will most likely air before Doors of Stone and The Winds of Winter release). And there are so many writers that are POC or members of the LGBTQ+ community that are doing so well now! It's honestly really inspiring. Oh and Brandon wrote: three Stormlight books (with the latest two being larger than The Wise Man's Fear), two Mistborn books, one Rithmatist book, one Alcatraz book, one Wheel of Time book, the Reckoners trilogy, two Cytoverse books, and a plethora of novellas. And counting. YouTube has become...something, and streaming is now a Twitch thing. The social media craze has died down a lot. Vine was founded and died, giving way to Snapchat and now Tik-Tok. Audiobooks and podcasts are the things right now. ASMR is something that everyone knows everyone else knows about and probably listens to, and is popular enough to be joked about. And now we all have Zoom meetings! Y'all, we've lived multiple seasons of life while waiting for these books. I know people who were single and not even thinking about marriage in 2011 who are married with kids now. It's scary to think about, and the wait may or may not be worth it, but it's kind of exciting when I think about how I can compare my mindset when I first read these books to where I will be. Did they do that recently? I know during the pandemic they rearranged the stores, but I didn't notice a giant change in the Sci-fi/fantasy split. *I'd call it the second stage of the renaissance, to be more accurate. The first stage was the Awakening/Fates/Echoes era. The Switch era is benefiting from this, but its atmosphere is different. **Because what's the point in reading about it when you're already living it?