Annotated 7-10
I’m glad we did this scene while Erica was still with us, because she definitely had the fashion instinct needed to make this dress work. After struggling with fashion in Penny and Aggie, I’ve learned to respect that instinct. It would have been tempting to ramp up Frigg’s discomfort for comedy here, but the period dress we were using as inspiration wasn’t as confining as corsets became later, and the red hues seem like they suit her taste as well as any formal dress possibly could (which isn’t much). Check out that surly curtsy in panel 2.
Micholuszek and Franzington owe their unique names to Phil; he originally called the former “Micholevschzek” before conceding a little to ease-of-spelling. My original names for them were “Corby” and “Randy,” after Le Corbusier and Ayn Rand. If we’d codified the “title/name” scheme for gnome names at this point, maybe we would’ve called them “Maker Mich” and “Forger Franz.” That’d hint at their criminal leanings while still seeming respectable.
Phil might not have gone with that, though, because he fretted a lot over how “typically gnomish” to make these two. His original tack was that they’d be even more assimilated into mainstream Gastonian culture than Embraisch’Nj; hints of that idea remain in their pretentious clothing and their actions independent of Gnometown. Phil wasn’t even on board with their fast-talking at first, feeling that should be a Bandit-specific trait. But since we hadn’t seen any gnomes other than Bandit at this point, it felt wrong not to be establishing the culture by giving them some obvious commonalities with her.
Just to let you know people are reading these background/behind the scenes comments with interest, I believe the curtsy you’re making sure we recognize as such (instead of a couple of fists bunched up in front of the dress as if she’s ready to throw down, an expectantly Frigg posture) happens on panel 3. :/
Seriously, I am enjoying the rerun with notes. Thank you all.
Haha I didn’t see it as a curtsy either, but as Frigg ready to “throw down” despite being confined to a dress. Which I think is actually equally as preferable and completely in character for her. A dress itself is already too girly-girly, she didn’t need any more excuses to be grumpy
How do “met’rs” and “ev’r” differ in pronunciation from “meters” and “ever”?
I feel like the writers are more carried away with apostrophes here than they know what they’re doing from a phonological aspect.
I think it’s less about direct pronunciation and more as an indicator of how quickly they’re talking.
You listen to, for example, a traditional English accent say ‘Meter’ and it’s quite deliberate. Traditional mid-west American might sound a bit closer to ‘met’r’.
Now imagine an auctioneer talking about meters! I imagine Gnomes’ speech to be about that quick, more or less.
Yeah, this is pretty much what we meant. I’ve had a keen interest in dialect and linguistics as rendered in comics since my own days of speech therapy, and the rapid, stumbly speech of the gnomes reflects that on my end. In Phil’s case, I think it’s more a love for fantasy traditions we tweak and/or honor.
And now I can’t help but hear Franz and Mich talking like the Fookin’ Japanese Military in my head.
I assumed it’s a glottal stop. (If you’re not familiar with that, listen to anything by Lilly Allen.)
That accent would be more more ‘me’er’, though.
You can have a glottal stop without entirely dropping the t. Were that the case it might be an indication that Gnomish doesn’t have a t sound and they’re working hard to pronounce it.