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Bad Machinery: Difference between revisions
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The webcomic ''[http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php Bad Machinery]'' is John Allison's followup to the popular ''[[Scary Go Round]]'', which itself is a followup to ''Bobbins''. It takes place in the same strangely charming (and charmingly strange) British town of Tackleford three years after ''[[Scary Go Round]]'' and with some of the old characters from the prior comics.
It follows a group of secondary-school (for Americans: middle school) kids; The girls consist of [[Plucky Girl|plucky]] ringleader-sleuth Shauna Wickle, the endearingly [[Cloudcuckoolander|simple]] Charlotte "Lottie" Grote, and [[Preacher's Kid|wild child]] Mildred Haversham. The boys are [[Adorably Precocious Child]] investigator Jack Finch, [[Kid Detective|justice-obsessed]] Linton Baxter, and the [[In Touch
Initially focusing on the group of children detectives as a whole, the stories have begun focusing on and developing one or two main characters for a story's duration. The supernatural elements are toned down slightly from ''Scary Go Round'', though it retains John Allison's signature [[Seinfeldian Conversation|bantering character interaction]] and [[Buffy-Speak|unique way with words]], though he's said that the language is very complex than ''SGR'''s, partly because of the younger cast and partly because he'd grown out of it.
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*** Amy's dad Len Pickering, and Amy herself. Although his appearance has changed a bit (his hair is now grey, and there is more of it in his face), Len should be well known to avid ''[[Scary Go Round|SGR]]''-readers.
*** Judge Soap, a relatively obscure ''[[Scary Go Round|SGR]]'' character. He is the father of Amy's employee Melanie.
*** Hamilton Percy, the last known employer of The Boy and Mad Terry from ''[[Scary Go Round|SGR]]''. He also appeared in an early story arc as the victim of [[Everything's Deader
** Shelley's little sister Erin, quite literally [[Put
** Elodie, The Boy's French exchange student, has shown up recently as French assistante for the school.
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Mrs. Biscuits.
* [[Cool Pet]]: Archibald, for both Mildred and Shauna.
* [[Deal
* [[Delusions of Eloquence]]: Some of the children stumble into this now and then.
{{quote| '''[http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date{{=}}20100316 Charlotte]''': I'm bein' sophisticated, Shauna. Reversin' his psychology.}}
* [[Fan Nickname]]: Applied in-universe. Jack has names for all the shapes in ''[[
* [[Flat What]]: [http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20090922 Seen here.]
* [[Forbidden Fruit]]: Mildred ''really'' loves chocolate, as her family doesn't allow her to have it.
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* [[Shout-Out]]:
** Lottie dubs a creature "the [[Something Positive|choo choo bear]] or whatever it is."
** A ''[[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
** In [http://scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20100506 this strip:] [[Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets|"Dobby!"]]
* [[Sixth Ranger]]: Mildred was this for a while, before becoming part of the main cast.
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** The cast page describes Shauna as "incredibly bright", and she has some surprisingly developed opinions on thing like [http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20101213 architecture] for her age and background.
* [[Speech Impediment]]: Claire hath a LITHP, which therveth only to emphathithe her DRAMATIC PROUNOUNTHMENTTH.
* [[Stalker
* [[Torches and Pitchforks]]: Referenced in [http://scarygoround.com/?date=20110301 this strip]. When the Tackleford townsfolk learn of a troll being about, they start stocking up on pitchforks.
* [[A Touch of Class Ethnicity and Religion]]: There's much more visible class and income differences between the characters than in ''[[Scary Go Round]]'': Sonny is described as "living in wealth and splendor" and his cousin Mildred's family are also upper middle class; Lottie, Linton and Jack appear to be in the middle, and Shauna's family is working class. It's [http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20101213 most obvious] when Jack goes round to Shauna's house.
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* [[Unsound Effect]]: These appear quite often, such as the boys doing STUNTS! on their bikes, or Amy fixing Ryan's hair with the unsound "fuss fuss comb interfere". Don't you wish you could invoke the effect [http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20100915 J'ACCUSE] when you point at someone?
** [[Scott Pilgrim|Some of us]] must [http://smartovercoat.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/blog_1008_scottpilgrim_jaccuse.png?w=246&h=332 say it outloud].
* [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save
{{quote| '''[http://coilhouse.net/2010/11/monster-as-metaphor-john-allison-webcomics-genius/ John Allison]:''' The idea of ''Bad Machinery'' is that the supernatural mysteries are a distraction from the real dangers, which are personal. All through “The Case Of The Good Boy”, {{spoiler|the actual manifest danger is how Jack is being victimised through no fault of his own, and he can’t really ask for help. He’s the good boy!}} No one has spotted this. [[Self-Deprecation|I’m probably not doing my job very well, am I?]]}}
* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Shauna gives one to Lottie after {{spoiler|her plan to help the troll find love gets him hunted down by a mob.}}
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* [[The Big Board]]
* [[Can You Hear Me Now]]: Bad mobile phone reception because of the storm and the mansion's remoteness prevents anyone calling the police. {{spoiler|Lottie and Shelley manage to call them after solving the mystery, surprising everyone by finding a landline - hidden in a cupboard because no-one uses it any more.}}
* [[
* [[I Have to Iron My Dog]]: Derek attempts to [http://scarygoround.com/scare/index.php?date=20111207 get out] of a long rant.
* [[One-Liner]]: Judy [http://scarygoround.com/scare/index.php?date=20111121 faces down the competition].
{{quote| '''Shelley:''' Make a note, Charlotte. That was a zinger of the old school.}}
* [[Modesty Bedsheet]]: Played straight as a [[Scenery Censor]]; however, evidently fails in-universe as Lottie later mentions her "accidental willy sighting"
* [[Pop Culture Pun Episode Title]]: The title is refers to ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'', of course.
* [[Right Through the Wall]]:
{{quote| '''Lottie:''' What do you think they were doing? Moving furniture? <br />
'''Shelley:''' [[Sure, Let's Go
* [[Snowed In]]
* [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]]: The "cover" splash panel originally described ''Murder, She Writes'' as "A Shelley Winters story", but Shelley appears to have passed out of the [[Competence Zone]], and mostly takes a back seat to Lottie's investigating.
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