saraneth87

[saraneth87]

Snippet Sunday

Mostly for @lucheiah because GHOST FLASHBACK(!) but also for @fourraccoonsinacoat and @icasticonoclast and everyone who has been so lovely about it all! Heinrix, with Gwen missing in Commoragh, is going through her stuff like a nosy fether and finds an old, battered data-slate...

Heinrix watched the sudden tension in the officer's shoulders, the reflexive twitch of one hand as the two stared at each other. ‘That's dangerous ground, Gwenllian,’ he hissed.  She held his gaze, something taunting in her expression.  Oh Gwen, don't- ‘Has the great Elim Rawne finally gone soft?’ The man's jaw worked, like he was holding himself back. ‘Don’t push your fething luck, Gwen,’ he said, his tone volatile. ‘I'm far too patient with you as it is.’ ‘Yeah yeah, you've shot men for less,’ she muttered, rolling her eyes as though she had heard it before. He surged to his feet and backhanded her across the face, knocking her down. ‘What the feth-’ ‘Go sleep it off, Gaunt,’ he snarled. ‘Sober the feth up before someone who will report you sees you like this. Like Hark. Or that feth-wit Daur.’ ‘Nobody has any time for me anymore,’ she muttered, and turned to go. ‘Send the major in on your way out, trooper,’ he snapped. She gave a sloppy, sardonic salute, and vanished. The officer sighed, deeply, and sat down again as another figure entered the room. ‘Eli.’ ‘Ceg.’ Ceglan Varl, then, filled in Heinrix’ memory. A roguishly handsome man, dark-haired, sleeves rolled up to reveal an augmetic arm. Rawne shook the bottle at him, and the major found cups. They drank. ‘What the feth am I supposed to do with her, Eli?’ the major asked wearily. ‘Gereon was easier than this,’ agreed the colonel, his tone frustrated. ‘Why the feth did she enlist in the first fething place? She doesn't want to be here.’ ‘She really doesn't.’ They drank again. ‘This is absolute piss-wash,’ Varl muttered, staring into his cup. ‘The sacra, or Bram's-daughter-babysitting-duty?’ They both snickered. ‘She's going to get her ass busted back to RIP if she doesn't reel it the feth in.’ ‘It's like having my own fething kid,' grumbled Rawne. ‘Without the fun part.’ ‘Right.’ They both emptied their cups, and Rawne poured again. ‘Of course, you know the fastest way to smack this attitude out of her.' ‘Her platoon didn't get selected. I’m almost relieved. She's too fething cocky.’ ‘Feth of a shot though.’ ‘Yeah. Like Nessa. Or Larks, Emperor rest the mad old bastard.’ There was a moment's silence. ‘You're going down this drop, right?’ Varl shrugged. ‘Yeah. Sure. Fething nine-seventies again.’ ‘And you need an adjutant.’ ‘Eli. Don't you dare.’ ‘Someone has to keep a fething eye on the brat. She won't be happy until she's in the thick of it.’ ‘Eli. For feth's sake. Don't make me responsible for her. She's her mother's favourite, for crying out loud.’ Rawne's jaw tightened. ‘I know she is, Ceg, but she's being a shit and it won't end fething well for her. Better she gets down there, gets the combat shock over with, and comes back a little seasoned.’ ‘Is that an order?’ ‘Are you going to make me make it one?’ Varl groaned. ‘She's a good soldier, Ceg. We both know it. She's just young.’ ‘Weren't we all once,’ he muttered sourly, defeated. Rawne got to his feet, clapped the other man on the shoulder, and left. Varl stared at the picter, then blinked as if realising something, and laughed. ‘Oh feth,’ he said, and reached for it. The recording ended.

[saraneth87]

I’m off work today, have another chapter!

The Heinrix-torture Magnae Accessio continues and it took me bloody forever to decide on the music choices(!)

Did I put her in Satine's red dress from Moulin Rouge for the dancing? Look, I am a millennial woman and that dress has had a chokehold on me since 2001 okay

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Sent to my Warhamster group, made me chuckle

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Oh this is *gorgeous*

Gatekeeper and Servoskulls

[saraneth87]

I'm still mad the regicide mobile game came and went while I was in a different hyperfixation and hadn't come back to 40k yet 😤

I absolutely adore heinrix's regicide scene because it kinda reminds me of meeting some of my aloof (and often neurodivergent) friends who kept their distance from me until I randomly hit That Very Special Topic and got them infodumping excitedly. always makes me so happy because I love people nerding out to me, especially if I actually know nothing about the topic

anyways thank you for reading now look at this sweet fictional man

[saraneth87]

Man I *wish* I could draw because I have a *very specific* image in my head of Gwen's initial Magnae gown and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to describe it properly to an actual artist

It's the big oversleeves from this one by Elaine's Couture (elainescouture.com) only the foliage pattern is all embroidery of star systems and aquilas and the Von Valancius crest

So that oversleeve slapped onto something like this one from The Tudors:

And a heavy influence of this one by Elisabeth Armstrong (shot by Tigz Rice)

Maybe I should just bloody sew it so it is out of my brain, honestly (I can sew but I can't draw, don't ask me why lmao)

[saraneth87]

In lieu of a WIP Wednesday have a whole chapter!

IT’S MAGNAE ACCESSIO TIME BABY

This is going to take a few, shorter chapters, because I’m mean to these two idiots

[saraneth87]

Absolutely cannot believe that my silly little self-indulgent fanfic has reached 300 hits on AO3 😳

If you're reading it, a) why lmao and b) thankyou

[saraneth87]

Chapters: 13/? Fandom: Warhammer 40.000: Rogue Trader (Video Game) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: no beta readers we die like Rykad Minoris, Pining, so much pining, Mutual Pining, Hurt/Comfort, look I run 40k Thirstposting on Tumblr what do you expect, Eventual Sex, Canon-Typical Violence, Iconoclast Path (Warhammer 40.000: Rogue Trader), Idiots in Love, Eventual Smut, his favourite colour is red, Medical Procedures, Blood and Injury Summary:

Gwen gets shot! But, yanno, this is 40k. Splinter rifles are not nice things. Mind the tags, there’s some medical stuff.

[saraneth87]

LOOOOOOOK at my girl I am *sobbing*

Thankyou so, so, so much Ayla 😭😭😭

I recently reached 1K followers on Bluesky and did a little giveaway for a fully rendered bust commission! This was the painting I did for the winner - a portrait of Rogue Trader Gwenllian Von Valancius

If you'd like to commission me, you can do so through my Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/aylameridian

[saraneth87]

Aiiiiiight I still haven’t finished my irl academic work but I did update chapter 12 as promised, so here it is again with some added Marzipan for your delectation

Yes, my phone insists on autocorrecting Marazhai to Marzipan, and I find it hilarious

[saraneth87]

'Being near you is a trial for me' honestly just had Gwenllian's Abelard (who ships it like nobody's business) mentally yelling JUST KISS THE WOMAN ALREADY YOU ABSOLUTE DOLT while he pretended to read his dataslate and listened in on their conversation

I get why Abelard has so much banter devoted to bullying a romance'd Heinrix, when he's stuck with a front row seat to his and the RT's nonsense

[saraneth87]

I support this

Heinrix would 100% be the first to attempt to bully Abelard. if he found out RT was into the old man

can i say something

[saraneth87]

Layers meme: Gwenllian

Pinching this from @inquisitornocturn and @vossprime, since Tumblr doesn't want me to post my Snippet Sunday and complains every time (is it because Flashback Rawne gives Gwen a very-deserved slap for being an insubordinate little shit? who knows)

LAYER ONE: THE OUTSIDE

Name: Gwenllian Phlebas Gaunt NB - the Tanith are(were?) a blend of Welsh and Scottish, according to Abnett, so she has a Welsh first name (guess where I'm from lmao) and her grandfather's name (see the Eisenhorn trilogy for more info on Lord Inquisitor Phlebas Alessandro Rorken)

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Style/Color: Long and very wavy (from her mother) and blonde (from her father)

Height: 5' 9" (both her parents are tall)

Clothing Style: Aboard ship she favours luxe fabrics and embroidered gowns, lots of silk and velvet, but not big dresses - think Eowyn from LOTR's fancier frocks. When she's off adventuring it goes lightly armoured bodyglove/tall boots/long coat, with the occasional addition of her Tanith camo-cape if she knows she's going into a warzone.

Best Physical Feature: She has her mother's smile, which is to say cheeky and enticing and a little bit sexual.

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE

Fears: Warp incursions terrify her (Grim Portents mean she was the only survivor of a mass incursion) but she can deal with it as long as it doesn't happen in her fething bedroom again. Not living up to her parents (High Inquisitor OC and the friggin' Lord Executor of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade) means she holds herself to the highest standards that she would never expect anyone else to uphold. Failure generally.

Guilty Pleasure: Sacra. Men with broad shoulders. Teasing Heinrix until his brain malfunctions.

Biggest Pet Peeve: Rules and regulations that stop her from being the most merciful human she can be. She's been Guard, she's seen how the Inquisition works, and she hates the choke-chain placed on their adherents. Being told what to do generally rankles.

Ambition for the Future: To keep her humanity and not have it beaten out of her by *looks to camera* the Grim Darkness of the Far Future where there is Only War (snork)

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS

First Thoughts Waking Up: Am I hungover? No. Good. Where's the recaf?

What They Think About the Most: How to make her people's lives better. If you cut her in half it would say Iconoclast down the middle.

What They Think About Before Bed: Depends on how drunk she is.

What They Think Their Best Quality Is: Their humanity. On the battlefield, it's being a really, really good fething shot (thanks for teaching her, Larkin!).

LAYER FOUR: WHAT’S BETTER?

Single or Group Dates: One on one.

To be Loved or Respected: Gwen would probably state she wouldn't want one without the other. Blind love or blind loyalty won't get you anywhere, in her eyes.

Beauty or Brains: Brains, but she does take advantage of her mother's looks occasionally (mostly to tease Heinrix)

Dogs or Cats: She always considered herself a cat person - the troop ships had several to help keep the vermin down - but she adores Glaito.

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?

Lie: Only if she has to.

Believe in Yourself: She doesn't have her parents' seemingly boundless self-confidence, that's for sure.

Believe in Love: Yes. Absolutely. She doesn't expect to find any herself, but she knows it exists. And she platonically loves her entire retinue.

Want Someone: She wouldn't admit it, but she has a weakness for authoritarian men, which is probably why Heinrix has so thoroughly captured her attention. Call it daddy issues.

LAYER SIX: HAVE YOU EVER?

Been on Stage: Unfortunately, if the Magnae counts. She hates attention like that.

Done Drugs: No. She might have hung out with the more disreputable members of the First-and-Only as a rebellious teen, but she's got more in common with Ban Daur (once described in-universe as "...so innocent that doves nest in his hat") than she would have had with, say, that fething little shit Flyn Meryn. Of course, this was mostly because there was no way in hell the the malcontents of the First-and-Only would let anything happen to her, for fear of angering Rawne, let alone her father. Gwen was very salty about it when she figured this out.

Changed Who You Were to Fit In: No, and it's why she never had a good time as a member of the Imperial Guard. Too willing to question the status quo.

LAYER SEVEN: WHAT’S THEIR…

Favourite colours: Blues and greens, especially a good deep royal blue or a properly mossy green.

Favourite animal: Probably cats.

Favourite book: The Gospel of Saint Sabbat.

Favourite game: It used to be whatever Varl had cooked up - even if winning against Varl was near impossible - but it's probably regicide now. or Devils and Dames solo if she's alone.

LAYER EIGHT: AGE

DOB: If Ibram Gaunt became Lord Executor in 795.M41 and Rogue Trader begins in 844.M41 (best date I've seen so far) then some point in early 800.M41 I guess?

How Old Will You Be: At the start of RT she is mid 30s, +10 warp adjustment. The troop ship from Grim Portents getting lost in the warp was gone ten realspace years, although it was a matter of weeks for the people stuck on it.

Age You Lost Your Virginity: 18ish, and it was bloody hard work finding someone whose interest in her outweighed their fear of her father. She had to take up with someone from a different regiment in the end (and not tell them what her surname was)

Does Age Matter: she hates being underestimated because she looks younger than she is, even without the time dilation due to the warp. Otherwise, no.

LAYER NINE: FINISH THE SENTENCE

I love: "being able to make people's lives a little better, even if it seems naive"

I feel: "out of my depth, most of the time"

I hide: "how lonely I am, really"

I miss: "that messy, smoky troop-ship, and my Tanith family."

I wish: "that everyone could just shut up a minute and let me work"

[saraneth87]

Honestly I was so disappointed when I got to the end of his plot... I wanted him to be at least one-time bangable like Sauerback

"And make you part of the family."

Einrich Monteg warmup

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Tumblr whyfor you no let me post my Snippet Sunday

[saraneth87]

Not one but two little pre-RT flashbacks from Gwen as Heinrix pokes through her stuff while she's missing

*cackles*

Ohhhh boy she was a little shit when she started out (I live in a squaddie town and can flatly state they are *all* little shits who think they're immortal before they get deployed for the first time and get a short sharp shock - Gwen is no different)