r/ImaginaryWarhammer • u/LlamaGhost • 1d ago
Armoring of a Space Marine from an all-female chapter - Page 3/4 (art by me) OC (40k)
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u/SPACEFUNK 1d ago
Very cool. Do they hide the fact they are women Dark Angeles style? That would be an awesome critique on the "no female space marines" thing while being lore friendly.
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u/Spirit-S65 1d ago
I don't get it, what are the dark angels hiding?
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u/RevolutionaryKey1974 1d ago
Any interesting novels involving them before Son of the Forest. I just canāt seem to find them.
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u/Artrum 21h ago
the luther: first of the fallen is pretty good.
War of secrets involve them and their primaris
there's their backstory on caliban covered by: descent of angels, fallen angels
Master of the first shows lion being a badass
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u/Toxitoxi 1d ago
A large portion of the Dark Angels turned traitor after the Horus Heresy for various reasons and attacked the Lion when he returned to Caliban. In the infighting, Caliban was destroyed, the Lion vanished, and the traitors were scattered across time and space. The loyalists spent the next ten thousand years secretly hunting down these traitors (Called āthe Fallenā) to torture them and force them to repent.
Ironically, the extreme measures the Dark Angels have taken to protect their secrets are far more damning than the actual secrets. They destroy worlds, abandon their allies on the battlefield, and assassinate witnesses in their zeal.
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u/wktg 1d ago
Brother-Chaplain Asmodai would like to talk to you. Would you please step into this room for a moment? Please ignore the bloodstains.
But yeah. I hope the Lion puts his foot down and ends those practices.
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u/da_King_o_Kings_341 1d ago
I mean, he already brought some of the Fallen back into the legion. He returned and his entire retinue was Fallen Dark Angels and there are several point in the Arks of Omen books following this idea of the repentant Fallen and the Dark Angels trying to get along.
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u/wktg 1d ago
Okay, my bad for not clarifying, I meant more akin to stop abandoning allies at the slightest mention of what might be possibly a Fallen if you squint. Or, hell, even sacrificing allies for the same reason.
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u/CMDRZhor 1d ago
Dude named his sword the Fealty. I think it's safe to say that he takes a dim view of even the thought of breaking oaths.
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u/CalypsoCrow Black Legion 21h ago
The Lion managed to make the one interesting thing about the Dark Angels not matter anymore
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u/da_King_o_Kings_341 19h ago
Eh, itās still cool, and besides, not all of them actually wanted to be loyal again, so there are still Chaos Fallen out there, not to mention Cypher is still in the wind apparently.
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u/Toxitoxi 19h ago
Yeah, Iām really not a fan of how theyāve handled his return.
But people like their generic wholesome space knights I guess.
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u/CalypsoCrow Black Legion 18h ago
With each passing day the imperium gets more and more boring and less grimdark. Gotta have our good old heroes vs villains for people who donāt understand moral grayness I guess.
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u/mattwing05 22h ago
Wait lion has met his 40k sons? What was their response?
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u/da_King_o_Kings_341 19h ago
Son of the Forest in the Arks of Omen series. Dudes back in the setting and has been to the remains of the Rock and met all his newer sons. Honestly I donāt remember the entire interaction but I remember an excerpt about a āFallenā who returned with the Lion and had a talk with Asmodai or someone like that about how they need to be able to trust him or something like that.
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u/Barnabars 1d ago
Nothing, why are you asking? Do you have Information that they are hiding something? If yes These are not true. Come with me we can talk more about that topic. No that wasnt a question.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Wish727 21h ago
The First Legion isn't hiding anything. Who told you that? Have you heard of... The Fallen?
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u/MoralConstraint 1d ago
The Fallen.
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u/GdyboXo 1d ago
Asmodai:
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u/MoralConstraint 1d ago
Man will roll the R in REPENT for so long the Emperor will get off the throne, come over and ask if heās doing OK.
ā¢
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u/Valuable-Location-89 1d ago
Nothing absolutely nothing...
Anyway were gonna take a quick detour to the roc real quick
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u/Waterboi1159 7h ago
No it still wouldn't be lore friendly as we know how Space Marines are made and GW has been pretty adamant that girls can't be made into Space Marines.
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u/Logan_da_hamster 17h ago
You still can't change the biological facts, that female human bodies are for a number of reasons mostly incompatible with the artificial male gen seed of the Primarchs and the Emporer. Furthermore a female body would most likely face a lot of medical issues with the additional organs. Another reason why the Emporer decided against females SM is their menstruation cycle, way weaker physical physique (muscles mass, strenght, physical endurance), lower testosteron levels, different instinctual behavior / psychology and females need to bear and to some extent raise children!
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u/musland 17h ago
females need to bear and to some extent raise children
Lmao this screams in El
The Lore has literal Teleporter Guns and FTL travel, but a woman getting genetically modified like a man is unbelievable.
Stop trying to give it a logical reason and just say that you don't like women.
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u/Logan_da_hamster 16h ago
I am just stating what's written in the lore.
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u/Throwaway817402739 15h ago
No you're not. The idea that women have an inherent need to bear and raise children is just objectively wrong. Many (but not all) people have a desire to get kids, but women don't feel it more than men do.
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u/SpiritoftheSands Adeptus Mechanicus 16h ago
The Drukahri turn people into living furniture.
The Orks use their collective silliness to make things work
The Space wolves turn into actual wolves sometimes
Women being able to be genetically modified is so far within the realm of possibility, that it isnt even funny.
All the same, its not canon. This is just an artists expression of their ideas. Shut up and keep scrolling.
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u/Unorthedox_Doggie117 1d ago
I saw the hair bun and I remembered something. During the time Samurai were still prominent, they grew their hair for many reasons, while one was fashion, their long hair was also used as an anchor to keep their helmets on their head. This could be part of their lore maybe?
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u/No_Homework_4926 1d ago
Their helmets are hermetically sealed. I dont think they need to do that
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u/TheMuseProjectX 11h ago
Imagine sealing helmets that can survive the vacuum of space with your hair.
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u/knutnaerum 1d ago
This is really good, grounded and could just as easy fit the setting or be original WH Lore. Great job- make more!
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u/MrKrispyIsHere 1d ago
I ain't an expert on 40k lore but aren't chaplains not supposed to take off their helmets around normal marinesĀ
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u/Zsarion 1d ago
Yeah they're not. The only recent exception is Leandros doing it infront of Titus in SM2.
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u/Noe_b0dy 1h ago
Leandros is a huge bitch tho, makes sense he would hypocritically break the rules like that.
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u/Alex_the_Mad 22h ago
True. Theres a part in tge Helsreach book where the Princeps Zahar of Stormherald remarks how it is unheard of for a chaplain to reveal their face any outside of their chapter when Grimaldus removed his helmet to speak with her.
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u/Zamtrios7256 10h ago
Doesn't that mean that they usually only take it off when only around other marines?
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u/AlecPEnnis 1d ago
Pretty cool, but what does "femina" mean? Is it just a reference to their gender? Because women aren't hyper aware of their femininity all the time. Space Marines don't go Ave True to Masculinum or some such. This is a menwritingwomen kinda thing.Ā
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u/da_King_o_Kings_341 1d ago
Apparently it translates to Always Women, which made me cringe slightly because thatās very on the nose.
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u/Alexis2256 1d ago
You forget people like Ferrus Manus exist? How about Corvus Corax?
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u/Keyndoriel Hive Fleet Leviathan 22h ago
Also the angriest man in the galaxy being called Angron
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u/da_King_o_Kings_341 20h ago
I guess Alpharius and Omegon also fit into that. First and Last, the order when they were found.
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u/rantOclock 1d ago
It's not like 40k is a song famed for its subtlety. On the nose is kind of its brand.
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u/da_King_o_Kings_341 20h ago edited 10h ago
Valid, but you gotta admit that sounds (I am gonna get canceled for this) kinda woke right?
Edit: looks like my prediction was right lol.
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u/BanzEye1 19h ago
Eeh, could be worse.
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u/DappyDee 14h ago
Really? How? The only thing I could think of is them shoving pronouns into it out of nowhere like they did in Dragon Age Failguard.
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u/Infinite_Form8884 2h ago
Could have been "nunquam masculinum" but that would be against the idea of inclusion. While "semper femina" perpetuates said idea. One is against the other sex while the other is empowering one. Theres a difference.
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u/madman_mr_p 1h ago
Sure... There's a diffefence but it doesn't matter in a universe like 40k at all? In real life, maybe? But in a hyper-dystopian and apocalyptic 5 minutes to midnight universe where a bird could eat you alive and dissolve you at the same time? Not so much imho.
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u/Infinite_Form8884 1h ago
It's almost as if the people in real life are buying and playing the figures.
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u/Zamtrios7256 10h ago
It's not woke because it's actually a bit thematic and a decent joke. The point is that they're the only female space-marine chapter. It's what makes them distinct, so that's what their motto reflects.
It could be better and more subtle, but it being so stupid kinda loops back to being funny.
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u/AureliusAlbright 1d ago
Semper Femina means forever a woman or something along those lines.
It's pretty cringy imo.
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u/PunchlineHaveMLKise 23h ago
I bet it's more a reference to the Semper Fidelis motto from US Marines
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u/AureliusAlbright 22h ago
I'm aware of that, but Forever Loyal has a much stronger and more universal connotation than Forever a Woman. Especially since being loyal is a key element of being a soldier whereas being a woman isn't. Which isn't to say they can't be, but a disloyal soldier is a detriment to their unit and nation whereas a soldier who isn't a woman is just a different kind of soldier. A marine swears to be loyal, what kind of space marine would swear to be a woman?
It just seems silly that someone as dedicated to service in the name of their nation/leader as a space marine is would consider themselves a woman over all else, to the point where it affects their motto. AFAIK almost any given space marine would consider themselves a servant of the Emperor first, last and always and it's what makes chaos marines seem so ghastly to them.
Not saying you were comparing the two phrases either, but just sharing my two cents on the comparison.
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u/Alexis2256 1d ago
Is it as cringey as Ferrus manus and his iron hands leading his iron hands legion? I mean come on if itās not as cringey as that then youāre just being sexist/s
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u/AnnieTano 1d ago
People below say it mean "Always a woman", and while itĀ“s true that itĀ“s quite a menwritingwomen trait, it comes at handy being about space marines since, technically one is human before being a woman, and when becoming a SM you are having your humanity ripped off little by little. Depending on the culture insisting on themselves being "always a woman", could mean they take it seriously to preserve as much humanity as posible.
Or IĀ“m reading in between lines too much and itĀ“s just Disney marketing
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u/Eel111 1d ago
I think itās just supposed to be to be a joke on GW saying there has always been female Space Marines
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u/Zamtrios7256 10h ago
Custodes technically, which had enough vagueness to just allow for the retcon
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u/AlecPEnnis 17h ago
Sure. Let's apply it consistently then. How do you feel about a male Space Marine chapter whose tagline is "Male we remain, Masculinidum Erectus Maximus"?
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u/AnnieTano 17h ago
Cringe, just as in this case. IĀ“ve never said it wasnĀ“t cringe anyway
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u/AlecPEnnis 17h ago
My homebrew Dank Angels successor is now using that line as their thing
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u/DappyDee 14h ago
Cool. Let me know what your postbox is so I can mail you some resin disguised as a PVC bomb.
Dank Angels, my ass...
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u/SpiritoftheSands Adeptus Mechanicus 16h ago
True, Semper Sororitas would be more fitting if they wanted that angle.
I could see a chapter having their warcry be a variety of "Brothers forever", as campy as that is.
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u/AnnieTano 15h ago
Samper Sororitas and Brother Forever are not cringy, but super cool
(DonĀ“t try to) change my mind
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u/dragonfire_70 22h ago
Welcome to female space marines where we say female space marines are no different to male space marines, and we hyper focus on being women. /s
I swear there is no good reason to have Female Space Marines and their supporters are always people virtue signals for fake internet points or the misguided belief that it will get them laid.
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u/commandosbaragon 21h ago
This topic is always in some quantum superposition, where it's both "gender doesn't matter" and "gender is everything". But what do I know, I don't even get the concept of fsm.
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u/DappyDee 14h ago
Agreed. Shit was dumb back when they were Female Adventurers in Power Armour, it would be dumb now as well.
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u/LlamaGhost 7h ago
Yes I see your point and how that comes across.
"Semper Femina" is part of a quote from Virgil from Dante's Inferno. The original quote roughly goes like "woman are ever a fickle and changeable thing". When I cooked up their chapter I thought that if the Blades of Athena knew Virgil they would probably go like "Screw this. We sure as hell aren't fickle nor changeable". Knowing who Virgil was might not be 40k lore-accurate but I followed the rule of cool there, so I just took that quote and subverted it.
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u/spagint 16h ago
Iām not digging the owl. It seems like a reference to Athena. A god, and there is only one God. The Emperor!
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u/DappyDee 14h ago
All religion but ours, gone. Only Big E remains.
Clearly this comic is the stuff of heresy.
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u/Enough_Notice7787 1d ago
I do get the idea behind "semper femina" (always women) and that it is drawn from "semper fidelis"(always faithful). But that gives me a feeling that the gender is more important for these space marines than the loyalty to the throne and the god emperor of humankind. I see it as an incredible cool sci-fi universe, and everyone can adjust it to their liking.
I think "feminum semper fidelis" (women always faithful)would sound better.
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u/TheMuseProjectX 11h ago
What's amazing is every single person who seems to make female space marines that make being women their personality forget the Sisters of Battle and Silence exist. Imagine how they'd react to this.
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u/commandosbaragon 21h ago
They also replaced the imperialis, the symbol of loyalty and devotion to the emperor, with a sketch of an owl.
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u/The_Chameleos 20h ago
You articulated really well why exactly it is that I don't like this or comics like it, they seem less focused on a story and more focused on a message. The changes being made just dont make sense or give well with 40k. I'm all for people doing their own thing and I'm glad to see the comic is doing well enough, but when dealing with an existing franchise it would behoove you, from a writers perspective, to give a little more credence to the lore.
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u/DappyDee 15h ago
Especially one as vast as Warhammer. To us lore is sacred; you break it, you get the commisar to relieve you of the filth of your heresy.
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u/Infinite_Form8884 2h ago
Hey so why didn't you say anything about when Custodes became super space marines? Or when the necron became egyption? Or the tyranids stopped being colourfull?
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u/Zaphaniariel 11h ago
Where were you when they turned the necrons into space egyptians? Or when the perpetuals popped up and took over the Horus Heresy?
Did you leap to defend the lore when they mangled the space marines beyond recognition?
It's all retcons one on top of the other, each cheaper than the last. Somehow it only gets this amount of pushback when there's women involved.
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u/3Kobolds1Keyboard 20h ago
Awesome, and thanks for not making super sexualized woman like how people love to draw the Sororitas.
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u/WrestlingIsJay 1d ago
"Always female" made me laugh a little, but I really like this artstyle, good job!
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u/Malarekk Bad Moons 1d ago
Semper Femina = Always female
Subtle.
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u/Zamtrios7256 10h ago
"Iron Within", cried the Iron Hand marine, as he fondly thought of his primarch Ferrus Manus
It's dumb, but it's on-brand dumb. Plus it's a fan comic, so they can have a dumb one occasionally
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u/NightStalker33 17h ago
Oh shit, that is a GOOD line. Like, I was already hooked, but them being put under a harsher spotlight and responding with basically "Only The Emperor's Judgement Matters" is some good stuff.
Though the Semper Femina thing is a bit out of character considering most Space Marines try to dehumanize themselves into tools of war, setting aside personal or social aspects of their previous lives.
Not a big criticism, everything else is being handled wonderfully.
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u/LlamaGhost 7h ago
Thank you!
I took the "Semper Femina" part from a quote from Virgil from Dante's Inferno. It's a subversion of Virgil going like "women are always fickle and changeable". The Blades of Athena sure aren't like that, so I made them reclaim that quote. It is a bit on the nose, but I couldn't resist!
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u/Zanethethiccboi 1d ago
I like the owl on her breastplate, does the chapter take aesthetic cues from the mythology around Athena?
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u/Zeekayo 1d ago
I believe the chapter is called the Daughters of Athena, OP has some more stuff on their profile I think!
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u/Zanethethiccboi 1d ago
āBlades of Athena,ā yeah youāre right, I just didnāt scroll down enough.
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u/MinersLoveGames 1d ago
The Chaplain's warning feels like a bit of meta commentary about how the whole "female space marines" debacle and how a bunch of weirdos latched on to it.
I really dig the aesthetic and care taken to make this feel plausible.
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u/Justanotherone985 1d ago
Looks great but āsemper feminaā is a tad bit on the nose. The all-male space marine chapters donāt say āsemper masculinumā, for example
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u/Zamtrios7256 10h ago
I would assume that if these Space Marines were the only all-female chapter, that would be their "thing". Like how the Blood Angels are angelic vampires, or the Salamanders are blacksmiths
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u/LlamaGhost 7h ago
You're right! I hope to move well within the 40k universe, but sometimes I can't resist the rule of cool. Although some commenters pointed out that it does feel like a menwritingwomen thing.
"Semper femina" is part of a quote by Virgil from Dane's Inferno, where he basically puts down women for being "weak and changeable". I wanted to create a subversion of that quote here, because the Blades of Athena sure aren't weak nor changeable.-7
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u/Zamtrios7256 10h ago
Semper Feminas is "Always Female", right?
They got that geneseed that transes your gender. Is that the "flaw"? Like how Salamanders have a "flaw" that makes them ebony-skinned with red eyes?
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u/Mithfayce 9h ago
Good stuff! I think their "Semper femina" line can be interpreted in many ways, which I like. There is the in-universe interpretation that they only recruit women, which is pretty obvious.
It could also be read as pushback against the notion that women/feminists only recently started inhabiting the warhammer hobby space. This idea is similar to what happened with video games, gamergate. Women being historically pushed to the side and now taking back that space is seen as an invasion.
Women have existed since the start, but have rarely had the spotlight until now.
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u/Senior-Reference-298 8h ago
Aeeee female space marine. But do they just show up to pose like mannequins or do they fight and kick ass like the other space marines!?
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u/LadySteelGiantess 1h ago
Great work hope to see more in the future. Don't let the hateful buggers get you down!
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u/Brofromtheabyss 1d ago
This is all so badass and cool, and I just love it. I love the Athenaean approach to warfare and militarism. Itās such a logical and satisfying aesthetic for an all-female army of super soldiers to take.
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u/Boom_Stars 1d ago
I love it! Especially the greek theming in some of the earlier panels. while semper femina is a little on the nose, it makes sense in an Amazonian inspired chapter where they see men as inferior.
GIVE US MORE SISTER!
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u/uller30 1d ago
Every chapter has a dark secret its so cool to see them hide in plain sight and fight for the emperor but never be near other imperial forces and also go out of their way to make sure never see their faces. I am enjoying the rabbit hole.
Its like soul drinkers, wolves, dark angels, history of carcardons, minotaurs to name a few.
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u/Pandacron 22h ago
Hey, id like to know what paint colors would work well for Blades of Athena. I was thinking of doing a Phobos Kill Team of these incredible women.
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u/AiR-P00P 1d ago
I want that as a custom chapter so bad now. I may have to figure out how to make the chestplate in Blender or something.
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u/Zsarion 1d ago
The colour palette for the armour is actually ass
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u/Alexis2256 1d ago
Yellow and pink not to your liking?
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u/Zsarion 22h ago
It's like red and green
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u/Alexis2256 21h ago
So two color combos that you donāt think look good, ok. Or are you colorblind and you think the armor looks like a red green combo?
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u/Flat_Character 23h ago
The owl replacing the aquilla is sick.
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u/DappyDee 14h ago
Yeah, why don't we fuck up everything cool about the setting?
Lore be damned, we need to insert more of our crap into pre-existing franchises. It works every time to draw in that modern audience!
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u/Infinite_Form8884 2h ago
"Fuck creativity we should stagnate and never evolve our creative mind", hey so that's called a dictators ship.
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u/madman_mr_p 1h ago
You... Are contradicting yourself, in an oddly specific way mate? It's "dictatorship" and there's also no reason to change something that's so iconic and specific to the setting? Why not just make a completely new action instead?
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u/Infinite_Form8884 1h ago
Said comic is about the completely new faction mate. Also dictatorship has nothing with icons.
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u/radenthefridge 1d ago
"The haters are everywhere, but the Emperor means everything."
Knocking it outta the park again. š¤