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One thing to keep in mind regarding the selection of a medium is that the Court evidently doesn't take the forest all that seriously. As long as Annie is able to keep them happy and not inclined to distract the court from 'more important' things, the Court is happy. The way it is presented, the decision seems to have been largely left up to Jones, and she isn't even formally affiliated with the Court.
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Feb 1, 2013 14:00
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I suppose that this could be a gambit to open negotiations with Coyote, if he really won't accept anyone but Annie as medium. On the other hand, Annie really isn't good at objectivity. Who would be at her age? Only the guy whose superpower is making things calm and orderly. Then again, that may be exactly why Coyote would want Annie for the job... Also, Jones has clearly taken an interest in Annie. It may be that she recommended Annie for a position working with herself, which in turn eliminated her from consideration for medium. That would dull the implications for Annie's characterization, though.
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Feb 9, 2013 07:27
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Cat Mattress posted:I wouldn't bet on Anthony not being a crazy ethermage. Not when he projects bone knives from a microsat in order to do something to his daughter. Donny also tried tracing his call with Anja's computer after the normal one failed and also had no luck. Although Anthony's main thing is being a medical doctor, I guess?
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Feb 10, 2013 12:26
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I don't think Coyote would have much trouble manipulating a tendency to create order and predictability to his advantage. If anything, it would make things too easy and a little boring for him, since there would never be unexpected complications. Both his power and his personality tend to make things straightforward, which the court wants. And his power might be useful applied to Ysengrin's instability (or at least get him out of dodge). Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Feb 11, 2013 |
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Feb 11, 2013 00:44
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YF-23 posted:I thought he might, but then how would he justify his candidacy in the first place? He could just say he had reconsidered. What're they going to do? Wait until the fourth time he goes to the forest and says "hey Coyote, you smell. I brought Ysengrin his favorite doggy treats! Also I told the Court that you said science sucks and that you've declared war on France" before accepting that he doesn't want the job? Not that I think turning down the position is in character. Also that would turn out to be exactly true and Ysengrin would wonder how Smitty knew about his secret addiction to doggy treats. Can't wait to see Coyote react more. He'll probably play it smooth (he is Coyote).
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Feb 11, 2013 16:27
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... and furthermore.... ...I would like to take this occasion to announce my retirement. It has been twenty years since I last saw the sun, and it is taking a toll on my health. Please welcome the Court's new headmaster, Boxbot! (Annie loving up a million times in training is why they call it "training," so he probably has some specific reasoning behind picking Smitty).
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Feb 12, 2013 08:56
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Heliotrope posted:She hasn't just 'hosed up', she's done reckless dangerous things multiple times and constantly flouts school authority even though she's been warned about it several times. Holy poo poo, it's like she's the protagonist of a piece of fantasy fiction or something! Why she wasn't chosen is a mystery that is supposed to be mysterious in the same way that the joke two days ago was a joke and not someone's magical powers loving with time. The most notable thing she's done is surviving the events she's been involved in. Interacting with the forest is inherently dangerous. As the headmaster pointed out, not many people would survive spanking a God, but that was exactly the reaction Coyote expected to provoke by shoving his nose up a 12-year-old-girl's skirt, and was exactly as "accidental" as the other time Ysengrin attacks her. She's converted Renard from a friendly demon the Court can barely contain to a servant who cannot disobey her. She's also literally the first person from the Court allowed in the Forest at all since her mother left. She's been invited and stayed the summer (which is only an "issue" because her father literally abandoned her two years in a row). She's been chastised for getting too comfortable around Ysengrin because she gets along too well with him and forget that he's unstable. Someone else might not have that problem because they would likely be unable to interact with him on a level other than sheer hostility, which I'm sure is a great place to be with your opposite counterpart. I'm sure they won't forget he's potentially unstable enough to harm them because getting beyond that lever of communication with him is itself an extraordinary achievement, and not being able to do it makes him more, rather than less, likely to harm them, since he actually will want to do so. Which, again, is not the case with Annie, which is really really unique. Her flouting of the rules basically amounts to ignoring her detentions and copying homework, and the Court may not (probably does not) even know about the homework. Most of her outright reckless actions occurred before she was offered her candidacy even! Everyone's shocked because she's amazing at the job already despite being a child, and the other candidates have not even demonstrated a capacity for it. Smitty's power is theoretically helpful, but it's not like he's already been doing the job.* No one knows if they'll do jack poo poo to an actual, literal god. They're passing up a prodigy, and everyone knows it. Also I doubt the decision regarding the medium has anything to do with her mother's death. The same fate will befall her if she has a child, which has gently caress-all to do with whether or not she goes to the Forest. If anything, they'd better have a good sex-ed program as she goes through her teenage years. Edit: *Which is why one of the potential reasons for picking him is literally that the Court may prefer that the job of enabling communication with the Forest go to someone who can't do it. Also they might be playing right into Coyote's hands. Now Annie will be unoccupied, pissed off at the Court, and even more motivated to stick her nose into business they don't want her involved in. Like Jeanne and the Power Stations. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Feb 13, 2013 |
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Feb 13, 2013 11:42
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Angry Avocado posted:That doesn't really say much, "not giving a poo poo" is the only emotion the headmaster is capable of having. He actually gave Annie a nice smile when he talked about her surviving Coyote's spanking. I don't think he's a megalomaniacal evil dude or anything. Although he was an rear end to Annie's parents and Co (then some dude punched him out, who was that guy?).
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Feb 13, 2013 21:25
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^^ Oh? My bad. My impression has been that his job is actually super-stressful. He's not only grey, but has worry lines that make him look way older than he is. Clearly his job in the court goes beyond overseeing the school.
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Feb 13, 2013 21:47
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Looking forward to tomorrow's strip, as usual. The Headmaster may have some kind words for Annie at the very least, given that she just was left high and dry as the only one of the three to not get an awesome job handed to her. He may even have an explanation, if it's something straightforward to convey (ie, "your father is returning and has requested your time be free to spend with him"). If not, we get Coyote and Ysengrin's reactions. And that's always fun! (Or Coyote is anyhow).
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Feb 14, 2013 22:32
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Cat Mattress posted:The only way this sentence could happen would be if it were immediately followed by "just kidding, he was there today on business errands and left five minutes ago". No, he could need her for the Very Mysterious Things he is doing, especially since they involve her somehow.
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Feb 15, 2013 00:50
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Can't wait to hear Coyote's response. (What if this is all a ploy to provoke a certain course of action from Coyote?  )
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Feb 15, 2013 09:05
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Violen posted:Trying to coax dependable and predictable action out of Coyote feels arrogant and fruitless. So, it's absolutely what the Court is up to. He may well play along with their game, though. Tricksters are good at making you think that you're winning.
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Feb 15, 2013 10:01
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I doubt he intended that to be taken well. Unless he was going to add "...then we may consider reinstating your visitation rights." Which itself would be pretty unsubtle and just plain look bad. And he knows full well that relinquishing Renard would set him free at any rate, so that was most likely calculated to provoke a specific reaction. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he is intentionally creating sympathy for Annie. gently caress, maybe he even wants her to deal with Jeanne or uncover some other Court secret for his own reasons (which may or may not be benevolent).
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Feb 15, 2013 10:57
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He may want her to visit the Forest "off the radar," although Coyote may extend his own invitation. I love that this is essentially the Headmaster playing an 11-dimensional chess tournament
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Feb 15, 2013 12:21
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If Coyote could damage Jones, she wouldn't be so confident that he could not stop her from taking Annie. I imagine that Coyote can do more to stymie her than most beings, though. Even Ysengrin could slow her down fairly effectively, though I doubt he could keep her away from someone/something for long. Granted, we still don't know what game Coyote was playing with giving Annie the tooth. He does not want the other creatures of the Forest to know about it, that's for sure. The Headmaster isn't the only one keeping things from his own side. Random thought: I wonder if there is a link between Kat being inspired by birds and the tik-tok birds? So many mysteries! Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Feb 16, 2013 |
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Feb 16, 2013 03:53
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One thing about Jones is why she can't be cut. I suspect it has something to do with Coyote's name for her ("wandering eye"). If he is correct, she was retroactively created by humanity to be the observer of objective events. Our way of thinking of the universe, influenced by science and Christianity, requires both objects to be observed and a subject (a soul/psyche) to observe them. Despite considering herself a "stone," I think that Jones is actually a pure manifestation of objectivity. But the subject who looks for "objective" truth is still a subject, even if what they are observing is themselves. She can't be harmed or altered because, unlike humans, she isn't both a subject and an object. She is all subject, just in a highly positivist/scientific sense rather than a mystical/religious sense. Ursine Asylum posted:Given her interaction with a brick wall earlier, I doubt this. I mostly mean that he could throw a nearly unlimited number of obstacles in her way, potentially slowing her down to a larger degree than someone who is stuck using their own body to get in the way.
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Feb 16, 2013 04:17
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Jones is kind of like Data from Star Trek: TNG in that a truly emotionless character would have no drives to motivate them, so the fallbacks end up being curiosity and investment in people they have befriended.
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Feb 16, 2013 04:41
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MikeJF posted:Perhaps they were believed into existence? Considering that they grow into technological... um, stuff I guess, when they die, I think they may be related to the mysterious "seed bismuth" that the Court "grew" from. Likewise, I wouldn't be surprised if Kat's talents are related to it somehow.
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Feb 16, 2013 11:15
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edit: This thread moves fast. edit 2: anyhow, Coyote clearly chose to react to all this by being awesome. I also loved the actual message passed on to the Headmaster tucked into all of it (the "I don't know what you're up to" bit). Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 09:48 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 09:46
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Mighty Eyebrows Boy is the best name. Smitty was just given that name. By a God. Um, and also Parley. I guess Smitt's luck doesn't extend to his girlfriend.
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Feb 18, 2013 10:08
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Zyla posted:I feel like smitty basically can completely nullify coyote's powers Probably not. They will probably have amusing effects on them, which Coyote will love. It is Smitty's destiny to play the straight-man to a god.
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Feb 19, 2013 17:47
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Mediums are also supposed to be unbiased and objective. That is totally Ysengrin right there.
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Feb 20, 2013 08:41
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SHISHKABOB posted:Hoo haaa looks like Kat might be getting screwed over again. Oh god I can't wait until Friday. Nah, Annie is an "honorary citizen," she doesn't need to live in the Forest to claim it. It does give the Forest grounds to let her come and go from it and demand that she not be obstructed from doing so. So she is still a student of the Court as well, and in that sense a member. In a sense, the Court gets two (or three if you could Parley) rather than one. This could be what the Headmaster wanted. Coyote, on the other hand, gets two agents in the Court. And he already slipped Annie an incredibly powerful weapon, so that may have been what he wanted from the start. I do think this might strain the bond between Kat and Annie. Kat already has trouble actually groking that the Ether is both undeniably real and also actually outside of the scope of scientific study. And at the same time, she has an almost supernatural ability with science, and a very innocent faith in it. She could well be like Jones- a product of the Aether which nevertheless has no link to it. On the other hand, there may be more bridges, since ex-Forest-Dwellers learn advanced sciences without even having to pay conscious attention the lesson, and can literally teach it to a whole class of fellow ex-patriots in their sleep. So she may find common ground there. I kind of think that this comic will ultimately be about Kat and Annie finding a way to balance or even unify the Court and Forest by being loving awesome though.
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Feb 20, 2013 10:29
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GENUINE CAT HERDER posted:Good job everyone who figured Coyote would do something like this in response. I might use this as an avatar next time I have a little spare cash. Edit: Well thank you, mysterious benefactor. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Feb 20, 2013 |
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Feb 20, 2013 12:27
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Tubgirl Cosplay posted:Also this way he gets to play headgames with Antimony some more, which she seems pretty responsive to and almost certainly was part of the reason the Court wanted her out of the picture. Although Coyote and Jones both agreed that she had actually inherited some of her dad's more analytical temperament. I have a strong feeling that Annie and Coyote are going to have a significant falling out over Ysengrin. Also, Renard may have the option to return to his old body, which would be a really interesting choice for him. Edit: Although I could see Coyote being genuinely hurt if Annie rejects him. Although his response would probably to figure out this strange human's perspective by manipulating her more. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 13:03 on Feb 20, 2013 |
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Feb 20, 2013 13:00
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The Sin of Onan posted:e: Also holy crap, Smitty grew a spine! Well, the Court did choose the guy who is exceptionally level-headed. You can tell he's going to make a good diplomat already. quote:If she takes the job hopefully she won't get any of the "perks" Ysengrin got, otherwise Mighty Eyebrows Boy might find himself on the run from a rapid Annie. She already accepted the knife/tooth from Coyote. GodFish posted:She might be "waiting" for her lover, which would be roughly the same thing. Though waiting to move on seems fairly likely. I think this is it. That special arrow was fired as he swam through through the waters, and there isn't any evidence he made it out. I think the arrow killed him, and is keeping him trapped in the waters. Jeanne is most likely waiting for him, and I'd guess even committed suicide and won't move on until he can join her. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 13:06 on Feb 22, 2013 |
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Feb 22, 2013 13:02
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Zenzirouj posted:Oh hey there Jonesy, just wondering if humans are spacefaring yet. Nope? Ok, seeya. Unless I decide to try lazering you again! Hahah j/k lol ttyl Given the state of AI in GC, I'd bet it's Reapers are pretty chill.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:21
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Hmm, it's kind of interesting how the parts of Ysengrin that still appear whole in the normal world are the ones with the gold patterns on his etheric form. They stop at his tree body and his missing ear. That has to mean something.
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Mar 3, 2013 14:27
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I can see how you'd think that from the third comic his aetheric form is shown in, but look more closely. Annie is snuggling up to the side with the missing ear.
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Mar 3, 2013 16:50
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Spikey posted:That's some really old looking printer paper too. It kind of looks like paper from a circa-1980s printer. And yeah, the heart looks odd. Maybe Kat has a robot admirer  I would say that it could be from a girl for Kat, as a follow up to the Paz thing- but that feels a bit off-note for the comic. (Also no, Kat doesn't have to oppose Annie because of some stupid essentialist "technology vs nature" crap. They aren't D&D alignments.) Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Mar 6, 2013 |
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Mar 6, 2013 13:23
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Brightman posted:I don't see how this by itself could result in how we know the story ends though. At least I can't foresee Annie or Smit-face being rude in this situation, and Mighty Eyebrows Boy already has good luck anyway. They might not be rude intentionally, but either (Smitty) could put their foot in their mouth pretty easily. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 18, 2013 00:34
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Blackheart posted:Yeah, the most likely explanation is that they were running from a mob of animals asking smitty to find stuff from them. Which would explain why Annie was just laffin' it off. I could totally see Forest creatures just being used to random dudes showing up with some amazing power that they just love using all day long. These are creatures that turn into Red and her classmates when they take a human form, after all. That or giving the Chickcharny the second marble increases his luck further, causing him to find another marble, and then another. Soon everyone is running from an exponentially expanding wave of marbles.
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Apr 25, 2013 13:36
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Fangz posted:I wonder if Gillite wood's economy uses barter. I'm pretty sure the Gillite economy runs on whimsy.
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Apr 28, 2013 02:04
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I dunno, it could just be Paz. That would be cute 
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May 13, 2013 12:30
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Maybe it will be an ironic reversal of when Paz thought Kat was hitting on her, with Paz actually hitting on Kat. Kat totally sets things up for that at the end of today's comic.
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May 20, 2013 13:27
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Tupperwarez posted:Are extra-friendly hugs in the same category as Maximum Cuddles? Sort of. Imagine a world beyond Maximum Cuddles.
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May 20, 2013 17:56
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It could also refer to her attempts to deny her feelings.
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May 25, 2013 15:40
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It has already been well established that Anthony does not express strong feelings well at all. He no doubt eventually managed with Surma. And he could in front of Donnie, so once he really knows and trusts someone, he can be much more open. Two powerful new emotions (grief and parenthood), especially since they are in conflict, probably shut him right down again. That still makes him an abusive rear end in a top hat. He's probably going to be an important villain, but not a willfully malicious one. He will probably find a way to cure Annie in a way that would fundamentally change who she is. Zimmy is a pioneer in the methods necessary to explain to him that she does not want this. That would tie that chapter nicely together, since acceptance is already its core theme.
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Jun 3, 2013 01:50
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I'm not sure why, but this strip makes me compare Reynard to Brain from Family Guy.
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Jun 3, 2013 09:30
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