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2lim3rz · 1 year

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FILLED LIKE A TAX RETURN (Roboute Gulliman X Female Reader) (NSFW)

So, like, I was going to only make this a list of headcanons because you thirsty gremlins wanted Yearning Gulliman but the more I brainstormed about it, the more this ended up as a Post-Heresy Gulliman instead of Pre-Heresy as planned

Listen, all I'm saying is that Post-Heresy Gulliman needs some outlet for stress. Congrats! You're that outlet! Now ignore the suspicious amount of information he knows about you!!

Also yeah this ended up much longer than I though

You were always something that lurked in the background. A nobody even amongst nobodies. An errand runner on better days, someone who made sure the pipes in your 'room' didn't leak on other days. Yet there were benefits to being no one. The prime of those being you were closer to things that many in the galaxy killed to have a privilege of even beholding.

And yours was Roboute Gulliman; the Avenging Son, the Azure Angel. Your personal title towards him was 'The Most Terrifying Being to Exist'. Shortly before his rise, you had only been vaguely near the Ultramarines.. which in of themselves froze you in your tracks. Made you feel smaller than ever before. Made you feel made of glass.

Yet the Primarch himself? Stole your breath away. Made something deep within you rush away or freeze entirely to only sob at the magnificent fear of him. The absolute terror that his word was life or death. Still, you were in the shadows. Divine coincidence or simply conflicting events sending you both opposite ways any time you came barely close to each other.

Until your errand was to take something to him. At first you began to simply leave it outside the doors, but that was unsafe. And when the guards in the front (equally terrifying and obscenely huge.. though that could have been your cowardly slouch) of the doors allowed you passage.. no one was luckily in the grandiose (yet.. simple? dare you thought) office.

In fact, you had just sat down the package upon the desk when you heard heavy steps; your heart plummeted as you turned around.. and there he was. Looming leagues above you and staring at you with.. a conflicting expression?

His eyebrows went from aggravated-but-neutral to furrowed. His mouth twisting as though he ate a bitter fruit. Suddenly his regal posture soured even as he stood stiffly. You remained where you where because what else were you supposed to do? You were a rat caught in daylight. Everything in you screamed insignificance to the voice of the Imperium and yet-

"Get out." his voice was terse, for a moment all you did was quiver violently before throwing yourself forward hard enough you simply floundered and fell. Scraping your elbows and knees upon the flooring, scrabbling with your hands, and finally scrambling away.

You were ignorant to how he turned and stared at you. Yet you still knew in your gut that he was doing.. something.

After that single experience of the Primarch seeing you for the first time, you were very content with that being the last. Perfectly content and yet after two days had passed, your supervisor all but had you dragged to his office where two Ultramarines stood. Only one, shorter than the other by a whole foot and yet still towering over you, had his helmet off. He held it under one arm, at his side was a massive gun you'd personally label as a hand-held heavy bolter. His face.. was as handsome as it was uncanny. As if Roboute Gulliman himself suddenly sprouted borderline-brown hair and had green eyes.

"Ah, you've finally arrived," his voice was lighter than you initially thought and you felt dread heavy in your gut as he said your name "Lord Gulliman has requested-"

The rest of his words were nonsense noise as you stared at him.

Gulliman requested you.

Roboute fucking Gulliman had requested for you.

You didn't even realize they were escorting you out until a ceramite coated hand was nudging your shoulder and you were limping forward with them. Thanking the fact that your blessing of adrenaline had given you the ability to walk more-or-less normally.

Your mind wandered the entire walk, even when it began to click in your mind that the two space marines weren't going to let you have a break. Were you to be executed? No, they'd have done that already. What if was something worse though? What if-what if-what if- what if?!

By the time to arrived to that damned office (clearly this was meant to be a private affair) you were shaking in your boots and choking back gross sobs. It didn't stop the tears and the wild eyed panicked stare you gave everything. All you knew was that you didn't want to die.

..You swore the moment you stepped into the office, that his face grew darker. Instantly drawing all over your body as if seeking something before turning the daggers towards his Ultramarines. One of his large hands was a coiled fist. You'd have searched for more details but truthfully, you were beginning to bawl uncontrollably and gibber out pleads for your life.

"Get out. Close the doors and guard them. As for you, silence your crying."

His voice was directed at you, powerful and shuddering into your core. Trembling where you stood (borderline squatting on the floor in fact) you stared up and frantically tried to swipe the tears away. Watching in terrified silence as he stood and, you swore personally, prowled towards you.

Looming above you, a giant statue of perfection contrasting to your meek and pitiful mortal frame. When he raised his hand, you flinched. He could squish you like one squashed a fly. No pain nor death greeted you.. instead his warm hand gingerly touched your chin. Almost as if he was afraid of breaking something delicate.. and he tilted your head upwards.

"When did you get those wounds,?" It only made sense he knew your name, but you shivered again. Staring wordlessly into his enchanting blue eyes. They were mystifying as much as they were studious. "...When.. you.. when you told me to get out.." your whispered voice cracked.

Please let go. Please do something! Your mental voice whined. You just wanted to curl up on the transit tracks and perish forever, a number amongst untold many.

"Hm." was his only response as he tilted your head this way and that.

Which was about the same time the questions began. Simple ones like family and friends. To.. odder ones. Had strangers given you food? (The cafeterium was full of strangers.) Had you been near people of oddities? (You had two legal mutants in your work sector but no) All the way down to more personal specifics such as how many times did you sit down yesterday (Which you couldn't answer because you were reeling over Gulliman even looking at you.)

Finally, Gulliman let go of your head and turned away. Pacing in front of his desk after picking up a notebook and pen (how archaic and expensive!). A tense animal is what he was as he occasionally glanced your way, scribbling notes upon notes. You decided to test the waters.

"May.. I.. go.. my lord?" at once he froze. Staring down upon you. Gritting his jaw and flaring his nostrils. There was something conflicting in that gaze of his.

"You may. Gorerus, Sullo, lead my personal guest to her new chambers."

Opening the doors, a bit hesitantly you supposed, the two space marines from earlier stood and clearly waited when it dawned on you. Turning about, it was your turn to furrow your eyebrows and stare.

"..Chambers..? My-" you stopped as those icy eyes- no.. they weren't cold in the slightest. They were very much the opposite, burning and.. not glaring but that was the only word you had to describe how fiery he stared at you.

You felt a strange feeling in your stomach. Wiggling and squirming and all warm all over. In that instant you swore you saw the primarch before you do a doubletake before waving a dismissive hand.

"Gorerus and Sullo will bring you tomorrow morning. Be ready by then."

You relented then, taking stumbling step after stumbling step. The two space marines weren't leading you at a grueling pace but at yours. Feeling awkward about the odd dynamics at play, you sped yours up.. if only to get away from..Gorus and Sully??

"So.. Gor..Gory-" you were looking at the taller of the two when the borderline-Roboute clone cleared his through, giving you an awkward look. "Maevius Gorerus." he at once interrupted "Continue on-" "If I may introduce myself as well, I am Casmaius Sullo. And if your questions relate to your.. sudden promotion and interest of our Lord Regent, Roboute Gulliman, then we do not have answers." as Casmaius spoke, you gave a smile that certainly indicated your impending breakdown to the harsh glare Maevius gave to his taller counterpart. Great. You were in between two space marines that clearly had not-so-good comradery with each other.

Abruptly, they would stop in front of a pair of doors, causing you to backstep a few times and stare. Of course they were elaborately gilded in gold but.. no.. surely these weren't yours.. You gave a fearful look to your.. guardians? Overseers? The only response you had gotten was an annoyed grumble from Casmaius and.. a look of pity from Maevius?

Maevius gently opened one of the doors for you, remaining outside and closing it behind you. Considering you heard absolutely no retreating loud footsteps from the armored duo.. you knew they stood guard at the doors.

So you indulged yourself. Exploring the massive rooms that qualified as your temporary home-away-from-home. Of course the first thing you took advantage of was the bathroom and the whole pool-sized bathtub. All your life you had only taken the shortest and brutally cold of showers but.. this?

It was overwhelming. The choices of soaps and all that. You could almost enjoy being.. a weird prisoner or whatever you were. You didn't even have to care about putting on your grimy sweat-stained clothes. There were already some there! It wouldn't have concerned you at all if they didn't fit right, they were clean! And smelled good and-

You stood. Staring into a massive mirror at how.. just right it fitted on you. It was terrifying. As if someone got all of your measurements while you slept.. Or was a massive superhuman that could know anything from a single look.

You did your best to ignore your unease as you worked your way around the room, staring with wide eyes as a servant did as you normally would for a prestigious guest.. albeit more in the background.

You were served food. Past the open doors, you could see the two Ultramarines standing guard. You wanted answers you wouldn't be given so you relented to enjoying your last night, you supposed it was anyhow. And completely pigged out. Stuffing yourself with foods that made you moan from how good it was. The most savory of sweet things and utterly delicious meats.

After all that, you finally slept.. and woke up to loud knocking at a time that was definitely before you'd ever wake up.. and before the sun even rose. So.. it wasn't morning as in regular people time.. but morning as in Gulliman time. Oh well, you could handle it as much as you floundered and settled on a sort of odd blue and gold dress.. in fact all of the outfits were dresses compared to your favored (and only) jumpsuit uniforms. And while you felt pretty looking at yourself in the mirror.. you felt like a fraud and..

Weird. Very weird.

At least until Casmaius stepped in and announced that it was time to leave. Your initial unease and fear resurfaced as you stepped between them and were lead to the office once again. Forced to grip the fabric of the swishy dress around you in your hands to avoid tripping.

Stepping into his office was.. a whole other rodeo though. The moment you beheld him and he beheld you.. the Roboute Gulliman's face was redder than blood before he looked away and cleared his throat. You chose the smart option of remaining silent.

Even if it was hard to remain that way given how he wasn't wearing his usual armor. In fact, it was some sort of shimmery elaborately embroidered cloth that draped over him. It wasn't like the suits or other outfits you had seen many wear, but more.. one-piece and blanket like? You could only guess that it was native-wear. You knew of some foreign workers that liked to wear their planet's native dress on off time and the (extremely rare) holiday time off.

Neither of you spoke for what felt to be eons. You only shook where you stood and watched his large finger go tap-tap-tap on the desk covered in books, dataslates, and files of all sorts, a good chunk of them appearing to be reports of tithes and planetary taxation.

"Why are you afraid of me?" finally he broke the ice and you were left confused. Flabbergasted even as he asked you why you were.. scared of him? It felt like a trap. It must be a trap. "You're.. the Lord Commander?" it felt obvious. Who wouldn't be afraid of the power he held? "I don't.. want to lose my post or-or die because I did something wrong, my lord- Am I in trouble?"

The words trembled out of you before you could stop them. Staring down at you.. he stood. You hated the conflicting feelings you had since the day before. As if something within you was forcing you to notice things you wouldn't. The rippling muscles of his arms and chest as he simply stood. The way you knew those arms could turn you into paste, yet you knew the infinite gentleness they could have..

Once again Gulliman was frozen in his tracks. You heard the desk's wood fibers groan momentarily as he gripped it. His body gave a single tremble before he abruptly straightened and stood in front of you; looming and ominous. "What do you feel in this moment?"

What..?

Stunned, you blinked up at the Primarch as he waited patiently. Suddenly forced to acknowledge how much you warred within yourself. "I.. feel.. afraid. And confused...my lord" And confusingly warm all over and in areas you'd rather not. As if the treacherous thought was insistent of beating you, you felt your face grow warm and the temptation to look at the ground.

You wished he wasn't so tall. It was making a conversation (one sided as it was) very awkward. Once more as you felt your body go flush, you saw that predatory look in his eyes. The flare of his nose and stiff stance when it dawned on you.

Was.. he.. able to smell you?

The horrified pit in your stomach was confirmed as he brought a hand up to clear his throat into when he turned away. No! Surely the red face he had was from something else! The Roboute Gulliman before you couldn't- You were insignificant! A no one! A nothing! A lowly worker beneath-

His gentle hands, worn from eons of working and fighting touched your chin once more as he lowered himself. You didn't realize you were shaking until you felt your breathing hitched.

What the fuck? What the fuck, what the fuck, what the absolute Emperor-Blessed fuck?!

Your thoughts barked and bayed in the cacophony of chaos that was your mind as you felt his lips brush yours. You were stunned, shocked, absolutely decimated as you stared dimly back at him. You swore you felt his hand tremble.

"You may call me Roboute instead." his voice was low, patiently gauging your reaction. Testing the waters as it were. "Am.. I.. in trouble?" you knew of cruel lords, surely the glowing jewel of the galaxy wasn't one of them- Your mind short-circuited as his thumb brushed your cheek. "No. There are very few ways you would be in trouble in this moment." those words weren't so comforting when you saw how clearly conflicted he was. What was going on? You weren't being told something but thinking was hard to do with how suddenly intimate this had gotten.

"Roboute.." Suddenly going fuck it was appealing. If you were on impending death-row you figured you may as well go out with a bang. Raising a hesitating hand, you placed it over Gulliman- Roboute's hand and paused before you leaned into it. Testing the waters slowly as he watched you.. as though he wanted to see what you would do next.

You kissed him. Not some short peck as he had done, but a full proper kiss. With a squeak of surprise, he immediately pulled you in closer turning your show of bravado into a dominating display in a kiss that lasted forever in the most pleasant way. His invading tongue was the sweetest part of it all. Washing your worries away in an instant as he devoured you.

The moment he pulled away? It was as if you flipped a switch, or more properly, unleashed a monster upon yourself. His lips drawing from your face to your exposed throat. His hands groping for your body through the dress, and while you felt nervous, at the same time you were curious.

So.. so horribly curious to see what this regal man would do to you. Squealing as he settled on ripping the dress from you. Your hands felt for his own clothes, though the word 'stop' began on your lips (even if you swore they were already bruised). That one word, that single word you prayed would put some sort of pause was torn away in a squeal as he hoisted you into the air. Pressing your back against the cold wall and kissed your breast. Giving each side of you small kisses before scraping his teeth over your nipples.

Your back arched, you wiggled in his hold and choked out a moan. You had expected anything except the way his eager mouth went lower and lower and- On instinct your hands went to his hair. Gripping him roughly as you tried to squeeze your spread thighs. He so easily held you, not a single quiver except for excitement.

And that groan.. that groan he gave as he tasted- no- truly devoured you. Learning all of your sweet spots in seconds and absolutely abusing them. And how much you whined as soon as his tongue left you.. and how much you moaned right after as soon as his finger began to take its place. Thick in all the right ways and absolutely too much as his tongue circled your clit.

You hadn't even realize you were violently coming on the primarch's masterful mouth until you felt his satisfied noise. You only wished he stopped, even just a moment as his finger thrusted into you. Squirming upon him as you felt yourself stretching more when he added another. Arching back and gritting your teeth with a long groan. The way you bucked your hips for more.

"Rob-Roboute, please- Oh- oh it's too much- It's all-" "Good." his breath was hot and yet blisteringly cold against your wet heat. The world was a dizzying blur as he drove you to your brink. Until you were struggling to push away his head because if he had to make you come undone a second (or was it third?) time, you'd be left sobbing. Even if you so conflictingly began wailing his name.

And so blessedly.. he did. Pulling away and his fingers leaving you. Forcing a needy whimper from you even though your eyes were beginning to tear up. Why, why did you feel so.. yearning and empty? Gazing into those beautiful blue eyes that threatened to consume you further.

Your breathing was a heavy pant as you watch him lick his lips. How he raised the fingers that were previously pushing all your buttons in the best of ways to his mouth.. and sucked on them. Refusing for you to break eye contact the whole while. Only to be lowered and consumed once again in a ravishing kiss. Digging your fingers into his hair and on his neck. Tasting the mixed flavors of his saliva and your own wetness on his lips.

Abruptly, he pulled himself away and gently lowered you. Pulling one of the outer wrappings from around himself to drape them around you. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and.. looking ashamed?

"Pardon.. me.." he hesitated. Staring away from you before turning away completely "We will discuss matters.. at a later time when my head is calmer."

What was wrong? He seemed more than overjoyed to be ripping your dress off and devouring you just seconds ago and now he suddenly wanted to be formal?

Disappointment and hurt were blatant on your face as you wrapped the too-big fabric around you tighter and stumbled to the doors. Looking over your shoulder as Gulliman flipped through some pages on that notebook from earlier.

And very much ignoring the suspicious gaze of Sullo.. and the more concerned eyebrow raise of uncanny Gorerus as they escorted you back to the opulent chambers that you supposed was your temporary home.

You were only relieved you could soak in those hot waters for as long as you wanted after all of that.

#volatile hearts au #VHA #roboute gulliman x reader #roboute gulliman #OC #because sullo + gorerus are my SONS #warhammer 40k #x reader #definitely will be a part 2 i swear

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orsuliya · 3 years

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Let it be known that I have fallen to the forces of Chaos. Which mean that after many, many years of relative sanity I decided to catch up with the recent developments in the Warhammer 40.000 universe.

Now, I loved that bloody, golden, full-of-skulls, grimdark thing once upon a time, but it did go a bit stale, what with the Corpse Emperor God Emperor of Mankind rotting on his golden throne, the Inquisition doing... inquisitiony things and the hero-planet of Cadia still standing against any odds. So I bailed. Okay, to be honest, I bailed but for one guilty pleasure, namely watching the glorious If The Emperor Had A Text-To-Speech Device series. Which so does not count!

And then I heard the Ultramarines chant once again and remembered all the glories of soup. (If you listen to it long enough and know Russian, you too shall be enlightened. For all non-Russian speakers, it really does sound as if the lyrics talk about cooking some amazing soup and then eating it. It’s... a thing.) Wait, I said to myself, they released a Roboute Guilliman figure, right? I saw that, not like you can miss it with it’s... very subtle aesthetics. And I sure saw an amazing figure of Magnus the Red (who, let it be known, didn’t betray anyone, oh, and Leman Russ is a bitch). So are the Primarchs back or something, I asked the Corpse Emperor God Emperor. There was no answer. So I went to do some research.

And once I did, I actually picked up a WH40K novel (or two). Again. And let me tell you, those are usually a dredge to get through. A very grimdark, testosterone-dripping, wordy, ridiculously epic dredge. *shudders* Some are readable. Some... are not.

Anyway, the ones I did pick up were the Dark Imperium series first two entries, because my beautiful Smurf Boy Roboute Guilliman is back and was there ever any other choice? Rhetoric question of course. If you are still reading and have no idea whom am I talking about, a quick recap:

Once upon a time there was a universe that was so ridiculously grimdark that it wasn’t even funny. Although sometimes it was grimdark in very funny ways. Humanity spread throughout the Galaxy, then got hit hard with Bad Things, mostly courtesy of themselves. Then an egotistical gold-loving Immortal Man With A Plan decided to unfuck the Galaxy. In order to do that he made - after some rather disastrous demo versions - an army of GMO-supersoldiers, using genetic material harvested from twenty vat-grown fetuses of super-superhumans. Those fetuses? His so-called sons, the Primarchs. Who got baby-napped by the powers of Chaos and thrown into space. Where they grew up into killing-machines, each one on a grimdark planet of his own, until Daddy Emperor picked them up and sent them a-crusading, that is a-conquering the Galaxy for Humankind. Never paid any child-support, the bastard. Anyway, they did... reasonably well with this whole Galaxy-conquering thing. And then things happened, which ended in half of the Primarchs going full Daemon, the other half fucking off in a non-constructive manner and into unknown direction, one of them becoming a sainted martyr and the Emperor becoming a skeleton and sitting on his Golden Throne for the next 10.000 years. Ah, no, sorry, one Primarch tried to put things into order, but the only thing he got as his reward was his Daemonic Bro’s sword to the neck... and spending the next 10.000 years as a bloody tourist attraction. And that was Roboute Guilliman, The Supposedly Boring And Weak One. Meanwhile, the Galaxy went to hell by the way of religious fanatics, xeno incursions and Chaos shenanigans.

After years of marinating it its own sauce the WH40K universe finally started to move. And move fast! The hero-planet of Cadia got smashed to pieces, Warp-rifts basically tore the galaxy... also to pieces and things got so bad that even the space elves decided to help. Which they actually did (!) by getting that tourist attraction of a Primarch off his non-golden throne by the way of technological fuckery and death magic. Accidentally they chose to revive the one Primarch who was actually good at state-building and logistics, and unlike most of his brothers was actually sane to start with.

Well, now he’s still sane. And, which is rather new, deliciously bitchy. See, he returned to life, stood up from his bier-chair, massacred an entire army of Khornites by himself, went to talk to his Dead Emperor Dad, got hit in the face by Daddy Issues, massacred another army, got into a screaming match with his Evil Brother, forced useless supergolden supersoldiers to actually do something after 10k years on sitting on their asses, pulled some well-marinated super-supersoldiers from the basement of some creepy tech-person and went a-crusading. Only his version of a-crusading was suspiciously similar to taking a stroll with his closest buddies and stabilizing the realm. Only it took longer that six months in this case. 112 years long, to be precise. At the end of which he went back to his own his own province... in order to defend it from a Chaos incursion courtesy of the local Plague God and another Evil Brother.

That’s tough, buddy, one might say and they would be completely right. What gets me about this plotline is not the novelty of somebody actually doing some good on a galaxy-wide scale and being a decent person about it (which by local standards means not killing one’s own and choosing to actually heal the sick instead of bombing their planets from the orbit). I knew that would happen the moment I saw which Primarch got revived. What gets me is how internally bitchy the guy gets about it, although in a rather stoic way. And I don’t blame him. If I was a part of a group project, did about half of the work by myself, saw that project implode by no fault of my own, then managed to salvage some of it, then chose to sacrifice myself to save that small salvaged scrap, hoping that everything would turn out okay once the new team took over... and then woke up to find that project utterly fucked in ways thay I could have never imagined with myself being the only competent project manager around, I would be bitchy too.

Not to mention that poor guy has to deal with 24/7 physical pain as well as the realization that Big Emperor Daddy never loved any of his sons, only seeing them as tools and only allowing them to believe in this whole family bullshit for his own gain. Big Daddy told him so mind-to-mind. Yay.

Also, people are now insisting that Big Daddy is God Daddy and he himself is the Son of God. Something he would very much like to keep denying, but he can’t, because the whole bloody Empire he’s so desperately trying to save is now powered by a fanatical horror of a religion, one dangerously prone to mass-murder and causing planetary exctinction events. And they are thiiiiis close to calling him a heretic, despite technically being the Son of God.

Oh, and apparently technology went backwards. Backwards and sideways! So bloody sideways that it’s a matter of course to have flying loudspeakers shaped like golden cherubs... made using baby corpses. As in corpses of actual babies. Tasteless and not even well-crafted, ugh. The architecture is pretty unrecognizable too with all the unnecessary things piled on top of other unnecessary things.

You’d think that that was enough, right? Yeah, no. The guy also hasn’t properly slept in 112 years! Which, okay, GMO-demigod, but still.

Kill me now, but I enjoyed Dark Imperium. A lot. More than I remember ever enjoying a WH40K novel, which is curious, since this one is still a wordy awkward dredge, even if a rather lovely one, and my taste should have drastically improved since the times of old. I guess the next one for me is going to be The Regent’s Shadow. You see, I would really like to see the batshit insane oligarchs of Terra try to pull one on a guy who got into non-bloody empire-building at fourteen. Boring he may be, stupid he is not.

Wrapping this rather random rant up - I do think that the 8th and 9th editions of Warhammer 40.000 (2017 and 2020) were a breath of fresh air, at least lore-wise. Will have to do some research as to how the actual rules might have changed, but it really doesn’t matter since I was always more of a lore-gal anyway. It’s also, I think, a great moment to actually get into this thing, since there is a dynamic, galaxy-scale, linear plotline to follow. Which, let me tell you, is not something that happens all that often. But please, please, please don’t get into this thing!

#WH40K is still terrible but also terribly epic #very much not rebel princess #although Guilliman is the only sane decent guy #who takes active steps to unfuck the Empire #and cares about little people #he's still no unusually uxorious Jesus Christ #also Xiao Qi is not a three meters tall vat-grown demigod #not sure if that's a pity or not #not sure why I wrote this post #screaming into the void I guess

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skunts-own-truth · 5 years

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Let’s Talk Guy Haley’s “Dark Imperium.”

Damn, feels like a long time since I’ve finished a book. Last one I gave my all to was Josh’s “Soul Wars.” I did try my hand at the Witcher novels, but book one didn’t really feel like the end of a book- SO, yes, let’s shift over to Dark Imperium:

Chapters 1-3 are a beautiful work of art. I’ve personally read these chapters around eight times now, out loud, fully acting it out with friends and family, on audio and to myself. If you are not aware, these three chapters make up the death of Roboute Guilliman at the hands of the daemonic traitor Fulgrim. My recommendation is to read this with your eyes. The audiobook is actually pretty swell, but it misses a beat with how Fulgrim is read. I honestly can’t say much more to you about this, just, please. Read this. It is a condensed look at the Imperium, the Galaxy as a whole, the nature of conflict in an uncaring universe, and the life and death of a son who has lost everything. It is Gods and Monsters at its finest, and is a world apart from anything else in this pretty good book.

Now, on to everything else:

I will not be reviewing this novel, no. That’s not my intent, so know now I enjoyed it. I can tell you I found myself a little bored from time to time, especially with scenes that were clear set up for the sequel novel “Plague War,” but, but despite that this book is very much worth a read. No, review is not my intent. I want to talk about characters and events as shown in this novel.

Guilliman, Lord Regent of Terra, Commander, the living Primarch, and to some: a true Demi-god and Living Saint. I loved him. I truly, truly loved Guilliman. He stole the show, entirely so, even in his own book. If Guilliman was on screen, you were damn near mystified. THIS, this is how a primarch is written. It feels completely different from the stoic man I knew from the Heresy.

He’s grown so much, and lost so much of himself. He’s tired, old, so very sad, and so very angry. You see Guilliman make some very bold moves in this book: outright making a new organization to undo the damage against history the Inquisition has done. Outright oppose the Codex Astartes, drag the Sisters of Silence and Custodes into the light of day, gives his active support a madman who would play Emperor with his biocraft, curses everyone and everything around him for not doing more. Guilliman has awoke to his worst nightmare: true ignorance, true stagnation, and a terrible regime that spits in the face of everything human he had once believed in.

You can feel it. His rage is barely contained, it’s right at the surface even as he’s a clever, kind politician to some, and a father to others. He’s so over it all, yet, he can’t let it stand like this. His Imperium, humanity’s destiny, done in by his father’s lies and his brother’s treachery. He will not back away, he will rise up against ignorance, and take the mantle of Regent and Lord- but in doing so, I see him damn himself.

Guilliman is no fool. He’s not Magnus, not by a long shot. Yet, a lot of his decisions throughout the book seem to lack an awareness for how truly terrible things have gotten. He uses his autocratic power to go over the heads of 10,000 years worth of stagnation, and you see it infuriate. You watch people yell, protest, and look on in horror as a man they once prayed to as a saint breaks their rules and traditions without thought: some of which people believed he even came up with. This is, I admit, only a small part of the book... but it was important. It was a view of an Imperium who may, eventually, ignore the near god-like presence of a Primarch and say “No.” when that day comes, I don’t think Guilliman will be ready for it.

Before I move on, let me just say I love that Guilliman spent a hundred damn years trying to make Cato learn what a joke is. He tried so hard, and got so far, my friends.

Cawl will be my next subject, and damn... Haley, if you ever read this, my dude, I beg you and the Black Library to let you do a Cawl novel series. Look, everyone, after reading this and Wolfsbane, I am smitten. Cawl has changed dramatically between novels, oh sure, but he’s still Cawl. Haley has made a remarkable character here, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time Guilliman was talking with the Cawl Inferior.

Something that drove me wild in that scene was Cawl overtly making two things clear: 1. He wants to be made Fabricator General, and 2. He wants to use both the traitor legion geneseeds AND the two lost Legion geneseeds to swell the ranks of Primaris. He makes a damn good argument for the seeds, I’ll say, but the Primarch says a firm “NO.” Oh well, I love the mental image of loyal Emperor’s Children meeting their ancient, twisted kinsmen.

Out of everyone, though, you know what perspective hit me the hardest? The single view I was most interested in was Calgar’s, which... I wasn’t expecting. He shows up near the end of the book, and two or three chapters are centered around him, his relationship to the Primarch and his relationship to his realm. Those chapters are... golly, I don’t want to spoil much, but... I would never have expected this reaction from him.

Haley did something phenomenal with this book. He brought a Primarch into 40k and didn’t make it some huge, gritty civil war in the Imperium. He didn’t make the Imperium roll over and perfectly accept Guilliman’s rule, no. He made it feel alive, natural even.

It was beyond interesting reading about such an uncertain time, in a future that was set in stone only a few years before. 40k and Guy have truly breathed life into not only reading about Primarchs, but reading about the Imperium, about Chaos, and even war. I was engrossed, and I could barely put the book down at times because I needed to see what new things and new concepts were just around the corner!

Guilliman has a damn crisis of faith about his father, for God’s sake! That’s something I never expected, not once, and that’s just it: we could have always picture what would happen if Guilliman or the Emperor woke up. I’ve talked about this sorta thing endlessly with friends, and never would I have guessed it would be written so... well, WELL.

Guilliman is a man of logic and reason thrown into an illogical, ignorant future. That is his hell, my friends, and I highly recommend watching this man attempt to fix hell itself.

I fear I can’t say more without giving out any big spoilers, so I urge you to check it out. If you like Nurgle, there is some CHOICE Nurgle scenes in this book. Ku’gath, Mortarion, and Typhus all show up for a bit, and their conversation together is a must-read if you feel anything about the Death Guard. Spoiler: Typhus calls Mort a “Trophy,” and burns his ass with some of the harshest disses I have ever read in Warhammer.

Damn, Guy... you wrote a book. I’m glad I already have the second one, ‘cus I am not in the mood to wait for more of this. Let’s get reading!

#warhammer #40k #warhammer 40k #wh40k #Dark Imperium

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xenosgirlvents · 7 years

Text

The ‘Primarch’ Effect

And finally I found the time to finish this draft. I am so dead after this xD

Let me just put a disclaimer up here first: I’m not at any point suggesting, implying, saying or meaning that I hate the Primarchs and won’t them all gone or removed or such. I’m talking about specifics I strongly dislike about their manifestation as characters in the narrative, not mechanics, of the Warhammer 40k narrative universe.

So then lets start with the obvious point, namely that I’m about to out myself as being part of some teensy-tiny part of the current 40k Narrative fanbase (and I use that distinction since I know there are, and that’s perfectly fine, many people who mostly care about the game. I’m the reverse though so I’m just talking about the story here) who doesn’t heavily focus on Primarchs, their relationships, the Emperor or people connected to Primarchs.

When I think about when I began getting into Warhammer, there was even Fantasy back then, Primarchs were not 90% of almost all discussion about 40k’s narrative. Today Primarchs are insanely popular, easily 80% of all Fluff discussion about 40k has something to do with a Primarch (and the remaining 20% is like 8% Emperor, 6% Chaos Gods, 4% other humans and 2% Other) or stuff relating to Primarchs. I mean Primarchs have become so influential and popular that GW’s even bringing them back into the main game’s narrative to benefit off that popularity. No doubt a lot of this has to do with the Horus Heresy getting its own extensive book series and side game (is it even a side game? That sounds like I’m implying its small which I don’t feel is right).

So what is the ‘effect’ in ‘Primarch’ effect even refering to?

At its heart its talking about the way the Primarchs render every other factions characters either irrelevant or second-tier by making it that a single group, the Primarchs, occupy the top slots in everything.

To use an easy analogy; if you’re familiar with Dragon Ball Z and, now, Dragon Ball Super you’re probably also familiar with the way the story tends to make Saiyans who are main characters stronger than anyone else, with non-Saiyan good guy rivals like Tien or Piccolo quickly fading away into relative meaninglessness before unstoppable march of moar Saiyans and moar Saiyan forms.

In the same vein Primarchs are a top all the other characters in the 40k setting, the vast majority of the time. In DBZ/DBS we do, at least, usually get non-Saiyan antagonists stronger than other Saiyans (Frieza/Cell/Majin Buu) whereas in 40k even the strongest Bad Guys tend to be Primarchs.

So we get this effect where all the strongest everythings and everyones, all the best characters at everything, in the narrative are all from the exact same group; Primarchs. The few exceptions which do occur are either the Emperor, a character I have my own problems with which I’ll discuss some other time, or once-off entities like Drach’yen or the Beast who’s power is poorly examined, difficult to gauge, and practically never exist outside of small isolated cases.

Whilst it was all in the Horus Heresy it...bothered me still, sure, but I was content to ignore it since it wasn’t in the narrative of actual 40k yet. Despite my desperate desire for Phoenix Lords to be comparable to Primarchs I knew that obviously a comparison of Phoenix Lords with Horus Heresy Primarchs would end up looking like one Primarch could solo all the Phoenix Lords, but I could pretend it wasn’t so cause it wasn’t like Primarchs were ever going to show up in main 40k (or if they did it’d just be to show off how cool a loyalist Marine is by having him humiliate and beat said Daemon Primarch)? That wouldn’t happen right?

But of course it did/has happened and, judging by everything, is going to continue to happen.

So now we’re confronted with the stark reality of the effect, with no non-Primarch character being anywhere near as powerful or important as a Primarch unless they’re in a supporting role ala Yvrainne (cause making the female protagonist’s role being healing and support is not at all an overused trope). So what do those factions without Primarchs in the narrative do?

Well mostly they die in droves to make Primarchs look cool (Orks/Tyranid/Astra Militarum) or they work for Primarchs (Eldar/Aeldari) or they barely feature at all (Tau/Necron).

In Hand of Darkness we already even get Eldrad and Yvrainne practically treating Roboute as their superior, which makes sense for Eldrad since he’s never been able to achieve anything without a Space Marine holding his hand, but seemed strangely out-of-character for Yvrainne. But he’s a Primarc so what do? I mean Rise of the Primarch already explicitly just spells out that Slaanesh and his/her/they/its minions are literally more interested/concerned with Roboute’s return than with Ynnead.

This has all been in a general sense, who has the most agency in the narrative, wields the most power, wins the most fights and so on and so forth. But even if we get specific the effect continues to rear its head;

Who’s the best Psyker of the characters currently moving about in 40k? Magnus. A Primarch.

Best Commander? Roboute. A Primarch.

Best Warrior? Probably Angron. A Primarch.

If we talk about the Primarchs as a whole, so not just the ones currently around, we can also then mention the fact that Lorgar’s the greatest Chaos Prophet ever, despite their being Daemon Princes like Belakor and more besides with millions of more years spent in the service of the Chaos Gods. Jaghati’s definitely gonna be a better pilot than any Eldar ever will be, Corvax is stealthier than any Eldar, Angron’s more ferocious than any Ork, the gear forged by Ferrus and Vulkan eclipses the weapons seen being wielded by people like Imotekh and the Phoenix Lords significantly.

They are just the best. Only once you’ve gone through them all do you even begin getting to the characters from any other faction. You end up with Xenos being beaten in all the things they’re supposed to be best at, and all the top leaders of Chaos and the Imperium just being the same identical group of men (it doesn’t help, I’ll admit, that a side effect of this is that practically all the top leaders of the Imperial and Chaos side are all men now as a result of the Primarchs being a mono-gendered group).

But is what it is, I don’t expect it to change, one of the things the Primarchs are even built on now is practically that the only other characters who can threaten/challenge them are other Primarchs. They’ve killed the top characters of a lot of factions already; Ghazghkull’s nowhere near strong enough an Ork Warboss to fight them and he’s meant to be the single strongest Ork alive since the Beast. Avatar’s of Khaine jobbed to them just as they job to everyne, the Yncarne can’t even beat Ahriman let alone a Primarch, no Tau, Phoenix Lord or Dark Eldar’s ever gonna be allowed to be that strong. Nids don’t have a chance, their best Special Character, the so-called pinnacle of Tyranid combat evolution, can’t even win a 1-on-1 with Marneus. Necron really don’t do too well in combat either. Greater Daemons, like the Avatar of Khaine, die to make Primarchs look cool, they don’t actually win fights.

So yeah. It is a pity, a legitimate pity, but also something I was sure was going to happen if Primarchs were ever introduced back into the narrative in 40k. The Yncarne at the outset was made quite explicitly weaker than Guilliman so that’s the only chance the Eldar/Aeldari had at a character who might be Primarch level. There just isn’t much that I can see ever challenging this, the status quo of Primarchs being better than all the other faction’s special characters, of relegating everyone to always just be a matter of competing for the sub-Primarch tier and such.

Particularly its a pity that the factions which are meant to have specific hats they excel at; Ork ferociousness, Eldar Psychic, Tau Strategic planning, Necron Artifice, Dark Eldar Pilots and such will always be at best second to whatever Primarch also dabbles in that field.

So now I prepare for the inevitable murdering for criticising Primarchs as a whole and not just one particular one because of personal feelings. I know Primarchs are a rather sensitive topic so I’ve gone ahead and prepared myself in case.

Oh, also, to those aggrieved Chaos fans who can, quite rightly, point out ‘But Magnus lost to Bjorn’ and ‘Angron got beaten by 100 Grey Knights’ or ‘Mortarion got his heart taggedby Kaldor’ my anwser to you is; ‘yeah among the Primarchs obviously traitors still fare worse than loyalists, what story did you think you were reading?’

But I mean it mostly in jest, I understand how frustrating the ability of loyalist Marines to 9/10 times win everything in fluff can be.

#Warhammer 40 000 #Primarchs #This will end in blood I fear

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fuukonomiko · 7 years

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"You are my new pillow" Magnus and Roboute

"You are my new pillow."

Did she just hear him say that?

It was a very, vague mumble.

From a man who was nowhere near conscious.

Salvia had very sharp hearing, however. Her augmentations made sure of that.

They say that a man's lips are loosest when he is intoxicated or unconscious, mostly because his mind is not being filtered by wakefulness.

And given that the Primarch was both...well....

He shifted his head that was laying on her lap. His short, cropped hair felt like little spikes against the single layer of cotton that was her clothing, grazing against her thighs.

It was beginning to give her goosebumps.

How she ended up in this conundrum...being in the most important office of all of Macragge, on a couch with an exhausted, somewhat intoxicated Primarch asleep on her lap....

She can almost hear her servo skull laughing at her dilemma. (The only way a servo skull would of course...)

It began earlier that night when she had been called out of her quarters by one of the Tech Priests. The Lord Commander was asking if she had a spare hour to help with the Vox system in his office.

She remembered looking at the laundry, the ironing, and the pile of spare parts and tools on her assembly desk.

He was a hard man to say "No I've got things to do" to.

So she ended up here.

Lord Guilliman's personal vox was making all sorts of odd noises. He had specifically asked for her to come have a look. She had disassembled the offending item in less time than in took for him to read the piles of paperwork before him and take a few sips of a vile-smelling concoction from a wineglass on his desk.

"Does it need new parts?" he had asked, leaning a little too close over her shoulder, allowing her a whiff of his aftershave.

She swallowed, ignoring the effect of his proximity on her. "It appears the wirings are shorted, my Lord." she turned to speak to him but avoiding direct eye contact. "I suspect some liquid may have spilt in it."

From the smell of it, it would appear to have had a large amount of coffee had splashed inside the unit.

"I'm going to have to replace a number of components." she was about to stand up and take leave when she felt his fingers tug gently at the sleeve of her dress.

"It can wait." he said. "If you don't mind keeping me company for a little while?"

Once again she found herself unable to turn him down.

Not that she was averse to it of course. Truth be told her heart performed a few somersaults in her chest when he asked her to stay.

It was late. It was a weekend. Roboute Guilliman should be having fun somewhere, unwinding, taking a break.

But he wasn't. Far from it actually. He was in his office. Burning the candle at both ends. Like he always did ten millennia ago. Except back in the day he had his mother remind him that he should take a breather here and there because he was going to work himself to death.

He didn't have that luxury now, of course.

He looked up from the documents he was reading to see her remove the parts that needed replacing on his vox. He knew it had been a result him knocking his cup a few hours ago when he inadvertently nodded off from exhaustion. Normally he would've just let it sit until the morning after, as he had several other functioning units in his office. But he had her summoned anyway...mostly because he decided he needed some good company.

He smiled as he took another sip of the bitter wine that filled his wineglass. He had tried to use this concoction to keep him awake somewhat, as bad as the taste was.

But the effect was quite the opposite.

"Lord Guilliman?"

Salvia's voice very faintly registered as his head slumped forward on his desk.

Roboute can only hold it for so long.

"My Lord you need to rest." she said as she shook his massive shoulder. "Sleeping on your desk is no comfort."

He mumbled incoherently as he raised his sleepy head. "Perhaps." He sat up slowly, yawning, stretching and rubbing his tired eyes. "Can you help me to that seat?"

"Should you not be sleeping in your bedroom?" she asked as she pushed his chair aside so he can get out of it.

"I probably could." he said, laughing slightly. "Would you escort me to my chambers?"

She did not miss the teasing note in his voice.

"Roboute...."

He had taken but a few steps before slowly crashing unto the couch not far from his desk.

He had his arm around her shoulders as she assisted him.

And he pulled her right with him as he sank on the cushions.

Her back landed on there first, with him laying across her in perpendicular fashion.

Had she not been an augmented human she would have likely taken an injury from his weight.

Salvia inched away from her awkward position, trying to get out from under him, only stopping when she heard him speak those words.

"You are my new pillow."

She watched as he shifted into a comfortable position. Head on her lap, arms tucked in, his body somewhat curled.

He looked so relaxed.

Salvia found herself caressing his soft, golden tresses as she leaned back to get some rest herself.

She planted a soft kiss on his cheek before she gave in to the tolls of the day.

"Yes I am...for as long as you wish, my Lord."

Previous prompt inspired by a conversation with @menink0pe. Thank you for the idea ^_^!

FYI: This next drabble is NOT going to make sense. Not with the timeline, not with the canon. Not with anything. Lore be damned and all. Consider it an AU. I just happen to have a silly idea and ran away with it.

"You are my new pillow."

The Primarch laid his head on said abdomen.

It felt like laying on a stack of solid meat.

It had very little give.

"Isn't this supposed to be comfortable?" Roboute Guilliman observed as he tried to move his head certain ways. He turned left. RIght. Sideways.

"Okay stop." Magnus ordered as he put his massive hand on his brother's forehead. "Your curly mop is beginning to tickle. It's like being rubbed with a loofah."

"What in throne's name is a loofah?"

"I'm not entirely sure, it may have been a living animal at some point, but its now dead, dehydrated and used to exfoliate." The red Primarch explained as he pushed his brother's head aside.

Magnus had been laying on the grass, viewing the night sky when the other Primarch showed up.

"Exfoliate....did Fulgrim show you this with a floofen?" Roboute lifted his head slightly as he tried to find a softer spot to lay on his brother's belly. There seemed to be none as all parts of his torso felt like solid muscle.

"Loofah. Not floofen. Floofen is a term used for cat paws." Magnus corrected as he raised himself on his elbows, the other primarch still on his stomach.

"What on Terra are you trying to do, Roboute?"

"Trying to find a softer spot to put my head on. Did you not hear me call you my new pillow?"

"I did....but I have no soft spots. I am a mass of pure red, sinewy fibers." he explained to which the other Primarch chuckled lightly. "Do you want to test me or what?"

"What I'm trying to test is Karimah's comment." he explained. "She said you were her favorite thing to lay on because you're comfortable....so far I haven't found that to be true." he sat up and turned to his brother. "You're about as comfortable as a stack of bricks."

But that wasn't what turned Magnus' red ears even redder. "Why are you talking to my Habibti about laying on me???"

"Oh she didn't tell that to me." Roboute shrugged. "She told Salvia....who mentioned it to me. I guess women talk about that stuff."

Magnus palm found his face as he shook his head. "I don't think I want to hear the rest of the conversation."

"But I'm curious now, who scrubbed you with a loofah?" asked the Ultramarines Primarch.

"That is none of your business!" Magnus barked as he covered his face.

"Probably Fulgrim. Only he thinks of that grooming regimen. I'm surprised Ferrus never picked up on it. He could use a trim here and there." he said thoughtfully.

"Here. You can be my pillow." Magnus said as he mentally pushed the other primarch down not so gracefully and rested his head on his brother's abdomen.

"You're heavy." Roboute complained. "And your damn hair tickles." he said as he tried to brush the long, red, mane away from his face where it spread like a blanket. "Do you do this to Karimah? Because I swear you would either suffocate her with your weight or your hair. Probably both."

"She knows how to handle me." Magnus said as he pressed the back of his head onto the other Primarch. "You provide no comfort either. It's about as pleasant as laying on a bag of cement."

"Salvia would beg to differ."

"She's too kind, that young woman. You better treat her right."

"Why would I not?"

"Because Karimah will kick you if you don't." Magnus sighed. "Trust me she has the spikiest heels in all of the Imperium."

Roboute pushed Magnus off his lap as the two brothers lay side by side, gazing at the night sky.

"I suppose we can conclude neither of us is going to make a very good pillow." Roboute thought out loud.

"Nope. How they could put up with us amazes me." Magnus chuckled.

"It must've been something in our geneseed that makes us tolerable."

"It didn't work on everybody."

"If I were a Psyker right now I would completely read your mind on who you are referring to....and find out who scrubbed you with that Loofah."

"Remind me to send you a box of it on your birthday....so you can see how its texture rivals that mop on your head."

From the campsite below Salvia was waving her hand at the two Primarchs signalling that dinner was ready.

"Good, I'm hungry." Magnus stood up first and assisted his brother up. "Is she a good cook?"

"The best. You should try the fish. Its almost as good as my Mother makes it."

"Almost?"

"Don't tell her I said that."

"Karimah would tell her probably, she can read your mind."

"Next time we go camping I'm bringing the sisters of Silence." the Ultramarines Primarch snorted.

"As opposed to the small army of bodyguards you already have?"

"Can't help it, they're very protective."

"Let's just enjoy the rest of this trip." Magnus shook his head laughing as the two brothers descended down the hill for the small feast that awaits them.

Also, there is a Magnus x Karimah prompt. The reason I don’t have it posted here is because I am waiting for something special to come with it. It will be posted sometime next week. Indulge with this for now. ^_^

More prompts coming soon whether anyone likes it or not

@mrsdorn @melody-chii @menink0pe @the-fluffy-underbelly

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sonoffenris · 7 years

Note

Another idea: what would the Primarchs have done with themselves if they were still scatted, and scatted to their canon homeworlds, but the Emperor never came into any of their lives? How do you think they would be different and what they would do with lives that were all theirs, not the Emperor's in any real way?

Oh man, this is a big ‘un. Admittedly, I don’t know the lore well enough for many of them to give a completely accurate idea of this? But I’ll try. Also keep in mind that the primarchs are functionally immortal, so what I say will be the relatively short sighted future for them.

I Lion El’Jonson: The Beasts have been eradicated, the Order is the only knightly order that still exists. Caliban is at peace, allowing the disparate towns to link and intermingle. Lion is the leader of Caliban. He is very martial and his word is law, although most often that leads to more good than ill. Technology advances rapidly and before long Lion is on his own Great Crusade.

II Redacted

III Fulgrim: Fulgrim had already brought the world from the edge of destruction back to real civilization before the Emperor showed up. Under his rule, Chemos and it’s population continue to flourish and eventually, they get to the space travel level and reunite lost pocket’s of humanity, so long as they kneel to Fulgrim (who is so perfect that most just do it.)

IV Perturabo: Eventually Perturabo is able to raise and train an army to overthrow the tyrant’s that rule Olympia. His rule is harsh and unforgiving (this is the guy that decimated his legion bye lots when he took control) but works like a well oiled machine. Quickly advances to space travel but Perturabo doesn’t exactly inspire loyalty and his worlds regularly revolt, greatly slowing his progress through the stars.

V Jaghatai Khan: Chogoris is different. The Khan united them to overthrow the cities, which they did, then more or less returned to their nomad, raider existence. I think that Jaghatai eventually disappears into hiding, and the plains riders completely return to their roots, including the inter-tribe warfare. I have trouble seeing him want to become the ruler he overthrew, so that’s about it. Until one of the other primarchs makes it to Chogoris...

VI Leman Russ: Similar to the Khan. Leman continues to lead the Russ, the separate tribes continue to fight, Fenris continues to be unstable. Eventually, one of the other primarchs shows up. Who knows from there.

VII Rogal Dorn: Already rules as Emperor of the Inwit Cluster. Continues to expand and fortify. Eventually encounters others. Wouldn’t be surprised if they fight, considering Dorn’s stubbornness and penchant for telling the truth as he sees it.

VIII Konrad Curze: “Unites” Nostamo under fear of death. Production increases but the slightest transgression is rewarded with death at the hands of the Night Haunter himself. Eventually gets into space travel but he can’t control any planet he isn’t physically on and is constantly ending uprisings. That said, what do his visions show him in a timeline where the Emperor doesn’t show up? Maybe he doesn’t try to expand at all, and Nostramo ends up in an era of peace held together by unimaginable terror.

IX Sanguinius: Sanguinius would probably be a fair and well loved leader, and his precognition would help rule. But he doesn’t want that position, as shown by Imperium Secundus. I can see him expanding his empire until he finds one of his brothers to rule in his stead, although he would be sure to make said brother treat his people right.

X Ferrus Manus: Rules his people but keeps them strong by allowing them to continue their traditional fighting. Quickly advances to space travel and expands his empire. On each new world, he ensures they’re strong enough to join him or destroys them. Eventually encounters others, and fights them to see who should rule.

XI Redacted

XII Angron: Escapes confinement and slavery with the other gladiators and dies in a last stand with them, but not before he guts the enemy forces. Potentially able to kill the rulers that kept him in chains before he dies. Seems pretty straight forward to me.

XIII Roboute Guilliman: Roboute already controls Macragge and is the best ruler anyone has ever had. Like, seriously, we’re talking about Roboute gorram Guilliman here. Eventually creates his own Empire. Best place in the galaxy to live. Willing to reunite with his brothers and strong enough to fight back against anyone who threatens his people, be they primarch or xenos. I dunno what else to say. Barring catastrophic misfortune, he would always have his relatively peaceful slice of the galaxy.

XIV Mortarion: Mortarion was unable to kill the final tyrant of Barbarus. He physically could not reach the tyrant, and if he couldn’t, his armies couldn’t. Maybe he is able to create stronger breathing systems and finally kills his adopted father. Either way, he leads his people peacefully. Maybe they have to beat back the occasional undead army, maybe not. I don’t see him leading his people into the stars quickly. I think Mortarion is happier living his life among the people of Barbarus than he was leading thousands of Adeptus Astartes.

XV Magnus: This is hard because Magnus knew about the Emperor. So, eventually he builds a ship and travels to Terra. Probably tries to convince the Emperor to reunite them all. If he does, the horusy goes down as it did normally. If not...I dunno, quite honestly. Maybe Magnus does it himself. Which probably wouldn’t end well anyway.

XVI Horus Lupercal: His time on Cthonia, if he was actually there at all, isn’t documented at all. Hell, we barely have any information on Cthonia itself, except what little is said by the Luna Wolves themselves. But I think it’s safe to say Horus rises to leading the planet, and gets into space relatively quickly. Probably finds Terra pretty fast too. Beyond that...it’s the same as Magnus really. Does he convince Emps to crusade or no? Does he do it himself or no?

XVII Lorgar Aurelian: He conquered his planet to worship the Emperor. Would he have done that if the Emperor was never going to show up? Doubtful. But he was a religious fanatic. So I could see him still conquering Colchis and then expanding, spreading his beliefs to new worlds. But I could see him relinquishing his control to one of his brothers, so long as they accepted his religion along with his people.

XVIII Vulkan: Was a leader of his people and helped to protect them from the Dark Eldar. That said, I think he was happy being a fairly unimportant member of the society. Really enjoyed creating things. So I could see him just living out his life until one of his brothers found him. Then who knows.

XIX Corvus Corax: This one is difficult because there is little to no information about how Corvus would rule over civilians. But I completely believe he would be compassionate and fair based on how he treated his sons. So I see him creating a strong and well run empire. Expanding over time. Maybe not the paradise that Roboute’s is but still a good place to live.

XX Alpharius Omegon: I don’t even know what to say. Where are they from? What was the planet like? Did they have space travel before Horus found them? No one knows. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This took a while and I hope it’s decent? Sorry if some of them don’t seem like I put a lot of thought, I really think Russ and the Khan are that similar in this scenario. And like...most of them would realistically build their own empires. And fight the other empires. It’s what they were made to do.

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