#provenance al

[cassyblue]

Translation State Release Events

To celebrate the upcoming release of Translation State on June 6th, the newest installment in the Radch series, Radchdome will be hosting two events. A fanworks bang and a discord call meetup!

What is Radchdome? It is the fandom server for the Imperial Radch series and other works by Ann Leckie. Anyone is welcome to join: https://discord.gg/WAF8uv9f3k

 FANWORKS BONANZA   From June 4-6, let's share fanworks that showcase what we love about Imperial Radch! Use the tag #TranslationStateBonanza when you post them. Some ideas for works include: -Translation State Predictions - favorite characters/scene -Radch centric recipes -Playlists/Music -Meta Posts -Shitposts

 TRANSLATOR'S TEA   Join Radchdome for a discord meet up on June 10th for Translation State discussion and games! Tea time will be updated soon with a invitation vestige. Gloves are encouraged but not required. Questions about these events can be addressed to me, @cassyblue or in the #events channel in Radchdome. Please note I am not online most of the day. 

OTHER EVENTS **These are not hosted by Radchdome ** Virtual Panel: How Science Fiction Writers Build Alien Minds with Ann Leckie and Adrian Tchaikovsky Hosted by Orbit June 21st 3pm EST   https://twitter.com/orbitbooks/status/1659619998523088897

Free to attend panel all about world building and the aliens in Leckie’s and Tchaikovsky’s works!.  [Image Description: A red to mint green gradient banner with white concentric rings around text which reads, “Translation State Release Events” which is between two circular silhouettes. End Description.]

[magnetothemagnificent]

In light of Resurrection of Magneto's latest issue and blunder of the Jewish belief that "if you save one life it's as if you saved an entire world"....

It doesn't mean that Jews are all saintly protectors who must save everyone and never kill anyone. It doesn't mean that all. In fact, there's an equally as important belief that goes along with the aforementioned one which is that "if you allow a murderer to escape, the blood of their victims is on your hands." We Jews are not naive. The life of a murderer is not worth more than their victim- if you had a chance to stop a murderer and didn't, yes, even if it means killing them, the blood of their victims is on your hands.

Which is why Magneto saying "to save one life is to save the world" about Tony freakin' Stark is not only out of character, but also not what the phrase is about. Tony Stark has proven numerous times that his actions have led to disastrous things. Magneto is under no theological or moral obligation to help him. And Magneto himself as a character wouldn't *want* to help him.

"oh but he's had his redemption arc, Magneto is good now uwu"

Magneto doesn't have to be a doormat to have a redemption arc. Him not killing Tony for his actions inadvertantly causing the destruction of mutantkind by Orchis is enough of a "redemption". He doesn't have to save Tony to prove he's "good" now, and in fact, helping him would statistically most likely end up with more destruction in the future. Magneto can just. Not do anything. That would be more in-character.

Jews are not naive doormats. *Magneto* is not a naive doormat.

[elliebee26]

Finally bit the bullet and bought the Subterranean Press editions of the Ancillary trilogy & Provenance and now I officially own a physical copy of every edition of every published work in the Imperial Radch universe!!!

[whitesunlars]

maybe tumblr will listen if i speak its language: remember in 2020 when we all had to sit down and realize that everyone has internalized racism? that everyone has prejudices even if they don't realize it? being antisemitic is more than sitting around wearing a swastika saying you want jews to die. take a look inside yourself and you'll find antisemitism there, too. it's time to address it.

[steelthroat]

Btw reversing time is for stupid stuff yk.

Like idc about changing the entire story of the world, my past or anything big okay.

I just wanna go back and time-travel to avoid some super fkn cringe conversation. Okay, I don't wanna be a hero. I wanna be a selfish prick and avoid the feeling of [shame] forever.

[air-of-the-waterfall]

I have mixed feelings about Ingray. On one hand it’s interesting how she’s either so desperate for her mom’s approval/to one-up her brother or so generally trusting that she just believed this guy when he went “WHAT what do you mean of course I’m not this guy I obviously am!” Knowing I can’t trust her judgement makes it interesting to see the world through her eyes. Frankly, I don’t trust anyone in Provenance and I don’t think I’m supposed to.

Overall, though, I find Ingray and the plot pretty boring so far halfway through :(

It’s the same problem I had with Enae where we don’t see a lot of who they are and they’re just blank vessels being dragged through everyone else’s drama to show the world building. The world building is great, as always in Ann Leckie’s work, but in the Ancillary books and TS it was the really compelling cast who made it meaningful to me.

I don’t see a lot of talk about Provenance, so I’m interested in what others think about it.

[gumm1defloor]

I think somewhere down the line the subject of facade gets brought up and Vox is just rambling without really checking if Val is listening (because let's be honest he probably isn't): Alastor is always the burning question behind most of what Vox says. And Vox almost kills Val in that moment when he laughs at how similar they sound. "They're scared of him because they don't know him Vox, no one does, that's his shtick. " " People know every single little inch of me, and they can't do nonthin about it."

[harteatiing]

💋 angel

free kisses 2/5 // @bringsin

" Oh-ho, now what could this be about, my dear fellow ? " Alastor has never taken the other sinner's advances seriously-- and why would he? Of all people, the Radio Demon knows a mask when he sees one. Whatever interest Angel Dust had in him was surely nothing but a result of that, and as such playing along never once crossed Alastor's mind.

That sort of thing simply doesn't appeal to him within such a casual context-- and he's made that much clear, has he not? On top of that, even he can see that Angel Dust has been attempting to make progress-- whether he believes in redemption or not, there are few things less conducive to self-improvement than locking lips with a creature like Alastor.

Was he trying to reap some kind of benefit through this? An attempt to endear himself and gain some extra power in his corner, perhaps? Or maybe he's simply trying to prove some kind of point.

Everyone and everything exists through some sort of selfishness, after all. It has to be something-- and curiosity is a hell of a vice.

" Well, whatever it may be, I suppose you have seized upon an opportunity. I can manage to indulge you, just this once. "

The Radio Demon reaches out a clawed hand, taking one of Angel's into his grasp with surprising delicacy. Eyelids flutter to half, casting the dark shadow of long lashes across the overlord's high cheekbones as he raises the other man's knuckles to his softly pursed, smiling lips.

The kiss to the back of Angel Dust's hand is chaste-- tender, even, in a gentlemanly way-- lingering for a beat or two of their dead, hell-bound hearts before Alastor is drawing back.

" It doesn't specify where you'll get your kiss, " He teases, his sharp edges returning, a mischievous light burning in his eyes. " And I'm afraid I'll always be a bit old-fashioned. Hope you don't mind ~ ! "

[certified-pinkwasher]

you don’t believe in al jazeera? i bet you believe in times of israel and actual israeli propaganda though lmao

LMAOOOO

[dearanpo]

you've got a tiger cat visitor! it brought you a strawberry cupcake and a little bouquet of alstroemerias <3 it wishes that you feel better soon ❤️‍🩹

i love this tiger cat so much that i think i am gonna go insane oh my god i love it thabk you ao much i love you so much thank you just because of this cat i feel amazing now better than ever I JUST this is the sweetest little thing so warm and beautiful 🩷🐈‍⬛

[quickchangeartist]

At this point, I think the next Elder Scrolls game is doomed to fail. Not commercially, god no, it's certain to be lucrative as all hell, but...

Remember Duke Nukem Forever?

And how when it finally came out, it absolutely fucking sucked, its terribleness hideously enhanced by just how goddamn long people had waited for it? Even if it had been a good game on its own (it wasn't), it still would have been condemned by its inability to live up to so much time and so much hype, Nothing could live up to that.

I think that TES 6 is gonna go kinda the same way. It's been long enough that all that hope and hype the fanbase has for it is bound to sour and turn septic. No game is going to match the idealized what-ifs in our collective heads.

[cassyblue]

I made a imperial radch tumblr community. I dont know how this community stuff works. But it's a companion to the radchdome 3.0 public fan server. (invite: https://discord.gg/WNMwPQSD)

🐢🐢🐢-> Radchome Tumblr Community <-🐢 🐢🐢

EDIT: pls comment for an add bc apparently I gotta do it manually.

[mondfahrt]

really fascinated by the narrative in "the night agent" that goes like "it's the politicians who are bad! THE COPS HOWEVER..."

[heritageposts]

Namibian Presidency (official account), 13 Jan 2024

this comes after germany announced that they, in defense of israel, intend to intervene as a third party in the ICJ trial

in the official government statement, they argue that the accusations of genocide against israel "has no basis whatsoever," and declares themselves to be experts on recognizing genocide by virtue of the fact that they're the ones that committed the holocaust (yes, seriously)

small problem for our self-declared genocide experts though — it wasn't until 2021, over a hundred years after germany killed and enslaved tens of thousands of herero and nama people (in what is now present-day namibia), that the german state was willing to officially recognize that they had committed a genocide; a genocide where, about 80% of the indigenous population of the herero and nama people were wiped out, thousands were enslaved in concentrations camps (with death rates between 45 and 75 percent), and many hundreds medically experimented on.

here's a good article from al jazeera which lays out the history of the genocide, and why germany's offer of "reparations" were met with disgust and anger in namibia

this part, in particular, is worth highlighting:

Today, German Namibians make up 2 percent of Namibia’s 2.5 million population but own about 70 percent of the country’s land, most of it used for agriculture. Multiple state-led efforts to legally restore ancestral land to Indigenous peoples by buying land from private farmers have only partially succeeded because it has proven too expensive for the state. Although the Namibian government sought to transfer 43 percent (15 million hectares) of its total arable land to landless communities by 2020, it has only succeeded in acquiring about three million hectares.

[ellecdc]

Thoughts on bodyguard!james x reader in a hostage situation? I'm thinking like full Olivia pope bag over the head high stakes hostage situation. Would also love it as an established but secret relationship at this point. (obviously reader can stay unharmed but maybe they advertise as if they've hurt her?) and James and the team come in and get her out....

I looooooove some high sakes hurt/comfort. now, please note I've never seen scandal? but I felt like I knew enough about hostage situations to give it a try? idk, hopefully it turned out okay, and thanks for the prompt!!

bodyguard!James Potter x fem!reader who James [et al.] find [1.5k words]

CW: hostage situation, swearing, NCA = UK's version of the FBI, minor injuries, panic

James could vaguely register the sound of NCA members shouting from up ahead as the team cleared the first floor of the abandoned factory they’d tracked you to, but he could only focus on the raised hand of Remus - crouched beside James at a stairwell - who was waiting for their signal to move up to the second floor.

James knew three things: he was probably going to throw up whatever was left in his stomach from the last time he could manage to ingest more than a banana or an energy drink, the NCA team was definitely beginning to regret giving James one of their vests, and you were in this building.

Ultimately, that last fact was the most important. 

James also knew this was what Remus had warned him about; the conflict of interest when he finally admitted to himself (and thus to Remus and Sirius) that he definitely fancied you as more than just his principle. 

“You’re not going to be able to remain objective, James.” Remus had said to him. Not unkindly, of course, but James didn’t like the insinuation that he was incapable of a) doing his job or b) keeping you safe.

Of course, both of those seem to have been proven true, seeing as you were here; regardless of the fact that Remus insisted this wasn’t his fault, regardless of the fact that his hand off of your care to Peter that night had been fucking seamless - it was James who lost you. 

His ire wasn’t due to the fact that he’d lost a principle, nor even that he might lose his job because of it. 

No, what made him fucking sick with worry and rage was that you were here, you were scared, you were being harmed.

And that is what kept him from barging past Remus - NCA instructions be damned - and burning the entire fucking building down to look for you.

“Clear!” An agent called as James heard what he knew to be Sirius’ gait rushing towards them.

“Not on the first floor.” Sirius whispered; out of breath from racing through the building in search of you. 

“Fuck.” James breathed out as he stood, but Sirius - god fucking love him - pushed up against his back and kept him moving.

“We’ll find her, Jamie.” He promised. 

There were two teams of the NCA unit on the second floor by the time James, Remus, and Sirius made it up the stairs, and that’s when they heard it. 

“What the FUCK DID YOU DO?!” Someone bellowed, followed by a desperate sound. It was coming from you.

“I didn’t…I didn’t-”

“You fuckin’ call that boy of yours? Huh? He come runnin’?”

“For your sake, he better have our fuckin’ money.” Another voice threatened, and the three of them moved towards the door where the voices were coming from.

James, Remus, and Sirius flattened themselves against the wall next to the door, faces pointed at the NCA agents who were doing the same on the other side. One agent wearing head-to-toe riot gear nodded at their teammate with the battering ram, poised and standing at the ready. At their mark, the team moved. 

The NCA announced themselves and paired off with the suspects rather quickly whilst Sirius took off after one who tried to flee, Remus right on his heels. 

The abandoned building had high, exposed ceilings which your captors had suspended thick construction grade cord from.

You were tied to the rope by your wrists, both of which were bound together and suspended over your head as you tried to balance on your tiptoes to the best of your abilities. You were clearly exhausted though, and the moments of relief you managed to garner for your shoulders were brief when your body ultimately went slack one way or the other. 

James rushed towards you as he surveyed you for any other visible injuries; you were wearing the same clothes he’d dropped you off at your flat in - a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt, though your jumper was missing - with the addition of a fucking sack over your head. He was only marginally relieved when couldn’t see any blood on your person.

His hands made contact with your waist first when you flinched violently; body swaying furiously as you swung your legs out at him, shrieking in fear.

“Hey! Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re okay, angel. It’s me, it’s me, it’s me.” He chanted, his heart working itself further and further up his throat with every panicked puff of air you let out of your lungs. “It’s James. It’s me; you’re okay, love.”

“Jamie?” You keened, and James felt the first tear of relief fall from his eyes.

“Hi angel, hi.” He let out in a whisper; one arm circling around your hips and lifting your weight to relieve your shoulders slightly. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“I want to go home, James. I want to go home.” You cried.

“I know love, I know. We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?” He promised as a NCA member came to assist in getting you down. He stood on a chair and sawed away at the rope with a blade, barely managing to catch your wrists as the rope gave way and the rest of your weight fell into James’ awaiting arms.

“Don’t, don’t!” You shouted, struggling in James’ grasp. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”

“Y/N-”

But by the time the NCA agent let go of your wrists, you all but went slack in James’ embrace, and James understood your panic. 

“Okay, okay.” James placated softly as he placed you gently in the chair in front of him, untying the drawstring at the bottom of your sack and pulling it off of your head.

Your face was stained with tears both old and new; tracks etched into your skin that James wondered if they didn’t scar from the past three days of being alone and utterly terrified. Your eyes were wild and glassy as you assessed the space; watching NCA agents and members from James’ own company milling about the room. James wasn’t sure you’d ever seen the room you were being kept in, depending on when the bag was placed over your head. Your bottom lip was busted and swollen along with some bruising at your jaw, and the eye on the opposite side of your face was also bruised with a small cut to your eyebrow, but all of those injuries appear to be from the first day you’d been kidnapped as you struggled against your captors. 

James took a moment to saw away the rope still binding your wrists together - red, raw, and bloody - and though you remained perfectly placid, you were shaking something fierce. 

“I want to go home.” You repeated, as you stared unseeingly over James’ shoulder. You sounded so determined that James half expected you to stand and start marching out of the building on your own accord, but you simply sat in the simple wooden chair, eyes darting frantically around the room as you held onto James’ arms quite literally for dear life. 

“I’m going to take you home, angel, I promise. But we need to make sure you’re okay first.”

“I’m okay.” You argued quickly, still not looking at James. “I’m okay, I’m okay. I swear it, Jamie. I want to go home.” 

“Angel-”

“I don’t want to be here anymore.” You all but sobbed; the force of the breath that escaped you saw you deflating significantly in your chair. “I want to go home.” 

“Okay.” James settled on, because he couldn’t help but agree; he didn’t really want to be here anymore, either. He wanted nothing more than to get you home and perhaps never let you leave again. But he couldn’t leave without having you looked at first.

“Oi! Where the fuck are the paramedics?” James called towards Sirius who was just returning from his chase. James made to stand, but you screeched and dug your nails into his arm.

“Don’t James! Please. Please, please, please.” You begged nonsensically; eyes imploring and desperate, though James wondered how well you could actually see out of them with the way they pooled with unshed tears as you looked up at him. 

“What? What is it, lovie?” James - perhaps embarrassingly - cooed at you; both of his hands reaching to cup your face, and his heart splintered when you leaned into his touch and closed your eyes, forcing the tears to fall. 

“Please don’t leave. Please. Take me with you - take me home.” 

“I’m going to take you home, Y/N. I will, okay?” James promised as Sirius made his way over; his heartbreak written all over his face as he spoke into his microphone to check in with the EMS on James’ behalf. “I’ve just found you, angel. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.” 

You seemed appeased, though you never did let go of his hand as the paramedics made it to you and completed their assessment.

James’ never let go of yours either, mind you.

He thinks he might never let go of it again.

[air-of-the-waterfall]

I’m reading Provenance (last of the Radch books I’ve read), and I’m halfway through but unfortunately I don’t find it nearly as compelling as all the others. It’s taking me forever to get through. Ingray falls pretty flat as a protagonist for me. The only character in it I really care about is Captain Uisine, so I’m curious what he’ll get up to in the second half