#names in girl genius

[leletha-jann]

GODDAMMIT FOGLIOS, or I See What You Did There...

The twelve most common letters in the English language are

ETAOIN SHRDLU

...otherwise known to Girl Genius readers as

EOTAIN and SHURDLU

These two:

The original Geisterdamen (we know, because they recognize Agatha later in Sturmhalten, and they're still mad about it in Paris):

These guys:

The characters who speak an untranslated language are named after a cryptography reference.

...

...

...that's funny.

Kudos, Professors, you're very clever.

Goddammit.

[leletha-jann]

This seems extremely likely. My guess is that the Geisterdamen were responsible for most of her care; they probably referred to her as "the Holy Child" amongst themselves and addressed her as "Child". The Geisterdamen are not very good at pronouncing th sounds, either. (Here's Eotain trying her best with "Ag-atta!")

My best bet is that Barry named her, and probably did most of teaching her to speak, too.

Supporting evidence: Lucrezia doesn't refer to her as "Agatha" very often. She says "my daughter" or "the girl", addresses her as "daughter", calls her "the Agatha girl" when she's really slipping, but rarely actually uses her name.

I just realized that - seeing as the Geisterdamen only ever refer to Agatha as the "Holy Child", plus the timeline of her arrivel in the Citadel of Silver Lights, Lucrezia's absence, etc - it's entirely possible that Agatha either a) had a different name for a while or b) didn't have a name at all until Barry found her.

And honestly? I think that last one is the more likely option.

[daddyduncan69]

something something the first time i truly felt pity for riko was his death and i think that fucking matters something something

[best-character-named-x-poll]

have you done your daily click

[phoenixyfriend]

So, what is an intrusive crossover?

(In response to this post)

The thing is I had a post about this way, way back, like... probably somewhere in the 2014-2016 era? My Marvel-and-Naruto period.

But I cannot find it.

Anyway.

I divide crossovers into categories or types, and here the most basic ones.

Intrusive: A character from one setting ends up in another, completely unrelated setting. They do not share a universe, do not share a planet, nada. This is 'falls through a portal' type of crossover. EXAMPLE: A Witch's Favor, where Wanda Maximoff and Maria Rambeau (Marvel) end up in the Star Wars universe due to an unexplained spell malfunction.

Shared Verse: The settings could theoretically, in some manner, exist in the same universe without ever intersecting. EXAMPLE: I usually use Naruto for this example, e.g. the Hidden Continent exists in the Pacific but has had minimal influence/interaction with the rest of the setting up to this point because it's magically cut off from the rest of the planet. For Star Wars, this is usually pretty easy by just putting whatever the second canon is as just. A planet in Wild Space. They exist in the same universe! They just haven't found each other yet! A great example is the fic A Star to Steer By, by @norcumii and @dogmatix. A subset of this is fics where one is the distant past of the other, like Muse on This or Red-Eyed Black Widow.

Mixed Verse: The setting is one that involves both canons influencing each other to a degree, or being in the same verse without being a fusion AU or shared-verse. The settings exist together, both having strong worldbuilding elements of the original, but are not fully themselves and show obvious elements of the other. EXAMPLE: Unfortunately my most recent example is an HP crossover so. Please keep in mind that this is from four years ago, before R*wling outed herself as a massive bigot: Professor Storm.

Fusion: more or less 1:1 "this character from fandom 1 would be this character from fandom 2" or otherwise "characters from fandom 1 reimagined in fandom 2 with none of the original setting." For a long time, HP was the biggest and most constant example, but uhhh that's clearly been falling out of favor like raw eggs. EXAMPLE: After Me Comes the Flood.

There are other types, like infusing the plot of one narrative into the setting and characters of the other, which is a really fun kind of fusion (I always come back to thinking about Age of Marvels by justplainrii, which only ever got three chapters but still eats at my brain sometimes), buuuuut I'd say most crossovers are some variant of the above four.

[joyride-time]

Good one, Prrriti. But we're trying to save the Castle here. A Softer World 828 edit.

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

I feel like Fitzjames would keep her dick in the same way she'd keep her first name but Hodgson would get every gender surgery invented to date and she'd know all the technical terms for them and all the etymologies of said terms and she'd cheerfully tell Irving and Little all the bloody medical details of each one and she'd do it while they were eating and Little would want to gently object but would not do so because he wants to be a Good Ally and Irving would ignore all his subtle attempts to change the subject and listen to her with an enthralled intensity usually reserved for church services, which could mean nothing.

[bigasswritingmagnet]

The First of Many Goodbyes

Fandom: Girl Genius Pairing: Oggie/Oggie's wife (please name her, Foglios, I beg you) Summary: One of Ognian's greatest losses is fast approaching, and Khrizhan must make him understand that the death that Jӓgers are surrounded by is found at home as much as the battlefield.

A far distant sequel to Meet-Cute-ish.

AO3 Link

It was a nice little house in a nice part of town, with a slate roof and stone walls, brightly painted yellow shutters, a rose trellis, window boxes of small white flowers. And yet a pall hung over the house, an invisible but palpable sense of foreboding and grief, like an incredibly localized stormcloud.

Khrizhan knocked on the door, gently. After a moment or two, it opened. A young woman with a mass of soft ginger curls looked up at him in surprise.

“Good mornink,” he said, politely. “Hy is here to speak to Ognian.”

Her eyes narrowed; her expression grim and wary. Stiffly, she nodded and stepped aside.

The dark cloud was even heavier inside than out, turning the comfortable home into a something like a living tomb. Khrizhan was led into a sitting room and somewhat stonily bade to rest himself in a loveseat that was only just large enough to contain his bulk.

“Grandpoppa,” the girl called, and disappeared through a doorway.

As Khrizhan waited, he took in his surroundings. The furnishings were eclectic but comfortable. The walls were crowded with pictures and trophies, and shelves covered in little knickknacks. Above the fireplace was a painting, a family portrait of parents, children, and grandchildren. Ognian had bragged about it for months, and Khrizhan had to admit it was masterfully done. The artist had managed to capture the sly smile and playful disposition that turned Radka's ugliness into its own kind of beauty.

Ognian shuffled in, and Khrizhan felt his heart sink in sympathy. He had never seen the other man so miserable before. No hint of his perpetual smile; his boundless energy had been bound tight in the exhaustion that sagged his shoulders. Khrizhan did not take it personally when Ognian stared blankly at him without saluting.

“Sit, Ognian,” Khrizhan said, kindly.

Ognian did so, slowly sinking down onto an armchair directly across the low table between them.

“How is she?” Khrizhan asked. He didn’t really want to ask, didn’t need to ask, if it came to that, but it was necessary. The very question seemed to cause Ognian to shrink in on himself.  

“Doctor says any…any day now.” His eyes flicked back to the doorway he’d come in through, and Khrizhan knew the man wanted him out of the house so he could return to his wife’s side. Dimo had said no one had seen Ognian in three days.

“Hy tought as much. Ve—”  

Ognian’s son appeared, bearing a tray with a teapot, one teacup, and one larger mug that would be easier for Khrizhan to hold. The arrival seemed to startle Ognian out of his fog and into the present.

“Oh,” he said, dismayed. “Hy should have asked—”

Khrizhan waved it away.

“Hyu has effery reason to be distracted.”

Vasil set the tray down on the table between them, and Khrizhan took a moment to compare the two men. They had always looked astonishingly similar, and there had been a period of time where they had often been mistaken for each other. But Vasil had aged, while his father had not, and now Khrizhan wondered if Ognian ever looked at his son and saw the man he might have been, if he had taken a different path.

Vasil left, pausing to squeeze his father’s shoulder; Ognian put a distracted hand over his, squeezing back. Khrizhan waited until the man was out of the room.

“De Heterodyne has announce he vishes to ride out—”

Ognian snapped around to face Khrizhan, his entire body going rigid, the color visibly draining from his face. Khrizhan raised a hand, forestalling a reaction.

“—und Hy is here to tell hyu to stay home.”

Ognian sagged again, his eyes closing briefly.

“Until furder notice, hyu is relieved of all duties. Stay vit hyu lady und hyu family. De Heterodyne...understands."

It took Ognian several heavy swallows before he could whisper out “Tank hyu.”

Wordlessly, Khrizhan served the tea. Ognian was staring out of the room again, chewing on his thumbnail, lost in thought. Absentmindedly, he took the cup Khrizhan gave him and sipped it. He choked and nearly gagged at the taste. Khrizhan, his own mug halfway to his lips, paused.

Ognian gestured for Khrizhan to hand over his cup and began to liberally doctor both cups with sugar and cream.

“Hy love my son very much,” Ognian said in a low voice, “but he ken’t make tea vorth a damn.”

Khrizhan took his mug again and warily took a very tiny sip. Even with all the additions, he could taste that Ognian’s son had somehow managed to burn the tea leaves. 

“Vell,” Khrizhan said, tactfully setting the mug aside, “dot leads me to de odder reason Hy came to see hyu.”

Ognian looked wary, his hands tight on the cup.

“Hyu is a young Jӓger,” Khrizhan said. “Young enuff dot hyu could still be alive, if hyu had not taken de Jӓgerdraught.” He nodded towards the door Ognian could not keep his eyes from. “She is de forst vun dot hyu should not have outlived. She vill not be de last. Novhere near de last. De pipple around hyu vill age und die und hyu vill keep goink.” He met Ognian’s eyes and spoke without cruelty or mercy. “Hyu vill live to see hyu son die.”

Ognian put the cup down with a clatter and buried his face in his hands. He was shaking all over. Khrizhan wished he could, somehow, make it not be so. He had had this conversation with hundreds of Jӓgers, watched them face down the looming future and the endless centuries of loss it promised, and every time wished he could change it.

“It is de price ve pay for de gifts de Jӓgerdraught gives us, und it is a steep vun. It is easy for us to…lose touch. Ognian.”

Ognian raised his face, silent tears running down his cheeks.

“It is very temptink to give up. To stay avay from everyvun, to lose hyuself in blood und var. Hy haff seen it before, und it leads to madness, alvays. Find someting dot grounds hyu, someting dot keeps hyu connected to de vorld und its pipple. Someting dot vill help hyu keep being hyuself.”

He glanced meaningfully at the picture over the fireplace, and Ognian’s eyes followed his gaze. The man wiped the tears from his face, looking thoughtful.

“Hy tink Hy can do dot,” he said, softly.

Khrizhan nodded and rose.

“Good. Hy vill take no more of hyu time. Hy know it is precious to hyu.”

Ognian walked him to the door, where Khrizhan put a hand on his shoulder.

“Take de time hyu need. Ven hyu is ready to come back, hyu let me know.” Khrizhan hesitated, and then said, softly, “Hy iz…very sorry, Ognian.”  

“I’m not even dead yet.”

Both Jӓgers jumped. In the room adjacent, Khrizhan saw a large bed had been set up. Lying half-lost amidst the pillows was Radka. She was hardly recognizable as the vivacious woman Khrizhan had known—only a few strands of red in her gray hair, the arms laid out on the blankets knobbly and thin, pale and parchment-skinned—but the look in her eyes was as sharp as ever.

“Hyu is supposed to be asleep,” Ognian scolded.

The woman snorted.

“All I do is sleep. Who is it? Khrizhan? Get in here.”

“Radka,” Ognian said, exasperated despite himself.

“It is my prerogative as a sickly old woman to make as much of a nuiscance of myself as I can!”

“Fine,” Ognian said. “But if hyu’s avake it means hyu can take hyu medicine.”

“Oh really,” Radka called as her husband disappeared down the hallway. “Red fire, Ognian, I’m already dying, what good will it do me?”

Khrizhan chuckled as he approached the bed.

“Good to see hyu hasn’t changed any.”

Radka’s lips quirked as she lay back against the pillows.

“Nonsense. I’m incredibly ornery. I’m on my second doctor, and I’m pretty sure I drove the first one to drink.”

“Ya,” Khrizhan said, nodding. “Not changed at all.”

Radka smiled, but it was rueful and faded quickly. She reached out and grabbed his wrist. He was shocked at how weak her grip was. It was as if the mere act of curling her fingers took all the strength she had.

“Will he be alright?” she asked, softly. “They’re all being insufferably brave around me.” Radka let her hand drop away. “As pleasing as it would be to my ego, I would rather he not spend the rest of his existence wearing black and walking the walls, weeping."

“No,” Khrizhan said, reassuringly. He went for absolute honesty, knowing she would accept nothing else. “He vill suffer, yez, but he vill come beck. He haz hiz family, und as long as he haz dem, he vill not lose himself.”

Radka smiled.

“Good.” Then her smile went a little wider and she started to snicker. Khrizhan raised an eyebrow. “He’s got a vested interest in ensuring the continuation of the family line,” Radka pointed out, eyes shining. “He’s going to be worse than the castle.”

Khrizhan burst out laughing. She was absolutely right. Herding angry mammoths was an easier task than redirecting Ognian when he’d set his mind to something.

“My sympathies to hyu descendants,” he said with a broad grin.

“Vut’s so funny?” Ognian asked, appearing in the door with a small cup in his hand.

“I’m mocking you behind your back,” Radka said.

“Ho, nize break from hyu mockink me to my face,” he said, unperturbed.

Ognian sat down on the bed beside her and handed Radka the cup—though Khrizhan noted he kept his fingers pressed to the bottom, subtly supporting it as she drank. When she had finished, Radka made a face and mock glared at him.

“Fusspot,” she said, stroking his wrist.

“Old hag,” he replied, with aching fondness.

“Hy must go now,” Khrizhan said. “Ve prepare for tomorrow. Tink on vut Hy said, Ognian.”

“Thank you for visiting,” Radka said, warmly. “It was nice to see you.”

The 'one last time' was not said, but felt all the same.

Khrizhan bowed, his eyes stinging slightly, and left them there.

[ladyloveandjustice]

We'll never forget their sacrifices...because we are literally cursed to remember them.

[inbarfink]

... I am beginning to consider a Good Omens AU for Seffie/Colette. That's how you know it's becoming a top-tier ship for me.

[leletha-jann]

Apropos of nothing... (not a hint or a spoiler, just a thought)

Eventually Seffie's going to realize that Tarvek snookered her entire "marry Gil, rule the Empire" plan out from under her, and god I hope I'm there to watch the dawning realization cross her face.

Like, I like Seffie for who she is. But I don't like her so much that I'm not going to enjoy the hell out of the facial expressions.

[chaos-has-theories]

Girl Genius Van Rijn is named after REMBRANDT VAN RIJN???

As in, famous painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, known mainly by his first name????

Rembrandt might be RvR's first name???????

[calmingpi]

We're just one letter off from dall by artms

[phoenixyfriend]

Making this its own post instead of an ask.

I divide crossovers into categories or types, and here the most basic ones.

Intrusive:

A character from one setting ends up in another, completely unrelated setting. They do not share a universe, do not share a planet, nada. This is "falls through a portal" type of crossover. EXAMPLE: A Witch's Favor, where Wanda Maximoff and Maria Rambeau (Marvel) end up in the Star Wars universe due to an unexplained spell malfunction.

Shared Verse:

The settings could theoretically, in some manner, exist in the same universe without ever intersecting. EXAMPLE: I usually use Naruto for this example, e.g. the Hidden Continent exists in the Pacific but has had minimal influence/interaction with the rest of the setting up to this point because it's magically cut off from the rest of the planet. For Star Wars, this is usually pretty easy by just putting whatever the second canon is as just. A planet in Wild Space. They exist in the same universe! They just haven't found each other yet! A great example is the fic A Star to Steer By, by @norcumii and @dogmatix. A subset of this is fics where one is the distant past of the other, like Muse on This or Red-Eyed Black Widow.

Mixed Verse:

The setting is one that involves both canons influencing each other to a degree, or being in the same verse without being a fusion AU or shared-verse. The settings exist together, both having strong worldbuilding elements of the original, but are not fully themselves and show obvious elements of the other. EXAMPLE: Unfortunately my most recent example is an HP crossover so. Please keep in mind that this is from four years ago, before R*wling outed herself as a massive bigot: Professor Storm.

Fusion:

More or less 1:1 "this character from fandom A would be this character from fandom B" or otherwise "characters from fandom A reimagined in fandom B with none of the original setting." For a long time, HP was the biggest and most constant example, but uhhh that's clearly been falling out of favor like raw eggs. I've seen a lot of good ones for Hunger Games, though, and even wrote my own, but I know some other common ones are Steven Universe (which gem are they?), AtLA (which bender type are they?), or Pokemon (what trainer type are they). Also, arguably, generic AUs that don't take place in canon-verse, like modern or historical or zombie or Generic Cyberdystopia. EXAMPLE: After Me Comes the Flood.

Element Overlay:

A world-building element from Fandom B is applied to the setting and characters of Fandom A. Common examples are Daemon AUs or Sentinel/Guide AUs. I think a fun thing to point out is that, while they don't technically have a source fandom of origin since they were developed communally by fandom, soulmate AUs and omegaverse count as well.

There are other types, like infusing the plot of one narrative into the setting and characters of the other, which is a really fun kind of fusion (I always come back to thinking about Age of Marvels by justplainrii, which only ever got three chapters but still eats at my brain sometimes), buuuuut I'd say most crossovers are some variant of the above.

[scorpioaqua]

it's rough out here for "her name IS raven" truthers when even DC is switching up