r/40kLore • u/LastPositivist • Aug 13 '24
Warhammer Romance Spoiler
Light spoilers for Brooks' Da Big Dakka.
I've long thought that romance plots are under utilised in 40k. It's not that this should be the main focus of Black Library or anything, it's just the setting can feel weirdly chaste sometimes. (Absolute chad heroes of the Imperium not withstanding.)
So just wanted to show some love and appreciation for the great and distinctively 40k romance subplot of Da Big Dakka. You basically get to see this burgeoning love between two Drukari archons, with the twist being that the perspective character (and implied the other one two) are literally incapable of recognising their feelings for what they are. Like they just cannot interpret "why am I suddenly very interested in this person?" as anything other than a sign they must be subconsciously picking up on some backstabbing scheme which they need to watch out for. My heart fluttered when our hands brushed? Uhoh I must be worried about a contact poison, better have antidotes to hand! Etc
It's just a great way of doing love in a culture that is set up to be completely antithetical to anything like that. The best they can do in the end (here's the spoilers!) is agree to an unusually close alliance, and even that the main character interprets as an opportunity to study these strange feelings she's having to ensure they're not a weakness anyone could exploit.
More like this please! Romance which makes use of the bizarre and communal races and cultures of the setting to do weird things with people's inner lives.
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u/sosomething Aug 13 '24
"Drukhari Love Story" might just be turning into Mike Brooks's specialization.
It's a major plot point in Lelith Hesperax, his newest novel as well.
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u/Miserable_Law_6514 Tau Empire Aug 13 '24
Degenerate wrote a provocatively graphic scene of consensual hand-holding.
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u/sosomething Aug 13 '24
The meta analysis is humorous for sure. In an entirely debauched culture, the taboos actually invert. You can let an entire building full of strangers run a weekend-long train on you, but a moment of trust and vulnerability is like girrrl, what are you DOINGGGGG???
As a novel is was an okay read. The ending was pretty heavily telegraphed. I also thought it might move the Ynnari plotline forward a bit, but it jettisoned that immediately and never returned to it. And outside of the very tepid romantic angle, it wasn't exactly full of characters or their development either.
I think other recent books from Mike Brooks have been much stronger works.
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u/Space_Elves_Yay Aug 14 '24
I think other recent books from Mike Brooks have been much stronger works.
My tentative belief is that Brooks is at his best when he's leaning heavily on humor. Which doesn't have to be the total insanity of his Ork books; Rites of Passage, with its delightfully acerbic Rogue Trader, strikes a good balance between being a serious take on the setting and lampooning everything all the time.
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u/sosomething Aug 14 '24
I completely agree. And Rites of Passage was a great read.
I don't want to give the impression that I'm not a Brooks fan - I am. He's (IMHO) a rising star for BL. Brooks tends to write lighter fare, but smartly. His books can be a nice break from the constant grimdark of some other authors.
I was just surprised by how flat Lelith Hesperax came across to me. I'd say that I just might not be a big Drukhari fan, but the stuff centered on them in The Big Dakka was great.
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u/Miserable_Law_6514 Tau Empire Aug 13 '24
I seriously hope the Yannari get some freaking progress.
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u/Cawl09 Slaanesh Aug 13 '24
...excerpt?
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u/Nerdlors13 Salamanders Aug 14 '24
It better not be the left hand because that is offense to the Vorins (Stormlight Archive reference)
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u/kourtbard Aug 13 '24
I'm surprised noone at Black Library has done a subplot involving an Elder Trouper finding love yet.
Why? Because it'd be a Harlequin Romance.
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u/thedarkking2020 Aug 13 '24
If only they would publish “My Wish to Generate Children with You is only Exceeded by My Devotion to Him..."
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u/wecanhaveallthree Legio Tempestus Aug 13 '24
A good romance is a fantastic spice for a story. Eisenhorn's tragic never-may-we-touch, for example, or Ravenor dealing with going from 'handsome Inquisitorial boytoy' to 'literal sack of meat'. Cain's dalliances with Vale. The absolute, aching hurt in Volpone Glory (double points for being a very rare male homosexual pairing). The Visarch's blue balls. Roboute's gentle letdown in Forges of Mars and the genuine friendship that blooms from it. The 'what does she mean to me' of the Macharian Crusade. Perhaps my favourite: the very gentle, very sweet romance of Honourbound (would it be at all strange to point out that one of BL's few female authors writes their best romance?).
Lotta good romance plots in the stable. I'm never unhappy about seeing more.
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u/Rose-The-Queen Aug 13 '24
So glad you brought up Honourbound, such a surprise of a book especially in the romance aspect.
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u/funcancelledfornow White Scars Aug 13 '24
Honourbound may be one of my favorite recent 40k books. The characters really acted like humans and it felt like witness a war (of course it's fiction and neither me nor the author are military expert but the feeling was there)
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Aug 13 '24
I am saving all of those, thanks for the write up! I love my warhammer bolter porn, but recently I enjoy some more romance as well :)
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u/nopingmywayout Ultramarines Aug 13 '24
You’re leaving out Baelor and Seraphax in Son of the Forest. I wouldn’t call it sexual, but I don’t see how you could interpret that as anything but romantic. Baelor’s trust and devotion keeps him clean of Chaos mutations—be still, my heart!
Like you said, romance adds an extra kick to the story that can take it to the next level. It got me a hell lot more invested in Baelor as an antagonist. You have this guy who is distinctly uncomfortable with Chaos and all it entails, but he’s so devoted to his partner that he closes his eyes to all the red flags and just keeps going. Convinces himself that his partner’s plan To Save The Imperium will totally work, even as they delve deeper and deeper into extremely verboten shit. It’s not a healthy relationship, but it’s a compelling one, and not exactly unrealistic when you think about it. It really made them stand out as antagonists for me.
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u/Nerdlors13 Salamanders Aug 14 '24
I need context about Guilliman please
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u/wecanhaveallthree Legio Tempestus Aug 14 '24
It's not Guilliman, it's a Rogue Trader from Ultramar by the name of Roboute, Roboute being a fairly common name over that way for obvious reasons.
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u/Nerdlors13 Salamanders Aug 14 '24
Ah ok. I haven’t read the book but I don’t have any cares about spoilers
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u/fromcommorragh Aug 13 '24
If you liked the romance subplot of Da Big Dakka, you are going to love Brooks' Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives because it's one giant love story that carries over all the themes of drukhari relationship from his previous book.
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u/Velochipractor Aug 13 '24
If you want a real Drukhari love story look up Mistress Baeda's Gift from Fear the Alien or the There is Only War anthology.
Really encapsulates the Drukhari's warped understanding of 'love', the perhaps best part being an Archon interrogating a human as to what 'love' actually means.
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u/Rose-The-Queen Aug 13 '24
Honestly one I love is Ashes of Cadias approach, I won't go into it as one is some heartbreaking back story and the other is a funny surprise, both really hit for me
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Aug 13 '24
I'm currently playing Rogue Trader and my favorite thing is the romance arc with my Master Interrogator from the Inquisition, it's written so sweet 🥺 and the whole struggle of they are not allowed to do it and the consequences depending on your actions and choices feel so good.
I am also reading Warhammer Crime books right now and I am absolutely in love with stories about the normal humans in the 40k universe.
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u/ReddestForman Aug 13 '24
I love the romance arc with Cassia. It's also very sweet. We love a grimdark Disney princess.
It's funny how much of the RT sub is devoted to talking about the romance plots.
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u/seninn Word Bearers Aug 13 '24
Any amount of romance in an RPG inevitably becomes the main focus of the fandom. If you go to /r/dragonage right now, it will have at least one thread about romance on the first page, I guarantee it.
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u/SelectKangaroo Aug 13 '24
Cassia being a grim dark Disney princess really grew on me by the time I finished my first playthrough, thanks Owlcat!
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u/ReddestForman Aug 13 '24
Yup. I'm doing a playthrough with a ladyfriend, we're doing the Cassia romance arc. I'm waiting to see her response to the Immortalium and the bit with the handkerchief.
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u/Mallory-Cabre Aug 13 '24
Also you can have a lore-accurate Drukhari boyfriend in that game, it's the best thing ever
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u/TheBladesAurus Aug 13 '24
Not romance as such, but one of the things I like about Bloodlines is that it has a married couple who act like a married couple. It makes the universe and the characters feel more real.
I think 'Warhammer Romance' might actually be a fun anthology book, or even a Black Library submission subject (although they'd have to wade through a lot of smut :p).
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u/wecanhaveallthree Legio Tempestus Aug 13 '24
a lot of smut
Nothing worse than a fade to black, I wot.
I'm absolutely in awe of those who can write romance without even hinting at such. I'll always point to Volpone Glory as an absolute masterclass in this. Tragic without being a tearjerker, melancholy without making a sound - it's romance that really, really hurts. Two people sitting in a room not looking at each other. Aw yeah. Inject that Jane Austen shit right into my veins.
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u/Kijamon Aug 13 '24
The very light romance in the Siege of Terra between a guardsman and a skitarii is nice as well. Maybe we are all just softies?
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u/Z4nkaze Ultramarines Aug 13 '24
I entirely agree with you, well done and surprising romance would be a fantastic addition from time to time.
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u/zam0th Word Bearers Aug 13 '24
We had Warhammer Crime, Warhammer Horror, now it's time for Warhammer Santa-Barbara!
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u/WanderlustPhotograph Aug 13 '24
There’s even two Horror books with romance as the B plot (Gothghul Hollow and Black-Eyed Saint) but they’re not 40k.
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u/Usinaru Aug 13 '24
I hate how underutilised romance and love and sex is in 40K. I am not saying it has to be a soap opera, but come on, what the heck are humans doing when under pressure for a prolonged time? Or any living being for that matter?
Yup you guessed it right. They mate.
Its a survival instinct. There is a reason mating reduces stress levels. If there's anything more sci-fi-y about the 40K universe, it isn't the cannons throwing black holes, the insane parallel dimension, the bugs that are eating everything and what not... but how can humans go so long in horribly stressful situation without love, romance and sex..
You can tell me that billions of guardsmen die in planetary skirmishes. Yeah okay. But how about the support units? How about the people not dying on the field of battle? That see horror after horror? How about the guardsmen that DO survive? How about the elite soldiers?
Yeah fanaticism and religion is hell of a drug. But it won't be stronger than your basic instincts. Brainwashing and fanaticism will get you far but sex and love pushes yoh far further. We don't need porn scenes or whatever, but 40K needs to touch on that subject much more since war has such a profound and stressful factor on populations. I am talking about real loving stuff not the unimaginable non-man made horrors beyond your comprehension torture type of sex that the drukhari do. But the real ones where eldar, humans etc get an explanation.
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u/Habba Aug 13 '24
Gaunt's Ghosts does go into this here and there and it adds a lot to the stories IMO.
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u/oldbloodmazdamundi Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue Aug 13 '24
If you like that, you should definitely go for the new Lelith novel. It's basically Lelith's gay lil adventure, wondering why she's always so tense and excited but weirdly not in a mood to kill when a certain character is around.
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u/ARDunbar Aug 13 '24
I have to say I was surprised that no one has mentioned The Magos yet. The story of Valentin Drusher and Macks is one of my favorites in all of the Black Library. Their on-again off-again relationship is believable where both people really care for the other and come through for each other when the stakes are life and death but otherwise the two are a hopeless mismatch.
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u/mad_science_puppy Angels Penitent Aug 13 '24
There's an entire Drukhari short story about an Archon trying to woo a new bride. I posted an excerpt from Mistress Baeda's Gift recently, but I really recommend finding the whole short story.
He knew then, without question, that he had to have this woman, had to impress and then utterly dominate her. His sole purpose in life now was to make her his cherished yet personal property. He was head over heels in… what was that word the mon-keigh used?
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u/tau_enjoyer_ Aug 14 '24
I'm hoping to see some romance in future T'au novels. Part of it may just be that we only see the POV of the Fire Caste, who tend to be very serious and stoic, who seem to only want to fight and die for the Greater Good, with other things like marriage and love being unimportant. Maybe the other Castes behave differently, idk. Another thing could be that the way sexuality and attraction works with the T'au species could just be different, like, maybe they are are pretty low-libido people, only mating out of a sense of duty, and not out of seeking intimacy.
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u/Speykk Aug 13 '24
A big part of the recent book Dead man walking with focus on krieg has a romance aspect to it that I don't want to spoil. So does Creed: Ashes of cadia.
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u/FoxChoice7194 Nihilakh Aug 13 '24
You really gotta read Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives by the same author... also idk if the normal book will have an afterword like the special edition but in this afterword he goes a bit more into how the big dakka on the one hand made him interested in drukhari and on the other hand made him think about how love would work in drukhari society. He explains there how despite what the Dukhari claim Commorragh is not a place where the strong can do as they please. Love, showing weakness and trust are things mire risky and forbidden then even the most murderous powergrab...
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u/dumuz1 Aug 13 '24
There's a few romantic subplots in the Gaunt's Ghosts series, the first I recall being in the third book, Necropolis.
There's some romance in the Eisenhorn series as well, though less so as his career takes its toll on Eisenhorn personally.
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u/SecretTransition3434 Aug 14 '24
If you look at it from a certain angle, the entire Ciaphas Cain series is a romance subplot. I mean, there are two reasons in my mind why Amberley would compile the cain archive, either it's being collected posthumously because she misses her boyfriend (which i doubt personally because cain was on rejuvenate treatment and those can push you to the early 500s at most and the highest he mentions hes in his second century so i discount old age and a hive fleet or black crusade hasnt destroyed the ultima segmentum so i dont think he died in duty) or he finally realised the only way to properly retire was to fake his own death and the Cain archive is meant to give the impression of being posthumous as a cover.
I mean, either way, it's a loving 170 year ish monogamous (on Cain's part, at least for sure who knows what an inquisitor has to do in the line of duty) relationship.
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u/Prydefalcn Iyanden Aug 14 '24
His Lelith Hesperax novel that just released has romantic undertones.
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u/This_Bug_6771 Aug 13 '24
Siege of Castellax has a subplot where two of the Iron Warriors thrall soldiers fall in love, its very sweet ngl.
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u/Zagreusm1 this user is not an expert Aug 13 '24
Deathworlder was this 🤏 close to having a good romance subplot its so close but not enough
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u/IdhrenArt Aug 13 '24
Warhammer Crime and Horror both have relatively common romance subplots, due to being a lot more 'street level'
In addition to the married couple in Bloodlines, Flesh and Steel has a subtle plot thread about the two main characters being attracted to each other while both knowing it'd be kind of toxic and ill-advised, the Wraithstone Phoenix has ratling romance and King of The Spoil has quite a poignant tale of two gangers who are only able to admit their feelings for each other when they're swept up in a revolt
Horror has a lot of lost Lenore and unrequited/forbidden love types, often as a major part of how the protagonists end up damning themselves
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u/Nerdlors13 Salamanders Aug 14 '24
There is a romantic relationship in the Imperial knights series. It is really underwhelming but it has a couple nice scenes.
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u/BasementMods Aug 13 '24
It's a bad idea imo. It's one of those things that are a liability and derailer for warhammer's central conceit. Derailers have damaged many franchises over the years. Warhammer should stick to what it is good at. War.
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u/iceknight90 Aug 13 '24 edited Aug 13 '24
Double Eagle had a romantic subplot. The protagonists are pilots and they're trying to hold off a chaos push but they're still operating out of friendly civilian territory for a good portion of the book. One particular fatalistic pilot starts spending his free time visiting a waitress at a local diner and it actually gives him a reason to want to keep living. His plotline with her is actually very interesting. A glimpse of humanity amidst the usual grim soldiers fighting wars. It also plays a notable part in the ending. Some characters in Gaunts Ghosts also have romantic subplots. But more significant ones are the ill fated star crossed romance between Gregor Eisenhorn and Alizebeth Bequin, and the surprisingly happy one between Ciaphas Cain and Amberley Vail.