Death Guard - Blog Posts
I feel like not enough of the primarchs really have memorable mothers
Like I can only really think of, Guilliman's mom, Leman's Wolf Mom, and kinda Putrabo's sister(not a mom but still very prominent/memorable woman related to a primarch)
Like I get it, give them Daddy issues before they meet Emps, and then they get to have real daddy issues, but still.
I feel that's such a missed opportunity
Like give Angron a warrior mom who survived years in the pit because she had to be strong, but something in Angron unlocks a violent maternal instinct she thought she would never feel. It's not the usual "motherly instincts" but more like a lioness'
Or give Logar a priestess/holy mother nun, someone to foster his love for the religion, encourage his blind worship and devotion. And thinking him a gift from the gods.
Like, I'm not saying replace every dad with a mom, but I feel like an even distribution would give more narrative creativity!
That's also how I ultimately feel about making some Primarchs into Fem Primarchs. I feel they should have had, let's say, half the cannon primarchs be their fem variants. I feel that for some, it would have fit their storylines better.
Like ngl, Morty is my favourite, but hot take...
I feel his story would hit so much better if he was fem.
Cause one thing I picked up on is not a lot of 30k/40k fans like mortarion, or they just find him boring. (Im saying most people i have encountered and also pretty much every 40k youtuber I've seen), but i feel if he was Mortica, something might click.
It would hit different cause now u have a girl being used and abused by her toxic father, and then her vengeance is stolen from her by a man she doesn't even know. She is constantly trying to become more resilient, turning her resentment into bile.
It changes the meta-context and the readers perspective. Sure, 40k is so far in the future that gender and sex don't matter, but us as outside observers would then think and discuss Mortarion/Morticia's position with the very raw reality of how a majority of women/fem people are victimised irl.
And when they overcome it, they're hurt, they're changed and far less willing to be corjal with people. They have every right to be mad, to be hurt, but society sees them as jaded, as "a cold hearted bitch" and "just broken"
And it's this meta text being super imposed from real life experiences and knowledge that makes Morty more relatable.
Especially to a fem audience. She would then feel like the definition of female rage; quiet, intense, lured hate, all hidden behind a mask. Despite most knowing what she has gone through, they still feel uncomfortable being around her. Thinking she could be nicer, she should be sweeter and bounce back like she was designed to do.
But she can't. She's been tortured, her only vengeance taken from her. All by men, all by psykers. She loathes them all. She's traumatised and has built emotional walls so tight, not even Putrabo(who I also feel would be fem) could crack them.
LETS GOOOOO!!!!! He's so freaking adorable!!!
Hunky Plague Marine voted Cutest Living Corpse over Emperor of Mankind, Loyalists seething
Primarchs
by Mauro Belfiore
death guard commission
Plague marine. Warhammer 40,000 fan art by me!
Sassy nurgling my beloved
The Death Guard Triplets
Death Guard Ocs for a future comic!
Favorite Death Guard artworks.
ok but, genuinely, one of the biggest reasons I love the Death Guard is that Mortarion is a petty asshole with undiagnosed OCD and I relate to that for some reason
i've been thinking a lot about mortarion recently because i read mortarion: the pale king and re-read lords of silence and it's so interesting to me how mortarion seems to have a lot of fixations that border on compulsions.
in lords of silence, vorx describes mortarion as having "relentless superstitions" even before the heresy. mortarion also has "an exaggerated interest in names, bordering on obsession" that has "only grown" since his ascension to daemon prince. mortarion's manse on the plague planet also seems to be subject to this:
"The gates are, like everything here, a parody. They are, it is said, seven centimetres taller than the Eternity Gate on Terra. Just seven. Mortarion did a lot of things like that -- petty things, mediocre digs at fate. The cupola is slightly taller than that raised over the Senatorum Imperialis. The walls are steeper by seven degrees."
mortarion's compulsions appear in mortarion: the pale king as well, particularly his fixation on numbers.
Sanguinius stared right back. ‘Help me understand this, then,’ he said. He pointed to one of the hills of corpses. ‘Those mortals, for instance. What are they doing?’ ‘They are tallying the dead of the Order,’ said Mortarion. ‘Why?’ ‘Because I commanded it.’
mortarion's behavior here is indicative of a larger trend within his character: his own desire for agency within a series of systems that do not allow him any. for example, lords of silence asserts the following:
"...it is said of him that everything came late, and with difficulty. He was the last to succumb to the full embrace of the pantheon. He was the last to arrive at the Siege. He was the last to retreat, it is rumoured, though others contest that."
mortarion is an agent of others' will. first necare, then the emperor, and finally nurgle's, and his compulsions appear to be a desperate reach for agency where otherwise he'd have none. furthermore, mortarion is fundamentally scarred by his youth on barbarus and appears to see himself in slaves and serfs. in mortarion: the pale king, mortarion is reprimanded by horus and sanguinius for use of excessive force on a planet ruled by small group of people who keep the rest of the populace heavily drugged, forcing them to work. his reaction is ultimately a reflection of his own trauma on barbarus.
furthermore, mortarion seems to be viewed as fundamentally broken by his brothers, which in turn fuels the death guard's us-vs-them ideology. (from mortarion: the pale king)
"The ship seemed unadorned compared to those of its brother Legions. The olive-green band of the emblem on its wings made the bone colour of the rest of the hull even more apparent. It was a machine that had been scraped raw. It was, Horus thought, a suitable chariot for his brother, and that saddened him."
"It was, Horus thought, as if no matter where Mortarion went, he never truly left the toxic world that had nurtured him."
Mortarion looked past Horus, up the slope of rubble to where the Angel waited. Mortarion was less pleased to see him. Sanguinius was so consumed by the illusion of nobility that Mortarion felt the Angel was perpetually looking down from on high as he circled an unreachable ideal. Why had their father instructed the Angel to come to Galaspar? Why not someone like Perturabo? He might have been an ally. And Sanguinius and Horus were so close. Mortarion felt a bond with Horus, but he knew it was not as strong as the one that joined Horus to the Angel. He was facing a united front, whether or not the other two would admit it, even to themselves.
‘We may hold this council aboard the Reaper’s Scythe if you prefer,’ said Sanguinius, sounding sympathetic now. The look in his eyes reminded Mortarion of their father’s sorrow, and he did not like it.
mortarion's nihilistic outlook seems to also drive a schism between himself and the other primarchs. mortarion views the Great Crusade with no love, contrary to the likes of horus and sanguinius who believe in the dream proffered to them.
An embrace was a promise of unity and comfort. That made it a promise of illusion. That made it a lie. He knew that Horus didn’t look at things that way. That didn’t change the truth of things. Horus was lying, only not to Mortarion. He was lying to himself. Mortarion put much more stock in his ceremony of poison. To share a draught of concentrated toxins with one of his warriors was to acknowledge the reality of their lives. He and his legionaries stood with each other, fought with unity, but never pretended that the ultimate truth of war was anything other than death. In the toast of poisons, there was no promise that could not be kept. It was an acceptance of risk, and of the inevitability of the end.
in fact, some of the only times mortarion demonstrates any affection or care are to his so-called lessers, including serfs and his own astartes.
At his side, Cinis nodded, watching in respectful silence for the manifestation of judgement. The serf was a favoured one, more disciple than servant. She took in all of Mortarion’s lessons and taught his precepts to the thousands who laboured for the Legion. Having come from neither Terra nor Barbarus, she symbolised the unity of all aspects of the Death Guard, and her understanding was profound.
mortarion first encountered cinis after liberating her world from the oppressive order aforementioned. in fact, in the pale king, mortarion actively chooses to humanize her, granting her the name cinis. in lords of silence, mortarion calls on vorx to fight "by [his] side, as we were before."
vorx earlier in the novel says this of mortarion:
In Mortarion, more than in any other, is conflict. Hatred was everywhere inside him -- of his father, of circumstance, of the Imperium, of himself. The poison of his foster world was hard to excise, and even if things had been handled differently by those in command, his would have been a damaged psyche.
mortarion's lack of agency directly ties into this. he views himself as being more similar to his servants than to his primarch brothers. the us-vs-them mentality returns.
ultimately there are dozens of examples of mortarion's issues across both novels and i have zero interest in regurgitating all of them. what is interesting are the implications about mortarion's character. mortarion's self hatred feeds into his compulsions; his trauma forces him to rely on them to regain a scrap of freedom.
his compulsive nature appears to contrast with nurgle's evident draw towards entropy, but i think this also fits with the nature of his character. he was the last to succumb. he continues to fight against the his own nature, because he doesn't know how to do anything other than fight. he doesn't believe in the kind of peace nurgle offers, so he can't accept it.
Daemon-Primarch Mortarion by Aeflus
Drawing a nasty boy (plague marine)
Mortarion - sketchbook
The Corpse Emperor has been real quiet since this banger dropped
Your move Imperial dogs.
The year of chaos will be a complete failure unless we get a model of this
Seriously, I love the baby harness
That moment when your warband's ship has a comically large amount of nurglings randomly finding their way onto it and one of them gets so overly attached to you that he WILL start crying when he is separated from you
Little rushed doodle of Proteus from my DG warband, a quiet guy who has basically become the nanny for the nurglings on their ship :)
Nurgle Marine by Váradi Paszkál
Speak for yourself, I would love a big wet smooch from Nurgle
By Space Lycan.
This is proof that we need more bugs in the Death Guard because this shit ROCKS
bug (for @leftsharkhypocrite)
This is literally a scene directly out of Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight (a book I will never stop talking about)
I feel like Death Guard would be the type to cuddle a lot, given Nurgle's temperament. I'm fairly sure I heard something about how certain more durable suits of terminator armor are especially coveted because they allow the marines to cuddle the beasts of Nurgle for longer.
Um hi! Hope you're doing well. I love your stories of astartes cuddle piles. I saw in your bio that requests were open. Would it be possible to see more chaos space marines cuddling? I find the idea so contradictory and it's fascinating. Hope you have a good day!
Space Marine Cuddle Pile - Part 5: CSM Edition
Previous - Writing Master post
Cultists wondering why a section of the walkway is void of anyone and no one will walk through it. They barely take one step in and are met with hissing. They immediately leave to find another path. Hidden in a small recess, like sardines in a can or a clown car, man Nightlords are crammed together. Nestled into each other's embraces, gentle touches, no talking. They only need each other and their company.
The only two World Eaters in a warband have walked past each other at least three times now. They just growl and nod at each other. On the fourth time, they lunge at one another as if to attack. They don't as they embrace each other and crouch on the ground. Fuming and patting each other's backs. It's doing what it needs to.
A group of word bearers cuddle pile is like a stereotypical sleepover. Talking about what daemon they'd like to possess them. Squealing over heretical scripture they've written for their primarch or one of the ruinous powers. Mapping out new tattoos of sermons on each other's skin. Face masks to prevent their tattoos from being destroyed. The blood of sacrifices painted on toenails to help with rituals. Having a seance or games of contacting the dead. Don't forget the pillow fights.
Black legion marines are angry at a pitiful defeat. They should have been better. They lost so many supplies. They only managed to pick up a random and very cold iron warrior they didn't like much. He didn't like them either, and that was fine. They start somewhat of a pile, but it doesn't feel like it should. It's not very comforting. Suddenly, the Iron Warrior is there. He says nothing as he climbs into the pile and holds marines smaller than him. A calm grows over them..
Deathguard cuddle piles are hard to spot. Is it a regular pile of nurglings? Or is there a space marine cuddle pile hiding underneath? Grandfather Nurgle loves this new aspect the marines have brought. What better way to share his gifts than being close to those you love? He holds Mortarion like a baby when he's upset.
A Drukhari is screaming to be released from this vile torture and that these mon keigh are ruthless, horrid, and crazed. This is the most cruel and terrible thing yet. The Emperor's Children just purr, content. They will not let him out of the cuddle pile. He's like a fleshy sock monkey, and he was cold!
Thousand Son sorcerers grabbing those affected by the rubric for a cuddle pile. Once in them, their affected breatheren go limp like a ragdoll or stiff like a doll. There's still a bond within those shells of armor. Most thousand sons will also not admit to still sleeping with a stuffy or toy at night. After nearly ten milennia, they have become tattered or broken. A battle brother will do instead.
You may think that now it's time for the Alpha Legion cuddle pile. You already got it. There's been at least one in each pile thus far. Yes, it was Alpharius.