#Xerxes

[thatsbelievable]

[thereinart]

I haven't posted here in foreva but I like this drawing :3 I listened to a podcast on Artemisia of Caria and Xerxes so this is them !

[grokebaby]

Trans love / trans life

[poibynt]

Xerxes being treated as an ancient lost civilisation is always just SO WILD to me. Xerxes fell 400 years ago. 400. YEARS. That's what, like 13 generations?? 15?? In 2025 that's the 1600s. Over a thousand and a half years into the Common Era. From a Eurocentric perspective, that's the start of the early modern period. It's past the renaissance. You can go see baroque paintings super easily at major art museums. America is being colonized by then. It's not that long ago like AT ALL. Ancient Greece fell over 2000 years ago, Ancient Egypt only a bit earlier. Ancient Mesopotamia ended 4000 years ago. We know. So much. About these ancient civilisations, in comparison to what the general population seems to know about Xerxes in Amestris. Xerxes fell about 140-150 years before Amestris is founded officially, and its ruins are like next door to them by the early 1900s and no one seems to even claim the territory. (I do not know the rate Amestris expanded and I do not care enough to learn).

Xerxes is said to have been destroyed pretty thoroughly in text but like. There's a fuck ton of ruins just in the desert. There is a VERY OBVIOUS transmutation circle in those ruins. And you tell me that Amestris knows almost nothing about Xerxes?? That it's been almost entirely lost to time?? Does Amestris have the shittiest most underfunded archaeology/anthropology in FMA's world or do they just not care?? And this isn't even talking about how Xerxes was a country, not a city state and there were many Xerxan towns and settlements. We see parts of Xerxes that aren't in desert areas in the flashbacks, so it's pretty possible eastern Amestris has expanded into old Xerxian land.

"ooh yeah the possible birth of alchemy, a deeply important scientific tool in our country and a cornerstone of our military power. It might have had a direct impact on the founding of our country. We only have some storytales about it. Yeah, Frank dug up like a shit ton of inscribed pottery when he was building his shed. He just threw it out."

I am going to loose my MIND. WHY IS NO ONE OUT THERE WITH A SHOVEL.

[vaniitthy]

Xerxes Break 🤑

[ballpitbee]

THE 'GOOD GUYS' OF STREETLAMP <3

[toixxy]

Drew my MHR and MHW hunters (I am physically incapable of not maining hammer)

[pedroam-bang]

300 (2006)

[xinesthetic]

Been like a year. It was about damn time I draw him again

[itsflipperdips]

Huh... Didn't knew there was a battle of the bands type of special episode in Dandys world???

FINALLY... THEY'RE HERE!!!! ITS THE...

RETROSTATIC BAND❗❗❗

(Not cannon just OCS that I made and shown a couple weeks ago if I'd remember at least- :oP and btw they're doing a rehearsal on their very own stage floor lol and if anybody is asking, where is Vulcan and Xerxes in the poster, They're operating the stage, Vulcan being the spotlight and Xerxes recording their rehearsal or behind the scenes ^_^)

Anyways here's their very own introduction cards! ^_^ just right down below and might as well their reference height

[aibazuos]

So, i’ve been rewatching fmab and my long dead obsession with xerxes came back so here it is some vaguely xerxian adult edward.

If i get some time to live between my college assignments i will try to give him an actual design and not some vaguely xerxian clothes

[thatsbelievable]

[grokebaby]

He had to fight the tears of rage, his heart beat like a drum

For with the wife of his best friend he'd spent his final night of freedom

[Sequel piece to This]

[secretwhumplair]

A day at the pool

862 words | Xerxes & Nor (timeline)

Content | Pet whump, mild temperature whump, forced exercise

Notes | Happy heatwave to those who celebrate (most of the northern hemisphere it feels like). Stay hydrated and don't do excessive exercise. If you have the choice :D

Fun point in their (captive) relationship! Fairly settled and "comfortable", but distinctly before Xerxes gets There.

Taglist | @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @melancholy-in-the-morning @snakebites-and-ink

The bungalow Xerxes had rented while they were staying in this town came with a swimming pool, which was a blessing, because the heat was stifling.

A blessing for them, that was. Pet watched as they paddled ungracefully along the length of the pool; at least he was allowed to sit in the shade under their parasol, on the ground next to their sun lounger. Even here, he felt the sweat drip down his back, but he was going to take what he got.

It was a large pool, and he wasn’t surprised when they climbed out at the far end, never the sportiest. The wandered back towards their lounger, in no hurry to get out of the sun now that cool water droplets were running down their body. They were wearing a black-and-white striped swimsuit, like the first Barbie. Pet idly wondered whether it was a deliberate reference, but given even he made the connection, it probably was.

They sat down on the lounger and, without a word, placed a cool hand onto the back of his neck. Pet thankfully leant into the touch. They’d lathered him with sunscreen earlier, so he was already spoiled for touch today, but the cool was extra welcome. They’d given him a bottle of water, but it had long since gone warm.

The sun sparkled blindingly on the pool.

It was a foolish thing to ask, really.

»Master, could I. Just take a quick dip?«

Xerxes, who had taken a sip from their ice-cooled mocktail, raised their eyebrows at him, but they didn’t seem overly annoyed. Probably was to hot for that, anyway. After a moment — long enough he was sure, even after, that it hadn’t occurred to them before — they smiled, and shrugged. »If you do, you���re going to give me at least ten lengths. No breaks.«

At least. Pet had lived with Xerxes long enough to realize what that meant; even just the ten would be pushing it. The water was so tempting, though.

»Actually, I’ve made up my mind.« He’d let the pause get too long; they shooed him off, towards the pool. »Go.«

He should have known better, really. But as he lowered himself into the pool, he found it hard to regret his boldness; it felt heavenly.

He was sure they were watching him as much as he had been watching them before. Not for the same reasons, though.

The first five or so lengths were easy. He was reasonably fit; Xerxes made sure of it. He had to pace himself, knowing what was to come.

He was starting to feel the effort over the next few. By the ninth, he was so glad he was close to done he allowed himself the foolish hope he was actually close to done.

But of course, when he finally finished the tenth, Xerxes stood at the edge of the pool, looking down on him. »Twelve.« Nothing more.

So he pushed himself through another two lengths. His arms were burning.

»Actually, make it the whole twenty.«

He didn’t have time to protest, even if there had been any point. No breaks. He just tried to focus on his breathing, even as it grew quicker, even as his muscles grew heavier with every stroke. This had been such a stupid idea. Most of the time he didn’t even like to be near water, after everything Xerxes had done. He tried to push the thought of going under away. Xerxes would have a guard rescue him if he didn’t make it, they surely wouldn’t let him drown; but that wouldn’t make the experience better.

He couldn’t think about it. His breath was coming short enough as it was.

By fourteen, he was ready to beg, if that had been an option.

At eighteen, Xerxes sat at the edge of the pool, their legs dangling into the water. They caught his wrists in their hands, and he gratefully let himself float in their grip, desperate to catch his breath. They wouldn’t let him out before he finished, and at this point, the cold was starting to get to him as much as the exhaustion, but he needed that break.

They knew that, of course.

When he came back again, they were back on their lounger. No further demands. His arms felt like jelly when he tried to pull himself up out of the water, so he just flopped as far over the pool’s edge as he could manage. He heard Xerxes chuckle. The heat of the flagstones circling the pool now was welcome.

Several minutes passed before he managed to crawl out of the pool and return to his designated spot at their side. He was still catching his breath. His hands fumbled when he opened his bottle for a much-needed swig of water.

»Fan me.« There was a smile in Xerxes’ voice.

There was a fan on the side table, next to their stupid cocktail glass. He opened his mouth, swallowed an Are you out of your mind, and just noted, »I can barely move my arms, Master.«

»Sure you can. It’s just going to suck.«

It wasn’t really torture; he knew that well enough.

[askvectorprime]

What are the universal streams of Earthspark and Transformers One? With the Shrouding preventing the TransTech from plotting the multiverse, it falls on us fans to do so instead. That brings up a couple of questions. What exactly is the exact, precise definition of a universal cluster which we can use to checklist all future media to determine whether it’s a new cluster or not? You previously designated Cyberverse as Khathos cluster. All three use evergreen. Are they the same cluster?

Dear Continuity Codifier,

As you note, the actions of my brother Nexus have greatly limited the Transcendent Technomorphs' ability to map the universe. Since the Shroud fell, Axiom Nexus had only been able to concretely identify four new "pillar realities"; while consensus has labelled one of the four as Primax 623.14 Gamma, the other three—temporarily classified as 818.27 Alpha, 1122.11 Alpha, and 924.20 Delta—have yet to be conclusively named. As you say, stream 818.27 Alpha has tentatively been classified as part of the Khathos cluster; however, there are still many who argue it belongs as part of the Primax or Uniend clusters. Universe 1122.11 Alpha has been similarly argued to be part of the Primax, Uniend or Khathos clusters; among those who consider it to be part of its own cluster, proposed names include Gaius, Pentis, Ninmah, Onogo, and Dheghom. As for stream 924.20 Delta—well, it was detected so recently that there is nowhere near consensus on its placement or classification, with some scientists proposing it to be part of the Tyran cluster thanks to their near-identical levels of Lorenz-Ω electromagnetic force.

Of course, as I've mentioned before, the academic discourse surrounding universal streams is far from settled. In fact, in the aftermath of the Shroud, a significant corpus has come to believe that the terminology of "universal clusters", while once useful, has become redundant now that there are barely a Prime's dozen reality streams to keep track of. Some have proposed adopting the "spacetime" system of Cloud World to more precisely pinpoint spatio-temporal coordinates within these realities, while others have suggested entirely new systems that would "lump" universes together more broadly—though, of course, each of these approaches introduces its own difficulties that make me doubt that the current paradigm will be abandoned any time soon. The universal stream system may not be perfect, but it is functional, and I have my doubts that any replacement would have benefits outweighing the difficulties in completely overhauling the system from the ground up.

Ah, but I digress. You wanted to know how universal clusters are determined? Well, as I have illustrated, that is a complex and highly subjective process. Generally, TransTech scientists will log a reality stream's most fundamental traits—ranging from macro-scale aspects such as a high level of WY-att interference waves, to micro-scale details like the presence or absence of the AllSpark—and compare them to other, similar realities, grouping them by their most common shared traits. Thus, a reality in which the Mini-Cons were central to the Cybertronians' war, the power of Primus manifests through Cyber Keys, and the planet Xerxes is at least five parsecs off-course from impact with the Omicron Rift might be classed as part of the Aurex Cluster, and so on. These heuristics might strike you as rather arbitrary, and indeed there are one or two outspoken researchers to have come out of Axiom Nexus’ organic population, who are increasingly vocal in their criticism of the TransTechs’ classification system for its cybercentric framing of reality.

Ultimately, I think you are correct: it is up to you, not we Transformers, to determine how to categorize the multiverse in the way you find most useful. Surely you would be better served by a taxonomy that reflects more human-relevant concerns—perhaps distinguishing realities by whether or not the Federation of Western Europe was founded, or the number of Earth's moons?

[ballpitbee]

OH my god I never posted Xerxes. Hes a corner store shop keeper in Streetlamp