Girl Genius XXIX: A giant corkboard of continuity madness

[Shining Wrath]

I doubt this guy has ridiculous levels of sneakiness, because Agatha's bot spotted him right off. Of course, it is Agatha's bot, presumably designed to spot sneaky, but still.
I also doubt this guy has been there for months or years, because I don't think Steelegarter / Madwa have been there for months or years. It hasn't been that long since we saw them decamp because they learned Violetta had survived. Now, Rat Queen (I keep forgetting her name) might have been there for a while, preparing the island as a rat-infested fortress of icky. But she seems like the sort of Spark who'd happily go play with her lab and not notice the island, except as a field test for her rats.

[Fyraltari]

Being some type of stranded survivor is possible, but to hang out here for months if not years in a Spark's backyard without getting discoered and killed/captured this guy would have to have ridiculous levels of sneakiness. I'm actually wondering if he instead might be the ROUS equivalent of Ishtvan Nyiregyhaz

I don't think so? If his scent means the rat leave him alone and he didn't try to do anything besides getting enough food and water to survive I can buy the others not knowing he was there.

[wingnutx]

But she seems like the sort of Spark who'd happily go play with her lab and not notice the island

No need, when she has her beautiful rats to protect her!

[Shining Wrath]

No need, when she has her beautiful rats to protect her!

In other words, she might RATionalize poor security practices. Because there's other things she'd RATher do.

[Maryring]

Are we gonna have another round of cheesy puns? Cause I think there's gonna be a hole lotta tall tails being made if so. Then again, the previous round didn't make that big a roDent in the conversation.

[PhantomFox]

Does they are part of the Queens navy, does this count as a Murine Landing?

[geoduck]

I don't think so? If his scent means the rat leave him alone and he didn't try to do anything besides getting enough food and water to survive I can buy the others not knowing he was there.

I agree, with the addition that up until recently, it's presumably just been Monahan on the island, which makes avoiding her that much easier.

[DaFlipp]

I'm sure that the prevailing "this guy is hiding from the rats" theory or some variant on it will be correct, but the more I think about it, the more hilarious I find the idea that Monahan's "giant rats" are, in fact, just extremely unpleasant and/or unhygienic people in rat fursuits. Monahan, of course, insists they are actual rats, and when a Spark insists something, it's usually safest to agree!

[Radar]

Being some type of stranded survivor is possible, but to hang out here for months if not years in a Spark's backyard without getting discoered and killed/captured this guy would have to have ridiculous levels of sneakiness. I'm actually wondering if he instead might be the ROUS equivalent of Ishtvan Nyiregyhaz

Maybe deep down in his heart he simply really, really, really does not want to die?

[Gez]

HMA Esther de Groot? That's a sneaky reference to John Allison's comics Scary Go Round and Giant Days.

[Shining Wrath]

"We didn't make it, of course" and a giant electro-mechanical something looming in their path? Exactly why is it that the Americas are cut off from Europa?

Anyway, the lethal rats have been confirmed. But in this case they are at the top of the cliffs, which is where Madwa & Steelegarter thought they needed to patrol.

[Kantaki]

That giant... thing is kind of concerning.
Looks kind of unnatural. And not in a sparky way.
Which doesn't mean there isn't a Spark responsible for its presence of course.
We've already seen summoning magic SCIENCE! after all.

[geoduck]

That giant... thing is kind of concerning.
Looks kind of unnatural. And not in a sparky way.
Which doesn't mean there isn't a Spark responsible for its presence of course.
We've already seen summoning magic SCIENCE! after all.

In supplemental material in one of the GG print-volumes, the American adventuress Thundering Engine Woman is quoted as saying there are forces in the Americas far stronger than her and her fellow Sparks, with no further details given.

[Squire Doodad]

"We didn't make it, of course" and a giant electro-mechanical something looming in their path? Exactly why is it that the Americas are cut off from Europa?

If I had to guess, it's not America itself but rather that giant island we saw that in turn may have incredibly powerful defenses. I mean, clearly they were stopped before they got to the actual Americas, and they're on an island presumably not too far from Britain.
Then again, maybe the mid-Atlantic ridge is just filled with ubermonsters of various kinds. Or the actual Americas are home to a set of demigods.
I'm assuming the British colonies and thus both the US and any other former or contemporary colonies are all nonexistent because of this.

[Shining Wrath]

If I had to guess, it's not America itself but rather that giant island we saw that in turn may have incredibly powerful defenses. I mean, clearly they were stopped before they got to the actual Americas, and they're on an island presumably not too far from Britain.
Then again, maybe the mid-Atlantic ridge is just filled with ubermonsters of various kinds. Or the actual Americas are home to a set of demigods.
I'm assuming the British colonies and thus both the US and any other former or contemporary colonies are all nonexistent because of this.

The Americas can be cut off from Europe at any point transiting the Atlantic, including the west coast of Ireland. I'm more interested in what the big obstacle was and who put it there than its longitude. Also,, an expedition to the Americas sounds like they try that more than once, and some make it?

[Squire Doodad]

The Americas can be cut off from Europe at any point transiting the Atlantic, including the west coast of Ireland. I'm more interested in what the big obstacle was and who put it there than its longitude. Also,, an expedition to the Americas sounds like they try that more than once, and some make it?

It's possible that there are multiple...obstacles to it, and so only the outermost barriers are well known. Maybe some make it, but they're also the ones who got lucky and didn't see much of what happened.
Presumably in this timeline, Christopher Columbus was a lucky Spark who gathered as much evidence and supplies as he could from a shipwreck and then got the heck out of dodge before any of his more infamous activities happened.

[The Glyphstone]

We know at least one expedition survived because Thundering Engine Woman reached Europe at all.

[wingnutx]

We know at least one expedition survived because Thundering Engine Woman reached Europe at all.

I thought she was just acting.

[geoduck]

I thought she was just acting.

The one we see in person is a Europan actress, but the gal she is pretending to be actually came from America and adventured for a time with the Heterodyne Boys.

As for the location of the barrier, we see a globe at one point in England with a dotted line down the middle of the Atlantic; it's pretty likely that's where you run into troubles if you try to cross.

[TeChameleon]

Colour me intrigued by the giant whatsit... honestly, the first thing that comes to mind for me is a somewhat warped version of the Kirby-designed Celestials, although that might just be the Tron-Lines on it.

Also, has there been any hinting as to what happens if you try to hit the Americas via the Pacific? I don't believe there's been much mention of anything East of... I'm guessing Iran-ish, since as far as I know, that's the Easternmost Sheikdom (at least in our world). Dr. Sun spoke of the Forbidden City when first meeting with Gil, so it presumably exists, but to the best of my knowledge, that's the entirety of the information we've been given.

... granted, if whatever that is can prevent travel across the Atlantic to any point on the coastline of the Americas, it's freakishly powerful, so presumably could manage the Pacific just fine. That being said, how did the Heterodyne Boys manage to get to Haiti? I'm assuming that there's at least some grain of truth in the Heterodyne Boys stories, at least in broad strokes of where they went and how the place ended up afterwards, and Haiti really isn't very far from the Americas proper, so it would be a bit odd if the dividing line took a sharp turn to curl around the Caribbean... Then again, when has Sparky nonsense ever really followed logical sense?

[Fyraltari]

We know at least one expedition survived because Thundering Engine Woman reached Europe at all.

You are assuming she wasn't on an expedition to Europe.

[Shining Wrath]

Opinion: Albia is a not-malevolent eternal god-queen. She wouldn't authorize expeditions, plural, to the Americas if they always failed.
Opinion: Thundering Engine Woman indicates at least some people have made it to / from the Americas.
Tentative conclusion: crossing the Atlantic is hazardous but not "you have to be crazy and / or a major Spark to try it" level hazardous.
More tentative conclusion: the risk / reward ratio is small enough to make it worth doing for reasons better than "because it's there".

On our other current topic - the airman who lived with the rats has evidently killed some of them to make his disguise. For example, I don't think he crafted that big tail out of vines. If he, a simple airman, can not only survive, but take some of the rodents out, I don't think Team Agatha is going to be seriously challenged.

However, it's possible he scavenged the parts from already dead super-rats; but that raise the question of why they died, if not at his hand? Do they kill each other?

[Fyraltari]

However, it's possible he scavenged the parts from already dead super-rats; but that raise the question of why they died, if not at his hand? Do they kill each other?

I think it is safer to assume the monsters are not immortal until hinted otherwise.

[BRC]

I'm now tempted to see if we have any evidence of the columbian exchange. Namely, have we seen Corn, Potatoes, or Tomatoes appear in europa at any point?

[Willie the Duck]

I'm now tempted to see if we have any evidence of the columbian exchange. Namely, have we seen Corn, Potatoes, or Tomatoes appear in europa at any point?

We've certainly seen tobacco, or a suitable equivalent. I want to say the same with chocolate, but am not sure (Phil tends to go for gumdrop and lollypop style 'candy' in depictions, which makes all the sense in the world for a visual medium). The rest? Not called out or anything, but I swear there have been dishes portrayed which would have such food in it, or tomatoes thrown at horrible stage performances or the like. Again, like tobacco this could be suspiciously similar substitutes. Or seeds could have been taken in the intervening centuries and it is all European or near-European grown plants.

[The Glyphstone]

Chocolate coated mimmoths are a popular candy treat, I think they came up in dialogue a few times.

[geoduck]

Opinion: Albia is a not-malevolent eternal god-queen. She wouldn't authorize expeditions, plural, to the Americas if they always failed.
Opinion: Thundering Engine Woman indicates at least some people have made it to / from the Americas.
Tentative conclusion: crossing the Atlantic is hazardous but not "you have to be crazy and / or a major Spark to try it" level hazardous.
More tentative conclusion: the risk / reward ratio is small enough to make it worth doing for reasons better than "because it's there".

My theory is that something changed after TEW visited (not because of her visit, probably, but who knows) and the trip now is much more dangerous.

[wingnutx]

That rope gizmo is hilarious.

[Divayth Fyr]

Chocolate coated mimmoths are a popular candy treat, I think they came up in dialogue a few times.

Yeah, with mentions of them being made in Paris and with Belgian chocolate.

I don't remember if the others appeared, but we could see a "Potato surprise" bottle.

[JavaScribe]

One of the groups Professor Tiktoffen was double agenting for was a "Sons of Franklin", so there's probably some sort of limited contact.