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Post by edzepp on Feb 23, 2009 8:03:33 GMT
Ouch.Now, see Annie this is the kind of explanation you should have tried getting first BEFORE saying something hurtful. That last line made me cringe. It was painful to read. The expression just sells it.
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Post by Fhqwhgads on Feb 23, 2009 8:05:16 GMT
HA. Burnsauce. Tell 'er Mort.
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Post by Refugee on Feb 23, 2009 8:11:43 GMT
...And so I am led to believe that Muut's action is somehow not outside his purview.
Is Annie, then, somehow outside the living world?
Is that why Annie reacted so strongly to her perception that Mort was hitting on her -- she herself is "just a ghost"?
[update]
Less dramatic interpretation:
Annie was able to see him; perhaps that gives her ambassadorial powers and immunities.
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Post by sue911 on Feb 23, 2009 8:19:19 GMT
Wow,Mort's last line just made this strip for me.Annie better clear her issues and apologize to Mort.I'm curious to see why she reacted so strongly though.
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Post by strainofthought on Feb 23, 2009 8:23:59 GMT
Poor Mort, you really didn't deserve all that. Annie, we're still waiting to hear why the situation you thought existed got under your skin so much. It won't make things up to Mort, but you still better have a really good excuse for blowing your top.
Man, I wish I'd speculated more! I had actually thought there was some ambiguity about whether Mort provided the stone or asked the psychopomps to provide one from the first time I read chapter nine, but after Tom kept asserting that giving a stone to another person was a big deal, I just resigned that Mort would never ask for a psychopomp to cough one up so that HE could give a gift.
But dang, I totally utterly failed to even consider that the psychopomps might have some ulterior motive or trick up their sleeve! (Well, no actual sleeves in Muut's case...) Remember folks: everyone and everything in Gunnerkrigg Court is a player! There are no unimportant background characters!
Dag it, now I have to go mull over Randy Disaster's secret agenda, and just what sort of mind-bending powers Paz is hiding.
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Post by sebastian on Feb 23, 2009 8:31:15 GMT
And what devious agenda boxbot is hiding, mmh?
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Post by Goatmon on Feb 23, 2009 8:50:46 GMT
...And so I am led to believe that Muut's action is somehow not outside his purview. Is Annie, then, somehow outside the living world? Is that why Annie reacted so strongly to her perception that Mort was hitting on her -- she herself is "just a ghost"? [update] Less dramatic interpretation: Annie was able to see him; perhaps that gives her ambassadorial powers and immunities. Uh, Mort explains pretty clearly that Muut leads him to make the decision himself, as a loophole. No sense pondering when they're telling you exactly how he's allowed to get away with it. |
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Post by strainofthought on Feb 23, 2009 8:57:58 GMT
And what devious agenda boxbot is hiding, mmh? Dude, seriously! Box-bot is going to wander into the climactic battle between Reynardine and Ysengrin, and right when Ysengrin is about to win Boxbot will accidentally trip Ysengrin causing him to fall flat on his face, saving the day while heroically apologizing profusely. Then Ysengrin will crack Boxbot open, and we'll all discover that Diego hid one of his greatest inventions, a Blinker-Stone growing aparatus, inside of Boxbot's brain, where no one would ever think to look, and thus explaining why Boxbot's brain is so terrible. Also, the gardener will betray the court in its darkest hour, Sullivan's John will rally the fairies to fight for the side of good- whichever side it is at that point- by playing an enchanting tune on his guitar, the geology teacher is at this moment digging a tunnel under the Annan waters which will be used in the invasion, the unnamed skeptical teacher from the first chapter will end up training Annie and Andrew in the use of their reality-norming powers, and when Kat and her robot army find themselves in need of military counsel on the night before all hell breaks loose, it will be the H-model who will turn out to be a strategic and tactical genius. ...And so I am led to believe that Muut's action is somehow not outside his purview. Is Annie, then, somehow outside the living world? Is that why Annie reacted so strongly to her perception that Mort was hitting on her -- she herself is "just a ghost"? [update] Less dramatic interpretation: Annie was able to see him; perhaps that gives her ambassadorial powers and immunities. I think it's pretty clear that Muut bent the rules as much as he possibly could for Annie's sake, I assume because he cares deeply about her, despite whatever exactly Annie is so mad at him for. That said, he didn't bend them very much- he gave an item to a dead being, then convinced the dead being to ask him to deliver it somewhere. Whoever enforces the rules on psychopomps, clearly they're quite strict, and I wouldn't be surprised if Muut actually still crossed the line and could be potentially punished. |
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Post by sinewmire on Feb 23, 2009 8:59:44 GMT
A terrible one, most likely.
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Post by sebastian on Feb 23, 2009 9:00:05 GMT
Ah, I see, Muut can't interfere with the living world, but Mort is not exactly part of the living world and can "interfere" with it. So, ask Mort to ask him to do something is probably still too much, but "persuading" him is still within the rules.
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Post by ferrusdominus on Feb 23, 2009 9:46:50 GMT
Wouldn't it be a trip if the stone belonged to Surma?
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deram
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Post by deram on Feb 23, 2009 10:16:23 GMT
Wouldn't it be a trip if the stone belonged to Surma? It would be crazy if we found out in the next post since you mentioned it. |
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Post by ferrusdominus on Feb 23, 2009 11:19:38 GMT
That's not the kinda thing Tom would EVER explain. Takes too much fun outta the "speculating" camps.
It'd make for some beautiful art pieces if Surma embedded messages to her daughter from beyond the veil that she can only find digging into the stones abilities.
The psychopomps have a vested interest in sharpening Annie's psych skills. Surma was an important agent for them when dealing between worlds and guiding spirits stuck in the mortal realm is prob only the tip of the iceberg. Even before her death they were grooming Annie to take her place. Without Surma's direct instructions and prohibited from interacting overtly with mortals they have no way to teach annie the things she needs to know. The stone would be an investment in their own future.
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Post by todd on Feb 23, 2009 11:41:41 GMT
Now that was one twist that I hadn't expected; the Blinker Stone was really a gift from the Guides, but made to seem from Mort as an example of "the law that cannot be broken can surely be bent". I hope that Annie apologizes to Mort when she can.
And one suspicion of mine (which seemed the obvious, natural one before Anja's revelation) has apparently been proven correct: the Blinker Stone *was* sent to Annie because she'd need it out in Gillitie Wood on that cold, dark night.
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Post by penguinfactory on Feb 23, 2009 11:47:01 GMT
So the plot thickens (more, I mean).
There are two ways to interpret this- either Muut was just bending the rules to help Annie, or he has some ulterior motive.
I think, assuming his motives were entirely altruistic, that Muut made out the stone was from Mort because he knew Annie wouldn't accept a gift from a psychopomp a the moment, given the chip she seems to have on her shoulder about them at the moment.
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Post by jetaime on Feb 23, 2009 13:10:20 GMT
Serves Annie right. She really lost it that time, although all protagnostics should grow as a result of the story. She's going to have to do some heartfelt groveling if she wants to salvage that friendship. Interesting plot development with Muut though. I can see possible explanations, but Tom usually surprises me.  |
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Miri
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Post by Miri on Feb 23, 2009 13:35:05 GMT
Wouldn't it be a trip if the stone belonged to Surma? That's what I've always suspected...but if it belonged to Surma at the time of her leaving the court, then it probably belonged to one of two men first. Eglamore...or Anthony. Now that would be a trip. I guess, technically, Surma could have gotten it from a sympathetic psychopomp, but Anja's explanation of giving them between couples seems a bit Chekhovian to not have some importance. I mean, granted, it already has, but I think there's more. On a more localized note...Annie just got served. In a perfectly reasonable, polite way. I.e. the way she would usually go about it. Off-the-cuff prediction: Next page features Kat and Annie walking back to...wherever they're supposed to be right now...with Kat asking what the heck was going on, and Annie describing a past not-relationship with a dead not-boy. As someone else mentioned, it has to have happened before. |
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Post by rjohnson on Feb 23, 2009 14:12:19 GMT
Just a guess I have as to why Annie freaked out so much. I don't know if this has been brought up before, and if so, sorry.
I think that she may have been disturbed by Mort's supposed 'laying of claim' because the only time she has seen spirits lay claim to others is when they are dead or dying.
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Post by Azeltir on Feb 23, 2009 14:13:01 GMT
She's been served, indeed. As well she ought to have have been. Still it would suck to see their friendship dissolve into a storm of passive-aggression, and I rather hope to see some mutual forgiveness come up.
Because misunderstandings are worse than Boxbot.
Ben
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Post by Midnight Meadows on Feb 23, 2009 15:02:05 GMT
You sure got told, Carver. Tom has delivered us another great "the plot thickens" page, although if the plot gets any thicker it might need to go on the Atkins diet. I think that she may have been disturbed by Mort's supposed 'laying of claim' because the only time she has seen spirits lay claim to others is when they are dead or dying. An interesting idea, although those 'spirits' you're referring to are the psychopomps, who have the very specific job of being 'guides' Mort wasn't introduced to us as a guide, and we're reminded that he's just a low-class spirit (his high level of respect for Muut, etc), so I doubt our friend in the white sheet is whisking people off to the afterlife. Unless of course he's just been moonlighting as a guide and neglected to tell anyone... |
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Post by warrl on Feb 23, 2009 16:23:29 GMT
I guess, technically, Surma could have gotten it from a sympathetic psychopomp I would submit that, with the ban on the psychopomps interfering with the living world, they could give Surma a blinkerstone (barring rule-bending like with Mort) only when there is no reason to believe it will ever matter... and as powerful a medium as Surma apparently was, that would have been about the time they came to the hospital to get her. |
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snes
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Post by snes on Feb 23, 2009 16:38:45 GMT
MY PREDICTION: Annie is going to go find a bug to smash, and then demand Ketrak bring Muut to talk with her. Personally, I'd love to see Muut again. His exaggerated gestures make him a very amusing character.
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CameoAppearance
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Post by CameoAppearance on Feb 23, 2009 17:29:10 GMT
Awww, Mort. :(
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Post by ethelmercaptan on Feb 23, 2009 17:51:03 GMT
That's what I've always suspected...but if it belonged to Surma at the time of her leaving the court, then it probably belonged to one of two men first. Eglamore...or Anthony. Now that would be a trip. First time poster... Either way, this suggestion brings a lot more interest to Eglamore's reaction in this strip. |
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picaro
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Post by picaro on Feb 23, 2009 19:10:09 GMT
"But psychopomps aren't allowed to interfere with the living world" Why do I get the feeling that Annie has come across this rule before when asking them to do something... spare her mother perhaps? Wow that thought was all spangly and awesome when I came up with it and now it just seems groundless and boring. Without Surma's direct instructions and prohibited from interacting overtly with mortals they have no way to teach annie the things she needs to know. The stone would be an investment in their own future. And that is a far more logical answer. I WILL read these threads before I comment -sigh- |
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Post by rylfrazier on Feb 23, 2009 20:45:06 GMT
Great comic, nice way to explain why Mort would have something so interesting and add depth to how Annie is "special".
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Post by sandjosieph on Feb 23, 2009 21:14:46 GMT
Why did Mort "Bwip" away in that last panel? Could he have stated more than he was supposed to or is he just afraid of what Annie might have to say?
One Epileptic Tree theory could be that Mort's possessed (think about that for awhile...).
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Miri
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Post by Miri on Feb 23, 2009 21:25:30 GMT
Why did Mort "Bwip" away in that last panel? Could he have stated more than he was supposed to or is he just afraid of what Annie might have to say? One Epileptic Tree theory could be that Mort's possessed (think about that for awhile...). Hmm, nice to see another Troper about.  I saw his "Bwip" as more of a sulky/miffed "Since you obviously don't want to talk to me, I'll just leave" reaction myself, though. Who would be possessing him? |
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Post by warrl on Feb 23, 2009 21:26:21 GMT
Why did Mort "Bwip" away in that last panel? Could he have stated more than he was supposed to or is he just afraid of what Annie might have to say? Antimony said what she wanted to say, stomped out, and slammed the door on her way. So did Mort. |
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Neats
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Post by Neats on Feb 23, 2009 22:55:43 GMT
Either way, this suggestion brings a lot more interest to Eglamore's reaction in this strip.That was my first thought, too, although he could have just been disconcerted at the idea of Antimony owning an object that is traditionally a gift between couples. Betcha he's going to go all surly and over-protective when Annie gets her first boyfriend. |
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