Monday's comic!

[murgatroyd666]

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180528

Hmm. Lady Ariadne seems to be a construct. Apparently Britain's rules for peerage are less stringent than those of Europa's Fifty Families.

She has four arms. I can't help wondering ... Does she have four ... uh ... pectorals? And has anyone introduced her to Boris Dolokhov?

Comments

[skybreak]

Do the Fifty Families have a problem with constructs?
I know that once you are dead (even briefly) you are out of the line of succession (which Klaus, Gil and Tarvek all seem happy to ignore), but I don't remember any discussion about constructs.

If any new XXXenophile comics get added we may get answer to the pectorals question :-)

[marycatelli]

Besides, of course, she could be a new creation. It's one thing to say a construct can't inherit but that she can't be MADE a noble -- especially since Punch and Judy show they can have children.

[murgatroyd666]

Do the Fifty Families have a problem with constructs?

Hmm. I would guess that as long as you didn't die before being reconstructed, then the Fifty Families should be okay with it.

I know that once you are dead (even briefly) you are out of the line of succession (which Klaus, Gil and Tarvek all seem happy to ignore) ...

Klaus basically thumbs his nose at the Fifty Families' rules. Tarvek has been dead, but VERY few people know this -- I suspect it may become a plot point. And Gil not only doesn't care, he also hasn't died.

[skybreak]

I thought Gil Tarvek and Agatha all died briefly during the Si Vales Valeo procedure. Agatha and Tarvek definitely died.
Did Gil not die as he was only replicating the symptoms without being actually infected?
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100129

[madfilkentist]

But she wasn't "all the way dead dead." So there's no need to go through her pockets for loose change.

[murgatroyd666]

Did Gil not die as he was only replicating the symptoms without being actually infected?

That seems to be what happened. And we were never shown a scene in which Gil flatlined.

If Tarvek's death ever becomes a plot point, it might turn out to be important that Gil did not die.

[turk187]

He mentions knowing what a post revivification rush feels like. He might have died and been revived at some point.

[turbobeholder]

It already was a plot point, in that he "blackmailed" Violetta to keep it quiet -- revoking his status would invalidate his order for her "transfer" into Heterodyne retinue.
But yes.

Also, technicalities here matter. Much like they mattered for Der Kestle when it "flipped out". And technically all 3 were sort-of-dead.

[madfilkentist]

She'd have to have four pectoral muscles, or her extra arms would be non-functional. But that's an entirely separate question from how many mammary glands she has, if that's what you're asking.

[spectrum_09]

I agree with Madfilkentist. Her extra arms are grafted onto her back, below her original arms, just like Boris. Plus her chest doesn't look like there's any thing extra there (profile in third panel).

Anyone familiar with a British sitcom "Keeping up Appearances"? Lady Steelgarter has a touch of Hyacinth Bucket ("It's pronounced Boo-Kay") in her.

[tylik]

The interesting question is less about pectorals, than more broadly about the bony structure of the shoulder assemblage and the rotator cuff. Honestly, considering that I teach anatomy, and how common are folks with extra arms in various fantastic literature and mythology, I'm kind of surprised I haven't thought about this is more depth before - the biomechanics of the shoulder are a right bitch - basically, you have a very flat ball and socket joint (which itself is mobile) that allows an unusually wide range of movement, supported by a highly tuned but relatively fragile musculature. (Anyone out their had a rotator cuff injury? I'm sure you'd agree...) Does she have extra scapulae? Are they one on top of each other, like plate mail or something? How is the shoulder assemblage mounted vis a vis her rib cage? Then you get to figure out all the muscle attachment points...

(Yes, in fact, my next position is designing biologically inspired robots, but I'm mostly working with invertebrates so this is pretty far outside of my purview. Still, entertaining, no?)

[madfilkentist]

Do you read GG for ideas on how your insectoid (or whatever -oid it may be) robot army can conquer the world?

[tylik]

Molluscan and crustacean, as per present plans (well, okay, I'm working on sea slugs and worms in my spare time - I'm still a neurobiologist at present - and one of my proteges is working on a crab robot which I'll be helping on the design work as soon as I transfer to the new lab.)

...generally, though, people suggests ways of taking over the world with my robots (whether or not I'm even making them currently) on at least a weekly basis. And whether or not I'm interested in taking over the world (not, particularly - running it would be a pain) I certainly wouldn't do it with robots. I was a biochemist before I went into neuro, and a hacker before that - there are more effective means. I could only wish real science worked like mad science - this might be why I'm taking a break and getting my engineering on for a while :-) (Kaja and I were in the SCA and went to school together an absolute age ago, so I got hooked when GG started up, back in paper comic days. Of course, I was a Chinese and Poli-Econ major then <= nope, my career makes no sense at all, don't even try, I've certainly given it up.)

[murgatroyd666]

(well, okay, I'm working on sea slugs and worms in my spare time - I'm still a neurobiologist at present ...

Considering some of the characters we've met so far, wouldn't Aplysia be a great name for a female Girl Genius character? ;^)

[tylik]

Hee!

Check out the awesome dapper Aplysia K B Spangler did for me and the lab.

[murgatroyd666]

Gorgeous!

But perhaps there should be a bit of cross-dressing?

For some reason he reminds me of Oliver Hardy ... perhaps with a touch of Dr. Zoidberg.

I used to work at UC San Diego, and at neap tide we'd go down to the tide pools and see football-sized specimens of Aplysia vaccaria.

[turbobeholder]

madfilkentist:
Do you read GG for ideas on how your insectoid (or whatever -oid it may be) robot army can conquer the world? The Plan was leaked already.
I was a biochemist before I went into neuro, and a hacker before that - there are more effective means. I could only wish real science worked like mad science - this might be why I'm taking a break and getting my engineering on for a while :-) [...] I was a Chinese and Poli-Econ major then So… we have found an unlikely hero to lead the underground mad scientists in case of the friendly Aschen visitation resurgence of Holdren & Co. activity untoward happening? ;]

[murgatroyd666]

The interesting question is less about pectorals, than more broadly about the bony structure of the shoulder assemblage and the rotator cuff.

There was a discussion of this problem a few years ago (a few? more like ten!) on the now-deceased LiveJournal discussion group. I was surprised that Boris wasn't a foot or so taller than he seems to be, since the "easiest" way to construct him would be to graft his head, neck, shoulder assemblage and a section of spinal column onto the top of someone else's shoulders.

But given his height, it looks as though his additional shoulder assemblage was inserted between his original shoulders and his waist. I have no idea where his surgeon put his heart and lungs.

[turbobeholder]

I was surprised that Boris wasn't a foot or so taller than he seems to be, since the "easiest" way to construct him would be to graft his head, neck, shoulder assemblage and a section of spinal column onto the top of someone else's shoulders. Maybe that's how it happened and originally he was much shorter?
Also, this doesn't need to be "someone else", since cloning is practiced when needed. Remember the duplicate of Madame Olga grown by Klaus?

[marycatelli]

She does have a point. It looks bad when your guests look bad. For one thing, it discourages visitors.