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Mod edit to add this convenience link to Girl Genius. Original OP below:


Last thread vanished with the crash...

So, the Weasel Queen interlude is over. Is this Storm King opera another one?

Edited by wingedcatgirl on Feb 19th 2025 at 1:51:41 PM

JerryC Since: Jul, 2012
#44851: Oct 12th 2015 at 8:24:14 PM

I think we need to address why Desmana-clank seems to impress Agatha and Wooster and company, when they've seen entire intelligences swapped with ease and even Agatha's little clanks have complete personalities. Heck, the tiny fragment of Der Castle and the train pack a whole mind into the tiny case. Compared to them, Desmana-clank is crude.

The only thing I can think of is, it's not described as a personality transfer, but seems to be code written to duplicate Desmana's memories and mannerisms. Even then, that's only a cruder method of creating a clank that acts like the person than we've seen used already.

So is this an example of how much more advanced the uber-sparks like Agatha, the Other, and Gil are from even the gifted students of this University?

OriDoodle Mom Lady from East of West Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Consider his love an honor
#44852: Oct 12th 2015 at 8:58:20 PM

I think they are amazed by her because they have a tendency to be amazed by any feat of science. it's what makes our hero-trio so fun. They aren't jaded or cynical yet. think if it was Klaus or Beetle taking a look at the Madame; they'd go straight form admiration to wanting to dissect. Agatha and Gil (and Tarvek too, sometimes) just enjoy the process of geeking out, even if it's something they've seen iterations of. It's like a model plane enthusiast. Sure, we've seen plenty of planes and we will see plenty more but this one is cool too and deserves admiration.

edited 12th Oct '15 9:01:33 PM by OriDoodle

Doodles
Lightningnettle Nettle Since: Apr, 2012 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Nettle
#44853: Oct 12th 2015 at 9:11:58 PM

[up]I love that comparison. :)

mona.soyun Since: Sep, 2014
#44854: Oct 12th 2015 at 9:13:36 PM

I think Desmana may be a different way to skin a cat.

Yes, they may have seen things functionally similar or even superior to her, but they may not have seen anything exactly like her. You can have an electric oven and still think a solar oven is way cool.

Nohbody "In distress", my ass. from Somewhere in Dixie Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
"In distress", my ass.
#44855: Oct 12th 2015 at 11:11:21 PM

For some reason the GG site keeps crapping out on me. Forutnately, however, I can see the comic via the Livejournal post for the strip.

And thanks to the Facebook thread on the strip, I can't help but thinking of the door chime sounding like the one of the cries of "Science!" from Thomas Dolby's song "She Blinded Me with Science".

All your safe space are belong to Trump
Daremo Misanthrope Supreme from Parts Unknown Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: If it's you, it's okay
#44856: Oct 12th 2015 at 11:58:53 PM

Reconstructing someone from scratch seems quite a different matter than transference or direct copying.

Creed of the Happy Pessimist:Always expect the worst. Then, when it happens, it was only what you expected. All else is a happy surprise.
Candi Sorcerer in training from Closer to rimward than hubward Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Sorcerer in training
#44857: Oct 13th 2015 at 7:29:38 AM

The way I see it is, it's the same reaction I have when a new cool tech comes along: I squee. Even if sci-fi's been predicting it, even if it's been extrapolated from current technologies, it's still cool. Ditto for scientific discoveries. One of my current favorites is the use of plasma beams to break stuff down to its base elements; so many applications just for recycling. (Just really expensive to initially build the plants.)

It's also who is doing the mind swap, copy, or writing code that "looks" like the mind. It's easy to go 'meh' when it's another Heterodyne/Other thing, but when it's someone completely different hitting a similar result through their own means? That's great. waii

I wouldn't mind an explanation of what the deal is with the Other and Lu. And it's perfectly possible to feel sympathetic to a past version of a character while wanting to stomp the current version into the ground. And then pour concrete on them. And then break it up and do it again.

edited 13th Oct '15 7:30:04 AM by Candi

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
Candi Sorcerer in training from Closer to rimward than hubward Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Sorcerer in training
#44859: Oct 13th 2015 at 10:22:00 PM

LOVE the weasel grin!

And I think I was right about the weasels being known but rare.

And when did Agatha have time to make those?? Or is that what Chibi-Chewie and Dinky DK were up to?

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#44860: Oct 13th 2015 at 10:43:46 PM

... Gods, no. DK with the Spark again? DingK should never, ever integrate back with DK. Faustus' Spark back in business (if a little muted) plus all that computational capacity — run for the hills!

nameheregrr Since: Feb, 2013
#44861: Oct 14th 2015 at 8:16:25 AM

Hm, that's somewhat worrying.

"Especially the young Baron" implies Gil doesn't have any, not even some leftovers, which can't be good

edited 14th Oct '15 8:17:34 AM by nameheregrr

Schefflera aka PK Since: Sep, 2013
aka PK
#44862: Oct 14th 2015 at 8:26:40 AM

[up] Not just implied, either. He discussed his lack of them with his spymaster a while ago. Going by the ones that escaped to Mechanicsburg, Tarvek had given them some kind of warning, although it's not really clear when he had the chance or what it was about, as we see him basically the whole time from when he interprets Phil's story to mean Klaus is wasped to when Gil sends him back to Mechanicsburg. I'd really like to know more details on what specifically led to their all fleeing CW while Klaus had people try to shoot them down.

edited 14th Oct '15 8:26:49 AM by Schefflera

Discar Since: Jun, 2009
#44863: Oct 14th 2015 at 8:34:47 AM

I assume he just sent a note from the command center when he was sending all sorts of other orders. Of course, the bigger question is why the Vespiary Squads haven't arranged for a weasel to come into Gil's possession. Even if they don't trust him, they should know he's fighting the Other.

Writing a post-post apocalypse LitRPG on RR. Also fanfic stuff.
Schefflera aka PK Since: Sep, 2013
aka PK
#44864: Oct 14th 2015 at 8:44:27 AM

[up]Granted he was still in the Command Center when he listened to Phil's story, but he spent the whole time after hearing it arguing with Gil or racing off to Gil's secret lab. And oddly the Vespiary Squad member he talks to acts like they've met in person before.

You'd think it would be obvious Klaus was against the Other all those years, too, but Barry and Dr. Beetle evidently weren't confident in it. The Vespiary Squad got run off and fired on by Wulfenbach forces, and then Klaus (with a highly suspect wasp-eater) first declared Gil wasped and then that he'd put him under some second kind of mind control. There's just... nothing in this that seems likely to inspire confidence: even if the Squad thinks Gil means well, they're probably going to assume he's compromised one way or the other, and they don't want the Other to have the weasels.

edited 14th Oct '15 8:45:00 AM by Schefflera

JerryC Since: Jul, 2012
#44865: Oct 14th 2015 at 9:39:45 AM

Hee. If this was the Star Trek universe, I'd say Agatha just encountered her first Ferengi. She'd better hang onto everything she has with both hands. And I'm still not convinced Desmana-clank doesn't know anything about the missing Professor, even if she admitted she hadn't seen him for a while. After all, information is just something else to be bought, sold, and traded. If she could track Agatha through !Science! just by knowing why she was in Paris, maybe she can track the Professor by knowing what he was looking for also.

AnotherBear I used to be Ol Bear from Too far away Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
I used to be Ol Bear
#44866: Oct 14th 2015 at 11:14:06 AM

Exactly. Note Madame's careful wording. She hasn't seen the Professor in <412 days>. She does not say that she doesn't know where he is. A <sinfully lucrative> price might just include knowledge as well as filthy lucre.

If it moves, eat it. If it doesn't move, kick it—then eat it!
Mauri Absent-Minded Professor from Where was I again? Since: Mar, 2012
Absent-Minded Professor
#44868: Oct 14th 2015 at 3:49:55 PM

[up][up] Well it is a nice wording and it is more like every single piece of information is worth the salt and any info broker can value the info over the money...

Thing is: Is Desmana going to hold some hold time before spilling the beans or is anyone, most likely the Sturmvoraus, pay her off quite nicely? And it seems that unless I'm on the snooze, or highly away the comic won't be up.

Well here goes nothing
JerryC Since: Jul, 2012
#44869: Oct 14th 2015 at 4:26:01 PM

Her shop was the last place he was seen. She sold him a safe hiding place? And is she willing to sell his current location?

Candi Sorcerer in training from Closer to rimward than hubward Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Sorcerer in training
#44870: Oct 14th 2015 at 10:20:11 PM

Tarvek could have met at least one member of the Vespiary Squad before learning about the wasping, and then sent them a message after Phil's story. The guy networks to get allies and keep track of opponents like he breathes. It would be entirely in character to subtly chat up a few squad members, then use that acquaintance when he realized that these incredibly valuable soldiers and their even more valuable charges were at risk.

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
mona.soyun Since: Sep, 2014
#44871: Oct 14th 2015 at 10:24:40 PM

I've always assumed he had the prescience to order the dispersal before he heard Phil's story. Though I'm not sure if they left when they did because of coincidence, or because Klaus had returned and things were getting weird, or what.

Schefflera aka PK Since: Sep, 2013
aka PK
#44872: Oct 14th 2015 at 10:38:38 PM

You were right about everything! And it's even worse than we thought!

I think the "worse than we thought" line probably suggests that something happened before they left. It sounds like they got confirmation and more. But it'd be nice to know what he said.

edited 14th Oct '15 10:39:09 PM by Schefflera

mona.soyun Since: Sep, 2014
#44873: Oct 14th 2015 at 11:03:13 PM

Well that's maddeningly suggestive and vague.

Candi Sorcerer in training from Closer to rimward than hubward Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Sorcerer in training
#44874: Oct 15th 2015 at 10:03:07 AM

"Tarvek Sturmvoraus, Boy Detective." Besides the backstory, I think this was intended to show us that Tarvek is very good at putting pieces of information together and acting accordingly.

Tarvek has studied Klaus extensively, by his own statement in DK. He would notice if the guy was going OOC, and he would react accordingly.

The weazels and their handlers may not have been part of whatever plan he formulated while in the sack, but the guy has proven good at adapting on the fly when things aren't flatout overwhelming. Probably one of the reasons Gil so annoyed him. tongue Heck, running military maneuvers wasn't in his plan when he was let out of the sack!

Tarvek may be a little weasel who still owes everyone an explanation for screwing with Agatha's communicator, but he's NOT stupid.

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
blauregen Since: Apr, 2013
#44875: Oct 16th 2015 at 2:10:49 AM

I am amazed that weasels are that rare. I thought Tarvek had the vespers and the remaining weasels dispersed into several cities, Paris among them, and Dr. Brenn had them apparently breeding.

By now the next weasel generation should be underway, and I would be disappointed with the MOP and the parisian underground, if the vespers could establish a base in their city without their knowledge

edited 16th Oct '15 2:11:56 AM by blauregen

All I know is, my gut says maybe.

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