#jenka maybe?

[johnconstantinesdick]

I’m bingewatching 999 playthroughs again because it has become my Homework Background Noise this year and so I of course have several AUs percolating. The ORV one will have to wait to be revealed because I ALSO just got a jolt of girl genius inspo.

Anyway. The hardest person to cast is always the Akane of the group—she’s dead. She’s alive. She burned in an incinerator when she was twelve years old and she saw through time to save herself. She’s the mastermind, she’s the victim, she’s the love interest. She’s shrödingers cat and chekov’s gun and the ship of theseus. How much is a lie? Who is she? Is she simply playing her part to keep the timeline stable? Does Akane Kurashiki have free will or does she simply don a mask and play her part?

But with Girl Genius, it’s almost too easy. It’s Anevka. A girl in a box. Is she dead or is she alive? If she says all the right things and we can’t tell the difference between her and the mask, is the mask a real person or is it just an executed series of programs? How much of her can you change before she’s no longer herself? Does the process of saving her own life change her into a stranger?

Anevka Sturmvoraus dies on a boat when she’s twelve years old. Her brother mourns. Her best friend never sees her again. Anevka Sturmvoraus makes it off the boat, except she can’t make it off the boat until nine years have passed. Agatha Heterodyne wakes up in a flooding cabin with a 5 on the door and a numbered bracelet on her wrist. It has to happen this way.

Anevka already saw it.

[calmingpi]

Characters i think should be allowed to say fuck the most:

Agatha

Violetta

Krosp

Bang

Moloch

A jager general (or jenka)

MAYBE boris

Dingbot prime (somehow. In their own way)

Franz

MAYBE aldin (he really wants to, i can tell)

Zeetha, but only in the context of something silly and not as an actual exclamation. Like "whoooo's ready to fuckin PARTY everyBODY" kind of a context

Should never say fuck (2 me):

Klaus (its funnier if he cant)

Gil or Tarvek (its funnier if they cant)

Actually any other love interest either

Actually the rest of the cast

Oggie. Just cant see it for some reason. It would be so weird to me

[hejscandinavia]

This was probably the earliest day we had to wake up. We had to leave the hotel at 7:45 am so didn’t get much sleep. I was so ready for the continental breakfast, and then…I forgot I was in Norway lol. The classic American hotel breakfast with eggs, bacon, and pancakes was not there. Instead, the hotel had bread, small donuts, smoked salmon, salad, yogurt, and fruit. It was still VERY good. Basically every morning I would get the bread, spread butter, put some cheese on top, with lettuce, smoked salmon, and cucumber. I feel like after Europe I will definitely be eating Smorebord a lot for lunches. Also, homemade butter with homemade bread. The bread, butter, and sometimes cheese combo has changed me lol.

Afterward, we met outside the hotel to meet our guides, Joffery (from France) and Jenka (from Belgium). Our guides throughout my entire trip were AMAZING! They were so funny, engaging, and helpful. We then drove to the docks so go on an hour long boat ride. The waters in Svalbard as so beautiful. As said before, they are this brilliant blue with hints of emerald green. The mountains surrounding us just made it better. We mostly sat outside on the dock taking photos of the nature and of the other group. Coolest thing we saw, A WALRUS! On our right, a walrus was coming up for air for around thirty seconds. It was SO COOL! It took a few ducks, snorted, and went back down. Ah to only be able to scuba dive and see what lies beneath!

Afterward, we arrived on shore with an old lighthouse and radio tower. We then started walking. Well this was one hike. In total, 15 MILES. Bruh I’ve never walked that much (okay maybe but that was Disney and I have zero comprehension of steps in that place). 

The landscape was pretty diverse. As some points, it was completely rocky (so many kinds, especially shards, from black, brown, red, orange, and a lot of quartz). At others, it was a flat and dirt. Then it was holes and bumps with moss covering it. We saw various reindeer on the hike. We even saw a fox for a few seconds! I only saw a glimpse of it because it was blending in so well to the landscape. We took several stops, either to ford the rivers, look at the plants, examine a carcass, and my personal favorite, old whale bones! We didn’t know how old they were. They could either be from the whaling period from 1600-1800 or even older when most of Svalbard was under water several thousand years ago! You can’t tell in the arctic a lot because decomposition is a very slow process. Are we got closer to shore, the beaches were grey with some having ice on top. It was pretty rocky and lots of orange kelp.

We finally got to our main destination, the walrus colony. Sadly, there were no walruses. We had lunch at 2 pm from backpacking kits. I had a dehydrated chicken curry which was okay and the berry tea. Man I LOVE the berry tea. I need to figure out if one of the European stores in Madison has it! The view was still really nice. We had a great look over the sea on these old cliffs. 

Well as we were eating, the guides spotted walruses! We had passed them on our way there. So we packed up quickly and were speeding to go see them.

Before getting close, the guides told us we had to be quiet, not super close, and had to be in the direction the wind was going so the animals can’t smell us. As we crept over the hill, we had a huge scent of animal. And there they were. Thirty or so walruses were lying on the beach in two groups. They were so lazy, sleeping on the shoreline.  Two of them were moving. One was very slowly moving to the water. He was sit up, think, then roll, stand up for ten seconds, then roll again. Time was not apart of their agenda. 

Sadly, we did have to leave to get back to camp. After our boat ride, we had to get dinner. Mirren, Alex, Lulu, Cielo, Caitlin, Ava, and Abby went to Svalbar. I got an Irish coffee. Not my favorite drink as I have explored in alcohol. For food, I had a nutty pasta. It was pretty okay. For desert, I got an Antarctic breakfast! It was from an expedition with lignonberry, ice cream, pancakes, bacon, and syrup. Now that was pretty darn good. Favorite part of the whole evening: my DND joke. For the past couple of months, I have grown an obsession the rudeness of seagulls. Because of this, I would love to play DND as an annoying seagull. With this, I got an idea at the restaurant. “So imagine you’re in DND, and you play as a seagull. Your name is Sval and you’re a bard. Cause ‘Svalbard’. And ALSO! You’re are bartender cause “Svalbar.” Throughout the rest of class, “imagine you’re in DND,” has become a running joke. I’m loving it. 

[inexplicably-spookified]

i realise i've been severely lacking in the silly cave story textposts department recently so here's one to tide you all over before i go to bed: please imagine curly and quote (both known dog lovers) hanging out at a dog park and making all sorts of new canine friends

[steampoweredace]

So apparently I’m just saving rereading volumes of Girl Genius for days when I’m awake for 24+ hours straight, and since I’ve been awake for... 32 hours at the moment, that means it’s time for Volume Four! Which means Circus time! Which means...

Me seeing Zeetha for the first time on page 13: You!!! (affectionate)

And with Zeetha, the first mention of Skifander! Which I just desperately want to see more of

...Kinda want to steal that coat of Master Payne’s in addition to the coat of Klaus’s that I definitely want to steal

I kinda want to get actual stories from when the Heterodyne Boys and Klaus were younger and not just the fictional... extra fictional? Heterodyne Boys stories

Gonna steal that coat of Gil’s

Gil, honey? Maybe, uh, maybe don’t do that. The weapon pointing and the going into the madness place, this is not a situation that calls for the madness place

...I’ll take that coat of the Baron’s too, please

Beep

No idea how true anything Embi told Agatha is, but for some reason I find it really funny that Agatha didn’t see the connection between the vow and the age he gave, because when I first read this bit the connection was just really obvious to me

...poisonous sky wyrms? Not venomous?

Me seeing Da Boyz for the first time: !!!! :D (affectionate)

Jenka! And Füst!

[poorlytunedukulele]

Day 27 - A Feast in a Time of Plague

Sometime in the Dark Ages

There was much rejoicing.  It was nice, Tevis thought, to see a little merriment.  Though the air had a chill, people gathered outside, wrapped in blankets or huddled around fires.  People sang and danced.  There was music.  Pots of tea and coffee and mulled wine sat warming by the coals.  Some of the larger fires had spits roasting flanks of meat.  The fat dripped and sizzled, filling the entire village with an intoxicating scent.

It was amazing to see the place come alive.  Just a few days ago it had felt almost desolate.  The streets had been mostly empty.  There was a plague in the region; The Warlords, Risen like Tevis who did not get sick, mostly ignored it.  The people suffered.  The rickety church here had been converted into a field hospital, though there was not much anyone could do besides keep the dying comfortable.  As if the plague were not enough, the last year had been a hard one and most people were going hungry.

He’d arrived to find a dying town.  Most stayed inside, huddling by meager fires and praying that the sickness would pass them over.  Those that went out were filled with grim, weathered determination or shuffled between the buildings with a blankness in their eyes.

All it had taken was some nabbed food stores and a Golden-Age robotic nurse and the town had reborn itself.  They had no flags but they waved threadbare ribbons and beat on handmade drums.  Tevis had been delighted to find a guitar among the supplies he’d stolen and plucked out a few tunes to the awe of the children.  It was nice to find a little cheer in such a hard time.

He knew the consequences would catch up to him, he just wasn’t expecting it so soon.

Lord Citan’s arrival was announced by a sudden silence.  People let conversation die in their throats and hid their faces.  The Risen strode through the village like a glacier: inexorable, crushing anything left in his path.

Tevis put aside the guitar and stood to meet him.  The Warlord came to a stop a dozen feet away.  People scrambled to vacate the area, but they didn’t go farther than the nearest cover.  Wide eyes peeked out from windows and doorframes.

Lord Citan crossed his arms.  “You dare interfere with the lives of my people?”

Tevis supposed he should be groveling.  He didn’t.  “I just brought some food and medicine,” he reasoned.

“Without my permission.”  Citan took another step forward and Tevis had to force himself to not take one back.  “I provide my people with what they need.  You challenge my authority over them.”

Tevis would be incredulous if he hadn’t seen the state the village had been in two days ago.  “I didn’t even steal from you.  Lady Jenka was distracted.  I took her stuff.”  Tevis doubted she’d miss most of what he’d taken.  What good was medical technology to someone Risen, whose Ghost could cure any sickness and mend any wound?  What could guitars and sacks of rice and beans do sitting in abandoned store-sheds?  No skin off of Citan’s back, right?  

Wrong.  Citan took another step, anger growing.  “Worse, then, you circumvented my taxes and invited Jenka’s anger.  Your disregard for my law and my authority over the people will be punished.”

“Your food will rot in your warehouses while your people starve,” Tevis said.  “Are they even yours?”

“Are you challenging me?” Citan growled.  The Warlord cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

Tevis was not the ruling type.  But maybe, if everyone was here, if they could see the shackles Citan had put on them, they might just stand with him.  He thought maybe he’d found somewhere worth staying.  But when he looked to the people huddled behind him, he saw no determination, no anger.  Just fear.  It was always fear.

It was too late to back down now, though.  Citan let Arc crackle up his arms.  Tevis reached for his gun.

He quickly learned how Lord Citan had claimed and held such large territory.  A glancing blow to Tevis’s chin sent his ears ringing.  Another punch knocked his wind out and sent him stumbling backwards.  A third sent him sprawling. 

There was a weight on his chest and Tevis felt the crack and the sharp bloom of pain that meant a broken rib.  Citan had a knee on his abdomen.  Tevis struggled to breathe, struggled to move. 

“I think it is time you learned your place, Risen,” the Warlord growled.  “Shall we start with a finger or two?”

[elfdragon12]

I got to chatting a bit about Girl Genius in my D&D Discord (and my marvelous galaxy brain take that the jagers are pretty much an army of himbos--seriously, Jenka and Gkikka have most of the brain cells while the other generals take turns sharing three and there’s maybe one brain cell for the rest).

One of the folks was farther behind (the monks and the evil train part), but I asked if they had listened to any of the radio dramas that the Foglios had released and they hadn’t! I went to find links and... Well, links are a heck of a lot harder to find now than they used to be. I’ve found some fan recordings of the actual performances, but those can be difficult to hear. (No audience is quiet enough.)

Thankfully, I downloaded the Sleepy Clank and Minor Heroes ages ago, so I could share that with them.

[phoenixyfriend]

Can I request for The Shoulder Spirit AU for the 5HC?

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

So someone else is actually going to write this (@scribeprotra), but here we go. I’m stealing most of these from the original chat, tbf, but a few are new or modified:

1. Wooster’s shoulder spirits embody “Do it for England” and “DO IT FOR THE VINE.” They are, respectively, Albia and Trelawney Thorpe (specifically Thorpe’s YOLO Spark Id). It’s a bit of a headache to deal with.

2. Krosp doesn’t have shoulder spirits but he can see them, so that’s fun. (Other option is that he gets Agatha and Dr. Dim. Up in the air, really.)

3. Shoulder spirits are often good vs evil, but they happen to take other dichotomies as well, like Wooster’s responsibility/loyalty vs. recklessness/hedonism.

4. Klaus has his brothers as his shoulder spirits. However, given the nature of his brain, his brothers also have shoulder spirits, which Klaus can see, if not very clearly. this This is also a headache to deal with.

5. Lucrezia had the classic good/evil dynamic. Her experiments may or may not have resulted in the good spirit disappearing.

6. Tarvek’s pair is Othar and Anevka. This is an extreme headache to deal with.

7. Tarvek is, ironically, the shoulder angel for half his family. This is very irritating for all of them to deal with. Seffie in particular has Tarvek and Martellus, and they’re constantly arguing but the one thing they agree on is that she should get with Colette. It’s awkward for Anevka, who has her brother as her shoulder angel and her mother as her shoulder devil.

8. Gil gets Bang and Wooster, well before he’s met either one. (Bang is the shoulder devil for a lot of people). It’s why Gil trusts Wooster despite him being a spy once they meet in Paris. Bang can’t get Gil to really do anything evil so she settles for convincing him to do as much Madboy Chaos as possible.

9. Martellus gets pre-zombie and post-zombie Andronicus.

10. Jagers generally get other jagers as a Common Sense and Utter Dumbass pairing. Given that there are only about seven or eight jagers in the entire army that are actually willing and capable of giving common sense advice (the generals, Dimo, Jenka, maybe Jorgi), this is very much a “sharing the braincell” meme situation.

11. Theo gets his Momma Serpentina and Auntie Demonica. The only thing they agree on is Seduce Sleipnir, Dammit.

12. Each muse gets two of her sisters. The ones who got Tinka are all Very Worried.

13. Zeetha is also one of those people who just. Gets her parents. It’s one of the reasons she’s pretty keen on meeting the baron. She saw a propaganda poster and that’s a dreadfully familiar face.

14. Bang’s shoulder angel is Gil. She gets lots of practice ignoring him before they ever meet.Gil, to Bang: You! You’re my shoulder devil!Bang, to Gil: You! You’re my shoulder angel!Klaus: Great, you’re going to be working together forever now.

15. Jim has Aldin as his shoulder spirit of Common Sense. Aldin has Jim as his shoulder spirit of Pure Dumbass. You know. Jager style.

16. Saturnus had Teodora as his shoulder angel. It was why he sought her out

17. Agatha gets her dad and the Castle. She doesn’t actually see them until the locket comes off, and she cries when she does because Bill tells her he’s proud of her and it’s Very Overwhelming.

18. At least one person’s spirits are primarily Depression vs. Executive Function

19. Lars has Abner and the cheesemaker he was apprenticed to. Abner’s role is basically “follow your dreams!” The cheesemaker is the “play it safe.”

20. There are sparky machines made to test for the presence of shoulder spirits, mostly as a sentience test for constructs.

21. Shoulder Bill’s favorite of Agatha’s suitors is Lars, by the way. The fact that Lars is not a spark and not any mad scientist’s beautiful son is also a factor.

22. Being someone’s shoulder spirit is considered functionally equivalent to a soulmate. Usually platonic, occasionally romantic, but always important.

[journeysintowebcomics]

Girl Genius Liveblog #213

UPDATE 213: Political Marriage

Last time Agatha and pals had gone into the many underground passageways underneath Paris, because Hoffman says they can get into the forbidden library where not even Colette can get in. Along the way, they encounter a civilization of xenophobic and suspicious mole people, nowadays less xenophobic and suspicious, thanks to Hoffman. Let’s continue.

Ah, Hoffman has been adopted into the royal family of ‘the moligarchy’. I really appreciate the pun, that’s a nice one. The king is sitting on a pile of gold and treasures; with enough style it’d make a dragon nod in acknowledgement.

Turns out the royal heir who will get married to the opposite civilization in order to broker peace is Hoffman. Hah! I bet that’s why they were okay with being peaceful with each other now, beause the mole king here saw the way to get a political marriage without having to make one of his people marry the enemies. Still, it does seem to me like the mole is sincere about liking Hoffman, so it’s not really that bad – although Hoffman sure looks like he disagrees. Let’s just hope his grades in political science will skyrocket thanks to the experience.

Looks like even though the civilization up there on the surface doesn’t know about the moles, those down here know about what’s going on up there. The mole king hopes she’ll solve the time bubble soon so he gets to try his favorite cave snails from over there again. Oh boy, the stakes are getting even higher and higher, aren’t they. Maybe Agatha should market those snails around with her face.

I have a feeling saying ‘suspicious and xenophobic’ about other civilizations is the running gag of this volume, hah. Regardless, going to ask the enemy king sounds like a plan, and since Agatha is with Hoffman, she has societal influence! Thank goodness, things are going kind of well.

Far away, in Mechanisburg and its time bubble, Gil is coming to inspect the situation, and hope for good news. He arrives in a drill vehicle with ‘eloi eater’ inscribed on it. Hey, that’s a reference to that H.G. Wells book about traveling in time, right? I remember reading it ages ago. It was a good book, yup. Either way, they managed to extract someone in perfect condition, without accelerated aging or sudden death! Everything’s going well over here. Heck, maybe Gil will be able to solve the Mechanisburg problem before Agatha finds a way to – or at least he’ll manage to save the characters with names and familiar faces.

Speaking of familiar faces, turns out the person his crew saved is not a person Gil’s fond of.

Ah, now there’s someone I hadn’t seen in a while. Honestly I’m somewhat surprised he was trapped here. I had thought he’d be lucky enough to not be trapped in Mechanisburg. But hey, he’s alive and intact, his luck is still good. Besides, now that it’s been proven someone can be extracted from Mechanisburg and survive, this means soon someone like Tarvek can be extracted! I’m really glad about that.

It takes a brief scuffle and someone who isn’t Gil to explain the situation before Othar of the bright blue eyes listens – those are some really great eyes, honestly. Gil says there are other problems, and I suppose he means the...things coming for the Baron. How much time does Gil have to get to Wulfenbach, I wonder?

A new volume is starting! First, a couple images.

Reminds me of the circus times. The baba yaga thing...even though that was a cottage and not a turkey. Oh, simpler times, how do I long for thee sometimes.

And this must be the inside of the library! With almost no books at all, so it’s more like...a museum, not a library. Doesn’t look like Hoffman came along, so I guess he stayed down to get married, but Colette is still here. I like Colette, she’ll be a nice ally to have here.

You know, now that Othar is free, maybe Gil will send him to go see Agatha in Paris, instead of going all the way there. Othar isn’t an idiot – when he’s not in a sidestory – and he’s decently competent. He should be of help, and it also would keep him out of Gil’s hair. Although Othar is a spark, he’s not an expert in time, no? Sending him to do what he’s good at may be better.

Aha, there’s Tarvek, still not melting from all the poison he was stabbed with. The guy holding him is Vanamonde, no? I think Vanamonde will be left frozen for a while longer after Tarvek is freed, although...he’ll be a convenient person to keep trying things on, if they continue doing that.

The outer base is under attack. Must be the Other’s forces, trying to ruin everything. Seems like Gil isn’t leaving without Tarvek, though. Tarvek’s return to Girl Genius is imminent! And by imminent I suspect it’ll be a volume or maybe two before he’s free. Yeah, I don’t have the utmost faith on Girl Genius’ pacing, but hey, things could be worse.

So turns out Paris has numerous secret kingdoms under it. It’s all so crowded the royal palaces are like two hundred meters from each other. Hard to believe you can have a war when everything is so close, hah. And part of the reason why the secret kingdoms are a secret is because the people who have heard about them don’t want to believe they exist. Guess they’re all suspicious and xenophobic.

Among the many guests for Hoffman’s wedding, there’s someone who identifies herself as an ally of Agatha, from her diplomatic corps. Since Agatha is being suspicious and not xenophobic, she demands to know who she’s talking with. She doesn’t get an answer, but she’s told there’s someone who can vouch for this woman. That person is Dimo, who is...looking far more elegant than usual. Guess that means this woman is trustworthy.

Oh hey, I faintly remember that bear. How nice!

Jager bear, huh. Does that mean this bear had a dose of that Jagerbrau? I always thought it just was a bear the Jagers managed to subdue and ride around, but nope, it’s a Jager bear. And likes opera. Truly, lady Jenka is fulfilling her current role of the eccentric beauty. I suspect she came to this party because it’s underneath Paris and therefore it’s in some proximity to Agatha.

The message Jenka had was that the Castle is urging Agatha to fix the problem in Mechanisburg, as if she wasn’t currently working on that. He warns the thing that’s coming to Mechanisburg, attracted by the time bubble, will arrive in less than two years. Well that’s like...seventeen volumes, so there’s still plenty of time.

I was wrong – it seems for now – and the reason why Jenka and Dimo are here is because they had to meet with a few people. One of those people was just murdered, and the person who killed him is infected by a slaver wasp, as proved by the wasp eater alarming everyone about it. Hm, hm, I see. Was this something Lucrezia ordered, perhaps? It was implied her plans would start getting afoot now. Maybe it’s already happening.

Huh, there really are many revenants here, more than expected. I suppose asking the king here how to get into the forbidden library isn’t a good plan anymore. Also Hoffman is here again. Nice of you to join us.

Regardless, this seems like a good place to stop.

 Next time: in three updates

[trella-writes-stuff]

It had been a moon or two since anyone had been allowed into the house where Norah was staying. At this point she no longer worried that the scent of another person or an errant stray hair would alert him that someone else had been in his house. There was no real risk of that with the oppressive scent of decay that clung to every piece of furniture and hung in the air as soon as you walked through the door.

So she had allowed Jenka to visit. He wanted to talk about his troubles in a place where others wouldn’t overhear, and he had been asking to meet Raidah for quite some time. His tale of woe had been much shorter than she had expected from the way he talked about it and built it up, and so eventually the talk had turned to her and her sister.

“He’ll apologize. He promised he’d keep her safe and he didn’t. He will say he’s sorry and he’ll mean it.”

Even now, hours later as she lay in bed staring at the dark of the ceiling, her words repeated in her head. She had meant them when she said them. She had meant them more than she thought she did.

You shouldn’t make a promise that you can’t keep. Norah’s mother had hammered that lesson home ever since she was a little girl.  She had done everything he had ever asked; she had lived up to every part of every deal they had ever struck.

She cooked for him and cleaned for him. True, he had servants to help with that, but she was able to make sure he had a hot meal waiting for him every day that he happened to come home. At first she had only taken care of his apartment when she lived there, but since he brought her to his house she looked after both properties as often as she could, not wanting to risk him coming home and finding his property in disrepair.

She had trained and gotten stronger. The silver throwing daggers he had given to her lay on the nightstand. She kept them nearby in case she ever needed them, although it was pretty unlikely anyone would ever dare break into his home.

That man did…

She had forgotten about him. There was the break-in at the apartment too. Someone had dared to break into both places that he called his, but Norah had taken care of both of those. He could maybe argue that she should have done a better job preventing the break-ins in the first place, but ultimately she had lived up to that part of the bargain too. She watched over his home and his apartment and his things. Nothing had been taken.

And she was so much stronger than she used to be. The aether pulsed threateningly along the tattoos etched into her forearm. It had taken the better part of a year for her to understand the binding rituals. Even now there were times when the rituals failed, the soulless husk rotting on the floor outside of the bedroom was evidence of that, but still she had managed to succeed at least once.

There was her alchemy, too. Not only had she gotten better but she had also started earning money. No longer would he have to arrange to have her bills paid or to make sure she had enough gil to take care of herself. She would actually be able to contribute and be useful.

And even after all that. After she didn’t question where he disappeared to all the time. After she took care of everything and fulfilled every part of their deal. He had promised.

She can stay here. I’ll protect her.

But he hadn’t protected Raidah. He hadn’t even stayed around long enough to help her retrieve her sister from that gods forsaken lab. Instead he had left. And on her own she wasn’t strong enough. Raidah had gotten hurt worse than Norah ever could have anticipated. She might not ever get better.

And he needed to apologize for that. He needed to mean it.

Norah shoved the blankets away and got out of bed, padding across the room after grabbing a dagger off the table. Downstairs was a makeshift alchemy lab. It wasn’t the full setup like she had at home, but she had a few supplies scattered across a table where she could make her poisons. Every day she made food for him in case he came home. Every day she added a few drops of a specific poison. When he did finally come home he would realize how wrong he had been. How he should have kept his promise.

And if he wasn’t already sorry she would make sure he was.

(brief mentions of Jenka who doesn’t have a tumblr but has a carrd and @ketsuchikotetsu )

[gg-prompted-fics]

Spark-Exchange

Title: Bearishness

From: gg-prompted-fics

For: @sociopathbrony

Rating: T

Warnings: Jenka is a little depressed?

Summary: Jenka gets ready for winter. 

(set about 6 years after Klaus Wulfenbach makes a deal with the Jägers)

Leaning back against the broad, furry expanse of Füst, Jenka sighed. For a moment, she entertained herself by running through various supply lists, trying to figure out what she might need to stockpile and cache for the next winter, but she let that thought go swiftly. 

There were easier ways to survive in the wilds, and a Jäger could always hunt. But, the part of her that had been once been a woodsman’s daughter would still count her meager supplies and find them wanting, no matter how many centuries removed she was from those hungry, lean winters, before she’d made a stand against a Heterodyne’s raiding party, and caught the interest, and later mentorship, of General Khrizhan.

Still, Füst was slowing, and she would need a find a place soon for the bear to hole up for the winter. 

Letting out a disgusted grunt at the thought, she wriggled against Füst, cuddling deeper into his fur. Füst grunted and leaned against her slightly, as he presented an ear to be rubbed. Jenka scratched at it absently. 

“Hy’ll miss hyu, hyu big lump,” she whispered. 

“Hey, deed hyu hear dot? She said she missed us!” 

Jenka blinked, and was up in a flash, even as she found and identified the intruders. Maxim, Ognian, and Dimo.

Of course, it was those three who would randomly find her in the wilds, when she knew there wasn’t a single settlement for a good thirty or more miles around. She was waiting for them to randomly discover the Other someday at this rate. The three had the habit of popping up at odd times together. 

They were supposed to be on the western side of the mountains, now that she thought about. She wasn’t sure how far the news had spread about the incident that summer with Maxim, and she had wanted them as far from the news as possible. 

“Are hyu lot sayink hyu know vot lumps hyu are?” she growled. 

“Well, ve seem to take a lot uf dem to our heads,” Dimo muttered. 

Jenka rolled her eyes slightly, even as she filed the remark away. That had been said too seriously to just have been the normal joking, and Jägers were careful about that. A complaint like that meant he thought that they might be able to do better. It hadn’t actually been anything she could call him on, but it was further evidence the Jäger could be leader material. Someday. When he stopped making so many boneheaded moves. And maybe stopped letting himself get dragged into so many issues. Mischief was all well and good in town, but they had a mission, as hopeless as it seemed. 

“We don’t make dem,” Oggie protested, clearly seeing what could happen if Dimo kept making such pointed remarks. “We jusht happen to be dere.”

“Causink trouble,” Jenka agreed, and let the humor slip into her voice. The trio always seemed to get out of trouble by themselves, and while their luck would end someday, for now, Jenka was inclined to let them have it. 

There was little enough joy in this task. They’d likely spend the rest of their lives searching.

Jenka shivered, the prospect stretching bleak before her, even as she told herself it was hardly the first time, and least she wasn’t stuck in the charade of playing Lady Jenka, mysterious beauty, for an unknown period of time, without proper backup. Lady Jenka was great for sneaky games, especially when the Heterodyne came at the end to help set everything on fire, but Jenka didn’t want to be her all the time. 

Of course, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be Jenka, commander of the wild Jäger all the time either, for all that she had volunteered herself out of all the Generals for the task. 

Even now, she remembered all the outs the other Generals had given her. They’d known how it would be. Jägers were not meant to be on their own, with no equals. But none of the other Generals could have been spared from their tasks, and others were alone too. 

Still, at this rate, she’d promote Dimo just to have someone she could talk to, leader to leader. If he stopped being such an idiot anyway. 

“Yas,” Maxim said, after Dimo had kicked him. “Ve jusht happened to be dere. Jusht like ve happen to be here!”

“Uh-huh,” Jenka said, still waiting for the punchline. 

“Ve thought hyu’d need us,” Oggie said far too earnest. 

Jenka swallowed and looked away, feeling exposed. They shouldn’t have seen that. They shouldn’t know. The Generals were supposed to be the best of them, the ones who did all the worrying, the ones who led the Hunts, the ones who worried for the Pack. 

“It’s shtrange times,” Dimo offered slowly, “Livink vitout a Heterodyne.”

Jenka eyed him and wondered if he knew what she was planning for him one day. 

“Yes,” she said simply. 

“Und it’s almosht vinter,” Dimo said. “Sopposed to be a hard vun.”

“It might be cold!” Maxim added, with a theatrical shudder. 

“Hyu need us,” Oggie said simply, looking far too sincere. 

Maxim was looking at her, and suddenly she was far too aware that he was far more astute than he usually acted. 

“Do hyu need a fight?” he asked abruptly, looking all too knowing.

“No.”

“To fu-“

“No,” Jenka said, more sharply. She’d never been much interested in sex. 

“That leaves feel. Or someting more unusual, bot Hy’d bet feel.” 

Carefully, intent clear, he reached for her. 

Jenka let him, and seeing her non-reaction, the other two joined the embrace.

Maxim wasn’t wrong. 

Füst was a good bear, but he wasn’t exactly Jägerkin. And she needed her siblings.

Later, she would never be able to say how long they stood there, or how they had managed to settle her down into her bedroll, nor how long she lay breathing in Oggie’s arms as Dimo and Maxim curled tightly into her sides. 

All she knew was skin and touch and breathes, as they lay together beneath the stars. 

She hadn’t been held by her siblings like this since Mechanicsburg, when the Generals had realized what must be done. 

It was morning before she could string together a sentence properly.  

Maxim was brushing out her hair, and arguing with Oggie about how he’d braid it. 

“Hyu’ll knot my hair if hyu really do try to a fifteen shtrund braid.”

“Hy can do it,” Oggie protested. 

“No, he can’t,” Maxim muttered. 

“Vun basic braid,” Jenka insisted. 

Maxim hummed agreement and started plaiting her hair. 

“Hyu beck vit us?” Oggie asked. 

“Yah.”

“Dot vas pritty bad,” Dimo said, looking up from the breakfast porridge he was seasoning liberally with paprika. 

Jenka nodded and was grateful that they waited for her to decide.  

“Vinter,” she finally said. “Hy tink ve should spend de vinters together, de four uf us.” 

Maxim’s hands flattered in their rhythm, and he reached out to squeeze her shoulder. Dimo looked satisfied, and Oggie delighted. 

Relaxing further, Jenka began to outline just what this would mean for their searches and the logistics of meeting up each fall. It was simple details, the work of half an hour to decide, even as at the back of her mind, the part of her that had once been a woodsman’s daughter planned. Food and drink and all the little luxuries would be worth stockpiling for the winter if there would be four of them. 

And she bet cuddling would be even better if it wasn’t on the ground. 

Thinking of the future, Jenka leaned into the touch of her brothers, and finally felt like they could find a Heterodyne, if they only looked hard enough. 

[yamasbatcave]

A story in a cave (my love letter to Cave Story)

This is my personal love letter to a game called Cave Story. Hopefully you are willing to listen what I got to say and why I love this game, and maybe give it a chance yourself. NOTE: I am not going to talk about any spoilery stuff, so you're all safe!

Title screen of the Switch version

Important facts first: Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari) is an indie game released originally in 2004. The whole game was created and developed by a single man, Daisuke Amaya (also known as "Pixel"). He spent five years making the game. Cave Story was originally released for free on PC, and even up to this day the original version of the game is available for free. You can download it from here, and it's available in multiple languages, including Japanese, English, Russian, Chinese, German and Korean. If you're interested, check and find out if it's in any language you're comfortable with! Cave Story is often considered being the game that started the whole indie game industry, and for a very good reason: it brought back the retro graphics people grew up with while playing old Nintendo systems. It's often compared to Metroid, and even though I have never played Metroid, I can see why is that.

As for why I love Cave Story, I need to talk about my personal experiences over this game. I played Cave Story for the first time in summer 2015. Up to that point I had played very little games outside of Pokémon (I've been trying to fix that) and Cave Story was one of the first non-Pokémon games I played as an adult. One reason why I got into this game was because years ago I had read an article about it in a magazine, and it had praised the game greatly. So, when I one day was going through Nintendo eShop and saw Cave Story there, I immediately remembered the article and how curious it had made me about the game. Since the game was pretty cheap (8 euros) I decided to give it a go. Now, you need to know something about me. Some of my favorites games I played when growing up had certain qualities in them: a lot cool, detailed pixel art and great, synthetic/chiptune music. Because Cave Story is in some ways similar to the old games I grew up with, it was easier to connect with it. This being one of the first non-Pokémon experiences I had after my childhood, it was a good way to get into gaming overall, and getting courage to try out other games as well.

I need to give a big shoutout to the soundtrack in Cave Story. Mister Amaya himself have said that he knows nothing about making music, yet he composed the whole soundtrack of this game - and it's brilliant. When you start the game, you wake up in a cave. The music is almost like echoes of the deep dark cave you're about to explore...

I mean, listen to this! Doesn't this make you wanna explore this new area you just found?

Or do you feel your blood pressure getting higher in an intense battle?

After all that excitement it is always good to take a deep breath and relax for a bit.

Oh, and something extra for all Finnish people out there: Cave Story has a character named Jenka, and her theme music is literally the Finnish Letkajenkka!

And I did not even list all of my favorite tracks (some of them are kinda spoilery), so there's more awesomeness to hear when you play Cave Story!

Oh, and did I mention that there are dogs? And you can carry them on your head? (Note: you can carry more than one dog only in the Switch version)

I am not going to spoil the story, but the story is great. There are funny and exciting moments, but it's not all happy and peppy...the world building in Cave Story is intriguing, and it tells you just enough to piece everything together, but leaves enough up to your imagination to make you curious and wanting more. Cave Story also has three different endings, and it is possible to get them all on one run (I've done this myself couple times). Do not expect getting all the endings on your first playthrough, though - getting the so-called best ending requires you to do some very precise things at certain points of the story. This ending is also the hardest in the game, as it took me three months to do on my first attempt. I only did it to get the best possible outcome for my favorite character Just to give an idea how hard the best ending is, here is a sign you'll find in the final area of the game if you're trying to get this ending:

The game knows.

This game has everything - even a place named after me!

---------------------------------------------------- Cave Story is an experience you should not let pass by if you like indie games. The game is very available with a free PC release and being on Nintendo 3DS and Switch (neither of the console releases are too expensive, either). Cave Story isn't very long, and if you play the game through normally you should get over it pretty quickly! Hopefully this sparked your interest in the game if you haven't played it yet. It would be great to get more new players for Cave Story.

[sparkyarmadillo]

The scene of gkika when she says “Iz zo nize to relax und mek vit de pretty colours again-hyu vould not believe-” is one of my favourite. I love how she sees so happy about it in those words, and in the previous panel she looks proud about keeping a human skin colour but, not particularly happy? like it wasn't anywhere near a good experience, and it sort of ties in with the last part of the sentence which leaves her story of what happened when all her brudders and seesters (which isn't ever use but at least there's Jenka) (maybe brudder just became neutral term like guys has?) But when they left, albeit them being annoying and stupid, and mixing that with what almost seems like a partially canonical and I think largely accepted headcanon of jäger social dependence being pretty high, at least more than that of a human, (it would certainly help make there be less deserters if for some reason any would choose to sell the secrets they hold in their genetics to some enemy because then they'd be shunned and that would result in, idk, social withdrawal?) So any ways, Gkika left behind, even if she is a general, still has at least some spectrum of that depenance and is no longer allowed to do one of the things that makes her uniquely jäger, the skin. The pretty colour changing skin. Or generically existing but at least she doesn't have to hide underground the whole time so that's less of a problem.

Im going to write a fanfic for this.

If only for my peace of mind in wanting to slightly torture a character a little bit.

[sparrowsarus]

Thanks to a reply on a fic I commented on, I am now thinking of an AU where Lucrezia Mongfish is Jenka's daugher instead.

She grows up in Mechanicsburg, and gets along with Bill and Barry--a little bit of mischief here and there, and maybe she goes to uni with them still. Falls into the hero thing, but knows how to market it better than the boys to Saturnus--"oh, you know how it is, we wanted to practice crushing our enemies, we didn't kill them because its such fun to see them frightened and you don't get that with fresh meat"--and so he waits just a bit longer.

(Teodora kills him anyway.)

And sure Lucifer Mongfish is her biological father, but it was Dimo that taught her to throw knives, and it was the Lord Heterodyne that gave her a lovely lab in the castle, to use when they weren't hairing off.

(With some jaegers, here and there. This Lucrezia teaches Bill that he has a duty to his monsters, no matter his personal feelings--and he can show the Jaegers that thry can be more than monsters.)

And this Lucrezia would never consider mind control. She'd never give Aaronev the time of day. The geisters do not worship her as a goddess, because this Lucrezia doea not desire worship in the same way.

(Bill and Klaus notwithstanding--but that is far different, mama, lay off)

Klaus Barry Heterodyne lives. Agatha gets to break through at 5. Klaus returns to a Europa that still stands, and when he meets his daughter for the second time he listens.

A circus actor doesn't die for the woman he loves.

Mechanicsburg lucrezia, man.

[inexplicably-spookified]

if balrog actually *is* mechanical, perhaps the ghost is of the same model/was a prototype of some kind that rebelled, or something of that nature?

i've actually seen that theory in a couple different variants - that puu black is some kind of balrog prototype that was dumped for whatever reason.

as for myself i don't think it'd make sense for him to be mechanical, given my headcanon that he's been around since misery was a kid (so before that technology existed) and is instead some kinda magical construct like the core

[brawltogethernow]

Kind of wondering about Jägers and dental hygiene. On the one hand a lot of their teeth look yellowish and I bet they hate toothpaste. On the other those fangs are both a weapon and a badge of honour, and also expected to last them hundreds of years. I imagine they'd be very upset by cavities.

This raises so many questions? I have to assume that as well as getting fangy, Jäger teeth grow in resistant to wear and rot, because normal teeth can’t even be expected to last a single human lifetime with regular modern care, and a stringent flossing plan is also something I can’t really imagine Jägers being super into without a lot of mental straining. And Jenka makes it canon that Jägermonsters either don’t grow back teeth or grow back teeth but human standard; I’m not 100%.

(Maybe the Dyne’s real secret power is that it’s full of fluoride.)

I’m also thinking too hard now about how new Jägers probably grow in new teeth instead of having their adult set changing, which is a disgusting image that ends with baby Jägers just sort of surrounded by a pile of their own teeth. Or swallowing them. Or - agh.

If they can stand tooth…powder (1890′s) you’re immediately in the other end of the pool where they’re prone to foregoing actually using it and just eat it.