Girl Genius XIII: "Gott's Leedle Feesh in Trousers!"

[Scarlet Knight]

...until you watch Willard . *shudders*

[CJvR]

Originally Posted by GoryCat

You've never had any pet rats, I see.

No, not even filigree Siberian Hamsters (6 min)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPP4P3gKGss

[Squark]

Originally Posted by Euodiachloris

Even smug and content, only a Jäger could find Weazilla cute.

I'm going to take that as a complement.

[Euodiachloris]

Oh... it is. I'd rather be Jorgi then, say <pulls a name out at random> Fräulein Snaug. Mind you, she'd also find Weazilla cute (just before it'd go for her). For scary, scary reasons...

That girl is surely not right in the head.

[Landis963]

Originally Posted by Euodiachloris

That girl is surely not right in the head.

To be fair, the only girl in the GG!verse who arguably is right in the head is Violetta. (Most of the women we've met are Sparks, so...)

[Icedaemon]

I believe this is the first time we see the anti-wasp squadron's training in action. Odd that the rest have been treated as fodder - they have amazing hats.

[Avilan the Grey]

For some reason I stopped reading this for almost a year. Just caught up.
Good, as always...

[Euodiachloris]

See, slaver warriors? When you kill the bond-beasties without incapacitating their ranger first, said ranger goes nuts. Pick the targets better...

[eee]

Oh, I like her! I wonder if she's going to become another of von Zinzer's harem...

Too bad about the Captain.

I'm slow, but I started thinking about the Weasel Patrol, as I think I'll call these guys ("You can walk with PRIDE, with a weasel by your SIDE!"). Tarvek knows a lot about them, they apparently followed his instructions on defecting from the Empire even though he could have only given them those instructions during his brief period in charge of Wulfenbach forces or before, they're obeying his orders now... I suspect these may be traditional Storm King troops who were in Klaus' camp because there was no Storm King. Now there is. Or will be. This could be interesting.

[Scowling Dragon]

Eh, this comedic shift is a bit too jarring.

[BRC]

Originally Posted by eee

Oh, I like her! I wonder if she's going to become another of von Zinzer's harem...

Too bad about the Captain.

I'm slow, but I started thinking about the Weasel Patrol, as I think I'll call these guys ("You can walk with PRIDE, with a weasel by your SIDE!"). Tarvek knows a lot about them, they apparently followed his instructions on defecting from the Empire even though he could have only given them those instructions during his brief period in charge of Wulfenbach forces or before, they're obeying his orders now... I suspect these may be traditional Storm King troops who were in Klaus' camp because there was no Storm King. Now there is. Or will be. This could be interesting.

Nah, the Storm King hasn't been around for centuries, and the Wasps didn't show up until near the end of The Long War. These are Wulfenbach Troops, I think Tarvek warned them about Klaus being Wasped, and they ended up getting confirmation, either before or after Klaus sent the black-ops troops to kill them.

And Weasel Girl is awesome.

[Luzahn]

Originally Posted by eee

Oh, I like her! I wonder if she's going to become another of von Zinzer's harem...

Too bad about the Captain.

I'm slow, but I started thinking about the Weasel Patrol, as I think I'll call these guys ("You can walk with PRIDE, with a weasel by your SIDE!"). Tarvek knows a lot about them, they apparently followed his instructions on defecting from the Empire even though he could have only given them those instructions during his brief period in charge of Wulfenbach forces or before, they're obeying his orders now... I suspect these may be traditional Storm King troops who were in Klaus' camp because there was no Storm King. Now there is. Or will be. This could be interesting.

But....they're already the Vespiary Squad.

[multilis]

"Too bad about the Captain."

Not sure if that is "the end", considering it was not the end when the head of enemy general who had been dead for a while was revived in a jar and might one day get a body. As well Punch and Judy were shredded and are likely ok now. (Punch can now talk so he may actually be better than before)

Similar with "Doctor Bren", if his head is still complete, may not be gone.

So far, there are still complete labs in Kestle, and the captain and Dr Bren are probably very valuable to everyone fighting the Other.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Originally Posted by multilis

"Too bad about the Captain."

Not sure if that is "the end", considering it was not the end when the head of enemy general who had been dead for a while was revived in a jar and might one day get a body. As well Punch and Judy were shredded and are likely ok now. (Punch can now talk so he may actually be better than before)

Similar with "Doctor Bren", if his head is still complete, may not be gone.

So far, there are still complete labs in Kestle, and the captain and Dr Bren are probably very valuable to everyone fighting the Other.

I was having this exact discussion with my SO just the other day: resurrection is too expensive to just bring everyone from the dead. It is also restricted in time, since soon the brain is too far gone to rebuild - unless you just want them for their genes (as was the case with pretend!Agatha).

Now, Dr. Bren would be a prime candidate, but Mechanisburg doesn't have the resources right now - the castle is in power saving mode, and everything else is dedicated to the defence of the city. If the hospital hadn't be destroyed, maybe Dr. Sun could've saved Dr. Bren (assuming the crash didn't smash his brains) but as it stands, Agatha simply can't resurrect anyone that dies.

Grey Wolf

[Othniel Edden]

That could be the case if the body is not perserved. If its still within a few hours of the death they may be able to still perserve Breen and bring him back at a later date. I think a few of the castle sparks were revification specialists and could at least jury rig something...

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Originally Posted by Othniel Edden

That could be the case if the body is not perserved. If its still within a few hours of the death they may be able to still perserve Breen and bring him back at a later date. I think a few of the castle sparks were revification specialists and could at least jury rig something...

Agreed. By they, like everyone else, are focused on the defence of the city (specifically, the now-free sparks are fixing the city's defence system under the direction of no-longer-bumbling Von Zinzer). Yes, IF Breen's head is intact and IF they get to it in time and IF a spark can jury-rig something quickly enough it could be recovered. But the only spark handy doesn't seem to have clued into the idea, which might indicate he lacks the ability (since noble houses frown on the procedure since it messes their succession charts, he may not have ever been taught how to do it).

Grey Wolf

[HandofShadows]

Originally Posted by BRC

Nah, the Storm King hasn't been around for centuries, and the Wasps didn't show up until near the end of The Long War. These are Wulfenbach Troops, I think Tarvek warned them about Klaus being Wasped, and they ended up getting confirmation, either before or after Klaus sent the black-ops troops to kill them.

And Weasel Girl is awesome.

Don't think so. Tarvek didn't find out about the Baron being wasped untile after Gill got there. And then there was no time to give orders. So he must have warned the Bug Hunters that there would be a lot of bugs around and to head to Mechanicsburg (The safest place for them) since he knew Lucy was back.

Also I think we are missing a character: Sergeant Scorp!

[BRC]

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

Don't think so. Tarvek didn't find out about the Baron being wasped untile after Gill got there. And then there was no time to give orders. So he must have warned the Bug Hunters that there would be a lot of bugs around and to head to Mechanicsburg (The safest place for them) since he knew Lucy was back.

Also I think we are missing a character: Sergeant Scorp!

I don't know, he knew about the Sparkwasp. It may not have been that much of a deduction to conclude that Klaus was wasped, or at least warn the Vespid Squad that it was a possibility.


Also, am I the only one who thinks some sort of Girl Genius: Total War game would be amazing?

[Lix Lorn]

Originally Posted by BRC

Also, am I the only one who thinks some sort of Girl Genius: Total War game would be amazing?

I'd buy it.

[Rockphed]

Originally Posted by BRC

Also, am I the only one who thinks some sort of Girl Genius: Total War game would be amazing?

Only if there were a chance to produce random units like Jaegers, the squirrel guys, slaver wasps, or better clanks.

[sherlock]

Originally Posted by BRC

Also, am I the only one who thinks some sort of Girl Genius: Total War game would be amazing?

I would definitely buy it!
Also it would be the first videogame I'd buy as soon as it's on the shelves (instead of my usual "Wait a few months: price will be MUCH lower and patches will be already released to fix bugs").

[Avilan the Grey]

Speaking of something I noticed many panels back:

Anyone but me thought that the fact that Gil is explicitly referring to Science (not Science!) when arguing about his flying machine with Tarvik is very interesting? It also seems like Tarvik is too much of a spark to actually pay attention to real physics and whatnot?

[HandofShadows]

I think most Sparks don't pay much attention to physics (or anything else) if it gets in the way of what they are doing. Gil is not a typical Spark by any means. For instance he didn't make Death Rays like all the other did. (Of course when he does make Death Rays they tend to more like heavy artillery or forces of nature. ) He rearly acts like a meglomaniac and even then he still seems to be in control of himself on some level. Most Sparks are clearly out of control in the Madness place.

[Gez]

Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey

For some reason I stopped reading this for almost a year. Just caught up.

Was that reason "castle fatigue" by any chance?

I think even in album form, it dragged on for far too long. It's nice that the plot is actually moving again.

[Icedaemon]

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf_c

Agreed. By they, like everyone else, are focused on the defence of the city (specifically, the now-free sparks are fixing the city's defence system under the direction of no-longer-bumbling Von Zinzer). Yes, IF Breen's head is intact and IF they get to it in time and IF a spark can jury-rig something quickly enough it could be recovered. But the only spark handy doesn't seem to have clued into the idea, which might indicate he lacks the ability (since noble houses frown on the procedure since it messes their succession charts, he may not have ever been taught how to do it).

Grey Wolf

Didn't Tarvek build at least the mechanical-body component of his sister's support system (now Lucreziabot)? He probably knows quite a bit about revivification.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Originally Posted by Icedaemon

Didn't Tarvek build at least the mechanical-body component of his sister's support system (now Lucreziabot)? He probably knows quite a bit about revivification.

He built a clank that eventually took on a life of its own by quite shamelessly ripping off Von Rijk's (sp?) work. If either him or his father had been able to resurrect his sister, they would've done so, not just let her waste away in a case connected to a clank.

As sparks go, Tarvek is not the greatest - yes, he is good with clanks because he has studied from the absolute best clank-maker ever, but other than that, his strength lies more in the political arena (which makes sense from a literary perspective: Agatha and Gil already have the "high-level spark" angle covered - the story didn't need a third).

Grey Wolf

[HandofShadows]

Hate to say it, but give Tarvek some more credit. While he did learn from the best, he was the only one of them that was able to get one of those clanks back to even a partially functional state. I wonder when those two clanks will be back again. They need to have a family reunion.

[eee]

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf_c

He built a clank that eventually took on a life of its own by quite shamelessly ripping off Von Rijk's (sp?) work. If either him or his father had been able to resurrect his sister, they would've done so, not just let her waste away in a case connected to a clank.

As sparks go, Tarvek is not the greatest - yes, he is good with clanks because he has studied from the absolute best clank-maker ever, but other than that, his strength lies more in the political arena (which makes sense from a literary perspective: Agatha and Gil already have the "high-level spark" angle covered - the story didn't need a third).

Grey Wolf

Tarvek's sister wasn't dead, though, she was dying from the botched attempt to use the Summoning Engine on her. If she had actually died I'm not sure they could have brought her back because of the possibility her brain was fried. Tarvek built a life support capsule with an external clank because I assume he believed constant stimulus and communication with the outside world would help Anevka recover, mentally and physically. As it turned out he was wrong, long-term, but he reverse engineered Tinka so well he build a clank capable of assuming Anevka's personality. That's pretty impressive, really...

Also, we really haven't seen Tarvek able to cut loose and show what he can do. So far he's been constrained by politics, circumstance, and events. Unlike Gil, who could build Falling Machines, lightning devices, and all sorts of gizmos before he fell into the current whirlwind that is his life. To tell how good a Spark Tarvek is, we'd have to see what he came up with in his private lab when he had the time, or put him in one now and let him go to work without having to stop and save the day every few minutes.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Originally Posted by HandofShadows

Hate to say it, but give Tarvek some more credit. While he did learn from the best, he was the only one of them that was able to get one of those clanks back to even a partially functional state. I wonder when those two clanks will be back again. They need to have a family reunion.

Not sure what you are referring to - Tarvek broke the dancing clank he stole when reverse-engineering it to create Clank!Anevka, and even though he claimed he would be able to fix it with access to Van Rijk's notes, he has yet to do so (and I'm sorry, but we know good enough engineers can follow spark's notes to reconstruct spark inventions - if Tarvek's best claim is that he can copy Van Rijk's designs, that isn't much of a claim).

Originally Posted by eee

<snip> we really haven't seen Tarvek able to cut loose and show what he can do. So far he's been constrained by politics, circumstance, and events. Unlike Gil, who could build Falling Machines, lightning devices, and all sorts of gizmos before he fell into the current whirlwind that is his life. To tell how good a Spark Tarvek is, we'd have to see what he came up with in his private lab when he had the time, or put him in one now and let him go to work without having to stop and save the day every few minutes.

OK, fair enough. But I still stand by my assertion that Tarvek has not demonstrated the ability to bring people back from the dead - Anevka is at best a clank copy of a better model, as is Crankrecia's head. We have not seen him working on anything biological except to keep it alive with the help of clanks. He may be amazing with biological entities in private, but we have no evidence of it. And since he has not sent a single Jaeger to recover Breen's head, I seriously doubt he is - compare to Gil, who immediately dispatched the ex-jaeger to recover the head of the invasion commander.

I'm at work, so I can't check myself, but did he have any positive input in the design of the rolling death machine that cured him and Agatha in the Kestle? Or was he the doubting Thomas to Agatha and Gil's designs?

Grey Wolf

[Gez]

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf_c

Not sure what you are referring to - Tarvek broke the dancing clank he stole when reverse-engineering it to create Clank!Anevka, and even though he claimed he would be able to fix it with access to Van Rijk's notes, he has yet to do so (and I'm sorry, but we know good enough engineers can follow spark's notes to reconstruct spark inventions - if Tarvek's best claim is that he can copy Van Rijk's designs, that isn't much of a claim).

Didn't he blame both Tinka's state and the real Anevka's death on his father? I didn't find this part in the archive but I vaguely remember it.