[1638] I miss you

[arf]

Love to know where Janet has gone in this.

[hellohello]

[AWKWARDNESS INTENSIFIES]

[psybershadow]

The more I see of William the more I ship the hell out of Annie and William.

Maybe they'll create Gohan, some kind of half ether half science thing.

[haspen]

Oh man oh man I just cannot prepare enough popcorn for upcoming strips.

This is too intense awkward! I need more!

[psybershadow]

Before this page I was starting to think maybe Rey was chatting with Annie through the ether.

[toodleboots]

This is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

[speedwell]

Just woke up and my mind is racing, sorry

Naturally everyone is going to go ape over any male entity dating Antimony. If I were Anthony (which thank f*** I'm not) I'd move heaven and earth to give her some sort of birth control implant (medical or etheric) because having her walk around fertile is just too risky. What does anyone know about Surma's mother/grandmother/etc.? When Rey says "we knew it would happen if Surma had a child", did "we" know it would happen inevitably, or because of something about Anthony? Was it inevitable that Surma's child would be a daughter? 

About William... On the boat, he wasn't tagged with a nullification as one of the people whose etheric powers were considered a threat. Do we know he does anything special, other than conjecturally having Forest ancestry?

About Annie... We know that 1) The Court facilitates Forest dwellers to transport whatever-is-not-their-body into a new body, 2) the new body is based on the old body's DNA somehow, 3) this was not considered for Surma or Annie at all. I wonder why not.

[psybershadow]

Feb 29, 2016 8:22:08 GMT speedwell said:

Just woke up and my mind is racing, sorry

Naturally everyone is going to go ape over any male entity dating Antimony. If I were Anthony (which thank f*** I'm not) I'd move heaven and earth to give her some sort of birth control implant (medical or etheric) because having her walk around fertile is just too risky. What does anyone know about Surma's mother/grandmother/etc.? When Rey says "we knew it would happen if Surma had a child", did "we" know it would happen inevitably, or because of something about Anthony? Was it inevitable that Surma's child would be a daughter? 

About William... On the boat, he wasn't tagged with a nullification as one of the people whose etheric powers were considered a threat. Do we know he does anything special, other than conjecturally having Forest ancestry?

About Annie... We know that 1) The Court facilitates Forest dwellers to transport whatever-is-not-their-body into a new body, 2) the new body is based on the old body's DNA somehow, 3) this was not considered for Surma or Annie at all. I wonder why not.

Surma and Annie left the court.

[fiaryn]

Feb 29, 2016 8:22:08 GMT speedwell said:

Just woke up and my mind is racing, sorry

Naturally everyone is going to go ape over any male entity dating Antimony. If I were Anthony (which thank f*** I'm not) I'd move heaven and earth to give her some sort of birth control implant (medical or etheric) because having her walk around fertile is just too risky. What does anyone know about Surma's mother/grandmother/etc.? When Rey says "we knew it would happen if Surma had a child", did "we" know it would happen inevitably, or because of something about Anthony? Was it inevitable that Surma's child would be a daughter? 

About William... On the boat, he wasn't tagged with a nullification as one of the people whose etheric powers were considered a threat. Do we know he does anything special, other than conjecturally having Forest ancestry?

About Annie... We know that 1) The Court facilitates Forest dwellers to transport whatever-is-not-their-body into a new body, 2) the new body is based on the old body's DNA somehow, 3) this was not considered for Surma or Annie at all. I wonder why not.

I'm not sure if 2 is a solid conclusion to draw. They create bodies, yes, but the procedure also involves soul transference from a totem and that is 100% Coyote's domain. In other words, the process is not fully technological. The procedure exists in order for Court Dwellers or Forest Dwellers to cross a divide and live a style of life that is impossible in their current bodies. Animals and fairies cannot participate in human society as they are, for example.

Also neither Annie nor Surma are forest dwellers. They are still fundamentally human, with slight quirks.

[zimmyzims]

Also, William Winsbury just established himself as the not-quite-Cicero of his class.

[csj]

he needs a towel

:3

[erthain]

Feb 29, 2016 8:06:50 GMT hellohello said:

[AWKWARDNESS INTENSIFIES]

His awkwardness level...it's OVER 9000!

[Totally relevant to this scene, therefore not the least bit ashamed]

[hifranc]

Feb 29, 2016 8:22:08 GMT speedwell said:

Just woke up and my mind is racing, sorry

Naturally everyone is going to go ape over any male entity dating Antimony. If I were Anthony (which thank f*** I'm not) I'd move heaven and earth to give her some sort of birth control implant (medical or etheric) because having her walk around fertile is just too risky. What does anyone know about Surma's mother/grandmother/etc.? When Rey says "we knew it would happen if Surma had a child", did "we" know it would happen inevitably, or because of something about Anthony? Was it inevitable that Surma's child would be a daughter? 

It's because she's Surma's daughter.

1. It's because she's a fire elemental:
As seen here, followed by here and here.

2. Also, the forest folk didn't know that Carver was the father.

[hypixion]

I hope he and Janet broke up otherwise this would be a serious dick move.

[arf]

Feb 29, 2016 8:33:12 GMT zimmyzims said:

Saruman arf, your link is broken.

Fixed.

[fish]

I still can't decide whether this is William being genuine but awkward, or whether he's just playing along with whatever scheme Kat and the rest came up with. Anyway, awkward!

[calpal]

Feb 29, 2016 11:18:27 GMT fish said:

I still can't decide whether this is William being genuine but awkward, or whether he's just playing along with whatever scheme Kat and the rest came up with. Anyway, awkward!

You know, everyone else has been saying that this is part of the scheme that the others have concocted, but reading the way he talks, it doesn't feel pre-planned.  I think sometimes, when you're truly feeling something, the brain has a very peculiar tendency of making you sound very stupid in the process, like with William going "it really really... ... ... sucks."  And you can't really get that as much if you're trying to follow a script or someone else's plans.

Anywho, that's my two cents and I could always be wrong, but... maybe William is genuine.  I mean, Rey could've seen into his mind by now, right?  Is - is that a thing he could do?  Divine William's true intent?

[arzeik]

[aline]

Feb 29, 2016 9:56:20 GMT hypixion said:

I hope he and Janet broke up otherwise this would be a serious dick move.

Even Winsbury isn't stupid enough to make a move on another girl while his current girlfriend is in the room. Also, their entire friend's group seems to know about his plan to ask Annie out, so you can be sure Janet didn't miss the information. She's obviously not thrilled about it, but there is no dick move involved. Just moving on.

After all, in real life people rarely end up married with their first girlfriend from when they were 11.

Feb 29, 2016 8:22:08 GMT speedwell said:

Naturally everyone is going to go ape over any male entity dating Antimony. If I were Anthony (which thank f*** I'm not) I'd move heaven and earth to give her some sort of birth control implant (medical or etheric) because having her walk around fertile is just too risky.

While it is in general never too early to talk birth control to a young teenager, Annie hasn't even started to understand that Winsbury wants to go out with her. I think we should let them get to the hand holding stage (if they ever get there) before we start worrying about unwanted pregnancies.

[Timberwere]

Winsbury's fidgeting and searching for words seems sincere to me. I think less and less that his asking Annie out is a ploy to get Janet's dad off their backs. We'll see.

And, oh boy, is his awkwardness cute!

[saardvark]

Feb 29, 2016 8:22:08 GMT speedwell said:

About William... On the boat, he wasn't tagged with a nullification as one of the people whose etheric powers were considered a threat. Do we know he does anything special, other than conjecturally having Forest ancestry?

He might still have etheric powers, just ones that the robots deemed unthreatening.  They were wrong about Paz's ability... so William might still have some interesting ability up his sleeve....

[matoyak]

Feb 29, 2016 11:34:30 GMT calpal said:

Feb 29, 2016 11:18:27 GMT fish said:

I still can't decide whether this is William being genuine but awkward, or whether he's just playing along with whatever scheme Kat and the rest came up with. Anyway, awkward!

You know, everyone else has been saying that this is part of the scheme that the others have concocted, but reading the way he talks, it doesn't feel pre-planned. I think sometimes, when you're truly feeling something, the brain has a very peculiar tendency of making you sound very stupid in the process, like with William going "it really really... ... ... sucks." And you can't really get that as much if you're trying to follow a script or someone else's plans.

Anywho, that's my two cents and I could always be wrong, but... maybe William is genuine...

Yeah, this comes across as completely genuine to me as well. It also comes across very much as someone wanting to ask her out. Granted, it could be he's asking for a mentor, and he's just in awe of her abilities. Or it could be that he's a bad actor with real rough stage fright following a script he barely remembers very poorly. Or some combination of the three (often guys asking girls out ARE following a script and their "stage fright" gets in the way of delivering it well, only with the benefactor being themselves rather than following someone else's scheme. And sometimes they're doing that, too). No real guarantees in any specific direction yet...but it sure does seem like he's leading up to legit asking her out.

[darlos9d]

See here's the thing though. There was literally no buildup to this. Like, one moment we're pretty confident in not only Winsbury and Janet being a thing, but also - and more importantly - Winsbury and Janet not really being that important to the plot. But now all of a sudden they're not an item AND William here is rocketing himself up the plot important ladder by suddenly having the desire to approach Annie romantically.

Yeah, from a "realism" standpoint I can't say anything is necessarily amiss here. People break up and then people make moves on other people they know. But unfortunately fiction isn't just about what's realistic. It's also about the logic of the meta narrative. And from a meta narrative this all seems pretty sudden and un-foreshadowed, at the moment. Again, I'm gonna withhold final judgment until this scenario plays out fully, but I just wanted to illuminate why some people - myself included - are still tilting our heads at this like "is something else going on here? Are we missing something?" Because from a writing standpoint, this whole scenario seems weird, awkward, and sudden if taken purely at face value.

Also I'm not sure why Tom is trying so hard to force some kind of DBZ comparison.

[matoyak]

Feb 29, 2016 13:49:42 GMT darlos9d said:

See here's the thing though. There was literally no buildup to this. Like, one moment we're pretty confident in not only Winsbury and Janet being a thing, but also - and more importantly - Winsbury and Janet not really being that important to the plot. But now all of a sudden they're not an item AND William here is rocketing himself up the plot important ladder by suddenly having the desire to approach Annie romantically.

Yeah, from a "realism" standpoint I can't say anything is necessarily amiss here. People break up and then people make moves on other people they know. But unfortunately fiction isn't just about what's realistic. It's also about the logic of the meta narrative. And from a meta narrative this all seems pretty sudden and un-foreshadowed, at the moment. Again, I'm gonna withhold final judgment until this scenario plays out fully, but I just wanted to illuminate why some people - myself included - are still tilting our heads at this like "is something else going on here? Are we missing something?" Because from a writing standpoint, this whole scenario seems weird, awkward, and sudden if taken purely at face value.

Yup, I agree with this (almost) entirely. I'm bothered about it on a meta-narrative level as well as in the story considering Annie's mental and emotional state at the moment. It's bad timing all around, I feel. But then, Tom's a very good writer, so I'm also waiting to see what all's happening before fully judging it. My gut is bothered, though, and...I dunno. There have been hints about it (ones that were easy to dismiss, because "why on earth would they actually be the case, it'd just be dumb and bad and ohnowaitasecond it actually seems to be happening...ok...huh...I'll...give it the benefit of the doubt???"), but I dunno. ~shrug~

Feb 29, 2016 13:49:42 GMT darlos9d said:

Also I'm not sure why Tom is trying so hard to force some kind of DBZ comparison.

This is a weird thing. At least it isn't being so forced in-story, merely in Tom's comments. Though Will really does need a different 'do, and probably a couple really good night sleeps...dem eye bags are rough, kid.

[Jelly Jellybean]

Now that I am begnning to believe that this could be happening...

I wonder if Annie getting a boyfriend is going send Anthony over the deep end, again. Kat's permission for Renard to do whatever it takes to defend himself from Anthony is still hanging out there. Renard's return seemed to dissipate that threat, but if Anthony wigs out again I can see Renard intervening and then "defending" himself.

[zimmyzims]

Feb 29, 2016 13:49:42 GMT darlos9d said:

See here's the thing though. There was literally no buildup to this. Like, one moment we're pretty confident in not only Winsbury and Janet being a thing, but also - and more importantly - Winsbury and Janet not really being that important to the plot. But now all of a sudden they're not an item AND William here is rocketing himself up the plot important ladder by suddenly having the desire to approach Annie romantically.

Yeah, from a "realism" standpoint I can't say anything is necessarily amiss here. People break up and then people make moves on other people they know. But unfortunately fiction isn't just about what's realistic. It's also about the logic of the meta narrative. And from a meta narrative this all seems pretty sudden and un-foreshadowed, at the moment. Again, I'm gonna withhold final judgment until this scenario plays out fully, but I just wanted to illuminate why some people - myself included - are still tilting our heads at this like "is something else going on here? Are we missing something?" Because from a writing standpoint, this whole scenario seems weird, awkward, and sudden if taken purely at face value.

Also I'm not sure why Tom is trying so hard to force some kind of DBZ comparison.

No worries, Annie's going to turn William down anyway, so he's not going to become an important character all of the sudden.

Feb 29, 2016 14:04:01 GMT Jelly Jellybean said:

Now that I am begnning to believe that this could be happening...

I wonder if Annie getting a boyfriend is going send Anthony over the deep end, again. Kat's permission for Renard to do whatever it takes to defend himself from Anthony is still hanging out there. Renard's return seemed to dissipate that threat, but if Anthony wigs out again I can see Renard intervening and then "defending" himself.

I thought Renard was not backing William in this case, so maybe Rey and Tony would find a mutual concern in this to bring them together.

[ctso74]

Feb 29, 2016 13:59:19 GMT matoyak said:

Feb 29, 2016 13:49:42 GMT darlos9d said:

Also I'm not sure why Tom is trying so hard to force some kind of DBZ comparison.

This is a weird thing. At least it isn't being so forced in-story, merely in Tom's comments. Though Will really does need a different 'do, and probably a couple really good night sleeps...dem eye bags are rough, kid.

If this all turns out to be a dream, I'm throwing my monitor across the room.

This all is actually pretty realistic, though. People do suddenly breakup, when one of the two is thinking about another person. Will's timing is terrible, but he's a teenager. When a young man first pursues someone, it's often more about how the pursuer feels rather than the pursuee.

Good luck, Will...  poor, sweaty, sweaty Will.

[siaynoq]

Feb 29, 2016 13:49:42 GMT darlos9d said:

See here's the thing though. There was literally no buildup to this. Like, one moment we're pretty confident in not only Winsbury and Janet being a thing, but also - and more importantly - Winsbury and Janet not really being that important to the plot. But now all of a sudden they're not an item AND William here is rocketing himself up the plot important ladder by suddenly having the desire to approach Annie romantically.

Yeah, from a "realism" standpoint I can't say anything is necessarily amiss here. People break up and then people make moves on other people they know. But unfortunately fiction isn't just about what's realistic. It's also about the logic of the meta narrative. And from a meta narrative this all seems pretty sudden and un-foreshadowed, at the moment. Again, I'm gonna withhold final judgment until this scenario plays out fully, but I just wanted to illuminate why some people - myself included - are still tilting our heads at this like "is something else going on here? Are we missing something?" Because from a writing standpoint, this whole scenario seems weird, awkward, and sudden if taken purely at face value.

Also I'm not sure why Tom is trying so hard to force some kind of DBZ comparison.

But there was lots of build up to this? The get better card was his idea, people have mentioned how he seems to pay more attention to Annie and talks about her frequently.

I'd honestly bet his relationship was Janet was more interesting when they were fighting and once it was out in the open, it wasn't as fun for either of them.

Plus, they're kids. You could go out with someone for a *week* in high school and call it a relationship.

[ih8pkmn]

I don't buy this. Pretty much the only indication given that this might be a thing is Kat saying in Chapter 52 that Winsbury might have a thing for her, and I think most of us brushed it off as another joke at the fact that nobody believes Janet and Willy have been going out for years. Now that it turns out that he's got a thing for Annie, I have to ask... where was this before? This may just be down to limited interaction between him and Annie, and maybe I just missed some foreshadowing, but... guh. It's a weird plot turn.

On the other hand, I am wondering a few things:

1)Has William been getting hair-styling tips from Red? Or is he just perpetually in Super Saiyan mode? I'm half-expecting Renard to burst through the door going "NOT SO FAST POINTY-HAIRED BOY" and Winsbury doing a startled Kamehameha.

2)On a scale of 1-10, how much will Renard threaten to hurt Winsbury if he hurts Annie? I'm thinking an 8 or 8.5.

3)How is Janet taking this?

[keef]

Annie's answer:
"I'm sorry William, I haven't told anyone yet, not even Kat, but a nice boy from year 9 asked me out and I accepted. His name is Adam."

---

Feb 29, 2016 8:22:08 GMT speedwell said:

Naturally everyone is going to go ape over any male entity dating Antimony. If I were Anthony (which thank f*** I'm not) I'd move heaven and earth to give her some sort of birth control implant (medical or etheric) because having her walk around fertile is just too risky.

What does anyone know about Surma's mother/grandmother/etc.? When Rey says "we knew it would happen if Surma had a child", did "we" know it would happen inevitably, or because of something about Anthony? Was it inevitable that Surma's child would be a daughter? 

Yes. Personally I think Coyote's words here mean that it is inevitable that she will have a daughter. Some others don't.

SPOILER: Click to show

Something I prepared earlier...

About William... On the boat, he wasn't tagged with a nullification as one of the people whose etheric powers were considered a threat. Do we know he does anything special, other than conjecturally having Forest ancestry?

Everyone in the school has some talent, and William's talent might be important.

About Annie... We know that 1) The Court facilitates Forest dwellers to transport whatever-is-not-their-body into a new body, 2) the new body is based on the old body's DNA somehow, 3) this was not considered for Surma or Annie at all. I wonder why not.

The body is not the point. The problem is they share one soul. The elemental part is the soul, I think it was Lightice who brought up Highlander: There can only be one.

---

About William's ancestry; Tom said the Anwyn have never wanted to become human, but maybe one Anwyn (or another member of their species) lived on the court side of the river, when the divide took place. Jeanne can't have been the only one who had no problem with green skin and pointy ears.