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 :-)

[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?)

[marycatelli]

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