Discussion for comic for 2020-03-20 (Friday) ✣ .
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Well, as I was hoping, one of the Deepdwellers has been "canonically" named now. With a little luck we may also get "Yeller Tayle's" real name in the next page or two, and maybe even His Serenity's. -- William Ansley (talk) 05:34, March 20, 2020 (UTC)
Scientician, good call about the subsonics! Also, His Serenity calling Rakethorn "Miss Thorpe" is hilarious! Bkharvey (talk) 06:31, March 20, 2020 (UTC)
It seems the Deepdwellers were playing a deep game and were not nearly as naive about humans as they appeared to be. Apparently, they didn't really think Agatha was a mermaid; but, by pretending to, gave the "dryfin sparks" the chance to dig their own graves. Fortunately for Our Heroes, the intervention of Karl Thotep and Agatha's level headedness seem to have prevented disaster. -- William Ansley (talk) 23:40, March 20, 2020 (UTC)
I'm probably overthinking again, but it's interesting that Gooblot is a "classically trained" boomroarer. In our world, that phrase isn't used for classical musicians; it's used for former classical musicians who are now doing rock or jazz or something. So I'm wondering how classic boomroaring differs from modern boomroaring. Also wondering what weapons the other sparks have in their pockets. Also wondering what her costume did to Agatha! Bkharvey (talk) 02:55, March 21, 2020 (UTC)
- Judging by the expression on Gil's face in panel 4, he knows what's about to happen. Also, the costume was supposed to react to subsonics generated by Agatha's muscles.
- Classical Boomroaring may be used for echo-location and communicating. Modern boomroaring, they can 'read' the returns and match them to known weapons systems and other non-living constructions. Doug Relyea (talk) 06:15, March 21, 2020 (UTC)
- I get that about the subsonics; I meant, what specifically is the costume doing? Bkharvey (talk) 10:49, March 21, 2020 (UTC)
- Um ... subsonics will vibrate. Intensely, even. Consider where she's sitting in the costume, and I don't think I need to say more. I suspect Agatha's "Yes… very." is a reaction to both sheer relief that she was right in insisting all weapons be taken out, plus a more … subtle reaction. --Dmbreakey (talk) 14:05, March 21, 2020 (UTC)
- Nudge, nudge! -- William Ansley (talk) 21:13, March 21, 2020 (UTC)
- Well, yes, her expression does suggest that, but when the boys were building in specific actions in response to subsonic commands, presumably they had in mind things visible from outside--turning the costume on, rather than turning Agatha on. The latter I take to be a side effect. Bkharvey (talk) 01:19, March 22, 2020 (UTC)
- Yes, I think that was an unintended side-effect. Let's face it, were they expecting a Boomroarer to analyze it? Did they even know such a thing existed? Machines, even Spark-designed ones, can only respond as expected when exposed to what they're designed for. And I doubt they wasted time encoding a sophisticated intelligence that could cope with the unexpected into this…of course, that's also assuming they could help themselves, too…Agatha did stop them on the weapons. --Dmbreakey (talk) 13:41, March 23, 2020 (UTC)
- Nudge, nudge! -- William Ansley (talk) 21:13, March 21, 2020 (UTC)
I'm wondering what the CLIK CLIK CLIK was supposed to be. My first thought was it's the igniter for the flamethrower, the way various gas grill and butane grill lighters can sound. Now I'm thinking it was the dangly decorations shaking against the costume. Doug Relyea (talk) 17:35, March 22, 2020 (UTC)
- Not just grills; the burners on my stove make that sound too. But I assumed that the sound effect was for the operation of the motion mechanisms that are supposed to react to subsonics produced by Agatha's muscles (panel 5) ✣ . By the way, a nice art detail I just noticed is the opera-tenor-about-to-sing look on Gooblot's face in panel 4. Bkharvey (talk) 20:40, March 22, 2020 (UTC)
- I take it to be the motion-responsive mechanisms trying to fire weapons that are no longer there, as in the “click .. click...” of a pistol’s hammer hitting an empty chamber. It’s the indication that were it not for Agatha’s orders, the suit would have been firing live weapons. Scientician (talk) 03:26, March 23, 2020 (UTC)