I don’t know who here is old enough to remember it, but in the 1984 Presidential campaign Barbara Bush gave her opinion of Democratic VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro thus: “I canโt say it, but it rhymes with rich.” Later she tried to claim she meant “witch.”
I’ve got a vague inkling someone already called it, but: Ao is apparently a Japanese word for a type of green. So the Prize for the Most Transparent Fake Name Nobody Sees Through Anyway goes to…
It is, but all the Japanese colors that end in ‘i’ are frequently used in an abbreviated form without it. You see ‘kuro’ used instead of ‘kuroi’ and ‘shiro’ instead of ‘shiroi’ all the time, for example.
Not quite. The name of the color is the one without the final “i”, it’s added to transform it into an adjective. So when you talk about the color itself you say “ao”, when you say something is blue you say “aoi”.
Technically, “ao” means “blue”. The thing is, though, that until not so long ago, Japanese people considered green to be a shade of blue; nowadays they mostly use “midori”, but you still get some language artifacts like “blue apple” of “blue light” (for street lights).
Well, they didn’t know it was the same person or why he would want to plant a defector with the officially-friends-unofficially-enemies. And I’m still not sure that we do, either.
Well, at the beginning of all this, he *was* reading Jonah Yu’s blog post about Skin Horse, and decided to get them back together. Why *would* he be doing that?
They were at the beginning of the story. I think that would be a hint that he’s not the real Mr. Green. This is either still the simulation, or Green simply set Ao up as the fall guy.
This is just getting ridiculous. A villain with an actual reasonable plan?
…
Okay, while that’s just ridiculous compared to “normal” plots, what’s really weird is that Mr Green would use a decoy with a punny name despite having a good plan. I’m guessing Dr. Ao is a false decoy (ie the real Mr Green).
Just checked the first few strips in this chapter, and not only was his shirt green, but his hand was quite wrinkled as well. Seeing how young this “Dr. Green” looks doesn’t quite inspire confidence.
Okay, I was going to do something with “It’s not easy being Green”, but my brain skipped a track, and I found myself writing this instead,
Tune: Rainbow Connection.
Why have I so many
Different aliases
As an evil mastermind?
Am I the Big Bad
Sweetheart is seeking
Or is someone else behind?
It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on here,
Who knows if the truth has been seen?
Sweetheart has found it,
The A-Sig connection,
I’m Goldbug and Ao and Green!
I remember Dr. Lee telling Mr. Green the next time he wanted to go on a mission, he should tag along in the flesh. Don’t know why he didn’t, he seems to have such nice attractive flesh…
wasn’t there something like this by KOOL & THE GANG
Somethin’ crazy goin’ on right there
A revelation to show using the chair
So bring your code names and your decoys too
We gonna revelate this story for you
Well, Thomas Jefferson invented the swivel chair, likely so he could swivel round while confronting his political enemies. “Haha! here’s the Declaration of Independence!”
Does it matter if it’s a simulation? He could get a flunky to pretend to be CEO of Anasigma to Sweetheart-as-dog just as easily as he could make a simulated one which pretends to be CEO to Sweetheart-as-robot. It would just be a bit messy trying to get the team into wherever the drone is supposed to be now.
As to the Barbara Bush thing, I don’t think anyone has ever been killed because someone else thinks they’re a female dog.
So, “witch” is the most likely candidate, but not necessarily the only one….
I love the logic that to Sweetheart, of course, “bitch” isn’t the insult.
I don’t know who here is old enough to remember it, but in the 1984 Presidential campaign Barbara Bush gave her opinion of Democratic VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro thus: “I canโt say it, but it rhymes with rich.” Later she tried to claim she meant “witch.”
Glitch?
I’ve figured it out! Spitz! … no, wait, that can’t be it.
Yes! I knew it! Dr. Green and Goldbug are one in the same!
Well done! ^5
Well, that’s a twist, but then, with a swivel chair, who can resist?
Wild theory: His first name is Dave.
I’ve got a vague inkling someone already called it, but: Ao is apparently a Japanese word for a type of green. So the Prize for the Most Transparent Fake Name Nobody Sees Through Anyway goes to…
depending on the generation/context it’s either blue or green. usually used as blue nowadays, but street light green is also “ao”
Blue actually fits better if we’re trying to cover all the Oz map territory colors.
Actually I thought blue was ‘aoi’…..?
It is, but all the Japanese colors that end in ‘i’ are frequently used in an abbreviated form without it. You see ‘kuro’ used instead of ‘kuroi’ and ‘shiro’ instead of ‘shiroi’ all the time, for example.
Not quite. The name of the color is the one without the final “i”, it’s added to transform it into an adjective. So when you talk about the color itself you say “ao”, when you say something is blue you say “aoi”.
Technically, “ao” means “blue”. The thing is, though, that until not so long ago, Japanese people considered green to be a shade of blue; nowadays they mostly use “midori”, but you still get some language artifacts like “blue apple” of “blue light” (for street lights).
Apparently blue is the last color to be conceived/named as any of the know human languages develop. Study somewhere, probably on the net…
On the other hand, Russians see light blue (goluboy) as a distinct color from dark blue (siniy).
It’s like that in Spanish too. “Celeste” and “Azul”.
I amused myself by putting it through Google Translate. “Ao” does mean blue.
Remember, too, he gave his name as “Ao Otori.” Trying that direct comes out as “blue take your.”
But “Otori” by itself comes out as “decoy.” I think that’s most interesting, don’t you?
๐ ๐ ๐ Beautiful! I love multilingual sneaky name-jokes. I’m surprised nobody ended up with the first name of ‘Midoriko’!
It bothers me I didn’t think of doing it sooner.
this would be a lot more shocking if I remembered who dr green was
Well, he says he’s the CEO of Anasigma. That would make him Dr. Lee’s boss — we’ve seen her talking to him on the phone a couple of times.
http://skin-horse.com/comic/considered-a/ mentions both Goldbug and Mr. Green, who were supposedly working against each other regarding Nick.
bah, thought that was replying to ngmatt above…
Well, they didn’t know it was the same person or why he would want to plant a defector with the officially-friends-unofficially-enemies. And I’m still not sure that we do, either.
http://skin-horse.com/comic/treasonable-offense/ also suggests that Gavotte is quite familiar with him.
Ahhh, but, Dr. Ao! You had the perfect chair, but the wrong sound effect.
Instead of “swish” you need “duuun-DUNNNNNNNNN!”
Is it just me, or does he remind anybody else of an adult Jonah Yu? I think it’s my imagination, probably (and the hair; the hair is similar.)
THANK you. I was beginning to wonder. He really does seem a lot like a grown-up Jonah. Which leaves one to wonder how deep the game really runs…
Oh good. I’m not crazy! I mean I am, just not… _that_ crazy.
… wait a minute… what if this is Jonah Yu’s /father?/
Well, at the beginning of all this, he *was* reading Jonah Yu’s blog post about Skin Horse, and decided to get them back together. Why *would* he be doing that?
I was thinking similar, which could actually make a fair amount of sense.
It’s not just you.
…..I think that’s a first! ๐
Given Jonah’s fun with time machines and tendency to move back to “save points”, this guy might not just (*look*) like an adult Jonah Yu.
I find myself vaguely disappointed that his shirt and tie aren’t some shade of green.
They were at the beginning of the story. I think that would be a hint that he’s not the real Mr. Green. This is either still the simulation, or Green simply set Ao up as the fall guy.
Also, “ao” roughly translated from Japanese means “something roughly analogous to green, but not actually green” (I’m paraphrasing)
More importantly, his full name was Ao Otori, and otori means decoy.
Huh. That’s just rude, Mr Green. Talking through decoys.
This is just getting ridiculous. A villain with an actual reasonable plan?
…
Okay, while that’s just ridiculous compared to “normal” plots, what’s really weird is that Mr Green would use a decoy with a punny name despite having a good plan. I’m guessing Dr. Ao is a false decoy (ie the real Mr Green).
Why stop there? What if Doctor Ao is the real Mr Green but Mr Green himself is the decoy!
Ooh, clever
Just checked the first few strips in this chapter, and not only was his shirt green, but his hand was quite wrinkled as well. Seeing how young this “Dr. Green” looks doesn’t quite inspire confidence.
้ (ao) refers to the entire range of colors including “green”, “blue”, and “pale”.
Replying to Forzin: Yeah, at least his jeans should be green.
(I’m old enough to get that. Are you?)
She’s still wearing the helmet. Just you wait…
Also, Doctor Claw’s face is something of a letdown.
He looks a lot like Jonah. Also, I thought the same: he’s making her think the simulation is over, but it isn’t.
At last we meet Mr. Green, face to face.
Okay, I was going to do something with “It’s not easy being Green”, but my brain skipped a track, and I found myself writing this instead,
Tune: Rainbow Connection.
Why have I so many
Different aliases
As an evil mastermind?
Am I the Big Bad
Sweetheart is seeking
Or is someone else behind?
It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on here,
Who knows if the truth has been seen?
Sweetheart has found it,
The A-Sig connection,
I’m Goldbug and Ao and Green!
I remember Dr. Lee telling Mr. Green the next time he wanted to go on a mission, he should tag along in the flesh. Don’t know why he didn’t, he seems to have such nice attractive flesh…
Suspiciously attractive, for an eminence grise. Maybe this is a hommebot? Sweetheart should check him for nipples.
Well, I was just suspicious that this whole meeting might be another VR simulation…besides that, if it’s not, Sweetheart is still in the drone.
wasn’t there something like this by KOOL & THE GANG
Somethin’ crazy goin’ on right there
A revelation to show using the chair
So bring your code names and your decoys too
We gonna revelate this story for you
Re-ve-La-tion time – come on!
Or, to the tune of “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix
VR haze is in your brain
My reveal is very plain
All my names may not be fair
โScuse me, while I swip my chair.
VR haze has left you down
We controlled your sight and sound
Have you seen each side of me?
Or maybe I am really Violet Bee.
VR haze will cloud your skies
You canโt trust your own two eyes
Did that volcano blow your mind?
Maybe it will be for real next time.
To paraphrase Spike Milligan, “You’ve got to go Ao!”
What did shadowy villains do before the invention of the swivel chair?
they had dark rooms, a bright light and a very useful ability to always stay between that light and their interlocutor ?
Well, Thomas Jefferson invented the swivel chair, likely so he could swivel round while confronting his political enemies. “Haha! here’s the Declaration of Independence!”
At any rate, it’s been around ever since…
Only a few timelines over, Monticello is actually a giant clockwork-powered wooden Transformer.
How do you know it’s not?
Does it matter if it’s a simulation? He could get a flunky to pretend to be CEO of Anasigma to Sweetheart-as-dog just as easily as he could make a simulated one which pretends to be CEO to Sweetheart-as-robot. It would just be a bit messy trying to get the team into wherever the drone is supposed to be now.
As to the Barbara Bush thing, I don’t think anyone has ever been killed because someone else thinks they’re a female dog.
Ah, so finally we get to meet the man behind the curtain.
It’s probably been said in the comments of a previous strip, but – Dr. Ao – as in “Alpha and Omega”?