Girl Genius XXVIII: Dancink! Ve is here for de dancink!

[Grif]

nah, she’s too much fun.

More precisely, Der Kestle probably regards her now as her own property/minion akin to the Jaegers. So she'll live... for most part.

[theangelJean]

I thought der Kestle was supposed to be asleep?

Also, what's she fallen into there? I'm not sure if it's meant to be a brewery waste type place (Pub?) or a latrine... Although this being Mechanicsburg, I guess there's always worse.

[Fyraltari]

I thought der Kestle was supposed to be asleep?

Also, what's she fallen into there? I'm not sure if it's meant to be a brewery waste type place (Pub?) or a latrine... Although this being Mechanicsburg, I guess there's always worse.

Supposed to, yes. That is odd.

I think that's a well? Or a sexer opening, maybe?

[Kantaki]

I thought der Kestle was supposed to be asleep?

Also, what's she fallen into there? I'm not sure if it's meant to be a brewery waste type place (Pub?) or a latrine... Although this being Mechanicsburg, I guess there's always worse.

Public Well. At least that's what the signs seem to say.

[theangelJean]

Water? Oh, the castle must really like her...

[Fyraltari]

Water? Oh, the castle must really like her...

Realistically, if the well is deep enough, landing on water might be worse than landing on snow-covered ground. And in any case, she might get pneumonia. Not toblention drenched clothes would make running much harder.

[theangelJean]

Realistically, if the well is deep enough, landing on water might be worse than landing on snow-covered ground. And in any case, she might get pneumonia. Not toblention drenched clothes would make running much harder.

There was a splash, and she's still talking - and indignant - so if it was a hard landing, I guess she bounces fine. Realistic? I'm guessing not :P

Of all the reasons she might not get this thesis written, I hadn't considered the obvious "comic" one - where it simply ends up being too embarrassing to write down...

[Scarlet Knight]

"Dashing through the snow...
Trying to get away...
O'er the rooves we go...
Surviving until daaay..."

[Shining Wrath]

Horned Helmet is glowing. Does it alert Der Kestle, or provide a comm link?
Also, the Castle is obviously helping her while playing with her. The Castle is supposed to be asleep and "rebooting" - but how long does that take? Maybe less time than is required to perform a proper Jagerstomp.
I think the Castle will ensure her survival because:

1. MASSIVE Plot Armor
2. She's the acting Heterodyne, filling in for the real one, and therefore a proper minion
3. It would become increasingly difficult to recruit stand-ins if everyone who volunteered was never seen again

Survival is not the same thing as emerging unscathed.

EDIT:

In the last panel, the mob runs by, and doesn't look in the well. The Castle may have saved her by hiding her, as well as toying with her.

[Agi Hammerthief]

I thought der Kestle was supposed to be asleep?

„Pretends to be Heterodyne“ orders Castle to go to sleep;
it’s just fair if the Castle then only pretends to be asleep.

[sihnfahl]

The Castle is supposed to be asleep and "rebooting" - but how long does that take? Maybe less time than is required to perform a proper Jagerstomp.

And then it wakes up to watch the fun. Cause it's centuries old and it's BORED.

"Let's see what happens when they think I'm not watching and can't do a thing to stop whatever they want to do naturally..."

Survival is not the same thing as emerging unscathed.

That's what I said! She'll be cold, wet, scared out of her wits, afraid to set foot in Mechanicsburg ever again in her life for fear of Der Kestle finding another use for her...

In the last panel, the mob runs by, and doesn't look in the well. The Castle may have saved her by hiding her, as well as toying with her.

Well, naturally. When a centuries-old mind finds an amusing toy, why break the toy so quick, when you can have OH SO MUCH MORE FUN....

[Shining Wrath]

And then it wakes up to watch the fun. Cause it's centuries old and it's BORED.

"Let's see what happens when they think I'm not watching and can't do a thing to stop whatever they want to do naturally..."


That's what I said! She'll be cold, wet, scared out of her wits, afraid to set foot in Mechanicsburg ever again in her life for fear of Der Kestle finding another use for her...


Well, naturally. When a centuries-old mind finds an amusing toy, why break the toy so quick, when you can have OH SO MUCH MORE FUN....

Yeah. It's well established that the Castle is a Heterodyne and enjoys inflicting a certain amount of pain, suffering, and terror on non-Heterodyne humans.

[sihnfahl]

Yeah. It's well established that the Castle is a Heterodyne and enjoys inflicting a certain amount of pain, suffering, and terror on non-Heterodyne humans.

Pain against the Heterodyne's enemies. Suffering on those it tolerates. Terror on those it doesn't.

[Grim Portent]

It also enjoyed 'playing' with Bill and Barry by it's own admission, so if a Heterodyne is heroic it seems to enjoy making itself something of a nuisance and putting it's charges in mild peril. Not enough to meaningfully hurt them, but occasional bursts of panic and frustration are on the table for even the Heterodyne's it seems.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I'm wondering what "BOTRO?..." is. Whoever they are, their building has a nice frontage.

[sihnfahl]

I'm wondering what "BOTRO?..." is. Whoever they are, their building has a nice frontage.

Fire it into Google, and it comes up with a variant of Peter.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Given their love of shout outs, it's probably a reference to somebody or something.

[sihnfahl]

Given their love of shout outs, it's probably a reference to somebody or something.

Yeah, but usually there's some sort of context that one can glean the shout out origins.

This one ... eludes.

[DaFlipp]

Hey, I just finished a re-read of the archives, and I had a question about whether a particular thing has been addressed, and it feels like something other fans would have picked up on too.

So, way back at the start of the Castle Heterodyne arc, in order to speak with the Castle, it had to fuse with the old Seneschal through holes drilled in his skull in order to give Agatha directions on what to do. Furthermore I seem to recall it being at least implied, if not outright stated, that having the skull-holes drilled was a normal and accepted part of the job, going back generations.

However, we have since seen the Castle perfectly capable of communicating with people all through the city, effortlessly.

There are three possible explanations I have for this, and I was wondering if any was confirmed as canon (or generally accepted as fanon):

1.) It was an only-in-emergencies contingency the old Heterodynes cooked up, and a broken, low-on-power Castle was just such an emergency.

2.) The Foglios had so much fun writing that initial conversation that they just decided to let the Castle speak to everyone soon after, ignoring the plot hole for the sake of fun.

3.) Castle Heterodyne (and the Heterodynes that built it) were just That Dramatic and created a completely unnecessary way of speaking to the castle via skull-hole-fusion simply because they could, and forced their underlings to undergo the trepanning process for no real practical reason. By pure coincidence, this was the only way to talk to the Castle from the outside after it was damaged.

[Rogar Demonblud]

It seems to be an interface built for a specific purpose. Probably it's the equivalent of the server work station. You can do things at any computer, but certain permissions are restricted to the server station.

It's also possible that a later Heterodyne gave the Castle the ability to talk elsewhere in town. Sparks do like to...improve things.

[sihnfahl]

Hey, I just finished a re-read of the archives, and I had a question about whether a particular thing has been addressed, and it feels like something other fans would have picked up on too.

Yes, but remember that initially that Der Kestle was fragmented. Central probably had no means of communication because that was attached to a disconnected subsystem. And don't forget that The Kitchen was able to communicate and control, for example.

The Throne would be a direct interface into the central Kestle mind. And, presumably, there would be additional functions of the Seneschal that would require a direct neural interface.

[Kantaki]

Maybe it's to prove Mechanicsburg stands with the new Heterodyne?
Considering how important the city is to the Heterodynes- that undying loyalty goes both ways after all -a Heterodyne who lacks the support of the city (and thus has the Seneschal interfacing with the Castle for them might be useful to keep the line going, but they couldn't be the Heterodyne.

[InvisibleBison]

Another thing to consider is that Castle Heterodyne has become significantly more powerful over the past fifteen years. It's possible that it originally couldn't speak to anyone outside of the Castle, save through the use of the avatar machine in the crypts.

[Traab]

This also may be less about using the seneschal to communicate and more about synergy. When directly linked to the castle he can do far more with it faster and easier than just by asking it to do things. But yeah, may also be a bit of a plot hole, though one easily patched with hand waving like in this thread.

[DaFlipp]

All good explanations!

[Shining Wrath]

Another explanation: trepanning is a "super user" credential. You allow the Castle direct access to your brain, and if you are there with malicious intent - well, you allow the Castle direct access to your brain.

[wingnutx]

Trepanning connection is direct console access for a privileged few.

This could a minor subsystem talking to her now. We've seen plenty of those so far.

[TeChameleon]

As far as the castle talking outside itself goes, the snippets of history we've gotten seem to indicate that's a relatively recent phenomenon. Controlling the town's defenses, yes, talking to people while it happens, not so much.

As an aside... Baron Wulfenbach has noted that every woman he's ever met who had the spark has tried to kill him.

We later find out that he had a 'beautiful, doomed romance' with Albia.

... how did she fail to kill him?

[InvisibleBison]

As an aside... Baron Wulfenbach has noted that every woman he's ever met who had the spark has tried to kill him.

We later find out that he had a 'beautiful, doomed romance' with Albia.

... how did she fail to kill him?

Perhaps she didn't start trying to kill him until after he had left England.

[Rockphed]

Perhaps she didn't start trying to kill him until after he had left England.

Or she stopped after he seduced her.