I Drew A Pickle Xenomorph. I Think This Explains Their Acid Blood. They’re All Just Pickles.

Golden days

hello!! special edition!

Angels Before Man is turning 2 years old (from its original release) and around 3 from its original drafting! i decided to make a special version with art by the incredible @ikkihuikki , an embossed cover based on the one I made to print the draft for myself, an introduction/retrospective, a bookmark with art by @duckhymn, a random surprise thing, and my siganture! ive never offered my signature before but i figured why not.

you can get it here:

rafael nicolas

PRE-ORDER Angels Before Man Birthday special edition

Pre-order for the Angels Before Man 2nd birthday special edition! November marks 2 years since the original publishing of Angels Before Man

Pre-orders open until I run out. More shipping info to come! I had a good idea but ive been increasing stock! I'll keep all buyers informed though

t shirt that says i've misunderstood many social interactions

we don't talk enough about Control saving an ant from getting smacked at the back of a woman's neck and placing it back into nature at the edge of a parking lot

annihilation is soooo good because the biologist is aware that she is an unreliable narrator and also hates it. she WANTS to be completely impartial and objective and just observe everything without influencing any of it. but she cant so instead she omits her name from the entire book to the point where it's almost absurd and completely intentional and splits her journal into "objective" chapters detailing her expedition and "subjective" chapters detailing her memories about her husband. ill never be over you biologist

I need everyone to understand about the fremen.

They do not cry. Ever.

To give water to the dead is the most sacred honor that anyone could give but they rarely and never do that because it's ingrained in them to not waste water from birth. A single tear could mean life and death for them. To give water to the living? Unheard of.

Paul crying over killing Jamis in the book was a moment that astonished the fremen around him. Jessica ponders their reactions and knows that this is a holy moment.

Jessica then forcing Chani to cry for Paul(this was not in the book btw but I love it) is the ultimate betrayal of her autonomy. To force her to give what is essentially a piece of her life to him without her consent is sacrilegious and she knows it.

Water of Life indeed.

Saltburn just asks the question that everyone is too afraid to ask. What if people were using their autism for evil.

Dracula Daily, June 29th

*in a masc way* hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Warning : not very coherent

I so badly wanted the slow extinction of fremen culture in dune messiah and children of dune to be an examination on how the colonial rule destroy indigenous way of life and fuck up the local ecosystem causing untold damages for the sake of "modern development" when its actually just a mindless chase for profits. But I know its not. There were some bit of writing that pointed in that direction (how terraforming destroys the habitat of desert animals, especially the worms, gradual loss of knowledge on water discipline, how riding the sandworms becomes rarer and rarer) but overall, it doesnt seem like its what frank hebert actually wanted to say.

From the first book, the fremen is seen as 'noble' or special because the harsh conditions of Arrakis made them into a society of honor with the strength and battle prowess that rivaled the sardaukar. The sardaukars were defeated by them because they've gotten too confident and comfortable from constantly winning. In dune messiah, we see the fremen slowly undergoing through the same thing as their planet becomes less harsh. The fact was regularly noted by people who went through the sietch days and somehow, its all they care about. Feeling resentment over how the new generations are weak and waterfat. Cultural things like music, communal gatherings, camaraderie, were all treated like a footnote. There was a scene in dune messiah where a veteran, Farok was complaining about living in suburban houses instead of the caves. IRL, suburban houses on a desert climate took so much to maintain. It's expensive. It wastes water, power that are currently sourced by burning fossil fuels, and it kills the local ecosystem. It also promotes loneliness because people are separated in tiny family units. There is a lot of plot potential in there. But in the book, its merely a rant that describes how Farok wanted the old ways without specifying why and how it was better for him and fremen as a whole. Meanwhile in dune it was specified how awful living in the old days are. And then of course, a part of why Paul had his downfall was because the fremen thinks its disappointing that theyre not brutal savages trained by the desert and a fear of the shai-hulud anymore

It's a wasted opportunity! The book wants you to believe the old ways of the fremen are better, but all it focuses on is how better living conditions makes them soft. They resent not sacrificing virgins and leaving blind people to die. The things they lost that the book narratively cares about is the things that aids the Atreides and their empire, not the things that makes the fremen who they are (communal living in the sietch, solidarity, appreciation for the environment).

Despite being glorified, the fremen is not treated like people. Their way of life is universally seen as best for the planet, but there is no sincere examination on why it actually works for the fremen. And the book suffers because of it. In the end, the fremen is merely a placeholder for frank hebert to spout his weird beliefs about survival of the fittest instead of a story about indigenous culture. My friend, you were so close but you missed it!