Discussion for comic for 2018-08-10 (Friday) ✣ .
Veni, vidi, wiki (I came, I saw, I edited).
Okay, big question #1, of course, is what Trelawney is talking about! And #2 is why she's whispering: is it Gil or Moonbark who's supposed to hear her? (Most likely #1 will answer #2 also.) Small questions: Do we know anything interesting about the exhibits in panels 3 and 5? And what's with the writing on the portal in panel 1? ➤
Interesting that Gil doesn't like the idea. Especially since a working portal in Mechanicsburg might turn out to be part of the solution to the time freeze. I hate to agree with Moonbark about anything (I don't like him much), but indeed Gil is talking like a ruler. But he's wrong about "heretofore unseen"; once they did all work. But they were controlled by rulers, the queens, and so didn't lead to the chaos that Gil fears and Moonbark welcomes. There's no reason to think that modern versions would be freely accessible either. Bkharvey (talk) 04:35, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- Trelawney is talking about the Baron in Gil's head, she's figured out or was told that Gil is not always himself.65.92.32.27 04:41, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- Yeah, I figured that out over dinner. I think at first I was misled by her whispering. Is Klaus-in-Gil a secret from Moonbark? They're colleagues, after all. And, is she proposing that they should provoke Klaus-in-Gil into appearing so they can all have a sociology seminar? Bkharvey (talk) 06:05, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- P.S. Trelawney has seen it herself ✣ , thanks to Tarvek. Bkharvey (talk) 06:22, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- For #2: or she is whispering to herself. That doesn't really look like an "aside to another character" to me, more like "thought to self", expressed so the reader can "hear it". And she's standing a couple paces behind the both of them. But if it is to anyone, it's to Moonbark. Getting the Baron to pop up seems to require the overlay to think there is danger to Gil, so directly informing Gil that "we're going to fake some danger so the Baron will pop up" presumably might not be effective. As she would know from observing Tarvek talk to the Baron. Scientician (talk) 18:39, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- She's not just thinking it. Thought balloons are sort of cloud-shaped, like the ones over Gil here ✣ . Dashed lines are for whispering to someone, like Agatha and Moloch here ✣ . See Speech bubble (which needs updating, by the way) for more discussion. Bkharvey (talk) 01:49, August 11, 2018 (UTC)
- Well then we'll just have to see if an apparent decade-old few bubbles are determinative (and I give the authors reign to not be bound by that, whether intentionally or accidentally). Or maybe a character can whisper to themselves without requiring a listener. Imma vote for - even if it is said out loud - "whispering to herself and no one else". And as a fall-back, to Moonbark. Really, it's possible to overanalyze this sort of thing. Scientician (talk) 04:08, August 11, 2018 (UTC)
- Sorry if I didn't make this clear: These conventions about text in comics way predate Girl Genius. It would be very strange for the Foglios to suddenly flout them. Yes, Trelawney could be whispering just to herself, although I would say that's a bad habit for a spy to develop. But I guess we'll find out next week. (Note how, having been burned too many times, I didn't say "we'll find out Monday." ☺) Bkharvey (talk) 05:19, August 11, 2018 (UTC)
Gil's a spark. Sparks introduce chaos into society all the time! It's not clear to me why teleportation would be more of a destabilizer than all those weapons sparks keep inventing. Indeed, in panel 2, Gil sounds like Othar, who also thinks chaos is bad for the non-spark people. Bkharvey (talk) 06:16, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- No, he has a point. A single new weapon, especially a Sparky one that can't easily be mass-produced, only causes local problems (with a wide definition of "local"). Reactivating a global teleport-network would cause mass planet-wide upheval. --Geoduck42 (talk) 06:28, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
- Again, it's not the same thing. Even if Gil creates a workable flyer that a non-Spark can replicate, it would take time to gear up production, commercially distribute the devices and so forth. He might change society in sweeping ways over the long term, but abruptly reactivating the whole mirror network could bring everything crashing down immediately. ----Geoduck42 (talk) 23:38, August 10, 2018 (UTC)
You know, at the start of this museum trip it seemed absolutely clear that Trelawney brought Gil there on purpose, so that Moonbark could show him the Mirror. Supposing that that's still our assumption, it affects the interpretation of her whispering in the last panel. Under that assumption, she has no need to whisper to Moonbark, because they've planned out this entire interaction. She could be whispering to herself, but only if Gil's comment about nobody talking with Klaus for a while was surprising to her, and changes her goal for the visit. But a new possibility arises: she is whispering to Gil so that he will think she hasn't already discussed Klaus-in-Gil with Moonbark, and is siding with Gil, against Moonbark, to keep Gil's secret. (Remember, Gil doesn't know that Moonbark is a spy.) I'm not sure what the point of conveying a sense of conspiracy to Gil would be, but I never figure out who dun it, so there could be a point I'm missing. Bkharvey (talk) 01:45, August 12, 2018 (UTC)
- Telawney is thinking out loud - quietly to herself (not really a whisper, just very soft speech). She is reacting to Gil's statement about not speaking with Klaus anytime soon. It's there for the readers. Also Telawney did not know about the mirrors ✣ . Moonbark looks suprised Gil identified the mirror. I think they were just showing off the collection, maybe hoping Gil might know what some of it is. In that case, they hit the jackpot on this one. --Fred1740 (talk) 00:56, August 13, 2018 (UTC)
The real implication here - plotwise - is Klaus-in-Gil is going to confirm he was in Skifander, was known as "Chump", married Zanatbrxis, fathered fraternal twins - a boy and a girl, and fled Skifander with his son using the mirrors. That my hope anyway. This would be a way for that to happen. --Fred1740 (talk) 01:04, August 13, 2018 (UTC)
- Here's hoping, but I expect we won't learn that officially until Agatha and Co. actually reach Skifander. --Geoduck42 (talk) 01:11, August 13, 2018 (UTC)
- That's not what I'm hoping for. We already know that, so although it might be exciting for Gil, it isn't so exciting for us. I'm still hoping that Trelawney brought Gil here for a reason. That it's not a coincidence that the curator of the museum is also a spy. If you believe Trelawney that she didn't know about the mirrors, that there's another exhibit she wants Gil to see, and this mirror business is, for her, just a digression, albeit fascinating. Bkharvey (talk) 01:23, August 13, 2018 (UTC)