Girl Genius XXXIII: Plotting, ranting, and menacing the countryside

[Manga Shoggoth]

It is a world ruled by Mad Science! Things happen. Usually, they happen to other people. This is entertainment. That's when the front door gets blown in- And you belatedly realize that, once again, you are doomed to be the entertainment in another exciting installment of: GIRL GENIUS!

Many elegant, finely-crafted, and vintage links follow:

Links to Previous Threads

Spoiler

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Girl Genius! (thread)
Girl Genius II
Girl Genius III: Nize Thread!
Girl Genius IV: Because SCIENCE! is my mistress
Girl Genius V: Madre de Diodes!
Girl Genius VI: Der Pestle in Der Kestle
Girl Genius VII: Get on the Slab, I Want to Get to Work!
Girl Genius: VIII Will Show Them All!
Girl Genius IX: The Unstoppable Thread
Girl Genius X: The Othar Shoe Drops
Girl Genius XI: Ding Dong, the Baron's Dead!
Girl Genius XII: For Doom The Bell Tolls
Girl Genius XIII: "Gott's Leedle Feesh in Trousers!"
Girl Genius XIV: A Lightning Arc in All But Speed!
Girl Genius XV: The Weasel, the Spark, and the Wardrobe
Girl Genius XVI: The Wrath of Klaus
Girl Genius XVII: And Then He Had Pie
Girl Genius XVIII: Invisible Hand of the Legendary Smoke Knights
Girl Genius XIX: Worth a Third of Your Grade
Girl Genius XX: Endothermic Life Forms Are Inherently Heretical
Girl Genius XXI: Cancel the Jugglers
Girl Genius XXII: Paris Needs Pants
Girl Genius XXIII: Screaming, Ranting and Egregious Violence
Girl Genius XXIV: Ask Vit a Bit More Terror
Girl Genius XXV: It needs work! BUT THE CONCEPT IS SOUND!
Girl Genius XXVI: Madness is the best possible response
Girl Genius XXVII: Hoy! Hennybody else not dead?
Girl Genius XXVIII: Dancink! Ve is here for de dancink!
Girl Genius XXIX: A giant corkboard of continuity madness
Girl Genius: XXXenophile Edition
Girl Genius XXXI: Let’s look at it from farther away!
Girl Genius XXXII: The scientific method at work!
Girl Genius XXXIII: Plotting, ranting, and menacing the countryside

Comic Links
Link to current comic and link to the beginning of the strip. (Updates MWF, usually after Midnight [Eastern Time])
The Continuing Adventures of Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer! (back on hiatus, may update in the future)
A compilation (and much easier to read if you're just catching up) of the first three chapters can be found here at the GG website.
And if one goes to snapbird.org and types in "Othar" in the 'Who?' field, all of Othar's adventures can be read on one page (albiet in reverse order of posting - Now must have a Twitter account to use).
Mirror of the comic found on LiveJournal (No longer being updated as of Mid-May, 2017)
Mirror of the comic found on Facebook (Will occasionally have Girl Genius related news)
And one can find mirrors of Girl Genius on deviantArt as well. (Occasionally Kaja will put up or link to interesting GG related art that is found on dA)

Reference Links
Wiki Project devoted to to Girl Genius
Wikipedia entry on Girl Genius.
TV Tropes page on Girl Genius.
The Secret Blueprints (NOTE: Contains background information on the GG Universe, so it should probably be read after "catching up" to the newest comic, as it contains many spoilers.)

Social Media and News Links
(The Foglios also provide some links at the bottom of the comic pages)
Phil Foglio's new Wordpress art, news, and blogging website.
Kaja Foglio's LJ Page and Studio Foglio News LJ Page (Not currently being updated)
Kaja & Phil's Personal Facebook Page (Not currently being updated)
A twitter account that basically is a catch-all feed for Girl Genius related news.
Cheyenne Wright's Twitter and LiveJournal Accounts (The colorist's twitter and LJ pages)

And finally,
Phil's old LJ page. (Occasionally contains crossposts from the Wordpress website)

====

Q: What is this "Sneaky Gate" y'alls go on about?

Sneaky gate: Named from this hidden gate in comic, it has become a name for viewing new comics early. Remember, if you're going to discuss the new comic, put it in spoiler boxes until the release time (12am EST).

Sneaky Gate 101:

1. Right click the comic image.
2. Select view image or copy paste the image location into the address bar.
3. Modify the date to be the day you're trying to look at. (ex. 20120111 -> 20120113)
4. Go to the modified url.
5. Be disappointed when there's no early comic to read.
6. Alternately, enjoy the comic!

[Shining Wrath]

To-do:

1. PLOT!
2. RANT!
3. MENACE COUNTRYSIDE!

[geoduck]

In a massive surprise twist, the current clearing of Mechanicsburg is going to go flawlessly.

[Agi Hammerthief]

it should be noted that Fridays page was not a cliffhanger.

[Hyoi]

Looking at that list of old threads has got me really thinking about the pacing and scale of this comic. When I first discovered this comic I was in high school, this was the most recent page, and y'all were just on thread #7. Now we're on thread #33, but somehow I still feel feel like most of the story happened before I got on board. Like it feels like we are still just wrapping up the loose ends of a story that climaxed with the ringing of the Doom Bell, even though at this there has been much more published after that point than before it.

[Traab]

Gotta tag this so I can spot it on the board easier.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Gotta tag this so I can spot it on the board easier.

I'm not familliar with the process - Is it something set up per account (ie, personal) or is that something I should have done when setting up the original post?

[Traab]

I'm not familliar with the process - Is it something set up per account (ie, personal) or is that something I should have done when setting up the original post?

I just mean now the topic shows a check mark making it easier to notice when it gets a new post made. Normally I make a post related to the comic but I didnt really have anything I felt like contributing but I wanted to be able to check it easier.

[halfeye]

I'm not familliar with the process - Is it something set up per account (ie, personal) or is that something I should have done when setting up the original post?

It's not anything to do with the thread, it's that threads a particular user has posted in show up differently for that particular user (and not for anyone else, if someone else has also posted in a thread it will show up for them too, but their list of posted to threads will (almost certainly) be different from the first user). This only works if you are logged in, but you have to be logged in to post.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Thanks Guys - don't need to change the net thread template, then...

[Rockphed]

Looking at that list of old threads has got me really thinking about the pacing and scale of this comic. When I first discovered this comic I was in high school, this was the most recent page, and y'all were just on thread #7. Now we're on thread #33, but somehow I still feel feel like most of the story happened before I got on board. Like it feels like we are still just wrapping up the loose ends of a story that climaxed with the ringing of the Doom Bell, even though at this there has been much more published after that point than before it.

I started reading the comic a few years earlier than that. I think the most recent page was Agatha entering Mechanicsburg, plus or minus a dozen pages. I do know that I started reading before the volumes that were published dead-tree-style were all online. And I remember the first volume being completely black-and-white. It confused me no end when I first tried reading it that the two story options seemed to diverge so very much.

I will agree that while there has been more volume of story told since the doom bell rang, it has tended to be harder to get invested in the secondary characters. Volume 2 and 3 are set on Castle Wulfenbach and include a few very well fleshed out characters. Volume 4, 5, and 6 have the circus around and take us through Sturmhalten. Then we spend volumes 7 through 13 in Mechanicsburg and Castle Heterodyne. There are some characters who stick around that whole time but there are also a lot of characters who only show up a couple of times spaced out over the course of 7 books.

Then we had a couple volumes worth of travelling to Paris and and around its environs. Then there were a couple volumes of travelling around England. Then there were like 2 volumes of fighting on the weird little island with the giant rats. Then we had a couple years of side stories. There may have been more comic since the bell rang than was before, but I think there was more story before than after.

[TigerHunter]

Perhaps it would be best to think of everything that has happened since the Doom Bell, not as an epilogue "tying up loose ends", but as a sequel? This is a common complaint in TV shows that build to a successful climax and then find themselves starting over at the beginning of a new narrative arc. (And I'm not talking about shows where the story was told but the network execs kept it alive for money either.)

And the thing about sequels is that while they can be good or even better they rarely have the same charm as the original. A lot of things are already established and can't be undone without leaving a bad taste in the audience's mouth. The characters we met on Agatha's Second Road Trip to Mechanicsburg have been less impactful because we know who the main cast are and we know they're unlikely to be added to it. It's full. The dynamic is established. We know in our hearts that none of them are going to turn out to be as important as Tarvek did. There's no time for them to be.

Similarly, Agatha's power level has increased and it's hard to nerf her without it feeling unsatisfying. We're not going to get another "unknown new girl in a weird school" plotline with her, she's either feted or feared as the Heterodyne wherever she goes. She's not going to go undercover and have to get to know the people around her the way she did with the circus, she travels with a retinue. And of course she's a fully fledged Girl Genius and engineers her way out of minor obstacles like "getting captured" in a single page rather than several volumes.

That said, for me personally the early stuff feels more real because I read it over and over again at a formative age and now it's burned into my brain.

[Agi Hammerthief]

the story since the Doom Bell feels like the Foglios are enacting their pension plan.
I just hope they are not doing a Robert Jordan on us.

[Rockphed]

New page is up.

Spoiler

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Can anyone point me to where til trapped the clank? I do not remember it happening at all.

[Devlerbat]

New page is up.

Spoiler

Show

Can anyone point me to where til trapped the clank? I do not remember it happening at all.

Honestly? I want to say "off screen".

[TeChameleon]

New page is up.

Spoiler

Show

Can anyone point me to where til trapped the clank? I do not remember it happening at all.

Huh. I was just about to ask the same thing, as I don't remember that either.

[Agi Hammerthief]

must have happened between here
https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/com...?date=20150612
spymasters report on new slave engines and tiny wasps

and here
https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/com...?date=20151120
extraction of Othar, Gentleman Adventurer.

probably one of the effects of the housekeeping interlude is some loose ends now woven in.

[PraetorDragoon]

Huh.

To be honest, I kinda forgot about her.

[Rodin]

Huh.

To be honest, I kinda forgot about her.

Ditto. It makes sense that she had to be trapped for Gil to get his father removed, but I’m wondering if the Foglios forgot her too…

[Shining Wrath]

This is an interesting development, because it means Gil knew what his father was going to do and deliberately arranged for at least one person (ok, sentient clank) to be in the Time Stop.

So why did Gil not warn Agatha, Love of His Life? Tarvek, possible best friend? He's a major spark, he could have whipped up a mechanical carrier pigeon to fly to Agatha and let her know. Plus, it might have saved her from Martellus.

[Rodin]

This is an interesting development, because it means Gil knew what his father was going to do and deliberately arranged for at least one person (ok, sentient clank) to be in the Time Stop.

So why did Gil not warn Agatha, Love of His Life? Tarvek, possible best friend? He's a major spark, he could have whipped up a mechanical carrier pigeon to fly to Agatha and let her know. Plus, it might have saved her from Martellus.

That’s not what happened. Bohrlaika was around post-timestop, keeping an eye on Gil to ensure he didn’t break out of the Baron’s mind control.

From todays comic it appears that Gil strategically collapsed one of the tunnels into the time stop while Bohrlaika was with him, resulting in her getting trapped and freeing Gil to go free Tarvek.

[tyckspoon]

That’s not what happened. Bohrlaika was around post-timestop, keeping an eye on Gil to ensure he didn’t break out of the Baron’s mind control.

From todays comic it appears that Gil strategically collapsed one of the tunnels into the time stop while Bohrlaika was with him, resulting in her getting trapped and freeing Gil to go free Tarvek.

I didn't even notice when she stopped showing up. Which you'd think that would have been significant but there's just too much entourage following everybody around, and I suppose it seems natural that when the lead trio reunited some of their secondary attachments would fall into the background..

It looks like Bohrlaika is chopping up some of the frames that support the exploratory tunnels. The consequence of doing that should be obvious (or if not precisely known, readily predictable as not a good idea) so probably Gil managed to engineer some scenario in which Bohrlaika 'had to' do that in order to 'rescue' him from some other apparently more severe danger?

[Agi Hammerthief]

I didn't even notice when she stopped showing up. Which you'd think that would have been significant but there's just too much entourage following everybody around, and I suppose it seems natural that when the lead trio reunited some of their secondary attachments would fall into the background..

It looks like Bohrlaika is chopping up some of the frames that support the exploratory tunnels. The consequence of doing that should be obvious (or if not precisely known, readily predictable as not a good idea) so probably Gil managed to engineer some scenario in which Bohrlaika 'had to' do that in order to 'rescue' him from some other apparently more severe danger?

I think Gil had them supports shot:
first shot and she has her sword out looking for the threat,
second shot trapped her.

[tyckspoon]

I think Gil had them supports shot:
first shot and she has her sword out looking for the threat,
second shot trapped her.

Ah, yeah, those are more consistent with how gunshots are typically drawn. Or possibly rigged with small explosive charges, which could be triggered more consistently and less dependent on having a shooter hit a very small target at the exact time you need them to.

[wingnutx]

Honestly? I want to say "off screen".

That right there.

They should let Othar deal with her.

[Anonymouswizard]

the story since the Doom Bell feels like the Foglios are enacting their pension plan.
I just hope they are not doing a Robert Jordan on us.

I honestly suspect it's at least partially the opposite, and they're tying up plot threads so they only have one Journey left (to Skifander and then to deal with the vestiges if the Other). Really the only flaw I can see in that is them bringing in the Polar Lords, but I suspect they're now being shuffled off screen until the final battle to defend the Wulfenbach/Sturmvorus/Heterodyne empire.

So why did Gil not warn Agatha, Love of His Life? Tarvek, possible best friend?

You got them the wrong way round

[Mechalich]

I honestly suspect it's at least partially the opposite, and they're tying up plot threads so they only have one Journey left (to Skifander and then to deal with the vestiges if the Other). Really the only flaw I can see in that is them bringing in the Polar Lords, but I suspect they're now being shuffled off screen until the final battle to defend the Wulfenbach/Sturmvorus/Heterodyne empire.

The timeskip happened all the way back in 2013, eleven years ago. Girl Genius began in 2000. We are fast approaching the 'more content post-timeskip' point. Act One was 13 volumes. Act Two is currently on volume 12, though it does appear to be almost over since it will hopefully conclude with the freeing of Mechanicsburg. Act Three will probably conclude the story, but the chances that it will be short are minimal. Even if they managed to keep it something like half the length of the previous two acts, Girl Genius would be lucky to finish sometime in 2030.

[Hyoi]

I honestly suspect it's at least partially the opposite, and they're tying up plot threads so they only have one Journey left (to Skifander and then to deal with the vestiges if the Other). Really the only flaw I can see in that is them bringing in the Polar Lords, but I suspect they're now being shuffled off screen until the final battle to defend the Wulfenbach/Sturmvorus/Heterodyne empire.

This illustrates my point: the comic has seemingly been in "tying up loose ends so we can get to the resolution" mode for almost 10 years now.

[Ailurus]

I know we're only on page 1 of the new thread set, but title suggestion already: It would be a lot simpler if I could fight her with explosives

[Shining Wrath]

Not only can Bang not use explosives, but the only thing that gets burned is her.