#xerxes starness

[lana7779]

Here's my very first attempt at animating! (Using this handy resource)

PH month: Stars

@phmonth @this-idiots-left-eye @i-prefer-the-term-antihero

[redwitchrune]

wanted to draw a bunch of guys. didn't take requests i just chose six people <3 here are my beloveds

[ruckis-vandalizes]

OKAY! HI!!!! SOOO REQUESTS, RIGHT? 😳😳😳😳

How about H7 "volcano" for Ruckis or A10 "fistfight with god" for Gera? 🥺🥺🥺

Or or or or or

C7 "all star" for Kit or F6 "hewwo" for Xerxes?? 😭😭😭

IDK I LOVE ALL OF YOUR LITTLE GUYS SO MUCH GGGHHHHHHGNNNG

I don't know if I should add this nor not, I'll just do so because some people feel forced to draw requests and stuff uhhh

I'M JUST THROWING IN IDEAS I THINK WOULD BE COOL! Please don't overwork yourself or force yourself to draw all of these! Heck, if you're not motivated just don't draw any of them at all!

Also sorry if this makes it sound as if I'm treating you like a child who can't set boundaries yet or something I'm not trying to insult youuuu

Anyways, I love your stuff sm💖💖💖

ALL OF THESE ARE FANTASTIC SUGGESTIONS OMG

Also no worries! I've been making sure not to overwhelm myself. I appreciate the advice and the kind words 💖 I planned on making these mostly head/bust shots anyway so it's not too overwhelming ^^ truth be told I've been wanting to draw but struggling with figuring out just what I wanted to draw, so I rb'd the palette/expression challenge

I had to take an artistic liberty with Xerxes and tone down the cartoonish intensity a bit, because canonically he has trouble showing emotion mentally and physically since he has alexithymia

[mellifloss]

my type might just be weird purple clown tbh

[kchasm]

Ryu Number: Xerxes I

Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire from 486 BCE until his assassination in 465 BCE. At the time of his ascension to the throne, the Achaemenid Empire ran from the eastern end what's now Pakistan to the west end of what's now Turkey. You might notice that that's about the same amount of empire in about the same location as Alexander the Great had—that's because Alexander the Great was the guy who took over the Achaemenid Empire and made it not-so-Achaemenid anymore.

It was awful big, is what I'm saying.

But let's be honest: You probably know Xerxes I better as the Bad Guy with the nose ring in that one weird Spartan hagiography Gerald Butler was in. Fugging Miller.

Anyway, Xerxes I almost certainly has a Ryu Number of 2, and definitely not a Ryu Number more than 3, but there's some stuff.

The problem with finding a Ryu Number of Xerxes I is that 5th-century-BCE Persian monarchs don't show up in video games that often, for some reason. He makes a historical appearance in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey DLC Legacy of the First Blade...

...but unfortunately, Odyssey takes place too far after the times of myth and legend for anyone big enough to be a Minecraft skin in Greek-mythology-inspired DLC to show up.

It doesn't help, either, that in Assassin's Creed lore, all the "gods" were just members of a Precursor Race pretending to be gods, a la Stargate. No, that's not "Hera," that's a jerk Precursor Person who's taken on the identity of "Hera," all the better to lead mankind around like a clowder of schmucks. She's pretending to be Norse elsewhere. Don't fall for it.

(There's also A Minotaur, which feels like it ought to connect via that Minecraft skin pack, but if I'm understanding the Odyssey lore correctly—and I very well might not be; holler at me—the minotaur the player encounters isn't actually the Minotaur from the myth we know and love, but some random other guy who subsequently got his hands on the Precursor Technology that turns you into a minotaur. Yeah, everything is Precursor People in Assassin's Creed. It's kind of disappointing.)

Of course, you can still get to Xerxes through Odyssey if you want to—a handful of historical characters who don't have Minecraft skins show up—but you'll need an extra step. And if we're going to have an extra step anyway, I'm going to go for the route that doesn't need Assassin's Creed, partially because I haven't played the games yet but mostly because I'm still really disappointed about the Precursor People thing.

Which means, unfortunately, it's back to Miller.

I'll say this: For all that 300: March to Glory is Not A Very Good Video Game, it left me the impression that someone behind the scenes actually did the bare minimum research into the Greco-Persian Wars. Persian commanders Hydarnes and Mardonius make appearances (if only to provide something unique to hit), and Mardonius even survives the movie-equivalent events of the game until an epilogic, post-movie level that takes place during the Battle of Plataea—which is, indeed, where the historical Mardonius bit it. It's not much, but I had to watch the whole dang thing, so I'll take what I can get. Gets me more names for The Chart, besides.

As for connecting this game to Ryu, you can, of course, count on the Ol' Dependable of Games With Historical Figures:

...Or maybe you're not a fan of Anime And Things That Look Like Anime, in which case, try this, instead:

I'm not sure I can explain how weird Spartan: Total Warrior is—by which I'm referring to its existence more than anything in the game itself, though the content's pretty weird, too. For context, Total War is a series of strategy games featuring a combination of turn-based strategy, resource management, and real-time tactical control (so sayeth Wikipedia). There are a coupla Warhammer entries in the franchise, sure, but the vast majority of the games focus on real, historical campaigns and factions.

Spartan: Total Warrior, on the other hand, is a hack-and-slash that took one look at a history book and immediately took a pair of shears to it. The story starts in 300 BCE: The Roman Empire, led by Emperor Tiberius, has conquered almost the whole of Greece, with only Sparta remaining, and Leonidas leads his men into battle to oppose him. Later, the Romans reveal a superweapon powered by the imprisoned Medusa. Sejanus, Tiberius' right-hand man, is a powerful necromancer who kills and resurrects Castor's brother Pollux. One mission involves protecting Archimedes, leader of the Athenian resistance, from assassination.

To quote someone on Discord, this is a game supposedly set circa 300 BCE that "has one side led by a king who died 200 years before, and the other by an emperor who reigned 300 years after (never mind the fact that Rome was still a senatorial republic)." If you forced a too-serious historian to play this game they'd end up on the floor in a frothing heap of rage and/or despair (actually, someone should totally do that; I want to see the Greco-Roman history version of Jonathan Ferguson having to analyze the firearms of Team Fortress 2).

Oh yeah and Beowulf is there.

At some point you've got to appreciate—no, admire, even—the Xena:-Warrior-Princess-level decision to just Don't Worry About It.

And now that we have finished with the indisputable, let us proceed with the first of the hinky. Which is to say: Let's look at God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Chains of Olympus begins with an attack by the Persian navy on the Greek Attic peninsula (where Athens is, incidentally). The opening sequence features (among a whole lot of faceless Persian mooks) this prone-ish fella, who doesn't quite get to operating a ballista, irresponsibly leaving the work for Kratos instead.

(Credit: Migeman)

Inspecting the body after all the local ruckus is over identifies him as "Eurybiades," the "leader of the Athenian army."

Eurybiades was—according to historical record—a real person, though God of War doesn't exactly nail it on the head. Herodotus (who historians depend on more due to him being one of a Very Small Number of sources rather than anything to do with actual reliability) names Eurybiades as a Spartan who, during the second Persian invasion of Greece, was given command of the Greek navy due to some political whatuppery (the Spartans said that if a Spartan didn't lead it they'd be Awfully Uncooperative).

Following this bit, Kratos confronts the King of Persia (identity unspecified), who is apparently personally leading the invasion himself, which seems dumb but was apparently the norm back in those days. I bet we'd have a lot less wars if we made our Presidents actually serve on the front lines whenever they started feeling belligerent.

(Credit: Ibid.)

Anyway, Kratos kills the King of Persia, because if the King of Persia killed Kratos the game would be a lot shorter. Now, there's no watertight confirmation that this is the second Persian invasion—the first one also featured attempted Persian inroads into Attica, and was recent enough that it's not inconceivable for Eurybiades to have shown up, there, too—but if this is the second Persian invasion, and that is the King of Persia that was King of Persia during the second Persian invasion, then that King of Persia is Xerxes I.

And now, I think, you peer up at me, gaze beseeching. "But KC," you say, anxious and afraid, "Xerxes I didn't die during his invasion of Greece! After Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis, Persian forces were forced to withdraw from Attica, including Xerxes I himself, after which he focused on lavish construction projects until he was assassinated fifteen years later for unrelated reasons! He didn't die in the Greco-Persian Wars at all!"

To which I say: You know who else didn't die in the Greco-Persian Wars? Eurybiades. And you know who definitely didn't die in a fit of paranoid, obsessive overwork in the heart of a monumental statue of Apollo on the isle of Delos?

What I'm saying here is that God of War's relationship with historicality is fleeting at best, so maybe Don't Worry About It here, too.

(Incidentally, if it's the first Persian invasion of Greece that Kratos is mucking around in, then that king is actually Darius the Great, who also didn't die in Greece in real life. Darius is in Civilization V, though, so getting his Ryu Number is a lot easier.)

And speaking of Civilization, I've finally come to the shortest route I've found that, for all its likeliness, isn't as definite as I'd like, which is why I've saved it for last. You know how Civilization works, I think—you play a historical civilization (with a historical leader to match), and go up against other historical civilizations with their leaders. Like Darius, just now—he's your leader if you decide to play as the Persians.

Civilization III is like that...but unfortunately not as much like that as a fellow'd prefer. Sure, it's got its civilizations and leaders...

...But there's the occasional glaring unspecificity that's apparently there to make life difficult for me in particular. Yeah, sure, Montezuma here is most likely the second one—the one everyone knows, the one that had the real bad experience with Spain—but are you sure he isn't the first one instead? Like, absolutely sure? The instruction manual doesn't say, you know. How sure are you? Sure enough to bet a dollar? Two dollars? Fifty dollars? Your firstborn child? Why would I want your firstborn child, anyway? I don't want to look after a child; that's literally more work for me.

The Persian civilization exhibits the same problem here. Yeah, of course that's Xerxes I! If the team behind the game is picking out a historical figure named Xerxes to represent the Persians, it's got to be Xerxes I. But at the same time, there's technically nothing saying this isn't Xerxes II, a separate 5th-century-BCE Persian ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. I mean, it's terribly unlikely, seeing as Xerxes II ruled for 45 days before being killed by his half-brother, who ruled for six months before being killed by his half-brother, making him Not Exactly The Sort Of Individual You'd Put The Spotlight On, but Mahatma Gandhi and Joan of Arc are the leaders of Indian and French civilizations in this game, and that's weird, too. Gandhi was never the Prime Minister of India or anything like that, and Joan of Arc was a military leader, not a monarch.

Still, if you're willing to follow the reasonable assumption that the Xerxes here is Xerxes I, then the path that results is pretty dang optimal:

...If this is how you found out that Mahatma Gandhi is in Minecraft DLC, I'm sorry.

[fivekrystalpetals]

Not me making the umpteenth post about this very panel, but, bc I have only so much to go by here ;_; this panel has some funny underlying subtext because at the first glance, this seems like a very normal, very formal conversation between two people who are more or less strangers but--

1.] Break knows her name now?

interesting that Break addresses her as Miss Lottie here, and not little miss (flirty (derogatory)) like in the Sablier arc.

so, my guess is that he really did not know her name then, because he simply followed Oz (eye of the cyclone lmao) hoping to find some Baskervilles targeting him as they did in the Lutwidge. In fact, Oz himself wanted to do the same, put himself out there as bait for the Baskervilles before deciding to venture into Sablier.

(Funny how Break shoots down Oz's idea of meeting the Baskervilles with the excuse that they might be following absolute orders and hence, useless to negotiate with. and then..... proceeds to do the same lol)

[more under the cut cuz I can't shut up about these two lol]

Also, in the same chapter, Oz lets slip Zwei's name in their conversation which Break silently registers--

all in all, the most names among the Baskervilles he would have known by the time of Sablier arc is Zwei's.

meaning, after returning from his meet-cute meeting with Lottie, he must have set about trying to find out her name. Since they don't have internet in those times, only way to get information is to manually dig around.

but... of course, that is not possible just like that, right? Break cannot ask around a Baskerville's name without raising a bunch of questions, facing trouble from the Pandora (which is why he even hid the Intention's desire from them), ntm, nobody even knew any of the Baskervilles, much less their names.

Well, nobody except Oz. Oz did get to meet the Baskervilles and see and hear them interacting. during which time, Fang and Doug did call out Lottie's name a bunch of times. so obvs Oz should know her name. however, it's up in the air whether he would remember, rather want to remember the name of the girl who stomped all over his chest?

so this means Break really went that extra mile to manipulate this information out of Oz without rousing his suspicions. Oz is too smart for his own good, mind you. The slightest misstep, he is going to figure out what Break was planning:

and from this panel, it appears he didn't want anyone (including Oz and Gil) to know what he had been planning with the Baskervilles. and now even we, the readers, will never know lol

He must have asked Oz to recount his experiences from Lutwidge for him again and got him to slip up her name, the way Oz did for Zwei. Sneaky, so sneaky!

sooooo, while everyone was busy putting together two and two about the Tragedy of Sablier and whatnot, Break here was trying to squeeze out the name of the girl he met in a dungeon someday before he went fully blind (he was fated to see her just once, he can never see her again.) lmaooo what kind of shoujo manga plot was he playing out here?

2.] Lottie expected to meet him again?

This is a little more obvious but funny (to me) nevertheless. when Break puts his sword at her throat, Lottie doesn't even blink or get startled, merely sighs and goes: oh yeah I was wondering why the hell you didn't show up?

But for some reason I felt you'd show your face here.

So, I don't think she means Break making an appearance at Yura's party. That's way too obvious. Rainsworths, and by extension, Break their important valet, are invited and are going to be present here.

No, this means she had a feeling Break would slip out of there and come out here to have a tête-à-tête with her which is just... ??? How was she so sure? Was she looking forward to it? Waiting for him to write her a letter to her hiding place in Sablier or something? Waiting for him to come there just as her lion knocked down Yura? She wasn't in the least fazed! just goes, oh yeah I was waiting for you >_>

Because logically, Break surely went radio silent the whole of the month(?), right? Owing to his untimely blindness, whatever plans he might have had for her also must have cut off. Unless he got help from another person which he didn't seem to want, esp. not in this case, which, for whatever reason, he wanted to keep a complete secret. And in spite of this radio silence, Lottie doesn't think he was bluffing or stood her up at Sablier. She actually seems quite prepared to meet him here? I wonder how many times she turned the scenario over and over in her mind since they met and parted, and got more irritated what the hell did he mean and if he did mean something, why can't he contact her again?

because, the very first thing she demands of him is an explanation of what he meant by his words at Sablier

and surprisingly, this.... surprises him? at least enough to sheathe his sword and start talking properly to her??? (a huge thing bc Break never gives a straight answer; he is always talking in riddles and annoying everyone on purpose)

[duunswitch]

@diivineray || i'm out of doritos so i replaced them with starters

"Is this the other side of the mirror?" She stepped out of the closet as she asked, blinking at the shift in light and squinting lightly. It wasn't the room she'd just been in, so presumably they'd gotten it right...

"This is the other side of the abyss, right?" Leanne really hoped so because getting back to do it again was going to be a pain if they'd done things incorrectly.

[ruckis--rookie]

I saw this format floating around and couldn't help myself. shhhh yes I know that in some of them there are more than one character in a frame hush I'm allowed to cheat a little bit-

[fallingtitansspeciallittleboy]

Does anyone have any Sampo, Blade, Choso or Miguel O'Hara fluff headcanons or scenarios. If yes, my inbox is open 😙

(Ik the character choice seems random but these are just my comfort characters 😭)

Vanitas and Xerxes Break would also be more than welcome but I don't know how alive these fandoms are tbh

[hannaedits]

Five-Star Reads for October 2024

[stevie-stories]

oc stuff i drew back in december

[khanhannahlewis]

"Hannah," says Xerxes, early in the morning as they lay together in his quarters

"It occurs to me that you should meet the other members of Savannah's command star. You will be dropping with us, so it would be prudent, aff?"

( @is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not )

Aff, that would be prudent. Let us do so.

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

Hannah floats anxiously near the airlock of one of the Argo's Colossus dropships, holding onto a railing to keep herself still as the ship does little corrective burns while docking with the SLS McKenna's Pride to transfer her and the rest of Savannah Cameron's command star to the Blackwatch forces aboard.

With a jolt and a series of rhythmic thuds and mechanical noises, the connection sensor on the airlock flashes green.

As the airlock opens, permitting Hannah, Savannah, Tchalla, Xerxes, and Tay into the Pride, several people are there to greet them - all but one gripped to the floor of the ship via the special sock footwear of WarShip crews. The first man standing before them is Admiral William Olmos "the Old Man" McKenna, a freeborn former Republic Navy officer who possessed a claim to the McKenna bloodname by blood relation - a rarity, but not unheard of among Spheroids. He was now a member of Clan Snow Raven by Trial of Bloodright - the first such in many decades for Snow Raven, and one of the few where the duels in question were conducted with WarShips. "Welcome aboard Lady Cameron," he says to Savannah, his voice naturally gruff, but warm despite this. "It's an honor beyond compare," he bows. Savannah takes in this display with a nonplussed expression. The Admiral then then turns to Hannah and the others. "Star Commander Lewis, welcome aboard," he states, holding out his hand to shake.

[ruckis-vandalizes]

MAY GOD PROTECT THE KING

technically a redraw inspired by this drawing all the way back from 2019 vvv

lmaooo he got better

[techcat]

Artfight attacks this year! After having like a year of no art, this was nice to validate that I CAN still do the art thing.

Miss Star for MikiSox on Artfight

Bass for @kronyumsmoke

Hades (with Crag) for @artofmrhades

Sanguine for @zichqec

060614!Muffet for @aceiestartist

Toffee for Red Underfell

Hecate for @chaos-gremlin21

Bucky for @wishingstarinajar

Fiant for @ashenoranges

Xerxes for @ilexlio

Pixel for @littlestrawberries

Sugar and Star for @radiostarmaniac and @maddyfairyqueen

Bluetone for @spiralsalad

Torvix for @bubbleice

Proxy for @d4rksusuke

Anomoly#3264 for @despairofstars

Cheese for @chaos-gremlin21

Gangles (with Pata) for @maddyfairyqueen

Lyat for @aceiestartist

Proferssor Mundane for @chaos-gremlin21

Zeni and Meredith for @artofmrhades

Soot for Sylveon on Artfight

Vaped for @maped-18-gallery

I had a good time actually trying to ink some stuff and I think I've found some settings I like! Still prefer the painty scribbles though.

[peithoaphro]

updated list of names 2023.

name | meaning | origin

supposedly male: aras | eagle | lithuanian wolfe | wolf | english cillian | warstrife | irish elystan | noble stone | welsh daerion | gift | greek matteo | gift of god | italian lorcan | little fierce one | irish valko | wolf | bulgarian gavrail | hero | bulgarian nikolche | adventure | macedonian peithon | persuades | macedonian valerian | strong | latin abraxas | great | egyptian xerxes | hero amongst heroes | persian ives | yew wood | english azarius | god has helped | hebrew nicodemus | victory of the people | greek hesperus | evening star | greek casimir | destroyer of peace | polish arcturus | bear guardian | greek daedalus | craftsman | greek caliban | black | romanian hawthorne | lives | english maegor | red | english

supposedly female: echo | sound | greek adelaide | noble | german daisy | day's eye | old english cressida | gold | greek eirlie | eagle wood | scottish althea | healing power | greek manon | queen | welsh calanthe | beautiful flower | greek calithea | basket | greek juniper | young | latin citra | excellent | sanskrit solaris | of the sun | latin visenya | strength | english naerys | queen | english viserra | wisdom | english rosenwyn | white rose | cornish ottaline | prospers | french lethe | oblivion | greek caliadne | beautiful | greek daphne | laurel | greek nesrin | wild rose | arabian

unisex: august | great | greek emerson | son of emery | german callen | rock | gaelic