[489]the pretty girls all love when I juggle!

I don't know how this comic manages to be this awesome, but it does. It is a mystery!

- PLOP -

How cool is that?

I still don't trust Coyote. I am certain he's trying to win Annie's trust to attack the Court later on.

why wouldn't it be true? we barely know anything about Surma, and she probably wasn't exactly like Annie.

I think it manages to be this awesome because the author is skilled.

EDIT: Jones says everything Coyote says is true, and therein lies the danger. I suspect she's correct, just because, well, characters who trick people by selective telling of the truth and being scrupulous about never actually lying are a traditional trope. "A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent."

So that may be an entirely accurate description of Surma's behavior in the Wood.

Surma could indeed have been much less formal than Annie. Look at how she speaks in the closing flashback of Chapter Eighteen, for example.

Much of Annie's own gravity may also stem from her unusual upbringing (the first eleven to twelve years of her life at the hospital with hardly any children her own age about, just Surma and the Guides) - which was probably different from Surma's own childhood. And we've seen how her friendship with Kat is making her more "normal". (Annie's behavior on the first page of Chapter Fifteen - not including the title page - isn't that far from Surma's behavior as described by Coyote.)

Coyote hides it well, but in all this I have a strong sense of him fishing for "Good dog! Who's a good boy then?", and a belly rub.

Well, at least he gets chin scritchies.

I'm not even sure Coyote ever needs to put any thought into being selective with the truths he tells in the first place. I noticed a lot of comments on the main site were wondering at his motives or speculating that he was trying to manipulate Annie over to his side, but I can't help but imagine that he is not the sort of trickster that a mortal would be, that since he's a god, it's not just a facet of behaviour. I think he is being absolutely sincere. That sincerity might work quite well to his advantage the majority of the time, but I believe that's entirely incidental.

To me, Coyote seems to be the kind of trickster deity that is a sort of representation of benevolent chaos. That doesn't necessarily mean one can always expect him to be kind and considerate, but he has no reason whatsoever to act as anything other than what he really is. Annie might not be able to trust him, per se, but she can always trust him to be himself.

Fair point. I got the same feeling as Penguinfactory, though--Surma seemed so serene and somber when we saw her, I have a really hard time picturing her being...anything else, really.

But you're right, Popo, she probably was very different.

I love this comic. Character depth! My inner writer squees with joy.

And can I just say Coyote's reaction Annie petting him made me "Awwwww."

So, the girls like it when he juggles the eyes ehh?

Pardon me folks, im going to go try it out, wish me luck.

Interesting idea - though that raises the question of where her maiden name (we know she had one) came from. Red and Blue didn't make any mention of getting surnames once they became humans.

Agreed. He may well be using "the trickster" guise as a way to cover his motives, not maliciously, but more as a way to have an out--to have the ego, to have the quirkiness, so he never really has to be or act serious. Some people use that. Hell, I've used that in the past. And I remember at least one classmate in middle school who was a perpetual imp--I now wonder if it was a way to cover up something else.

As for Surma....well that's entirely possible. She was the Court's medium, and as such she would have to have good ties with people on both sides. Solid ties. Sincere ones. That means people like Eglamore and so on, as well as Coyote. Maybe even...Ysengrin? I've been in that position before: two good friends, both of different opinions, and having to bridge both sides to get them to come to a compromise. It ain't easy, and if Surma could do it well enough with such different groups like the Court and the Wood...it's no wonder she was so respected.

Also, eyeball juggling...both squicky and charmingly funny at once. I still haven't made up my mind as to which, but the "plop" bits are awesome.

Quick thought: the implications of Tom's comment flew right over my head until now; namely, if he once threw an eyeball high enough to be a star, that means he can make more; he still has two, after all.

Now that I think about it, can't ANYONE juggle two balls?

So is it just special because their his EYES?