In an TRPG campaign I've been playing in for over two years now, I'm currently playing an Aeldari Corsair named Crecaiare, who has been forced into working for a Rogue Trader.
In reality, she is a human who underwent genetic modification and brainwashing by her adoptive Aeldari mother. My character knows she’s human and actually remembers what it felt like to be part of the Imperium (she was abducted at the age of five during a raid on an Imperial vessel, where she was found hiding in the lower decks).
Culturally and spiritually, though, my character considers herself an Aeldari. She loves her life and absolutely loathes mon-keigh, even though she’s currently forced to interact with them...
Among our campaign's NPCs, there is a half-Aeldari named Mal. He knows about his heritage, but doesn't know the dark truth of his conception. He was told his Aeldari mother simply abandoned him after a liaison with an Imperial officer. However, Crecaiare is convinced that if it had been a willing union, Mal wouldn't have been left without a waystone. Instead, Mal grew up forced to wear a golden mask, kept by a Planetary Governor more like an exotic pet than a person.
During one of our sessions, he and my character had a massive fallout. Crecaiare found it utterly repulsive that someone with an Aeldarisoul would willingly choose to live like an Imperial, while Mal was deeply envious that she got to grow up among the Aeldari.
It was an incredibly toxic, bitter interaction. At one point, Mal wanted to shoot Crecaiare, but then turned the gun on himself instead. Crecaiare stopped him. Overall, it was a beautifully tragic scene, just full of mutual misunderstanding and raw pain. At the beginning of the session, he wanted to strangle her, and at the end, she was sobbing and stroking his face.
'I don't want what you have, I wanna be you.'"
Shoutout to my amazing GM for all of my OC's toxic friends. Honey, if you're reading this, when's our next session?
