Fanfic / Messages for Dad

I can't believe this became a thing

— Dusk Dawn And Fate

Act 1 Cover

The Great Crusade is well underway, as the Emperor and his eighteen sons conquer the galaxy. Humanity's golden future seems assured... until the day a collection of vid tapes mysteriously appear in the Emperor's quarters. Gathering the entire Imperial Family together to watch them, they're shocked as the vids reveal an unthinkable future: one in which their Imperium is a shadow of its former self, as half the Primarchs turned to Chaos. One in which the Emperor is dead, Holy Terra is destroyed, and the only hope for the future seems to be a young man named Aegidius Guilliman, son of Roboute and Yvraine. And it only gets stranger after that...

From there, the story follows two timelines. The "present" of the 31st Millenium, as the Emperor and his sons react to the knowledge they've gained and try to avert this Bad Future; the other of said Bad Future, which seems to have (mostly) followed the events of canon up until the opening of the Great Rift, and picks up a while after.

Expect drama, healing, brothers mocking each other, the Emperor having the mother of all Heel Realizations, and shocking reveals galore.

Messages For Dad (AO3 link) is a Door Stopper (just shy of a million words prior to this writing, without counting Sidestories) Warhammer 40,000 fanfiction. Due to its extreme length and the number of Wham Episodes the tropes page will be divided into sections for the story's "acts" (two so far). Even then EXPECT UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR THE EARLY CHAPTERS BELOW

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Tropes Found In Messages For Dad

General

• Apocalypse How: In the future timeline, The entirety of segmentum solar went through a Class X-2 scenario when the golden throne failed, while most of the Imperium suffered a Class 2 or Class 6 with almost all its worlds and strongholds being destroyed, wiped of all life, or falling victim to the forces of chaos.

• Asshole Victim: A given in the Warhammer 40k setting with how atrocities are being committed on a regular basis by many factions. However, two examples stand out in particular in Messages for Dad.
  • The High Riders, the ruling caste of Nuceria, are brutally slaughtered by the Imperium and has their entire civilization completely destroyed overnight. However, given what the Royal Family witnessed of just how extremely cruel their rule was in Angron's backstory, there is no lost love and sympathy given to them when they are purged.
  • The Dark Eldar, as per canon, are the most cruel of the 40k races and their modus operandi of enslaving any sentient race and cruelly imaginative torture techniques has made them many, many enemies in the setting. It is therefore unsurprising for many of the characters to cheer on the destruction of their home, Commorragh, by Yvraine, Rosalina, Kain and Abel.
• Character Development: Many characters in the fic go through massive changes over the course of the story:
  • Thanks to the Primarchs and the Emperor seeing the consequences of their actions and worst flaws in the holovids, they start to be more honest with each other, and over the course of Act 1 progressively open up about their problems and insecurities, forming stronger familial bonds in the process. This culminates in them swearing an oath upon the grave of the 2nd Primarch, Johannuss, to never let time, feuds, or Chaos break their family apart, and work together to build a better future for the galaxy.
  • By watching more and more the vids, the Primarchs slowly grow less xenophobic towards the Eldar.
• Good Parents: Some very good examples of parenting can be seen in Messages for Dad.
  • Roboute Guilliman and Yvraine do everything they can to help their son Aegidius despite having to juggle the complex realities of running Imperium Secundus.

  • Rogal and Signy Dorn supported their son, Friedrich, and did everything in their power to ensure that he would able to live despite facing a congenital disease that left him disabled when he was a toddler. Signy also provides wise counsel to Friedrich and still pampers him even after he became a Space Marine while Rogal encourages and mentors him as a Space Marine.

  • Vulkan and Kai are loving parents who did everything they could to help their last son, Janan, who was born with severe handicaps due to mutations, giving him a chance to live before letting him entomb himself in a custom dreadnought that he built.

• I Need a Freaking Drink: Happens on a very regular basis for many, many of the characters in Messages for Dad when faced with some absolutely intense, absurd or horrifying situations of various nature.

• Wham Episode: Has its own page

• Wham Line:

• Shout-Out:

Act 1

• The Alliance: Imperium Secundus and elements from multiple Aeldari Craftworlds have formed one to better survive the horrors of the current galaxy, solidified by the marriage between Roboute and Yvraine. Even then, it's an extremely tense relationship, with many Eldar staying less out of loyalty, and more because they've come to believe the half-Eldar Aegidius is their species' last hope for survival.
• The Atoner: In the future shown, a few of the Traitor Primarchs have actually managed to return to humanity's side, coming to the aid of Roboute and the Imperium Secundus. So far, this includes:
  • Konrad Curze, who faked his death after the Horus Heresy, and eventually returned to the Imperium with his sanity restored.
  • Mortarion, who helped Isha escape from Nurgle and became her champion, and father to her children.
  • Horus, or rather, a perfect clone of Horus, memories and all, but free of Chaos taint.
• Bad Future: Not only are there all the horrors of the canon post-Heresy galaxy, but things have actually gotten progressively worse since Roboute awoke:
  • The Emperor's physical body finally died, resulting in the total destruction of Terra. Roboute and those of his brothers who since returned saved everyone they could, but they either ran out of time to evacuate many people, or they simply refused to believe their God-Emperor was dying and stayed on the doomed world.
  • Roboute has re-activated the Secundus protocol, with Ultramar as the new capitol of Imperium Secundus, and himself as the (extremely reluctant) Regent. The Imperium has shrunk to a fraction of its former size, and humanity and the Aeldari are just barely hanging on amidst assault from every threat on every side.
  • Macragge, once the one of the highest standard of living worlds in the Imperium, is now flooded with refugees and experiencing crippling supply shortages, causing the once utopic planet to develop massive crime issues as people seek to cope.
  • The Astartes legions are so desperate for recruits, they'll go door to door and offer families food in exchange for their sons... most of whom never survive the conversion to Astartes.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Imperial Family: Eighteen Demigods with issues and their emotionally distant God-Emperor father. Their relationships with each other are a mess, and many of them don't have great relationships with their own families.
• Creepy Twins: Alpharius and Omegon; prone to finishing each other's sentences, appearing and disappearing when you're not looking, and take a mischievous delight in screwing with people.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The burning of Nuceria in the present timeline. The Emperor, Custodes, 19 Primarchs and their Space Marine Legions as well as the Titan Legio Mortis converge upon a single planet. Predictably, the High Riders and their forces are completely crushed in an apocalyptical campaign that lasts a single night.
• Eldritch Location: The Interim and the Afterlife, new plains of existence created by the Shards of the Emperor in order to facilitate His new plan. On the same level of metaphysical significance as the Warp itself and operating by rules that are both unclear and horrifying.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • The Imperial Family encompasses a wide variety of viewpoints, moralities, and philosophies, and they rarely get along. But when a vid reveals, in disturbing detail, the level of horror that slaves are put through on Nuceria, and that Angron personally suffered under, they all put aside their differences and pour all their effort into destroying that society and freeing the slaves.
  • Pretty much everyone is horrified by the way Lion treated his wife and son.
• Future Me Scares Me: Did anyone think the would've-been Traitor Primarchs would be pleased to see their future selves' crimes?
• Half-Human Hybrid: Aegidius, obviously, is half-Primarch and half-Aeldari.
• Heel Realization: Between the future visions, his honest discussion with the Primarchs, and some prodding from Malcador, the Emperor slowly begins to realize what a terrible father (and frankly, terrible person) he's been, though the real kicker comes when the portion of his soul containing his compassion and humanity forces its way back into him prompting him to have a furious Freak Out as he rants about his terrible decisions.
• The Klutz: Aegidius is extremely clumsy as a child, breaking around 72 bones at one point. Lampshaded as a plot point by Magnus as his status as the child of a Primarch and Aeldari should theoretically make him a perfect hybrid. Explained later when it is revealed that Human-Aeldari hybrids have complete control over their senses like Aeldari do, but lack the natural instinct on how to regulate them, with Vindictus being responsible for regulating them for much of Aegidius' early life.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Konrad Curze is often jokingly referred to by fans as "Space Batman." Hence, his son's name is Damien.
  • In canon, it's revealed that a Perpetual named Erda was essentially the Primarch's mother; since this story was planned before that reveal, she isn't. Alivia is. This still get's referenced when Malcador learns about Alivia and comments that "Erda will be disappointed." The Emperor admits he could care less what she has to say, echoing the authors' stated feelings on the matter.
• Painting the Medium:
  • During the reaction-segments, the Primarchs' commentary used to be colored in their respective primary colors (Dark green for Horus, Light Blue for Konrad, White for Jaghatai, etc.) though this was dropped starting in the second act.
  • Likewise, the Emperor's dialogue, in both reaction and non-reaction segments, was previously depicted in ALL CAPS, representing his charismatic psychic aura. This eventually dropped, and it's in-universe a part of the Emperor's Character Development, as he becomes more humble and more open with his sons.
• Parental Substitute: Arguable but Palicia and Vlad with Damien for a short while, while Konrad was off ignoring him.
• Pieces of God: It is revealed that the Emperor has shattered His own soul into three main pieces: Vindictus, the embodiment of the Emperor's pragmatism and the part of Him that has been stuck on the Golden Throne for the last 10,000 years; the Star Child, the embodiment of the Emperor's conscience that has been experimenting in the Afterlife for the last 10,000 years; and War, the embodiment of the Emperor's hope.
• Polyamory: Both Magnus and Jaghatai have multiple wives and children with each; this is normal for Prosperine and Chogorian culture.
• Really Gets Around: Much like the historical figure for whom he's named, Jaghatai Khan had a very prolific sex life on Chogoris, resulting in several dozen children of his blood.
• Related in the Adaptation: In canon, Alivia was just one of the Emperor's perpetual allies who remained loyal. In this story, she's the Emperor's wife... and the Primarchs' mother.
• Semi-Divine: Decius and Sairus. Demigod children of Mortarion and Isha.
• Sharing a Body: Aegidius is eventually revealed to have been soul bonded to a Shard of the Emperor, Vindictus, from birth, eventually conversing with him and later the Star Child in his head.
• Super Powerful Genetics: Canon never revealed what a hypothetical biological child of a Primarch would be like. The answer provided by this story is... complicated. In short, the "Primechildren" inherited many of the super-human abilities of their fathers, but don't seem to be nearly as powerful as them. They're still well above Baseline humans though, and many Astartes as well.
• Weapons-Grade Vocabulary: U̷̧̟̹̩̼̽̏h̴̜͒̑̐m̸͚͍͚̺͠'̵͇̰̓̌̔̚À̵̦̱̗̉͝'̷̨̢̨̖̺́ļ̴̮̼͠d̴͚̩͗͌'̷̘͔̇̉r̸̺̲͇͠ï̵̗͙͚̈̓̌͘, language of the new pantheon of humanity and the eldar. No one living is supposed to be able to hear it, thus speaking it aloud can cause a myriad of side-effects, all unexplainable and horrifying.
• Wild Child: Lion tried to invoke this trope by abandoning his four-year old son in the Warp-corrupted, monster infested forests of Caliban, the same way he grew up, thinking it would make him stronger. Everyone is horrified by this.

Interlude

Act 2

• Blood Knight: Applies to Ragio. His life's goal is literally to murder his way to the center of Khorne's realm and find a way to murder his father.
• The Berserker: Ragio. Actually the most rational out of the chaotic four out of combat, but once he gets properly stuck in, he absolutely lives up to this trope.
• Ditzy Genius: Mandisa. You want someone to interpret complex Warp rituals and ancient lore? She's your girl. You want someone to perform risk assessment or keep in mind logistics for a mission? Look elsewhere.
• Eldritch Abomination: Kain and Abel, the sons of Lorgar, failed Heirs to Chaos. Now respectively a drug addicted immortal, traumatised mess and an evil, sentient, soul devouring sword.
• Expy: Ragio is a pretty close one to the Doom Slayer. Green armoured giant that fought through hell while being extremely angry.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Despite their initial meetings being an absolute mess where they attempted to kill each other in some cases and their conflicting personalities, the misadventures that Ragio, Rosalina, Mandisa and Kain go through have created a solid bond of friendship between them.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Yellow King. The thing sleeping in the Deep Warp. The thing the Chaos Gods answer to. The thing they're scared of. The thing the Great Game was made solely to keep entertained.
• Sadist: Rosalina due to Slaaneshi corruption.
• My Greatest Failure: The Lion of the 42nd Millenium considers his, surprisingly, to be the fact that his wife was Driven to Suicide by him. He's bad at expressing it, as usual, but admitting it is enough for him and Gabriel to at least start to reconcile.
• The Stoner: Kain but explained as his drug use suppresses his extremely chaotic powers.
• Squick: Rosalina, Daemon Princess of Slaanesh, manages to sufficiently gross out everyone in both timelines due to her... excessive sexual appetites. Made significantly worse by the knowledge that she's the future version of Rosie, Fulgrim's three-year-old daughter.
• Trauma Conga Line: Oh boy, the entire Chaotic Four count:
  • Ragio: Abandoned by his parents as a child, albeit unwillingly, consumed by rage and his endless quest to murder his father for his wrongdoings. Once a doctor, he has thrown away everything to pursue revenge and is hinted at suffering from Khornate corruption.
  • Mandisa: Her entire family died after Caldera was razed by the Salamanders, she woke up centuries later with no one else to rely on except the Blood Ravens. She committed herself to restoring her father to try and save the last part of her family only to fail in doing that as well.
  • Kain: His mother was murdered at his birth and it is hinted that her blood was the catalyst of the tattoos that cover his body. Was used as a sentient punching bag by his crazy brother and a useful tool by the Word Bearers. He is the sole inheritor to power so monstrous that the universe itself rejects his presence and he constantly self-medicates with extremely potent drugs to suppress them.
  • Rosie: I don't even know where to begin.

Sidestories

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