Results 331 to 360 of 1474
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2019-08-29, 04:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2019-08-30, 12:13 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- Tor zur Welt
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
meh, insinuations are cheap.
* my emphasis
http://dmreference.com/SRD/
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/
Things that don't kill me make me strong
Things that do kill me leave me dead
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2019-08-30, 01:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- Manchester, UK
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Interesting. So part of the reason for Albia's power is a "secret power source" rather than anything innate to herself? Does breaking through a second time just mean you can see and tap this source of power?
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2019-08-30, 01:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2017
- Location
- France
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Soooo, Lu claims that to have captured and tortured Queen Goddesses. That’s bad.
I’m also surprised at Lu-in-Agatha’s willingness to die for the other Lus.
And finally: ‘‘Your flame wanes.’’ What does that mean? Is Albia’s link with Thorpe weakening? Is Albia’s power? Or is it just a threat?Forum Wisdom
Mage avatar by smutmulch & linklele.
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2019-08-30, 03:30 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2009
- Gender
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2019-08-30, 05:09 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2015
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
"If it lives it can be killed.
If it is dead it can be eaten."
Ronkong Coma "the way of the bookhunter" III Catacombium
(Walter Moers "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher")
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2019-08-30, 05:39 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- right behind you
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
There are worse things than death. Being a juiced brain in a jar for example, having everything painfully extracted from you as you continue to exist. Its also possible she was trying to provoke albia into rashness to make room for an escape somehow. Or to drain thorpe too fast for her to finish her plan. As for her flame wanes, I expect its similar to the master. She is old. Her power is fading with the centuries. Nobody is truly eternal or immortal. And I would guess her power source are the people whose minds she can work through or otherwise "add to her garden" Like tossing more small logs on the fire to keep the flame going. There may be little to nothing left of the original tree trunks her own mind and power were based on so all thats left is the perpetuating fire of these other minds bolstering her. If she gets cut off from that source, she will gutter out and die.
"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2019-08-30, 05:41 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Greece
- Gender
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2019-08-30, 05:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- Manchester, UK
- Gender
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2019-08-30, 06:39 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Greece
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
True. The last time she had this decision in her hand, back in the basement of the Castle, she was ready to kill herself to get rid of Agatha. She stayed her hand only so she could get the knowledge she'd wasped the Baron to her other selves and that's no longer the case.
Many thanks to Assassin 89 for this avatar!
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2019-08-30, 07:13 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2009
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Think you hit the nail right on the head. And we have already seen something that can be used as one of there power sources as well. The Dyne under Der Kastel. It would seem that the God Queens need to "refuel" their powers from time to time from a outside power source. I hope that Albia has hers VERY well protected. That line about the "flame wanes" does not sound good.
This also makes me wonder about the origin the spark. Might these power sources also have something to do with that?Member of the Giants in the Playground Forum Chapter for the Movement to Reunite Gondwana!
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2019-08-30, 09:39 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
In today's issue of "that's definitely science, not magic" Albia manifests in her servant in an underwater laboratory, grows to immense size, and conjures up restraints out of seemingly nowhere to levitate and clamp around Agatha/Lucrezia.
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2019-08-30, 10:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2012
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2019-08-30, 02:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2009
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Between the extra-dimensional forces showing up and other things, I wonder if the Second Breakthrough enables you to tap into power from some other dimension or "not our time" perception. Perhaps that's why the God-Queens are immortal; they don't age like normal humans or Sparks since they have a tie to a non-linear timeline.
Part of this also reminds me to one possible explanation for powers in the fan-made Genius: the Transgression game. PCs in it are basically Sparks, although the idea is that their powers are lies, not actual science, and it's only their insanity that lets the superscience work. And some hints that it might be something alien to our reality that enables PCs and similarly-powered to change reality to function to alien rules. I wonder if all Sparks are tapping into some extra-dimensional force that enables them to 'see' things needed for super-science.
I doubt we'll find out that Spark-made stuff isn't based on real science. That seems contrary to the whole setting of Girl Genius. But the idea that there's some extra-dimensional thing that Sparks tap into for power sorta makes sense. Or, perhaps, the Breakthrough is an alteration to a person that enables them to glimpse insights from that other reality. A Second Breakthrough enables one to see more clearly and draw power directly from the extra-dimensional source.
Anyway, that's a theory.
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2019-08-30, 02:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2013
- Location
- Pacific NW
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
I'm becoming more and more convinced Albia will die before Agatha leaves England. If the off-stage-for-now Princess Urania shows up in person, the chances skyrocket, since she's likely to be Albia's successor.
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2019-08-30, 02:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
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2019-08-30, 03:45 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2013
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
The Master definitely already had serious reservations. The Heterodyne name may no longer be so strongly associated with villainy, but their misadventures still seem wildly disruptive to local political stability.
Beetle's dead, Wulfenbach is in a time stop, Aronev's dead, the Arguron king is deposed, the High Curator is dead, and I probably missed a few minor incidents along the way (Zulenna, maybe?). Granted, few of those were really Agatha's *fault* but she does seem to catalyze chaos.
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2019-08-30, 04:23 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Semi-Immortal God Queens probably don't die as easily as you'd expect. Particularly if we're going to end this book with shuffling off to not-Britain (I think Africa is next on the list?). It's just...not something I expect to happen.
I mean, it could, just I don't see it as likely.
Information that points to the Beacon Lucrezias being from after her many warps, though it also is solely based on information that Agatha herself had learned (meaning it could just be Agatha-Lucrezia pushing buttons as a complete bluff, without actually knowing anything relevant).Last edited by Squire Doodad; 2019-08-30 at 04:47 PM.
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2019-08-30, 08:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Also the Master being assassinated, a large portion of the Sturmvoraous family getting murdered by siblings (though, I suppose that may just be Tuesday for them), the Corbettites (or at least one depot) bending knee to the Martellus, Wulfenbach's empire breaking out in a number of rebellions after he got injured (which seem to have only escalated since the time-stop) and a large number of Britain's sparks getting murdered. Oh, and not to mention the Other running free through Europa again. Agatha showing up somewhere does definitely means the local order of things is about to be seriously disrupted.
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2019-08-30, 09:05 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
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2019-08-30, 11:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2015
- Location
- On the tip of my tongue
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2019-08-31, 09:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Indeed, the whole setting of Girl Genius is based on the central conceit that magic exists and works in this world but is considered to be science. So it wouldn't make sense for the series to develop into a "our magic isn't real science anyway" direction.
After all, what is going on in the comic whenever a spark gets creative is only science by fiat of the authors - it certainly has nothing to do with the application of the scientific method*.
* with the possible exception of the circus' pie-baking spark's work.Last edited by Deliverance; 2019-08-31 at 09:02 AM.
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2019-08-31, 09:17 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2019-08-31, 09:43 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2009
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
I think that the sparks are "simply" geniuses in the old sense. The idea is that great artists cannot teach you how to create works like theirs, because their secret is simply that they have the genius, and they cannot pass it over to you. It is an innate power, that allows them to see something invisible to the others (either how Nature works, or the Absolute, depending on whom you ask). However, their works can serve as model for a school, and thus represent a breakthrough for artistic production in general.
Sparks have this sort of clarity with scientific matters: once they have an objective, they can reach it because they understand how physics etc work in an immediate way that they cannot teach to others.
The fugue state is very much like the "madness" of the artist as he performs. This is also a very old theme. I don't think it's random that the Baron and Gil look a lot like Beethoven when they first appear, or that Agatha plays music when she destroys the Baron's men.Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2019-08-31, 09:44 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Gender
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2019-08-31, 05:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2019-08-31, 06:11 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2013
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
I think the Spark is still something higher than "being extremely smart and creative". Glassvitch and Merlot were not able to complete the Baron's device despite his instructions - this is partially because the device was designed to be faulty, but even before that Merlot wasn't surprised they were unable to complete it. The Spark involves actually warping physics to create devices that cannot be recreated by anyone but another Spark, which is why Merlot is so frustrated that not having the Spark puts a limit on his achievements that even an uneducated farmboy might surpass. A lower level Spark may be able to re-create the works of a higher level one, especially if given instructions (see: Dumedd transferring Ottila into the giant cat clank). But the Spark is still necessary to do so at all, even if the most competent non-Spark were to take the device apart with instructions and try to put it back together again.
I'm convinced that the final conflict in the story will be the decision over whether to get rid of the Spark or not. The first time window is just too clear - the Muse of Time/Lucrezia/whoever is addressing Agatha and asking if she really wants to return to how she was at the start of the story. The answer to that question should be interesting.
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2019-08-31, 06:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Based on the other windows that are shown, I can see one of two possibilities of what the Muse of Time is doing. The first phrase would be what you said, with the comment being something like "...you being like that?!", in which the Muse of Time is insulting Agatha and pointing out how she was at the beginning.
The other one strikes me as a bit more likely, if we assume that whoever is the Muse of Time in that form is friendly (could be occupied by something else like Castle Heterodyne and Otilia), then it could be a demonstration of how to shift through time. Basically, the conversation being something like
Agatha: "I think I'm supposed to open a window like..."
Muse of Time:"Like that?!"
Ultimately which one it is depends on whether the Muse of Time is supposed to be occupied by a friendly entity (possibly even Lucrezia, things can turn out that way), or an unfriendly one (probably Lucrezia, and probably very upset with Agatha).Last edited by Squire Doodad; 2019-08-31 at 06:52 PM.
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
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2019-08-31, 06:52 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Non-sparks can replicate spark inventions just not understand them. Otherwise clanks or sophisticated weapons could not be mass-produced, or big projects like Castle Wulfenbach created at all. The same would go with repairing spark technology and this can totally be done by mundane people. Whether non-sparks could ever invent things on the same level given enough time is a different question.
This is a very interesting observation and does fit that early page all too well, since Lucrezia is clearly pointing at Agatha.In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
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2019-08-31, 06:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Perhaps the Spark is a sort of a Ley Lines thing? Essentially, the Spark is the energy of the planet itself, as manifested in people. Those like the Heterodynes and the God Queens have found a direct link to the actual source of the planet's energy (the Dyne being a naturally occurring Ley Line deep beneath the surface). Hence the "safe power source" being that since the Sparks derive power from the Earth, they won't lose their buffed intellect unless they somehow leave the planet or the relevant aspect of the Earth is weakened.
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad