|
Post by Nnelg on Mar 24, 2013 14:16:19 GMT
Possibly because he just felt like it? And that makes sense... How? Remember, Tom has %100 total control over everything that happens in the comic. He didn't have to draw any of that. Instead of drawing an angular heart, Tom could have drawn a curly one. Instead of having the letter on computer paper, it could have been on regular (or fancy) paper. Instead of having Kat assert emphatically that it is a love letter, he could have had her act just as silly after saying maybe it's a love letter, or "I bet it's a love letter!", and having Annie mention that it isn't one before the cliffhanger. Including each of these details was Tom's choice; so why would he choose to include so many details that are very misleading? If only one or two of these details existed, then there would be an argument for it being a coincidence. But with all of them combined... It's not logical to think it isn't deliberate. Gunnerkrigg Court has a history of every twist making sense with what came before. But the letter coming from Paz would imply that Tom was deliberately misleading. I do not think Tom would be deliberately misleading like that. From what we've seen so far she probably already gets love letters from Court robots. Maybe... But until we see it in-comic, we should assume she doesn't. You were the one who was lecturing me earlier for thinking Tom would bring back what you considered a tied end, and I thought was a loose one. Only because Tom himself said that end was forever tied, never to be returned to. In fact, it's one of those things that are on the level with "Jones=robot" and "girl in photo=Jones" speculation. And if that did happen, where would it lead? The only thing I can think of is conflict between Kat and Shadow, which is sort of weird even by GC standards. I can think of a quite a few more places it could lead. It could lead to Robot having to eventually pick one of the two; it could lead to conflict between Kat and Robot, or Shadow and Robot. And most significantly, it could lead to us finding out more about Robot's history and perhaps through that, the history of the Court itself. It just occurred to me, every previous treatise, except the 1st, signified the ending of a school year, however this time nothing like that has been mentioned. Actually, the 3rd Treatise wasn't at the end of a school year either. Only the even-numbered Treatises are at the ends of the school years.
|
|
|
Post by Mezzaphor on Mar 24, 2013 20:15:59 GMT
The treatises don't signal the end of a school year, they all (except for the first one) signal the summer or winter break between semesters. And the first 14 chapters are still just a semester because Annie came to the Court halfway through year 7.
The treatise after ch 7 signalled the end of a book (this was before Tom's current publishing deal with Archaia—he published the first 7 chapters through a print-on-demand website).
|
|
|
Post by todd on Mar 24, 2013 22:39:40 GMT
It just occurred to me, every previous treatise, except the 1st, signified the ending of a school year, however this time nothing like that has been mentioned. To me that says that Tom is cramming more into the story time wise which to me means it's leading up to something big The third treatise also didn't appear at the end of a school year.
|
|
|
Post by dracazula on Mar 30, 2013 21:15:55 GMT
Less than two days until we find out! I am perfectly prepared to eat my hat if necessary.
|
|
|
Post by warrl on Mar 31, 2013 0:00:48 GMT
No, it did not start with establishing any such thing - in fact it is still not established. Paz claiming to be ' not "like that"' doesn't prove anything. Wow, I didn't expect to this to be applicable so soon... You'll have to wait a bit longer for that to be applicable, because nobody suggested that Paz's claiming to not be lesbian proves that she is lesbian. Merely that it doesn't prove she isn't. The fact is, most people who claim to be heterosexual *are* heterosexual. (That generally doesn't contribute to an interesting story, so the ratio in fiction is somewhat skewed. However, "somewhat skewed" does not mean "100% contrary".)
|
|
|
Post by warrl on Mar 31, 2013 0:17:59 GMT
And I responded that it is very improbable that this is a make-up letter from Paz. I agree, but for meta-reasons. Not in-story reasons. Basically, it's *too easy* to explain the letter being from Paz; Tom tends not to spend this much set-up on something this obvious. That would be a matter of what resources the letter's author had available and possibly whether said author wanted to conceal identity from whatever random kids might happen to see the letter. (If Annie were actually seen delivering a similar note to a male classmate's room, everyone would probably assume she was delivering it for someone else - most likely Kat, but not necessarily because the other kids have probably figured out that Annie is pretty good at keeping secrets.) Because (a) that scene in itself was cute; (b) it was probably fun to draw; (c) it was totally in-character, to the point that omitting it (after showing the heart) could have seemed odd; and (d) it was great set-up for revealing that the letter is written to Kat. (And she MAY have been correct in calling it a love letter.) Note that this explanation is *all* about Kat and Tom. No consideration of who wrote the letter.
|
|
|
Post by bansheekitty on Mar 31, 2013 20:02:55 GMT
Wow, I didn't expect to this to be applicable so soon... You'll have to wait a bit longer for that to be applicable, because nobody suggested that Paz's claiming to not be lesbian proves that she is lesbian. Merely that it doesn't prove she isn't. Agreed. Many of my friends are gay, and none of them, NONE of them were out at 14. In fact, most of them dated members of the opposite sex at least a few times. When my (gay) brother was a little boy, he talked about wanting to marry one of the boys at church, yet when he was a teenager he put up pictures of Britney Spears on his wall, with "She is hot!!!" written on them. The teenage years are super-confusing and awkward and generally difficult, and most kids will do almost anything to fit in. I don't think Paz is gay, and I don't think the letter is from her, but I think it is a little silly to say that she is definitely not gay just because she proclaimed that during an awkward conversation at age 14.
|
|
|
Post by Nnelg on Apr 2, 2013 11:55:39 GMT
You'll have to wait a bit longer for that to be applicable, because nobody suggested that Paz's claiming to not be lesbian proves that she is lesbian. Merely that it doesn't prove she isn't. The fact is, most people who claim to be heterosexual *are* heterosexual. (That generally doesn't contribute to an interesting story, so the ratio in fiction is somewhat skewed. However, "somewhat skewed" does not mean "100% contrary".) *Facepalm* Nowhere did I ever say 100%. And that example was satire. You're completely missing the point. If a character said they didn't like beef stroganoff, would you say that had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on how likely it is the character really likes beef stroganoff? Of course not! So then why make an exception for this? Basically, it's *too easy* to explain the letter being from Paz; Tom tends not to spend this much set-up on something this obvious. I am completely baffled by how you (and several others apparently) seem to think it's "obvious", but I'll take your word for it... Because (a) that scene in itself was cute; (b) it was probably fun to draw; (c) it was totally in-character, to the point that omitting it (after showing the heart) could have seemed odd; and (d) it was great set-up for revealing that the letter is written to Kat. (And she MAY have been correct in calling it a love letter.) I should rephrase: the more important bit is why did Tom let that assessment go unchallenged. All it would have taken is a "It's not a love letter..." from Annie, or even a challenge from Rey, and that would have been the end of that. Instead, Tom chose to let that be the final word on it. I'll admit that by itself, this doesn't imply anything; but when you look at everything else about the letter it's just another bit of corroborating evidence to add to the mounting pile.
|
|
|
Post by warrl on Apr 5, 2013 2:42:14 GMT
If a character said they didn't like beef stroganoff, would you say that had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on how likely it is the character really likes beef stroganoff? Of course not! Well, that depends... if it's a five-year-old who has probably never tasted beef stroganoff, and has a history of "not liking" new foods before tasting them... Because we're talking about person at an age where people are very often very touchy and confused about sexual issues, and also because there's a long history of people - of all ages, and this age in particular - who *are* homosexual (and know it, let alone those who haven't recognized it yet) publicly denying it because of perceived social pressures. It took me about two seconds to come up with three extremely plausible explanations for Paz writing and sending that letter. Only one of them necessarily calls for her being homosexual (the other two don't address the question). a) Trying to start a romance with Kat b) Trying to smooth over hurt feelings and resume a standard friendship c) Apologizing for starting rumors that Kat is homosexual Wait, I just thought of another one, which WOULD address the question but could go either way on the answer. d) Soliciting Kat's help or advice to start a romantic relationship with.... So I bet there are quite a few more. a) added clutter to the page b) not important at this point c) it would be pointless for Annie to tell Kat it isn't a love letter, when she's presumably about to hand it to Kat d) it would require Annie to read more of the letter - maybe she read just enough to know it's for Kat, and stopped, because it's impolite to read other people's mail without permission and somewhat tacky to do so right in front of them. e) chapter-ending minor cliffhanger Remember, the only person who has said it's a love letter made that declaration without looking at anything other than the front cover. And nobody has said that it isn't a love letter - just that there are other possibilities.
|
|
|
Post by dracazula on Apr 5, 2013 15:47:32 GMT
OK, so the answer to the question of whether or not I will need to eat my hat may go unanswered for a while, due to Tom toying with us. ;D
Meanwhile the original debate roars on. To distract from the Paz issue for a bit, I have a question: Do we have any evidence other than Annie's "and she never saw him again" but to believe that the letter is not from Alistair? The feather in the treatise and the bird foot on the front of this chapter make me feel that this would be an ideal spot for him to pop back into the plot.
|
|
|
Post by Nnelg on Apr 7, 2013 5:27:52 GMT
Meanwhile the original debate roars on. To distract from the Paz issue for a bit, I have a question: Do we have any evidence other than Annie's "and she never saw him again" but to believe that the letter is not from Alistair? The feather in the treatise and the bird foot on the front of this chapter make me feel that this would be an ideal spot for him to pop back into the plot. No, not Annie's. Tom's. Both in and out of comic. In fact, I believe he's gotten a bit frustrated with so many people bringing that up again and again despite his repeated confirmations that it's a bit of a touchy subject.
|
|
|
Post by GK Sierra on Apr 7, 2013 6:00:23 GMT
Meanwhile the original debate roars on. To distract from the Paz issue for a bit, I have a question: Do we have any evidence other than Annie's "and she never saw him again" but to believe that the letter is not from Alistair? The feather in the treatise and the bird foot on the front of this chapter make me feel that this would be an ideal spot for him to pop back into the plot. No, not Annie's. Tom's. Both in and out of comic. In fact, I believe he's gotten a bit frustrated with so many people bringing that up again and again despite his repeated confirmations that it's a bit of a touchy subject. A subject is only touchy if the people discussing it think it is touchy.
|
|
|
Post by download on Apr 7, 2013 6:14:16 GMT
This discussion clearly isn't going anywhere. How about you wait until the comic confirms/denies your wild specualtion
|
|
|
Post by dracazula on Apr 7, 2013 13:41:18 GMT
Can someone just post a link to one of Tom's comments on the Alistair question? I'd like to see it with my own eyes if possible.
|
|
|
Post by download on Apr 7, 2013 13:48:08 GMT
|
|
|
Post by dracazula on Apr 7, 2013 15:43:07 GMT
Thanks! And yes, that does pretty much confirm it. I can't see much opportunity to mince words there. But that's the end of my theories about the giant bird foot.
|
|
coolpilot
Junior Member
The Seahawk
Posts: 67
|
Post by coolpilot on Apr 23, 2013 22:03:43 GMT
So I was working on some alchemical equations yesterday for a story I'm working on, and did a search to see if Lithium had an alchemical symbol (it doesn't, of course, but I was making sure). In that search I stumbled on this "What's Your Sign" place I remember being linked to on the GC Wiki, so I decided to look at it and scrolling down I found... Peacock Tail: Near the end of the alchemical Operation this symbol would appear. Its many-colored surface on molten metals heralded the nearness of the final stage of transformation. Further, when the alchemical Operation came to this point, the volatile parts of the residue were transcended, and the peacock, as all winged creatures, symbolized changeability. Thus the peacock's spiritual representation is that of smooth transition. Seemed like an appropriate interpretation to me, considering the title of the current (and even the last) chapter. So, I'll just leave this here for you guys to speculate away on.
|
|
|
Post by Nnelg on Apr 24, 2013 0:06:53 GMT
So, I'll just leave this here for you guys to speculate away on. I interpret this to mean that the turning point in the comic has been reached, and that Tom's going to start answering more questions than he raises. That, or "THE END IS NIGH!"
|
|
|
Post by GK Sierra on Apr 24, 2013 5:40:14 GMT
So, I'll just leave this here for you guys to speculate away on. I interpret this to mean that the turning point in the comic has been reached, and that Tom's going to start answering more questions than he raises. That, or "THE END IS NIGH!" We definitely seem to have stopped adding questions with as much frequency as before, where it was like... what, five a chapter, at least? So far this one has only introduced the love letter and the sprint through the forest, and both look to be resolved before the chapter ends.
|
|
Tobu
New Member
Posts: 13
|
Post by Tobu on Dec 6, 2013 0:24:01 GMT
The peacock feather has the two circles for sun/gold. Birds + Sun + caressing Kat → pretty sure this feather is Paz. EDIT: which isn't to say that the symbolism coolpilot points out isn't also valid (long thread, just caught up)Going by symmetry, I'm guessing we'll see significant development of Annie's relationship with her father. Maybe they finally meet in person.
|
|
|
Post by zimmyhoo on Dec 6, 2013 3:20:10 GMT
Yay, this is resurrected! I wonder what connection Anthony has with the Forest, as his bones seem to be grabbing Annie's hair from there - if they're the same type of thing as Divine.
|
|