Discussion thread for Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess. Beware, Here There be SPOILERS

[hippogrif]

Welcome.

This is a thread for discussing the Girl Genius novelization Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, as well as all Girl Genius in general. The subject matter is the property of Phil and Kaja Foglio.

No spoilers are required in this thread. The assumption is you've read the material already. That is why this thread exists--to provide a place for people to talk without having to try to avoid giving away secrets.

I own this account. If you're rude or a jackass, I will delete your post. If you're debating in good faith and not annoying the natives, I won't. If people really can't behave, I'll delete the whole fershlugginer thread.

Have fun. Talk at will. If you don't want spoilers, run away now.

Hippogrif.

Comments

Gil and Paris

[hippogrif]

Another interesting point is that Klaus indicates that Gil was trying to keep his Paris activities from Klaus. Or at least, Klaus thought so. Given the already confirmed issues of correspondence between Gil and his old friends on Castle Wulfenbach, one does wonder if some third party was also interfering with Klaus' information stream.

One of the footnotes suggests that Gil was very active in a range of Hero-style activities: busting up bank robberies among other things. (chuckle) And the closest he got to dating was the scantily clad maidens associate with those events.

That suggests that, contra my prior speculations, Gil may not have been doing undercover work for Klaus. But, on the other had, it opens up the possibility of Gil trying to test himself as a Heterodyne Boy style hero and general Gentleman Adventurer. Which might explain a bit more of the hostility between him and Othar, if both were bucking for the same treasured status, and Othar kept not only intruding, but casting Gil as the villain instead.

I can see a lot of reasons for Gil to do that: Klaus is expecting a lot of him and he wants to know if he can live up to at least what Klaus was as a young man and associate of the HBs; Gil wants to enjoy some time putting himself at risk in ways Klaus would have violently disliked; Gil wanted to get his own view of the world; Gil actually hoped for a bit more girl action than he got, and didn't want Papa and Papa's spies looking in on him. There may be more.

I am still not completely sure Klaus didn't give him some tasks. But it seems less likely if Klaus felt left out of the loop regarding Paris.

Re: Gil and Paris

[claudeng]

I like your Othar theory - because we know Othar would be completely condescending about the whole business, and not being taken seriously is definitely one of Gil's Berserk Buttons. Could definitely bleed over into what Tarvek experienced in Paris as well.

Re: Gil and Paris

[hippogrif]

I'm seriously itching to know what Paris looked like from Gil's POV. I'm quite sure it's going to add a lot to our overall picture of who was doing what where, and why, with whom.

It may help us that Gil's now with Bang, who shared that time with him. They may manage to discuss old times together, just as Bang did when mentioning (confirming) that during the Olde Days Gil did indeed appear to hate Tarvek.

Re: Gil and Paris

[claudeng]

But Bang might not know the really good bits - remember, she still thought he was kind of a sensitive dope and didn't seem to have a very high opinion of him, so obviously she didn't see him do anything particularly impressive. Of course, rescuing chorus girls from minor villains is not something I see her being very impressed by, but she's not dumb. The level of competence that we've seen him display is something he developed somewhere, and I don't think that would have escaped her notice unless he wanted it to.

He really was a busy boy - adventures, shopping for Spark artifacts, music composition, hiding things from Bang, Tarvek, Wooster, and who knows what other spies Klaus had in place, all on top of school.

Ok, now I'm really wondering what Othar knows about Gil. Or thinks he knows, at least.

Re: Gil and Paris

[hippogrif]

Yes. But MAINLY I want to know it all, all, all!!

Re: Gil and Paris

[lightningnettle.livejournal.com]

*Offers to share a calming pie*

Yep, me too; but we must possess ourselves in patience, or risk ruining the story as it's intended.

*tea?*

Re: Gil and Paris

[lightningnettle.livejournal.com]

And you know what I want even more? I want the marked up notes and sketches of what their original plans were and how they changed and adapted them over time. I really hope they've kept them, it would be invaluable for future scholars. And nosy parkers like me. I don't want the originals, too much responsibility; but I'd love copies.

I'm betting, for instance, that a lot of what the Jagers have done, was originally assigned to Higgs. Mostly because he's the only other Agatha friendly force inside the Wulfenbach air fleet. I could be completely wrong, perhaps someone else was just plucked out.

Also, I am very curious as to who Agatha's romantic interest was supposed to be originally. If Gil was to be evil, then was she supposed to redeem him? Did Tarvek exist as a long-term character at that point? Were they going to zap Lars back and have Everyman marry our heroine? If Tarvek was to die in Sturmhalten originally, then who was to take his role in what's happened since? And when did they make that choice to keep him, before or after drawing the initial comics? Is that why the Castle fixing sequence went on longer than they originally intended, they had to integrate Tarvek into the story?

Re: Gil and Paris

[lightningnettle.livejournal.com]

Wonder if Othar tried to make Gil a sidekick? And Gil refused vehemently enough to persuade Othar he was irredeemable?

It would give all three of them something else to bond over, refusing Othar's job offer.

Re: Gil and Paris

[hippogrif]

Snerk. Yeah. That could have happened.

(Now imagining Gil, Tarvek and Agatha on a cold night with a big bottle of wine, sulking together. That stoooooopid Othar!)