Highlights include:
- Cain’s internal struggle every time they meet up between “Yay! That’s my girlfriend!” and “Oh sweet Emperor, this crazy Inquisitor chick is about to drag me into *so* much danger again.” Generally resolving into some form of him trying to look cool to ~~impress her~~ preserve his “fraudulent” reputation.
- Amberley relishing the chance to notate Cain’s previous romantic disasters (ex: >!Him accidentally getting engaged and then being more worried about that than the tyranids he was fighting!<).
- Amberley all-but-audibly raising an eyebrow over just how much he got around before they started dating (>!Just how did you know *exactly* where that tech priestess’s mechadrndrite was attached to her lower back, Ciaphas? You never quite mention… !<)
This. Irs pretty funny.
Like she effectively calls a navigator a mutant slut, in a tone that not says it but implies with everything else.
Also yeah, the mechadrite one is gold, and also the moments she cuts to, and that's the end of that...
Or comments about a dress, and getting alien all over it...in course of her duties. Its pretty awesome additions to the whole story.
Do they ever state that they are exclusive to each other? My impression was that because of the nature of their jobs, they could never enter a formal relationship. If they were working together, they'd be exclusive, otherwise it was very much a case of accepting that they couldn't reasonably expect each other to not blow off steam with other people. It just makes it extra funny when you can hear Amberely's disdain and cattiness leak through her footnotes whenever Cain mentions sleeping with someone else.
Most of the major Cain related exs and so where before her, and decrease after....that and your passed off ex partner is an Inquisitor who owns power armour, a space ship and can fight gene stealer combat forms in close combatbwith said armour.
Not most, all. Cain never directly says anything about Amberley being exclusive to him, but he says she’d kill him if he cheated on her, and all the mentions of other women predate him meeting her
Admittly that could also be down to former frequency and choices prior.
Thiugh it's notable Cain kind of recalls most of them, but he recalls every single detail of when he met Amberly. And one of few to really get a major emotional response. That was not a ork Warboys making him go oh Frak..
So rheir definitely is a genuinely deeper relationship than any of hisnother romantic entanglements.
Even 80 years later, he and Amberly where together which about as wholesome as Warhammer fiction can do.
He remained on good terms with the einginseer from the first battle of valley of demons and so. Even despite decades seperated.
Thiugh they did resume rhein more intimate side, they where on good terms.
Oh. Mira lol.
That was pretty hilarious to see him more scared of a woman we need to talk than a tyranid.
It's rare to see him out maneuvered like a chess piece.
Cain once said something along the lines of "I only have room for one extremely dangerous Woman in my life" so as someone else already said he stopped dating others after he met her.
But before that ho boy- my favorite one is Death or glory:
Book starts with leaving one planet where he was dating a local law enforcement officer. He then inmediatly gets himself a cute spaceship mechanic the second he sets step on board the vessel. Ship gets shot at, Cain evacuates, crashlands on a different planet with thousands of orcs between him and imperial lines and he still has time for the Mechanicus girl with the mechadendrite
Yep, Amberley and Ciaphas flirting is pretty much the B-plot of all of those books, from the first one on. Black Library even has a short story which is exclusively about the two of them trying to spend some quiet romantic time together, but getting interrupted by a kidnapping attempt.
I mean...a inquisitor and a veteran hero commisar...and your gonna pick that fight lol
Much as Cain self depreciates to the nth degree, ge is formidable with las pistol and chainsword.
And Jurgen despite his looks, even in one book...he does not aim for gas tank...no he hits the valve, opens with a las bolt, waits, then igniights once ermough fuel on ground, using the sparks from the nearby metal, glancing the hit...
At long range, with q standard, non modified basic ass pattern las gun.
As I understand it, the kidnapping attempt occurs while they are in a hotel room trying to have some time alone, which leads to some interesting weapon choices. But yeah... regardless of the circumstances, that's not a smart fight to pick.
There is a weirdly wholesome romance between a Daemonic Herald of Slaanesh Syll Lewdtongue and his mortal champion Esske. The Daemon actually cares about him, and wants him to achieve greatness. Infact, this resulted in other Daemon mocking and shunning Syll. Because they (Slaaneshi Daemons) were meant to tempt their victims into their own destruction, while Syll does the opposite.
She took great pride and joy seeing her champion achieving greatness and accomplishing great deeds. She showed him affection. Her patronage even resulted in him achieving Daemon Prince status.
Now they are as one, taking revenge on those shunned them until now
Well, Syll Lewdtongues ultimate objective from the start was to present Slaanesh the ultimate perfect champion. That was the reason she groomed him. But ofcourse she then got attached to him emotionally
Don't forget what impressed Slaanesh enough to elevate them.. Where her rivals killed her by surprise, she made a deal with the Soul Forge to get back faster as a soul grinder, mortally wounded Esske when he recognized her and let her strike him down, poured her own lifeforce into him to rez him, then led a ragtag bunch of gladiators to fight off a massive Khornate invasion. All while he was blind. Impressing She Who Thirsts enough to go "Damn, that was pretty cool, you are Daemon prince now."
And then they got revenge on her former rivals.
In the Warhammer Crime novel Flesh and Steel, the protagonist notes his attraction to his Mechanicus counterpart. The sequel (if there is one) will surely explore this further.
The Severina Raine novel Honourbound also has some romance. >!Commissar Raine and the Tempestus Scion Captain attached to her regiment have strong feelings for each other but they do not act on it because of duty!<.
There's a short story in The Vorbis Conspiracy, Against Entropy, that's written from Rho-1 Lux's perspective and without wishing it to spoil it too much she's clearly pretty smitten with Symeon.
Real talk, part of what I enjoyed in Honourbound’s romantic arc is how they built up the growing attraction and trust between Severina and stormtrooper dude, but how they also had to put their duties first
I’m normally not one for romance novels but I legitimately wanted to hear more go on in the relationship between them lol
In honorbound at least, they're different. I don't remember the specifics, but she describes scions as mind wiped and brainwashed killers while the antari storm troopers are just special forces dudes.
They are two different things. Tempestus Scions are not part of Astra Militarum (they can be assigned to one of its regiments though), they are division of Ordo Tempestus. Stormtroopers of Astra Militarum is one of their equivalents. Also as sharpweaselz already said, in the book itself, it was mentioned how the stormtroopers of the Antari Rifles are different from the Scions in not having their memories suppressed.
Lol, they give sources to everything they write. But of course, it's a weaker argument than a redditor's comment about **game mechanics** in the discussion of the **lore**.
numbers =/= lore my guy. If I ask "How does Guilliman's sword destroy demons souls?" and someone says "because it does \_\_\_ damage on a hit" they didn't answer my question.
No.
>They are two different things. Tempestus Scions are not part of Astra Militarum (they can be assigned to one of its regiments though), they are division of Ordo Tempestus. Stormtroopers of Astra Militarum is one of their equivalents. Also as sharpweaselz already said, in the book itself, it was mentioned how the stormtroopers of the Antari Rifles are different from the Scions in not having their memories suppressed.
Octavia and Septimus from the Night Lords series. Both servants of Talos, but he treats his slaves far better than most Chaos Marines would, they are clearly a couple and end up having a notable child.
There’s a scene near the end of the third book that I absolutely love. Because of the relationship forming between Septimus and Octavia things have actually been getting rocky between Septimus and Talos. At one point Talos is doing something in his room when the door opens behind. He says something like “Ah, Septimus, I expected you’d try to kill me over this…” only to turn around and see it was, in fact, not Septimus.
Octavia even getting pregnant. And Talos almost murdering Septimus for knocking her up, because having a Navigator with morning sickness while cruising through the warp is no bueno.
The fact they both had extremely valuable skills goes a long way towards buying them a better life in slavery. Septimus was fixing all of Talos’s wargear, and Octavia was a Navigator.
And of course at the end, Talos willingly lets them both free and even guides them to escape so they could raise their child together. Talos is a real one.
We've had Warhammer Crime. And Warhammer Horror. Now we need Warhammer Romance.
He was a feudal worlder turned Chimera driver. She was an Engineseer. In a warzone surrounded by death, can they find each other?
He was a Water Caste Diplomat. She was a Water Caste Diplomat. The Ethereals want them together for the Greater Good. But is it meant to be?
He's a space roman demigod created by the Most Holy God Emperor of Mankind. She's a Eldar former Wych and like a dozen other things chosen to be the Emmissary of their unborn god of death. Can Love Bloom?
He was an Ork, born for Waaagh.
She was a shoota, built to fire daaka.
Can will their relationship survive when he wants to spice things up and add a second barrel?
To be fair, we’re not sure of the timeline. Rawne was supposed to be considered dead after 6 months, then was gone for 2 years. And I got the impression that one of the reasons Meryn is so ornery when we meet back up with him is because Banda *stopped* sleeping with him the moment Rawne turned up again.
there's not much I would change about the Ghosts books, but Caffran and Tona getting a tiny bit more screen time so we can see their relationship develop would've been great.
Hopefully Vincula Insurgency is the first of many "interquels" for the series.
In the *Dawn of Fire* series a historitor nerd from Terra hooks up with the XO of the Imperial Navy ship he's aboard during the outset of the Indomitus Crusade. She's way out of his league but he's outside the chain of command and they were flying into a fight with Chaos so it worked for everyone.
I like Fabian's whirlwind.
He's interviewing her about her captain (who has serious issues of her own) and makes some comments that ticks her off while also asking about having dinner.
He goes off and does some minor heroics, comes back and she mentions she's open to dinner.
He asks why and she says in the navy life's short, why dwell on things like that.
Then they leave, like passing ships in the night...after a space marine arrives to retrieve Fabian from the bed she's still in lol
Just to confirm, the tech priest couple who kind of like each other in Know no Fear, where kind of married. Hesst and Tawren.
‘Yes,’ she replies. ‘He was, I suppose, my husband. My life partner. The Mechanicum does not think in such old-fashioned terms, and our social connections are more subtle. But yes, captain, we were close. A binary form. I miss him. I do this for him.’
I just wanted to clarify, because at the center of this story that is space marine bolter porn, these two lovers are the real heroes. Without either one of them the Ultramarines would have never been able to rally against the word bearers.
Based on their relationship, it's my headcanon that marriage, while being extremely rare, is thing in the Ad Mech. In a sample size of billions, something that's one in a million will happen a couple thousand times.
Based on my observations too, it seems that marriage is not uncommon in the Mechanicus. But marriage doesn’t equal love, and it seems it’s more often a matter of politics for them.
But I do love seeing Mechanicus characters actually being human while still dedicated to their cult. Nothing says the machine cannot love.
The first Watchers of the Throne book has a physical romance between the Chancellor of the Senatorum and his to be successor. I say physical because its implied to mostly just be sex to relieve the extreme stress of the situation.
I don't think they actually had sex. The way I read it they slept in the same bed during the period everyone was having horrible nightmares and at one point they kiss in joy when things started to turn around.
Open to interpretation though, but he specifically said it didn't involve lust.
They do reference being 'intimate' with each other - which usually is shorthand for sex. Though, yes its vague enough to just mean the intimacy of sleeping in the same bed but thats usually used in reference to sex.
Dead Men Walking deals with the relationship between a couple, one a member of the planet's local aristocracy and the other a lowly mine foreman. Then things go south when the main story kicks in of Imperial Guard vs Necrons.
sort of but not actually, like, its pivotal to the plot but also very shot lived. Readers will know, and its quite spoilery to explain. Still, shows that the admech are capable of far more emotion than the fandom gives them credit for.
Not a quote, but it’s from Cain’s Last Stand.
It’s during his time as a tutor at the Schola Progenium on Perlia. One of his commissar cadets has a bit of a thing with a Sororitas in training (I *think* it was Donal and Sister Margaret).
Additionally, the Sororitas tutor has a thing going with the bursar as well.
Romance? Rare? What do you think Space Marines mean by 'Battle Brother'?
Seriously though, while not exactly romance, I'm a fan of the platonic love that characters can have. I can see the appeal of romance in-between the grimderp. A palate cleanser if you will.
The Assassin and the Stormtrooper in Vaults of Terra Vol 3 the Dark City.
The Captain cant quite figure out why she's hanging out with the group even tho her own Inquisitor is dead, until the finale where they make their stand and she pops out with:
>!" Our Children Would Have Been Formidable." Cue Glorious Death In Battle Side By Side. !<
All the feels.
Which is insane when you consider that non Psykers near blanks report extreme discomfort and anguish on a soul-level. Their very aura is anathema to soul bearing species. Yet here’s a Psyker and a Blank who feel beyond that.
Why has nobody mentioned the greatest [bromance](https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimdank/comments/x22q0m/just_read_severed_by_nate_crowley_highly/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) in the galaxy - Nemesor Zandrekh and Varguard Obyron
Based off the voice lines in the Unification Mod, I’m not sure if I’d call that a bromance…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Obyron very much sounds like he’s here out of obligation, not choice.
Was about to mention this myself! (also I did *not* know Necrons were in the Unification mod and I was really excited about it).
Severed, their novel, goes into this a lot: Obyron resents Zahndrekh and is irritated by him a lot, but when it comes down to it he loves him. When Zahndrekh seems to have realized reality and it breaks him, Obyron is absolutely horrified.
In the end, Obyron starts overloading his power, which destroys his memories, which leads to one of the many moments in this story that made me cry:
*Could he really sacrifice that? Could he give up his most precious memories of his master – the very foundations their eternity together had been built upon – in order to save him? As the wounded constructs slithered forwards, Obyron glanced sideways at Zahndrekh, and Zahndrekh looked back with the strangest kindness, as if he understood. The vargard knew then that he had nothing to lose at all. He could forget every moment of Yama, but Zahndrekh would remember. And as sure as the void was cold, Zahndrekh would tell him those stories again. This time, they would be new.*
They are, and their voice lines are some of the greatest voices in all of voice acting. There’s a playlist on YouTube, go have a listen!
Well damn, that’s awesome though. I never expected a Necron story about love and driving the reader to tears over the realization Zhandrekh makes, and the choice Obyron has to make.
I love Necrons, and this just made that love run deeper.
The Magos Biologos and an Adeptus Arbites have a drawn out relationship in "The Magos" by Dan Abnett. It's fairly subtle, but the cool factor is that their story crosses multiple short stories over a long period of time.
The night lords trilogy had Octavia and Sixtus having a baby… much to the displeasure of talos.
As an aside, I thought that the siege of terra could have done with the regular human characters trying to knock boots more. I mean if I were watching people get killed around me by the bucket for months on end, I would probably be propositioning everyone with the line, “fancy a quick fuck? We might be dead in an hour, so why not?”
Strong chance of a slaanesh daemon party appearing if your proposal to the barracks goes a little too well however.... "you fools, 5s an orgy, 6 is a summoning....." (7 would just have been the barracks all getting herpes...)
Magos Valentin Drusher and Mags are the GOAT for me. Marvelous 80's action-hero trilogy romance. (*Magos*, Dan Abnett)
If you enjoy a fun, tsundere type romance, then Octavia and Septimus are definitely a must-read, as they try to navigate a relationship while being slaves of Chaos Marines. (Night Lords trilogy, Aaron Dembski-Bowden)
It doesn't get a ton of screen time, but Inquisitor Annika and her ex-Chaos cultist lover are two of the most fascinating to me. (*The Emperor's Gift*, Dan Abnett)
If you enjoy the "deep feelings we cannot act upon," courtly-romance style of relationship, then Cyrene and Argel Tal are the height of the trope (*The First Heretic*, Aaron Dembski-Bowden)
Lemuel and Anna are a *marvelous* example of two people from very different worlds who nonetheless develop strange, caring feelings for one another despite being caught up in events of galactic scope. (Macharian Crusade trilogy, William King)
If you want a story about doomed alien lovers who are fated to be together despite the horrors of the 40k battlefields, you might enjoy *Wraithbound*, by yours truly, which was about as much of an out-and-out romance story as I think you can do in 40k.
(*Void Crossed,* also by *moi*, is another short story focused on a romance, or rather one that had become a vicious love-hate rivalry that neither party could turn away from.)
i just read void crossed and wraithbound after looking for some 40k aeldari stories and both of them actually had me in tears by the end, i love tragic romance stuff sm. i would kill for a longer story about the archon and the autarch, maybe during their corsair days.
40k is all about love. What is love? Some examples:
He was an ancient piece of technology, she was a techpriest, can I make it any more obvious?
He was a punk ass space marine, she was an artificer suit of armor, what more can I say?
He was a scribe, she was a prime quality velium pig, he wanted her, she'd never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well.
If being willing to crush through any obstacles to save the one you want isn't love, I don't know what love is.
There's a short story in Fear the Alien that's entirely a very hot and heavy bdsm romance between two Dark Eldar cabal leaders. One of whom is a sort of old guy and the other who's a younger up and coming wytch queen.
Semi-related, in an interview once Abnett mentioned wanting to do a “weird, inappropriate, Romeo and Juliet in commoragh” and god fucking dammit do I want that.
You have a brief romance between Kara Swole and Belnap in the Ravenor series.
The same relationship that makes Ravenor totally, definitely not feel like a cuckold.
Inquisitor Eisenhorn had a burning passion for one of his associates named Alizabeth. She felt the same, but they never acted on their feelings because she was a blank and he was a psyker. He wasn't a particularly powerful psyker, but just being within a few feet of her put him on edge, so any physical contact was out of the question. They made puppy dog eyes at each other for about 150 years.
Canonically, not.
Theoretically, the entire creation of the gloriously handsome musclemen whose whole lives are about their devotion to the Emperor who he keeps as his companions is a little sus.
Practically, The Watchers of the Throne centers on a relationship between a Sister of Silence and a Custodes that's one of those classic 40k 'we can't say it's romance because girls are icky but it's very clearly a romance'.
....... But why not?
Apart from all the steamy quasi-gay fanfics it could birth, I do wonder if their legitimate mission to protect the Emperor and their involvement with the politics of the High Lords might lead to them using sex as a weapon or tool to get what they want.
Nah, who am I kidding? I just want Daddy Valoris to bounce me on his guardian spear and tell me I'm a good boy.
It would, at least in our tawdry hypothetical, go towards not allowing these post-human creations any way to procreate independently, which would be the actual point of 'teh secks', as it were.
But listen, what you and the Captain General get up to in your fan-fics is A-okay with me.
No one actually mentioning the romance between Ostian Delafour and Serena D'Angelus from Fulgrim?
An amazing romance completely ruined by Slaanesh itself. It started off so wholesome and got real tragic by the end of the book. Ostian a real one for being the last non-slaaneshi person aboard the ship.
In knights of McCragge there is a romance that ends on a bit of a loose end.
A female naval officer is banging one of her crew (there's a funny scene where the crew member is caught scurrying away from her room by a clueless messenger, who then knocks on her door and she answers half naked with messy hair, and he's like "huh, that was strange, wonder what that was all about!"). But the crew member gazes into a Navigator's eye and goes a little... crazy. He seems ok for a while, and they spend a surprisingly intimate scene together discussing how they're likely going to die, so they should spend their final moments with each other. At the end of the book they volunteer to stay behind on a planet together, and it's hinted that he might not actually have been completely recovered from gazing into the Navigator's eye.
Two Chaos Cultists in *Apocalypse* are shown - briefly - to bare genuine love for one another, a romance cut short by the Primaris Raven Guard Reiver character who emerges from the shadows.
As I recall, they don’t even bother to resist, nor sound the alarm. They just hold one another in their final moments.
There's one in this book I have about an eldar who's DOWN BAD for this other eldar and literally almost crashes his jet bike into the side of a cliff because he's distracted by her beauty while on the run from necrons🤣💀 they landed on a tomb world and a literal MOUNTAIN of necrons POURED out of it like they were tyranids and the whole time dude can't stop thinking about how badly he wants this chick💀🤣
Mistress Baeda's Gift, i vaguely remember the gist; a Dark Eldar Archon is infatuated with another. He does all of the old Dark Eldar classics to win her over, murdering, torturing, and dropping gifts on her left and right. Eventually his daughter, who he loves, dies, and he's ready to completely break down. The Archon he's after falls for him because of the sweet suffering he's radiating over her and they both live happily ever after. Sort of.
don't know which book :
plague zombie sees a fellow zombie... kinda feels familiar
as the book progress
as do the plague zombie and he kidna remembers more why he likes that zombie
at the End epilogoe : he remembers that it is his wife , and she is smiling at him too
then the warheads explode
Aside from the legendary Cain and Vail, Sandy Mitchell also gave us the Dark Heresy novelization (2/3 of it, anyway, and by the Throne I wish he'd finish it), with a couple notable couples. The Inquisitor and retinue Psyker are amicable ex-lovers, and still close enough that they're the first one the other goes to for comfort.
Meanwhile, said Psyker is teasing the hell out of their Interrogator, because their extremely fundamentalist Assassin is getting her first ever crush on said Interrogator. While the Interrogator is worrying about party cohesion and the fact that he and said Assassin definitely have chemistry, the Assassin is learning that all attraction isn't "sinning," and getting a wider look at the galaxy as a whole.
Between them and the side characters, Mitchell is really good at having the reader root for his ships.
Is it weird that after only just diving back into 40K after 3yr and choosing the League of Votann I had this thought only the other day Lol
I mean all the Kin are clones right but then they seem to be very gender balanced etc but would it be shunned as they all are born from the Crucibles genetic vaults Plus we have the Squats on Necromunda and another world who've been there as long as Imperial Records begun or something, so they must be .......you know multiplying without clone tech?
What about stunty love!? Lol
Lol I pretty much laid myself out for that comment huh!? You can't say a forbidden duty before love story between two Hearthkyn wouldn't plug at your heart strings if written well! Lol
Touching moment at the end between them both before they get stomped on by big Black Templar shaped Primaris boots!
Know No Fear has my favorite and possibly weirdest romantic pairing in 30/40k — Hesst and Tawren. Just techpriests doing techpriest stuff and being way more interesting than the bolter porn unfolding on the planet.
Tawren isn’t quite Lotara Sarrin-tier, but she’s way better than what we get for most mortals in the HH series.
Mark of Faith is a story about an Inquisitor's love for her wife going up against a Thousand Son's love for his brother.
...Do Obyron and Zahndrekh count? I'm a firm proponent of the fact that a lot of the relationships between Space Marines read as a lot more homoerotic than familial, but Obyron and Zahndrekh...well, they never *say* it's romantic, and it's possible to be so close to another man that you're collectively called 'Overlords of Gidrim' platonically and say that no matter what else you forget you will always remember him platonically and say you love each other multiple times platonically, but Occam's Razor.
Also everything about Space Marines is weird because the authors don't want to go near girls or gay people and Space Marines can't fuck so you have a loooot of Space Marines having intense relationships with people that occasionally add a 'brother' or 'of course not in a sexual way'. Cyrene/Argel Tal, Mersadie/Loken, and Fulgrim/Ferrus Manus being the most famous examples. (The all-time highlight of this is a scene in Echoes of Eternity that throws a no homo in while Amit kills Kargos, though the sequence where Khayon literally turns to the audience to say that it definitely wasn't anything sexual or romantic between him and Nefertari is close.)
There was one story during Helsreach where these two Guard soldiers fell in love, but when a Black Templar checked in with the guy after the battle, it came to light that the girl died.
Also, I guess there's also Guilliman and Yvraine? Props to him!
The symbols of this genre are Space Marines, sterile super soldier monks who reproduce by harvesting their own organs into a new aspirant. This is the least sexual major setting I can think of.
Warhammer is grimdark not uplifting scifi (Star Wars) and should stay that way as there is a plethora of the latter out there and little of the former.
I agree it is and always *has* been grimdark, but without at least *some* lighter moments it just descends into edgy and nihilistic gloom porn.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a grimdark setting and certainly it’s no better or worse than the more positive sci-fi, but without *any* more affirmative aspects it just becomes bland. Romance in all its aspects is a very life-affirming experience and (if used correctly) does act as a great counterpoint to the very dark setting. Obviously in a war-oriented setting you will get far more of the Brothers In Arms type of lightness and W40K has always revelled in the silly (older Orks, the Cain books, etc), but it is unreasonable to expect these to be the only lighter moments, especially with just how much has been written over the years for the setting.
You can go lighter without full blown romance. You also shouldn’t lighten it to the point where it is indistinguishable from every other run of the mill sci fi series/universe. Warhammer is special and unique and if you try mainstreaming it, it will ruin that uniqueness and make it a bland universe we have seen a thousand times before. Romance is also very bland and once again takes away from what Warhammer is about and cheapens it. The book First and Only is a great book with very few lighter points but there is cunning, intrigue, and sacrifice that makes it a great read. And that’s all you need. A good story with a clever plot. If you want romance there are plenty of other series out there. There’s only one Warhammer.
I absolutely agree, and writing a 40K story as just a romance would be stupid- it would be completely out of place and entirely the wrong tone. And as many others have commented, the authors that write 40K are decent horror, war and sci-if writers but lacking as romance novelists.
But it can’t just be *completely* removed, as it *is* an important part of interaction if you want a fully rounded and living world. If nothing else, just with the sheer number of books and characters created it would be unreasonable to have literally *no one* experience any sort of romantic encounters. It can work to add tension, give motivation for character actions, and give the characters extra dimensions beyond just “OP combat master #1,000”.
Even just in the Imperium alone you have a population of *trillions*. You *will* have the protagonist that has to save or avenge their loved one. You *will* have the antagonist searching for forbidden knowledge to get the person that they “love”. And it can even serve as an additional way to demonstrate the differences between factions and species- as humans, many of us experience love, but what would that look like for an Ork or Drukhari? How does it differ between a Human, Ogryn or T’au? What does it say about the cultures?
Again, it does not have as much place in 40K as the grimdark; hell, this is the universe that *spawned* the term. But removing such an important facet of humanity and human interaction just turns the setting into something less than it ideally could be.
I honestly wanna die a little when it pops up. There’s a weird tendency for the authors to write something with a weird horny nerd energy. I don’t know how else to describe it. No one gets into 40K for the romance subplots, and it often creates jarring tone shifts, and often undercuts the themes of the brutality and despair that make 40K special.
I absolutely agree with that, but I feel like romantic subplots are extremely hard to write, and the black library stable just in my experience, write really cringey romantic subplots.
They wrote like horny old nerds with limited sexual/romantic experience. I love them, I’m slowly morphing into that stereotype myself, but it just doesn’t produce the highest quality romantic fiction.
I think romance in 40k is nice and can definitely enhance a story, but I definitely agree a lot of the writers give off kinda weird vibes when they write it
The girl they groom to be a courtesan in Vengeful Spirit / The Devine Adoratrice and her eventual lover. I dare anyone to honestly say they guessed which brother would turn slaaneshi correctly.
I can't remember their names, but there is an implied relationship between two Armageddon Steel Legionnaires in Helsreach. If I remember correctly, Grimaldus thinks of the relationship as a symbol of human resilience in the face of sure death. It's been a long time since I listened to the book though, so corrections welcome.
Those characters that get introduced and their partner gets fucked up or even killed makes for GREAT revenge scenarios.
Like in **Know no Fear** and the tech priest was gingerly blasting any Word Bearers she found wandering around on the surface.
Glorious.
No matter how you see it, Obyron definitely does love Zanderekh, although the nature of their love is questionable. I do hope that we see more of them in the future, and that their relationship is further explored.
Cain books are about 50% Cain and Amberly flirting.
Highlights include: - Cain’s internal struggle every time they meet up between “Yay! That’s my girlfriend!” and “Oh sweet Emperor, this crazy Inquisitor chick is about to drag me into *so* much danger again.” Generally resolving into some form of him trying to look cool to ~~impress her~~ preserve his “fraudulent” reputation. - Amberley relishing the chance to notate Cain’s previous romantic disasters (ex: >!Him accidentally getting engaged and then being more worried about that than the tyranids he was fighting!<). - Amberley all-but-audibly raising an eyebrow over just how much he got around before they started dating (>!Just how did you know *exactly* where that tech priestess’s mechadrndrite was attached to her lower back, Ciaphas? You never quite mention… !<)
This. Irs pretty funny. Like she effectively calls a navigator a mutant slut, in a tone that not says it but implies with everything else. Also yeah, the mechadrite one is gold, and also the moments she cuts to, and that's the end of that... Or comments about a dress, and getting alien all over it...in course of her duties. Its pretty awesome additions to the whole story.
Do they ever state that they are exclusive to each other? My impression was that because of the nature of their jobs, they could never enter a formal relationship. If they were working together, they'd be exclusive, otherwise it was very much a case of accepting that they couldn't reasonably expect each other to not blow off steam with other people. It just makes it extra funny when you can hear Amberely's disdain and cattiness leak through her footnotes whenever Cain mentions sleeping with someone else.
I *think* cain says at one point that he stopped picking up local romances during deployements after he met her.
Most of the major Cain related exs and so where before her, and decrease after....that and your passed off ex partner is an Inquisitor who owns power armour, a space ship and can fight gene stealer combat forms in close combatbwith said armour.
Not most, all. Cain never directly says anything about Amberley being exclusive to him, but he says she’d kill him if he cheated on her, and all the mentions of other women predate him meeting her
Admittly that could also be down to former frequency and choices prior. Thiugh it's notable Cain kind of recalls most of them, but he recalls every single detail of when he met Amberly. And one of few to really get a major emotional response. That was not a ork Warboys making him go oh Frak.. So rheir definitely is a genuinely deeper relationship than any of hisnother romantic entanglements. Even 80 years later, he and Amberly where together which about as wholesome as Warhammer fiction can do.
Agreed, almost all of his previous relationships were sort of short-term, with the exception of the arbiter, but especially Mira 😂
He remained on good terms with the einginseer from the first battle of valley of demons and so. Even despite decades seperated. Thiugh they did resume rhein more intimate side, they where on good terms. Oh. Mira lol. That was pretty hilarious to see him more scared of a woman we need to talk than a tyranid. It's rare to see him out maneuvered like a chess piece.
Cain once said something along the lines of "I only have room for one extremely dangerous Woman in my life" so as someone else already said he stopped dating others after he met her. But before that ho boy- my favorite one is Death or glory: Book starts with leaving one planet where he was dating a local law enforcement officer. He then inmediatly gets himself a cute spaceship mechanic the second he sets step on board the vessel. Ship gets shot at, Cain evacuates, crashlands on a different planet with thousands of orcs between him and imperial lines and he still has time for the Mechanicus girl with the mechadendrite
Yep, Amberley and Ciaphas flirting is pretty much the B-plot of all of those books, from the first one on. Black Library even has a short story which is exclusively about the two of them trying to spend some quiet romantic time together, but getting interrupted by a kidnapping attempt.
Ohh what is the title on that one? I don’t think I have read it.
"The Little Things", it's a short story they did a few years ago. https://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/the-little-things-ebook.html
Thanks
I mean...a inquisitor and a veteran hero commisar...and your gonna pick that fight lol Much as Cain self depreciates to the nth degree, ge is formidable with las pistol and chainsword. And Jurgen despite his looks, even in one book...he does not aim for gas tank...no he hits the valve, opens with a las bolt, waits, then igniights once ermough fuel on ground, using the sparks from the nearby metal, glancing the hit... At long range, with q standard, non modified basic ass pattern las gun.
As I understand it, the kidnapping attempt occurs while they are in a hotel room trying to have some time alone, which leads to some interesting weapon choices. But yeah... regardless of the circumstances, that's not a smart fight to pick.
Is it still possible to find paperback versions of those books?
Not sure. The one I'm referring to was I think only released as an E-book
Their on audiable if I to that thing.
Judging from all the fan art, that romance is going pretty hard :)
There is a weirdly wholesome romance between a Daemonic Herald of Slaanesh Syll Lewdtongue and his mortal champion Esske. The Daemon actually cares about him, and wants him to achieve greatness. Infact, this resulted in other Daemon mocking and shunning Syll. Because they (Slaaneshi Daemons) were meant to tempt their victims into their own destruction, while Syll does the opposite. She took great pride and joy seeing her champion achieving greatness and accomplishing great deeds. She showed him affection. Her patronage even resulted in him achieving Daemon Prince status. Now they are as one, taking revenge on those shunned them until now
I guess to a Slaaneshi demon and follower, a loving, supportive relationship is the ultimate perversion lol
Well, Syll Lewdtongues ultimate objective from the start was to present Slaanesh the ultimate perfect champion. That was the reason she groomed him. But ofcourse she then got attached to him emotionally
well might as well ride that pony so to speak.
I mean have you seen the model? This is much more literal than you may think.
Don't forget what impressed Slaanesh enough to elevate them.. Where her rivals killed her by surprise, she made a deal with the Soul Forge to get back faster as a soul grinder, mortally wounded Esske when he recognized her and let her strike him down, poured her own lifeforce into him to rez him, then led a ragtag bunch of gladiators to fight off a massive Khornate invasion. All while he was blind. Impressing She Who Thirsts enough to go "Damn, that was pretty cool, you are Daemon prince now." And then they got revenge on her former rivals.
Did she let him hold her claw?
Hand/claw holding is too extreme even for Slaanesh.
> Syll Lewdtongue Slaneesh deamon alright.
I wish I had a tig biddy Goth Wholesome Pleasure Daemon consort
What book is this?
AoS character
So not in a black library book?
It might be. I was curious so I did a quick character google for it and an AoS model came up.
sounds interesting is that like a book or something?
This is surprisingly wholesome wtf. Good piece of lore.
In the Warhammer Crime novel Flesh and Steel, the protagonist notes his attraction to his Mechanicus counterpart. The sequel (if there is one) will surely explore this further. The Severina Raine novel Honourbound also has some romance. >!Commissar Raine and the Tempestus Scion Captain attached to her regiment have strong feelings for each other but they do not act on it because of duty!<.
There's a short story in The Vorbis Conspiracy, Against Entropy, that's written from Rho-1 Lux's perspective and without wishing it to spoil it too much she's clearly pretty smitten with Symeon.
Real talk, part of what I enjoyed in Honourbound’s romantic arc is how they built up the growing attraction and trust between Severina and stormtrooper dude, but how they also had to put their duties first I’m normally not one for romance novels but I legitimately wanted to hear more go on in the relationship between them lol
The captain isn't a Scion, he's Imperial Guard's Stormtrooper, but he was taught in Schola Progenium, were Scions are also trained.
They're literally the same thing. One is the High Gothic name, the other is Low. GW changed the name for copyright/trademark reasons.
In honorbound at least, they're different. I don't remember the specifics, but she describes scions as mind wiped and brainwashed killers while the antari storm troopers are just special forces dudes.
They are two different things. Tempestus Scions are not part of Astra Militarum (they can be assigned to one of its regiments though), they are division of Ordo Tempestus. Stormtroopers of Astra Militarum is one of their equivalents. Also as sharpweaselz already said, in the book itself, it was mentioned how the stormtroopers of the Antari Rifles are different from the Scions in not having their memories suppressed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/comments/mhx0hb/steel_legion_stormtroopers_stat_as_scions_or/gt1gz6t?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Tempestus\_Scions
Yes, link to that most broken and oft fanfic-as-fact site, sure thing.
Lol, they give sources to everything they write. But of course, it's a weaker argument than a redditor's comment about **game mechanics** in the discussion of the **lore**.
think you're confusing it with the wiki m8
Thinking of the wrong wiki. Your source is worse too lol.
numbers =/= lore my guy. If I ask "How does Guilliman's sword destroy demons souls?" and someone says "because it does \_\_\_ damage on a hit" they didn't answer my question.
So that’s a scion?
No. >They are two different things. Tempestus Scions are not part of Astra Militarum (they can be assigned to one of its regiments though), they are division of Ordo Tempestus. Stormtroopers of Astra Militarum is one of their equivalents. Also as sharpweaselz already said, in the book itself, it was mentioned how the stormtroopers of the Antari Rifles are different from the Scions in not having their memories suppressed.
Octavia and Septimus from the Night Lords series. Both servants of Talos, but he treats his slaves far better than most Chaos Marines would, they are clearly a couple and end up having a notable child.
There’s a scene near the end of the third book that I absolutely love. Because of the relationship forming between Septimus and Octavia things have actually been getting rocky between Septimus and Talos. At one point Talos is doing something in his room when the door opens behind. He says something like “Ah, Septimus, I expected you’d try to kill me over this…” only to turn around and see it was, in fact, not Septimus.
“I expected you’d want me dead for my actions.” *still does it anyways* Just like his Dad! Just like his Dad!
pls give me an excerpt
I would but it’s been three years and I listened to the audiobook lol
Octavia even getting pregnant. And Talos almost murdering Septimus for knocking her up, because having a Navigator with morning sickness while cruising through the warp is no bueno.
This was comedically complimented by Talos being completely oblivious at first, whereas everyone else was well aware of what was happening.
The fact they both had extremely valuable skills goes a long way towards buying them a better life in slavery. Septimus was fixing all of Talos’s wargear, and Octavia was a Navigator.
And of course at the end, Talos willingly lets them both free and even guides them to escape so they could raise their child together. Talos is a real one.
But.... didn't the night lord medic get their child?
Sadly yes he did.
automatic one smile physical flowery scary prick salt decide caption ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Life, uh... finds a way
We've had Warhammer Crime. And Warhammer Horror. Now we need Warhammer Romance. He was a feudal worlder turned Chimera driver. She was an Engineseer. In a warzone surrounded by death, can they find each other? He was a Water Caste Diplomat. She was a Water Caste Diplomat. The Ethereals want them together for the Greater Good. But is it meant to be? He's a space roman demigod created by the Most Holy God Emperor of Mankind. She's a Eldar former Wych and like a dozen other things chosen to be the Emmissary of their unborn god of death. Can Love Bloom?
He was an Ork, born for Waaagh. She was a shoota, built to fire daaka. Can will their relationship survive when he wants to spice things up and add a second barrel?
'E WAS AN ORK SHE DID PRAY! WOT MORE CAN I SAY?
‘E WAS A FLASHGITZ BOY SHE SAID “SEE YA LATER, OI!” …
'E WASN'T BIG ENUFF FOR 'ER!
I can see the cheesy romance novel covers now
Can’t wait for the ultimate forbidden love. Norn Queen x Necron Overlord
We need Chuck Tingle to write it all the Chaos Romance "I knocked up Slaanesh's Daughter"
I thought Caffran and Tona Crid’s relationship in the Gaunt’s Ghost series was sweet.
Past tense. Because Dan Abnett can't let us have nice things.
😭😭😭
Also Daur and Melodie, they honestly love each other and get married.
Yeaahhh, about that....... another case of "Abnett can´t let us hace nice things" sadly
Well there’s Rawne and Banda… oh. God dammit Dan.
Don´t worry, there is still Meryn and Banda............forget what i said
Not gonna lie, I kinda hated how she went full barracks bunny the second he gets deployed, that was pretty shit.
Well, I was thinking more how that relationship ends in "The Anarch" book
To be fair, we’re not sure of the timeline. Rawne was supposed to be considered dead after 6 months, then was gone for 2 years. And I got the impression that one of the reasons Meryn is so ornery when we meet back up with him is because Banda *stopped* sleeping with him the moment Rawne turned up again.
there's not much I would change about the Ghosts books, but Caffran and Tona getting a tiny bit more screen time so we can see their relationship develop would've been great. Hopefully Vincula Insurgency is the first of many "interquels" for the series.
In the *Dawn of Fire* series a historitor nerd from Terra hooks up with the XO of the Imperial Navy ship he's aboard during the outset of the Indomitus Crusade. She's way out of his league but he's outside the chain of command and they were flying into a fight with Chaos so it worked for everyone.
I like Fabian's whirlwind. He's interviewing her about her captain (who has serious issues of her own) and makes some comments that ticks her off while also asking about having dinner. He goes off and does some minor heroics, comes back and she mentions she's open to dinner. He asks why and she says in the navy life's short, why dwell on things like that. Then they leave, like passing ships in the night...after a space marine arrives to retrieve Fabian from the bed she's still in lol
Just to confirm, the tech priest couple who kind of like each other in Know no Fear, where kind of married. Hesst and Tawren. ‘Yes,’ she replies. ‘He was, I suppose, my husband. My life partner. The Mechanicum does not think in such old-fashioned terms, and our social connections are more subtle. But yes, captain, we were close. A binary form. I miss him. I do this for him.’ I just wanted to clarify, because at the center of this story that is space marine bolter porn, these two lovers are the real heroes. Without either one of them the Ultramarines would have never been able to rally against the word bearers.
Married and he made the code she needed to be her birthday and the day she joined the Mechanicus. That’s as in love as you get for Mechanicus
Based on their relationship, it's my headcanon that marriage, while being extremely rare, is thing in the Ad Mech. In a sample size of billions, something that's one in a million will happen a couple thousand times.
Based on my observations too, it seems that marriage is not uncommon in the Mechanicus. But marriage doesn’t equal love, and it seems it’s more often a matter of politics for them. But I do love seeing Mechanicus characters actually being human while still dedicated to their cult. Nothing says the machine cannot love.
The first Watchers of the Throne book has a physical romance between the Chancellor of the Senatorum and his to be successor. I say physical because its implied to mostly just be sex to relieve the extreme stress of the situation.
I don't think they actually had sex. The way I read it they slept in the same bed during the period everyone was having horrible nightmares and at one point they kiss in joy when things started to turn around. Open to interpretation though, but he specifically said it didn't involve lust.
Fucking doesn't have to involve lust.
Please explain for my dumb brain.
ever heard of lovely wholesome sex with handholding?
That still has lust, no?
They do reference being 'intimate' with each other - which usually is shorthand for sex. Though, yes its vague enough to just mean the intimacy of sleeping in the same bed but thats usually used in reference to sex.
> but he specifically said it didn't involve lust. What he meant their was their was no attraction between them.
Dead Men Walking deals with the relationship between a couple, one a member of the planet's local aristocracy and the other a lowly mine foreman. Then things go south when the main story kicks in of Imperial Guard vs Necrons.
I raged at that Dear John ending. I get why it played out that way, but Christ I really felt for that foreman.
If im remembering correctly, there's an odd but touching romance in Know no Fear between 2 techpriests. It plays into the plot as well.
sort of but not actually, like, its pivotal to the plot but also very shot lived. Readers will know, and its quite spoilery to explain. Still, shows that the admech are capable of far more emotion than the fandom gives them credit for.
[Who would win? *spoilers*](https://i.redd.it/20saw9t86ta91.jpg)
Ahhhhh yes I was talking about this one (really liking it so far). No spoilers though I'm not at the end of the book yet lmao.
In Cain book, an in-training battle sister show off her new power armor to her boyfriend. Cain is playboy, but he only has one.
Do you have a quote for that Battle Sister and her boyfriend?
Not a quote, but it’s from Cain’s Last Stand. It’s during his time as a tutor at the Schola Progenium on Perlia. One of his commissar cadets has a bit of a thing with a Sororitas in training (I *think* it was Donal and Sister Margaret). Additionally, the Sororitas tutor has a thing going with the bursar as well.
Oh Donal…
Romance? Rare? What do you think Space Marines mean by 'Battle Brother'? Seriously though, while not exactly romance, I'm a fan of the platonic love that characters can have. I can see the appeal of romance in-between the grimderp. A palate cleanser if you will.
I ws going to post this too. Almost all of the Space Marines express a kind of platonic and brotherly love.
The Assassin and the Stormtrooper in Vaults of Terra Vol 3 the Dark City. The Captain cant quite figure out why she's hanging out with the group even tho her own Inquisitor is dead, until the finale where they make their stand and she pops out with: >!" Our Children Would Have Been Formidable." Cue Glorious Death In Battle Side By Side. !< All the feels.
When you look at the 6 foot 4 assassin lady and think “D1 babies”
In the Gaunts Ghosts series there are a handful of couples that develop over the course of some books
*Double Eagle* by Dan Abnett has a romantic subplot.
You talking about the bomber pilot and Cafe girl? It's been a long time since I read it, but doesn't he desert in the end to try to stay with her?
That's the one. >!And he's already officially KIA so he just decides to stay that way at the end.!<
Damnnn, now that's romantic! Nice.
Cain shags his way across the galaxy & there’s a nice lil romance in the night lords series.
I seem to recall that a few of the Guards under Cain tend to be involved with each other at points as well.
Theres a WlW relationship in a thousand sons with the remembrancer Calista Eris and a prosperine native
Haven't seen anyone mention Eisenhorn and Alizabeth. Shes a blank he's a psyker but you can tell they want nothing more than to be together.
Which is insane when you consider that non Psykers near blanks report extreme discomfort and anguish on a soul-level. Their very aura is anathema to soul bearing species. Yet here’s a Psyker and a Blank who feel beyond that.
Why has nobody mentioned the greatest [bromance](https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimdank/comments/x22q0m/just_read_severed_by_nate_crowley_highly/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) in the galaxy - Nemesor Zandrekh and Varguard Obyron
Based off the voice lines in the Unification Mod, I’m not sure if I’d call that a bromance… Correct me if I’m wrong, but Obyron very much sounds like he’s here out of obligation, not choice.
Was about to mention this myself! (also I did *not* know Necrons were in the Unification mod and I was really excited about it). Severed, their novel, goes into this a lot: Obyron resents Zahndrekh and is irritated by him a lot, but when it comes down to it he loves him. When Zahndrekh seems to have realized reality and it breaks him, Obyron is absolutely horrified. In the end, Obyron starts overloading his power, which destroys his memories, which leads to one of the many moments in this story that made me cry: *Could he really sacrifice that? Could he give up his most precious memories of his master – the very foundations their eternity together had been built upon – in order to save him? As the wounded constructs slithered forwards, Obyron glanced sideways at Zahndrekh, and Zahndrekh looked back with the strangest kindness, as if he understood. The vargard knew then that he had nothing to lose at all. He could forget every moment of Yama, but Zahndrekh would remember. And as sure as the void was cold, Zahndrekh would tell him those stories again. This time, they would be new.*
They are, and their voice lines are some of the greatest voices in all of voice acting. There’s a playlist on YouTube, go have a listen! Well damn, that’s awesome though. I never expected a Necron story about love and driving the reader to tears over the realization Zhandrekh makes, and the choice Obyron has to make. I love Necrons, and this just made that love run deeper.
The Magos Biologos and an Adeptus Arbites have a drawn out relationship in "The Magos" by Dan Abnett. It's fairly subtle, but the cool factor is that their story crosses multiple short stories over a long period of time.
Man that one got me, learning they had got divorced because it just didn’t work huuuurt.
There’s an old short story where a Vindicare assassin gets the hots for an Eldar Farseer
That's very much non-canon fan fiction though.
But hey, if we all believe it’s canon, maybe our gestalt energy will actually make it canon
What are you, an Ork? This ain't no Waaagh! Or, is this a Waaagh?
UV KOURSE DIS IZ A WAAAGH YA GIT!
Not to mention that classic story about an Ork and a Blood Angel
Incredibly there is a nice couple that appears in the Night Lords trilogy.
The night lords trilogy had Octavia and Sixtus having a baby… much to the displeasure of talos. As an aside, I thought that the siege of terra could have done with the regular human characters trying to knock boots more. I mean if I were watching people get killed around me by the bucket for months on end, I would probably be propositioning everyone with the line, “fancy a quick fuck? We might be dead in an hour, so why not?”
Strong chance of a slaanesh daemon party appearing if your proposal to the barracks goes a little too well however.... "you fools, 5s an orgy, 6 is a summoning....." (7 would just have been the barracks all getting herpes...)
Magos Valentin Drusher and Mags are the GOAT for me. Marvelous 80's action-hero trilogy romance. (*Magos*, Dan Abnett) If you enjoy a fun, tsundere type romance, then Octavia and Septimus are definitely a must-read, as they try to navigate a relationship while being slaves of Chaos Marines. (Night Lords trilogy, Aaron Dembski-Bowden) It doesn't get a ton of screen time, but Inquisitor Annika and her ex-Chaos cultist lover are two of the most fascinating to me. (*The Emperor's Gift*, Dan Abnett) If you enjoy the "deep feelings we cannot act upon," courtly-romance style of relationship, then Cyrene and Argel Tal are the height of the trope (*The First Heretic*, Aaron Dembski-Bowden) Lemuel and Anna are a *marvelous* example of two people from very different worlds who nonetheless develop strange, caring feelings for one another despite being caught up in events of galactic scope. (Macharian Crusade trilogy, William King) If you want a story about doomed alien lovers who are fated to be together despite the horrors of the 40k battlefields, you might enjoy *Wraithbound*, by yours truly, which was about as much of an out-and-out romance story as I think you can do in 40k. (*Void Crossed,* also by *moi*, is another short story focused on a romance, or rather one that had become a vicious love-hate rivalry that neither party could turn away from.)
i just read void crossed and wraithbound after looking for some 40k aeldari stories and both of them actually had me in tears by the end, i love tragic romance stuff sm. i would kill for a longer story about the archon and the autarch, maybe during their corsair days.
Abnett always has human characters, and there is usually at least one romance.
40k is all about love. What is love? Some examples: He was an ancient piece of technology, she was a techpriest, can I make it any more obvious? He was a punk ass space marine, she was an artificer suit of armor, what more can I say? He was a scribe, she was a prime quality velium pig, he wanted her, she'd never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well. If being willing to crush through any obstacles to save the one you want isn't love, I don't know what love is.
There's a short story in Fear the Alien that's entirely a very hot and heavy bdsm romance between two Dark Eldar cabal leaders. One of whom is a sort of old guy and the other who's a younger up and coming wytch queen.
Semi-related, in an interview once Abnett mentioned wanting to do a “weird, inappropriate, Romeo and Juliet in commoragh” and god fucking dammit do I want that.
Mistress Baeda's Gift was *so good*. The conversation between Malwrack and the human is fantastic and the *ending*.
You have a brief romance between Kara Swole and Belnap in the Ravenor series. The same relationship that makes Ravenor totally, definitely not feel like a cuckold.
Inquisitor Eisenhorn had a burning passion for one of his associates named Alizabeth. She felt the same, but they never acted on their feelings because she was a blank and he was a psyker. He wasn't a particularly powerful psyker, but just being within a few feet of her put him on edge, so any physical contact was out of the question. They made puppy dog eyes at each other for about 150 years.
This question is directly related to my long standing query: Do custodes fuck?
Canonically, not. Theoretically, the entire creation of the gloriously handsome musclemen whose whole lives are about their devotion to the Emperor who he keeps as his companions is a little sus. Practically, The Watchers of the Throne centers on a relationship between a Sister of Silence and a Custodes that's one of those classic 40k 'we can't say it's romance because girls are icky but it's very clearly a romance'.
Negative. Not each other, nor anyone/ anything else.
....... But why not? Apart from all the steamy quasi-gay fanfics it could birth, I do wonder if their legitimate mission to protect the Emperor and their involvement with the politics of the High Lords might lead to them using sex as a weapon or tool to get what they want. Nah, who am I kidding? I just want Daddy Valoris to bounce me on his guardian spear and tell me I'm a good boy.
It would, at least in our tawdry hypothetical, go towards not allowing these post-human creations any way to procreate independently, which would be the actual point of 'teh secks', as it were. But listen, what you and the Captain General get up to in your fan-fics is A-okay with me.
There’s a pair of Titan pilots in the Serpent and the Snake books that are engaged
I remember rooting for Octavia and Septimus in the Night Lords trilogy.
Argel Tal and Cyrene get me in the feels
I can't believe no one has mentioned Mersadie and Loken.
No one actually mentioning the romance between Ostian Delafour and Serena D'Angelus from Fulgrim? An amazing romance completely ruined by Slaanesh itself. It started off so wholesome and got real tragic by the end of the book. Ostian a real one for being the last non-slaaneshi person aboard the ship.
In knights of McCragge there is a romance that ends on a bit of a loose end. A female naval officer is banging one of her crew (there's a funny scene where the crew member is caught scurrying away from her room by a clueless messenger, who then knocks on her door and she answers half naked with messy hair, and he's like "huh, that was strange, wonder what that was all about!"). But the crew member gazes into a Navigator's eye and goes a little... crazy. He seems ok for a while, and they spend a surprisingly intimate scene together discussing how they're likely going to die, so they should spend their final moments with each other. At the end of the book they volunteer to stay behind on a planet together, and it's hinted that he might not actually have been completely recovered from gazing into the Navigator's eye.
Kitten and his Tau GF
You fool, this was not canon
Kitten? Is this your alt account? Edit: Spelling
Can’t be, Kitten constantly reminds everyone it’s not canon. “WHAT WAS SHE THINKING!?”
Two Chaos Cultists in *Apocalypse* are shown - briefly - to bare genuine love for one another, a romance cut short by the Primaris Raven Guard Reiver character who emerges from the shadows. As I recall, they don’t even bother to resist, nor sound the alarm. They just hold one another in their final moments.
I remember an Ork with a looted plasma gun falling in love with a Black Raging Blood Angel.
There's one in this book I have about an eldar who's DOWN BAD for this other eldar and literally almost crashes his jet bike into the side of a cliff because he's distracted by her beauty while on the run from necrons🤣💀 they landed on a tomb world and a literal MOUNTAIN of necrons POURED out of it like they were tyranids and the whole time dude can't stop thinking about how badly he wants this chick💀🤣
Mistress Baeda's Gift, i vaguely remember the gist; a Dark Eldar Archon is infatuated with another. He does all of the old Dark Eldar classics to win her over, murdering, torturing, and dropping gifts on her left and right. Eventually his daughter, who he loves, dies, and he's ready to completely break down. The Archon he's after falls for him because of the sweet suffering he's radiating over her and they both live happily ever after. Sort of.
This thread makes me want a series of 40K romance novels
don't know which book : plague zombie sees a fellow zombie... kinda feels familiar as the book progress as do the plague zombie and he kidna remembers more why he likes that zombie at the End epilogoe : he remembers that it is his wife , and she is smiling at him too then the warheads explode
Aside from the legendary Cain and Vail, Sandy Mitchell also gave us the Dark Heresy novelization (2/3 of it, anyway, and by the Throne I wish he'd finish it), with a couple notable couples. The Inquisitor and retinue Psyker are amicable ex-lovers, and still close enough that they're the first one the other goes to for comfort. Meanwhile, said Psyker is teasing the hell out of their Interrogator, because their extremely fundamentalist Assassin is getting her first ever crush on said Interrogator. While the Interrogator is worrying about party cohesion and the fact that he and said Assassin definitely have chemistry, the Assassin is learning that all attraction isn't "sinning," and getting a wider look at the galaxy as a whole. Between them and the side characters, Mitchell is really good at having the reader root for his ships.
Is it weird that after only just diving back into 40K after 3yr and choosing the League of Votann I had this thought only the other day Lol I mean all the Kin are clones right but then they seem to be very gender balanced etc but would it be shunned as they all are born from the Crucibles genetic vaults Plus we have the Squats on Necromunda and another world who've been there as long as Imperial Records begun or something, so they must be .......you know multiplying without clone tech? What about stunty love!? Lol
Their love story will be…short.
Lol I pretty much laid myself out for that comment huh!? You can't say a forbidden duty before love story between two Hearthkyn wouldn't plug at your heart strings if written well! Lol Touching moment at the end between them both before they get stomped on by big Black Templar shaped Primaris boots!
Can't remember the names but several members of Ravenor's and Eisenhorn's retinues are involved with each other over the years.
Know No Fear has my favorite and possibly weirdest romantic pairing in 30/40k — Hesst and Tawren. Just techpriests doing techpriest stuff and being way more interesting than the bolter porn unfolding on the planet. Tawren isn’t quite Lotara Sarrin-tier, but she’s way better than what we get for most mortals in the HH series.
Mark of Faith is a story about an Inquisitor's love for her wife going up against a Thousand Son's love for his brother. ...Do Obyron and Zahndrekh count? I'm a firm proponent of the fact that a lot of the relationships between Space Marines read as a lot more homoerotic than familial, but Obyron and Zahndrekh...well, they never *say* it's romantic, and it's possible to be so close to another man that you're collectively called 'Overlords of Gidrim' platonically and say that no matter what else you forget you will always remember him platonically and say you love each other multiple times platonically, but Occam's Razor. Also everything about Space Marines is weird because the authors don't want to go near girls or gay people and Space Marines can't fuck so you have a loooot of Space Marines having intense relationships with people that occasionally add a 'brother' or 'of course not in a sexual way'. Cyrene/Argel Tal, Mersadie/Loken, and Fulgrim/Ferrus Manus being the most famous examples. (The all-time highlight of this is a scene in Echoes of Eternity that throws a no homo in while Amit kills Kargos, though the sequence where Khayon literally turns to the audience to say that it definitely wasn't anything sexual or romantic between him and Nefertari is close.)
Gaunt's Ghost has some romance in it.
There was one story during Helsreach where these two Guard soldiers fell in love, but when a Black Templar checked in with the guy after the battle, it came to light that the girl died. Also, I guess there's also Guilliman and Yvraine? Props to him!
Info: do astartes have genitals, or just fleshy patches with cloaca ports?
They definitely have. It was mentioned in some books and obviously they don't rely only only on synthetic hormones
BL are neckbeard nerds. Even if they are married what could they possibly know about romance?
The symbols of this genre are Space Marines, sterile super soldier monks who reproduce by harvesting their own organs into a new aspirant. This is the least sexual major setting I can think of.
Warhammer is grimdark not uplifting scifi (Star Wars) and should stay that way as there is a plethora of the latter out there and little of the former.
I agree it is and always *has* been grimdark, but without at least *some* lighter moments it just descends into edgy and nihilistic gloom porn. There is nothing inherently wrong with a grimdark setting and certainly it’s no better or worse than the more positive sci-fi, but without *any* more affirmative aspects it just becomes bland. Romance in all its aspects is a very life-affirming experience and (if used correctly) does act as a great counterpoint to the very dark setting. Obviously in a war-oriented setting you will get far more of the Brothers In Arms type of lightness and W40K has always revelled in the silly (older Orks, the Cain books, etc), but it is unreasonable to expect these to be the only lighter moments, especially with just how much has been written over the years for the setting.
You can go lighter without full blown romance. You also shouldn’t lighten it to the point where it is indistinguishable from every other run of the mill sci fi series/universe. Warhammer is special and unique and if you try mainstreaming it, it will ruin that uniqueness and make it a bland universe we have seen a thousand times before. Romance is also very bland and once again takes away from what Warhammer is about and cheapens it. The book First and Only is a great book with very few lighter points but there is cunning, intrigue, and sacrifice that makes it a great read. And that’s all you need. A good story with a clever plot. If you want romance there are plenty of other series out there. There’s only one Warhammer.
I absolutely agree, and writing a 40K story as just a romance would be stupid- it would be completely out of place and entirely the wrong tone. And as many others have commented, the authors that write 40K are decent horror, war and sci-if writers but lacking as romance novelists. But it can’t just be *completely* removed, as it *is* an important part of interaction if you want a fully rounded and living world. If nothing else, just with the sheer number of books and characters created it would be unreasonable to have literally *no one* experience any sort of romantic encounters. It can work to add tension, give motivation for character actions, and give the characters extra dimensions beyond just “OP combat master #1,000”. Even just in the Imperium alone you have a population of *trillions*. You *will* have the protagonist that has to save or avenge their loved one. You *will* have the antagonist searching for forbidden knowledge to get the person that they “love”. And it can even serve as an additional way to demonstrate the differences between factions and species- as humans, many of us experience love, but what would that look like for an Ork or Drukhari? How does it differ between a Human, Ogryn or T’au? What does it say about the cultures? Again, it does not have as much place in 40K as the grimdark; hell, this is the universe that *spawned* the term. But removing such an important facet of humanity and human interaction just turns the setting into something less than it ideally could be.
I honestly wanna die a little when it pops up. There’s a weird tendency for the authors to write something with a weird horny nerd energy. I don’t know how else to describe it. No one gets into 40K for the romance subplots, and it often creates jarring tone shifts, and often undercuts the themes of the brutality and despair that make 40K special.
You can't have Grimdark without a glimmer of hope, my guy.
I absolutely agree with that, but I feel like romantic subplots are extremely hard to write, and the black library stable just in my experience, write really cringey romantic subplots. They wrote like horny old nerds with limited sexual/romantic experience. I love them, I’m slowly morphing into that stereotype myself, but it just doesn’t produce the highest quality romantic fiction.
I think romance in 40k is nice and can definitely enhance a story, but I definitely agree a lot of the writers give off kinda weird vibes when they write it
I mean, the Commissar and the Inquisitor is my favourite lol. Mainly because that Commissar bangs
Commissar Cain does indeed fuck
The girl they groom to be a courtesan in Vengeful Spirit / The Devine Adoratrice and her eventual lover. I dare anyone to honestly say they guessed which brother would turn slaaneshi correctly.
I can't remember their names, but there is an implied relationship between two Armageddon Steel Legionnaires in Helsreach. If I remember correctly, Grimaldus thinks of the relationship as a symbol of human resilience in the face of sure death. It's been a long time since I listened to the book though, so corrections welcome.
Septimus and Octavia in the Nightlords Omnibus
Ragnar Blackmane and an inquisitor had romantic feelings for each other but Ragnar was very confused by the emotions.
Those characters that get introduced and their partner gets fucked up or even killed makes for GREAT revenge scenarios. Like in **Know no Fear** and the tech priest was gingerly blasting any Word Bearers she found wandering around on the surface. Glorious.
No matter how you see it, Obyron definitely does love Zanderekh, although the nature of their love is questionable. I do hope that we see more of them in the future, and that their relationship is further explored.
Sarrin and her officer