#exodites

[feletida]

d dino

[moociao-after-dark]

Yet another hot take: Eldar don't have to look monstrous or extra animalistic to be alien and fucking terrifying.

They are around the same height as an Astartes, towering above baselines. They all possess lithe frames, with extra long limbs. Think race of Slendermen, except psychic and they have access to some crazy OP technology. Despite their proportions, they move with perfect grace. All humans have moments when they stumble, stutter, twitch, jerk. Not Eldar. They move with perfection that should only be achieved through unparalleled self-control and training. It would take a normal human implants and prosthetics to achieve this level of grace. Except for Eldar it comes... naturally. That's just how they move, achieving such perfection to them is as easy as breathing.

Combine all that with them looking human and now you see why a lot humans are afraid of Aeldari. They sit perfectly in the realm of Uncanny Valley. They look like us at first glance, but they are so clearly NOT. A human doesn't have limbs so long, a normal non-abhuman isn't as tall and strong as an Astartes (who themselves exude Uncanny Valley and Transhuman Dread effects) and even if there are abhumans like that they don't act like the Eldar do. They don't talk and think like Eldar. They don't move with the surgical precision and perfect grace like Eldar do naturally, from their birth.

THAT is terrifying. And I am talking about simple Eldar. Now apply all that to the fact they have warriors that can outrun a moving vehicle, clearing miles in the matter of seconds, crush necks with only one hand with such ease... No wonder humans are terrified of them.

Of course, if someone wants to draw Eldar with more monstrous features - that is very cool and please go ahead! Don't let my take hinder your creativity (in fact I have no problem with more monstrous Eldar, I love them). I'm just speaking in defense of canon, playing a Devil's Advocate if you will

[drukhariboypussy]

I've Never Seen Breaking Bad

[cobalt-owl]

So I finished the book Voidscarred by Mike Brooks recently and.. These guys are just as moronic as you might think just by reading their "reviews":

This book isn't the Infinite and the Divine but it is genuinely an entertaining one with good characters and a really nice, if bit predictable, plot.

The fact that there are characters that are gender neutral doesn't really effect anything other than maybe how I imagine them physically (but it's eldar so let's be honest, they're all tall androgynous twinks). That these people look at a book series about a post-scarcity, highly philosophical race of emotionally intuned space elves and think the fact that some might not be conforming to a bilateral philosophy of gender or get their bleeding hearts offended at there being a non-cis couple is idiotic and suggests they have the literary depth of a dried out slug. Also, to even compare this to the literary failures in Gav Thorpes books, even with my little exposure, ranging from actual poor writing to full on plot holes makes me believe these people never enjoyed a warhammer book thay wasn't space marines shooting down a hallway.

Anyway, though I'd like to continue on that rant, I feel I should give a decently proper, and strongly opinionated, review of this rather good Eldar book.

Tldr: The book is entertaining and I will be genuinely upset if it doesn't get a sequel. If the Infinite and the Divine is a 10/10 for 40k books then I'd put this at a 8, maybe a 7.5 for some of yall if world building isn't as important to you.

Vague Spoilers below

So the story is more or less an ex-craftworld Admiral who joins a pirate fleet while said fleet explores diverse areas of the Galaxy to find the best way to go about combating their rival, an Ork pirate fleet with hysterical characters.

So I should lead with this, I am newer to the franchise (only about five years in with a LOT of that being spent on tt gaming and reading Gotrek and Felix) and when it comes to Eldar, I have only read the Ynnari series. That all being said, this book hit almost every mark for what I wanted.

I appreciated the diversity in it a LOT, and no I don't mean the gender diversity. (Personally I don't care if it is or isn't in my book of fantasy space elves but it doesn't take from anything either). We see a great deal of interaction between cultures of the Craftworlders, Drukhari, Corsairs, and even the Exodites. If you want Aeldari, this book is for you. And, while it is a smaller section, they do go to a multi-raced trading outpost hosted by the Votann and one big thing I want to see more of is the more neutral races interacting without shooting on sight more often which this fulfills without losing the grimdark aspect. (I won't go into detail but let's just say they're not all holding hands and singing)

The plot is ultimately predictable with a slight twist I wasn't expecting (but I really should've expected it). The main appeal is not only the settings they travel to but the characters who are filled with personality (and other things, bow chicca bow wow. Yes it's gay). There are some fodder characters where it's decently obvious they're gonna be fodder but there's a couple that I was surprised to see used pretty well in the climax. Also there was more than one occasion where I either chuckled or got a smirk reading the ork sections.

The space battles are lacking a little in my opinion, but that would be in comparison to something like the Halo novels where, if there's naval battles, they go pretty well in on the tactics AND the individual ship's combat. Still good descriptions and visuals throughout the combat though, both spacial and on foot. I couldn't tell you what was missing but it felt like there was to me?

Bigger spoiler below

I saw a complaint about the epilog where a person believed it should've ended with it all being part of the farseer's plan but I personally disagree. I felt what happened with the farseer and their actual plan really goes to show how petty and cruel the craftworlds can be, even just passively. To the point that any lives lost, including Aeldari lives as long as they aren't the bulk of the craftworlder's, is worth it. It still keeps that darker aspect for them in my opinion. I also like the Epilog the way it is because I liked that character.

[killfalcon]

Throwback day: here's some Sslyth from my 9e Exodites army, now sadly an illegal unit.

Each of them is using parts from three models. The head and snake body are AoS Melusai, the lower torsos (plus arms and weapons) are from Kabalites, the upper torso etc are Guardians. I remain surprised at how easy it was to jam and elf waist into another elf's collar.

[fiendishneko]

Folks, I've gotta be real with you for a sec: I haven't played 40k or bought any warhammer models in a long while, but god damn do the new corsair eldar models they've been showing off stir something in that Exodite heart of mine!

I know I likely wouldn't ever play any games with the damn things, but god do I want to turn these into the newest additions to my Exodite war host!

[lisarafox]

[siderealsandman]

The most infuriating thing about 40k is that there are canonically Amish space elves that ride dinosaurs and James Workshop has never made a kit for them