Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)

Ah, two chapters in and we already have the familiar 'freak out about capabilities that are from already out of date observations.' Like a warm blanket, it is.

Agatha copying those diagrams though... wonder that will change her breakthrough.
Most likely, it'll just end up implicating Joe in it. Her "breakthrough" was, in fact, a vehicle of some sort, IIRC. Though her actual breakthrough happened when she was 4.
 
"Mama, you can't." Her son tried desperately.

"I assure you, I am perfectly capable. I still know this city like the back of my hand and with the cart in top form we can get express deliveries to anywhere in the six districts in twenty minutes or less." She said smugly.

"No Mama, you literally can't." He said, "They're an ordinance against it."

"Oh, that. Nothing but an overreaction, and I'm sure completely unrelated."

"It mentions you by name. Dr. Beetle signed it personally. They send us reminder edicts every six months with the Tyrant's seal."

Frau Gruber huffed, but inclined her head. "Fine." There was a look of hope from her son. "We'll get everything prepared for the delivery service, and then see if they still want to hold to that silly regulation." Her smile took on a character that wasn't entirely appropriate. "Tarsus was always quite fond of my beets. And other plump offerings."
This exchange right here was perfectly in tune with the humor of Girl Genius. Spot on. Right down to the "old people alluding to their very active sex lives"
 
Nice to finally have a continuation of this side story and a possible third player to Agatha's romantic war.
Even with him staying next door, it was unlikely the two of them would see each other in more than passing. Any steps to discourage interactions at this stage would just create more problems. It would be easier to try to find the boy a posting in a shop across the city, or maybe a place of his own? Either way, things should be dealt with in a few days, providing no other problems arise to compound things.
Murphy is on the hunt now. Wonder what incident is gonna spiral things out of control? the Canon event or an original one?
 
Oh man, this chapter really captured the humor of the webcomic so well, I was cackling like mad almost the entire time. As much as I love the main story I'm kind of disappointed that it will probably be a while before the next installment of Europa's forge.
 
All three of the Clays immediately at the suggestion. Given my place on the bench next to her, I completely understood their reluctance.


Missing a word here.

Had to pause at "Addendum Judy" but I plan to be back. So far, fantastic as always, and thank you!

Edit to update: Finished the post. Fantastic, absolutely fantastic. Thank you SO MUCH!
 
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This was great, the different perspective of joe is always refreshing. I REALLY should read girl genius.

Also do breakthroughs influence what a spark can do? or is it more a motivation thing rather than a tinker specialty?
 
This was great, the different perspective of joe is always refreshing. I REALLY should read girl genius.

Also do breakthroughs influence what a spark can do? or is it more a motivation thing rather than a tinker specialty?
A breakthrough is when a person becomes a spark, and for what a spark can do is based off if they are a weak spark or strong spark.

A weak spark is usually based off of what they enjoy doing, so you have a weak spark who knows how to make pies, or tinctures.

A Strong Spark is only limited to what they know or are interested in.

One other factor to keep in mind is all sparks are li.ited by thier education.

So a strong spark raised in the boones will not be as good as a strong spark educated at a university.

Edit: Additionally Sparks aren't limited to the hard Sciences, you could have a spark that deals with social Sciences and art to.
 
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Also do breakthroughs influence what a spark can do? or is it more a motivation thing rather than a tinker specialty?

We don't know. Unfortunately, as great as GG is, they tend to mention stuff without elaborating on it a lot.
The only thing we know for sure is that breaking through is the equivalent of a trigger event but doesn't have any required trauma.
The only other thing we know about the Spark? The thing that's going to make Joe an unholy nightmare abomination in both the main story and the side story? The power of a Spark is seriously influenced by how much they know. The comic makes a point of showing off an illiterate farmer's work and it's shoddy and a joke compared to even the basic stuff that we see educated Sparks make. Even without his other perks, Joe's sheer depth of knowledge is going to lead to some wild creations once he gets the Spark/starts working with them.

I do so love this side story, Lord. Kinda hoping you ignore a lot of the stuff from the Paris arc forward, characters are still great but it's going too far into pseudo-magic for my tastes.
 
Jozef: Does something.

People around him: Immediately misunderstand him and underestimate his capabilities.

And so, the great escalation of Apeiron begins anew. Although, he probably won't be calling himself Apeiron here.

Also, even if Joe won't be there, that blackboard will put him on Baron's radar the next day. There is no way analysis Spark won't take interest in someone capable of putting out notes like that, even if there was no suspected new Sparks nearby. Once again, Joe accidentally screwed himself over.
 
Some problems were too big to deal with, at least all at once. You could bash your head against them, but that wouldn't get you anywhere. It sucked to have to find ways to cope with things that weren't even seen as problems by most people, but it was better than getting stuck where you were.
I know most of your chapters are immensely qoutable, but this one hit a bit too close to home. :V

bread that went completely stale within twelve hours.
Hacks. My bread keeps for at least three days, and even then the end-bits become perfect croutons for dipping. The recipe isn't even that hard.

"It mentions you by name. Dr. Beetle signed it personally. They send us reminder edicts every six months with the Tyrant's seal."
This part made me snicker uncontrollably for at least half a minute. It's a perfect example of a well-made Noodle Incident.
 
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It's interesting because I thought that Joe managed to hide somewhat good but in Judy's pov he didn't at all manage to do that.

Even without Simurgh Joe will be soon a giant problem for anyone in power to deal with.

So they think he's a tinker created underling for 'Sparks'? That he was someone that was molded by a Spark to become the best underling? Kinda like a cyborg or something?

Thanks for the chapter. It was a funny one.
 
I would really like if chapters of side story and main story released in alternating order. 2 monthly chapters instead of 1 biweekly and 1 biyearly. Even if it slowed down release times to once every 3 weeks.
 
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So they think he's a tinker created underling for 'Sparks'? That he was someone that was molded by a Spark to become the best underling? Kinda like a cyborg or something?
No need for cyborging; Sparks are just as capable of biological enhancement and conditioning. Saying that, Minions are just another Thing that Happens in Sparkworld, a sort of middle ground between regular people and Sparks. They also find each other inherently more alluring than regular people and apparently breed true; the entire native population of Mechanicsburg consists of Minions exclusively, for example.
Also, Agatha's Chief Minion in the canon series, Von Zinzer, isn't even engineered to any extent that we're aware of, yet he's also almost supernaturally capable of organising repair and maintenance squads, including safely navigating impassable terrain as long as there's a repair job on the other side. I'm pretty sure it's another side effect of whatever actually creates Sparks; Minions just aren't as flashy and obvious when they break the rules.

I have a feeling that Herr Ketter's Tractor is going to be significantly more impressive then it would otherwise have been when Agatha gets through with it.
I think Herr Ketter's tractor may well have been the very thing Agatha turned into a hunter-seeker robot to track down the guy that stole her locket. That is, the opening scenes of the Canon GG story are tomorrow, story time.
 
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I think Herr Ketter's tractor may well have been the very thing Agatha turned into a hunter-seeker robot to track down the guy that stole her locket. That is, the opening scenes of the Canon GG story are tomorrow, story time.
Oh I'm well aware, what i meant is that the tractor will likely be considerably more capable then it was in canon, given that Agatha will be subconsciously using what she has learned (and likely improved on) from what Joe had written on the board.
 
It's interesting because I thought that Joe managed to hide somewhat good but in Judy's pov he didn't at all manage to do that.
Well he managed to conceal that he is super durable, has experience of fighting off super powered duplicators, can do magic with just some water and roots and that he carried around a grenade that could've decimated entire shop. All in all, I say he managed to hide somewhat good, yes.

No seriously, all thing he did today while having Bakuda's tech in a pocket is insane. "I have unknown tinker tech bomb on me, let me go tend to that cart that might set aflame in any second." Joe acts really at home in Europa.
 
Oh, I love love LOVE Joe in Europa. It's so good! Like everyone else is saying, you're really nailing those Girl Genius vibes. Looking forward to more of this whenever it strikes your fancy!
 
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