Didn’t M’s “mom” look like Lupin Madblood? If that was Dr Lee, then that’s … unexpected.
On another not, I am now wondering how idiomatic a word “Vial” is for Moustachio. It’s used a lot in Bible quotes from the period, but apart from that? Google’s less useful than I’d hoped.
It’s not idiomatic at all. He’s saying that his mechanism for generating empathy is literally two springs and a vial of mercury. And he’s saying that even with that very basic mechanism, he can still tell how Nick feels about Dr. Lee.
I can’t cite specifics, but I’m sure I’ve read Victorian novels where people are getting a vial of this or that from the apothecary. It didn’t strike me at all as out of character.
Google Ngrams says that both ‘vial’ and ‘phial’ decreased in usage significantly from 1800 to 1920 (the two being about equally common over this time period). Since then, vial has had a partial resurgence but phial has continued to drop despite the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons.
Not sure what ngrams you’re looking at. What I see shows a fairly steady use of “vial” since 1750, with fairly level usage from 1750 to 1850, and then a slight decline from 1850 to 1900, followed by a flat period of 50 years or so, and then an increase over the past 60 years, back to where it was around 1850. I wouldn’t say there was any “significant” decrease in its usage. It’s not quite a flat line, but it has been fairly consistent for over 250 years. Which is why I said it’s not idiomatic for Moustachio to use it.
TLJ would never stick them in a broom closet, it would be a technicolor vibrating heart shaped suite the size of an apartment named something upbeat and slightly disturbing to squares like me that she classifies as a closet.
I guess based from Narbonic and other works, I always kind of thought of a mad scientist’s relationship to their creations as parent-child. And since Lee was the one who scoolped Nick’s brains…
I’ve always figured Nick was at least in his mid 20s, and Virginia no more than her mid 30s. Maybe I’ve overlooked something that indicates otherwise, but I’d say no, he’s not young enough.
OK, so update… Assuming the t-shirt Virginia’s wearing here is one she actually got competing in the Olympiad, and assuming – given her genius – that she was one of the youngest competitors there, that would make her no more than 40 years old, so maybe only a few years older than I originally thought.
And she probably answered Question 6 correctly, and in record time.
That might not be true, depending on what kind of “cloning” they did.
If it they actually cloned him, removed the clone’s brain, and replaced it with his… that’s actually kind of horrifying and amoral, because they murdered his clone to give him its body. And also it would have required a donor egg of some sort, and there are only so many on hand to choose from… which… let’s not go there.
But if rather than it being a “clone” body, it is instead a “clonal” body, where they simply stuck the brain in a vat and caused new tissues to grow around it, that’s a form of regeneration, and really you could argue the body is simply just the newest extenstion of the brain.
You’re forgetting that this is Mad science we’re dealing with here. Tigerlily could very well have designed the clone-o-mat to produce a body without a brain.
Well, given that Moustachio and Hitty are one of the only stable functioning couples in the Skin Horse team, he might actually be just the right person to see what’s going on, or needs to be going on…
Poor Nick must be very stressed indeed to make two such lame “Your mom” retorts in such a short period of time. Unity probably should to talk to the kid. (He’s in much less danger of her being tempted to consume his brain now that it’s covered in a meat suit she recognizes as a friend.)
(And yes, I said Unity, not Tip. Nick doesn’t like Tip, and Unity will be simple, honest, and direct, which I think is really what Nick needs right now. Also, Unity tends to be very practical.)
I would suggest Nick take Dr. Lee out to a romantic dinner at an expensive restaurant, but, then, they’re all fugitives from (a) Anasigma, (b) the faction of Skin Horse back at the Maragda Building, and maybe (c) justice, too. And that hurricane that’s somewhere around.
And they’re probably also penniless. A-Sig probably has by now either seized or frozen all their accounts, so unless they have actual cash stashed away somewhere, they’re going to have to rob a bank or knock over a convenience store (literally) when they need money and food.
Yeah, I think they’re going to be limited to Mountain Dew and Doritos. Or they might be able to have a pizza delivered. Given they’re in a walking building, the delivery person can probably find them.
Thanks for sharing that link – I had forgotten about that one. It occurs to me now to wonder if Nick was making it hot in there on purpose to try to cause Virginia to remove clothing.
Well, Mustachio’s mom may very well be a vial of mercury….
Considering mercury-poisoning brain-damage and M’s Victorian-era creator, it’s entirely possible.
nick’s not wrong about m’s mom.
I thought his “mom” was Madblood
Didn’t M’s “mom” look like Lupin Madblood? If that was Dr Lee, then that’s … unexpected.
On another not, I am now wondering how idiomatic a word “Vial” is for Moustachio. It’s used a lot in Bible quotes from the period, but apart from that? Google’s less useful than I’d hoped.
It’s not idiomatic at all. He’s saying that his mechanism for generating empathy is literally two springs and a vial of mercury. And he’s saying that even with that very basic mechanism, he can still tell how Nick feels about Dr. Lee.
Sorry, I’ll try again. I was just thinking that it may not be the sort of word someone like Moustachio would use.
I can’t cite specifics, but I’m sure I’ve read Victorian novels where people are getting a vial of this or that from the apothecary. It didn’t strike me at all as out of character.
Google Ngrams says that both ‘vial’ and ‘phial’ decreased in usage significantly from 1800 to 1920 (the two being about equally common over this time period). Since then, vial has had a partial resurgence but phial has continued to drop despite the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons.
So Victorians used both of these words.
Not sure what ngrams you’re looking at. What I see shows a fairly steady use of “vial” since 1750, with fairly level usage from 1750 to 1850, and then a slight decline from 1850 to 1900, followed by a flat period of 50 years or so, and then an increase over the past 60 years, back to where it was around 1850. I wouldn’t say there was any “significant” decrease in its usage. It’s not quite a flat line, but it has been fairly consistent for over 250 years. Which is why I said it’s not idiomatic for Moustachio to use it.
That sounds like the “your mom” jokes that my group used to roll out in high school, the best of them made no sense whatsoever.
At this rate, the rest of Annex One is going to start putting up large banners saying “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET ON WITH IT”
I vote for stripping them naked and stuffing them in a broom closet, but I’m probably the worst source of advice on such matters.
Tigerlily Jones might agree with that idea, *and* has the capacity to do it. It could happen.
TLJ would never stick them in a broom closet, it would be a technicolor vibrating heart shaped suite the size of an apartment named something upbeat and slightly disturbing to squares like me that she classifies as a closet.
The broom serves Moet en Chandon.
I’m suddenly reminded of Austin Power’s “pad”. I would guess there’s more clock-punk madtech though.
Arrowatch: So much this!
Oh yeah? Well, YOUR mom is a mashup of your biological mother, Ginny, Tigerlily, and a Coke machine.
Funny thing, I was gonna ask if Nick was young enough to be Dr. Lee’s son when she told him to wash his hands.
I guess based from Narbonic and other works, I always kind of thought of a mad scientist’s relationship to their creations as parent-child. And since Lee was the one who scoolped Nick’s brains…
She may have put him into the Osprey, but she didn’t create his mind—which to my way of thinking makes it a lot less incestuous.
Also, Virginia’s not mad, honest.
Oh, she’s mad (at A-sig); she’s just not *a* Mad…
Nick is young enough.
I’ve always figured Nick was at least in his mid 20s, and Virginia no more than her mid 30s. Maybe I’ve overlooked something that indicates otherwise, but I’d say no, he’s not young enough.
I did not say Nick was young enough to be Ginny’s offspring… 😉
OK, so update… Assuming the t-shirt Virginia’s wearing here is one she actually got competing in the Olympiad, and assuming – given her genius – that she was one of the youngest competitors there, that would make her no more than 40 years old, so maybe only a few years older than I originally thought.
And she probably answered Question 6 correctly, and in record time.
At least his current body is. The brain is somewhat older.
That might not be true, depending on what kind of “cloning” they did.
If it they actually cloned him, removed the clone’s brain, and replaced it with his… that’s actually kind of horrifying and amoral, because they murdered his clone to give him its body. And also it would have required a donor egg of some sort, and there are only so many on hand to choose from… which… let’s not go there.
But if rather than it being a “clone” body, it is instead a “clonal” body, where they simply stuck the brain in a vat and caused new tissues to grow around it, that’s a form of regeneration, and really you could argue the body is simply just the newest extenstion of the brain.
You’re forgetting that this is Mad science we’re dealing with here. Tigerlily could very well have designed the clone-o-mat to produce a body without a brain.
Didn’t know the equivalent of alcohol to robots was springs and liquid metals. You learn something new every day.
And Nick looks so adorable in the first panel I just wanna snuggle him 🙁
Empathy, not ethanol! He’s saying even *he* can gauge Nick’s feelings, and he is steam-era tech!
And if even Moustachio can see what’s going on, Nick has reached a heretofore undiscovered level of De Nile.
Well, given that Moustachio and Hitty are one of the only stable functioning couples in the Skin Horse team, he might actually be just the right person to see what’s going on, or needs to be going on…
HITTY VERY BUSY WITH CAREER RIGHT NOW.
(shudder, distant sound of explosions)
Yes, Hitty’s very much the career girl these days.
Me thinks he doth protest too much!
Sherlock!
‘My empathy is two springs _and_ a vial of mercury’
…that almost comes across as a diss.
Poor Nick must be very stressed indeed to make two such lame “Your mom” retorts in such a short period of time. Unity probably should to talk to the kid. (He’s in much less danger of her being tempted to consume his brain now that it’s covered in a meat suit she recognizes as a friend.)
(And yes, I said Unity, not Tip. Nick doesn’t like Tip, and Unity will be simple, honest, and direct, which I think is really what Nick needs right now. Also, Unity tends to be very practical.)
+1
But Tip might use the therapy puppets. Those always help.
Yeah… we already know how much Nick likes Tip’s therapy puppets.
Since Unity-on-brains was the one who convinced Nick and Ginnie to wait before, maybe we we need her back to tell them to go ahead.
Point.
Unity wouldn’t even need to be on brains to be smart enough to tell them that.
I, for one, am sick of all these toxic mercury jokes.
Tune in Friday on MacGyver, when using only two springs and a vial of mercury, Angus creates empathy and saves the day…
I would suggest Nick take Dr. Lee out to a romantic dinner at an expensive restaurant, but, then, they’re all fugitives from (a) Anasigma, (b) the faction of Skin Horse back at the Maragda Building, and maybe (c) justice, too. And that hurricane that’s somewhere around.
And they’re probably also penniless. A-Sig probably has by now either seized or frozen all their accounts, so unless they have actual cash stashed away somewhere, they’re going to have to rob a bank or knock over a convenience store (literally) when they need money and food.
If Nick is still in the Machine Union (and presumably Moustachio and Hitty are), maybe they’re in the credit union and can get a loan.
Any ATM will do.
Check Ira’s quarters.
Don’t forget his pennies, nickels, and dimes, either.
Might be some folding money forgotten in a pants pocket somewhere, or in the couch cushions.
Yeah, I think they’re going to be limited to Mountain Dew and Doritos. Or they might be able to have a pizza delivered. Given they’re in a walking building, the delivery person can probably find them.
Dude, the woman carried your naked brain around in her bare hands. You have no secrets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjRfyeLvE64 It had to be done…
No, it really didn’t, but I’m glad you did anyway. (Puts hands behind back, stares into the distance, starts humming.)
I’m almost sorry I clicked on that… but only almost sorry. It’s a classic.
Would there be enough spare change in Ira’s couch for a fancy meal? Dr. Lee deserves more then a couple items from McDeaths Dollar Menu.
Ten years ago today: http://skin-horse.com/comic/considered-a-matter/
Now you have a chance, Nick.
And I have to echo OneUniverse’s comment from a year ago… That’s still one of my favourite shots of Virginia.
Thanks for sharing that link – I had forgotten about that one. It occurs to me now to wonder if Nick was making it hot in there on purpose to try to cause Virginia to remove clothing.
To be fair Moustachio, you’ve always been one of the most empathetic members of the team.
Admittedly that’s not a high mark to make but still worth points.