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ohfugecannada · 3 years

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Oddworld: Role Switch au

So a couple of weeks(?) ago, @oddest-worlds posted an idea for an au where mudokons were an evil cultist species-supremacist power because of the mudokon moon incident and the glukkons were the enslaved natives. I really wanted to pitch in ideas/headcanons, but was busy with coursework at the time.

Fortunately, I just finished my project and now have more free time so I got to writing some stuff.... a lot of stuff... mainly just some points on the main trio of eusocial races (Mudokons, Glukkons and Sligs) and their role in the AU. So strap in!

(Fyi if you have/had other ideas that contradict the headcanons bellow, feel free to ignore those. Or pitch in some of your own ideas, I’d love to hear them!)

Glukkons

Were once a spiritually oriented race who practiced black magic, occultism and alchemy and were allies of the Mudokons thousands of years ago

When the mudokons declared themselves as the supreme race because of the mudokon moon, they were, understandably, upset and concerned

Fearing their once allies were drifting further away into cultist, species-supremacist behaviour, the glukkons set out to disprove the mudokons declaration of supremacy though their alchemical arts and unify their species once more

It’s said that some glukkon alchemists were successful in finding the answers they seeked out, but what those answers were have long since been lost to time

Now becoming more industrialised and realising the glukkons were a possible threat due to their alchemical powers, the mudokons orchestrated a war against them, nearly wiping the glukkons out in the process before thier surrender

After the war, disillusioned, outnumbered and on the brink of extinction, the glukkons began working for the mudokons, who belittled, oppressed and eventually enslaved them

Now most glukkons are born into subservience to the Mudokons, oblivious to their spiritual past, true history and culture

Still native glukkon tribes out in the wild in hiding from the mudokon empire

I mentioned this before, but I personally imagined the glukkons of this timeline walking on thier legs, which are still somewhat short, and retained thier long arms. Basically, they have the same body type to gibbons and similar long armed apes

Because they walk with their legs and not on their arms, most glukkons stand at almost half their canon height, roughly around 4 or 5 feet tall or so

In industrial captivity, most glukkons tend to have a grey or pale skintone like the glukkons we see in soulstorm

Native Glukkons born outside of captivity are much more diverse in skin colour, with their base colours ranging from brown to purple, red, pink or green etc

Along with This, they have the ability to change their skin colour like octopuses (which makes sense given their closest relatives evolutionarily are the oktigi and other octopus/cephalopod-like creatures)

Notably, they flash different colours across their face and skin when feeling strong emotions like sadness, anger, excitement etc. Similar to the mudokons in Abe’s Exoddus

Glukkons from certain tribes also have bioluminescent markings and patterns on their skin that are visible in the dark. Though, this trait is not as common

Using this colour changing ability, some glukkons are able to copy the colours and even textures of their environment and become one with the scenery. Essentially making themselves invisible. Of corse, this particular aspect of colour changing usually doesn’t come as naturally or involuntary to glukkons as the emotional-based changes. In most cases it takes years of training to master the art of invisibility

Much like the Mudokons in canon, industrial-born Glukks are born into captivity from a mother queen and their eggs are shipped off to be sold into slavery

Baby or young slave glukkons are raised alongside their siblings and cousins over a mudokon master and are usually kept together as something akin to a demented orphanage where youngling glukks are sent to work as soon as they can pick up a rag and bucket

@oddest-worlds, You described the mudokons as being cult like. I personally imagined this would ya know aside from the moon worshiping mudokon supremacy stuff manifest itself most in the way they control thier glukkon slaves

Glukkons in slavery, much like people born into cults, are indoctrinated at a young age to believe their mudokon masters are perfect, all knowing and benevolent beings, that the outside world beyond the factories is a savage, unforgiving wasteland where outsiders will try to lead them astray, and that they are better off and safer dedicating their lives to loyaly serving the mudokons

Glukks who challenge these beliefs, defy their mudokon masters or try and escape to the outside are often severely punished. Either from being removed from their glukkon group, being held in a cell for hours or days where they are interrogated and for their “crimes” or getting severe beatings.

Native free glukkons have a similar tribal society structure as the native mudokons in canon, with each tribe having their own distinctive culture

As said before, they practice the occult, black magic and, most prominently among different glukkon tribes, alchemy

As well as living in tune with nature, Glukkon alchemists often practice the art of transmutation, turning one type material or substance into another, and joining certain substances and/or materials together. Which they do in order to better understand the natural world around them

Nowadays, though, native glukkon civilisation is far from what it once was millennia ago

Thanks to the mudokons and other industrial societies either enslaving or killing off their numbers as well as building over their sacred lands, most native glukkon’s main priority is to hide away from the rest of society and to protect what little of their culture and traditions still remain

From my research I learned the practice of alchemy (or at least the traditional western version of it) could be traced back to Egypt and Thoth, the god of arts and sciences, so I thought it would make sense if at least some individual native glukkon tribes culture and overall aesthetic would be loosely based on the ancient Egyptians as a callback to this, with some small echos of the architecture we see with the glukkon aesthetics of the canon timeline plus the more native looking early concept art of glukkons

Also while researching alchemy I noticed one key aspect of it involved change and transmutation, I.e. turning base metals like lead into noble metals like gold. I thought about how this could also connect to their colour changing. Maybe some native glukkons believe the colour changing to be a glukkons most primal form of transmutation. And view the ability to blend in with the environment as a way of being one with nature, both in the figurative and literal sense. Or something else along those lines

In industrial propaganda, native glukkons are painted as savage barbarians and alchemists as swindlers and charlatans that lead gullable slave glukkons astray, filling their heads with doubt, or with the promise of bestowing riches and immortality for a price

Enslaved glukkon’s clothes tend to consist of whatever textiles they can get their hands on in the factories and what little the strict dress code implemented by their mudokon masters will allow

The main item of clothing worn by most glukk scrubs is a shoddily cobbled together shirt and overalls. Sorta like an even shabbier version of the basic glukkon pud uniform in munchs oddysee

Like many things, native or liberated glukkons tend to have a lot more freedom when it comes to what they wear

The more traditional fashions often worn by glukkon alchemists include long, loose fitting robes, sometimes with these thick ribbed shoulder pads. Pretty much the same as outfit worn by glukkons in the very early concept art back when they were still called “Oldger” or “Ociti”

Mudokons

A once spiritual race that possessed psychic powers and were allies to the Glukkons thousands of years ago

When the shape of a Mudokon pawprint appeared on one of Oddworld’s moons, some mudokons took this as a sign from the gods that they were the chosen race

Blinded by their self imposed delusions of grandeur, the first believers of the mudokon moon sign set out to prove the mudokon race’s superiority over all other races of Oddworld

The moon believers did this by recruiting more mudokon members into their tribe, slowly converting the many tribes into one unified empire, increased consumption of the planets resources and began to isolate themselves from the rest of Oddworld

Building massive towers that reached the skies, they began to spend most of thier time indoors, only looking up at the night sky to see thier sacred moon, the symbolic reminder of thier divinity over Oddworld

Gradually abandoned thier spiritual ways in favour of a more industrialised way of life. Only a few powerful figures within the Mudokon empire still use their psychic abilities such as possession

Growing more paranoid that their Glukkon allies and thier powers of alchemy would prove to be a threat to their rising power, the mudokons orchestrated a war against the glukkon tribes, nearly wiping them out in the process

After the war, the mudokon empire gave the queens of the last remaining glukkon tribes an ultimatum: give away thier children to the empire where they would be “employed”, “sheltered” and “safe”, or let them be born into a “primitive” tribal wasteland at the brink of extinction

The mudokons were able to enslave their once Glukkon allies and quickly rose to become the most powerful, and power hungry, civilisation in all of Oddworld

In terms of architecture and aesthetic, I figured many of those motifs from their spiritual/tribal past would subtly carry over to their current society, I’ll be it more metallic and industrialised. Like larger, dystopian dieselpunk versions of the huts, buildings and structures we see in Monsaic Lines and other native mudokon locations

The buildings they live and work in are also incredibly tall, with some structures in their urban cities reaching above the clouds (basically the opposite of the canon glukkons subterranean cities)

The Mudokons are the main industrial society with a stronghold over the planet

Having essentially brainwashed both thier mudokon citizens and glukkon slaves, the mudokon empire is singularly concerned with proving their dominion over the planet oddworld. with no reguard for the native creatures and cultures that inhabit it

Mudokon society is extremely dedicated to the idea they are the best civilisation in all of Oddworld

As far as they’re concerned, their empire is the supreme civilisation, unparalleled in architecture, politics, philosophy, military and art

And they are dead set on proving thier superiority to the other races of Oddworld, no matter the cost

Any historical records that makes mudokons civilisation and society look bad or less then perfect are either deeply hidden away or destroyed. Through this constant revisionism as erasure, their true history has been long forgotten

Only consistent part of their history is the mudokon moon, which they hold as a sacred symbol and a reminder of their power as the “chosen race”

Now, the sight of the mudokon moon is rare for any industrial borns due to the sky being covered by air pollution from the mudokons buildings and factories

Young mudokons are born as eggs by their respective queen and sent to be raised by a foster mudokon worker and, if they’re rich or well off, their many glukkon slaves

As I said before in the glukkon bit, the way glukkons are taught how to view the world is very similar to real life cult indoctrination and brainwashing. Young mudokons get a similar treatment in terms of their education

At an early age, mudokons are taught by their elders that oddworld belongs to the strong such as them, that the other races that cannot compare to the mudokons, And that all mudokons which as them are perfect and destined for greatness. (Provided they work hard and follow the rules of the empire...)

For a mudokon, lacking this sense of superiority over other races and drive to prove themselves as exceptional is frowned upon in thier society, and such mudokons are often either outcasted or placed in the lower ranking job roles

Like the glukkon workers in canon, adult mudokon workers are often employed as powerful bosses and rulers in the mudokon industries of food production, science, politics and/or religion to name a few

While some individual mudokon masters value mollah and material gain over other things, mudokon society as a whole isn’t quite as obsessed with mollah the same way glukkon society in canon is. They do hold monetary wealth and riches in high regard, of corse, but mostly as one of many status symbols to prove their superiority over others

Due to their belief of being the superior race, some mudokons are known to be extremely arrogant and self centred, to the point they’re often compeating with one another over who is the better mud

In terms of physical appearance, I imagine mudokons having a lot more angular features, like more talon like claws on their hands/feet to evoke a bird of prey

While mudokons are still omnivores, teeth such as their canids are more pronounced due to consuming more meat products such as scrab, Meech, slig and elum meats

I also feel like the slight uncanny-valley elements the mudokons already have should be subtly accentuated in the switch designs for creep factor and everything

unlike muds of canon, muds of the switch au tend to be on the lean, average and/or slightly cubby side rather then underweight and slightly bony in terms of their weight. Mostly down to having relatively better diet and quality of life, at least compared to their canon counterparts.

Mudokons also have way more feathers on their heads! Though, due to the airborne pollution of their industrial lifestyle, feather growth is mainly restricted to their head and face

don’t tend to grow as many feathers on other parts of their bodies like arms, legs etc

On top of this, as mudokons tend to live in colossal tower-like structures, they’ve evolved adaptations to life in higher attitudes such as naturally taking shorter breaths.

One popular form of dress for most moderate or high ranking mudokons consists of a shirt garment with a v-shaped neck (kinda like a Dashiki) a medium length skirt and long ornate robes or feathered cloak. Think more fancy versions of the native clothes worn by the mud shamins in canon.

How intricate, layered, extravagant and/or customised etc these clothes are depends on how high the individual mud wearing them is on the power/wealth hierarchy. Kinda like the wealth hierarchy with canon glukkons. Most lower class muds tend to look closer to the muds we see in canon with a short loincloth-like skirt and simple vest.

While the majority of mudokon society tends to be more industrialised, there are certain elite and powerful groups within the mudokon empire that still practice their spiritual psychic powers

One example of such a group is an elite task force of mudokon agents specifically trained to hone their psychokinetic abilities.

Fed on an exclusive diet of mind altering spooce shrubs, they are granted powerful and dangerous abilities (provided they don’t die from spooce overdose first). Such as the power to possess the minds and bodies of other beings

They are employed as black ops-like operatives by the mudokon empire to manipulate the affairs of other Oddworld nations and races behind the scenes with their powers of possession, as assassins to take out highly dangerous targets from afar with death via red ring explosion or possession induced head explosion, or as bodyguards to protect highly powerful and elite clients, usually mudokon queens. Essentially taking on a similar role to the Glocktigi in canon

Sligs

Race of amphibious/semi-aquatic swamp dwellers

Society not as complex or “advanced” as others like the glukkons or mudokons, technology wise

Somewhat nomadic as they tend to move around from place to place in colonies, though their preferd environments are wetlands, marshes, swamps, lakes and bogs

Were never enslaved by Glukkons, Mudokons or any other societies of mudos for that matter. probably since Sligs are seen as useless and impractical for such tasks anyway. I mean, what kind of peanut-headed chumps would have a legless species who can’t use their hands do their dirty work for them?! lol!

While functional on land, they’re a bit more adapted for life in water, with webbed hands and seal-like tails for swimming as well as gills in their mouths for breathing underwater

Walk with their hands when on land (similar to pantsless sligs in canon but slightly less awkward)

Use the highly dexterous tentacles on their faces to pick up objects and use tools while they walk or swim

Covering themselves up with dirt, moss, mud etc is a big part of their culture. Not because they think they’re ugly like the Sligs in canon, but because it provides good camouflage from larger creatures and predators wanting to eat them

If a Slig is spotted or about to be caught by anything that would want them as food, they can use their arms to leap away from their attacker

In terms of actual clothing, they don’t wear much aside from a covering that wraps around the middle section between their abdomen and their tail mostly so their butts don’t get cold when they go up on land. These coverings are usually either made of soft reeds weaved together, a leaf held together by a stick going through both ends or whatever they can get their tentacles on in thier surrounding environment

Even without fancy covering or camo, Sligs are pretty diverse when it comes to their appearance

Depending on the environment, their skin tone can range from light green to yellow, dark green, blueish-green, teal, brown or black to name a few

Some Sligs also have tiger like stripes similar to the ones on big bro Sligs in canon

And, of corse, there’s albino Sligs. How they’re treated tends to vary form colony to colony

Some outcast or even kill albinos, fearing their bright colour could attract predators

Other colonies are a lot more accepting of albinos, though they tend to be more protective of them due to, again, being more easy targets for predators

Most albino Sligs either take extra care to cover themselves with as camouflage as possible to hide their bright skin, or stay under the water for most of their lives, rarely ever venturing up to the surface world

Queens are also never seen on dry land, as their birthing process is significantly less painful underwater

While none of the queens in this timeline are as cripplingly obese as queens like Skillya in the canon timeline, most healthy queens are still rather large. Sorta like the size/weight of an average male elephant seal, or a salt water crocodile

Also, while some queens can still be jerkasses, they don’t usually eat their own young, as they don’t hold as much resentment towards them due to the less painful birthing process. Plus, their many drones usually bring them smaller fish and swamp dwelling creatures to keep them well fed

Baby sligs (or sliglets, as I like to call them) are born underwater and later take their first peek up to the surface after a couple of weeks

Raised by either one of their drone fathers or their many older siblings

baby Sligs are also born able to swim and walk on instinct, sort of like lizards. They only need to stick with their guardians for protection and to learn valuable life lessons from them like camouflage, avoiding predators, looking both ways before they cross the rivers etc

According to ex-Just Add Water employee Will on the Oddworld forums, Lorne Lanning originally envisioned Sligs having pig like fur, but this was cut from Oddysee due to technical limitations at the time. I headcanon that native Sligs had fur in the canon timeline but lost this trait due to their industrial lifestyle, similar to mudokon’s feathers. Hence in this timeline, some native Slig colonies do have fur.

usually more common, much thicker and more prominent on Sligs from colder climates as it helps them stay warm

The fur is also good for collecting dirt and growing moss and algae on, adding to the Sligs camouflage

I also have this headcanon that the noises sligs make for the BS and S’Mo BS commands in Oddysee and Exoddus gamespeak are remnants of their old language before they were enslaved by glukkons in canon. This is how Sligs communicate to each-other in this timeline: through a series of frog-like ribbit and croak vocalisations.

They do have the ability to speak language in the same way Mudokons and Glukkons do, I’ll be it in a limited capacity since they’re somewhat cut off from these language speaking societies and not used to talking in words. Think of it how, in canon, Gabbits like Munch can speak language with characters like Abe but can also call to other Gabbits through a dolphin-like “song”

Though they were never slaves, that doesn’t mean industrial societies like the Mudokon empire haven’t caused trouble for them

On top of occasionally hunting them to make high protein meat products and for sport, the Mudokon empire has also put their glukkon workers to use digging up Sligs swamplands for iron ore, as water that carried flakes of iron accumulated and settled in those swamps. As well as gathering peat from mires for fuel

These practices have been encroaching on the Sligs natural habitats. driving them out and disrupting their usual migration patterns

In a lot of cases, Mudokons purposefully try to drive off or exterminate Slig colonies. Viewing them as useless, dirty pests getting in the way of the precious resources that, much like everything else on Oddworld, the mudokons feel a sense of entitlement to

Alright, that all the points I got down for the big three. I do have some ideas for the other races like vykkers, steef, oktigi, meeches etc but for now, I’ll just leave it here. Again, please let me know what you think of all this and feel free to make contributions.

@southern-forests

#oddworld #au #aus #mudokons #glukkons #sligs #oddswitch #oddswitch au #role switch au #I had the most fun writing about swamp sligs

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elliepassmore · 4 years

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After Anthology Review

4/5 stars Recommended for people who like: anthologies, dystopia, apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, survival stories, end of the world The Segment 5/5 stars It’s been a while since I’ve read this entire anthology through, normally I just pick out the stories I like and read those, so I’d forgotten this story was in the book and I’d actually given up on ever finding where I’d read it. I love this one. It gives a nice twist to what media might look like in the future, and though it was written in 2012, it certainly gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘fake news.’ The story has a post-apocalyptic dusty vibe to it, where it’s rough and tumble, but no one is exactly miserable, and the characters definitely have the ‘fend for yourself’ that’s typical for the genre. Something I think is unique is that society hasn’t collapsed and it’s not pretending to be a dystopic utopia, it’s just society and this is merely how it’s turned out. It’s definitely one of my favorites in the anthology and the twist(s) at the end are fantastic and hard to see coming. After the Cure 5/5 stars This is another one of my favorites and is actually the story that I usually skip to first. I thought for years that this was a zombie story, but this reread I noticed that the protagonist suggests they’re vampires…but they still seem to be zombies, so we’re going with zombies. I don’t like zombies. Ever. I avoid all books, movies, and TV shows about them, but this short story is so bloody fantastic (and the zombie part actually minor enough) that it’s one that I reread about once a year. The story follows a cured zombie-vampire-whatever and the weird sociolegal space she finds herself in after being rehabilitated. Thought short the story explores who the monsters really are as well as whether being cured is always something to be desired. The former is something that you see a lot, but I don’t see a ton of the latter and I enjoy how Ryan looks at the sense of community that comes with being a zombie-vampire-whatever and how that community (as well as the hunger) lingers and is something the cured still feel and desire. Valedictorian 4/5 stars I always find this story a bit confusing, though I think I’ve read it enough now that it makes some sense. It’s set about a century after humanity’s war with androids and now the bottom 10% of high schoolers and the top 1% are taken outside of the Firewall (which isn’t explained, but I’m assuming it’s a virtual, code-based electric fence). I’m not sure how I feel about the story itself, but I do like the main character, Zinhle, who strives for excellence even knowing the consequences and allows herself to be angry. The story is a bit of a ‘tired of smalltown’ story, but sci-fi and more like a slice-of-life than Chris Pine’s version of Captain Kirk, who proceeds to go on and have adventures. Zinhle feels more real. Visiting Nelson 3/5 stars This one’s set in a post-apocalyptic London after flooding has turned it into a wasteland. It’s written dialectally, which is interesting and adds a nice element to the story, but even though I felt connected to the world, I wasn’t drawn to the characters or even the plot, really. I liked the idea of the characters going to see this person/thing they called Nelson (who is Nelson from “Kiss me Hardy!” and the Battle of Trafalgar, not Nelson Mandela). The bits where Charlie, the narrator, talks about the floods and the way London has changed are also interesting, but the main part, about Morris and nirv and the Hairies were not all that interesting to me, though Langrish did a decent job worldbuilding. All I know of Freedom 4/5 stars TW sexual assault This story starts one way and then does a switchback and begins going another way. In the beginning, it seems like the story will be about a future where society’s regressed and gone back to the whole ‘rich kidnap/buy foreign kids for labor’ sort of thing, but then it ends up being a cult story. The slave part of the story is brief and reminds me a bit of The Little Princess, but the interesting bits come later on, when it turns into a cult story. The narrator is about 12- or 13-years old and stumbles across the cult on accident, though she quickly becomes an insider. I liked seeing the different perspective a kid has of a cult than what an adult would have and the manner in which the narrator makes her decision about going to Proxima Centauri with the cult or staying on earth. The Other Elder 4/5 stars I will say, I really really liked Revis’ Across the Universe series when I first read it, but I tried rereading it again recently and just found the whole thing too creepy for my liking. This short story is a prequel to those, and like most prequels, you needn’t’ve read the originals to understand this one. Weirdly enough, I actually find this story less creepy than the original trilogy, even though it deals more with the nitty gritty of mind control and the ‘need’ to have everyone conform. I think my favorite part of this short is how well Revis shows that the things we adamantly believe in as a kid don’t hold true as an adult, and how sometimes our adult selves would disappoint and anger our younger selves. I will say though, I would’ve liked a scene in the middle where it becomes clear why Elder changed his mind—I mean, I can guess and I’m sure there’s a decent chance I’m right, but sometimes I like direct answers. The Great Game at the End of the World 3/5 stars This is another confusing one. I think something similar to the rapture occurred, though it also involved the semi-destruction of the world into a bunch of fragmented floating pieces. I liked the Before/Now switching of the scenes, which served to help explain some of the other creatures/characters in the story, but also to give background on the narrator and his sister as well as the world before. I can’t really pinpoint why I’m not a fan of this one, because the setting and other creatures/characters are interesting and pretty unique, but I just don’t vibe with this story. Reunion 5/5 stars I like this one, though I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is I like so much about it. It seems to take place almost immediately after the overthrow of a dictator, with an older sister and a mother looking for their missing little sister/daughter. The story is largely told through dialogue, with Mama or Isabella explaining to the young ‘Maria’ what the truth of her family is, how she got taken, how they tried to find her, and so on. While it’s clearly a form of telling exposition rather than showing it, the dialogue is full of enough imagery that I have no trouble picturing what’s occurring and it doesn’t feel like I’m being ‘told’ anything. Isabella in particular intrigues me. She’s rather rough and tumble, having worked with/for the partisans to overthrow the government and I wish there was a longer story exploring Isabella and her life, either before or after the government overthrow. Blood Drive 5/5 stars TW shootings This story is a sort of ‘what if safety laws were repealed in the US’ sort of thing, where labor laws stopped being a thing, church is mandatory (and I’m guessing Christian), and everyone carries a gun. I’ll be frank, after the Parkland shooting when people were talking about having teachers carry, this was the story I thought of. This story is in part about the guns, but it’s also about living normal life under extremism. The way the story is written, you’re following a normal citizen who goes to high school and has a girlfriend and tries to figure out what she’s going to do after high school. I think I like the story so much because it’s somewhat of an unusual storyline—most stories that take place in extremist countries have the protagonist as a rebel—and it has a soft ending. Reality Girl 4/5 stars TW f-slur This is another story that has to do with media, but with a lesser focus on it than the first story had. In this one, something’s happened in the US that’s triggered its collapse and left the streets and waterways unsafe and UN Peacekeepers maintaining ‘temporary’ patrols and charity tents in the country. I like the concept of a truly destroyed US that wasn’t destroyed by infighting or even by war. Pure water is precious and the price for making the money to have access to it is exposing yourself to radiation and biohazards, meaning the risks of life after the end are never far away. I love the dystopian/apocalyptic genre and there are a lot of good writers in it that make the worlds real, but it’s hard to make the threats and consequences in them seem real sometimes, but I feel Bowes does a good job of that in this. There is a weird moment at the end, though, that definitely feels like a ‘and everyone clapped’ moment, which I wasn’t fond of. How Th’irth Wint Rong By Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.guv 3/5 stars Yeah…not a fan of this one. It’s written like it was written by someone who is largely illiterate, which is fine. It adds some authenticity to the piece and it actually isn’t hard to understand what’s being said. On the surface at least. I just don’t understand what the story is about. Or why. This kid is writing an essay about how the world ended for some contest and the contest is a scam, but there’s zero reason for me to care about this kid or this world and it’s really just something to read to get to the next story. Rust with Wings 4/5 stars I remember this story fairly well, though I think this is the first time I’ve reread it in several years and I’ll admit that it ends differently than I remembered it. In this one, some bugs have taken over Arizona and New Mexico and these bugs eat metal and are attracted to things that send out electromagnetic waves. I believe this is a prequel to another series by the author, but don’t quote me on that. I really enjoyed this one and the ingenuity the characters showed getting away from the bugs. Faint Heart 3.5/5 stars This one felt more like a novella than a short story, with a decent amount of background for each character and multiple POVs. It feels a bit more like a fantasy novella than a post-apocalyptic/dystopian one, but it’s still well-written and the world is vibrant. As lovely as the background and world-building is, the characters fall somewhat flat, I find. I don’t care at all about Tor, so I mostly tried to just speed through his POV. Yvain was interesting, but I would’ve liked it better if there’d been more of him back when Persie was alive, as his later self is just kind of a dick. Roz was actually interesting and I liked her character, she’s a bit of a trope, but at least she had vibrancy and personality to her where the others didn’t. If it had just been her, and the story continued through the trials, I’d’ve been more interested, I think. Also, a story about Miri and Dareus would be interesting, they were also deserving of more page time. The Easthound 4.5/5 stars Like most of these, I like the concept of this one. It’s a twist on the ‘lycanthropy virus’ where the virus sets in when people hit puberty, but not before (and if you’re already an adult then you get infected). I even like the characters in this one, each of them seemed to be pretty well fleshed out and even if they act silly in the beginning it doesn’t feel out of place. I love the twist at the end too and the fact there’s so many hints before that, but you still don’t see it coming until you’re there. My only real complaint is that I wish the story was longer. Gray 2/5 stars This one was a poem. Which is fine, I like poetry, but it isn’t even a very good poem and it certainly doesn’t fit with the rest of the theme of the anthology. Before 5/5 stars This is another one that takes the past and twists it a little to make it the future. In this one, a little Indigenous girl has been stolen from her parents by invaders who experiment on her in an attempt to find the cure for a manufactured disease. I really liked the focus on naming and storytelling in this one. The storytelling not only tells us something about the narrator, but it also serves to show aspects of the narrator’s culture, and the naming aspect has a poignancy to it that I rather enjoy. Fake Plastic Trees 3/5 stars I don’t dislike this one, but I also don’t like it either. It’s set after a breach at an MIT lab lets loose nanobots that turn about 70% of the world to PVC. For some reason, it took the arm/National Guard seven years to find any other survivors. When you have places like Montreal and San Francisco surviving, the fact that the surviving portion of Jacksonville doesn’t know about the rest of the world and its new technology feels somewhat like a plot hole. Also, I wasn’t a fan of the narrator. But the narration style is interesting, it goes right along with that ‘purposefully narrating’ and unreliable narrator stuff I like so much in other stories. You Won’t Feel a Thing 4/5 stars This is a prequel (companion prequel?) to Nix’s series Shade’s Children. I think the concept is interesting, with people 15+ disappearing one day and some alien/monster things coming and mutating kids. It even has the pocket of resistance/survivors thing I like in other survival stories. There was plenty background information so nothing about the world was confusing, but I’m still left feeling like the story was about that damn toothache more than anything else and what I want to feel is the opposite, so I knocked a star off. The Marker 4/5 stars This is another pretty good one that I’ll come back and reread on its own sometimes. I like the dystopic!Roman feel of the story, with the people who ensure the health and continued growth of the population known as Paters. I also found the color and DNA system interesting as well, and while the DNA is explained, the color never is. The characters don’t interest me too much, but I like the mood and tone of it.

#book #book review #anthology #short story #lgbtq #characters of color #dystopia #dyslit #post apocalyptic

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leeoliver · 7 years

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5, 8, 14, 19, 39 iunia and/or ezra

(char dev)

5. how do they dress? what styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? why?

tbh itd be much more interesting to talk abt how iunia used to dress bcos now shes either wearing armor or her pharasma robes (which are like fancy funeral wear) she and wesviz were honestly like. fashion icons who wore an embarrassing amount of matching couples outfits. she really likes wearing like coral and salmon and peach bcos she feels like her skins too pale but those sort of warm pink and orangish tones bring color back into it. and shed do like dramatic bright makeup, especially eyes (lips were usually a solid tone bcos she and wesviz would match their lip colors to each others shirts) but stopped wearing makeup when she got pregnant bcos she remembered hearing like 10 years ago that wearing makeup when pregnant was bad for the kid. also her hair used to be really long like almost waist length and she cut it really short after wesviz died and kept it short while she was looking for cens and is only just now starting to grow it out again.

(human) ezras got like. a meticulous aesthetic going on that probs takes way more effort than they care to admit in the wasteland. they keep their clothes really really clean, though that starts to get hard after a while, and know enough basic sewing to mend any rips that occur moderately well. anyway its generally like cream/beige/brown/sometimes like yellow or like burnt orange turtlenecks and then prewar dress slacks and loafers. occasionally they wear like a white button down and like dark yellow sweater vest and bowtie, but thats for like special occasions. they definitely shine their shoes. as a ghoul the kind of start to let themself go, wearing this really big cloak w a hood so they can hide their face and stuff but it turns out that a six and a half ft tall figure of ambiguous species in a long menacing cloak and hood draws more attention than a six and a half ft tall ghoul in a tan prewar suit, so theyre doing better now.

8. where and when do they seem most and least at ease? why? how can you tell?

iunia knows a delivery table like the back of her hand. she can get like kind of intense when shes in the birthing zone, really barking orders but you definitely get the sense she knows what shes doing and is in total control of the situation. like shes super deep in her element. its pretty impressive. def uncomfortable in like wilderness or survival areas, prior to the events of coct shes never in her life been outside city limits. constantly looking around her and over her shoulder, holds her gear really tight if shes carrying any.

ezras really good in really pristine, regulated places like the vault. a lot of ppl would consider something that like regulated and controlled dystopian or monotonous but they fit really well into the machine. ezra as a person can get into fanatical territory really really quickly so like all hail the overseer and that sort of thing is something they really get into. so they of course like really have no idea how to act in a lot of more like rough and tumble sort of rugged wasteland towns. it was the first time theyd sort of been in a situation where a lethal fight or something breaking out was an actual possibility, and it scared them half to death.

14. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed?

mm iunias really conflicted here bcos she always feels like the temple and stuff should be her number one priority, that her past life is exactly that–in the past. but at the same time i feel like if theres a situation where she has to choose between her goddess and her son (and knowing how devious avery is, im fully expecting there will be) shed go with the latter. no matter what. in terms of more like general talk on faith and spirituality, shes definitely very devout and she can absolutely come off as like im blanking on the word like pushing OH proselytizing she can come off as proselytizing but i feel like so much of it is unconscious? like even if shes not actively trying to like convert someone her faith is such a huge part of her identity and it bleeds into a lot of how she interacts w the world.

lmao iunia and ezra just happen to be like my two most religious characters so good question. ezra is like unbearably classic lawful good they just really want to help people like definitely in terms of humanitarian aid but also smaller stuff like being really nice to people, making themself available as a shoulder to cry on, things like that. wrt religion ezras definitely very devout but they feel. super uncomfortable discussing faith w anyone other than their dad (and i havent finished fo3 but if theres another character whos very into like faith and stuff them too) so for them its more below the surface, esp compared w iunia

19. how do they behave within a group? what role(s) do they take? does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? why?

iunia is definitely really like cold professional, but the best way to work w her is to give her a job and then just dont interfere w however she does it. i dont think id consider her a leader, but shes good at like timetables and organization so its definitely helpful to have her in a position where she can keep everyone on track in some capacity. i think the only change were the group to go from strangers to friends is that shes a little more flexible and willing to get input from friends whereas if a stranger (who often times would be 15~ yrs younger than her) did anything to imply that she wasnt competent shed be like. like you shouldnt do that. iunias so many things but incompetent is so incredibly not one of them.

ezras definitely gonna work better in a small group where theres not a lot of variation in goals and morals (theyre pretty flexible on specific means and stuff of getting a job done, with some hard rules on violence and stuff) and a lot of the time w/o a definite leader. if there is a leader theyve gotta play into that like zealous god-worshipping side of ezra and be like larger than life if they want unwavering support.

39. what sort of questions or thoughts recur in their lives, either specifically or as a theme? why are these never answered, or answered permanently to their satisfaction?

iunia wants to know why everyone leaves her. and given that her ongoing story is yet to start, i cant quite answer the second part of that question.

ezra deals a lot i guess w sense of self and identity? they definitely struggle w navigating life w/o their dad, both when he leaves the vault and after he dies. they define them self a lot thru how other ppl view them, and their dad is pretty much like. idk if i want to use like medical terms but id call him their fp. and so w/o him to sort of reassure them and tell them who they are, they have no idea.

#lee answers #thankswolf.heartemoji #iunia pictor #ezra hong

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