Girl Genius XXXII: The scientific method at work!

[locksmith of lo]

i am sort of under the assumption that she made a switch, swapped the interior pages with something more banal.

[Laurentio III]

i am sort of under the assumption that she made a switch, swapped the interior pages with something more banal.

That would be Smoke Knight level of prowess, but let's concede.
Why? She is dressed in a way that wouldn't allow to contraband a book so big, and she is positively under imminent death threath. I'm not say it couldn't be, I just find it too much timely, if true.

[Shining Wrath]

Humongulous has hammer-space!

[eee]

Humongulous has hammer-space!

We already saw him being a Transformer. He's a multi-purpose clank!

[theangelJean]

I'm starting to think Hector has been brainwashed.

Either that, or he has (maybe always had?) an ulterior motive, and has been using obfuscating stupidity to hide it.

[Shining Wrath]

I'm starting to think Hector has been brainwashed.

Either that, or he has (maybe always had?) an ulterior motive, and has been using obfuscating stupidity to hide it.

Well, if he's dead and brought back - by who? How? What sort of control does the resurrecter gain over the resurrected when using whichever method was used? Professor von Wyrmhaut does not strike me as the sort who would spend much time or money bringing a student back to life. Especially not a dumb one.

And Wyrmhaut is now quite literally the lady riding the tiger. If she were really a studious Professor of legends she'd know that doesn't end well.

BTW, the opposite of "concise" is "garrulous".

[Devlerbat]

It is taking Franz longer to come back with whatever he had planned than I thought it would.

[Fyraltari]

It is taking the Foglios longer to come back with whatever they had planned than I thought it would.

[BRC]

It is taking the Foglios longer to come back with whatever they had planned than I thought it would.

Our side-story is going on a full year almost! But the pacing is way better than normal, so I don't mind!

[Rodin]

Our side-story is going on a full year almost! But the pacing is way better than normal, so I don't mind!

I'm...kinda starting to mind. The side story has been far better quality than the other non-canon/semi-canon stories, but spending a year on it is just too much. I want to get back to Agatha and the gang.

[BRC]

I'm...kinda starting to mind. The side story has been far better quality than the other non-canon/semi-canon stories, but spending a year on it is just too much. I want to get back to Agatha and the gang.

I'll probably start minding in a month or so as the battle for the Iram Solis grows another three subplots.

[Thomas Cardew]

I might be going crazy, but didn't this whole side plot start because they needed to do a plot review of the continuity corkboard?

In the ultimate irony, we'll reach the point that they've forgotten the results of the review and we'll have to go into another side story to buy them time to redo it!

EDIT: Yeah I was right, see the comic note on this page.

[Fyraltari]

I might be going crazy, but didn't this whole side plot start because they needed to do a plot review of the continuity corkboard?

In the ultimate irony, we'll reach the point that they've forgotten the results of the review and we'll have to go into another side story to buy them time to redo it!

EDIT: Yeah I was right, see the comic note on this page.

Yes, that was my point: this "little story" meant to allow them to "stop for a minute" has been going on for almost a year. I just want them to wrap it up quickly, I can't even remember what Agatha and the gang were doing when we left them. Leaving England?

[geoduck]

Yes, that was my point: this "little story" meant to allow them to "stop for a minute" has been going on for almost a year. I just want them to wrap it up quickly, I can't even remember what Agatha and the gang were doing when we left them. Leaving England?

Going back to England from Big Rat Island on Bang's father's enhanced airship, with the newly enQueened Monahan and the drained Aliba.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Just tried out the playable demo of the new Girl Genius game on Steam. Took about 1 1/2 hours (86 mins, to be exact), but I wasn't exactly speedrunning...

Spoiler: First Impressions

Show

The Demo gives us the early section of the castle story, from meeting Saana and Moloch to leaving the kitchen.

Overall? It's ... OK. And while that seems like damning with faint praise, it's the opinion of someone who isn't particularly into this kind of game. I think I will enjoy the full game.

(To forestall the obvious question: I backed the game because it was a Girl Genius game, for much the same reason I back the comic print runs. Given that out of this project I have electronic copies of all the GG novels to date, plus the Buck Godot stories, plus two earlier games from Rain - I'm already well satisfied with the rewards, and the actual game is just going to be icing on the cake. And that's proper royal icing, not that "frosting" rubbish.)

The graphics are decent - the 3D character sprites aren't completely true-to-comic, but are good enough. The 2G graphics in the conversations could have been pulled from the comic. The castle decorations are a nice touch for people who know the comic.

Gameplay is acceptable - My only arguement with the gameplay is the WASD controls combined with the mouse look. I don't like WASD to start with, and the combination makes it really difficult to aim things - the operation takes place in the direction the character is pointing, rather than swiveling the character to match the camera direction. I get the impression that the game is written for someone using a controller rather than a mouse/keyboard combination. It's workable, but not to my personal taste.

Sound and music is OK. The dingbot theme is a little annoying, but it won't be the first game I've turned music off for.

There are lore markers to explain the backstory, but it could still do with an introduction (we will probably get that in the full game - it's a demo, after all.

[Vinyadan]

To be honest, I'm more interested in this little story...

By the way, the demo of the Girl Genius videogame is free on Steam. (EDIT: ninjaed!)

[Shining Wrath]

"Kill them all! KILL!" is the sort of thing that brings stories closer to a denouement. And I'll bet it was the Brother who scored with the book. Possibly Hector.

I mean, poor Hector. Serves faithfully and this is his reward? But now he must switch sides, no?

[Manga Shoggoth]

I'm suspecting Franz, although I was expecting him to enter with, say, a pillar to adjust the FSMADD with. Or possibly hitting the metal samples and impersonating Hydroargyros again.

[theangelJean]

Well, if he's dead and brought back - by who? How? What sort of control does the resurrecter gain over the resurrected when using whichever method was used? Professor von Wyrmhaut does not strike me as the sort who would spend much time or money bringing a student back to life. Especially not a dumb one.

And Wyrmhaut is now quite literally the lady riding the tiger. If she were really a studious Professor of legends she'd know that doesn't end well.

BTW, the opposite of "concise" is "garrulous".

Heh. Thanks, but not quite the antonym I was looking for ... "Garrulous" carries connotations of "speech" for me, and I'm actually considered very quiet irl. Now that I've checked the thesaurus, I wonder if "prolix" might be better, seeing as my problem is more like too much detail to the point of irrelevance. Not familiar enough with the word to be sure, though.

"Kill them all! KILL!" is the sort of thing that brings stories closer to a denouement. And I'll bet it was the Brother who scored with the book. Possibly Hector.

I mean, poor Hector. Serves faithfully and this is his reward? But now he must switch sides, no?

Not if he truly believes he's dead already, he's got nothing to lose, right? Well, depending on how much he values his friends.

I was actually wondering if it was Professor von Wyrmhaut was the one who had somehow managed to convince him he was dead, and gained his loyalty at the same time - the two things don't seem all that closely related, which is why I suggested it might be brainwashing. Now, if he were a student even before his first expedition with Vipsania, I'd wonder if she knew that initially. If he had a pre-existing loyalty to the Professor, and doesn't actually believe he's dead, then it would make him more likely to switch sides now.

[Shining Wrath]

Heh. Thanks, but not quite the antonym I was looking for ... "Garrulous" carries connotations of "speech" for me, and I'm actually considered very quiet irl. Now that I've checked the thesaurus, I wonder if "prolix" might be better, seeing as my problem is more like too much detail to the point of irrelevance. Not familiar enough with the word to be sure, though.


Not if he truly believes he's dead already, he's got nothing to lose, right? Well, depending on how much he values his friends.

I was actually wondering if it was Professor von Wyrmhaut was the one who had somehow managed to convince him he was dead, and gained his loyalty at the same time - the two things don't seem all that closely related, which is why I suggested it might be brainwashing. Now, if he were a student even before his first expedition with Vipsania, I'd wonder if she knew that initially. If he had a pre-existing loyalty to the Professor, and doesn't actually believe he's dead, then it would make him more likely to switch sides now.

How stupid is Hector? Does he believe he's a ghost and therefore can't be killed? Is he about to be eviscerated based upon that erroneous assumption?
Or, conversely, is he truly a ghost and will be able to stand before the FSMADD and let it slash away? Now that would be a plot twist.

And yes, I agree that Wyrmhaut is quite capable of mind control shenanigans.

[Laurentio III]

Books are flying. Must be season.

[Agi Hammerthief]

was that hanging around in the background in the past panels?
or did they just skip searching Uncle Hengst earlier?

[geoduck]

Heh. Thanks, but not quite the antonym I was looking for ... "Garrulous" carries connotations of "speech" for me, and I'm actually considered very quiet irl. Now that I've checked the thesaurus, I wonder if "prolix" might be better, seeing as my problem is more like too much detail to the point of irrelevance. Not familiar enough with the word to be sure, though.

Maybe "verbose"?

was that hanging around in the background in the past panels?
or did they just skip searching Uncle Hengst earlier?

I went back and looked, and didn't see it anywhere. It would have been amusing if it was in the umbrella stand in the foyer.

[Divayth Fyr]

I went back and looked, and didn't see it anywhere. It would have been amusing if it was in the umbrella stand in the foyer.

I wonder how unlikely would it be for the mask to be in Franz's stuff all along? Doesn't make much sense in regards to Hydragyrnos, but would explain why he didn't care much for Wyrmhaut wanting it as her share of the hoard...

[Shining Wrath]

Franz knows how to make an entrance! I wonder how many other items were just destroyed? The gold at least can be pried up and remade into coins or ingots, if it melted.

I also wonder if Wyrmhaut was burned, or if Franz deliberately saved her with a well-aimed book?

The Iram Solis is quite large. I don't think it could have been in Hengst's pocket or backpack. The headpiece alone is more than a foot across.

And, of course, hammerspace, it could have been inside a matchbook for story purposes.

[JavaScribe]

So, who else finds themselves wondering if the cat is the most dangerous member of the team?

[Agi Hammerthief]

So, who else finds themselves wondering if the cat is the most dangerous member of the team?

nope, that’s a given.

[Shining Wrath]

Note to Professor von Hautwyrm: even in Girl Genius, action economy is a thing. You just announced your intention to kill everyone in the room. If you are given the Iram Solis, there's no reason to believe you won't proceed to kill everyone. There's a lot of people in the room who can probably do something about that.

1. An actual dragon
2. A librarian-thief whose pet cat you are threatening
3. A rather capable monk
4. A spark with a fire wand
5. The probably lethal feline
6. Hector, who may finally realize that you're not on his side

The odds that none of them can do anything to disarm you, stun you, kill you, or send you to an alternate dimension to discuss morality with the Dreen is pretty low.

I expect Hautwyrm to be dead by Friday July 7th, our world.

EDIT: Worth mentioning was von Mekken's vow of protection for Franz when he left. Even if she gets out of this dungeon alive, the entire Jager army wants her dead. Agatha Heterodyne wants her dead. Someone is suffering from a too-high opinion of themselves.

[Adaon Nightwind]

Well, at this point, i want her dead.

Which happens rarely, but, you know. She earned it.

[Agi Hammerthief]

Well, at this point, i want her dead.

Which happens rarely, but, you know. She earned it.

from a „you won’t shoot me - gets shot“ collection on Youtube:
Q: „What are you gonna do? Shoot me?“
A: „I wasn’t going to, but you kinda talked me into it.“
- shoots him