#orikan is a gremlin

[fobosfear]

Szeras posting

[lockhartandlych]

i think we as a fandom need to discuss orikan's topping potential

[smaller-comfort]

Some poorly organized thoughts, now that I have consumed a stack of Warhammer books about necrons. (Cannot thank @ocelly enough for sending them to me.)

Spoilers for the Infinite and the Divine and thr Twice Dead King books. I'm not talking about Severed because I am genuinely tired of bursting into tears! I have become a parody of a human being.

Orikan deserves it nearly every time Trazyn leaves him in a mangled heap somewhere. No forgiveness or quarter for breaking those pots during his initial theft of the astrarium! I mean, I get where Orikan is coming from; Necrons as a whole are slaved to their past and their inability to change will destroy them. But also, priceless ancient pottery, you raging douchebag. You also didn't have to break Trazyn's walking stick.

Executioner Philias deserves the chance to decapitate both of them, as a treat. And Sannet deserves a vacation somewhere quiet and restful.

I know Orikan tends to be characterized as a shrieking gremlin in contrast to Trazyn's laconic smarminess but they both engage in a lot of shrieking gremlin antics here.

I love how the rise and fall of Serenade's civilizations is used as a framing device for the whole story. I love the approach to time itself in the book in general, with the necrons moving on incomprehensibly vast timelines. Pauses in conversations take hours; three years pass in the middle of a brainstorming session between Trazyn and his staff. Orikan manipulates the timeline with wild abandon to occasionally disastrous and frequently hilarious ends. It's a very fun premise, and it drives home the idea of necrons as not just immortal, but also impossibly old.

(It feels like a treat to read something like this after some of the ideas I've chewed on in my Sea of Stars fic. It's hard not to draw parallels, and some part of me desires an entirely senseless crossover. Trazyn would have a delightful time getting to show off his archives to Resh'an, up until the Vial of Time starts breaking down the chronostasis fields in some of the exhibits. Whoops.)

Thinking about the curatorial/transformational dichotomy in fandom makes me want to contemplate an incredibly stupid AU where Trazyn and Orikan have been getting into flamewars with each other on gaming message boards since the early 90s. They have been banned from attending the same conventions and tournaments after getting in one too many fistfights with each other.

I'm not going to write that. (I'm not likely to write anything...but if I do, it's probably going to be porn where Orikan gets dismembered. *sigh* I'm always predictable to myself, of course, but sometimes the mortifying ordeal of being known weighs upon one's mind.)

I just picked up the audio book, so I may give my eyes a break in the coming week and give it a listen.

Zahndrekh's cameo in Ruin, followed by the revelation in Reign that he's wrapped up in the Carnotite conclave bullshit makes me wildly curious as to where Crowley is headed with these stories. Also the fact that Zahndrekh was as weird and off-putting to people when he was alive as he is when he's a necron is so, so fucking hilarious. He's just like that normally! Incredible. I love him more than words can describe.

I feel like if I were better versed in ancient Greek philosophy and Egyptian mythology, I'd have been picking up a lot more of the references and allusions in Twice Dead King. I've also never watched Battlestar Galactica, so I don't know how much the parallels between BG and Reign line up beyond the superficial.

(It may be Locked Tomb brainrot at work making me assume there are additional levels to the story that I'm missing. Not that there aren't already plenty of levels to the story!)

Going back through pieces of Ruin after finishing Reign makes everything hurt even more! Wow. Incredible.

Reading Ruin: Oltyx you absolute gay disaster baby, please get a grip

Reading Reign: wait no not like that oh god no

Yenekh gets to subvert the 'best friend who dies tragically to support the hero' trope because he's not the best friend, he's the love interest. Oltyx spends the first six chapters of Ruin waxing poetic about his dear friend's graceful curves and shining carapace, come on.

(Their reunion on the Polyphemus also made me cry, unsurprisingly. Love wins! Which is the central theme of course; Oltyx's salvation comes from the people who love him.)

Lysikor manages to steal every scene he's in, which is hilariously appropriate. He's just the distilled essence of that one thief in every D&D campaign who rolls way too high on his pickpocket checks. I have to assume that he's relying on his obsession with stealing shit to stave off his own descent into the flayer curse, since he is originally from Ithakas.

If/when he gets turned, he can go to Drazak and make out sloppy style with Oltyx while Yenekh looks on in horror before joining in.

...I mean I guess Lysikor doesn't need to be turned for that, necessarily. It's going to be an extremely messy endeavor, regardless.

Between The Locked Tomb, and Twice-Dead King, it feels like there's a lot of ritualistic cannibalism with skeletons going on around here. 🤷‍♀️

[ghostinthegallery]

A definitive ranking of all the janky old resin necron named character models:

All these guys need an update, but some have fared better in the resin molds of Nottingham than others. These rankings are solely my opinions and they are also objectively correct.

Without further ado:

#6 Obyron

He looks like an annoyed linebacker. He barely fits on his base. Why would you ever hold a warscythe like that? Why are the front tassels in motion when his is standing still? How could GW do this to our beloved vargard? Poor marks all around.

#5 Trazyn

Lore accurate hunched gremlin vibes, but where is the sex appeal? Where are his slutty, slutty legs? Not convinced. Plz update with more hot girl energy

#4 Anrakyr

Pose is kinda dull, but the skirt helps it. Appreciate that he has hips that do not lie. Good for him going blue instead of green. He is truly not like the other girls. Solid marks, but I want more

#3 Imotekh

At least they tried with the pose. Some movement, some dynamic feeling. Pretty sure if he turns his head wrong the crown will get stuck on the pauldron. Could use more claw. I appreciate that they made him buff even though Necrons literally don't have muscle. He is not a snack, he is a meal

#2 Orikan

Such a weird little guy. He's mostly supported by his tail. I feel like he is hissing at me. This is all completely accurate, now lean into the vibes. Give me even more. Have fun with it

#1 Zahndrekh

Dabbing before (and after) dabbing was cool. Cape is on point. Love the orb right at the sacral chakra. I encourage both official GW releases and fanfic writers to work with this. He is having a good time and so am I. Just don't fall off the edge

[minweber]

The Infinite and The Divine is really good, and I would sell my soul to chaos gods for it to have a sequel about similar hijinks occurring between Trazyn and Cawl. (I propose it to be named The Scholar and The Seeker, btw)

I like the original dynamic, but imagine if instead of smug gremlin Trazyn and relatively straight-man Orikan, there were two smug gremlins trying to outplay each other? And they had such different abilities and resources at their disposal? And they were, perhaps, the two most insufferable people in the grim darkness of the 42nd millennium?

Just... Imagine.

[ghostinthegallery]

tagged by @sarnakhwritesthings, fanfic writers 20 questions!

How many works do you have on AO3?

5! With more on the way.

What's your total AO3 word count?

160,802 but the vast majority of that is for one fic 🤣

What fandoms do you write for?

Warhammer 40k. It's just the perfect storm of stuff I love, stuff I hate enough to fix, and narrative threads underutilized enough that I can pick them up like a crow stealing shiny objects.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Lmao, I only have five but in order they are:

The Silence and the Storm- my magnum opus, my child born of spite, the title was too good to pass up, me just writing a novel with necrons because no one can stop me and also some of the robots kiss 💀

Some Inconvenient Insight- I finished the Ghazghkull book and needed to see what would happen if I threw Makari the lucky grot at Trazyn. Trazyn had less fun than I did.

The Warrior- my first 40k fic! What if necron warriors were sentient and one got stranded on a world with a bunch of ad mech plus a very determined Inquisitor. I love this little story, really helped me get a feel for writing in the setting. And there's a scarab who is very cute and helpful

They Will Never Call Me Weak- Just me dipping my toe into Horus Heresy and immediately being annoyed on behalf of my guy Vulkan. So I "fixed" a scene.

Sparring Match- my most recent fic. There is not enough Twice Dead King content!! Oltyx is my child, I just want him to be happy for five seconds.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I love my comments and chatting with folks. Letting everyone know I appreciate them ❤️

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think any of the endings have been that angsty? I guess They Will Never Call Me Weak wins, considering the fact that the rest of Vulkan Lives probably still happens and...oof

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The Warrior, I guess, but that's just because I love the idea of accidental necron socialism

Do you get hate on fics?

Luckily not. I'm grateful that i write in a comparatively small niche of 40k, which I think helps. People here have been great!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've written sex scenes as part of a larger narrative. I definitely intend to write some straight up explicit stuff as well in the future. The gay robot pron calls to me.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not really. I think they are fun, I just haven't had an idea for one that tickles my brain enough to write. It would take a lot tbh, one thing I try really hard to do in a fic is match the tone/voice of the original work which is doubly hard in a crossover

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'd love that!!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. I'm a gremlin, I gotta write alone in my cave before emerging with damp, ink stained pages.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Trazyn/Orikan (but Obyron/Zahndrekh is close). Outside 40k I have a lot of love for Catradora. And Griddlehark

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I refuse to leave a fic unfinished. This is my sacred vow

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty solid at characterization and dialogue. Honestly fic has been great practice for those elements I feel like I've historically been weaker at. I also think I write a mean action scene

What are your writing weaknesses?

Editing. There is not a chapter where I don't find some typo I missed or word I wish I'd fixed. I lack patience when I want to post 😭

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Not something I'd do unless I knew the language or had someone to translate. Luckily it's 40k, everyone is speaking a made up language that I write in English for convenience

First fandom you wrote for?

If we are being technical, The Chronicles of Narnia around age 7. Gotta love those early self inserts

Favorite fic you've ever written?

Don't make me choose!! I wrote them all for different reasons and I'm really satisfied with my little collection

(it's probably The Silence and the Storm)

tagging: @sixteen-juniper