March 18th, 2014
18 Mar 2014 · page 340 of 1306
Sorry for the lateness, was at a con and it kinda wiped me out.
I'm gonna do another set of character Q&As inbetween this story and the next, so please ask any character past or present a question, and I'll sketch some responses! Ask in the comments, or via tumblr here.
Cast: Alexa King
Comments (34)
Events
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
Yep! We called it several strips ago! Nice of Alexa to catch her rival's cake for him--with Philippe seeing the whole thing.
Now, just two more loose ends: who wins the bake-off and what happened to Nora!
...and what happens to the phone and whether Alexa is related to the Barbers...
I figure those are hooks for the next chapter!
Now she can beat the little swine fair and square - if she declares that she knows one of the judges, who mustn't judge her cake.
Judges tend to be well known celebrities; as such, they are well connected. It would be unusual if nobody knew any of the judges beforehand.
In some contests, the cakes are judged without letting the judges know who baked which cake until the judging is done. Not in this case evidently.
I have a question for sidney. You keep saying you're not much of a wizard but we keep seeing you do some pretty impressive things. So if another wizard were to judge your capabilities what would he/she say?
Related question: What exactly is the difference between Sidney's amount of training (third-year dropout) as opposed to Thackery's (Third Class degree) or someone with a better degree? From what we've seen so far, it's all summoning and all the wizards we've seen do pretty much the same thing.
Now we have college dropouts who are billionaires [and would likely be even richer if they had never bothered with any college], but the odds are pretty strong Sidney is not much of a wizard.
You just mention graduate vs non-graduate and you assume a big edge for the graduate. Nor does he show other signs of talent. He is expelled for his thievery curse. A talented student would have a better ability to explain that, and would be given a more generous hearing. Then he has to support himself by doing street tricks. His thievery curse and lack of a degree would make getting a job a problem, but "work cheap" makes up for a lot of flaws. And he is shown as a friendly fellow who is likely to have lots of friends [or at least few enemies]. All of this is more reasonable if we assume he is not much of a wizard.
David, I'm not sure this applies to the original question, but in terms of skill, graduation is next to meaningless. We don't know how Sid was compared to his student peers. As for the street tricks, that seems to be more a choice than by need on his part. It was has been expressed on multiple occasions that Sid has a great love and fascination with illusions and mundane magic tricks.
More on point, the fact that he seems to be at least more competent than Benjamin, as well as his apparent ability to keep a cool head under pressure, would suggest to me that he would be held in good stead if not for the thievery curse
Oh, good catch (Sanjay, as well as Alexa)! So I'm betting that Philippe probably just said "Ah, and that's when she got swallowed by the hotel." "Almost as if you were expecting it."
For Alexa: ...the apron. Home-made, custom-made, bought at a shop? And if the last one, what kind of shop sells a cupcake and crossbones apron?
If you google "cupcake and crossbone apron" you will see some.
Kate, why don't you add the skull and crossbones apron to the merch for the web site?
Dear Lucas' Elaborate Sparkler Cake,
How are you feeling today? What are your feelings towards Lucas? Alexa?
How is your self esteem? Do you taste good? What is your opinion of firework cakes?
Are you attracted to any of the other cakes in the competition? Whom do you feel ought to win?
Thanks for your time, I hope that this Q&A makes the "cut".
Sincerely yours,
~Francis Vixen
I'm sure Phillipe just knew what year Alexa was from, that there was a baking contest in the hotel that year, and that she was a baker, so requested to be one of the judges. nice to see that he does still have his health.
Question for Ethan: Had you ever heard of Alexa in your time, or was she not really big news yet?
He also knew that Alexa had to be in the hotel at some point in order to get eaten.
One important thing about this strip is that it shows it is possible to change the timeline. Before, the tasteless cake was destroyed. Now, it has been saved.
This truly is the darkest timeline.
Yeah.....she was eaten AFTER the cake was destroyed but returned BEFORE it fell. So this timeline she returned to is slightly different than the one she left.
...and it looks like Alexa was re-inserted about 30 seconds early just so's she could make amends for the very minor sin of letting a jerk get his comeuppance. I wonder if letting the cake fall somehow helped Gluttony snare her in the first place?
Unless of course it is the Trousers of Time. In the timeline where she was eaten, Ms King vanished for ever. Her return has caused a new parallel timeline to be created and she has gone down the other trouser leg.
Number of readers here who know their Pratchett (and read the comments): 3, asof this moment.
Alexa already won the judgment from Gluttony and the job from Philippe.
Winning the ribbon over Lucas will just be icing on the cake.
I am tempted to give you a thumb down for that horrid pun, but I shall resist. ;)
Well, if she stays frosty and makes a good impression, winning should be a piece of cake, and make her a good catch for a local baker.
These puns take the cake.
Well...I needed to get into the spirit of things (and also to have a good exit strategy if things become too hard to roll with (like they could down the line)).
Lucas: Will you ever meet Alexa in real life? Perhaps working for her? (if non spoiler)
Lucas: Would you be willing to meet Alexa?
Unnamed(?) big guy that beat up the butler: What time had you intentionally get sucked up by Gluttony so that you could meet Alexa?
So, is the twerp Ethan's father?
Rosie - other than your experiences with Alexa, what was (or, will be) the highlight of your career?
Question for Ethan: The signs discussing magic-free zones in your time; can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Question for the Butler: who were you and what happened to you, other than getting thoroughly beaten up by the spy?
If they are both in the kitchen at the same time, does this imply that at least at this point in history, Alexa is a better baker than Philippe? Or would the hotel not take the same person twice?