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canmom · 7 months

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Animation Night 173: Takashi Nakamura

Hi everyone! It's that time of the week again~

The day that puppets bite their gloves off.

Tonight on Animation Night we'll be taking a look at the works of Takashi Nakamura (中村たかし).

Nakamura is a director who flies under the radar a bit over here, but for those who know him, he's a unique director - one who we've actually encountered a couple of times before, actually! He directed one of my favourite shorts in Robot Carnival [Animation Night 158] Chicken Man and Red Neck, in which the machinery of a city comes alive to have a violently strange Bosch-like party led by a strange red-robed robot, witnessed only by one salaryman on a moped...

...and if you remember when we looked into the three adaptations of Project Itoh's novels [Animation Night 127], he co-directed Harmony with Michael Arias, a powerfully understated film about a high tech biopower future and people who reject its utopia through a suicide pact. We also saw him in the Japan Animator Expo, with the charming Bubu & Bubulina...

But let's give a fuller story...

As an animator, Nakamura entered the industry very young, signing on as a colourist and inbetweener at Tatsunoko in 1974 - at which point he was only 16, an aspiring mangaka newly arrived in Tokyo. Working in Tatsunoko's distinctive 'industry within an industry', he was introduced to Hirokazu Ishino's 'Anidō' association, in which he was introduced to not just many important animators but also had the chance to see animation from around the world, from Norm McLaren to Japanese independent animators like Kenzō Masaoka. The two films that got him most excited were Takahata's Horus, Prince of the Sun [AN41] and Disney's Fantasia [AN15], both of which contained incredible flexes of effects animation.

(Incidentally, it makes me happy that a lot of the films Watzky mentions showing at Anidō showed up on here! Following in the footsteps of giants and all that.)

Once Nakamura got the animation bug he put aside his manga aspirations and became a key animator, going freelance a couple years later. In 1979 he saw Galaxy Express 999, and got to witness the insane 'liquid fire' effects of Kanada, and he instantly became a devotee - soon enough getting a chance to work with Kanada directly.

And by the early 80s Nakamura was definitely making a name, already working in animation direction and solo-animating entire episodes of Gold Lightan for Tatsunoko. The next couple of years he'd end up working on Nausicaa, Macross DYRL and the with Rintaro [AN53, 134] on Genma Taisen. By now he was specialising hard in effects (not unlike Anno!), and his work had become terrifyingly elaborate, look at this building collapsing into every single element or the clothes coming to the life under the power of a psychic. His work also inspired another incredibly significant animator to enter the industry - Kōji Morimoto, future cofounder of Studio 4°C - and they ended up working together on Genma Taisen.

Meanwhile on Nausicaa, Morimoto handled some of its most memorable scenes like the opening sequence where Nausicaa is pursued by the giant Ohmu. Once again you see his fascination with effects and debris, like the shot where the Ohmu explodes out of the forest, sending stalks flying in every directions. In Macross DYRL he animated the scenes of the gravity flipping sideways and a street's worth of stuff tumbling down all at once, elaborating on a scene by Itano from the TV show.

In short, if there's lots of bits of stuff flying around in a mid-80s movie, there's a good chance that Nakamura was involved somehow.

Such a focus made him a perfect fit for the 'realist school' developing in the late 80s - whyat you might loosely call the Otomo circle. You see his work on both Manie-Manie/Neo Tokyo and Robot Carnival, and naturally enough he ended up part of the team for Akira. Given what he'd already accomplished, could he somehow step it up another notch? You bet.

Going by sakugabooru comments, Nakamura's role in Akira was mainly related to two things: explosions, and animation direction. Considering how iconic the explosions in Akira are, and how challenging it was to animate Otomo's very solid and 3D designs... the success of the film depended a lot on Nakamura's insane drawing skills. Further, he was a kind of 'teacher' to the rest of the staff, such as Morimoto. But this was apparently the 'limit' for Nakamura, and after Akira he turned from creating animation for others.

And this point marks a major stylistic turn in Nakamura's work. Starting with the World Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Peter Pan, on which he worked as character designer, he adopted a highly stripped-down, simplified style. With all the Akira goodwill, he was able to pull in many of the new stars of the 'realist' school, from Okiura to Ohira. But his work became a lot less flashy, focusing more on a Disney-like approach where it's about creating a consistent sense of life rather than individual flashy sequences.

The Hakkenden [AN 122] was one of his first chances to experiment with the new style as a director, with Episode 4 really kicking off the series' trend of completely redesigning the characters according to the sensibilities of each director. He also worked on the kinda obscure but gorgeous realist-school film Junkers Come Here [AN 118] as his own film debut, Catnapped!, progressed.

So Catnapped! This is a weird movie. Many people see a Disney influence in its style, and it definitely broke the 90s trend with a younger target audience - but Disney could never make a movie filled with as much imaginative strange shit as this one. Watzky points out how much Otomo influence there is in the direction - dense environments and elaborate multiplane shots, in contrast to simple character designs which afford a lot of movement. These designs allow great animators like Okiura [AN139] (who animated most of the finale) to really go to town. There's a great para in Watzky's article on the different directions taken by the 'realist' animators.

Catnapped is a pretty short film at less that 80 minutes, a revel of visual imagination; Nakamura's next film A Tree of Palme is just as distinctive but in a different direction. It's another take on the Pinocchio story [c.f. AN138], but a very 'dark, metaphysical' one, with its biggest inspirations apparently being French - Moebius and René Laloux [AN71, 93], with Mutsuo Koseki coming up with art direction capable of comparing to Laloux. The three year megaproject pulled in animator legends from across the board - Inoue, Ohashi, Ando, Masuo, Matsutake, Umetsu! (Count how many directed part of Robot Carnival).

The character designs of Palme look simple in stills, but once you see them in motion, they're anything but - incredibly volumetric and full of life and movement.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Nakamura ended up working with Colorido and 4C a lot (naturally enough given the connection with Morimoto!), increasingly making effective use of CG in his projects. This led up to The Portrait Studio (写真館 Shashinkan) (c.f. AniObsessive) in 2015 - an almost solo short film, with Nakamura writing, storyboarding, designing characters and doing all the key animation, which is a kind of slice through Japanese history through the lens of a photographer who just wants to figure out a way to get his client to smile.

Much like Palme, The Portrait Studio combines simple character designs (in a stylised picture-book look) with very precise, realist animation on 2s and 1s to lend them a sense of density and 'existence'. Moreover, unlike most anime, it uses the raw pencils as finished lines instead of redrawing them clean on a computer. The style might call to mind Otomo's Cannon Fodder, and in fact the two films share a colour designer. 3D is integrated with an unusual degree of skill and subtlety. It makes for a fascinating combination, a very memorable and impactful film for all its apparent simplicity.

So, that's our focus for tonight! We'll be watching Catnapped!, A Tree of Palme and The Portrait Studio, and getting to find out what the deal is with Nakamura - one of the Very Important Guys in the history of anime, influential on so many of my faves... but all too often overlooked by people who aren't like, huge animation nerds.

If that sounds fun, come join me at twitch.tv/canmom - going live in just a minute! I've been wanting to do Nakamura for ages, and today I finally found energy for a writeup. See you there~

#animation night #takashi nakamura #catnapped #a tree of palme #anime

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sjax001 · 3 months

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A Lion/Roboute fanfic idea by my friend 徵羽:

The Lion was teleported back to 30k to stop the Horus Heresy, but in doing so, he would lost forever the future Guilliman whom he loved. The young Lord of Ultramar was not his Roboute after all.

I love this story, even though it was very sad.

Also it was Guilliman who sent the Lion back in time, and he lied and didn't tell the Lion that it was a one-way ticket. He just gave half of his ribbon of laurel to Lion as Lion's hair tie, hoping it would make his brother remember him. It was probably the most willful act Guilliman could ever think of.

So when the lion succeeded in changing the future, his hair tie disappeared. He knew that he had successfully prevented the most terrifying future, and also that his Roboute was no more.

#warhammer 40k #warhammer 40000 #lion el'jonson #roboute guilliman

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odue-sp · 1 year

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Male Reader x Seth

M/n is a god. M/n is his fake name but is most known as Khonshu. Instead of a falcon like in the mythology, I decided to let him have a crow.

Also, if you haven't read ennead it won't make sense. Also in Egypt mythology it's all incest. Don't come for me. I didn't tell the gods to fuck their siblings now did I?

There is no ennead fics. And Khonshu. So, bam. M/n is Khonshu, Khonshu is M/n. Related, yes. But great content, yes.

You don't like it. Do not read.

Okay? Nice. Continue.

Seth had managed to escape from Horus and that foreigner, Horus had taken him to the temple of Isis but he left feeling sick of the destruction he caused. The consequences were sickening to see. He continued to walk aimlessly in the desert. He prayed for the only god he could rely on at the moment. Someone he didn't expect to answer such prayers.

Seth dropped onto the sand, he grew tired and weak. Had he finally let this damned human body break? He deserved it but he couldn't help but feel angered. His hands gripped the sand before the showing of wings flapped. "Uncle!" Horus shifted back and went to take him to heal.

The sound of a crow filled the silence of Seth's refusal.

"Khonshu," Seth spoke breathlessly, Horus stared in shock, Khonshu never appeared. Everyone had thought he died or no longer cared for his family. Seth's eyes stared at the e/c eyes, a familiar feeling spread in his body before seeing the forgotten god walk over to him... The moon was full.

The moonlight showed off his s/c smooth and healthy looking skin. He lowered himself to Seth. "Seth," he smiled behind the crow mask. "As always, you look wonderful under the moon." Horus looked annoyed before Seth clung to the man. "Take me away," M/n flinched in surprise, he didn't expect anyone to use his chosen name... "I've had enough of this. Please, take me to the moon! Anywhere where he can't get me!"

"Grand nephew," he spoke carefully reaching for him but Horus grabbed his hand. "Stay away from him." His eye twitches from underneath the mask. "Do you not realize where you stand, child? I protect those who walk the desert at night. You seem to be a god, Seth," he glanced at the tired man. "Isn't a god no longer. A human. You have no privilege here during this time."

M/n snapped his fingers, Horus eyes widened feeling his jody stiffen up. He could move but slowly. "Seth, are you hurt?" His voice was calm and soft as he coddled the body close. "Just take me away from Osiris. He took everything..." He spoke before falling asleep. "Of course, grand nephew."

"Uncle!" Horus shouted as crows flicked around the two. "There is a place no one can touch. You haven't been there since you were young. I hope the moon can help you rest." The sand grabbed onto Horus sinking further down as they left.

•••

Seth woke up with a gasp. His hands tracking over his body, he was still alive... "Khonshu!" He shouted stumbling out of the bed before staring at the scenery... "The moon?" He spoke in disbelief, the moon was always there... He should've known that M/n was still alive. He should've asked for help sooner. "Seth?" He glanced over to the male who tilted his head a bit. "Your body is human, you should eat." He walked over to the red head, handing him a plate of vegetables and fruit with a soft smile.

Seth stared. "You're really alive."

Head tilt. "Yes? The moon is still here, is it not?"

Seth couldn't help but feel anger and he touched the god into the stomach with all of his strength. M/n toppled over, but Seth grabbed the food and walked to the side. "Did you not think to show up to the meetings?!" A confused look... "Take your mask off! I can't see your face!"

He took off his crow mask and frowned. "Meetings? I wasn't aware of such things," he gasped covering his mouth. "Did you guys forget me?" He almost hurt. "Ah... I want to destroy the moon and flood the world. How fucking hilarious." His mood shifted. "If you didn't know if I was dead then why did none of you come and check? Pieces of shit." Seth became angered. "You said no one could visit without permission!" M/n gaped in shock.

"I didn't think you all would listen! My siblings never do! For once they respect my personal space?! Wow, how kind!" He shouted annoyed about being forgotten. "Don't blame us! Do you know how serious you looked!?"

The two went silent.

"Nephew, have you been well?"

"Don't ask such a stupid question, you know. You're the moon after all."

M/n knew. He always knew. He closed his eyes. "You're safe here."

Seth stared at the salad.

"Thank you."

•

You thought you were getting smut?

Haha, no.

I ain't gonna give it to you so easily especially with ENNEAD.

I adore Seth. Love him. You're definitely going to see more of ENNEAD fic and probably more manhwa whenever I feel extra confident. Hehe.

Anubis might be next. Who knows.

I'm going to sleep. Night.

#seth ennead #male reader #male reader insert #x male reader #male y/n #pseudo's ff #seudo's ff #ennead #ennead x male reader #seth ennead x male reader

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moodymisty · 9 days

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I seen Gillamen and Vulkan with their pregnant so but what about other Primarch?

Like Lion El Johnson, Corvus, and Horus around their pregnant partner who is near time to give birth to their child?

[ 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖞𝕸𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖞'𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙 | 𝕬𝖔3 ]

Author’s note: I saw Corvus, I write Corvus. It's kind of short but I hope you like it.

Relationships: Corvus Corax/Fem!Reader

Warnings: Tokophobia, pregnancy, Not much else really

Corvus was far from pleased about being so far from Deliverance. Terra was a planet that didn’t bring him much joy or fondness, beyond it being the heart of the Imperium, and the place of his creation.

But he grits his teeth and bears it, because he has to.

He has to for you. You’re heavily pregnant now, and the growth rate and pain of carrying the child of a primarch has begun to take its toll. Beyond what Deliverance can assist you with. Terra has the best that is available, and so he bears it.

He doesn’t have to carry around a being you weren’t meant to carry, so he does it in silence.

“I would’ve done the same, if I was in your position.”

Sanguinus’ face has softened expression slightly after Corvus’ surprise declaration. He had vaguely known he had someone at Corvus' side, but the idea of them actually being able to have biological children was much more of a surprise.

Food for thought, Sanguinus kept to himself.

“Baal is my home, but I can’t deny that what Terra has created far outweighs what my smaller planet could provide. I don’t blame you for bringing her here.” Corvus doesn’t find much usefulness in the statement, but he somewhat appreciates the attempt at sympathy. His hands shift on the massive ornate railing that overlooks more of the palace.

Corvus nods at him, but it doesn't take a keen eye to notice that he isn't much in the mood for more conversation. Sanguinius decides to keep it brief and let him return to his ailing beloved.

“Tell her I say hello and I wish her good health, yes?" The angel clears his throat in an attempt not to laugh. "But avoid telling Guilliman about this until he's in a better mood, he’ll pop a vein in his forehead.” Corvus rolls his eyes not at Sanguinus himself, but the fact that what he said isn’t out of the realm of reality. He leans up off the railing, and nods to the other primarch.

“I will.”

Corvus with a slow gait enters the room, only to see you standing and reaching your hands towards the massive, vaulted ceiling.

“You should be in bed.” He says, and you sigh. Not even a moment before he's already reprimanding you.

“I know. I just wanted to stretch a bit.”

Corvus turns his gaze from you and to the bed, where your raven, caws softly and hops around on the blankets; Eagerly awaiting your return to it. As he gifted the bird to you young, it’s more of a pet than anything. It has served it's purpose as being your gift, his way of asking for you at his side. If you want it to just be a companion, then that's your prerogative.

You slip back into bed moments later, and Corvus comes to your side. The raven knows to behave better around him, and decides to plop itself close to your hip and fluff it's feathers with a contented warble.

“How are they?” He asks, though from experience you know he’s referring to you as well as your child.

“The same. I think they’re asleep now, I haven’t felt them move.” Corvus puts a hand to your belly, and indeed doesn’t feel anything until you move, and the baby kicks his palm. He catches your wince. he doesn't say anything, though you end up doing it for him.

“Corvus,” You say, looking at him. “I’ve never felt this bad in my entire life. I still have a bit left, I don’t know if I can keep up at this rate.” He sighs.

“I know.” He looks away from you for a moment, though his hand still stays firmly on your stomach.

Perhaps this is the punishment he gets for daring to be selfish, he thinks to himself. To see the one person he loves in pain because of him. Though he thinks of a recent happening and softens expression a bit, and you call him on it, a curious smile on your face.

“What?”

Your raven picks at your hair in an attempt for your attention, and you scratch his wing before he hobbles away.

“My men have asked about you, since we left Deliverance. They seemed worried you were close to death.” The ones who stayed back haven't been updated on anything since he's left, and while there are many Raven Guard on Terra, it's much harder to communicate with his men that are now so far away. You laugh, rolling to your side and facing him to take the pressure of your back.

“Well, I feel like it.” Corvus, his hand still on your belly the entire time, leans in and kisses your forehead. He wonders how you can be so morbid yet cheerful at the same time.

“Rest some more. Then I might have you speak to my sons so they know you’re still in good health.”

They’ve become more attached to you as time has gone by, and while some hesitate to trust or welcome you, many have begun to open up and allow you in. Perhaps they've realized that you offer more than you impede; Or they've simply acquiesced to Corvus' desperate desire to feel human.

You grip Corvus’ larger hand softly, squeezing his fingers before speaking.

“Let me at least eat first. I’m starving.” Another curious aspect about this whole thing; Your hunger is near never ending. Corvus dares to crack the slightest smile.

“Fine. I’ll have the serfs bring you something.”

He sees your satisfied smile, and leans in once more to gently kiss your lips. Once he pulls away he gives your raven a scratch on the head, before leaving.

#corvus corax x reader #primarch x reader #warhammer 40k x reader #reader insert #reader #mywriting

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egypt-museum · 6 months

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Double Cartouche Perfume Box of Tutankhamun

This double cartouche shaped perfume box is gilded and inlaid with colored glass paste. The sides of the box feature a relief of Heh, god of eternity holding above and around his head the cartouches of the king.

Tutankhamun as the young Horus squatting upon the hb-sign, with solar disc above his head. Embossed on gold and inlaid with lapis blue glass, turquoise blue glass, jasper red glass, lapis lazuli and carnelian.

From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 61496 Read more

#ancient egypt #tutankhamun #18th dynasty #new kingdom #history

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sleepyfan-blog · 5 days

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Window Conversation

Author’s Note: This is the next in Cedric’s adventures in Ancient Terra. First. Previous.

Tagged: @egrets-not-regrets @the-pure-angel @kit-williams

Warnings: none? Ask me to tag, if something makes you uncomfortable

Summary: Cedric is grounded from exploring the human city he’s in, so he is content to look out a window and people watch. He’s approached by a Salamander Scout Captain and they chat.

Cedric stared longingly out of the window of the base that he'd been confined to for the past week and a half, as part of his punishment for dealing with the heretics... Allied Heretics, rudely. The fact that there were allied heretics was... It was wrong. It was against much of what he had been taught. It had been the forces of chaos that had killed untold trillions of innocents and corrupting ten times as many during the Horus Heresy, and the many Black Crusades that had followed. Chaos had created the Cicatrix Maledictum that split the galaxy in half, corrupted half of the Holy Primarchs and killing all but one of the Loyal Primarchs. Those Chaos-tainted Primarchs were some of the most dangerous threats still existing against the Imperium.

He had been reminded by one of the Chaplains he was working under to Atone for his rudeness of how few Marines were on Ancient Terra, of the few resources that any of them had, and the fractious nature of the human nation-states who ruled Ancient Terra. He'd been shown proof of all of this, and that even the most chaos-corrupted Marines who were allied with the Loyalists on Ancient Tera had a better grip of their unholy instincts and bastardized natures... Particularly after they had been Bonded with a human. No one would give him a good explanation as to what a Bond was, only that he would Know when or if he would find his human to bond with.. That these bonds domesticated the twisted parodies that the chaos marines had become.

Cedric couldn't muster up the Faith to believe that all of that was possible. That all of the groxshit that had been so earnestly fed to him by several Loyal older brothers wasn't some insidious Chaotic plot to get them to lower their guard in order to fuck them over and slaughter them all while taking over Ancient Terra... To ensure that the Imperium of Man never rose, or if it did, The Imperium would be a bastion of Chaos and misery, rather than of Order and the Emperor's Light. He didn't want to believe that the loyalists had been fooled so completely...

But to try to begin to believe all of this - that the chaos astartes who had allied with the loyalists weren't plotting to stab them all in the back the moment that they felt that they had gotten everything that they wanted out of this arrangement made his head and his hearts hurt. The very thought that loyalist and chaos astartes could peacefully coexist with one another... It was almost enough to drive Cedric to madness.

Or to incredible, bloody violence.

Especially against those smug, prancing, gaudy purple Slaaneshi bastards. Cedric could see several of them dancing around the humans who were walking amongst them, fearless. Unaware that they were being exposed to beings whose very presence was corrosive and toxic and -

"Cedric, are you glaring at random people out the window and growling again?" Ash'val asked, the Salamander looking at him in a very judgmental manner when Cedric managed to drag his eyes away from the Slaaneshi Bastards.

Rude. Not that the young Apothecary would speak up against the well-loved and deeply respected Scout captain. He blinked at the other and took a breath, realizing that he had been making a low, rumbling sound in his chest and stopped the sound from continuing before he managed out "I... Uhm... I didn't mean to growl? I... I just..." Fuck, where did his words go? He had a perfectly reasonable explanation for his vigilant watchfulness moments ago... Cedric found himself unable to look the older space marine in the eye, bowing his head a little to avoid the other's gaze.

"You seem to have a particular problem with Slaaneshi Marines." Ash'val noted. The scout captain reached out slowly and placed a reassuring hand on one of Cedric's shoulders "You've gone through a lot of changes in a very short period of time and been given a lot of information that would... Be seen as impossible at best, or heretical nonsense worthy of execution after a visit from the Inquisition at worst. But shoving your nose to a window and growling at random marines wandering by isn't going to help you adjust to all of these changes. And I imagine that you're starting to get pretty restless being stuck inside all day with little to do, other than training and chores."

"I... I understand why I've been confined to base, sir." Cedric answered, shuffling his feet a little. The stern reprimand that he'd gotten from his rude behavior towards both chaos marines and how his hostility could put the tentative alliance between the loyalists and the chaos warbands at risk still rung in his ears a week and a half later.... And one of the last things he wanted to do while planetside on a beautiful and peaceful day like this was stay inside and do fuck-all when there was a forest an easy three-hour jog from here where Cedric was pretty sure he could go hunting and foraging for fresh food, rather than the nutrient pastes that while nutritious, weren't nearly as satisfying as a meal made with fresh ingredients. But until he could prove that he could handle interacting with Filthy Chaotic Traitors without resorting to unprovoked violence within five minutes... Not just that, but he could not show any outward sings of hostility when interacting with Filthy Chaotic Traitors, including a change in scent. "... I am still fairly certain that I was being... Cordial. At least to the World Eater. I didn't threaten him or his human once, nor did I try to harm either of them - not that I would have struck out at the child unless forced to... I do admit that I did restrain the Slaaneshi sc-... Marine, but that was for the health and safety of everyone in the building. The poison he was dripping from his hands is incredibly dangerous and corruptive at a soul-deep level."

Ash'val hummed a little before lifting the hand on Cedric's shoulder to ruffle his hair "This is true, however you should have explained to Elam why you were taping jars to his hands... What you did was tackle him to the ground and tape jars to his hands while refusing to explain until one of the other Apothecaries asked you why you'd done it. And you kept Elam in a headlock until directly ordered to let him go by our head apothecary. Emperor's Children - and Elam in particular - tend to be cooperative with Apothecaries and he was being on his best behavior."

"The last time before I met this... Elam, where Slaaneshi worshippers were wielding that particularly potent poison, I lost a squad brother, and my chapter lost dozens of Battle Brother to that poison. And we were fighting against baseline human Slaaneshi worshippers. I shudder to think how much damage an Astartes Slaaneshi worshipper with a possibly endless supply of The Poison of Vainglory could do. He was a clear and present threat and even then, I used a minimal amount of force in containment of such a threat." Cedric huffed, scowling at the floor, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. He knew that if he... Capitulated to... Apologizing to the Slaaneshi Marine for the way he had handled him, his time grounded in the base would be halved - or at least, that is what he had been promised.

But the very thought of doing so, of betraying his brothers' memories like that... Comiting such a sin against the God Emperor and the Imperium was more than what the Primaris Black Templar could bear. He'd been told that things her on ancient Terra were very different... But the very thought of apologizing was enough to make him physically ill. So he was going to patiently and penitently wait out the time that he had been sentenced to in the base without complained. He trained when allowed, helped keep things tidy (It was part of his punishment, actually. To aid in the maintenance of the base and the cleanliness... To cook in the kitchens, as well as other similar tasks. He wasn't sure why they were part of his punishment, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. He was surprised that he hadn't been beaten or whipped, for the amount of lecturing he'd gotten for his misconduct against allied chaos Space marines. It felt strange, and like an oversight, but Cedric wasn't going to complain about it, either).

"How would you feel if someone tackled and pined you to the floor because of the very health symptom you were seeking treatment for?" The Salamander Scout Captain prodded.

Cedric tilted his head a little in confusion. He was baffled by this. The young apothecary had heard that Firstborn Salamanders were soft-touches, but this was one of the questions that had One Correct Answer, and to misspeak was a trap. He answered earnestly "I would submit to anything that was being done to me without struggle or complaint, sir, as whoever did that has good reasoning to do as what they are doing, and to struggle would mean that I am fighting treatment, sir." Which means long hours of repentance at best, after the treatment was concluded at best... At worst fighting treatment - especially when one was clearly tainted by Chaos meant that he would be culled and sent to the Emperor's side before the Chaos could corrupt his soul further. The Mechanicum - and his older Black Templar brothers had both made that very clear during his training with them. "Provided, of course, the person doing the tackling and treatment is a loyalist, of course. Otherwise I would fight to free myself."

"Even if you were worried that this other loyalist may be tryign to hurt or kill you?" Ash'val asked, a complicated series of emotions flashing across the older marine's face before settling on concern for reasons Cedric couldn't begin to guess.

"If I have committed a sin, or breach of conduct, or was exposed to something that was corrupting me, or could potentially corrupt me, yes. I would still submit to treatment, if I was in full command of my senses. The Slaaneshi poisons alter one's mind, as well as body, as well as certain Nurglite diseases and Tzeenchian curses. And of course, The Infectious Rages of Khorne." Cedric responded, knowing the Correct Response to this question as well. Not that he didn't mean what he was saying as well. "Even if I was unaware of what crime or sin I committed, or if I did not know what I had recently encountered was so corrupting."

"I... I see. A large part of your training involved adherence to orders, I am guessing? apart from your combat and medical training." The scout captain asked. The older marine's face was free of emotion, but his voice was strangely shaky.

"Yes sir. Obeying orders is important, no matter one's personal feelings on the orders given to them." Cedric answered earnestly. Orders were to be obeyed, though were also subject to change. Especially on the battlefield where preliminary orders - like plans - went to die as soon as contact with the enemy was made.

:"Oh. Okay. I've got another question for you: are you a Primaris Marine?" The Salamander Scout captain asked, looking oddly intense as he asked it. "You're one of a handful of known Primaris Marines in this era, if you are. And by whom were you trained?"

"As with all Primaris Marines so far in my tie period, I was strictly trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus. They told me that I trained on Mars, specifically in their Astartes gene-labs." Cedric answered honestly. Disobedience had been harshly punished by both the Mechanicus and his Black Templar older brothers, though in different ways. The punishments here were much lighter and easier to handle. Not that Cedric intended on misbehaving to the point of testing their mercy He wasn't trying to cause problems... Though that never mattered to the Mechanicus or the Black Templars... And the Astartes here had given him more leeway than he'd ever been given. It was making Cedric nervous as to what might happen if he found the end of these marines' patience for misconduct.

"Ah. The... The mechanicus operates in a very specific way, and though what they do works for them... As for we Astartes... We are supposed to be trained in a different matter. Not that you're wrong for behaving for how you've been taught, given that I'm guessing that no one's really gone over our expectations for marines staying with us." Ash'val mused, looking Cedric over assessingly. "Follow me to my office. We're going to talk about what expectations you've been working under, and I'll explain in detail the rules of the base and for allied astartes, that way you're not tripped up by anything."

"Yes sir." Cedric responded, giving the Salamander a salute, obediently following after him.

#warhammer 40k #my writing #space marine husbandry sentience #space marine husbandry #salamander #black templar #oc: ash'val #oc: cedric #I don't imagine that being raised by the adeptus mechanicus was at ALL good for the primaris marines' mental health

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minweber · 6 days

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Musings on Custodes: Aging and Generational Divide

How many living custodians who remember the Emperor in the flesh are there? The precise answer doesn't matter quite as much as the existence of the question.

Custodians got their shit rocked pretty hard during the War Within the Webway at the end of the Horus Heresy. As traditional for warhammer there is some numbers fuckery going on: it is unclear how many custodians there even was initially, the famous monicker of "The Ten Thousand" possibly being intentionally misleading, and there is no precise information about how many of them were committed to the Webway, and therefore what percentage of the total number did their losses there make, and what then were their losses during the Siege of Terra... But once again, the specifics aren't that important here. What's important is the idea that after the dust had settled, Horus lay slain and the Emperor entombed - Custodes stood as a pale shadow of their former might, their numbers seemingly reduced to a fraction of the original.

What became of these veterans then? It is presumed that by the 42nd millennium Custodes numbers were generally replenished (just in time to get their teeth massively kicked in at the Battle of the Lion's Gate) - though we also don't know to what extent. Do those few-hundreds-to-a-thousand original Custodians still stand among them? Custodians supposedly don't age, and no upper limit to their natural lifespans is known, but there is the whole The Eyes of the Emperor retirement plan for them. Custodians who have, after aeons of service, their reflexes slow down even by a ridiculous degree of a millisecond, supposedly lay down their armor and go out into the galaxy to play spies. So time does affect them? Or is it something else that eventually slows down their bodies? Just how universal is this process for them? Because surely if it's caused by passage of time and at least one of them has gone this road over the last ten thousand years, then most, if not all, of the old guard must either have done so too or be on their way out?

Whatever the answer, the implications for Adeptus Custodes dynamics as a group and organization are fascinating. Because what does it even mean to become a Custodian after the Emperor's "death"? The shame of the failure you never partook in? The hole where the maypole of your entire identity should be? The expectation of being one of humanity's last links to some glorious past which was over thousands of years before you were even born? The Emperor sought counsel of his custodians from time to time, and supposedly made them specifically so that they would be able to give it - do the "young ones" feel the pull of this duty they can never fulfill?

And there are different potential flavors of delicious tragedy here.

If there are none or next to none original guardians left, then it kinda uproots the whole image of Adeptus Custodes, doesn’t it? The mysterious golden demigods are just as lost as anyone else. They may be thousands of years old, but none of them were there. None of them spoke to him, none of them bear any sacral foundational truths of humanity, or even of just the Imperium. All of their deeds and even they themselves are a desperate attempt to recapture something lost, not a defiant effort to carry something forward.

And if the old guard remains as a sizeable minority, then there must be an unseen divide between them and the new generations, right? With the Emperor being so integral to their identity and purpose, surely there was something important that they gained from interacting with him? Can they now pass this something down? Is it even physically possible? Can you truly be a custodian without it? Imagine looking at the new generation of, essentially, your people and realizing that there is a critical piece of your group's identity that they, through no fault of their own, will always be missing. That something important has been irrevocably lost, and they will never even truly now that it had been there? That's chilling stuff. Any real-world analogies for it that I can think of feel like they would be in poor taste to bring up in a rant about warhammer lore. Do they - consciously or not - hold it against them? Do they separate themselves physically and organizationally? Can one who has never seen the living light of the Emperor lead those who have? Are there enough heroic deeds in the galaxy to make up for not being there in time?

The theme of degradation and things being lost to the passage of time is very prominent in warhammer lore. In 40k, the small cadre of characters who physically bridge the divide between 31st and 42nd millennium have always been awarded with a certain aura of awe, but Custodes get to enjoy this situation from the position of someone for whom time itself should never have been a problem. It doesn't really matter how many of the "original" custodians are left - what will forever hang above them is that there even are the "original" ones.

#musings on custodes #adeptus custodes #warhammer 40000

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