Girl Genius

At the very least I think the Heterodynes hung onto "God's in his heaven. And We're NOT. Kapish?"

Mostly Harmless.

One rarely sees a cathedral with gargoyles on the inside . . .

If it moves, eat it!

Gargoyles on the inside? I see skulls and indistinct figures, but no jutting gargoyles.

If the Cathedral is nominally Christian, then I'd say the original Battle Goddess of the Dyne became the Patron Saint.

Tweedle can't be completely stupid, that recovery in the third panel is decent. I do wonder why he won't get off his horse.

edited 12th Apr '13 5:29:59 PM by Lightningnettle

Tweedle seems really attached to his horse.

I'm not sure I'm meant to find the squid keystone adorable, it just looks so angry

The whole thing is adorable, in a spiky, tentacley, skull-decorated sort of way. I wonder if the Skull Queen of Skral had any input into the design.

I will say, it does look like it should have vultures on the roof, not pigeons.

Mostly Harmless.

That's what the vulture-spikes are for

A superficial look at images of cathedrals says that either Notre Dame or Amiens look the most similar, however it has raised a wish in me that someday Phil and Cheyenne do a St. Basil's of Moscow◊. Or this interior of an orthodox Romanian cathedral.◊

Greedy aren't I?

Or this splendid one.

edited 12th Apr '13 6:01:14 PM by Lightningnettle

St Basil's looks more like Castle Heterodyne to me, with the cupolas. But then Bran Castle reminded me more of the cathedral, at least before we'd seen the cathedral's outside up close.

Eastern Orthodox churches can be gorgeous — outside is fancy, inside is fancier. Inside can be like a Faberge egg turned outside-in.

I will say, Tweedle is a distinct person. He's quick enough to know that the Abbess is not a good character reference at the moment. He's...not stupid in the normal sense. But, jeez, he's slow to realize the narrative is already buggered to hell and back and he's in pure improv land.

Mostly Harmless.

Yes, they are beautiful indeed.

I like how Tweedle's glory in the second panel is a bit askew.

Also, how Agatha's hair is a ray of light in the final panel. She's the only thing there with any brightness.

edited 12th Apr '13 6:22:53 PM by Lightningnettle

This isn't page-relevant, but I need to throw it in here before it gets lost.

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I had a thought, dwelling on that bit I found about the Dacian rituals - if you take this wholly into the realm of symbolism, as I am fairly certain none of these cultures intended it this way, the Dacians can be tied to the Wulfenbachs not just by their wolf symbol, but by being signifiers of 'the old way' of doing things in Transylvania, even though the Sachsens themselves were relative newcomers to the land.

The Baron's rule is challenged and at least demi-overthrown by the 'new' Heterodyne (although her family have been resident for as long as the Szkely), the way the Dacians were taken over by first the Romans then by any-bloody-other group with bigger weapons who came by, poor things.

But — the Wolf overtaken by the Dragon. And who was the most famous Transylvanian of them all prior to this? The Son of the Dragon himself, Voivode Vlad.

edited 12th Apr '13 6:33:39 PM by Corgi

Could be. They're jazzing on all sorts of themes from the area and cultures. Frex, Agatha's a Firebird, or was intended as such: she was to be Lu's immortality, in which Lu would rise and rise again.

One of the classic fairy tales is of Prince Ivan and the Gray Wolf...who rides to defeat Koschei, the deathless enchanter.

I haven't sorted out the bits and pieces yet. Yours may well fit in.

Mostly Harmless.

I think part of it is that the gothic novels they're drawing on directly were often themselves drawing on fairytale themes. So you have a hard time telling whether it's filtering through or being brought in, and it's probably both.

Well I'll be darned hippogrif you made me laugh with your comment... well the gargoyles might as well be some part of the secondary DK maybe they created the Cathedral as a companion for DK... wondering how it fell into the old brickhouses.

Well here goes nothing

Corgi — I didn't mean I thought Mechanicsburg was in a plain. More that it could... maybe be in different mountains from where I was thinking, or that the Heterodynes' empire at the time could have spread southward. (It would have had to go downhill at some point, anyway. *g*) But I remain befuddled by Agatha's route to Mechanicsburg.

If Tweedle thought he was going to ride that horse all the way into the Cathedral, either he is obfuscating his stupidity beyond the Zola line or he has never even seen a picture of a clue.

But I'm getting bad vibes about the Abbess. She sounds like she's up to her wimple in the Stormongfishy King plot. I don't think she's got a copy of Lu in her, but she still sounds like bad news.

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Tweedle doesn't exactly have the pure, intense red hair of the Storm Keep line, does he? I wonder if that red dome comes off with the circlet. His brows more resemble the famous painting of the famous Vlad.

edited 12th Apr '13 7:40:43 PM by GreybeardFan

Tweedle is hiding something, something that the horse is helping him conceal. I bet it's something embarrassing.

Also, he seems less stupid than extremely single minded. Like once he gets an idea in his head, he's holds on to that all the way up to truly absurd levels. Right now, he sees himself as Agatha's heroic suitor, and nothing, esp. not reality, is going to change his mind.

Just guesses.

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."

I think the lighting is just doing funky things to the redheads right now. For at least the past few pages, Tarvek's eyebrows and his hair from the temples down have also tended to look very dark.

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I don't know what's up with Tweedle and his horse, but he was perfectly capable of getting around without it earlier.

edited 12th Apr '13 7:57:24 PM by PK

Have we seen Tweedle when he wasn't in an elevated position? I'm betting when he gets off the horse he'll be substatially shorter than we think.

Trump delenda est

No, he's normal enough height when he jumps off the Clank onto the battlements during his first appearance. And he can stand unsupported, that was another possibility I thought of.

http://www.mansionofe.com

Maybe the man just likes his horse, and the dashing figure he cuts on it. Is that so wrong?

Maybe he can't dismount without help. Or without Drama of the Moe Howard variety.

Depends on just how much he "likes" his horse doesn't it?

Trump delenda est

The classic Russian Hero Horse flies. Very handy for abducting/rescuing the Tsarina of your choice. And this is a horse supplied BY the Abbess specifically for the Storm King.

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This is totally off-topic, but if you're at all interested, consider reading this op-ed on Wounded Knee from the NYT, and then consider signing this petition an associate put together asking the Gov't. to make Wounded Knee a National Monument.

If you think the topic of sufficient importance, please consider giving it message amplification by passing it on in your social circles.

In my own opinion our nation has an obligation to recall its shames and its tragedies, as well as its pride and its victories.

edited 12th Apr '13 8:40:25 PM by Hippogrif

Mostly Harmless.