#astro_library

[astrohymn]

reading . . .

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⸻ night lords , my edgy heart

next book on my emperor's children reading list is the path of heaven , but my brain needed a break from lengthy novels . so i decided to shuffle over to the night lords side of things to read some of their heresy short stories .

i'm uhm . . . wow . i knew i was going to like the night lords . ever since i read my first sevatar x reader fic on here , i knew . still did NOT prepare me . i recently finished a lesson in darkness & abyssal edge , currently reading the conquerors truth .

... there was a detachment about Curze. He directed my gaze to the view with a finger and stood behind me, one hand resting lightly on the back of my neck. There was no movement, no caressing, and I felt oddly safe with the weight of that armoured glove pressing against the curls of my hair.

i'm sorry , what !? this is written for me . help . i know it's most likely an intimidation tactic , nothing about curze is supposed to be soothing . regardless , gib . i want that

‘I did not say that you asked to be here, I said that you wanted to be.’ Curze released his hold and stepped back. My breath exited in a gasp of relief though I hadn’t realized I had been holding it in. ‘You crave this, Ennylin.’ ⸻ gav thorpe

war isn't the only thing she craves WHEEZE !!!! sorry , projected a little bit there . i'm losing my mind . gore , violence , i was expecting those things . cheeky night lords picking on a smol remembrancer ? not what i was expecting . personal space , who ? don't know her .

i also have a lot to say about sevatar & ahriman's interaction in abyssal edge , but i'll save that for another time . both boys in a room together made the happy chemicals go buzz buzz . sorry ahriman , i love you pookie but sevatar won .

[astrohymn]

Nyos Yllithian & his conspirator homies crashing out.

El'Uriaq :

[ Path of the Renegade spoilers below ]

i both loved and hated El'Uriaq ( / not El'Uriaq ). that last supper, oh my goodness. fantastic stuff. i'm hooked, the drukhari & their lore is addicting. i really enjoyed the fae references, especially in El'Uriaq's domain.

ngl, it was cathartic to watch Kraillach & Xelian fall. every minute of Nyos' anxiety toward the end was icing on the cake for me. i enjoyed all three characters, don't get me wrong, but there was a poetry in their fall.

ALSO !!! i just started Path of the Incubus. ya'll told me i'd like Motley, but no one told me about his grumpy cat bestie Morr !!! i love this duo so much. & i wasn't expecting to see this much Motley after his brief appearances in Path of the Renegade. very happy rn.

i wonder if Nyos survived? guess i'll read to find out !! ♡ i hope so.

[astrohymn]

i feel bad for shang . he had the potential to be one of the more empathetic night lords and it stings how sevatar's words ring true .

‘ I’m doing my duty, too. The amusing thing is the way we regard our duties so differently, when they should be the same. That is because you are wrong. History will vindicate me, Shang. You will feature only a little in its pages. ’ - sevatar , the night haunter

spoilers for The Night Haunter and The Painted Count

shang tried to save nostramo , he tried to care for his father , his legion , and he tried to pick up the broken pieces he was left at the end of it all . only for none of it to have mattered . he was an afterthought in the grand scheme of things and little of him is mentioned in the text .

his duel and death in the painted count was so anticlimactic . it was a glorious moment for skraivok , but shang .. poor shang . man really got the shite end of the stick .

i have a lot of thoughts on skraivok . don't get me wrong , i love this little trash fire of a man , but WOW . this post isn't about him . i might make a second one ranting about skraivok lol . ( a loving rant , because he's hilarious )

also , in the night haunter ..

i can't shake the mental image of curze , shang and sevatar huddled around a little TV watching bad quality security footage of menial murders , trying to figure out who done it . all while a cauldron of claws , talons and kyroptera bicker behind them .

malcharion : ‘ can't we zoom and enhance the footage ? ’ shang : ‘ THERE IS NO ZOOM AND ENHANCE !! ’ malithos ‘ its obviously a shadow that did it ’ krieg & krukesh ‘ lol what , ya'll don't hunt your lower deck menials for sport ? ’ curze . . . . 100 % fed up with his legion, contemplating war crimes . sevatar too tired for this . war crimes don't sound too bad . how does he know what dad wants ? he just does .

[astrohymn]

reading . . .

the unremembered empire , i have this one on audio so i get to listen to it on my commute to work . it's also the next on my night lords reading list ! i'm reading it along side a thousand sons , but chances are i'll finish this one first .

i know konrad doesn't show up for a while , so until then i get to spend some much needed time with guilliman . i love the fanfiction version of him and was worried he would be boring in the books . i am happily mistaken .

i already adore how he puts everything down to give his full attention to his mum and often compares the emperor to guilli!dad , not the other way around . you can see how much he respects both tarasha and konor . it isn't something i'm used to with primarchs and so far it's a breath of fresh air . rip guilli!dad .

it could just be this author , but roboute has a very animated way about him . you really get a sense for how he's feeling in his expressions and lip movement . i also find his inner monologues one of the easiest to digest . i don't know if that's weird or not .

the ways they describe his smile hits different " guilliman’s smile was as bright and sharp as the white scar’s blade " is one i like a lot .

i also was not expecting him to be so saucy .

"Faffnr Bludbroder ," said Guilliman , "do you really think that your pack could take me down ?" Faffnr shrugged . "Perhaps not . You are Jarl Guilliman and your prowess is the stuff of saga . But we have our duty , and we would try . If you were , say , without your bodyguard and cornered in a room with us –" "My dear Faffnr , then you would be cornered in a room with me ." – The Unremembered Empire

i can see why corvus both respected and was exhausted by guilliman . i also realize i've been spelling his first name wrong this whole time , omg . ૮꒰ “ . . ꒱ა

[astrohymn]

reading pharos , i just got to sanguinius & curze's meeting in the throne room . they've got me craving a planet swap AU . or maybe i just want a nostraman sanguinius . give me the dark angel , he who thirsts ! i want this man feral and sadistic ; prowling around like the perfect predator he is . would he lure you in with a smile , or bare his fangs right away ? either way , i'm in .

has anyone written this ? if so , pls gib so i can read . i'll love you forever .

also damn you krukesh for not saving sevatar . he was right there ! being all submissive and breedabl- I MEAN WHAT ?

The occupant was a Space Marine, Nostraman at that, with the pale skin of all their kind. A metal gag circled the lower part of his face. About his neck was a collar. His arms were manacled behind him. Multiple chains ran from his bindings to hooks set in the floor, four from his collar alone. He was forced into a crouch that must have been agonising to hold. His hair was unkempt, half hanging over a face that was spattered with clots of driedblood. - Pharos, Guy Haley

gagged sevatar , kinda hot . what if he let reader muzzle him ? just once after they won a bet . eheh !

probably me huffing copium , but i really hope he survived or escaped into 40k . i like the grey knight theory i've seen floating around and i would love some 40k sevatar x reader content .

[astrohymn]

reading . . .

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⸻ vengeful spirit && my thoughts on horus

the deeper into the heresy lore i go , the more my heart breaks at horus' betrayal . this man genuinely enjoys teaching , i want more . he' s the kind of person i would absolutely love to sit in a room with and listen to him speak .

‘All in good time,’ said Horus. ‘But, first, I have a question for you, my sons. Do any of you know how life began on Old Earth?’ No one answered, but he hadn’t expected them to; the question too far beyond their usual sphere of interaction. ‘Sir?’ said Maloghurst. ‘What does that have to do with Molech?’ ‘Everything,’ said Horus, enjoying this rare moment to be a teacher instead of a warrior. ‘Some of Earth’s scientists believed life began as an accidental chemical reaction deep in the oceans around hydrothermal vents. . . ⸻ Vengeful Spirit, Graham McNeill

i REALLY like any scene with horus just .. talking . is that weird ? i don't feel confident enough to write him outside of some small things here or there and i'm craving horus content to scratch an itch . if any of you wonderful darlings could share some of your favorite horus fanfiction with me , i would love you forever .

also looking for abaddon fanfics ! i don't know him well outside of the heresy novels , buuuut i really like him . i hear he gets wild in 40k , though . should i be scared ?

[astrohymn]

finished my horus heresy : night lord's read through . before i move on to the night lord's trilogy and red tithe ( which i've read some of and i can't wait to finish it ) i want to read the siege of terra books .

just finished slaves to darkness , which was one of the books i needed to read for my emperor's children list . it was also highly recommended to read before the siege . i have some thoughts . mostly about fulgrim , cause i love him .

spoilers ahead for slaves to darkness by john french

i adore fulgrim . he's so nonchalant and uncaring here .

i know those aspect of fulgrim annoys some fans, but to me it feels on brand . he's enjoying himself and enamored by his current muse . why would he want to leave it to do something he has little interest in? he's one of the few primarchs to do something because he WANTS to, instead of forcing himself to participate for the greater good .

‘Flattering… Tempting… But, as I said, I just don’t care enough to join in.’ His smile split wide across his face again. ‘You really are a fool. The Dark Prince does not withdraw his favour from Horus. And you think that you can lay low the Warmaster and then tame the forces loyal to him? Hubris is a delicious sin, but one that will undo you if taken to excess. Take it from me.’ - Slaves to Darkness , John French

i wasn't expecting lorgar to betray horus , but i should have seen it coming . fulgrim knows lorgar's plan will fail , and is giving him warning . he isn't about to bet his chips on a losing hand .

of course things go south for fulgrim . lorgar gets the upper hand by using his true name against him , binding him to zardu layak .

i wont lie , i loved it when fulgrim was bound to layak . he was seething , which is a side of fulgrim i haven't see much . he also spent the entire time being petty to lorgar and i'm here for it .

& later , once he's free of his bonds? the snake strikes , and it was beautiful .

In his mind he let go of the syllables of Fulgrim’s name and felt the bonds holding the daemon’s will break. The Prince of Pleasure gasped, a sound of exultation and pleasure, then lashed forwards, faster than a lightning strike. Blood gushed from Lorgar’s cheek as he fell back to the ground. Fulgrim coiled above him, looking down smiling, raising his clawed hand to lick his brother primarch’s blood from his clawed fingers. ‘You should never let someone else bear a burden you are afraid of, Lorgar,’ said Fulgrim. ‘It has a habit of creating resentment.’ - Slaves to Darkness , John French

really twisting that knife in there, fulgrim .

it gave me an idea . what if reader managed to bind fulgrim to their being ? YES ! i know, canonically this would be impossible . fulgrim is aware of anyone who knows his true name and won't hesitate to kill them . even if reader got far enough to say his true name , saying it would probably kill reader as well . i mean , lorgar and layak only got away with it through careful planning . it was a huge gamble . poor layak ..

but ! i do like the idea of having a big , angi , pet snek who's ready to bite my face off . && who's also hot af . i'll let the idea cook for a bit .

for now , i make my way to terra ! wish me luck .

[astrohymn]

finished reading . . .

the unremembered empire . am i the only one who kind of ships John Grammaticus with Narek ? yes , no ? lol !! i’ll be honest, John annoyed me in vulkan lives , but i’m starting to get used to him . i really like his dynamic with Narek .

i love Guilliman now . . like , officially official . he's so easy to love and i hate it . jkiloveit. i also noticed The Lion left his patience aboard his ship and i'm pretty sure Curze ate it , shat it out , stepped on it and threw it out of an airlock. The Lion needs a spa day , or a spa MONTH with how grumpy he is . those secrets too ! UGH , no chill.

The Lion's introduction was great . it's adorable how hard Guilliman tries to impress his people and The Lion while juggling a rowdy pack of Space Wolves . poor babe dropped his helmet and everything .

btw , that Guillisass is amazing . i want more of it . anytime he threatened to treat the space wolves like bad dogs , i lost it . hose 'em down , bring them to heel , etc . in the end , they were very good boys though so Guilliman should be nicer to them .

especially after what they did for Guillimom . my heart melted , it was such a beautiful scene .

one thing that bugged me . i get that it would have wounded The Lion's pride to tell Guilliman about Curze hiding out on his ship , but UGH ! very frustrating . Curze is a crafty man , shoulda known he would get into things The Lion didn't want him to . a little warning could have gone a long way .

also this made me laugh :

The crazed, random flow of his waking dreams had shown him a possibility called John Grammaticus. There was something curious about Grammaticus. Curze wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but it was creepy and abnormal. – The Unremembered Empire

creepy and abnormal , hm ??? you’re one to talk , pookie . lmao

i'm going to end my thoughts here before i turn this into a book review . there is so much i have to say about this one and my post barely scratches the surface .

i just finished The Long Night and will be moving onto Pharos . still working on my read through of A Thousand Sons . get ready to call me an Ahriman Apologist , i love my silly little space wizard .