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Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
As far as I'm concerned, Jeanne's purpose remains unclear, especially in light of the newer materials. Which events are the result of her contributions and which are the result of other forces are impossible to distinguish. We don't even know to what extent Jeanne may have retained certain emotions and about what topics.

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Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I'm under the impression that trying to explicitly define the powers of people in the Gunnerkrigg universe is a mistake, because it's not as important as their human (or nonhuman) interactions. I hope Tom doesn't bend to the pressures of his fans too much in this respect. If Tom gets bogged down trying to explain how every single thing works and spelling it out in the comic proper, then that'll halt progression of the comic from a plot perspective. ... And for what? This most recent chapter has actually made me wonder a lot about the impact Tom's fans have on his work. It feels like the ambiguity of the comic has gone down, and I suspect this may be a result of him trying to accommodate people who are not, perhaps, in the right mental state to enjoy it as he originally planned. I just hope that Tom makes the comic in a way he finds personally satisfying.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Brannock posted:

I'm not really seeing how this chapter is any less ambiguous than the rest of the comics - I think you're just seeing some plot lines that have previously been hinted at start to hit their peaks. You can't hint at everything for the entire duration of the story.
It's not merely a question of loose ends; they've been tied up before, after all. However, pages like this strike me as unusually unsubtle, to a conspicuous extent. Same with the previous page (black and red plus brooding angle plus bird with angry eyes = bad, hair with color gradient binding two things = these things are connected, etc.) In comparison to the flashback chapter as shown by the camera robot, it seems excessively straightforward. But hey, that's just my opinion. As I said, I just hope Tom continues to make the comic in a way he finds fulfulling.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Nicolae Carpathia posted:

True. I mean, it is pretty terrible when an author tries to explain a thing clearly.

There's a difference between clear communication and oversimplication. Animal Farm is a story with what I'd consider an unsophisticated style, but at no point is there a paragraph saying, "And then all the animals cried. They cried big ol' tears because they were sad about the bad things the pigs were doing. The pigs were being mean to the other animals so the other animals were sad. Also the pigs are the Soviets." Again, this is just my personal take on the matter.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

DontMockMySmock posted:

With good reason! That football-shaped head haunts my dreams. . .

(seriously though Mr. Siddell, your art is fan-freaking-tastic in all respects other than that football-shaped head, even in the early chapters.)

I'm sorry that you feel that way, because objecting to stylistic decisions must make reading comics or watching cartoons exceptionally difficult for you. And Hey Arnold wasn't a bad show.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Lurdiak posted:

Uh, entire school years have quite clearly passed.

Um, no they haven't. We've only had one summer transition, and Annie's dad has also not contacted her yet.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Brannock posted:

Bestiality has a long, long history and lots of precedence.

It already has at least one precedent in the comic itself, the Minotaur from chapter 2. Also, people need to stop thinking about the sexual angle first thing, seriously. How the heck did you all ever get through your classical mythology? Really, even if Reynard and Surma did at one point have sexual intercourse!!!--very unlikely, to put it mildly--the plot ramifications are much more substantial than oh my god something that would be undeniably wrong in a completely disparate context occurred offscreen :ohdear:. (Not to mention he would have probably done it in a human's body once he got the gift from Coyote, so it's only a question of whether their corresponding mental faculties are appropriate. And in that case, Reynard's far superior age could be just as much of a stumbling block.)

PS- I sincerely doubt Tom would ever go there anyway, so it's scarcely important, and if he does, well, we'll find out when we find out. Isn't their emotional relationship more important here?

Pick fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Oct 31, 2010

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Really Pants posted:

It's a safety measure, since apparently we can choose between "ROBOTS WIZARDS MONKEY CHEESE" or "Dogfucking isn't so bad guys come on"

Yeah, that's totally what "Why are we always thinking about sex first thing when discussing a PG comic?" means.

As I said, the existence of the minotaur already implied that such a thing has happened offscreen in the Gunnerkrigg universe. (Actually, Jeanne and her lover also suggest something similar, depending on where you draw your lines.) But nobody cried foul because that aspect of Basil's existence wasn't relevant, just like the sexual element isn't nearly as relevant as people are trying to make it here. It's not a porno, for crying out loud, and nobody here is arguing that it's okay to have sex with an actual canine. Again, I'm just how you ever got through the Greek myths. I'm pretty sure I had a book of those when I was six.

Pick fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Oct 31, 2010

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Heeey, that's entrapment!

Anyway, this development pleases me a lot, if for no other reason than Surma's character has just become much more three-dimensional. Dead mother characters seem to be a "don't sully" in most stories, and it's nice to see the comic acknowledge that she was an actual person. (It would be very interesting to me if Anthony were actually a great guy with some issues and Surma was a charismatic but manipulative person.)

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Psych posted:

If Anthony were a great guy I don't think he'd have dropped his daughter off what has to be the most dangerous boarding school in the world and then immediately proceeded to drop off the face of the Earth.

Yeah, and what's with all those British parents during WWII sending their kids off to the country, leaving them with strangers where they might be mistreated, even sexually abused? Didn't they care? What could possibly be more important than being beside their children to nourish them during their formative years?

Context, context. Anthony might be called away because what he does is important and potentially even more dangerous than your average life at Gunnerkrigg.

Pick fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Nov 1, 2010

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Psych posted:

Last I checked Gunnerkrigg Court does not take place during world war III, the cell phone has been invented, mail still exists, and there are boarding schools that are not plagued with monsters.

Way to miss the glaringly obvious point of my post, which was that we have literally no information regarding why Anthony did what he did (or even what he did outside its consequences for Antimony). In a world where First Nations trickster gods are peddling off teeth and Polish gods of the dead stalk hospital halls, there might possibly be room for a passable excuse. Just saying.

For example: Anthony has been known to disappear routinely. Perhaps Anthony does not actually exist all the time, but only on sporadic intervals.

Oh crap, forgot, they have cell phones. Silly me!

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Fecha posted:

Guys please this is the GC thread, the only dicks you should talk about are Ysengrin and Diego. :smith:

Much as I love him, Coyote is clearly a much bigger dick than Ysengrin.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Why do I get the feeling that Annie will be packing a little stuffed wolf regardless of instructions?

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Man, you are irrationally hard on the characters presently being cast as unsympathic, considering how little information we have and how morally grey most of the cast have been revealed to be. Remember when people felt sorry for Diego? Do you recall the response to Jack murdering the robot and trapping Renard?

Right now we get Annie's POV more than anyone's, but she doesn't know everything. Heck, in some versions of the Reynard mythos, Renard blinded Ysengrin's children.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I never said Annie's father had redeeming traits, just that we know absolutely nothing about him, and in a setting like GC, where much is still not understood, that leaves room for more interpretations than we can guess. I said the same thing about Ysengrin, since there's a dearth of info there as well. However, I made it pointedly clear that Coyote, a character I (and a lot of other people) like, is a goddamn sociopath--something Tom at one point verified in his Formspring. See, the secret is that my character impressions are based on evidence and not a lack thereof.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I wonder if this is actually setting us up for a mostly Annie-free chapter, instead focusing on Jack and Renardine?

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Today's update is quite interesting. Good to see Renard can still be an rear end, and Annie has teeth. I'd say he was basically asking for it though.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Also, think about Annie's retort about her dad's nature. As far as she's concerned (and she may be right) her dad sacrificed a good portion of his life to try to save her mother and failed. Maligning him is in bad taste, since he was trying to do the one thing Annie wanted most of all.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I don't know if it'll actually change things much. Annie told Renard about his body still living in the forest, and Tom didn't even think it was important enough to show onscreen. They'll probably have an argument of some sort though.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
And that's why you don't casually talk poo poo about Annie's family.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Yeah, I still maintain that this was justified. Renard, despite being on the protagonist's team, was being an rear end to no end. You have a young girl whose mother died and whose father she hasn't seen for a solid year being told that her parents' relationship was a sham and that her only known surviving family member can't possibly love her (since Renard did say Anthony can only feel disdain, after all) and her dead mother was, in a sense, "his." I can't possibly feel much sympathy for him right now.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I probably wouldn't side with Annie so much except she very clearly telegraphed "don't insult my dad in front of me" when she said "They loved each other!" and then "He-he dedicated his life to curing my mother's illness." Those were two VERY clear "shut up right this instant" chances to get out unscathed. Far as I see it, Renard got smacked on this third strike out.

It's also a bit personal for me, too. My dad makes a horrible impression on most people socially, and a lot of my friends don't like him, but he's a super great guy. If someone said these kinds of things about him, I'd probably flip my lid. I wouldn't enjoy it, though.

(And all this aside, Renard's lamenting what led to Annie being born. Just tasteless, tasteless, tasteless.)

Pick fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Nov 24, 2010

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Oh yeah, at this point she's obviously being vindictive, I just don't think it's that outrageous of a response. Cruelty is always wrong, but it's not beyond my comprehension in this case.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
This is excellent. I'm glad the conflict didn't get instantly defused; instead, we got far more interesting escalation. Plus we got an answer we'd been seeking for ages. I find this most satisfying.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Thankfully for Annie, most of the adults probably understand that this is just how life goes. If you want to pass on a part of yourself, that will entail sacrifice. Usually the causative link isn't this strong, obviously, but I have a hard time thinking the Donlans, for example, would hold the cost of her life against her. As parents, they'd understand Surma's position: it was this or let the fire die when she (eventually) did, and while Surma would have been justified in allowing that to happen, there's nothing morally wrong with the choice to act otherwise. Annie's life came at an unusual but not excessive price by Surma's standards.

Although this was a pretty remarkable dick move on Rey's part.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Dang, someone beat me too it, but yeah, serious phoenix vibes. At least now we know how just lovey-dovey the family reunion is going to be (owch).

You know, Reynard is an absolute immature poo poo considering he's hundreds of years old. Temper, temper--you're worse than Ysengrin. Even Ysengrin showed more reserve when Annie uncovered a weak point.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Talas posted:

If she really wanted a child and everyone around her knew she would die if that happened, maybe Anthony was the only one emotionally detached enough to do it.

I think this might work. However, why would Surma have a child so young, then? Was there an urgency to this?

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Boy, way to go Renard! You just devastated an emotionally-damaged kid with a dead mom, an absent dad, and no one she feels she can fully trust! Boy, I bet you're really loving proud of yourself. Gotta be the apex of your centuries, this one.

You'd obviously be a great dad, huh?

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Oh no hyperbole in the Gunnerkrigg thread say it ain't so :ohdear:.

Anyway,

Mr. Heliotrope posted:

To be fair he was provoked into it by Annie gloating over how her mother tricked him and he was stupid for falling for it.

Which was provoked by Renard insistently insulting the only remaining person in her broken, broken family. My point is basically that if he wants to pretend he's Mister Mature, he's got to act the part in full, not just be condescending as it suits him. Right now he's being an enormous hypocrite, acting like he's speaking from a position of authority but still lashing out at her level. Of course everyone's being a massive dick, but Renard was unbelievably out of line. They're both being teenagers, but Renard has a much poorer excuse for it. I don't hate him, but this is a serious strike.

Think about it this way: what if Renard and Eglamore were switched in this chapter? (It's not so impossible to imagine; maybe Surma was just using him without his knowledge, too. And Eglamore has a similar view of Anthony, plus he knows the deal with Surma.) As a grown man, wouldn't you expect Eglamore to keep his temper?

Pick fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Dec 2, 2010

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Psych posted:

I suppose I'm the only one here who is disappointed, to see Coyote once again claiming to have known everything yet have done nothing about it. Since he's been introduced Coyote has done anything that justifies his reputation as this big scary deity that the Court is so worried about. For a trickster god he sure is boring.

He's invested in interesting outcomes, and apparently he's a nuanced enough soul to think interpersonal and diplomatic conflicts count instead of biting the heads off babies or ramping off buildings or whatever else it is that you think would make Coyote less "boring."

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
So yeah, best development ever :3:.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
This was cute. Way cute.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I sense impending heartbreak. Of the audience and others :(.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Everybody's attracted to Jones. It's just inherent.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
God, Annie. That was crazy stupid.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
It's just a fursona. He's actually a middle-aged white guy with a holoprojector. If the forest knew they would be incensed.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I hope it's not the sustained-by-belief route. It was old hat when Black & White came out. I think Tom has something more interesting planned.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Perhaps the catch is the "I". Perhaps Coyote is not an individual entity.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Coyote's turn. I bet it actually answers nothing. Clever Coyote.

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Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
Ysengrin is clearly fiiiine.

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