Girl Genius XXIX: A giant corkboard of continuity madness

[Gez]

I don't know how much of Agatha's Sparkiness is a result of Lucrezia's tinkering; it seems like Agatha has a strong specialization in robotics and to a lesser extent AI, and while Lulu has an interest in AI as a side-effect of her passion for dealing with consciousness, she doesn't seem to care in the slightest about robotics.

She does care about robotics as well, just much more advanced robotics than the steampunk clanks other Sparks are tinkering with.

[Shining Wrath]

She does care about robotics as well, just much more advanced robotics than the steampunk clanks other Sparks are tinkering with.

Which raises the question if time-travelling Lu has actually been into the future and learned techniques from 21st or 22nd century Sparks. Imagine grabbing Albert Einstein, bringing him into the modern day, and letting him hang out at CERN for a few months, then send him back.

[runeghost]

So uh, apparently the Girl Genius Roleplaying Game by GURPS released over a month ago with almost no fanfare. So that's a thing now.

Wait, it's out? I knew it was coming, but I'd missed that we had a release date, much less one that had come and gone.

[geoduck]

Wait, it's out? I knew it was coming, but I'd missed that we had a release date, much less one that had come and gone.

They're selling a PDF file on the Steve Jackson website. The Kickstarter campaign for the physical version hasn't launched yet.

[The Glyphstone]

It does say 'prerelease version', maybe they're waiting for a proper release to announce it?

[Vinyadan]

...annnd we're on a shoulder-surgery hyatus. https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/com...?date=20210927 Get well soon!

[DavidSh]

Yes, yesterday's later-than-usual page shows that Phil is not ambidextrous. I hope for both his sake and ours that he recovers quickly.

[Rockphed]

Yes, yesterday's later-than-usual page shows that Phil is not ambidextrous. I hope for both his sake and ours that he recovers quickly.

This is a perfect opportunity to become ambidextrous! Shame the painkillers make his drawing completely incomprehensible. Is that agatha saying some semirandom exclamation?

[Shining Wrath]

I think Agatha is saying "Spare". Which is obviously a reference to Tarvek as the spare boyfriend in case Gil is killed.

[Vinyadan]

I think she's saying "SCIenCE", as a good spark would!

[Manga Shoggoth]

Considering that they've pretty much never missed a slot without at least giving us something, if only artwork ... I reckon Phil has well earned a rest, surgery or not.

S _ _ P A _ E

I can see a "spare" in that if I squint right. I don't see a "science" as it would have to be a (rather large) lowercase "e" followed by an uppercase "E".

Or... He could be trolling^* us, and just putting random letters.



^* - Or the painkillers are very strong...

[geoduck]

Considering that they've pretty much never missed a slot without at least giving us something, if only artwork ... I reckon Phil has well earned a rest, surgery or not.

S _ _ P A _ E

I can see a "spare" in that if I squint right. I don't see a "science" as it would have to be a (rather large) lowercase "e" followed by an uppercase "E".

Or... He could be trolling^* us, and just putting random letters.

^* - Or the painkillers are very strong...

The "P" is his attempt at a capital A using only one stroke of the pencil. And the A is an N that only got 2/3rds finished.

And he's totally earned a rest, but it would be amusing if the strip carried on using stick figures or something.

[Vinyadan]

I can see a "spare" in that if I squint right. I don't see a "science" as it would have to be a (rather large) lowercase "e" followed by an uppercase "E".

Yep, that's how I read it -- SCIenCE, mixing upper and lowercase. It fits the number of letters, the shape of the letters, and it's a random word that makes sense for the comic and the character.

[TeChameleon]

So, to kill time while Phil takes a much-needed and -deserved break...

How many plot threads are still in play in Girl Genius right now?

[Shining Wrath]

Major:

1. The Mechanicsburg time bubble
2. The Agatha - Gil - Tarvek love triangle
3. The Other
4. Zola and the Polar Lord's invasions, assuming not controlled by The Other
5. Martellus and Tarvek competing to be the next Storm King

Minor:

1. Zeetha's search for a way back to Skifander
2. The search for Prende's lantern
3. The troubles with the Deep Ones
4. Bang and Zeetha

The thing is, most of the minor stuff plays into the major stuff, which is how it should be.

And now, a random thought.

Grandma Sturmvarous seized Zola in Paris, with appropriate evil bad gal MWAHAHAHAing.
And now Zola's empire is invading.
My first thought was that Grandma was setting Martellus up to repel the invasion and be heroic.
My random thought is that Grandma is another aspect of The Other who has gleefully regained control of Zola and perhaps figured out a way to de-compartmentalize the Lucrezia mind from the Zola mind, so that Lu can have a nice young body to play in.

[DaFlipp]

Major:

1. The Mechanicsburg time bubble
2. The Agatha - Gil - Tarvek love triangle
3. The Other
4. Zola and the Polar Lord's invasions, assuming not controlled by The Other
5. Martellus and Tarvek competing to be the next Storm King

Minor:

1. Zeetha's search for a way back to Skifander
2. The search for Prende's lantern
3. The troubles with the Deep Ones
4. Bang and Zeetha

The thing is, most of the minor stuff plays into the major stuff, which is how it should be.

A few more suggestions:

Doctor Zapnoodle's extradimensional shenanigans. Kind of borderline because I don't think it'd actually be a narrative problem if that thread was never revisited, but at the time the characters leaned pretty heavily on the "What if he SURVIVES and becomes MORE POWERFUL" button.

Queen Albia's machinations. Especially as embodied by her honeypot agents that she's sent along with Agatha and Gil. How badly does she want to keep Agatha for her "garden" exactly?

Like a half dozen minor character arcs in Mechanicsburg. A *lot* of well-developed characters are, last we saw, still frozen in time. Assuming solving the time bubble isn't the endgame conflict (which given its prominence, it might well be!), popping that bubble will unleash major players like the Jaeger generals, the Castle's former prisoners (especially Von Zinzer, who still needs to show up in that "time window" alongside Agatha and Geister!Gil at some point), and more back into the world.

[Shining Wrath]

A few more suggestions:

Doctor Zapnoodle's extradimensional shenanigans. Kind of borderline because I don't think it'd actually be a narrative problem if that thread was never revisited, but at the time the characters leaned pretty heavily on the "What if he SURVIVES and becomes MORE POWERFUL" button.

Queen Albia's machinations. Especially as embodied by her honeypot agents that she's sent along with Agatha and Gil. How badly does she want to keep Agatha for her "garden" exactly?

Like a half dozen minor character arcs in Mechanicsburg. A *lot* of well-developed characters are, last we saw, still frozen in time. Assuming solving the time bubble isn't the endgame conflict (which given its prominence, it might well be!), popping that bubble will unleash major players like the Jaeger generals, the Castle's former prisoners (especially Von Zinzer, who still needs to show up in that "time window" alongside Agatha and Geister!Gil at some point), and more back into the world.

We also have General Vole, who came with Higgs to Paris, then vanished. A loose end, if Vole never appears again we'll shrug and move on, but still out there.
I wonder if Vole is the solution to the Bang / Zeetha dilemma; he'll convince Bang that violence is not the answer, and if she still tries to kill Zeetha he'll stop her in the approved Jager method of stopping people who are trying to kill the Heterodyne's best friend.

Also, Othar's quest needs to find resolution. Either he gives up his plan, or he dies, or he gets banished to some other place or time.
Possibly Othar could wind up sacrificing himself to take out The Other.

[Fyraltari]

Major:

1. The Mechanicsburg time bubble
2. The Agatha - Gil - Tarvek love triangle
3. The Other
4. Zola and the Polar Lord's invasions, assuming not controlled by The Other
5. Martellus and Tarvek competing to be the next Storm King

Minor:

1. Zeetha's search for a way back to Skifander
2. The search for Prende's lantern
3. The troubles with the Deep Ones
4. Bang and Zeetha

The thing is, most of the minor stuff plays into the major stuff, which is how it should be.

And now, a random thought.

Grandma Sturmvarous seized Zola in Paris, with appropriate evil bad gal MWAHAHAHAing.
And now Zola's empire is invading.
My first thought was that Grandma was setting Martellus up to repel the invasion and be heroic.
My random thought is that Grandma is another aspect of The Other who has gleefully regained control of Zola and perhaps figured out a way to de-compartmentalize the Lucrezia mind from the Zola mind, so that Lu can have a nice young body to play in.

Also Krisp getting a queen.

If Grandma were a part of The Other, she wouldn't oppose Madwa.

[MDR]

One thing that always annoyed me with the Grandma situation is that she seemed very friendly with the Master, and Zola caused his death. Yet she seemed unfazed by it. The way the two of them were talking it suggested a good friendship with respect, and even considering her family and that she has been playing the politics game for keeps her whole life, I would have liked to see some sort of reaction. Sigh, maybe it will be brought up in the future.

[Manga Shoggoth]

All good plot threads! Ye gods there's so much going on in this story.

Grandma Sturmvarous seized Zola in Paris, with appropriate evil bad gal MWAHAHAHAing.
And now Zola's empire is invading.
My first thought was that Grandma was setting Martellus up to repel the invasion and be heroic.
My random thought is that Grandma is another aspect of The Other who has gleefully regained control of Zola and perhaps figured out a way to de-compartmentalize the Lucrezia mind from the Zola mind, so that Lu can have a nice young body to play in.

The problem with the Grandma = Other line of thinking is that she absolutely hates Lucrezia, to the extent that the Smoke Knights have a standing order that if there's a chance to take out members of the Lucrezia aligned factions then drop whatever they are doing, team up with each other regardless of current activities and take them out.

Possibly Othar could wind up sacrificing himself to take out The Other.

That would, I think, be entirely in character for Othar, change of heart or not.

EDIT:

One thing that always annoyed me with the Grandma situation is that she seemed very friendly with the Master, and Zola caused his death. Yet she seemed unfazed by it. The way the two of them were talking it suggested a good friendship with respect, and even considering her family and that she has been playing the politics game for keeps her whole life, I would have liked to see some sort of reaction. Sigh, maybe it will be brought up in the future.

Grandma is very pragmatic. Zola is a powerful piece, and at the end of the day Zola didn't cause the Master's death - it was a cross between the Storm King and Beausoleil. The Storm King was nothing to do with Zola, and we don't know who Beausoleil answered to (there's another plot thread...).

[Shining Wrath]

All good plot threads! Ye gods there's so much going on in this story.




The problem with the Grandma = Other line of thinking is that she absolutely hates Lucrezia, to the extent that the Smoke Knights have a standing order that if there's a chance to take out members of the Lucrezia aligned factions then drop whatever they are doing, team up with each other regardless of current activities and take them out.




That would, I think, be entirely in character for Othar, change of heart or not.

EDIT:

Grandma is very pragmatic. Zola is a powerful piece, and at the end of the day Zola didn't cause the Master's death - it was a cross between the Storm King and Beausoleil. The Storm King was nothing to do with Zola, and we don't know who Beausoleil answered to (there's another plot thread...).

I'm going to have to concede that if Grandma is an aspect of The Other she's playing a deep game, treating minions as disposable pawns in order to maintain cover.
Othar may get to be the old drunk at the end of Independence Day - the hero no one saw coming.
By "pragmatic" I'm reading "amoral" - killing the Master of Paris wouldn't matter too much to her, except that she does not want to cross Colleen in her newly ascended power.
Which is another plot thread to pick up - what did Grandma do with Zola? I'm pretty sure we're going to find out as the Polar Lords war unwinds.

Some threads may be about to end. It's possible that a piece gets taken off the board as a result of this war - Gil could lose control of what's left of the Empire, Grandma could be revealed as a traitor, Zola could be sacrificed by Grandma when she is no longer useful, Martellus could finally take a risk that his personal fighting skills are not capable of overcoming in his quest for glory.

[Vinyadan]

Actually, who got Simon Voltaire killed? I assumed it was ultimately Zola, who expected to capture Paris during her stay there. But the timing was fortuitous, and due to Agatha awakening Andronicus. I don't think we ever found out who Beausoleil was really working for.

[Squire Doodad]

Actually, who got Simon Voltaire killed? I assumed it was ultimately Zola, who expected to capture Paris during her stay there. But the timing was fortuitous, and due to Agatha awakening Andronicus. I don't think we ever found out who Beausoleil was really working for.

I assumed Beausoleil was working for the non-Zola Other, as they had a particularly strong branch in Paris that would have benefitted from someone on the inside who could make the Master's subsystems not notice their work. He also was in the revenant-infested Arguron Court scene (though obviously he himself was not one), but that could have just been him there to check on Agatha/get snacks.
With all of that said, it's not explicitly clear, and there are plenty of secondary groups that would delight in sabotaging Paris and getting the Heterodynes involved as icing.


Zola appears to be centering her plans around hijacking the Other's machinations and exploiting them by masquerading as the Other. Zola is doing all of this for her own gain, presumably.
My best justification for Grandma helping Zola is that she realized the Other and Zola were working with the same tools in opposing directions, and so helping Zola escape would let her better screw up the Other later on, and/or improve the chances of a team-up against the Other proper.

After Twitter Adventures TM I am becoming increasingly fond of "Othar has a vital sacrifice in the final arc" idea.

[Rakaydos]

Also, Othar's quest needs to find resolution. Either he gives up his plan, or he dies, or he gets banished to some other place or time.
Possibly Othar could wind up sacrificing himself to take out The Other.

The Other/Othar name link is long forgotten at this point, but I suspect that Othar will get kicked through a time portal at some point and be responcible for killing sparks in the Other's name.

[Vinyadan]

About Zola, here's a question: does she have the voice? Can she control the revenants, or does she need the Other technology modified? Lu can control revenants through Anevka's clank, but Agatha's voice was installed in it. Zola conceivably doesn't have anything similar, unless she convinced Luvka to let her copy her voicebox and created a megaphone of doom.

[Shining Wrath]

The Other/Othar name link is long forgotten at this point, but I suspect that Othar will get kicked through a time portal at some point and be responcible for killing sparks in the Other's name.

Well, time travel shenanigans are afoot, so literally anything is possible, but I don't see that Othar / Other *must* mean Othar works for the Other. Although maybe she wasped him and told him to kill all the other Sparks; but he seems to have the ability to decide to not kill any particular Spark, so it's not a normal wasping. And I don't see Lucrezia enjoying being a big man; she seems pretty comfortable with female bodies. Again, anything's possible with Team Foglio.

Co-opting the name of the Other for his own purposes at some point? Maybe. But I don't see how identifying with the most hated person in Europa moves his agenda forward.

[Fyraltari]

The Other/Othar name link is long forgotten at this point, but I suspect that Othar will get kicked through a time portal at some point and be responcible for killing sparks in the Other's name.

Isn't there a translation convention at play?
I don't remember what language they are all supposed to speak. Othar/Das Andere doesn't really work.

[Shining Wrath]

Isn't there a translation convention at play?
I don't remember what language they are all supposed to speak. Othar/Das Andere doesn't really work.

Wulfenbach certainly sounds German, and isn't Mechanicsburg somewhere in Romania or Hungary? And Othar is certainly Scandinavian, although I'm not culturally educated enough to identify the nationality of "Tryggvassen". You're right that the pun only works in English, which is not the lingua franca of Europa.

EDIT: Just learned that Othar is from Norway.

[Manga Shoggoth]

About Zola, here's a question: does she have the voice? Can she control the revenants, or does she need the Other technology modified? Lu can control revenants through Anevka's clank, but Agatha's voice was installed in it. Zola conceivably doesn't have anything similar, unless she convinced Luvka to let her copy her voicebox and created a megaphone of doom.

The success she was having suggests that she can control revenants, but can't control Geisters. That, or she has created her own version of the wasps and started using that.

EDIT: Depends on whose side these Geisters were... Were they survivors of Lucretia's mob, or is Zola posing as her daughter and labelling Agatha as the False Child.

[Radar]

The success she was having suggests that she can control revenants, but can't control Geisters. That, or she has created her own version of the wasps and started using that.

From some earlier strips we know that currently not only Lucrezia is able to give orders to revenants. Either the voice signature is no longer the requirement, or those commanders have synthesizers similar to the one Clancrezia has.