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

[HandofShadows]

I think it's very telling abut the personalities of Seffie and Tweedle in how they refer to the cat. Seffie says "her" immediately. Tweedle refers to the cat as an "it" which I suspect is how he tends to look at nearly everyone else. They are things, tools to be used. Yeah, Tweedle is a monster through and through.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Heh. I just realized that this means the best way for Tweedle to keep the effects of the Kings Touch at bay is to sit in a chair and give the cat scratches. No doubt the cat approves.

[keybounce]

If we are accumulating possible titles:

"What is this worthless thread?"

[Kantaki]

Odds on Miss Cat staying as close to him as necessary?

I mean, he may have replicated his Master's work (or not - he may just have made a talking cat without the leadership abilities. He's certainly not giving her copious amounts of reading material. And apparently the shiny thing is important too). But his main aim was another function entirely - for which a weasel who just looooves you is ideal - yet he chose a cat. IMHO he chose poorly.

Pretty much my first thought.
You need something that will stick close to you, listen when you call it and come when you need it.
And you use a cat.

I mean, it's not the worst choice- not aquatic, no venom, no spines or stuff -but, yeah, pretty much anything else'd be a better pick.

And if you absolutely have no other choice at least give your new best friend a good reason to help you when you need her.

The way he's acting towards her the most likely reaction to Tweedle needing a poke from Miss Kitty will be „Huh. Creator doesn't look good. I better make can opener Seffie give me some tuna.”

Okay, that's the most likely reaction anyway, but there's no reason to push it into the triple digits.

[Rogar Demonblud]

A cat's priorities (not in order of importance, for they are all equally important):

Food provider (Krosp: "Food Lady!")
Scritchies
Comfortable lap for napping

We've already seen Martellus fail one of these, and I'm going to provisionally award a second to Seffie as well.

[Kantaki]

A cat's priorities (not in order of importance, for they are all equally important):

Food provider (Krosp: "Food Lady!")
Scritchies
Comfortable lap for napping

We've already seen Martellus fail one of these, and I'm going to provisionally award a second to Seffie as well.

I don't see Tweedle winning a consolation participation price in either of those categories, not with his showing so far.

[Zazu Yen]

Really Tweedle? A cat? A female cat? And Krosp is quite literally the King of Cats?

Yeah, that's is going to work out just great for you. Seems like you're inadvertently
making Krosp a potential Queen and tying yourself to her.

In other news, it sounds like he's going to make another attempt on Tarvek's life and possibly make it look like an accident. How else can he "secure his claim to the throne".

[Agi Hammerthief]

Or maybe he is advertently making trying to make Krosp a potential queen with the goal of tying Krosp to him.

fify

isn’t that the cat from earlier that recognized Krosp as king?
if that was on a genetic level no amount of added brain will help to delete it.

[Manga Shoggoth]

If we are accumulating possible titles:

I have 610GB disk space free ... bring it!

"What is this worthless thread?"

Also, noted.

[Radar]

fify

isn’t that the cat from earlier that recognized Krosp as king?
if that was on a genetic level no amount of added brain will help to delete it.

As was proven with Krosp himself here.

[Divayth Fyr]

Krosp may have been Vapnoodle's final achievement, but that is not the same as crowning. He created Krosp while already a prisoner, so probably had access to fewer materials, fewer animals, less time, and so on. And Krosp told Agatha early on that he was considered a failure and was lucky to not be destroyed.

Tweedle states that the intended leader/ruler of the Bears was to be Vapnoople's Masterpiece. Incidentally, the dialogue also suggest the work started before Baron got to the Doctor...

[Rockphed]

Tweedle states that the intended leader/ruler of the Bears was to be Vapnoople's Masterpiece. Incidentally, the dialogue also suggest the work started before Baron got to the Doctor...

One of the old cast pages hinted that Kris might have been built before the baron started coring Dr dim's brain. Okay, so it actually implied that he had been built mid brain-core, but I suspect that it was hiding the truth by implying the converse.

[JeenLeen]

This actually puts Martellus is a more positive light to me, because I suspected (back when Krosp and that female cat were shown) that he was going to use the female cat to somehow control Krosp and either wrestle control of the bears or use it to manipulate Agatha. Now, he might still do that, I admit, but this shows a much more... nice or at least reasonable motivation: to have a creature that emulates the 'Touch of the King' and thus lets him live away from Agatha if they can't undo the process.

So, just that it isn't obviously something evil and manipulative seems a point in his favor.

[Imgran]

Martellus is going to wind up in the thrall of Krosp via this kitty. That is what will happen.

[Imgran]

Tweedle states that the intended leader/ruler of the Bears was to be Vapnoople's Masterpiece. Incidentally, the dialogue also suggest the work started before Baron got to the Doctor...

That's easy to navigate. The bear army came first, and always meant to be culminated in a masterpiece creature. Then Krosp was created -- a masterpiece of misbegotten genius and a failure, but only after the fat. And only a failure in design, not in execution, as krosp is exactly what he was built to be.

Also in many ways Krosp WAS Vapnoodle's masterpiece, He's the Vapnoodle creation that finally transcended Vapnoodle. And he was also the Vapnoodle creation that revived his master's mind. From a creative standpoint Krosp is a complete work of genius -- a little vapid and arrogant but highly functional and even clever in his own way

[HandofShadows]

TAnd he was also the Vapnoodle creation that revived his master's mind.

What? Kosp didn't "revive" his creators mind. That was done by Karl. And Kosp always though of Vapnoople as "Papa" not "Master" and has proven that he's is independent from him by attacking him to save Agatha and calling him a nut.

[Manga Shoggoth]

And he was also the Vapnoodle creation that revived his master's mind.

Really? That's not how I remember it.

[Scarlet Knight]

Really Tweedle? A cat? A female cat? And Krosp is quite literally the King of Cats?

Yeah, that's is going to work out just great for you. Seems like you're inadvertently making Krosp a potential Queen and tying yourself to her.

And how many tales do we have of a King being brought down by a woman?

[Zazu Yen]

And how many tales do we have of a King being brought down by a woman?

Well, Krosp was shown dancing with the ladies of the court as a prelude to this, so that could be foreshadowing him being susceptible... It's certainly going to set up a power struggle between them, I'm just fairly certain Krosp will come out on top in a battle of wits with Tweedle.

[Rogar Demonblud]

A dead drunk goose could win a battle of wits with Tweedle.

[Shining Wrath]

Martellus is smart about some things. His Sparky science, certainly, and he's a lethal fighter and ruthless in his pursuit of power.
But then he goes and botches "The Touch of the King" and winds up needing Agatha alive and nearby when there's a few good reasons to kill her.
He winds up in England with no allies except a non-spark non-fighter (Seffie) and a whole bunch of people who refrain from killing him only because he's momentarily useful. And under those circumstances, he's still plotting to kill Tarvek (my interpretation), despite the fact that Albia can very likely read his mind if she puts out the effort.

He's brave and Sparky and lethal. He doesn't always think things through.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Case in point, the whole 'Zola as fake Heterodyne' scheme.

[Shining Wrath]

Case in point, the whole 'Zola as fake Heterodyne' scheme.

Was that Martellus' idea, or one of the Knights of Jove, or some other Sturmvarous?

[Vinyadan]

Before England, there was no reason to see Tweedle as incapable. He was a tough opponent who had been bested by Agatha, as many others had been, but still was at large and dangerous. After he showed up with his self-made problem, however, he became much harder to take seriously.

At the same time, I think that he generally is insensitive, rather than stupid. Like not getting girlie things that he doesn't care about anyway. Or being rude with the muse; that one bordered on stupidity.

Looking back, he is a massive risk-taker. He would have bet for killing Gil rather than running away, he tried an extreme procedure that altered his own chemical balance to bind Agatha, he entered besieged Mechanicsburg, he meleed the Storm King... Only the last one went really well. The other two bets he lost, and Mechanicsburg ended inconclusively (he lost a hand and two years, but those were the years when Gil was hunting his Order, and he temporarily got Agatha as a prisoner).

He also seems to be at ease with and maybe even like war, and that could be why Tarvek spoke so badly of him, and why the Jaeger like him. The Baron went to war to enforce peace and end squabbles, so out of a necessity that would benefit others, while Martellus would go (or goes) to impose his right and gain glory and power for himself. This would be a very negative trait.

It's interesting to consider what would have happened, if Martellus hadn't taken Agatha away. Agatha would have been stuck in the time-frozen city. Once Gil had found a way to get close to her, the Klaus overlay would have killed her.

[geoduck]

Looking back, he is a massive risk-taker. He would have bet for killing Gil rather than running away, he tried an extreme procedure that altered his own chemical balance to bind Agatha, he entered besieged Mechanicsburg, he meleed the Storm King... Only the last one went really well.

And even that only worked because The Master was there to melt Andronicus's weapons.. after Tweedle brought one of them into the battle.

[keybounce]

I just realized:

Part 2 is 8 years old.

The whole thing is 18 years old.

How old are the experiments again?

[theangelJean]

I think it was in comic commentary that the eldest celebrated a significant birthday recently, and is writing his own comics. There might also have been a comment about it in the Discord interview.

[geoduck]

He's 18, and so can now be known as Victor. Experiment #2 is still underage.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Gil, that was a nasty trick you should have used on Tweedle. Krosp won't learn anything about respecting other people's food, as he is a cat.

[Ortho]

He's brave and Sparky and lethal. He doesn't always think things through.

Recklessness is certainly Martellus's fatal flaw. But he is very politically savvy and cunning, so I think calling him dumb is inaccurate.

He winds up in England with no allies except a non-spark non-fighter (Seffie) and a whole bunch of people who refrain from killing him only because he's momentarily useful. And under those circumstances, he's still plotting to kill Tarvek (my interpretation), despite the fact that Albia can very likely read his mind if she puts out the effort.

To be fair to Martellus, his current predicament stems solely from the King's Touch fiasco - if he hadn't done it in the first place, he wouldn't be in England. And assuming Tarvek's death is his current motive - which I don't think he's in any position to pull off, as he's struggling just to stay relevant right now - I doubt he'd be foolish enough to attempt a high-profile assassination right under the nose of a god-queen.