Horus Lupercal - Blog Posts

This story was written by the super talented and amazing @utterimmolation

"A Chance at Redemption."

The first thing Horus noticed was the quiet.

The Warp whispered, barked, *screamed* to him constantly these days. It was harder to hear himself anymore. The Gods told him secrets and truths, but his own thoughts became quieter and heavier. He was so much more nowadays, but there was a tiny gasp buried deep within that dared to murmur that he had only diminished.

He's gotten used to pushing that doubt away. The Gods assure him of the righteousness of his path, his legacy, his drive to see the False Emperor dashed from his ostentatious chair.

But here, on one of Etheria's twelve moons, standing across from his lone sister, his head is shockingly, disconcertingly ~~mercifully ~~, *quiet*.

The siblings study each other in silence for several moments. This is one of the least developed moons of the dozen, which is no doubt why Adora had chosen it. He briefly wonders if she had rigged it to blow or perhaps intends to repay him and his Sons in kind for Istvaan but dropping nuclear armaments from orbit but dismisses the idea. Adora can be surprisingly ruthless, but she would not dare risk damage to the moons and especially not Etheria and its people.

It is a character trait that makes her predictable but dangerous, much like Vulkan: their love of mortals makes them easy to maneuver, but strikes against them must be fast, hard and final, lest they rise again with greater and overwelming fury and unfortunately, that last part has proven remarkably difficult to overcome.

"You know why I am here," he finally breaks the silence.

Adora's mouth twists. "I do," she acknowledges.

"And?"

Adora takes a half step forward, her honor guard shadowing her every twitch, like children hiding behind their mother's skirts, unwilling to let her be parted from them. He hears Abaddon scoff quietly, his First Captain disgusted at the weakness he perceives.

Horus sees what it truly is. Love, beyond reason or doubt, beyond sense. The Sons of She-Ra love her, with such intensity that to lose her risks triggering a fury to rival that of Angron himself. Of course, perhaps that is not so surprising. The Slave of Nuceria hated so much only because he had once loved so fiercely and completely that its loss had stripped him of all humanity and rendered him little more than a beast.

"You come to me with a proposition. Let me give one instead: turn away from your Rebellion. Disavow the Chaos Gods. Disavow the Emperor. Disavow the butchers and sadists and monsters you've aligned yourself with. And stay here."

Horus blinks, surprised beside himself. An appeal to him hadn't been unexpected. An opportunity to be granted asylum had. "You would welcome me to Etheria?"

"You would have to pay penance. To even *begin* to pay for the crimes you've committed, the atrocities you've done... would take millenia. But you would be free and protected from both the Warp and the Emperor. I would stand with you. You could find redemption. Could help me build a universe of connectivity, communication...love. You could find peace." The Princess of Power slowly extended her hand. "You need only ask."

The voice that has been silenced and stifled for so long under the burning Gaze of Chaos is screaming at him now, louder than it's ever been. He is abruptly aware, for the first time in weeks, how grimy and heavy his armor feels, how hungry and thirsty and tired he feels. He...he cannot remember the last time he ate. Slept.

He looks past his sister, up at the distant glow of Etheria, and remembers the peace of the world. The smiles of children. The brotherhood of Space Marines, learning, training...living. He remembers being...happy.

He looks at his sister's hand, and his soul screams at him to take it.

He swings Worldbreaker instead.

It meets her golden shield in an explosion of rainbow Warp energy, and both Primarchs are pushed back several feet. Their respective sons stumble, and many fall.

Horus looks at her and sees only sadness and pity, and he feels a hate to rival that which he feels for his very Father.

Abaddon must give the order, as the Word Bearer ships and that of Etheria's fleet begin to fire at each other. Adora has her sword now and she's coming towards him but he ~~doesn't want to fight her~~ can't waste time now, not when the Emperor's gaze searches for him and Ultramar's fleets grow closer to reinforcing Terra.

He presses the teleporter on his belt and slams back into his quarters on the *Vengeful Spirit* only to fall to his knees as the protective aura of Etheria's territory disappears and the God's Gazes return to him with renewed focus and force. They see his doubts, his fears and they sooth him even as they shred at him for his impudence.

He does not know how long he kneels in his quarters, body, mind and soul wracked by agony. He only knows his fury is incandescent when a Son arrives to inform him the World Bearer fleet has been defeated and they are in-route to Mars. He dashes the Marine and two dozen serfs against the walls before the rages abates itself even slightly, and as he makes his way ti the bridge he promises himself this:

When the Emperor lies dead at his feet, he will return, with all of his forces, and lay waste to Etheria, until its seas run red, it's sky turns black and Adora's wife is nothing more than a new carpet before his bed.

--------

we're doomed by the narrative quick let's fuck nasty to subvert it

So I don't know why, or how, but I got my toxic yuri wires crossed! So here have the crossover/mix up au that is the Ochako Heresy

Okay, here's the first bit, I definitely want to draw more of this because it's a fantastic idea!

Alright! HoruSang time! Modern AU, either High School or University, take your pick, though I'd go with the former. Both Horus and Sanguinius are popular senior years, model students with exemplary performance. The two are practically inseparable, and it's not a secret that the two are extremely close and value each other. Both boys are put on the pedestal and represent both their family and their school, so, there's an image to uphold. While Horus has difficulty trying to live up to the expectations, Sanguinius is having difficulty with maintaining it. While Horus has pretty basic and normal "guy interests", Sanguinius is different. He loves art, poetry, singing, which while is considered "soft and feminine" are still seen as normal and appropriate for a boy. However, when Sanguinius was introduced to goth culture things... changed. On one hand, he was instantly in love with how beauty clashed with the macabre. He learned more and more until he eventually stumbled upon the phenomenon of "gothic lolita fashion". He couldn't resist it, those girls in such pretty dresses... He wanted to dress like that. Horus found out about his brother's newfound interest pretty soon, Sanguinius told him practically right away, and while he was taken aback and confused at first, he still accepted his brother and helped him. When Sanguinius finally dressed the way he wanted to, Horus went from "accepting" to "supportive". Very, very supportive. He couldn't deny just how beautiful, if not hot, Sanguinius looked like in a long frilly dress, curly pigtails and a bright happy smile on his face. Little by little, they developed the routine in which Sanguinius could freely express himself without worrying about his image. That is, he pretends to be Horus' friend who is from a different school that he met one day. Horus and this cute goth "girl" were often seen together in places the former usually visited with his brother: park, cafes, city's library, shops, pet stores. Some people began to speculate that, perhaps, something happened and the two brothers had a falling out. Other's however deduced that this goth "girl" must be Horus' girlfriend! It's obvious, is it not? The thing that finally broke the close brotherly bond... was young love! The rumors spread and while everyone questioned how such a normal guy like Horus could be interested in someone like that girl, most people figured it was the case of "opposites attract". The news have also reached the father of the boys', who, for the most part, seemed... okay with it. Occasional teasing reminders to "wrap it up" were embarrassing for Horus, but, he could tolerate it. It was for Sanguinius, after all, anything to make his brother happy. Sure, the rumors are embarrassing to them, but, they both should've seen them coming. It's not ideal, but, it's tolerable. After all, those are just rumors, they're not, like actually into each other and dating... right? Bonus: For the fem!HoruSang, because I was curious how this would work for two girls, instead of two boys. I think Sanguinia would still be the crossdresser, a true bifauxnen, and still goth. She would dress up in the Gothic boystyle/dandy fashion. She and Hathor would still be going out places, but this time, the rumors about Hathor dating a cute goth "guy" would spread much faster than in the original scenario. Why? Sanguinia can't stop acting like a shoujo love interest, being so princely and affectionate with Hathor, making the poor girl red as a beet. When Hathor asks her to control herself, Sanguinia just cocks her head and says that the way she is acting right now is in no way different than how she normally acts. What changed, Hathor? You're not in love with this prince like appearance, are you?

Well, a different couple were gonna be next, but then I read a little vampire yuricest post, and it really inspired me to make this comic.

I feel you all knew that Hathor and Sanguina would be paired together, but I couldn't quite get what I wanted to do. But hey, it all worked out!

I hope those of you who do enjoy these posts of mine enjoy this one cause I'm pretty proud of it!

I love how the line work turned out on this one!

Luna Wolves doodles (bonus Abaddon freshing up his roots before the 13th black crusade)

When you reached for more, he left you on the floor

EVERYBODY DO THE DINOSAUR

More notebook doodles, now with more space marine booty and old skeletons.

Reblogging because my response has become too long to put in the replies:

I don't think many people view the traitor primarchs as irredeemable, and I think the number among people who are well-versed in Horus Heresy lore is even smaller. They are, from the beginning, tragic characters. They certainly have their damning characteristics (namely hypocrisy), but they aren't really presented as irredeemable--we even have explicit statements regarding redemption for two of them (Big E says Mortarion can be redeemed in Godblight, and he outright forgives Horus in The End and the Death Vol III). I don't entirely agree with your interpretations, however. I don't think any of them are irredeemable (at least, not due to their own actions), but I think they miss some key details.

For all Angron claimed to be standing against oppression, he spent over a century expanding the Emperor's (extremely oppressive) regime. There's no moral purity shit here, either--Angron is pretty open about how he hates serving the Emperor even as he reduces worlds to ash in his name. What you said about Mortarion also applies to Angron, because of the Butcher's Nails. He was denied the chance to die with his family on Nuceria, and for the remainder of his life before daemonhood, the one thing he wants to do is die. And then Lorgar takes that away from him.

Mortarion's fall is because, first and foremost, he cared about his sons. Typhus brought the legion to Nurgle's garden, and infected them with the Destroyer Plague. Mortarion fell to Nurgle because he wanted to end their pain. Mortion is also a hypocrite. Like Angron, for all his claims of hating tyranny, he still expanded a tyrant's domain for a century and a half. (Corvus Corax is also on this list, but this is about traitor primarchs, not loyalist)

Magnus' guilt is very hotly debated among the community, and both sides have a point. On the one hand, he did the best thing he could with the information he had available. On the other hand, he was incredibly cocky, and did not have a concept of restraint. He believed he was in control, and he was too confident in that belief. (Side note: I despise the troupe of super powers being a stand-in for being queer (or any minority of any kind, for that matter)).

Fulgrim never said "fuck it, I'll have fun". His fall to Slaanesh was driven by his belief that, after killing Ferrus Manus, he was irredeemable. He's an addict; he isn't trying to have fun, he's trying to forget reality.

Everybody agrees that Big E mishandled Lorgar, and that's the most favorable interpretation for him. His argument on why he isn't a god is literal abuser language ("If I was a god, I'd use my psychic powers to force you all to kneel before me, like this" before using his psychic powers to force all of the Word Bearers to kneel before him). And all this ignores the shit Kor Phaeron did to him.

Horus is the spoiled rich white boy of the primarchs. He didn't fall because he was lost because dad was doing everything for him beforehand, he fell because he saw a vision of the future where he wasn't given the credit he thought he deserved. And then, like anybody else who grew up being told the world would be at their feet, he lost it. There's other issues as well, such as taxes (Terra wanted to impose heavy tithes on newly conquered worlds, which Horus opposed because it would cause them to rebel), but "gee, maybe I'm not ready" was never an issue.

Alpharius and Omegon believed that they knew the Emperor's plans better than he did, and threw in their lot with the traitors because they thought that if the traitors won, it would mean the end for Chaos.

Perturabo is someone who chose to suffer in silence and hope things would magically change. He never complains, and then is shocked when things don't go his way. I'm fairly sure he's also the primarch that people find the most relatable.

Konrad Curze was certainly mentally ill, and he was certainly denied the help and support that he needed, but I don't think he was abused because of it. He's also the kind of person who thought that if you publicly lynched enough jaywalkers, crime would go down, and that the Emperor sending an assassin to kill him because he committed treason and genocide was vindication for his belief that any crime warrants being skinned alive as a punishment.

They may not be irredeemable, but their hands are fare from clean.

I love how much of warhammer 40k is clearly a bunch of white dudes sitting around, thinking up the worst shit imaginable and going "thank god that could never happen to me, the cishet white guy"

angron is a one for one depiction of slavery, yet is painted as the bad guy for wanting to stand against oppression

mortarion is disabled and constantly has his decisions taken away from him by able bodied people only to be seen as moody and uncooperative

magnus is gay or trans or both. literally a guy blamed for something he was born with that he cannot control and told you're bad if you explore this part of yourself. also you're illegal now

fulgrim was actively encouraged to pursue perfection, despite never being good enough for others. he pushed any personal pleasure aside for an uncaring crusade and then is demonized for saying "fuck it, I'll have fun"

lorgar. also known as "this is why you don't abuse your kids"

horus is the golden child who's sent out into the world by himself only to find out Gee, Maybe I'm Not Ready because good ol dad did everything for him then told him "figure it out lol"

alpharius omegon are the autistic kids who don't understand why pops is doing this, maybe we should do things a little different than "blood soaked crusade"

perturabo is the burnout middle kid who did everything to impress his father only to be told "that's what's expected of you" who then got mad since acting out was the only way he got attention

konrad curze has a mental disorder. and is abused because of it

all of these characters were so close to being some of the best representation for minorities we could get in media only for gw to eat shit right at the finish line because they can't commit to an actual story. and it's amazing just how little these writers understand that the things they depict are all real things that people suffer through every day, and are demonized for every single day, especially when we are told these characters are irredeemable and should be destroyed, no questions asked