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

[HandofShadows]

Originally Posted by Othniel Edden

If its fixed they can't have adorable weasel human hybrid children though!

But with MAD SCIENCE anything is possible!

[Felius]

Seems Tarvek took a class or two with Violetta...

[Oracle_Hunter]

That Vesper Squad member must be a Rookie. Such a lack of decorum in the face of imminent death!

It's a good thing the Captain wasn't alive to see that exchange -- it'd have killed him

[petersohn]

New comic.

It seems that Tarvek has learned some of Violetta's skills. Also, that weasel is still cute.

[factotum]

Was Tarvek officially trained as a Smoke Knight or did Violetta give him some sneaky lessons when no-one was looking, I wonder?

[petersohn]

Did we ever see him doing things like that, or is it the first time?

[Scowling Dragon]

The Tarveck beginning to push my "Annoying sue-please kick in balls" button again.

But that is a concept problem in a comic where some people are just born competent (Or be a experiment, or a warrior chick) whilst others just have to stand around going "WOW"

[BRC]

Am I the only one who thinks that Tarvek's shoulder-weasel is the best part of this comic?

[HandofShadows]

Originally Posted by BRC

Am I the only one who thinks that Tarvek's shoulder-weasel is the best part of this comic?

Nope. That is one happy looking weasle there.

As for Tarvek being able to take that stuff he did have the training to do it. He preteneded not to pay attention but actually did.

[eee]

Originally Posted by BRC

Am I the only one who thinks that Tarvek's shoulder-weasel is the best part of this comic?

I don't know about the BEST part; but it certainly adds to the joy.

"You can walk with PRIDE with a weasel by your SIDE!"

Those poor Wulfenbachers: They have no idea what's coming...

[CJvR]

Originally Posted by Gez

They could adopt Ferretina.

Well at least Tarvek would have someone to talk fashion with.

[BRC]

Originally Posted by eee

I don't know about the BEST part; but it certainly adds to the joy.

"You can walk with PRIDE with a weasel by your SIDE!"

Those poor Wulfenbachers: They have no idea what's coming...

The Vespiary Squad fight Song
(I have music in my head that fits this.)

Spoiler

Oh WALK with Pride with a WEASEL by your SIDE
In the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squads
Let the Revenants run from your longknife and gun
In the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squads
When the Other Attacks You’ll have good men at your back
In the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squads.
HEY HEY HEY

Let the Hoomhoffers Smash
Let the Airmen shout “Avast”
Let the Infan-try march all day and niiiiiiiiiight

For when the wasps Fly, they all shout out and cry
“Where are the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squaadds!”
HUZZAH!

[Qwertystop]

Originally Posted by petersohn

Did we ever see him doing things like that, or is it the first time?

We wouldn't have seen it, that's kind of the point.

Originally Posted by factotum

Was Tarvek officially trained as a Smoke Knight or did Violetta give him some sneaky lessons when no-one was looking, I wonder?

People could be looking, it wouldn't matter.

[Rockphed]

Originally Posted by BRC

The Vespiary Squad fight Song
(I have music in my head that fits this.)

Spoiler

Oh WALK with Pride with a WEASEL by your SIDE
In the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squads
Let the Revenants run from your longknife and your gun
In the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squads
In an Other Attack You’ll have good men at your back
In the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squads.
HEY HEY HEY

Let the Hoomhoffers Smash
Let the Airmen shout “Avast”
Let the Infan-try march all day and niiiiiiiiiight

For when the wasps do Fly, they all shout out and cry
“Where are the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squaadds!”
HUZZAH!

I made a couple of edits to your song for meter and rhyme. Otherwise, I think this might get stuck in my head.

[Brother Oni]

Originally Posted by BRC

The Vespiary Squad fight Song
(I have music in my head that fits this.)

Spoiler

Oh WALK with Pride with a WEASEL by your SIDE
In the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squads
Let the Revenants run from your longknife and gun
In the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squads
When the Other Attacks You’ll have good men at your back
In the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squads.
HEY HEY HEY

Let the Hoomhoffers Smash
Let the Airmen shout “Avast”
Let the Infan-try march all day and niiiiiiiiiight

For when the wasps Fly, they all shout out and cry
“Where are the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squaadds!”
HUZZAH!

The closest music I can think of is this: link.

It doesn't quite match in the verses, but the chorus is about right.

[hajo]

Originally Posted by factotum

Was Tarvek officially trained as a Smoke Knight or did Violetta give him some sneaky lessons when no-one was looking, I wonder?

Tarvek admitted that he was playing the fool for his backstabbing family, and misdirected everyone successfully, including Violetta.

He got training as smokeknight, but made it appear he didn't pay attention and was just fooling around, flirting with the girls and such.
When Tarvek had another fight with Gil, Violetta realized this.

[Euodiachloris]

If Tarvek was a Stu, all his plan's to gain the Storm King title wouldn't have come down on his head like Castle Strumvoraus before now, would they?

And, although the orangey weasel does clash with his hair a bit, I hope it stays. That grin is a fetching accessory. If a worrying one for whomever it's aimed at, specifically.

[GoryCat]

Like Scowling Dragon said, the whole comic revolves around characters whose entire conception veers close to Sueness. What saves them is twofold:

1. The period of greatest Sueness is fairly compact. They "break out", so to speak. Agatha broke out right after breaking out; Gil broke out at the beginning of Mechanicsburg, which is also the first time he appeared as an independent character; Tarvek is breaking out now, for the same reason. After they establish their credentials, they will proceed to...

2. The things they effortlessly overcome with their indefatigable genius are not real problems. They are either comic, actually sort of easy, or "historical imperatives" that must be proceeded through to get to the big plot that the sparks can't solve just by throwing together something cool.

In number 2, for example, both the falling machines were both comic and imperative, and any of Agatha's inventions on the airship were either comic or sort of easy (like the electrified sword). Gil's lightning generators, though obviously none of the above, were also not presented as being spontaneous, but the product of some significant planning. They were Gil actually being smart, not just mad genius. And, crucially, they broke after one use and were not helpful to him later when it would have been nice.

As far as fighting prowess goes, most of their fights are comic, one of them (with Zola) was definitely not Sueness on the part of anyone, and the ones with Vole seem to allude to Gil's having been actually physically improved somehow, which is plot. And, of course, they led to something bigger, rather than Gil just steamrolling the nominal challenges that are put up just to make him look good to us.

Tarvek is, currently, dripping in plot significance, and he goes about advancing it with a very limited kind of expertise, so far mostly talking. Stealing the weapons was comical, and anyway, I'm guessing that the Wulfenbach forces will be cleared out by the Jagers, who have not yet done much in this scene. Tarvek will get a little self-defense moment for the fans.

Anyway, none of their clever inventions or fancy moves gets them much mileage against Lucrezia, and therefore, from a narrative perspective, they are just placeholders. She builds some neat stuff, they build some neat stuff. Neither side is going to win that particular war.

[eee]

Originally Posted by BRC

The Vespiary Squad fight Song
(I have music in my head that fits this.)

Spoiler

Oh WALK with Pride with a WEASEL by your SIDE
In the Wulfenbach Vespiary Squads
Let the Revenants run from your longknife and gun
In the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squads
When the Other Attacks You’ll have good men at your back
In the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squads.
HEY HEY HEY

Let the Hoomhoffers Smash
Let the Airmen shout “Avast”
Let the Infan-try march all day and niiiiiiiiiight

For when the wasps Fly, they all shout out and cry
“Where are the Wulfenbach Vesp-ary Squaadds!”
HUZZAH!

It's too bad we can't indicate "Like" - or "MEGA-Like" - certain posts...

[Euodiachloris]

Originally Posted by eee

It's too bad we can't indicate "Like" - or "MEGA-Like" - certain posts...

Seconded.

[Porthos]

Dammit, I liked her. She definitely had potential.

Well.... Maybe they'll find some doctors who made it out of the Great Hospital alive.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Ferret Mistress, no!

...man, this has been one of the more corpse-filled segments of GG so far. Well, keep the corpse wagon rolling, Foglios!

[factotum]

Well, she didn't last long, although I suspect the same is likely to be said of the goons who just killed her. Where did they come from, anyway? Seems unlikely they've been lurking around on the crashed ship just waiting for somebody to arrive, and I thought the Jaegergenerals took out all the troops from the *other* airship...

[Felius]

See? That's what you get for covering your face!
And standing on the doorway with your back turned to the outside in the middle of an active battlezone.

Were these the incredibly poisoned sword/daggers or are her chances of survival still decent?

[petersohn]

Originally Posted by Felius

Were these the incredibly poisoned sword/daggers or are her chances of survival still decent?

She was stabbed really badly, so I would guess she is as good as dead. And she is just not important character enough to get revived.

[Porthos]

Originally Posted by factotum

Well, she didn't last long, although I suspect the same is likely to be said of the goons who just killed her. Where did they come from, anyway? Seems unlikely they've been lurking around on the crashed ship just waiting for somebody to arrive, and I thought the Jaegergenerals took out all the troops from the *other* airship...

They've been busy killing everything in sight according to the previous update. So it's not like they were just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

As for how they got there, maybe they boarded it when it was being shot at?

[Icedaemon]

Originally Posted by petersohn

She was stabbed really badly, so I would guess she is as good as dead. And she is just not important character enough to get revived.

Hmm... She did not give her name to Tarvek. She really might be dead.

Originally Posted by Porthos

As for how they got there, maybe they boarded it when it was being shot at?

Recall that some of them landed before the Jagers really started killing them all off (the two taken down by the general in the fez notwithstanding). The units who stayed outside probably expected to kill the Vespiaries when they left the wreckage, while some troops went inside to flush them out/kill them there. Even after the initial attack, the officer(s) tried diplomacy with the Mechanisburgers first, with the forces outside acting as muscle to try and intimidate them. That the generals attacked the forces outside was definitely an unexpected turn of events.

[eee]

Oh POOH!

This could set up an interesting dilemma for Tarvek though, after he kills the goons. If she's still alive, carry her out, carry the notes out, or live large and save both.

[Egneil]

Originally Posted by eee

Oh POOH!

This could set up an interesting dilemma for Tarvek though, after he kills the goons. If she's still alive, carry her out, carry the notes out, or live large and save both.

Or he could take a third option and have her bring the notes to safety, while he carries her out.

[BRC]

It's not as bad as it looks. IIRC, the Stealth Fighters coat their blades in a knockout poison, so Weasel Girl could still be alive.

Also, Tarvek's Pet Weasel is still the best.