Girl Genius XXVII: Hoy! Hennybody else not dead?

[Fyraltari]

Snacky and Dr Dim went at it pretty much immediately in the usual Spark domination dance. Granted we haven't seen many powerful female Sparks, but the meetings we have seen really didn't shake out that way.

I mean, Lucrezia.

Female sparks are rarer but there is no evidence they are more reasonable than their male counterparts.

[Rogar Demonblud]

We have quite a bit of evidence that Lucrezia is a special (basket) case, but it should be noted that everyone seems to consider it gobsmacking that the Other could be somebody other than a man.

[Fyraltari]

We have quite a bit of evidence that Lucrezia is a special (basket) case, but it should be noted that everyone seems to consider it gobsmacking that the Other could be somebody other than a man.

I remember them being surprised because Lucrezia was thought dead. But even if that is the case, they are from the nineteenth century at the latest.

Also the fact that Agatha is a woman was never presented as an argument for her not being one of the ‘fun’ Heterodyne.

[Vinyadan]

The way I see it, Albia comes from a time when it was customary for women to rule (the only other ruler we know about was Lozz, also a woman, and not a goddess). Then the world moved on, and power became more (or exclusively) associated with men. Only places still under a god-queen kept the old style, except the remarkably isolated Skyfander. Which could be why she only has princesses.

One point in favour of those who saw the water of the Dyne as a source of Queen-power: Mechanisburg had a mirror, which means that it likely was the seat of a queen, although the mirrors were more ancient than them.

[Squire Doodad]

The way I see it, Albia comes from a time when it was customary for women to rule (the only other ruler we know about was Lozz, also a woman, and not a goddess). Then the world moved on, and power became more (or exclusively) associated with men. Only places still under a god-queen kept the old style, except the remarkably isolated Skyfander. Which could be why she only has princesses.

One point in favour of those who saw the water of the Dyne as a source of Queen-power: Mechanisburg had a mirror, which means that it likely was the seat of a queen, although the mirrors were more ancient than them.

You could argue that "Queen" is more the title than suggesting that only women can be...should we call it ascended? Anyways, it sounds a lot like the original Heterodyne had a similar experience, so it's plausible that he ascended as well.

[Kantaki]

Is that a ship?
Is Agatha wearing a ship dress?


That looks very silly and very impractical.
Also uncomfortable.
So how long do we give it before it ends up either abandoned for a more practical attire or in shreds because Agatha has to leap into action?

[Ibrinar]

Is that a ship?
Is Agatha wearing a ship dress?

Reading that first before seeing the comic, the dress is both more and less silly than I imagined in the first moment. (I first imagined a silly giant ship cosplay, but the more understated version is in a way sillier because I could imagine someone make something like that for a fashion show.)

[Kantaki]

Reading that first before seeing the comic, the dress is both more and less silly than I imagined in the first moment. (I first imagined a silly giant ship cosplay, but the more understated version is in a way sillier because I could imagine someone make something like that for a fashion show.)

At first I thought it was some kind of house...

But I guess there's still a sail-wig and some other stuff coming, so the end result might still be closer to ship cosplay.

[PraetorDragoon]

Is that a ship?
Is Agatha wearing a ship dress?


That looks very silly and very impractical.
Also uncomfortable.
So how long do we give it before it ends up either abandoned for a more practical attire or in shreds because Agatha has to leap into action?

Now the question will be: who of the males will wear a ship-outfit? All three of them?

[Fyraltari]

And you guys thought Albia was trolling Seffie.

[HandofShadows]

"Hero's of the Galloping Waves" seems to be a custom that the princesses will all have on. They mentioned it two pages ago.

[Scarlet Knight]

Now the question will be: who of the males will wear a ship-outfit? All three of them?

"Yar! Prepare 'er t'be boarded!"

(XXXenophile: Girl Genius edition: The Pirates and the Heterodyne Booty)

[Vinyadan]

"Yar! Prepare 'er t'be boarded!"

(XXXenophile: Girl Genius edition: The Pirates and the Heterodyne Booty)

Gum Gum Pistol!

[Willie the Duck]

Is that a ship?
Is Agatha wearing a ship dress?

Well, the fandom keeps shipping her, why not the authors.

"Yar! Prepare 'er t'be boarded!"

(XXXenophile: Girl Genius edition: The Pirates and the Heterodyne Booty)

Any pirate attempting to scale her gunwhales will get a stern warning.

[Deliverance]

Reading that first before seeing the comic, the dress is both more and less silly than I imagined in the first moment. (I first imagined a silly giant ship cosplay, but the more understated version is in a way sillier because I could imagine someone make something like that for a fashion show.)

The obvious question is this: what, save optimism, is keeping Agatha's strapless dress up?

At first I assumed a waist stay and some good boning, but having it be of one piece with the covering of her upper arms seriously complicates the issue since any movement of her arms that isn't just swiveling the lower arms will put stress on the dress and whatever is used to hold it in position.

Perhaps they are using superglue or safety pins instead, though the latter would hurt a lot without some inner layer of clothing to pin to.

[Kantaki]

The obvious question is this: what, save optimism, is keeping Agatha's strapless dress up?

The sheer frustration of the readers and her admirers?

[Squire Doodad]

No Agatha, we said prom dress, not tram dress.

[Traab]

The obvious question is this: what, save optimism, is keeping Agatha's strapless dress up?

At first I assumed a waist stay and some good boning, but having it be of one piece with the covering of her upper arms seriously complicates the issue since any movement of her arms that isn't just swiveling the lower arms will put stress on the dress and whatever is used to hold it in position.

Perhaps they are using superglue or safety pins instead, though the latter would hurt a lot without some inner layer of clothing to pin to.

So long as she doesnt put her arms straight down at her side, the cleavage should stay more or less at an appropriate level. Whilst somewhat restrictive in movement, thats kind of a standard issue with big fancy dresses.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Female sparks are rarer but there is no evidence they are more reasonable than their male counterparts.

I am hard pushed to find an example of a female spark that hasn't been more reasonable. Lucrezia is pretty much the only one that comes to mind.

On a seperate subject, we don't often see Violetta that happy - I guess she really likes the parties after all.

(And on the subject of evening gowns, there was an article in A Random Walk in Science on that very subject).

[Deliverance]

I am hard pushed to find an example of a female spark that hasn't been more reasonable. Lucrezia is pretty much the only one that comes to mind.

That might have to do with how few female sparks we've seen and their being cast primarily in protagonist roles vs. the male antagonist sparks.

But if we look at the second-raters there are more female sparks to consider.

Do you consider Sleipnir any more reasonable than the average male spark-in-training on Castle Wulfenbach? Or how about the female sparks in master Payne's circus, do you consider them more reasonable than the male sparks in the circus?

Personally I'd call it a tie - the female sparks did not strike me as being in general any more reasonable than the male ones, nor the opposite.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Reading that first before seeing the comic, the dress is both more and less silly than I imagined in the first moment. (I first imagined a silly giant ship cosplay, but the more understated version is in a way sillier because I could imagine someone make something like that for a fashion show.)

Considering some of the anime I've seen, this is pretty tame (remember the plane girls and tank girls and ship girls of yesteryear?). Still, apropos to use the sterncastle to cover the bustle.

[Rodin]

That might have to do with how few female sparks we've seen and their being cast primarily in protagonist roles vs. the male antagonist sparks.

But if we look at the second-raters there are more female sparks to consider.

Do you consider Sleipnir any more reasonable than the average male spark-in-training on Castle Wulfenbach? Or how about the female sparks in master Payne's circus, do you consider them more reasonable than the male sparks in the circus?

Personally I'd call it a tie - the female sparks did not strike me as being in general any more reasonable than the male ones, nor the opposite.

Sleipnir is not actually a Spark, although she does have some of the same tendencies. She's on Castle Wulfenbach because she's nobility (the daughter of the ruler of Little Ireland, wherever that may be).

[Manga Shoggoth]

That might have to do with how few female sparks we've seen and their being cast primarily in protagonist roles vs. the male antagonist sparks.

But if we look at the second-raters there are more female sparks to consider.

Do you consider Sleipnir any more reasonable than the average male spark-in-training on Castle Wulfenbach? Or how about the female sparks in master Payne's circus, do you consider them more reasonable than the male sparks in the circus?

Personally I'd call it a tie - the female sparks did not strike me as being in general any more reasonable than the male ones, nor the opposite.

But the original question was about Queen-level sparks, and it does seem to be the case that left to their own devices the higher you go, the less co-operative the level male sparks become.

The Master Payne explicitly notes that the sparks in the Circus are trying to hide because they are weak sparks.

The sparks in Castle Heterodyne are co-operative for two reasons: Intitially, because they want to go on living, and it is them vs the castle, and later Agatha outranks them as the Heterodyne. On top of that, Sanna notes that the girls tend to stick together and fighting is a boys game.

It is true that we haven't seen many female sparks (As noted, Sleipnir isn't a spark). I'm trying to recall how many confirmed female sparks we have seen in the strip.

• In the Circus we have the Countess and possibly Professor Moonsock (Dame Aedith appears to be a vampire hunter rather than a spark)
• I don't remember any in Castle Wulfenbach, bit it is noted in the novel that Dr Sun's daughter is expected to break through shortly.
• In Europe we have Avenka (possibly when she was alive, at least), who is also the only other candidate for "antagonistic", and that may be more the "Stutovorus" part than the "spark" part.
• In Mechanicsberg we have another of Dr Sun's daughters (noted in the Novel)
• In Paris we have Colette.
• In England we have Trelawny Thorpe, Spark of the Realm.

The ground is muddied by the fact that there are several highly capable characters (of both genders) who aren't sparks.

[Deliverance]

Sleipnir is not actually a Spark, although she does have some of the same tendencies. She's on Castle Wulfenbach because she's nobility (the daughter of the ruler of Little Ireland, wherever that may be).

Right you are. The picture that comes to mind when I think of her is at the Castle when she and Theo were using silly contraptions to split the crowd, and I'd forgotten she was not actually a spark.

[Deliverance]

It is true that we haven't seen many female sparks (As noted, Sleipnir isn't a spark). I'm trying to recall how many confirmed female sparks we have seen in the strip.

• In the Circus we have the Countess and possibly Professor Moonsock (Dame Aedith appears to be a vampire hunter rather than a spark)
• I don't remember any in Castle Wulfenbach, bit it is noted in the novel that Dr Sun's daughter is expected to break through shortly.
• In Europe we have Avenka (possibly when she was alive, at least), who is also the only other candidate for "antagonistic", and that may be more the "Stutovorus" part than the "spark" part.
• In Mechanicsberg we have another of Dr Sun's daughters (noted in the Novel)
• In Paris we have Colette.
• In England we have Trelawny Thorpe, Spark of the Realm.

The ground is muddied by the fact that there are several highly capable characters (of both genders) who aren't sparks.

There are more confirmed in the circus.

The Countess is as you say definitely a spark.

Professor Moonsock is one too. Fear her poisonous sky wurms. http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comi...1#.XrW-WMBS_4E

Then we've got the woman who wants to amputate Zeetha's foot and replace it with her new steam-powered feet. Even if we never see her with a sparky speech bubble, her desire to amputate a foot due to a sprained ankle in order to try out new mechanical feet seems a dead giveaway, as does her inventing steam-powered mechanical feet in the first place. I've forgotten her name if it was ever mentioned in the strip. http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comi...0#.XrW9pMBS_4E


So that's three confirmed female sparks in the circus.

In the same strip we are introduced to the wonder of steam-powered feet Zeetha threatens to kill anybody who gets near her, which causes another woman whose name I don't remember to ask Zeetha if she can have the bodies when Zeetha is done, and she doesn't look like she's joking. While granted that there are any number of possible reason to want bodies that don't require "scientific" experimentation on them, most of them don't stand mentioning in polite conversation and given that the general theme of that strip at that point was the story arc of minor sparks that aren't that good at it and excited sparks making stupid suggestions, I'd be really surprised if she wasn't supposed to be a minor spark as well.

Dame Aedith whom I remembered as a spark due to wielding her out outlandish weaponry is in the same strip where Moonsock releases sky wurms shown shooting her multibarrel stake-gun without a sparky speech bubble, so I have to demote her to the "possible" category. Either she isn't a spark and got another spark to custom make her stake gun or she is a spark but didn't get sparky while fighting the horse (which is what I lean towards; that weapon is just so appropriate to her mania and when we've seen really unusual weapons in the strip is generally a case of sparks making weapon to solve their own problems.)

So going by the people we've been shown in the comic, I make it 3 female sparks in the circus confirmed beyond any doubt, 4 beyond reasonable doubt, and possibly 5.

If we exclude Dame Aedith from consideration, who whether she be a spark or not appears to be insane, and look only at the four others (or three if you disagree with my judgment call for the bodysnatcher), I can't say that the female circus sparks seem any more reasonable than the male ones.

[Manga Shoggoth]

There are more confirmed in the circus.
...
So going by the people we've been shown in the comic, I make it 3 female sparks in the circus confirmed beyond any doubt, 4 beyond reasonable doubt, and possibly 5.

Thank you - I didn't have time to trawl through all the strips, and that looks like a good summary.

If we exclude Dame Aedith from consideration, who whether she be a spark or not appears to be insane, and look only at the four others (or three if you disagree with my judgment call for the bodysnatcher), I can't say that the female circus sparks seem any more reasonable than the male ones.

The question of how many female sparks I recall was actually me going off on a tangent. We know that female sparks are rare (some reasons discussed in comic), and I was musing on how many we actually knew about.

[Squire Doodad]

The question of how many female sparks I recall was actually me going off on a tangent. We know that female sparks are rare (some reasons discussed in comic), and I was musing on how many we actually knew about.

It's possible that from a biological standpoint they aren't much rarer, but because of the nature of the time period the minor ones are not as readily heard of?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Well, we also know the Lucrezia Loyalists were grabbing every Madgirl they could find to stick in the Summoning Engine.

[Squire Doodad]

Well, we also know the Lucrezia Loyalists were grabbing every Madgirl they could find to stick in the Summoning Engine.

Oh, that would certainly explain it as well. If a big chunk of them are all going into a Summoning Engine, then that's going to clog up the female Spark count.

[Rodin]

The Summoning Engine is a recent phenomenon though. The girls would only have started disappearing in the last 20 years or so. While it would have a big effect it doesn't explain the lack of older female sparks.

I think it's a more historical kind of evil. A female Spark would not be as protected by family, status, owning land, etc etc. Lilith notes that getting burned as a witch is a common result. The men would still have a difficult time (as noted by Master Payne) but they have a much higher survival rate in general.