Girl Genius

Just spent some time reading up on Voltaire. Did we know the Master of Paris' name prior to this? I haven't read the novelizations, and I don't recall seeing it before.

At any rate, doesn't look like he's the Voltaire. Theories?

Well, the Real Life Voltaire took that name as a pen name, and it was a one-word name. Also, he wasn't of African descent. So the Master of Paris isn't Francois-Marie Arouet.

That said, Voltaire did hate his birth name to the extent that he wanted letters to him addressed to "Monsieur de Voltaire," and while he never had children in the real world, we're talking an alternate universe. If I were to guess, I would say that the historical Voltaire was the Master's ancestor.

Maybe a godparent situation?

Part of the point of godparents was to designate a specific person as the guardian of a child, should the parents fall to one of the many things that could kill you in medieval and onwards time.

If Voltaire-alternate had a godchild, whether or not the parents died, the child may have taken his name or given it to one of their children.

If the historical Voltaire was the Master's ancestor, one of them was probably time-traveling.

François-Marie Arouet was born in 1694; Simon Voltaire claims (with, I think, reasonable credibility) to have fought alongside Andronicus Valois at Sturmhalten, which (unless you subscribe to the "canon takes place in the 1990s" theory) was probably in the 1660s.

And to answer the other question, he's named in The Works: Simon Voltaire (Master of Paris - Spark).

@Schefflera Yeah, it did feel like the timeline wouldn't match up.

I'm leaning more toward adoption/designated heir as well.

So our Voltaire was a political scientist (as well as philosopher, etc). I'm guessing the GG Voltaire would be a Mad Political Scientist? Given what Prof. Mittlemind is like (social scientist IIRC), that would be terrifying.

Personally I wouldn't be all that surprised, from an in-story perspective, if GG-verse Arouet never used that nom-de-plume at all. The effect would have been somewhat different if the name already belonged to a ruler. And according to Wikipedia he had over 170 other pennames, so evidently he wasn't having trouble coming up with alternatives.

On the other hand, it seems more than a bit odd from a writing perspective not to have any connection at all.

Real world Voltaire was mostly a philosopher, but he certainly wasn't restricting his social circle to just those. In fact, his most famous lover, the marquise du Châtelet, was a mathematician and physicist by our reckoning. In the GG-verse, if you want to convince me that the two went back in time to start a family, well, that would hardly be the hardest leap of logic to make.

Honestly, I think they sometimes just pick names because they're cool. Simon Voltaire is a pretty cool name.

I agree, I don't think there's anything special about that name. It just sounds kinda cool and has "volt" in it, so it's pretty fitting for a spark.

Would Alessandro Volta have been alive at that point? ... (checks) 1745-1827. Maybe if the Master changed his name later.

Page is up.

I am just loving this arc. :D

Page!

Wheels within wheels within wheels...

edited 4th Oct '15 10:20:21 PM by Candi

Also, I really wanna tell Seffie to get her iron checked...

Maybe eat a steak...

I mean, there's pale, and then there's pale.

Perhaps it's makeup of some kind, as a fashion style? Powdered wigs were fashionable at one point in RL, for an example off the top of my head.

"Lightning Effects"? Oh, that'll go smoothly. Not anticipating any problems at all, nope.

Also, 'finds out about you and young Wulfenbach'? What is there to find out? No really, I'm asking. How far has she gotten and how far do people think she's gotten?

edited 5th Oct '15 3:20:18 AM by ElfKid2.0

I'd guess people think she's gotten further than she has.

Well Tweedle just lost the point on why the Masked Ball... did any of you see that one coming?

Also again I had to be asleep for this to go up so I guess that the REM monitor is back on business.

Tweedle only picks points up when he wants to.

I get the idea Tweedle's better with animals than people. Social maneuvering just isn't his thing.

Seffie seems a little bit naive, TBH. Couldn't tell you why. She's clearly not stupid. But I feel like Tarvek would run rings around her.

So who's Tweedle's knight? Hoffman? Baxter? Someone we haven't seen yet?

Seffie might be wearing white powder to make herself look paler than she is -although I really hope Sparks and science are up on the whole 'lead is poisonous' thing.

I like how we're seeing the interaction between Seffie's and Colette's plans. I wonder if Grandmother's support of Tweedle is due to Seffie being there to manage him.

I'm sure there are those who would consider this heresy but to be honest I could be quite happy with an ending that has Gil ruling the Empire with Seffie at his side and Tarvek as the éminence grise behind the throne of Castle Heterodyne. Both consorts do the actual ruling while the Sparks-in-Charge went about Europa happily improving the infrastructure. Seffie and Tarvek could plot and scheme, make and break alliances, connive and wheedle while Agatha and Gil improve the lot of the common folk. Sounds like a happy ending to me.

edited 5th Oct '15 9:34:09 AM by AnotherBear

Aside from the shipping disagreement itself, you seem to have somewhat more confidence in Seffie's trustworthiness and Tarvek's competence as a ruler than I do.

Aside from her laugh, Seffie seems reasonably sane and practical. Tarvek's similar when he's not really mad or Sparking out.

If they ever work together, I really hope it's for a reasonably good cause. They're scary enough as it is.