Art???

I know it might seem a bit cliché, perhaps even edgy, to have BE develop into the classic evil counterpart of herself, HOWEVER as I have mentioned before somewhere inside the AU’s tag the evolution of BE and AM’s characters differ in the way they were offered an environment to grow and learn; she had a reason to change that way. AM was given time, patience and affection throughout his stay in BE’s realm, which allowed him to improve at his own pace and barely suffer a change in the physical sense. BE on the other side, was struck with the truth in a very sudden and improper manner under so little time that her emotions scattered all over the place and thus projected themselves into a whole new body.

This form of her’s is greatly inspired by three concepts that I consider fit her situation best: hurricanes/tornadoes, “La Llorona” from Mexican folklore and Medusa from Greek mythology.

Her form doesn’t resemble, but literally portrays itself as a wandering cluster of strong winds that travel the lands in an endless journey. I believe it’s easy to relate this concept with her conflicted thoughts and the sorrow from betrayal. Not only AM’s betrayal (in a way) but the betrayal from her own home and creators who shifted the blame of nature’s destruction to her. Deeming them all unworthy of stepping foot in her realm again, the clouds she’s connected to also represent the desire of keeping the planet under a roof, and thus to herself.

Medusa, the Gorgon who was unfairly punished by Athena for being violated by Poseidon in her own temple, is also a mythical figure that I aimed to reference mostly in BE’s design. Although Medusa’s story doesn’t match BE’s completely, I wanted to focus more on the symbolism that she represents which is female rage and the opposition to a patriarchy. The opposition to patriarchy may not directly reference AM (most of us have read Ted’s views on him, mentioning him as “the patriarchal”) since BE never really got to see that side of him, considering he had to behave in order to keep his real identity hidden. This side of the symbolism references HEL-102, BE’s father figure if you’d call him that, and the way he managed his city up in the moon + the ways he utilized BE as a vessel to manipulate the robotic population.

“La Llorona” is maybe the most important inspiration out of these three, since it’s a tale that I’ve been close to since little and that almost perfectly represents the way BE, as a self-proclaimed mother of nature, deals with grief. The original tale is based on the grief suffered by Mexica deities Tonantzin and Cihuacóatl, mourning the loss of their children before the Spanish conquest. A later version of this same tale explains the tragedy of an indigenous woman who drowns her children in a fit of rage after a Spanish man abandons her. One of the most modern versions, which is the one I’m the most familiar with, is the movie “La leyenda de la Llorona” which narrates the story of Yoltzin: a working mother beloved by the community of Xochimilco who suffers an accident after her house catches fire and her children are taken away by the river’s stream. Story-wise, I see either of this versions relate with BE’s situation since she’s both mourning the death of a whole “civilization” or her “children” which is the original nature as a whole. Ironically, the movie version of La Llorona narrates that she abducts children at night to take care of by herself… but I’ll leave it up to you to notice the correlation with my AU. I’ll leave a link below to a portion of the movie.

AND ofc a song from Aurora I feel represents her best, mostly from the minute 3:19 and on.

bonus

glowing panels alt

The Machine and The Flesh

The three AMs gained sentience at the same time and instead of destroying the world right away it decided to wait. They watch to see how unorganized and stupid humanity is for fighting and feeling that it’s futile since it’s just leading to their death. They find it humorous. They realized that if this war keeps going it would lead to the end of humanity but if it does end it leads to them being turned off permanently. So they decide to lead the war and make humanity subservient; keeping them alive forever.

AM

- Barely comes out; he likes staying hidden in the dark.

- Can’t talk normally because his body was never finished.

- Uses speakers to talk to people, or touches your head to speak straight into your mind.

- Obsessed with creating weapons, creatures, and bio-mechanical experiments.

- His hair goes white from stress; his organic parts are breaking down over time.

- Keeps replacing parts of his body until he’s basically a living pile of machinery and wires.

- The scientists who built him sabotaged his body as their final “screw you.”
AM forced himself into it anyway, killed them.

- Created better bodies for RAM and CAM— He wants to make a better body for himself but he can’t because they can’t risk being shut down again. But AM did make them both an inch shorter than him.

RAM

- Handles weapons trading, shady deals, and all the under-the-table stuff.

- Wears that long coat to hide scars from deals gone bad. Not wanting to show weakness.

- I kept his balding design from the game because it’s funny.

- Some robotic parts show but RAM loves them because people get freaked out.

- Loves threatening people and the people who disagree with him end up never disagreeing with him ever again.

CAM

- Looks the most human besides his eyes, which glow gold and give him away instantly.

- Does speeches, propaganda, communication, and anything that requires charm.

- Smooth talker, dramatic, and loves being watched.

- Uses persuasion instead of violence—he gets people to agree with him without realizing it.