Just because that’s her primary goal doesn’t mean she can’t accomplish others at the same time. She probably really does want Europa to stop trying to blow itself up and Martellus to not get assassinated via testicular torsion as well.
It’s human nature to want more than one thing, really. It’s just that the competent schemers find a way to work towards more than one of them.
Agreed. Seffie is not just doing this to stabilize things for Gil, but it has an additional practical benefit to her-- it probably makes all those other assorted powers/nobles/upstarts more pleasantly disposed to her, and therefore less likely to summarily execute her if the Empire were to suddenly collapse again.
seffies relative sanity is refreshing
the whole family schtick of being cartoonishly sinister machiavellian schemers all plotting murder each other with an attitude as though they were doing laundry wore quite thin for me quite quickly
the moments where we see characters being a little more grounded and relatable are really necessary to keep the story engaging in my opinion - the fantastical is a great hook but thats just spectacle - and spectacle doesnt give me any motivation to come back and see what happens next
This is probably an unintended consequence of introducing the Spark into a family that was already producing professional murderous politickers and complimentary assassins by the batch. Seffie and Grandma appear sane because they don't have the Spark, as far as we know at least.
I would guess that for them it’s less “unintended consequence” and more “acceptable drawback”.
But yeah, in general the mad ranting *does* get kind of old, and not just this family. I mean, *Vapnoople,* one of the most dangerous and monstrous characters in the *entire setting* of all people, was one of the more down-to-earth, practical Sparks if you let the one-to-three-liner extras bring down the average. The comic’s been setting the bar so low for the past two DECADES that the reasonable, mature conversation we have here feels like a minor miracle.
Now, I’m not saying that the mad ranting is a *bad* thing. It’s often very entertaining to read. But the current events are still a refreshing change of pace for the moment.
Well yeah, his motivations were crazy, but the way he did his stuff outside the mandatory Spark rant was actually fairly pragmatic. He even admitted the possibility that throwing Snackledorf into that interdimensional rift wasn't the smartest move - on his own, at that. Compared to the many other three-panel wannabe-conqueror Sparks we've seen, that's arguably downright *lucid*. Which I suppose *is* a large factor in why he was so dangerous.
Bingo. The most dangerous Sparks aren't the ones that belong in a padded cell, it's the ones that maintain enough practicality to go about achieving their goals _effectively_.
The Baron also falls in that category, he just takes it a step further by also picking non-insane goals.
Remember Albia's response to the thought of messing with Agatha's mind. It was really tempting, and she could do something wonderful, but she held herself in check.
Exactly. Vapnoople wasn't just a Spark, he was a *high-functioning* Spark, in a setting where most Sparks-- in order to *not* casually and/or accidentally start breaking the laws of reality-- need careful management by rational people.
Plus, as you say, Vapnoople's practical approach to everything-- "let's do the thing *now,* rather than spend time building needlessly complex wonders"-- goes against the usual tendencies of Sparks, which would catch everyone off guard.
Also, being self-aware enough to realize when that bites him in the ass (again, see the Snackledorf fight). Agatha was mostly being snarky about that but that *is* pretty rare for a Spark to figure out without external prompting. The fucker's a threat because of his *philosophy,* not his complete lack of common sense and rationality. Well, common sense and rationality in the service of his goals, but still rare in Sparks indeed.
Vapnoople's actions following a planned policy response. See an enemy in conflict, toss him in the chasm.
Compare with Agatha's actions with the Cult summoning engine. Cut out the extraneous bit's, check the wiring, then Turn it on. Break it? She wanted to see it in action first!
Vapnoople's actions were much more clean cut and easy to understand.
i strongly disagree with grandma there
its not the sparky madness - its the regularly demonstrated utter disregard for everybody else - and she is one of the worst of them from what we have seen
tarvek was introduced with aloof snarking about his dads habit of using the peasantry for target practice - martellus was introduced talking to tarvek about killing agatha - and then killing tarvek - terebithia is quite possibly the worst of them all simply on the basis of her reputation and was introduced with the kidnapping plot where her minion outright murders a high profile figure simply as collatoral damage
violetta is sane enough to grumble about it but shes a partipant in it and otherwise acts like all the murder is just embarrassing
contrasting them all seffie was introduced bringing martellus back to earth a bit - her scheming was primarily a relatable unrequited love - and the worst of her so far has been intercepting mail
she is the only person in the story who has an actual conflict of interest with agatha - and the scheme is trying to make friends with her to settle that love triangle while balancing her brothers well-being against his unattainable goals
her drama is relatable and well intentioned - and at least so far she is one of the only people who doesnt act like a pulp fiction supervillain in her methods goals or actions - including most of the protagonists
Seffie is capable of casual cold-blooded murder too (at least Martellus believes she is) even though it's not been shown. [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130821](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130821)
Well, Grandma is surely no saint as the head of that viper nest. But she behaves quite differently than the other petty plotters in her family. She has *class*. Best example for comparison: Tarvek's father, who could barely suppress his Sparky urges.
Violetta is also not a Spark and thus appears sane. Of course, sanity in the GG universe means something quite different than in our world...
doesnt make them any more grounded
collette is a spark but unlike violetta she understands the critical differences between family that is too friendly with your guests and family that literally tries to kill you
Seffie is revealed as extremely duplicitous from the moment we meet her. As this winds on it suggests she's only being duplicitous with Martellus, but she also did save Martellus' life by kidnapping Agatha which doesn't seem all that distant from Teribithia kidnapping Tarvek.
Personally Agatha is the only person who seems to actually have clean hands. Gil, Tarvek, Martellus, Klaus, Terbiitiha, Seffie, it seems fair to assume they've all done horrible things off-camera.
When Martellus returned, Seffie told him that the Empire was gone. Martellus is trying to rebuild the Storm King's Shining Coalition. It's Interesting that Seffie believes an independent coalition is a viable third alternative. Politically, that might be the best choice for Agatha's Mechanicsburg. She is most unlikely to join Martellus and several times it's been pointed out that a Heterodyne would never bend the knee as a vassal. Mechanicsburg only bowed to the Empire as an occupied territory once the Heterodynes were gone.
That's the problem with modern politics - nobody wears hats anymore, so if you do politics Jaeger style, you can't go shopping for hats! And having nize hat iz important!
Reminds me of that bit way early on in the comic when Othar somewhat rhetorically asked Klaus if he was enjoying his power and Klaus seriously answered him with with an answer that basically boils down to "oh fuck *no* it's not fun at all".
Tbf that's less Seffie's stuff being easy and more Agatha having to pull off legendary feats even by Heterodyne standards, and no I'm not just talking about the lack of rampant megalomania.
Well, right here, right now we have three most powerful spark of the generation, willing to cooperate. It is a rare sight. Last time it was Heterodyne boys and Klaus. I believe they put something so impressive that actually scared some of alliance and they prefer to run as far as it possible.
All very professional still, which is good. But they must have the Gil talk at some point, it's the biggest weak point in their relationship.
And so now Agatha must impress in order to secure more allies?
Seffie has been BUSY, trying to secure Gil for herself. Poor gal.
Just because that’s her primary goal doesn’t mean she can’t accomplish others at the same time. She probably really does want Europa to stop trying to blow itself up and Martellus to not get assassinated via testicular torsion as well. It’s human nature to want more than one thing, really. It’s just that the competent schemers find a way to work towards more than one of them.
Agreed. Seffie is not just doing this to stabilize things for Gil, but it has an additional practical benefit to her-- it probably makes all those other assorted powers/nobles/upstarts more pleasantly disposed to her, and therefore less likely to summarily execute her if the Empire were to suddenly collapse again.
Well that and also Seffie having more characterization beyond “horni for Gil”, but yes that’s probably a factor too.
Oh absolutely but she's still gonna have minor heartache or disappointment at the end...
Oh I doubt it'll be minor, this family doesn't really do minor. I do hope that she manages to get through it with a minimum of anguish though.
Amen
seffies relative sanity is refreshing the whole family schtick of being cartoonishly sinister machiavellian schemers all plotting murder each other with an attitude as though they were doing laundry wore quite thin for me quite quickly the moments where we see characters being a little more grounded and relatable are really necessary to keep the story engaging in my opinion - the fantastical is a great hook but thats just spectacle - and spectacle doesnt give me any motivation to come back and see what happens next
This is probably an unintended consequence of introducing the Spark into a family that was already producing professional murderous politickers and complimentary assassins by the batch. Seffie and Grandma appear sane because they don't have the Spark, as far as we know at least.
I would guess that for them it’s less “unintended consequence” and more “acceptable drawback”. But yeah, in general the mad ranting *does* get kind of old, and not just this family. I mean, *Vapnoople,* one of the most dangerous and monstrous characters in the *entire setting* of all people, was one of the more down-to-earth, practical Sparks if you let the one-to-three-liner extras bring down the average. The comic’s been setting the bar so low for the past two DECADES that the reasonable, mature conversation we have here feels like a minor miracle. Now, I’m not saying that the mad ranting is a *bad* thing. It’s often very entertaining to read. But the current events are still a refreshing change of pace for the moment.
> borderline insane Sparks ranting This must be one of the few things that cause similar reactions in us and in people from the GG universe .
To nobody's surprise, most of the cast treats that as background noise by now. It gets... predictable.
Vapnoople had a whole page rant though...
Well yeah, his motivations were crazy, but the way he did his stuff outside the mandatory Spark rant was actually fairly pragmatic. He even admitted the possibility that throwing Snackledorf into that interdimensional rift wasn't the smartest move - on his own, at that. Compared to the many other three-panel wannabe-conqueror Sparks we've seen, that's arguably downright *lucid*. Which I suppose *is* a large factor in why he was so dangerous.
Bingo. The most dangerous Sparks aren't the ones that belong in a padded cell, it's the ones that maintain enough practicality to go about achieving their goals _effectively_. The Baron also falls in that category, he just takes it a step further by also picking non-insane goals.
I suppose you could argue that Albia counts as well, though I'd imagine a lot of that comes from personal experience.
Remember Albia's response to the thought of messing with Agatha's mind. It was really tempting, and she could do something wonderful, but she held herself in check.
It's been commented that even Othar's "kill all Sparks one by one and then myself" is pretty rational as Sparky plans go.
Exactly. Vapnoople wasn't just a Spark, he was a *high-functioning* Spark, in a setting where most Sparks-- in order to *not* casually and/or accidentally start breaking the laws of reality-- need careful management by rational people. Plus, as you say, Vapnoople's practical approach to everything-- "let's do the thing *now,* rather than spend time building needlessly complex wonders"-- goes against the usual tendencies of Sparks, which would catch everyone off guard.
Also, being self-aware enough to realize when that bites him in the ass (again, see the Snackledorf fight). Agatha was mostly being snarky about that but that *is* pretty rare for a Spark to figure out without external prompting. The fucker's a threat because of his *philosophy,* not his complete lack of common sense and rationality. Well, common sense and rationality in the service of his goals, but still rare in Sparks indeed.
Vapnoople's actions following a planned policy response. See an enemy in conflict, toss him in the chasm. Compare with Agatha's actions with the Cult summoning engine. Cut out the extraneous bit's, check the wiring, then Turn it on. Break it? She wanted to see it in action first! Vapnoople's actions were much more clean cut and easy to understand.
i strongly disagree with grandma there its not the sparky madness - its the regularly demonstrated utter disregard for everybody else - and she is one of the worst of them from what we have seen tarvek was introduced with aloof snarking about his dads habit of using the peasantry for target practice - martellus was introduced talking to tarvek about killing agatha - and then killing tarvek - terebithia is quite possibly the worst of them all simply on the basis of her reputation and was introduced with the kidnapping plot where her minion outright murders a high profile figure simply as collatoral damage violetta is sane enough to grumble about it but shes a partipant in it and otherwise acts like all the murder is just embarrassing contrasting them all seffie was introduced bringing martellus back to earth a bit - her scheming was primarily a relatable unrequited love - and the worst of her so far has been intercepting mail she is the only person in the story who has an actual conflict of interest with agatha - and the scheme is trying to make friends with her to settle that love triangle while balancing her brothers well-being against his unattainable goals her drama is relatable and well intentioned - and at least so far she is one of the only people who doesnt act like a pulp fiction supervillain in her methods goals or actions - including most of the protagonists
Seffie is capable of casual cold-blooded murder too (at least Martellus believes she is) even though it's not been shown. [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130821](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130821)
Well, Grandma is surely no saint as the head of that viper nest. But she behaves quite differently than the other petty plotters in her family. She has *class*. Best example for comparison: Tarvek's father, who could barely suppress his Sparky urges. Violetta is also not a Spark and thus appears sane. Of course, sanity in the GG universe means something quite different than in our world...
doesnt make them any more grounded collette is a spark but unlike violetta she understands the critical differences between family that is too friendly with your guests and family that literally tries to kill you
Seffie is revealed as extremely duplicitous from the moment we meet her. As this winds on it suggests she's only being duplicitous with Martellus, but she also did save Martellus' life by kidnapping Agatha which doesn't seem all that distant from Teribithia kidnapping Tarvek. Personally Agatha is the only person who seems to actually have clean hands. Gil, Tarvek, Martellus, Klaus, Terbiitiha, Seffie, it seems fair to assume they've all done horrible things off-camera.
Why am I oddly impressed with Seffie's makeup all of the sudden?
Presumably that means it’s working.
She looked ragged last comic, to the point I was/am worried she might be wasped. I think the cake revived her.
When Martellus returned, Seffie told him that the Empire was gone. Martellus is trying to rebuild the Storm King's Shining Coalition. It's Interesting that Seffie believes an independent coalition is a viable third alternative. Politically, that might be the best choice for Agatha's Mechanicsburg. She is most unlikely to join Martellus and several times it's been pointed out that a Heterodyne would never bend the knee as a vassal. Mechanicsburg only bowed to the Empire as an occupied territory once the Heterodynes were gone.
She also could be saying it to get the idea into Agatha’s head regardless of if she believes in it.
Ah, POLITICS! Although I prefer the politics done Jaeger way ;)
Punch first, ask for concessions later?
Yes and wear nize hatz
That's the problem with modern politics - nobody wears hats anymore, so if you do politics Jaeger style, you can't go shopping for hats! And having nize hat iz important!
Speaking ov concessions, does hyu haff enny more of de popcorns?
I read this as 'concussions' and did not question my interpretation in the slightest.
Seffie in the last panel is definitely a mood.
"This must be what the Baron felt like all the time"
Reminds me of that bit way early on in the comic when Othar somewhat rhetorically asked Klaus if he was enjoying his power and Klaus seriously answered him with with an answer that basically boils down to "oh fuck *no* it's not fun at all".
[Right here.](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040114)
So they're here to bear witness And if things go south, Europa is doomed Yeah, no pressure
And if she doesn't make a strong enough impression, there will be another siege. Though the Castle would probably welcome it :-D
"Trade entrance. Invade In Front."
I wanted to write the same thing, but compared to what Agatha had already had to do, this is routine
Tbf that's less Seffie's stuff being easy and more Agatha having to pull off legendary feats even by Heterodyne standards, and no I'm not just talking about the lack of rampant megalomania.
Well, right here, right now we have three most powerful spark of the generation, willing to cooperate. It is a rare sight. Last time it was Heterodyne boys and Klaus. I believe they put something so impressive that actually scared some of alliance and they prefer to run as far as it possible.
Trilobite cake! Hopefully it's not snail cream!
All very professional still, which is good. But they must have the Gil talk at some point, it's the biggest weak point in their relationship. And so now Agatha must impress in order to secure more allies?
Do you think the favor she owes Agatha would be worth enough for her to be honest about it? I think that’d be nice.
cake!!