#Girl Genius

[chaos-has-theories]

I don't know how anyone can read the Castle Heterodyne arc and NOT end up frothing at the mouth about Tarvek/Gil and their time in Paris I NEED TO KNOW I NEED. TO. PLEASE

[lizasweetling]

Ok, so the Other is implied in the novels be be called 'the Other' because contrary to what Europan sparks do when they wreck the world there's no apparent gain, only wholesale slaughter and the terrifying absence of Gloating?? so 'the Other' for how terrifyingly alien this force of orbital bombardment meets Zombie Plague!!

but like. This is also a story. Which is what initially led me to the notion I will now share- the Other is 'the other Lucrezia' I postulate, that if only for drama, once there were two Lucrezia in the same time and the same place

One that was native to that point in time, and up to this point, unaware of her murderous and tragic future- and one from what the first one would see as the future!

and obviously, the second has had the study of untold eons to develop her technology and probably 'peeped into the infinite' as Albia put it- it's not a shock that Young Lu would be terribly impressed and taken with her Older self.

Taken enough that she might even be swayed to take that Older Her's advise and tutelage- eventually causing her to become wildly powerful and well informed (and also explaining why the castle was the first stop the Other hit, and why a bunch of her assistants got stabbed, and she got 'kidnapped'- you don't just believe a 'time traveler willy nillly! the Other needed some time to convince Lu to cooperate, like any other person)

this leads Lu to become the Other! just learning and scholarship (and massive trauma) would make her turn serial killing and infanticide to convince herself to travel back and forward in time to learn and cause the effect that is Herself?

or would it?

After all- if this is such a neat tucked causality, why does Lu not know what happens after she gives Birth to Agatha (what Vrin called the ''time of prophesy')? Why was she so woefully unaware of how to find Agatha, or even stop her from being taken away in the first place?? She has time travel?? She's had time travel for a long time?? How come after this point for some reason it's as though she doesn't have time travel?

you see. I can't help but notice, that there's a 'Lu' that's unlike the rest. One Lu that's not as generous to the collective of Lu's goals. On that has a very vested interest in Lu's rise to power, and beyond that a vested interest in Agatha not only living separate from Lu's plans, but only coming back into play after Barry Rescued her and created the Locket which itself was on track to return to the field.

Zola, or Zolu, as I'm confident that either Lu has reconquered the majority of control or they've merged, requires that Agatha be there and a threat to Lu in order to exist. She would Have to lie to Young Lu that she simply hadn't a clue where the heterodyne girl would be spirited away to- so that she'd be there to kidnap Lu at all.

and a very tidy coup it might would will be, if Zolu steals the revenant empire right out from the collective Lu's nose!

would certainly make her 'the Other Lu' wouldn't it

[girlgeniusonline]

The samples for our new medals have arrived! I’m so excited to see them, but I want to open them on stream, so I’m waiting until I figure out a good time to do it! The Kickstarter campaign runs through mid January, so I have some time.

[dracothulhu]

YOU'RE LISTENING TO 102.3! MAD! SCIENTIST! FM!

(Evil laughter, thunder cracking)

WHERE WE DO NOTHING BUT SHOW THEM ALL, SHOW THEM ALL, AND SHOW THEM ALL!

(Chainsaw revving, screaming)

THIS AIN'T YOUR WULFENBACH RADIO STATION! [Radioactive by Imagine Dragons]

[causeimabrookelynbaby]

[sweethysteria]

[brawltogethernow]

Way before poly seemed on the table the killing shot that ended the possibility of ship wars in Girl Genius was entangling the love interests' backstories, so now if you prefer one of them particularly you WANT to hear more about the other one because his nonsense is informing YOUR guy's nonsense.

[sagaduwyrm]

Something that interests me about Girl Genius is the way that the Heterodynes are consistently portrayed as the worst of the worst despite being pretty reasonable by Spark standards.

This is not to say that they are reasonable by normal people standards, or that they were anything approaching decent people. This is pointing out that compared to other sparks, who figured out they could conquer places and immediately started the Long War, the Heterodynes have had little to no large scale negative effect on the world.

Evidence: Zumzum

While in Zumzum Agatha finds out that the Heterodyne raids rolled through the town "every four years or so, sure as the moonrise" (Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess). Despite this the town is, though small, prosperous. They have a fully staffed guard and enough spare income that the circus was initially planning to remain for three days.

Compare this to the numerous dead towns noted to be littering the wastelands. Sparks regularly render towns unlivable or dead. The Heterodynes, however traumatize them and steal their stuff, but still leave the towns they raid capable of functioning. From this we can assume that, despite what we are told, the Heterodynes are not only capable of self-restraint, they're good at it.

Evidence 2: Heterodyne Creations

The Heterodynes left an enduring legacy in the form of constructs, clanks, and the castle. Many of these are hundreds of years old and yet have little trouble functioning. This means that the Heterodynes not only build to last, but their descendants are willing to put in the time for upkeep rather than get distracted and focus on the next big thing.

The Heterodynes are the only sparks with so many creations still running around. Other sparks, like Van Rijn, do have some creations that have lasted the ages, but nothing compared to the sheer quantity of the Heterodynes.

Also, consider the jägerkin. The jägers are some of the most important Heterodyne constructs, and have acted as the core of their army and their honor guard for more than half a millennia. Despite this, they don't have levels of speed or strength much beyond average, at least as far as spark constructs go. Instead, they're noted for their remarkable survivability. This again suggests that Heterodynes prioritize longevity to a remarkable level for sparks.

Evidence the Last: Europa still Exists

I repeat myself, after two centuries of off and on spark warfare, significant amounts of Europa is unlivable. The Heterodynes had ten centuries and Europa was fine. Do the math.

However, despite this show of consistent reason, the Heterodynes are constantly described in story as evil incarnate. I'd like to posit that this suggests both that in-story lore should be taken as unreliable, but also that the most dangerous sparks aren't the flashy, fire and brimstone assholes. It's the consistent, intelligent ones who know when to back off and when to press that are the real danger, and it's for this reason that the continent fears Heterodynes. Not because they're uniquely capable of destruction, but because they know when not to destroy.

The Heterodynes are the oldest dynasty in Europa. To everyone with the slightest understanding of how sparks work, this is terrifying.

Also, here's a post that tries to answer why the Heterodynes are uniquely like this. You should read it. It partially inspired this.

[leletha-jann]

Headcanon to no particular purpose:

Mechanicsburg loves its visual, musical, and performance arts about as much as it loves its explosions and monsters and mayhem (the former often involves the latter anyway).

IN THE FUTURE, Agatha makes it known that she is happy to commission new works for the entertainment of her people (monsters and all) - on one condition:

it may not involve her family in any way.

She is...nonspecific about exactly who this includes.

Her immediate family, of course. No half-disguised Triumvirate romance operas will be tolerated in Mechanicsburg, and certainly not paid for by the Lady.

THE family, almost certainly. No historical stage retrospectives about the Heterodynes (Mechanicsburg has their own).

But...where does it stop? Can they put on dramas about fictional characters during recent history? What if they don't mention the Wulfenbach Empire specifically? What about the Queens of Skifander? How many degrees removed from Tarvek do you have to get before you can mention the Valois dynasty - or any of the Fifty Families they're related to...which is all of them? Is this artist really really really sure their subject wasn't involved with the Heterodynes in some way?

...Agatha is also nonspecific about what the consequences will be, and is kind of looking forward to finding out.

Mechanicsburg becomes the place to be for sci-fi and fantasy.

Paris gets all the historical shows and political farces, and tends to be the first stop for performers traveling from elsewhere in the World.

(Elsewhere, Heterodyne shows like Master Payne's circus are still going strong and writing new plays as fast as they can keep up. But it's understood that bringing them to Mechanicsburg isn't worth the audience, which will stand up and argue with the actors in real time in defense of their Lady, her consorts, and the rest of her family.)

[prokopetz]

In retrospect, I should have been suspicious about the fact that the plot of Girl Genius was moving so quickly.

[chaos-has-theories]

Tried to write something for this and ran face-first into the fact that I'm not sure anyone would be able to arrest her, much like multiple times.

I am working on a Girl Genius AU in which Agatha essentially gets raised by the Castle, and -

listen. LISTEN. I have a plan with this one so she has to be alone. But I keep cracking up at the idea of the prisoners still being sent in like normal. First of all the castle is fucking enormous - they're making their way in and through veeeeery slowly, they haven't found the master kitchen OR the bedrooms OR the library. Clearly the Castle could hold the prisoners AND one strange little girl in her private wing.

But also. The hilarity of everyone going hm this kid is really young to be sent in here and her splodey collar looks kinda different to ours but I'm sure it's fine? But how does this ditz who isn't even a minion to any of the sparks here KEEP SURVIVING??

and then my brain travels further. Megamind AU

Girl who has been born into a Atrocities family and was raised in a prison. Girl who DOES manage to break through. Girl who decides to leave the castle and explore the qorld and immediately becomes Crimes Georg.

Boy who has been trying really hard to prove himself to his father and be a hero. Boy who keeps arresting this girl. Girl who keeps being sentenced to Castle Heterodyne.

Prisoners who at this point just cheer whenever she comes back home

[inbarfink]

It’s really fascinating to compare the way Agatha handles the Heterodyne Legacy compared to her father and uncle. Because these are the two known generations of ‘Heroic’ Heterodynes after a long, long legacy of the Heterodyne family being known primarily as Evil Bastards - but they have such a totally opposite relationship with that villainous legacy.

Bill and Barry grew up deep inside that Evil Heterodyne Legacy and know all about how truly rotten it really is. Their father was an Old Heterodyne to the bone and an Extremely Reprehensible Human Being. Like, not just Cartoon Evil Overlord stuff - according to the Novels, he forced Bill and Barry’s mom to marry him by threatening her family. And he tried to kill them because they weren’t evil enough to his tastes. 

And when their mom killed him to protect her sons, the Castle killed her in retaliation. The very manifestation of the Heterodyne Legacy has cost them their beloved mother who just saved their life. And all of this in addition to the fact a non-evil Heterodyne was really an unthinkable concept when the Boys started - meaning they had to work extra hard to distance themselves from their family if they wanted anyone outside of Mechanicsburg to trust them.

And Heterodyne Boys worked very very hard to prove to the world that they’re not monsters. Both to fight off against the constant suspicions that they were monsters, and because they most likely wanted as little to do with their father’s legacy as Spark-ly possible. For them the Heterodyne Legacy was mostly kind of a Curse, the thing that tormented their mother and killed her and almost killed them, the thing that makes people wary of them.

And as such, they distanced themselves from anything that’s even remotely to do with that old legacy of monsters, from anything evil or scary or messy or ugly. Much to the chagrin of the Castle, the House of Heterodyne’s many other monsters, the Jager Horde Mechanicsburg’s proud Evil Minion population and many others who felt abandoned by them for the sake of PR.

Then there’s Agatha Heterodyne. And it’s not just that Agatha grew up in a post-Heterodyne-Boys world where the general populace associates the family name less with evil barbarous mad kings and more with good-natured heroism. Where even those who remember the Old Heterodynes are at least willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Where even those who would like her to be like the Old Heterodynes are at least willing to give her some wiggle room to express herself....

It is all of that, but more importantly Agatha didn’t grow up as a Heterodyne at all.

She grew up as Agatha Clay, with the Spark-Suppressing Locket that dulled her mind and made her a miserable klutzy mess who couldn’t do anything right. She grew up hating the constant feeling of being powerless.

And discovering that she’s a Heterodyne came up… pretty close to realizing she’s a Spark, and both of these revelations gave her a certain kind of Power that she never got to have before. She is now both a powerful Spark and a powerful political player in this grand Europa political chess board. 

And as much as she has the same heroic values and upbringing as the Boys did (courtesy of Barry and the Construct Duo), not growing up so up-close-and-personal with the worst consequences of the Old Heterodyne’s evil means she’s not as immediately repulsed by it like the Boys were. 

She encountered all of these old monstrous pieces of the Heterodyne Legacy - the Jagers, the Castle, Mechanicsburg, even just the fear her name can put into people’s hearts - not as the Evil Legacy Forced Upon Her. But stuff that was taken away from her, and she had to earn back. And in a world stacked so heavily against her, so determined to rob her of her agency and newfound sense of power, these things represent the assertion and security of her power.

For the Heterodyne Boys, the worst thing they could ever imagine being was monsters - like their father and the rest of their family was. For Agatha Heterodyne, the worst thing she could imagine is being powerless again. She would take being seen as a monster a thousand times over being condescended and ignored ever again. 

Being seen as a monster isn’t actually all that bad at all, she discovered. 

All of these things together make Agatha not quite the second generation of Actually Heroic Heterodyne or just another link in the Old Heterodyne Legacy - but another new kind of Heterodyne altogether. One that can both retain a moral code and embrace the family’s monstreness at the same time. 

[annoyinglandmagazine]

How The Heterodyne Boys Adventures Actually Went Most Of The Time

Dumedd Senior at the door to their perpetual nuclear wasteland of an apartment at 4 AM on a Tuesday: Sorry to wake you up but I think you’d want to take a look at this-

*Processing that Bill, Barry and Klaus are all already in the living room/ lab and show no evidence of having been woken up*

Dumedd Senior: Do any of you ever actually sleep?

Bill: No, not really.

*******

Bill: So we have a plan of action this time-

Klaus: Is it to run straight into the problem, violate every lab safety requirement ever written and hope for the best?

Bill: Pretty much but we have it on a blackboard now. Barry: With diagrams.

Klaus: That one’s just a fire labelled ‘Mongfish’s lab’.

Barry: I think it gets the point across.

*******

Klaus: I’m fine, I’ve had worse

Bill: Klaus you’ve died, that statement means less than nothing coming from you.

*********

Barry: I am begging you, would you please not seduce the villain this week. My eyes need a break after last time.

*Ten minutes later*

Barry: Do the words ‘time’ and ‘place’ mean nothing to you people! You’re doing it on purpose now, you have to be!

*********

Klaus: Oh come on, I’m right and you know it.

Bill: Barry, back me up here-

Barry: Don’t drag me into this.

********* Judy: If Bill and Barry were to jump off a cliff-

Klaus: You have to know that isn’t anything close to being hypothetical.

Klaus: Also yes.

*********

Bill: Barry, as your brother it falls to me to give you some valuable wisdom when it comes to dating.

Barry: I would really rather spend a day locked in a room with Sturmvoraus-

Bill: The most important thing to remember is that if you ever find yourself about to do something that you think Klaus or I would do it is safe to say it’s the wrong decision.

Barry: I know that, I’m not suicidal.

Klaus: That’s fair.

[big-ass-magnet]

Mechanicsburg: he's my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good time boy

the rest of Europa, on fire: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

[joyride-time]

Oh, and I heard a lost story by Masat! Oh man! A Softer World 387 edit.

[causeimabrookelynbaby]