Two Years of Mad Science!

Today marks two years of Agatha-ness! I honestly can't believe it's been that long. Inspired by Balldylox's retrospectives, I thought I might take a chance to show you guys how Agatha has evolved over that time.

 

 

Technically, I paid for her at the end of June 2010, and she arrived in early July. I couldn't believe that after a year of oggling and hunting, not only had I found a DD with extras I could afford, but also that I was fast enough to nab her on the DoA marketplace before anyone else. However, when she showed up, she was VERY different than she is now.

 

 

Her previous owner, who had only had her about two months, had intended her to be an elegant lady named Kasuga. (For a few more shots, check out this dinosaur of a post.) Her old identity wasn't bad at all, but I knew she had potential to be something else entirely. I wanted her to become Agatha Heterdyne, the protagonist of the web comic Girl Genius.

 

 

So, I redid her faceup, before she'd even been home a single month. I declared her faceup day her birthday, because that's when she really started to become Agatha. Plus, the day is the same as Alphonse Mucha's birthday, and seeing as he's a late-19th, very early 20th century artist, it seemed appropriate to go with my little steampunk scientist. It may also be worth noting that I put together several pairs of D.eye.Ys too, as neither of the pairs she came with were really what I had in mind. She's still wearing one of those pairs of eyes to this day.

 

Oh, and for those of you who want to do your own faceups, don't get discouraged when things don't go well. XD It took me three tries to get Agatha 1.0 to something I would accept!

 

 

The new faceup made all the difference, and so she immediately began warping the laws of nature. So, now that I had her face where I could accept it, she needed a wardrobe change. Being a poor student, I couldn't really afford to go shopping, which was just as well; between the DDDy body and her *VERY* particular tastes, Agatha's a real pain to shop for even when I do have money. XD Therefore, I started learning to sew, so she could have something to wear that wasn't 110% out of character like the pink "pneumonia dress".

 

 

Hardly a masterpiece, but not bad for a very first sewing attempt. And once again, this change brought out more of her Agatha-ness. I started to understand that working with Agatha is sometimes like playing a point-and-click adventure game: you have to try all kinds of crazy crap in order to gradually unlock the next bit of development.

 

The next stage of developing Ags, I ended up with some outside help. Agatha's design in the webcomic she originally comes from always features glasses, and I was having an absolutely horrible time finding a match in doll size for them. Thankfully, Battrastard is a totally awesome, crafty guy, and to top it off is a fan of Girl Genius. He volunteered to make Agatha her trademark glasses. However, at this point he hadn't fully committed to coming to "the Dark Side", and had no frame of reference, so some of the early attempts came out a little funky. But that doesn't mean they weren't still useful!

 

 

You need safety glasses when you live at my house!

 

And then Agatha got a new sibling/roommate. And no, it wasn't Nanoha.

 

 

Yup. Enter the dragon. . . . Pancake. I had assumed, after I made Pancake and when I first shot that post, that Pancake would end up a one-story gag like the other dragons. But no! He's a demanding little brat, and honestly seeing Agatha interact with him really went a long way in helping me get to know both of them.

 

There were several other shenanigans we had through 2011. I accidentally skipped her one year retrospective, but in that span of time Agatha and I constructed Pancake's sister, Aebelskiver,to send to Battrastard as thanks for getting Agatha set up with proper eyewear. I also took her on a couple of outdoor shoots, to Phoenix Comicon (where several Girl Genius fans recognized her!), and to a DD-exclusive meet at the local Japanese Friendship Garden. (It was not long after that meet that I finally got on this particular forum, hence why all the links are heading to Figure.fm instead.)

 

 

In early November I did give Agatha a relatively minor change, but one that made a big impact in my mind because it was just so long overdue: I trimmed Agatha's bangs. I had spent literally over a year fighting to keep her hair out of her face while covering the band of the wig, and finally had enough. Her wig is WAY easier to deal with now, and honestly it looks more like the comic art than before.

 

Also in November we saw the arrival of Agatha's second roommate, Nanoha. While the resulting stories aren't central to Agatha's personal development, they are pretty entertaining so I'm linking them for your convenience: Dragon Theft and Uninvited Intruder.

 

And lastly, Agatha recently got a new faceup. Not only had her old one faded in some places, but there was a pinkish bleed around her eyelashes and mouth. I didn't get many shots that show it, but it was definitely there. Unfortunately, they were deep stains, and she spent several weeks as a demented flounder.

 

 

Eventually though I got her re-done. (Looong story, after all the rest I've subjected you to I'll spare you.) I did tweak some things while I was at it, and she feels even more Agatha-y to me than ever before.

 

 

 

So, thank you guys for being such an awesome community for Agatha and I to participate in these past two years. And here's to many more!

Edited July 25, 2012 by Guest

Wow! Quite an adventure! I'm deeply honored to have played a part in Agatha's "upbringing".. (And, thank you soo much for Aebel, she's been a great addition to the stories I've been able to post!) I know that there's gonna be much more to come, and I'm glad to have been there to see it and hopefully help it along!

 

Congrats to you both!!!

Two years and no deaths and/or major lawsuits...who would have thunk it?

 

Grats!

I really loved reading the story, and clicking all of the links. I had no idea you made Agatha's eyes or that you made Pancake! All of the different photos of the eyes were really cool, and the pearl really does show up well. All of the pairs were very pretty. xD

 

To be honest... After I saw Pancake, I went looking for one on eBay and I always wondered where you got it. I guess I wasn't around, or I missed the post(s) that said you actually made Pancake yourself! That's awesome... I thought it was licensed product, I feel so derpy... Lol.

 

I really like Agatha's new faceup, it's very crisp and she looks very pretty. Agatha is a very unique girl in a lot of ways. ^_^ Thanks for sharing your history with her, it was a lot of fun to read!

Congrats on two years of craziness! I'm surprised that no one was blown up in the past couple of years. Here's to many more zany years.

Congrats on 2nd year and no casualties

No casualties and no deported Pancakes.

 

Those first glasses were kinda hilarious looking.

What a nice recap of your time with Agatha! You've had such a great time with her; I'm sure there are even better times to come~ :3

Pancake makes such a great DD companion!

Wow! Two years now?? Crazy! I remember seeing your first posts on FFM and loving Agathas look then. Epsecially seeing her outside in that smexy pink outfit. Too bad she never wears anything like THAT anymore.

 

Congrats on the two year mark with Miss Trouble. I, like others, am amazed she hasn't blown up your house or killed any unsuspecting neighbors. You must have some VERY good luck!

 

It was so cool seeing her progression thru the time she's been with you, great idea to do a retrospective with her! This type post really works well since you can do a timeline with her.

 

I wish you and Agatha lots more years of fun, excitement and a continued no death streak. LOL

 

 

 

Billy

Wow! Quite an adventure! I'm deeply honored to have played a part in Agatha's "upbringing".. (And, thank you soo much for Aebel, she's been a great addition to the stories I've been able to post!) I know that there's gonna be much more to come, and I'm glad to have been there to see it and hopefully help it along!

 

Congrats to you both!!!

 

And I'm still totally grateful that you put all that work into making Agatha proper glasses! Even now I still haven't found a mass-manufactured pair that even comes half as close to the comic art as the ones you made. And I'm so glad that Aebel ended up in such a great home! Sure, I knew that when I started making her, but it was still hard to box her up and send her away, and seeing her get spoiled with pizza helped me feel better. XD

 

Two years and no deaths and/or major lawsuits...who would have thunk it?

 

Grats!

 

No kidding right? Maybe the fact that I have a lawyer in my family helps or something.

 

I really loved reading the story, and clicking all of the links. I had no idea you made Agatha's eyes or that you made Pancake! All of the different photos of the eyes were really cool, and the pearl really does show up well. All of the pairs were very pretty. xD

 

To be honest... After I saw Pancake, I went looking for one on eBay and I always wondered where you got it. I guess I wasn't around, or I missed the post(s) that said you actually made Pancake yourself! That's awesome... I thought it was licensed product, I feel so derpy... Lol.

 

I really like Agatha's new faceup, it's very crisp and she looks very pretty. Agatha is a very unique girl in a lot of ways. ^_^ Thanks for sharing your history with her, it was a lot of fun to read!

 

Thanks a bunch! I do like seeing the same girl in different eye styles. I haven't tried the pairs in Agatha again since her new faceup though, so maybe it's time to break them out again.

 

As for Pancake, thankfully his pattern is free: The only modification I made to it was to have it enlarged so each page was 11 inches wide instead of 8, which I recommend doing--it comes out perfect hugging size! (And I'm guessing that you've now seen the licensed plushes, and probably understand why I opted to make one instead. *shudder*)

 

Congrats on two years of craziness! I'm surprised that no one was blown up in the past couple of years. Here's to many more zany years.

 

Congrats on 2nd year and no casualties

 

No casualties and no deported Pancakes.

 

Those first glasses were kinda hilarious looking.

 

. . . Thanks? Dang, such expectations for destruction!

 

Wow! Two years now?? Crazy! I remember seeing your first posts on FFM and loving Agathas look then. Epsecially seeing her outside in that smexy pink outfit. Too bad she never wears anything like THAT anymore.

 

Congrats on the two year mark with Miss Trouble. I, like others, am amazed she hasn't blown up your house or killed any unsuspecting neighbors. You must have some VERY good luck!

 

It was so cool seeing her progression thru the time she's been with you, great idea to do a retrospective with her! This type post really works well since you can do a timeline with her.

 

I wish you and Agatha lots more years of fun, excitement and a continued no death streak. LOL

 

Billy

 

I know, so crazy it's been two whole years. Yeah, she looked good in that outfit from the front, but in the back it strained really badly--it was NOT meant for the DDDy! I sold the outfit to MsGeek a while back; if I hadn't I probably would have stuck Nanoha in it. XD

 

It's not just luck; there's some skill involved. With some wheedling I can sometimes convince her into doing something a little less destructive. Nu Doctor Who has been quite good for that lately, not just watching episodes, but debating which of the newer Doctors is the best, Nine, Ten, or Eleven. (I think they're all wonderful, though Ten is the one that makes me squee a little inside. Agatha, however, is crushing hard on Eleven and ranks Nine in second.)

 

Thanks very much! Since she's changed so much it's particularly funky to see all the changes in one place like this. It's like looking into a time warp. Only not.

 

Haha! No death streak, yes, I hope for that too. XD

i loved seeing your girls progress backstory. Thanks for sharing, heres more years to come for you both!

Thanks for the link! I might try to make one myself, or get my mom to...

Wow! Agatha's getting old! Wait, that didn't quite come out right... Very cool to see her development, though. She just keeps looking better all the time.

 

Her original glasses crack me up, though. We may have to look into making some custom pairs as there really just doesn't seem to be much variety out there. I'm super impressed with Battrastard's work on her current pair. They look like something the Foglios would have made themselves.

 

Anyways, Congrats, Agatha! Hopefully we'll continue seeing you around for many more years to come.

Congrats! You know I just started reading the webcomic and I LOVE IT! She is so cool! Reese loves it as well and wanted Agatha to know she still hasn't found out how to banish dragons. Actually, she told me she thinks Pancake is cute so she doesn't see why Agatha wants to banish him in the first place.

Her original glasses crack me up, though. We may have to look into making some custom pairs as there really just doesn't seem to be much variety out there. I'm super impressed with Battrastard's work on her current pair. They look like something the Foglios would have made themselves.

 

Yeah, I still hang my head in embarrassment at that first pair....

But, I did get better with the last ones, and I Do have plans to make at least one more set to fit "just right".

(With Tana's and Maiko's help, of course!)

 

Thank you for the kudos on that last set!

 

what ideas do you have for a custom pair? Maybe I can lend some assistance?