#sturmhalten

[williamansley]

The Monster Horse Beastie in the Wastelands

In the world of Girl Genius, monsters abound!

On the twenty-first day, of Halloeterodeen, I'm going to give further consideration to monsters. There are a lot of monsters in Girl Genius! While they are all original creations, they sometimes bear a family resemblance to monsters in our own popular culture. Two monster tropes that are staples of science fictional horror are the shapeshifter and the completely amorphous creature, as epitomized in 1982's The Thing and 1958's The Blob.

Glowy Monsters deep down below Sturmhalten

More Glowy Monsters

While the Monster Horse Beastie is definitely not the Thing and the Glowy Monsters are certainly not mere Blobs, I think it is fair to say that they come from roughly the same neighborhood.

Be that as it may, the two monstrous encounters shown above are among the most dangerous and disturbing in the Girl Genius comic.

[12freddofrogs]

So as a general question to the Girl Genius fandom: has there ever been any confirmation on what happens if a slaver wasp infests a child Spark before their breakthrough?

(Most) wasps don't affect Sparks, but at the same time you are not really a Spark at birth. Although the kids do seem to be unusually brilliant, so clearly there is some indication from early on. Maybe you are immune from birth.

For that matter, do we know how old you have to be to get wasped? Could an infant be caught when they were born, or would we say they need to have an understanding of language? An infant won't be able to understand any orders, but if they're already inclined to obey it might be easier than doing it on their fifth birthday or something.

(Mostly I'm wondering how Sturmhalten handled new Sparks. They're rare enough there might not have been any born into the town at large... but it's equally possible there was a teenage boy working in a tavern who one day built a robot to collect and clean dirty plates. What happened to him? Did he throw up the remains of a wasp embedded in him for over a decade and assume that's a usual part of breakthrough? Did that wasp never manage to enter at all? Did the town perhaps notice when a small child was immune to the wasping, or were his parents - ordered to present him for it but no one thought to be more specific - just not questioning it, because they were too glad their son would be free.)

[hippo-pot-o-mouse]

I'm reading Van Ritchten's guide to ravenloft and I can't stop thinking about how well Sturmhalten would work as a ravenloft domain.

I don't know at what point it should become a domain or who should be the darklord because there are a few natural options?

[phoenixyfriend]

On the one hand I love Sturmhalten for introducing some of my favorite characters.

On the other hand, fuck this arc in particular.

[shavynel]

I swear I stopped writing before midnight, so here's Day 2 contribution to @girlgeniusevents​ week. Also ... can I just say ... this whole event is eerily timed with the pause of in-universe updates.

Prompt: Sturmhalten / Mechanicsburg / Paris

Summary: Set after time in Mechanicsburg has been restored, Tarvek finally has a chance to return to Sturmhalten and continue his own work.

Words: 1871

Rating: T? G? I’m going with T 'cause I don't want to be responsible for how the young ones get brought up.

---

"You don't even like that place! Why are we going back?"

Tarvek didn't even bother turning away from the window at Violetta's outburst. It was a little late to have this conversation now. Besides, for all her complaints, Violetta had been the one who insisted she come without (earlier) question. If his idiot brain thought it was a good idea to go back to Sturmhalten, she was going with him, so she had argued. Even if she was technically now in the employ of Agatha. Of course, he had tried to get Agatha to stop Violetta, but Agatha had unfortunately consulted with Violetta, who had somehow managed to convince her mistress that he couldn't possibly go back to Sturmhalten without a Smoke Knight watching his back. So here they were now on a coach heading back to his ancestral castle -- a coach which started as a joke from Gil who wouldn't bear the thought of Tarvek returning home in anything less than opulently grand, and then Agatha had gone and modified to have three deathrays hidden into the design (even though Otilia would be riding with them). All told, it was an absolutely ridiculous way to travel.1

"Because it's home." He didn't bother saying he didn't hate the place. Didn't bother trying to justify the thing he hated was Family, and the citizens were, well, probably revenants, which meant they didn't count as hateable. But he'd fix that. Just as Mechanicsburg was Agatha's, Sturmhalten and all its problems were his. "You didn't have to come along."

"Of course I did," she punched him in the arm. "If you go get yourself killed, who's gonna make me a pretty dress for Agatha's ball?"

Continue on AO3

[girlgeniusevents]

Gisho’s Event Week Fics

Some of you might know AO3′s gisho !

They wrote a series of fics called Background Characters for Event Week! They also don’t have a tumblr, so I’m taking the initiative to share the stories myself.

The Sleeping Heterodyne

Two fairy-tale thinkers meet in a bookstore and talk about what's going on behind a thorn hedge in Transylvania.

Return by the Date Due

Wherein several librarians decide, in trying circumstances, that certain books shouldn't be circulated to certain people.

The Original Roller-Skating Giraffe

Wherein the Castle Wulfenbach Amatuer Dramatic Society gets ambitious with their new production.

Blood Will Tell

Wherein mimmoths have been causing problems for over two hundred years.

Common Knowledge

Wherein a freelance researcher fails to unravel an ancient mystery.

Book Twelve Of The Yellow Codex

Wherein a Smoke Knight and a Ghost Lady have an awkward bonding moment.

Milanese Specialty

Wherein a book about coffee attracts attention and several people try to make a quick lira.

Imposter Syndrome

Wherein three soldiers debate hidden identities.

Magnifiqué

Wherein a patisserie gets a little too ambitious paying tribute to an opera heroine.

[grandpuppyalpaca]

Day Two of inflicting my feelings about songs and fictional characters upon you.

Go listen to The Dark by Beth Crowley and think about Tarvek. Do It.

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