#WoW Allied Race | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

withonly-sweetheart · 20 days

Text

Reap What You Sow

part two

You've been reaped, and your partner is not the man you want to be spending a bloodbath with. But what if he's nothing like what you expected?

a/n: for the anon that's waited SO patiently for it... im still working on figuring out ur identity but im a bit slow... so.... i hope u like it i had to reread the book for this and WEUIORWPDOSWEIOR i have trauma from thg trust me

tw: major character deaths (if you can guess who ily <3) mentions of blood, gore, illnesses, blah blah all that stuff yk

wc: 3.6k

part one here!!

The first thing you feel, stupidly, is betrayal, but you hadn’t been together in the first place. There was no thought out alliance, even if that was what Haymitch was hoping for in the endgame.

“Nice one, lover boy,” one of the boys teases. “Next time, make sure it's your girlfriend. Can’t recognize one girl from another, huh?”

“He’s just that desperate,” one of them replies, and they all break out into laughs, sounding amazingly like a pack of coyotes. Leon stares down at his feet, gripping the coil of thin, white wire wrapped around his fist.

“The faster we get rid of her,” he grits out from behind clenched teeth, “the better chance we have of winning. She’s smart enough to survive unless we take her out.”

“Take her out? Wow, Leon, ever the romantic one, aren’t you?” one of the girls muses. But Leon doesn’t smile like you expect him to, and the only emotion that overtakes his face is disgust as he scowls.

“Let’s just get moving,” he growls.

You see in Leon's stony gaze not hatred - but shame. For a moment, your eyes meet, and you understand. This is not the end, he promises silently.

Calming your racing, pounding heart, you slip back into the trees, vanishing on the wind.

You can feel the camera on your back, tracking you, and you realize that you’ve kept your face as neutral as Leon’s, so just to keep them interested (and to bring in more sponsors), you tilt your head towards the afternoon sun and smile knowingly.

Let them figure that out, you think.

You keep your footsteps vague, letting them track where you were - not where you’re going to disappear to as cunning guides your unsteady, unsure steps toward victory.

<><><><><><>

You’ve fared pretty well, you think, for the past three days. Your snares are doing well, and you’ve stayed close to the river. Luckily, the Gamemakers haven’t thought of targeting you for your little stunt, and you feel grateful for a moment before realizing that you’re still in danger.

A drift of voices carries on the breeze, and straining your ears, you snatch the faint sounds of celebration from the Careers' camp. Though your mind screams not to, you creep closer - and there, lying on the wind, come the first hints of Leon's ruse.

"...tracks lead east. Could have ditched the knife, gone after bigger prey."

A derisive snort. "Girl's got more sense. Doubt she went after a damn bear with her dinky little knife."

But Leon persists, voice dropping low and persuasive. "Unless she's more desperate than we thought. And these woods are full of desperate souls..."

You see his silhouette move with subtle gestures, painting a picture only you could see is false. Slowly, so slowly, he nudges their guesses astray, south, then west into thicker forest.

By the time their supplies were packed to give chase at dawn, Leon had spun such a tangled web even you almost believed his stories.

And in the cloud of lies he wove to protect you, you start questioning whether or not the man you know is there, beneath the killer, if a shred of mercy remains.

He gives no sign of knowing you watch. You don’t know if he knows you are there, but that night, you say a silent prayer of thanks for this small act of unexpected grace.

<><><><>

You breathe deep as forest mosses muffle your footsteps, senses sharpening for the soft calls of potential allies. You want to seek out the little boy that followed you around during training, but so far, you haven’t seen him. But another sound comes floating through the wood - a broken, mournful murmur that pricks your heart.

Tracing the plea, you find Leon alone amid the ferns, face buried in his hands. At your approach he scrambles up, fingers clawing for the hilt of a missing blade.

"Come to finish it yourself?" he hisses, agony written plain before the mask slams down over his face.

Slowly, showing empty hands, you meet his wild eyes with a steady gaze. "Calm down, I’m here to help. You… don’t look too good.”

Leon sways, strength waning as exhaustion takes hold. Something flickers in his eyes as he collapses to the side, slowly curling into a fetal position.

Your hesitation is apparent, but immediately disappears when he hits the leaves, fingers slackening from your fists. You glance around, peering deep into the sheltering green, wary of enemies, but none arrive.

Then your facade breaks and you fall to your knees, surveying where his injury is, and spot the blood seeping from his shoulder.

“What happened?” you ask quietly.

“They found out I’m sick,” he whispers. You can’t resist flinching back a little, and he manages to grin before grimacing. “Cato stabbed me.”

“Why didn’t you run?”

“He saw you were standing there and sent people after you.”

You stare down at him, eyes blank before you frown. “But how’d you get hurt?”

“I killed them.” A groan passes his lips. “On second thought, save yourself.”

“I’m not leaving you,” you say as fiercely as you can through tears. You don’t know why the thought touches you, the fact he cares about you enough to betray his, however temporary, allies, just for you.

You would’ve assumed he would have laughed, joined them, even. A weak smile touches his lips. You rip fabric from your shirt to bind the makeshift dressing, tears mingling with the blood on your cheeks that got there from your frantic wiping. “Why’d you have to play the hero, huh? You couldn’t run away?”

“Had to… keep you… safe,” he rumbles, voice hoarse, parched.

“Well, congratulations, genius, now we’re both screwed.” Your breath hitches on a sob. “Just hold on, damn it! You’re not dying on me, hear that?”

Leon’s hand finds yours, grip tightening with determination. “Not… going anywhere. Promise.”

<><><><>

“What about the other girls?” you query, spooning soup between his lips, wincing as he swallows it with increased difficulty. His condition is getting worse, you can see that. You gently dab cold broth that you made hours ago from his ashen lips.

Leon's labored breath grows more ragged, his burning gaze holding yours with haunting intensity. “What other girls?”

“Save your breath,” you reply, shaking your head. “It’s not important.”

“It’s important to you,” he says quietly, rubbing his finger in circles over your knuckles. “So tell me.”

“All those girls you dated back home, did they ever mean anything to you?” You drag in a fractured breath. “Do I?”

The royal crown of his hair dips back to grace the stone walls, breaths coming in puffs from his lips, twisted in a frown as he tilts his head to look at you, hooded eyes and furrowed brows asking you a silent question you can’t understand.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m thinking,” he rasps.

“Think faster,” you grumble.

He chuckles. “Bossy. Well, I guess the first girl I loved was my tutor,” he muses. “Not really my tutor. Just a girl that was smarter than me.”

“Was?” you ask, tilting your head.

“She died of some illness,” he says dismissively. “I loved the attention she gave me, treated me like I was her special little boy, even though that was part of her job. No, I didn’t love her, not really.” He meets your eyes steadily. “Not how I love you.”

And it’s moments like these that have you questioning whether or not he’s being serious, because his eyes are glazed and his mouth is set so seriously. Would he trade steel for softer weapons, if you grant his wish?

Gently, you lay your palm against burning flesh, unsure if you’re offering true solace or a cruel illusion, reflecting the confusion that you feel at his words.

“But you have every guy’s attention back home,” he breathes, almost a sigh. “I don’t stand a chance, do I?”

I can almost hear what Haymitch is undoubtedly thinking back home, begging me to say out loud, for the cameras that are definitely watching us.

“I might have their attention, but you’ve always had mine.”

And as if on cue, a silver parachute blows in on the breeze, landing near your crossed legs, silky fabric brushing your hand as you eagerly unwrap it.

“Look what Haymitch got you,” you say teasingly as you reveal a vial of what you presume is medicine, must be for his cold.

You pour it into his soup, swirl it around until the spoon generates enough heat to dissolve the sticky, ivy colored liquid. Leon’s nose crinkles when it meets his tongue, jaw working as he swallows.

<><><><><>

“Can’t sleep?” Leon murmurs as you rouse, blinking some light into your vision. Your joints are stiff from the unforgiving stone that blankets you.

You rub your eyes. "I don’t think I’ve slept very well since we got here," you sigh, rolling your stiff neck.

Leon watches with quiet eyes. "C’mere." He shifts to make room for you in the small, cramped area, patting the space next to him. Leaning into his solid warmth brings strange comfort, comfort you are unaccustomed to.

“You look really pretty,” he murmurs, almost to himself, and when you crane your neck to glance up at him, there’s a dreamy look in his eyes as he gazes back, a lazy smile spreading across his face.

“Half asleep?” you joke.

“You look pretty no matter what.” Curled fingers graze your back, drawing tired muscle from knot to knot. You tense, unused to kindness from killers, mind flashing back to the way he had killed Glimmer, yet you let tension seep away under gentle pressure.

When was the last soft touch? The last time you had let his hand touch your skin, heat mingling between your bodies? You lie your neck onto his shoulder, feeling him tense for barely a second before relaxing.

His breath fans your hair, smelling faintly of pine and earth. Your eyes flutter shut, forgetting just for moments your fate, and here in the dark, you forget that he might just be trying to kill you.

But, as all things do, it ends, and dawn looms with its crimson streaks. You are both marked for death, lambs led to slaughter, destiny undecided.

And you know you can’t let him choose what happens to not only you, but also your family. So you pull away from his warmth, almost immediately missing it, feeling the chill seep into your heart.

“I should… go hunt,” you explain quietly, but the hurt that presses through his neutral expression is something you have grown used to seeing.

"Go then," he murmurs, volume rising fluidly. "I just don’t get it.”

“Get what, Leon? We need to eat.”

“I’m here for you, for free, and last night I proved to you that we don’t have to fight.”

His words sting, reminding you who you have to protect above all - those beyond these walls of blood. Your fists clench at your side, as taut as the cords in your wary stomach. "Nothing is decided here, not even-"

"Trust?" Leon fills the sentence with wry amusement. "You don’t seem to trust even yourself, it seems."

Anger flares to life in your chest, his steady calm that dares your truths that you left unsaid, because that’s how you know to survive.

Your voice strikes like a flint against steel. "You might want to be thinking about your own survival, because your charming words mean nothing against bloodshed.”

His eyes flash, gray from moonlight, mouth hardening.

“Charming words are all I see you relying on, little bird. Will you still burn as bright as you think you are now, if it weren’t for me?"

His jab finds its mark - doubt you dare not voice aloud. Your jagged fingernails pierce the tender flesh of your palm, making crescent shaped, vague silhouettes of your anger. "How dare you say that? You don’t even know me, let alone what drives me to win!"

"Enlighten me then," Leon sneers, temper unleashed. But for a moment, a heartbeat, something flickers behind his granite eyes - regret? But he doesn’t stop.

"Is it because of your family? Or is the sick excitement I know you get from spilling blood by your pretty hand?"

You pause, taking in his words. You blink at him, face softening, releasing your hand from its anguish, unable to believe that he, of all, chained to this prison just as you are, could see you in such a light.

Your vision seems to dim red as a choked whisper claws free, "How… how could you say something like that?"

Silence hangs curdled between us as grim understanding sinks in, evident on his face. And you stand, brushing the underside of your thighs, biting your tongue, trying to convince yourself that you don’t care, that his words didn’t deliver a sting.

But the venom is already coursing through your blood as you walk away, leaving him alone, whispering your name.

<><><><>

The smell of damp earth fills his senses as Leon pushes through the foliage. He has to find you, has to make this right. Breaking through the treeline, he spots you sitting by the lake, your brown tunic matching the looming pines.

You don’t turn as he approaches, eyes fixed on the still water. Leon's chest tightens. Stopping a few feet behind you, he whispers, "Sweetheart, I'm sorry."

Silence greets him, thick like the humid air. Leon kneels, reaching out to gently brush your shoulder. "Please, look at me."

Your defiant yet sad gaze meets him as you turn. Eyes shining with unshed tears, your lips pull into a small pout. God, she’s beautiful. Leon cups her cheek, caressing soft skin with his thumb.

"I was wrong. You mean everything to me. You would never do something like that, I know." Without waiting for a reply, he closes the distance between you and offers an apology, a plea for forgiveness, pouring it all into the tender press of lips, praying you understand.

After a moment of hesitation, you lean back into him, and for the first time since you made your way into this hellscape, he feels genuine happiness.

But he doesn’t know you are only doing this for the camera nestled in the trees above you, panning across your faces, capturing every moment.

He doesn’t catch the clench of your fingers, turning them white.

<><><><><>

As the midafternoon sun breaks its unrelenting heat, you both stalk through the forest, looking for the last tribute, the last one before you’ll inevitably have to decide the victor between you both.

The sound of the river drowns out any other noise, the rush of water serving as a reminder of the weapon at your disposal.

Your opponent stands near the bank, eyes slanted dangerously. You recall yesterday, seeing Clove’s stoic face in the sky, flanked by puffy clouds. You also remember their bond, how close they were, horrifyingly similar to you and Leon.

Before long, you’re thrown into unwanted combat. Blood decorates the blades of grass dancing around your ankles, back to back with Leon as Cato’s fury seems to consume the arena.

Somewhere, deep inside you, a part that isn’t occupied with surviving, you feel pity for him, because in his howls of pain come grief, a silent plea to put him out of his misery.

As Cato lunges towards you with fierce determination, you act quickly, sidestepping his attack and delivering a powerful blow that sends him stumbling backwards towards the river's edge.

Leon catches wind of your idea, and with a swift and unwavering hand, he pushes Cato into the cool, rushing waters below.

<><><><>

And we lie there, waiting for the river to calm, for the ripples gracing the muddy banks, right as twilight drapes the world in soft purple.

The arena lies still, a haunting quiet settling over the blood-soaked ground. Shadows dance in the fading light, the remnant of the District 10 boy casting long, eerie shapes that stretch to meet your feet. There is no one left as the hovercraft picks him up too, leaving you both alone in the arena, surely being documented.

You see his hand grip the dagger jabbed between the lower fabric of his shirt, tearing a hole, precariously close to his stomach. Without thinking, your own knife flies to his neck just as it slips from his fingers into the river, breaking the calm surface of the water with no sound.

Hurt flashes across his expression before his eyes slant dangerously, tilting your knife further towards his neck, pressing it into the unscathed, fragile skin covering his throat. You hear yourself let out a childish sound before yanking it away, or at least try to.

Leon’s grip stays strong, fingers curling even more, drawing a thin rivulet of blood you’ve seen him cough up far too many times. With his other hand, he dips a gentle finger in the red, hissing quietly before smearing it in the shape of a cross on his neck.

“So you don’t miss this time,” he says dryly.

“I wasn’t- why would I-”

“Do it,” he whispers, voice dropping an octave lower as his face hardens. “It has to be me.”

“You’re not leaving,” you insist, trying to pull the knife from his grasp. “I can’t let you die!”

“I’m already dying,” he says softly, a sad smile adorning his face. “You didn’t think medicine would fix it all, did you? Besides, you said it yourself, didn’t you? Only one.”

“And it can be you!” you insist. “You’re not listening!”

“There’s nothing to listen to, sweetheart,” he replies, dropping his hand to cup your cheek, staring into your gaze longingly, honeyed eyes sparkling with pain.

“I’ll kill myself!” you blurt out, pulling away from his touch. “I-I can’t live without you.”

“And your siblings? Your family won’t make it,” he says gently. “They’ll be gone.”

Your thoughts are everywhere but home right now. “It can be different.”

“Fine.” Leon looks up to ponder the night sky, and you make the mistake of relaxing your hand, letting the knife rest loosely in your fingers near his chest. He notices this, those keen, sharp eyes and that smart, beautiful mouth curving up.

He does not grimace when your blade, still in your hand, plunges into his stomach, straining under the effort of burying the knife deep into his skin. His blood paints your hand a sickening shade of crimson, dripping from where your bodies connect.

You can’t bring yourself to remove your fingers, frozen with shock. Leon lets out a fractured exhale, and through his parted lips you can see the ocean of ruby washing his teeth.

He collapses onto you, forcing you to collapse to the ground, laying him down on the dead foliage, where you had both tread mere hours ago, talking about your futures and how it would be the ideal, perfect life.

But now here he is, sprawled on rotting leaves, strawberry blonde hair fanning out in an ever-spreading pool of crimson, drenching your clothes, but you don’t care.

You press yourself closer to him, holding him like a child in your arms, the world around you fading into a distant whisper, leaving only the sound of his breath - shallow, yet steady, like the gentle flow of a tide.

The light in his eyes flicker, a candle fighting against the dark, wax dripping down its body similar to the way blood runs down his body, painting his figure in a slick, reflective liquid that shines the moon back at you.

“Leon,” you whisper, trying to bring him back to you, chanting his name into the crook of his neck, where you had felt the tip of your blade press, kissing the hurt away.

“I’ll always love you, little bird,” he mumbles, glassy eyed, blood going cold, seeping from everywhere, coating your skin, quickly drying into crumbling material.

And when he’s finally gone, after the minutes have stretched into hours, upon days in which the sunshine bathes his skin in a holy glow, the mockingjays chirp a hollow, solemn tune before the forest goes silent.

One gives the warning call, but you do not move. You can feel the hovercraft shielding you from the cheery sun, providing shade for you and the cold body in your hands.

For all the talk of killing him first, it seems he has killed you first, just by leaving you alone. And perhaps you will see him when they allow you mercy.

Why should they give you mercy? This is what you are thinking when your fingers find the blade. You hear Claudis Templesmith frantically calling to the hovercraft to do something, anything, but no one can stop you.

You have already been declared the winner. There is no one to harm your family. No one to harm your hunting partner, who awaits your return eagerly, but there will be no return. And, some selfish part of you knows that you’ll already be dead, unable to care if they die.

The blade slips into your skin effortlessly, as if knowing that this has always been its true purpose, knowing it is finally home, nestled in your body.

You lie beside your fallen lover, acknowledging it when he’s gone seems cruel yet inevitable, tracing circles on his still chest, as you had when you had slept together in the cave. The memory seems faint, distant, even, as if it had happened years ago, not days.

Your life disappears with your breath. The last thing you can remember doing is curling your fingers around Leon’s, entwined forever, captured in the scene of your death.

Destined to always reap what you sow.

#leon kennedy #resident evil #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy #resident evil 4 #leon scott kennedy #leon kennedy fanfic #leon kennedy fic #request <3

38 notes · View notes

arceespinkgun · 4 months

Text

The Sci-Fi Racism of MTMTE/LL

As I've reread MTMTE/LL I've been struck by the offensive content and messaging, particularly the constant ableism and racism. The ableism I've seen discussed (though I really do think it needs to be mentioned more because wow it is relentless and does not get better throughout the story), but the racist themes don't seem to be mentioned quite as often. I think this is for a lot of reasons, and one is probably that the cast being robots is sort of obscuring connections to real-world marginalized peoples.

But one of the most meaningful purposes for the sci-fi genre in general is to explore these issues through symbolism and allegory, placing real-world people in speculative scenarios, theorizing about the future etc. And I think when you look at what MTMTE/LL is saying about race with its themes it's a lot of extremely negative stuff—I doubt the messaging is intentional, but in my opinion that kinda makes it even more important to talk about it....

The Cold-Constructed

I'm going to begin this post by giving context for people who don't know anything about this story. In these series, it often comes up that there's more than one way for a transformer to be created. The main ways are forging, when the planet itself imbues the malleable metal of a protoform with a spark, and cold-construction, when an existing spark is split, put inside a photonic crystal, and put into a body that's pre-built. There's a lot of bigotry surrounding these origins for transformers, which is a clear parallel to real-world racism. I mean, you can see the word "apartheid" being used to describe the treatment of the cold-constructed, and the use of a slur for that group ("knockoffs") in the panel at the beginning of this post.

It's a commonly held belief that being forged is just better and being cold-constructed is just worse, that someone who's cold-constructed is just more likely to be morally bad, less able to do precise work, and more disposable than the forged. For example, at the beginning of MTMTE, Ratchet is worried about his hands locking up because he doesn't think they can be replaced by building new ones, that only forged hands are good enough for a great doctor.

There's a lot of internalized ableism that can be read into this too but this post is already so long I'm going to just focus on racism

The big end-of-the-season villain of MTMTE is Tyrest, the former Autobot Chief Justice turned neutral, who was the one who created the cold-construction process, and who also created a computer he thought could determine anyone's guilt. He used the computer during war crime trials he presided over, and discovered 100% of defendants who were declared guilty had been cold-constructed. Breaking from the guilt he felt, thinking he'd created an immoral, inferior race, he tries to kill all cold-constructed people.

Thwarting Tyrest's plot to kill the cold-constructed was the final battle of the first season of MTMTE.

The cold-constructed person letting the heroes know about Tyrest's plan in the panel right above this is Getaway. He is also an MTO. MTOs ("made-to-order soldiers") are an even lower class within the lower class that is cold-constructed. MTOs, as you'd expect, were bots built specifically as wartime fodder, sent out into the battlefield with a life expectancy in the range of seconds, often before their bodies and minds were even functional. As the war between Autobots and Decepticons raged on, they were even imbued with less and less cultural knowledge, because in the minds of their creators, what did it matter if they were going to immediately be killed anyway? Brainstorm's an MTO, too—in the panel at the start of this post, he's lying about attending protests in the name of the cold-constructed. He's masquerading as an ally there, but it's revealed soon after that he's also cold-constructed himself.

Let's pause for a moment. Assuming you know nothing about MTMTE/LL, what do you think the story would depict when it comes to this oppressed race? I feel like I would expect that the beliefs of the main characters that these people are inferior and immoral would be challenged! I'd expect the cold-constructed and MTOs especially to be saving the day. I'd expect an exploration into why 100% of bots found guilty in those trials were of this marginalized group—a discussion of a prison pipeline that benefits the privileged, maybe? Signs that the computer used was biased because it was created by someone privileged and programmed with biases? Maybe a discussion of how the oppressed were pushed to commit crimes to survive because of the systems keeping them marginalized?

Do these things happen? Er... well... not really, no. Shockingly, Tyrest's assumptions are never challenged despite his villain status and a lot of time being devoted to thwarting his plot? And the people who defeat him, like Tailgate, Rodimus, and Magnus, were all forged. Tyrest was Magnus's former boss and mentor, and Magnus realizing he needs to be stopped is super important, but Magnus never challenges any of these beliefs about the cold-constructed or anything even though Magnus's entire personality involves being super focused on ethics?

I also think it's notable that when Tyrest activates the killswitch, the only characters from the main cast who are affected are Chromedome, Brainstorm, and Getaway. Chromedome and Brainstorm are Autobots who worked together in a system that forcibly lobotomized thousands of people. (There's a lot I could say about the minor and other characters JRo chose to be affected by the killswitch, like how many of them are evil and how they're all treated by different narratives, but that's beyond the scope of this post.)

Getaway, while not having done anything immoral yet by this point in the story, goes on to become a central villain. In fact, Getaway is one of the most despised characters in the entire TF franchise because of how depraved and manipulative he becomes. His arc involves a self-righteous crusade to remove Rodimus and Megatron from the Lost Light and show up Rodimus by completing his quest before him. Getaway is a self-admitted groomer and murderer who does things like murdering his second-in-command by ripping him apart, tearing his head off with the spine still attached and getting energon all over the floor. Oh, and brainwashing hundreds of people.

Pictured: the brain stems of crew members Getaway kills in just one of his many crimes

When Getaway's eventually gruesomely killed, it's all forged people who come to confront him (Rodimus, Cyclonus, and Whirl). I think fans might say that this couldn't be racist messaging because Rodimus comes to think better of killing Getaway and tries to save him, but then Getaway still tries to kill Rodimus and Cyclonus and is killed by Whirl for that... but like, imagine if these characters weren't robots and were instead real people. If the horrible villain was someone from a marginalized group (who had even been tortured for it by a genocidal villain) and all the people who confront him and the person who eventually kill him were people from a privileged group, there would be issues with that. Plus, Rodimus saved Getaway to be "better" than him morally.

I "loved" how right before Getaway's attempted suicide and then actual death, the narrative makes sure to underline that he's an MTO, which makes it impossible to not think about MTOs during this scene

Plus, Getaway's even something like a class traitor. He wants to be validated by Primus so bad, he teams up with Tyrest, the genocidal guy who had tortured him earlier!!! I thought this was a bizarre series of writing decisions to make regarding a character who was introduced as a victim and part of an oppressed group.

One moment that shocked me occurs when we get the first exploration of what being an MTO means. Basically, there's some convoluted sci-fi crisis happening, and everybody needs to reveal their origins. Some characters, like Getaway and Riptide, talk about being MTOs.

Nautica, a very consistent moral voice throughout this story (whose points are often ignored by other characters unfortunately but still), is also in the room. She's from Caminus, a colony world, and missed the whole War. A large part of her story arc will involve how she's not used to experiencing war and death. So does she have some big concerns about Cybertron's culture upon hearing this? Nope:

She would not fucking say that

Instead, her reaction is to immediately look at the guy who started the War, Megatron, and credit him for being responsible for so many lives. What. She's also weirdly not fazed when learning about how the superiors of MTOs eventually just stopped supplying them with cultural knowledge because it was expected they'd immediately die after coming online, and these horrible facts are really not discussed again:

I also want to point out that Riptide is a good character who's an MTO who in my opinion really doesn't do anything immoral, but he was still aligned with Getaway's mutiny initially and is quite literally diagnosed with stupid, which doesn't do a lot to challenge prevailing assumptions about MTOs in Cybertronian culture.

Brainstorm's status as an MTO becomes a plot point again during his character arc, in which he invents time travel and tries to go back in time to prevent the War in order to save everyone who died during it. When he sees that it seems like nothing he does is preventing the War, he resorts to trying to kill Megatron, but he's easily talked out of it because he doesn't want to murder anyone.

On paper, it sounds like Brainstorm's goodness might disprove cultural assumptions about people like him. But I do want to point out that when Nautica (who again, is a strong moral voice) feels very betrayed by all the secrets Brainstorm kept from her, Ratchet convinces her to give him a second chance by pointing out that since Brainstorm's an MTO, if he'd prevented the War, he'd have been erased from existence. This is portrayed as a selfless, moral act, and not as a self-destructive cry for help, which I think is a poor choice, but worse, the narrative never even brings up the fact that Brainstorm would've not only erased himself, but all MTOs!

Okay, if bigoted assumptions about the morality and mentality of MTOs isn't something effectively challenged by the story, well, are the claims that forged people are physically more skilled ever challenged? Not really, no. Genuinely, I don't think that ever comes up. Megatron does perform a spark surgery somehow better than actual trained doctors First Aid and Velocity could do near the story's end, but Megatron's someone who was neither forged nor cold-constructed. He has a forged spark in a pre-built body, which given that bigoted assumptions about the cold-constructed are never really addressed by the narrative, lends itself to jokes like, "The cold-constructed body killed 100 billion people, but the forged spark was super sad about it!"

Rodimus describes Megatron's origin

EDITED TO ADD: There is also a skilled cold-constructed Decepticon neurosurgeon, Spinister... but the way other characters, even his closest friends, consistently treat him is that he is an idiot in every other respect in a way that feels very ableist. It's similar to the way Riptide is treated and his portrayal falls short of challenging the stereotypes, but even more extreme (personally, nothing Spinister ever did or said actually came across as stupid to me, but I'm fairly certain that his actions are supposed to seem that way).

Organic Life

Surprisingly given that this is a story about transformers, I actually think some of the most racist messaging in these series has to do with organic beings, not even with the robots! Some of the most shockingly racist moments, at least.

Something that's often discussed in MTMTE/LL is a concept called "technoism," the belief that mechanical beings are superior to organic ones, and that mechanical beings should commit genocide against organic species. This is a belief tied to Decepticons, and Megatron was the first big proponent of this idea. In fact, Megatron is stated to have killed 100 billion (!!!) organics, including driving multiple species to extinction.

Tarn (evil leader of the Decepticon Justice Division) recounts Megatron's desire to purge all organic life

Now, I feel like people who've read this story might be surprised to see that I feel this concept was handled in ways that promote racist messaging, considering the story repeatedly points out that technoism is bad and that Megatron was wrong. Some portion of Megatron's character development involves instead choosing to save organic life.

Unfortunately, I really felt this was extremely clumsily handled. A major Decepticon character who remains a Decepticon, Fulcrum, is especially disgusted by organic life. In one of the most shocking moments in this entire story, Fulcrum basically tells Tarn, "Life was so much better back when we Decepticons did ethnic cleansing, before mean bullies like you ruined it":

The shocking thing to me is that this is portrayed as a... noble act, I suppose I could put it? Everything is framed as if Fulcrum is doing something heroic in this moment. Disconcertingly, after this moment, Fulcrum is repeatedly used by the narrative as a sort of moral voice when talking to his fellow Decepticons. Whenever they're doing something unethical, he's almost always the first to speak against it. Yeah, ethnic cleansing guy, pre-any character development, is used as a moral compass.

Now, if his belief that organics are inferior and disgusting and deserve to die was challenged and he grew, that would be one thing. But he still finds them just as gross by the end of the entire story.

Similarly, another Decepticon who gets to team up with the heroes and get a happy ending is Nickel, herself a former member of the Decepticon Justice Division, and a strong believer in technoism. She joined the DJD to get revenge against organics who destroyed the colony she comes from. Even by the end of the story, it's clear that she despises organic life.

The very strange thing is that Nickel and Fulcrum are never shown to change these philosophies, but then join the fight against functionists who want to cleanse the universe of non-mechanical life... but there's nothing ever shown to indicate that they wouldn't agree with that plan themselves...?

Another moment that displays issues with how this story handles these concepts is a little interlude with the organic-operated Galactic Council:

On the surface, not much is happening, but this is one of my most hated moments. Why? Because the implication is that organic life, this group of beings that Megatron committed staggering, multiple genocides against, is now preventing his character growth journey. That the narrative's taking time to dedicating a whole scene to showing oh, organics can be bad and extort people too! There's "moral complexity" here!!! I really hope I don't need to explain why that's gross and extremely dangerous to apply as a lesson to any sort of real-world situation.

Other

There are other details in this series that feel racist that wouldn't necessarily fit into the other sections of this post.

I wanted to talk about Ten. Ten is a legislator, a non-transformer robot originally programmed by Tyrest to be a non-sentient law enforcer. However, after Tyrest's defeat, Swerve reprograms Ten to be his... well... slave. I mean it, Swerve makes him a worker at the bar who Swerve doesn't pay. Other people like Ratchet and Ultra Magnus try to convince Swerve he shouldn't treat Ten like this, but that isn't enough to get Swerve to stop.

Worse, Whirl etches graffiti onto Ten's back saying he "failed the Ambus Test," which is a test that measures sapience in-universe.

Now, eventually Swerve and everybody else does accept that Ten is sapient and Swerve feels bad about what he did to him, but Ten continues to be treated badly in general by people like Rodimus.

When Ten later dies, no time is spent mourning him. Also, nobody ever removed that damn statement that was etched on his back.

I also wanted to mention Drift. He was originally created by writer Shane McCarthy in the IDW comics before these series, and he's heavily Asian-coded, particularly Japanese-coded. Unfortunately, Drift was considered a real Poochie the Dog of TF for a long time by fans, a real Mary Sue, you could say, and it wasn't until MTMTE/LL when James Roberts began writing him that his reputation changed for the better.

...Unfortunately, included in JRo's new direction for Drift's character is repeated mocking of his spirituality. This does get slightly less extreme over time, but that doesn't erase how for the entire first season especially he's made the butt of jokes for it, and the end of MTMTE/LL even confirms that his beliefs were wrong, essentially. It confirms that the gods he believed in both didn't exist and were heavily morally compromised. Combine this with the fact that Drift is so Asian-coded and I feel that it comes across as racist.

Worse, while Drift already had a backstory, JRo wrote a new one for him that can be read to play into offensive, Orientalist stereotypes. JRo shows that Drift was originally a drug addict who earned money by renting out his body parts, an act that feels like a robot equivalent of prostitution. JRo even made jokes about this on his Twitter account, joking about Drift literally renting out his "thighs" for people.

None of this surprises me necessarily especially given the long history of English Orientalism, but it still sucks, and fandom's fixation on this aspect of Drift's character also sucks (especially the tendency to make this prostitution allegory literal), especially for someone like me who is part Asian.

Another, pretty bizarre and racist thing in Lost Light specifically that I don't really know how to categorize involves a minor villain from that series. When Nautica wants to bring her best friend, Skids, back from the dead, she goes to someone who claims she'll take Nautica's grief in return for using a Cybertronian artifact to bring Skids back to life.

This villainous character's name is... sigh... Mengel. If you don't know, Mengel is named after real-world Nazi Josef Mengele, infamous for the horrific human experimentation he performed on prisoners in one of the Auschwitz concentration camps. As if this weren't in bad taste already, none of the real-world crimes against humanity have anything to do with the character in this comic I'm talking about—the character Mengel was named this just for shock value and so readers would have the immediate realization that she's an evil scientist.

But this really bad taste isn't even the main thing I wanted to say about her. The main thing I wanted to point out is that she's actually part of a different race of mechanical beings that Cybertronians consider inferior. Even the generally very morally good Nautica (and of course, this is a belief that is not challenged in any way)!

Plus, this villain has darker "skin" than most of the transformers present in these series, and she has buck teeth with a tooth gap. All of these details combined other her in a racialized way, and I hope it's obvious how disturbing it is to pair these traits with the name of a real-world virulently racist Nazi historical figure.

Conclusion and TL;DR

In this story, it's not enough that a genocidal person like Tyrest is a bad guy or that the genocidal Megatron changes his ways when even the characters often cast as moral voices in most situations like Ratchet, Nautica, and Fulcrum have racist assumptions about the world that the narrative just doesn't really make any attempt to disprove or challenge them on. Or worse, that the narrative sometimes seems to validate with characters like Getaway, (sigh) Mengel, or the Galactic Council. And on a personal note, it's especially frustrating to me as someone who loves characters like Nautica. If she appears a surprising number of times in this post, it's because I'm attentive to her and how the story uses her, because I really like her!!!

Now, obviously, I don't think that stories have to address and defy all bigoted ideas and statements that inform the culture they're set in. But I believe that the people behind these series think the messages of these series are anti-racist and anti-fascist. In fact, one of the issues was even titled "This machine kills fascists," real-world slogan of singer Woodie Guthrie. Plus, I think it might be easy to think that with so much representation of, say, gay and trans people, that this story would have more positive messaging, especially when villains include racists and fascists. But I think MTMTE/LL show a real lack of understanding of the roots of these real-world issues and often reinforce the beliefs that contribute to them. In fact, when I reread these comics, every time some racist idea that's never ever challenged or adequately discussed came up, I tallied it up, then converted the number to dollars and donated the amount to helping displaced Palestinian children. I would love it if I could inspire some fans to donate as well! There’s a wide range of vetted links here.

I'm being so critical of these series not only because I rarely ever see the racism pointed out, but also because it's important to note it so these issues can be avoided in the future. In these comics, I actually think it would have been very easy to avoid these problems that plague the narrative. The bigotry behind Tyrest's philosophy could've been pointed out, maybe even by the people most affected by it. Drift's new backstory didn't have to be one featuring Orientalist tropes. The central villain didn't have to be someone who was a marginalized victim. Characters like Fulcrum didn't have to be portrayed as moral voices while simultaneously in the same breath talking about ethnic cleansing like it's a good thing, and they could have grown and changed in a natural way! etc. None of these things had to be like this.

#transformers idw #maccadam #my analysis #racism #negative #there's so much more but I didn't want this to be even longer than it is #long post #like really long

73 notes · View notes

acotarfrustrations · 9 months

Text

An ongoing list of ACOWAR grievances I'm keeping track of while I read (because there's too many to make a post about all of them) pt. 2

I'm on chapter 15 now and feeling the urge to complain again so here we go

1) the writing is way too overdramaticized. Like every other paragraph is some remixed version of feyre going "I wondered whether it would be eggs or bacon for breakfast. But when I looked at Rhys I realized that he was giving me my own choice. My mate, my high lord. In our home. With our family. Every thing was always my choice" and its CONSTANT, LIKE OH MY GOD GIRL SHUT UP

2) every thing about Lucien's plotlineand the elain mating thing. I HATE this subplot with a PASSION

3) feyre immediately fucking rhys when she got back instead of going to see her sisters

4) feyre and rhysand acting like they've ben separated for forty centuries instead of a month

5) the contradictions about how the high lord thing works. Like it was established that its a government position given to you through basically fate and being chosen by the cauldron or whatever which is why siblings kill each other for a chance for the throne and yet they just went to a priestess and swore feyre in as high lady?? It makes her title not feel real like it's purely ceremonial. It doesn't even make sense that she would be able to be HL of the night court as she has no more ties to that court than she does any other court. Is it because she's mated to Rhys? I don't understand the HL lord at all, it just keeps changing

6) the fact that Feyre, Rhys, and Cassian tell Lucien about their tragic backstories and everything that's happened to feyre at the NC and he just immediately does a Feyre™️. Like he's suddenly "Oh yeah you had a horrible childhood and took feyre into your found family without letting her explore relationships outside of the IC, that totally makes up for all the evil shit THAT IVE SEEN YOU DO WITH MY OWN 2 EYES. wow i cant believe youre not evil even though you killed 50 winter court children and sexually assaulted your mate and mind raped her constantly to get her to like you"

7) the way they're treating Nesta. It has been a MONTH since she was stolen from her home, brought amongst a race that she is terrified of and THAT ENSLAVED HER PEOPLE, and was forcefully turned into ONE OF THEM and the IC is acting like she's being unreasonable for not wanting to talk to them or to mate with Cassian. WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE EVEN BE THINKING ABOUT CASSIAN RIGHT NOW?? WHY THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL BAD FOR HIM? Instead of him worrying about how his mate is doing regardless of his own comfort he's like WOE IS ME, SHE DOESNT WANT TO FUCK ME?????? GET OVER IT ASSHOLE?? WHY IS FEYRE EVEN LETTING CASSIAN COME NEAR HER AND ANTAGONIZE HER?? DOESNT SHE LOVE TO FLAUNT HER HL STATUS AROUND?? THIS IS THE TIME TO USE IT, PROTECT YOUR GODDAMN SISTER FROM HIM? ITS SO OBVIOUS THAT SHE DOESNT GIVE NEARLY AS MUCH OF A SHIT ABOUT NESTA AS SHE DOES ELAIN!!

8) the fact that sjm didn't keep cassian's wings shredded. Him learning to live with that would have been a badass character development but now sjm doesn't want me to have good things

9) the mating bond in general. I think it could be a potentially good plot device but no one ever employs it well and sjm is definitely the most egregious with it

10) the fact that the ic never gave consequences for their fucking actions. Feyre dies in acotar? Turn her into a fey and give her ALL of their powers. Stealing a precious artifact that they didn't even end up needing and getting a bounty on their head in the summer court and then getting that court invaded? That's fine because feyre is SOOO brave and says things that are common fucking sense which makes her SOOOO smart so we obviously need her as an ally so we'll just rescind the blood rubies. Getting the spring court sacked? That's fine we didn't like them anyway. Rhys and feyre's bond gets snapped? Well they didn't know about our super secret mating bond that is actually the only thing that gives our characters chemistry so we still like each other. Rhys causes irreparable damage to every court for 50 years and kills 50 kids? Well that's fine he was being held hostage and hey! We don't know he actually killed those kids 😡 Feyre, a 20 year old girl who's been fae for like 6 months and training for even less goes up against thousands of years old beings? She beats them effortlesslessly! Rhys gets sexually assaulted for 50 years! Well he planned all of it so it has no negative consequences on him. Cassian gets his wings shredded? Well he worked really hard and they're fixed now 🥰. Rhys FUCKING DIES?? Well that's no problem, tamlin can just resurrect him, nvm the fact that there's no reason why he WOULD. like no harrowing situation is ever interesting cause we all know sjm isn't actually going to do anything to the ic

11) "my mate" STOP SAYING IT PLS IM BEGGING

12) "males and females" STOP SAYING IT PLS IM BEGGING pt. 2

#anti acowar #anti sjm #anti acotar #anti rhysand #anti feysand #anti sarah j maas #anti ic #anti acomaf #anti inner circle

115 notes · View notes

bladesongs · 5 months

Text

Oh, I kind of like the Earthen!

#world of warcraft #wow #warcraft #earthen #earthen allied race

8 notes · View notes

aggravatetheaxe · 3 months

Text

dethklok plays WoW

Nathan - main tank. Horde of course. Probably orc. His only toon. Absolutely a blood death knight both for aesthetic and because you know he's pulling top dps in addition to holding agg on everything in the room. Guild leader, does not take his title seriously but will still kick your ass if you bail on raid night. likes pvp but prefers pve

Pickles - plays mostly trolls, has 2 or 3 toons, probably also has an ugly forsaken and an ugly goblin (although goblin is a later race so depends on the year). Cat druid, often forced to spec into healing because mythic dungeons are only 5 man. But prefers to be cat or combat rogue. Incredible dps when he's allowed to do dps. not nurturing at all as a healer, WILL let you die if you piss him off (unless you're Nathan, but Nathan never dies). loves both pvp and pve but gets super steamed during pvp

Skwisgaar - paladin paladin paladin. Belf, of course. has secret female alts as well as secret ally alts. constantly adding his girlfriends to the guild and taking shit from the bank without asking. But he doesn't get in trouble because his dps is second to none - topping the charts even over Nathan. Ret pally, could technically heal with holy but his dps is just so insane that they can't afford to have him healing. pvp is beneath him

Toki - altaholic. Lots of female toons, lots of ally toons, gets bullied for both. Really wants to main a hunter so he can have a bunch of cute animal companions (and because it would be easier dps) but the others say that's gay so his main is a frost DK. the others make him spec into unholy because his crowd control brings clusters together so that Skwis and Nathan can wipe them out. So, so fucking angry that he never gets to do any actual dps because his plagues never get the chance to stack - and despite knowing it's a DOT issue the others clown on him for being the absolute bottom of the dps chart. pvp is too hard for him, no one protects him and everyone picks on him

Murderface - orc arms warrior and tauren fury warrior, dps but mostly off tank. makes cringe jokes (abt both native americans and milking) if tauren. One secret ally toon (human no less), also a warrior, that he uses to /walk around stormwind and RP badly. constantly brags about his dps but he's actually garbage, only above toki. makes a big deal out of his rank in the guild but he actually has no bank privileges. loves self harm through pvp

Charles - undead disc priest. a few alts, equal numbers male and female but almost all undead. probably a GM. heals when pickles is on dps and there's room or in a raid setting. guild treasurer, full bank permissions, has to constantly police the boys and spends thankless hours filling the bank back up with pots, food, etc. Also in charge of recruiting, so he should just be guild lead at this point but he dutifully never complains :) plays an affliction warlock and a couple rogues (combat and assassination) on a different server, when the boys give him one free fucking moment to do his own thing

Magnus - used to be a super powerful destro warlock that matched skwisgaar in dps. was super involved in the guild, help build it into what it was, contributed lots of materials, consumables, and money to the bank. Recruited some of their best players. after a horrific falling out (he was the asshole in the situation; controlling, etc) he was kicked from the guild and replaced. has since (due to wotlk) abandoned his warlock for a death knight. now he has a forever grudge and badmouths dethklok any chance he gets, but the majority of the server knows he's the drama so he has trouble finding others to play with. because of this he's been forced to switch over to alliance side. hence he falls in with...

MMA & the revengencers: MMA is yet another DK, probably blood, guild lead of the revengencers - rival guild to dethklok, constantly butting heads with them in pvp, ganking their low level members/alts, just generally being a nuisance. MMA wants revenge for Nathan (with the help of GM charles) getting his OG account banned

Edgar - human arcane mage main ("actually, the rotation is quite simple"). has lots of female alts. treasurer of the revengencers, takes everything way way way too seriously. Definitely works for blizzard or is a GM. very tense, sometimes outright hostile, relationship with Charles despite being essentially coworkers. "umm you sir have won the internet" "updoot" guy in chat. full collection of mounts, even the rare and/or limited edition ones

#dethklok #metalocalypse #nathan explosion #pickles the drummer #skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #charles offdensen #magnus hammersmith

35 notes · View notes

sharffffff · 2 months

Text

Anarnyrel Emeratu

Wow this lady is ✨old✨

How old, exactly? Well, not the "this is the oldest mortal character in TES" old, but not that far behind either. Being born into one of the first generations of Falmer living under Dwemer rule, in 1e487, Anarnyrel would be just over 3000 years during the Planemeld.

You might be wondering, however, that she doesn't look like a Falmer at all, and fair, she doesn't - her grandfather was a Dwemer and (in my headcanons) snow-white skin tone of Falmer is extremely recessive (as in, multiple different skin tone genes rely on being recessive to achieve that tone), so getting back to being snow-white after initial hybridization takes a lot of generations. Anarnyrel is still significantly paler than your average Dwemer, who have almost bronze skin tones, and much more desaturated as well.

Now, what is there to know about her? Let me get into my "it's time to actually write seriously" mood and get started.

Although a lot of Dwemer in recorded texts had thought themselves superior to other races, especially their downtrodden brethren Falmer, it was far from the case in reality, even though "kind souls" of Dwemer society were less likely to be in positions of power and have any written texts about them survive through both their disappearance and thousands of years since then. But they existed, in quite the significant numbers, and Anarnyrel's grandfather, Nathranas, was one of them. He has always been interested in cultures of other races, and has spent a lot of time among Falmer in particular, after the Night of Tears but long before the fall of Snow Prince and complete collapse of the Falmer kingdom. He has travelled a lot, but always kept coming back to Skyrim, especially with things getting more and more heated.

But in particular, he kept coming back to Vantari, a Falmer who he has grown attached to, who always made snide remarks about his kind of work, and to whom he always fired back to. They had this sort of friendly rivalry that was on the verge of growing to something else, but Nathranas never took the first step in the fear of being too imposing, and knowing that Vantari had more things to worry about. After all, she was in charge of an entire Falmeri town, and with the war in Skyrim getting worse and worse, she surely had more important things than love. So, Nathranas held off from the confessions and just offered her and her people whatever help he could, while in the background working on securing them the place to live in case Falmer were driven off the surface after all.

The rumors he heard about the plans of other Dwemeri houses weren't too promising, and he didn't hold enough political power to get anything done about it. Who would listen to the last remaining member of a house that's been down on its luck for the last five centuries, after all? Only someone who already held views similar to his, and it wasn't the powerful majority. Yes, he had convinced some other minor nobles to also prepare the safe space for the Falmer in case the inevitable happens, but he was afraid that it wouldn't last. The plans of larger clans and houses... they were horrifying. And what's worse, they were likely to succeed.

And then it happened. Snow Prince fell in one of the battles against the Nedes, and the last hope for Falmer to stay on the surface was gone. They were hunted like animals, driven off the surface of the world, driven right into the trap of larger clans. Some settlements were able to evade the deal with those clans and instead find safe haven with some of Nathranas' allies, and Vantari and her town was welcome in the old fortress of Narthranas' house, which he had been restoring in case this did happen. They were welcome in, no strings attached, with the exception of having to help growing the food for the town, as he alone could not feed nearly a hundred people all by himself. Yes, there were some constructs to help with gathering the crops, but he didn't have time to fully repair them as of yet - it was one of the first things on his list, however. And, to be fair, this deal was significantly better than some other refugees have gotten, which Narthranas was utterly disgusted by. He was hoping that the rumors weren't true, but, sadly, they were, and as much as he hoped he could've helped every single Falmer, it just wasn't possible.

Over time, however, the old fortress has started seeing new life, both with many constructs being repaired to help with growing crops, looking after kwama and other things around the underground citadel, and with Falmer who have retreated here seeing that unlike many other Dwemer, Nathranas wasn't going to stab them in the back. They were still wary, of course, but this deal was better than some others they could've gotten. In the meantime, Narthranas started teaching some of the younger Falmer how to repair the constructs and how to build new ones, how the magotech worked, how to charge the soul gems to power both the constructs and some of the automated systems in the fortress itself, and many other things that were usually forbidden to relay to the outsiders. But then again, Narthranas has already "betrayed the Dwemer" from what he heard said about him, so why not betray them some more?

To return to the topic at hand, Anarnyrel - for her to come to exist, something must happen. And, surprising nobody, it did - it was Vantari who approached Narthranas, however, as he was too afraid to even think about it with all the news about how other Dwemer treated their Falmer brethren. She told him how she loved to see him squirm, unable to admit his feelings, but thought that he has stewed in his guilt for far too long. He wasn't responsible for the actions of his people, and it didn't mean he wasn't deserving of love. How Narthranas didn't just die on the spot is still unknown, but the relief he felt from being accepted by the woman he had loved for the past 264 years was immense. It would be more than another century before they would get a daughter of their own, with two generations of Falmer having grown up in the fortress without ever seeing the light of day.

Well, this wasn't entirely correct, as the exit to the surface wasn't locked, and some experienced hunters would go out now and again to bring back fresh meat, and with some youngsters sneaking out despite the looming threat of Nedes still hunting down the last remnants of Falmer, but sunlight was still a rare encounter for most of the younger generations. The artificial sunlight was good enough for the cave crops and to not go completely insane from constant darkness, and Dwemer have lived like this for thousands of years, but for normally surface-dwelling Falmer it was difficult to get used to.

Autarielle - that was the name that Vantari has given their daughter, "Beaty of the Clouds", to remind of what was lost. When she was just born, she was surprisingly pale, looking almost like full-blood Falmer, but as she aged, her skin tone grew darker, ending up being almost darker than that of Narthranas. To the unknowing eye, she looked almost more Dwemeri than her own father! Autarielle was loved among the entire city, with people living there hoping that she was the blessing from the gods, a sign that things would be okay, that the city was safe from the rest of the world. And for the time, it was true. The fortress was thriving, more hunting parties were going onto the surface, still with immense care not to lead the Nedes to the entrance of the caverns, and more and more Falmeri children, Autarielle included, were being taught the crafts of both Dwemer and Falmer, in case they ever needed to take care of the citadel after Narthranas was gone.

And then, Narthranas got his first threat. His city was doing too well, and the important people have taken notice. The letter didn't look like a threat to an untrained eye, but the phrasing made it all far too clear. They were "interested in the progress of [his] little project, and recommended to not let it grow too big to handle". This was bad. The city has grown significantly, with four generations of Falmer having grown up here already, almost doubling the population, and this letter has just become a confirmation that they kept their eyes on him. This almost drew Narthranas to the panic, and then something happened that made it all even worse.

With things going well up to this point, even slightly less experienced hunters were allowed to join the hunts on the surface, and so, with all this traffic up and down, it became easier for some mischievous younger Falmer to sneak up to the surface to watch the animals, and sky, and trees, and clouds. Autarielle might have had it a bit more difficult than others, as her sneaking out would be much more noticeable, with her looking nowhere near like other Falmer, but it didn't stop her. She and her partner, Seravin, became great at sneaking out to spend time alone together, as it has become quite difficult to find empty spaces back in the citadel, and they weren't ready to make their relationship public just yet. Seravin felt that they might be a little too "unimportant" for Autarielle's parents to allow her to be with them, with her being the daughter of the leader of the city and the one who gave them this safe haven, and with Seravin just being a child of a hunter and a kwama miner. Autarielle always called them silly for that fear, but never forced them to become public. They would do it when they were ready.

Sadly, that "ready" moment wasn't going to come. During one of their escapades, with both of them sitting in the branches of a great oak and just having some fun, they were ambushed. Nords were some masterful marksmen, and Seravin was dead mere seconds after the arrow hit them straight in the heart. After noticing Autarielle, however, Nords ran, screaming at each other that they should never have attacked the Dwarves and that they would be cursed forever now. Autarielle didn't even have a second to process what happened and had entirely shut off. She was trying desperately to heal Seravin, refusing to believe they were dead, and dragged them back to the fortress on sheet willpower alone, and then lost consciousness. When she regained it, she shut off from everyone around her, including her parents, who quickly realized what was going on between the two. Autarielle couldn't believe it was happening. What she didn't know at the time, either, was that she was carrying Seravin's child.

Narthranas had to put out several centurions near the entrance to the citadel to ward off any potential Nords who may have wanted to follow the bloody trail, to show that this city was still occupied by Dwemer they oh so much feared, and them he broke down himself. He has almost lost his daughter to those Nedic savages, and she has lost the life of her life and the other parent of her child. And he didn't even know she had been seeing someone! He was heartbroken by the thought of her not trusting neither him nor Vantari with this information, but was aware that she had her own troubles to deal with right now. Meanwhile, he ordered to increase security around the elevator and decrease amount of hunts, to make sure no more people are lost. He would've felt responsible for each loss had he not done it.

The day Anarnyrel was born was not a happy one, either. As the world welcomed in one life, it had taken another one instead. Autarielle had died in the child birth, and Narthranas had promised himself to teach Anarnyrel everything he could to make sure she can survive for as long as possible. He raised her as his daughter, spending almost all his time with her, teaching her everything from how to grow crops to how to do complex engineering, including that of limbs and organs. He taught her how to wield both magic and tech to prolong her life, and a variety of other skills that could come useful. He even hired tutors from various cultures to give her better education in magical and other fields, and dedicated the rest of his life to her, especially after Vantari was claimed by her old age. He couldn't allow himself to let Anarnyrel suffer the same fate, he had to protect her no matter what. He couldn't let the last of his loved ones to die. What he inadvertently taught Anarnyrel, however, was that love was dangerous and could drive you to insanity both when gained and when lost.

And then, one day, when Anarnyrel had barely turned 96, Narthranas had sent her away, telling her that it was too dangerous here now, that he would try to evacuate as much of the city as he could, but they were unhappy and they were coming here. After this, she never heard from him again, and in her retreat in Summerset she had news reach her that a "dangerous traitor to Dwemeri society has been eliminated, with all his experiments destroyed". The name of this dangerous traitor? Narthranas Khazdarth. Her grandfather. And the experiments were, most likely, the Falmer who weren't turned into blind slaves, like those of the other clans. He was saving her when he was sending her off to Summerset, and she had to use everything he taught her to make him proud.

1e700 has left Anarnyrel untouched, most likely thanks to her mostly Falmeri blood, and she has seen way too many historic events since. As time passed, some of her body had deteriorated and was replaced by far more reliable mechanical parts, while the rest was sustained on a variety of magical means. She had grown in power over the years as well, but had spent most of her life in her own tower, which she built with a mix of Dwemeri and Falmeri architecture, studying different metaphysical concepts. She was most interested in some myths and legends of different cultures and how true or false they were. Numerous experiments, as well as field trips to measure magicka levels in the places of legends were successful, much more were proven false, but she never published her results - her grandfather had spread the knowledge among the masses and it was one of the causes of his death, and Anarnyrel wasn't going to be so reckless.

But if she ever was to die, she had a failsafe to publish all of her research in as wide of a print as possible, releasing potentially devastating revelations. Good thing it was that she wasn't planning on dying any time soon, and still had much more research to be done.

#sharf tes extravaganza #oc: anarnyrel emeratu #falmer #snow elf #dwemer #eso #the elder scrolls #eso oc #tes oc #idk what other tags to put here lmao

19 notes · View notes

minzart · 4 months

Text

Paperinik Week 1!

Hello! I'm new to pkna but I found this séries back in may and am curently on insue #18! Só naturaly I'm visiting their tag to see who else new and old fans are and lo and behold there's a duck reading club who is currently doing a week by week assignment! Started by @duckblr-book-club

I hope I can conclude this series with their time limit and hey, why not participate and share what I thought!

So here it is! Some screenshots and a brief explanation to the followers who read this and have no idea what Paperinik New Adventures is!

Disclaimer: I started reading these comics in Portuguese and then didn't find inssue 7 and jumped to English

Vol 1 / #0 EVRONIANS

The first inssue! Yayyy! And I love how Donald is introduced as already being the duck avenger/Paperiniki for some time! Bc it's true! He already had adventures before this!

When I read this the first time my only interaction with the concept of duck avenger was his apparition in the "Race world" series(wich was done years after this one)! Were he was manifested into existence as Donald's race partner and as his courage taken form, I have read that was a very poor take on the character and at the time I didn't knew HOW TRUE IT WAS. Paperiniki is so much more than just Donald's daring side or wtv. IT IS HIM IN ALL HIS SASS AND GLORY

He is a VIGILANTE! Not a hero! A VIGILANTE AND I LOVE HOW HIS ALLIES AND FOES ACTUALY REFLECT THE ACTUAL MEANING OF THIS!

Anyway I LOVE UNO(um/one) I LOVE HIM, AN ARTIFICIAL INTELICE CREATED BY AN ALMOST MAD GENIUS WHO COULDN'T STOP CREATING THINGS! bad AND GOOD! the guy had a compulsion disorder. And Uno, for me reflects that SO WELL, HE IS SUCH A LITTLE SHIT, he is a godamned STALKER BUILDING, the guy KNOWS your address, your size, your name and your family and is STARVING FOR A FRIENDSHIP BC JUST LOOK AT DONALD! Uno jumped at the chance to be useful and DO SO MUCH SHIT AND HE IS SASSY! he and Donald have such a good banter bc they are on the same LEVEL OF SNARKBESS

The evronians suck your emotions and what a good contrast to our full of passion Donald Duck the Duck Avenger!

such a good way to start and introduce the concepts of aliens and vigilantes! And I love how to have the aliens they upgraded Paperinikis' gadgets by introducing Uno and the whole concept of Mr.Ducklair

Also I love the little goodbye to Giro at the end, and remember, I have not read any of his adventures prior to this series, and I get it! Giro was his gadgets partner before this all started! And I found it cute how he didn't wanted to say goodbye or even how to start! It felt, for me, a way the writers communicate with the older fans? I have no idea if it worked or if it was scandalous but starting the series telling new people that hey, he already exists before and had other adventures and allies! But now we are introducing new ones! So don't panic! Maybe we will even sneak a reference or two :)

Vol 2 / #0/2 THE WINDS OF TIME

Aliens who suck your emotions and want to conquer the galaxy is too weak a plot for you?fear not FOR WE HAVE TIME TRAVEL :D

And better yet, CRONOPIRATES-I mean CronoThieves! RAIDER MY BELOVED I LOVE HIM. HE IS SUCK A GOOD ANTAGONIST he is clever, he is brutal, he introduced the concept of TimePolice and Time Travel and a whole new deck of institutions to the world just by EXISTING, AND THAT PART OF THE SCREENSHOT MADE ME WOW, in theory you would have figured out by now he was a time traveler, but that scene, that over there is the CINEMATIC REVELATION, the part were if you didn't figure out by now he is time traveling and THAT IS SUCH A COOL POWER.

Even Donald and Uno admit that it would be a hard challenge! AND IT WAS! IF IT WEREN'T BY LYLA AND A GODDAMEND TIME TORNADO WHAT THE HELL XD, but yeah to best him paperiniki had to use LUCK and little but of planing!

And introducing the concepts of Droids! The future has Droids and Lyla is one of them!

Vol 3 / #0/3 XADHOOM!

Xadhoom! Our third entry of allies(for now, Raider i can smell the ally by circumstances from here)! She is the last survivor of her race that was killed... :) , by the evronians, and it was all her fault, her too trusty nature and also her eagerness to complete her cientific experiment first and safety later led her people to slaughter

She now has sweared vengeance and is fighting alone in space against the killers of her people and colonizers of her planet, she is full of angst, rage and is burning herself(practically literaly) to fulfill her revenge or/and die trying

As you can see, she is such an 80's edgy superhero and I love it for her you go queen! Kill yourself trying to achieve an impossible goal! However she is in a paperiniki comic and BOY, this lovable dumbass won't even notice he was about the be blow up in a suicidal attempt made by her to destroy an evronian base that was on earth, wich would blow up our whole planet too, but Uno and him got an alternative and that enough created a bond and a sweet talk between them wich convinced her to not blow up for her cause! And he didn't even noticed she is practically an atomic bomb with legs :)

Cute, funny bc paperiniki is a lovable idiot and she is an edify cientist with blood in her eyes :D

Vol 4 / #1 SHADOWS OF VENUS

The inssue were I could imagine this being a season finale! We introduced and expanded on the evronians' generals! Supreme Zondag could absolutely be a tumblr sexy man if we got a series from this comic and you can't tell me otherwise! It's the full black regale that you can absolutely imagine as latex, anyways meet also the chef of their cientific department, official Zoster, I can hear the maniacal doctor laugh from here and don't test me my track record of favorite antagonist has at least 4 mad cientist in it

Also can you imagine how much of a prick you must be for an alien race target you for your negativety being THAT BIG?! Honestly Angus has to be removed from the equation he's just too full of negative emotions, then again Xadhoom sacrificing herself only to do a FUCK YOU I CAST FIRE BALL(explodes the ship WITH THE GENERALS IN IT) IS A BIG PP MOVE GIRL

Vol 5 / #2 TWO

Listen. LISTEN. UNO ALREADY HAS SUCH A VILLAIN POTENTIAL, all of his planing and manipulation, his gadgets and backstory are PRIME VILLAIN FOR ME OK, he is a Grey character in my heart and Duo just proves my point, I LOVE HIM ALSO, this. THESE SETS OF PANELS WERE SO COOL, THE REVEAL, THE DRAMA, THE SETTING! He isn't a virus! he is basically a twin, another face of Uno and I love it! He was already there right from.the beggining. He just got TIRED OF BEING IN THE BACKSTAGE ALL THE TIME AND NOW HE IS PISSED!

Also YAYYY Everett Ducklair appears! He is alive and well, seeking spiritual guidance and becoming a monk, but also coming back bc he is not stupid, he installed a device that will inform him when things go wrong with Uno, would you look at that the guy jumped off ship responsibly! He is also SO TINNY(wich is a contrast i find extremely amusing knowing that Uno prefers the opposed spectrum if givem a body)

Vol 6 / #3 DAY OF THE COLD SUN

AND IF THINGS COULDN'T GET MORE EPIC, THE TEAM UP WITH RAIDER IS HERE BABYYYY YAHOOOOOO

I LOVE how the time police is a bitch! I love how Paperiniki will go against authorities if ir means saving people! I love how he teams up with the Raider and how the Raider only offers this information AS A TRADE!

The time police would let so much people die to maintain the future status quo! And Donald is having NOONE OF IT, he will save the day, he will save the city, future be DAMNED! his family and friends are in duckburg!

He will save the day and get the villain, he is also in the watch list but hey Uno does this all the time, no prob

Vol 7 / #4 EARTHQUAKE

And now the last inssue of this weak we learn a bit more about Angus Fangus! He came from humble begginings! That is his mom and she is a badass old lady and leader who has more neurons and deserves better, I hope I see her again the the future!

And also Faraday! Still waiting to see if she gets more involved in the story bc for now this is the only time I see her.

This is also the inssue were the military get involved! Another organization to keep track off!

Last thoughts

Go read Paperinik New Adventures! It's fun! It's funny, has lovable characters, and the 80's/90's poor taste gags that can still be found here are are really quick to glance over.

I haven't even talked about other characters who are still really crucial and INTERESTING (camera 9 my beloved), this whole series is so well thought out too! Each little piece of lore introduced in the beggining will be expanded in the future!

The art is so colorful AND THERE ARE DETAIK THE INDIVIDUAL PANELS THAT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER. Lyla calling out Uno earsdroping in her conversation with Paperinik literaly made me back Track to see if they did show us AND THEY DID, UNO WAS HIDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT AND I ONLY GOT TO NOTICE HIM AFTER SHE POINTED OUT!

#paperinik #pkna #i'm an actual dumbass and read the week wrong fuck. welp.

15 notes · View notes