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Post by The Anarch on Aug 7, 2013 16:48:54 GMT
I was very certain of that myself, but then I just started thinking . . . Hetty used to belong to ADAM's Little Sister . . . A MAN CHOOSES A SLAVE OBEYS
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Post by grinningcat on Aug 7, 2013 17:28:28 GMT
GUYS GUYS.
What if Hettie's symbol was her spirit-face?
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Post by GK Sierra on Aug 7, 2013 19:41:38 GMT
A MAN CHOOSES A SLAVE OBEYS
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Kuraimizu
Full Member
Master Librarian
Posts: 177
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Post by Kuraimizu on Aug 8, 2013 1:55:14 GMT
I suspect the red/orange lights are an alchemical reference. cinnabar or vermilion is derived from mercury and sulphur. (note, of course, quicksilver being another name for mercury.) the symbol on Hetty's forehead may be a variation on one or several of the forms of the symbol for sulphur, alchemical red sulphur being known as the 'Red King': as such, I suspect her true form of being that of a royal red prawn. ties up neatly, doesn't it? I've been under the impression that Hetty's symbol was phosphorus. My Google-fu confirms this. And your Google-fu Fails Here an image I put together Hetty's Symbol is a composite of 3 Alchemical Symbols. Made from the bottom of phosphorus. The top of Oil Essence And includes the complete symbol for Oil. If I had to guess a name for the symbol Oil Essence of Phosphorus Composited to resemble a 3 eyed Krill Shrimp
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Post by snipertom on Aug 8, 2013 2:29:44 GMT
the composite symbol theory goes well with a trident being part of the inspiration, as Neptune/Poseidon was the god of the seas, and, well, prawns. Regarding phosphorous (from wikipedia)- - The first friction ('strike anywhere') matches were made of "a wood splint dipped in a paste of sulfur, gum, potassium chlorate, sugar and antimony trisulfide" - The next major type of friction matches substituted antimony trisulfide with white phosphorous - White phosphorous was then replaced with red phosphorous which was less toxic - The first safety matches took the red phosphorous out of the head of the match and put it on the striking surface - In modern safety matches & matchboxes, the striking surface is made of "25% powdered glass or other abrasive material, 50% red phosphorus, 5% neutralizer, 4% carbon black, and 16% binder" while the heads are made of "45–55% potassium chlorate, with a little sulfur and starch, a neutralizer (ZnO or CaCO3), 20–40% of siliceous filler, diatomite, and glue. Some heads contain antimony(III) sulfide to make them burn more vigorously" Interestingly, there is a three eyed shrimp called the longtail tadpole shrimp en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triops_longicaudatus which looks a lot like Bud & Lindsay. Prawn + oil + matches... mmm...
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Post by TBeholder on Aug 8, 2013 8:41:28 GMT
Ye have a dirty mind. Boxbot It just depends WHAT job you want Helpful Hetty to get done. 7 Aug 2013 | 9:40 AM
OtherBoxbot So why'd Adam's sister have this..? At least it'd be pretty easy to figure out her accident now though. 7 Aug 2013 | 3:02 PM
Elfguy @Boxbot: Guessing that the doll and needles are a learning aid for diabetic children? 7 Aug 2013 | 9:41 PM
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melkior
Junior Member
Nice Hat!
Posts: 84
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Post by melkior on Aug 8, 2013 9:45:31 GMT
Kuraimizu has it right. Hetty's symbol is almost certainly a combination of "oil", "oil essence" and "phosphorus".
There could be an intended connection to the fact that many shrimp/prawns emit phosphorescent light, although this seems a bit unlikely because "phosphorescence" in animals doesn't involve phosphorus at all. It's a misnomer which seems to have come from people associating the lights they saw in the sea at night with the light of phosphorus burning when exposed to air. It's unlikely that Tom would make such a mistake, given how careful he's been in the past.
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Post by GK Sierra on Aug 8, 2013 16:45:51 GMT
Ye have a dirty mind. Boxbot It just depends WHAT job you want Helpful Hetty to get done. 7 Aug 2013 | 9:40 AM
OtherBoxbot So why'd Adam's sister have this..? At least it'd be pretty easy to figure out her accident now though. 7 Aug 2013 | 3:02 PM
Elfguy @Boxbot: Guessing that the doll and needles are a learning aid for diabetic children? 7 Aug 2013 | 9:41 PM Awwww... A learning aid for diabetic children. That almost makes her sound innocuous.
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Post by Per on Aug 8, 2013 17:36:48 GMT
Awwww... A learning aid for diabetic children. That almost makes her sound innocuous. Use the needles for vaccination and it almost makes her sound... inoculous. I'm pretty sure that's not a word yeah
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Post by GK Sierra on Aug 8, 2013 17:51:43 GMT
Awwww... A learning aid for diabetic children. That almost makes her sound innocuous. Use the needles for vaccination and it almost makes her sound... inoculous. I'm pretty sure that's not a word yeah
It is now! All it takes to make a neologism is two people.
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Post by The Anarch on Aug 9, 2013 5:04:06 GMT
"Innocuous" and "inoculate", fashioned together into a hideous pun/portmanteau monstrosity. A puntmanteau, if you will.
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Post by GK Sierra on Aug 9, 2013 9:06:03 GMT
"Innocuous" and "inoculate", fashioned together into a hideous pun/portmanteau monstrosity. A puntmanteau, if you will. IN CASE OF EXCESS META, BREAK GLASS
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Post by Purgatorius on Aug 11, 2013 18:22:49 GMT
Maybe Hetty's head symbol was narrative foreshadowing of how she was going to die; covered in oil and then burned. And no-one called it...
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Post by Per on Aug 11, 2013 19:31:25 GMT
Except that it was lighter fluid, not oil, and given that personal symbols are a thing in the Gunnerverse it seems far-fetched that Tom should switch to having a symbol be a meta-reference.
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Post by warrl on Aug 15, 2013 5:12:24 GMT
Except that it was lighter fluid, not oil "Lighter fluid" without qualification is oil. What kind of oil, varies. The container we were shown is of naphtha, a mixture of mostly pentane and hexane, used in lighters with wicks. While the stuff evaporates at body temperature (and ordinary atmospheric pressure), it can be handled as an ordinary liquid for short periods, and the wick fabric's resistance to the liquid moving through it is an adequate pressure barrier to keep evaporation acceptably slow. Most lighters without wicks, including disposable lighters, use butane. That stuff evaporates at -1 celsius (30 fahrenheit) at ordinary pressure, so must be stored and handled at somewhat higher pressure.
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Post by Señor Goose on Aug 15, 2013 7:52:19 GMT
Maybe Hetty's head symbol was narrative foreshadowing of how she was going to die; covered in oil and then burned. And no-one called it... Chemically speaking, lighter fluid and oil are different things. I'm a physicist, not a chemist, so you'll have to ask one to find out how.
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Post by TBeholder on Aug 18, 2013 20:12:20 GMT
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Post by lordofpotatoes on Aug 18, 2013 21:01:42 GMT
Huh... I just got this idea/question that made me worry. What was this chapter for? How was it trying to push the story forward?
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Post by Per on Aug 18, 2013 21:31:41 GMT
World building: possessed things with symbols are a thing.
Characterization: Reynardine regrets killing Daniel and Sivo as well as trying to kill Annie. Reynardine employs vigilante justice.
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Post by Mezzaphor on Aug 18, 2013 21:45:16 GMT
We got an answer to the long-standing question of "Did Rey really intend to possess Annie way back in chapter 3?"
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Post by GK Sierra on Aug 19, 2013 6:07:54 GMT
World building: possessed things with symbols are a thing. Characterization: Reynardine regrets killing Daniel and Sivo as well as trying to kill Annie. Reynardine employs vigilante justice. I wish I had a button I could press to distill the forum into short briefs like this.
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