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Post by Daedalus on May 30, 2016 7:03:12 GMT
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Post by Daedalus on May 30, 2016 7:05:58 GMT
We'll learn more Wednesday, I suppose. I hope she also chats with Smitty about his Finger Strings of Destiny.
Also, I find it nice that Bugsy departed from the Etheric Cuddlepile to chat with them about this. Small, but sweet gesture.
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Post by Sky Schemer on May 30, 2016 7:06:14 GMT
I am very curious what Bugsy has to say here. She obviously is happy in the Court, and there's got to be a reason for it. Even if it's one that only makes sense to Forest creatures et. al.
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Post by Sky Schemer on May 30, 2016 7:07:19 GMT
Also, I find it nice that Bugsy departed from the Etheric Cuddlepile to chat with them about this. Small, but sweet gesture. Agreed. I rather like Bugsy, what little we have seen of her. There's something really genuine about her, or apparently genuine anyway. |
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Post by Daedalus on May 30, 2016 7:08:30 GMT
Also, I find it nice that Bugsy departed from the Etheric Cuddlepile to chat with them about this. Small, but sweet gesture. Agreed. I rather like Bugsy, what little we have seen of her. There's something really genuine about her, or apparently genuine anyway. Self-centered and vain in a way only the (former) Foresters can be, but genuine nonetheless  |
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Post by philman on May 30, 2016 7:30:37 GMT
Hmm interesting. Looking forward to seeing what exactly the former forest creatures get out of this. I suppose there is the relative safety from other carnivorous creatures, including coyote, but I guess we'll see.
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Post by foresterr on May 30, 2016 7:41:23 GMT
I am very curious what Bugsy has to say here. She obviously is happy in the Court, and there's got to be a reason for it. Even if it's one that only makes sense to Forest creatures et. al. Eh, you know, it does not have to be all complicated. The Forest is still the Forest. Inside the Court, there is much less chance of someone dropping in for an unannounced lunch. And I can't help but notice transition to Court is popular mostly with tiny fairies, hedgehogs, deer, bunnies and such. EDIT: exchanging "less likely to get eaten" for "have to do boring work" is kinda the central deal of this thingy called civilization. Heh. |
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Post by bedinsis on May 30, 2016 7:44:05 GMT
I have a feeling that whatever the former forest creatures get out of this will make us the readers go: "That's it?"
Annie and Smitty have already been creeped out about how their human bodies are made in an assembly line, last week we saw that their education left them unable for work outside, now they find out they work 24/7. It wouldn't surprise me if their reward is small enough to keep the metaphor of former-forest-creatures-being-turned-to-metaphorical-machines-by-the-court going.
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Post by Per on May 30, 2016 7:55:35 GMT
I have a feeling that whatever the former forest creatures get out of this will make us the readers go: "That's it?" But probably enough to make every commenter go (and image this in all caps), "oh no in our slavery talk we have jumped to conclusions and forgot that this is Gunnerkrigg Court we will never do that again except at the next physically possible moment". Because track record. |
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Fuin
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Post by Fuin on May 30, 2016 9:18:39 GMT
Daedalus : Shouldn't this be numbered 1677 though? The number (and the linked comic) is friday's.
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Post by Druplesnubb on May 30, 2016 9:56:33 GMT
Do they really need vacation when "work" is basically just messing around with their friends?
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Post by Druplesnubb on May 30, 2016 9:59:58 GMT
last week we saw that their education left them unable for work outside Because that's a pretty gross misinterpretation. Bugsy simply didn't do very well. Did you seriously believe that all the forest students become teachers and nothing else? |
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Post by bedinsis on May 30, 2016 10:14:47 GMT
last week we saw that their education left them unable for work outside Because that's a pretty gross misinterpretation. Bugsy simply didn't do very well. Did you seriously believe that all the forest students become teachers and nothing else? I was talking about that page and it was a gross misrepresentation. Sorry. Even so, the scene implied that work was something that was assigned to the graduating former forest creatures rather then something they'd have to go out and search for themselves. Which to me says that their education have not enabled them to do so. |
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Post by zimmyzims on May 30, 2016 11:13:21 GMT
Saruman Daedalus, your staff link is broken. |
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Post by KMar on May 30, 2016 13:17:58 GMT
Remember that they don't *need* their minds for ...whatever maths they were working on the last time we saw a lesson.
If their subjective workload in their actual jobs is on a comparable level, I suppose it can't be that bad. I mean, would you need a holiday if your work would be so simple that could do it without paying almost no attention to it, like breathing, while *at the same time* you can mess about in ether. Or with ether. In, or out of it. Doesn't matter.
Of course there's stuff like holiday trips to Spain to consider (sounds like they don't travel much outside the Court), but it probably isn't as terrible as it sounds.
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Post by Daedalus on May 30, 2016 15:39:59 GMT
But probably enough to make every commenter go (and image this in all caps), "oh no in our slavery talk we have jumped to conclusions and forgot that this is Gunnerkrigg Court we will never do that again except at the next physically possible moment". Because track record. I'm actually suspecting a double subversion in this case - we've been told ten ways why life in the Court is terrible for these doofuses, so now we get to see what the Court does right. |
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Post by csj on May 30, 2016 15:51:53 GMT
asshole boss vs fickle human construct boss with magic powers and capable of killing on a whim
e: It's probably a variation on the 'robots enjoy their slavery' deal and they 'enjoy' the work or consider it 'easy' and thus less of a deal than the dangers of the forest and such.
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Post by youwiththeface on May 30, 2016 16:13:07 GMT
I'd be kind of uncomfortable with the comic justifying this.
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Post by Daedalus on May 30, 2016 17:00:04 GMT
It's probably a variation on the 'robots enjoy their slavery' deal and they 'enjoy' the work or consider it 'easy' and thus less of a deal than the dangers of the forest and such. I'd be kind of uncomfortable with the comic justifying this. I personally wouldn't be uncomfortable with this, because it's not precisely that "robots enjoy their slavery". The robots, while sapient, are not human. They have different mental processes and priorities - like the robots in Freefall, they define themselves by being useful. As long as they're not under coercion, and they have the freedom to stop working should they so choose, it's not slavery. Their desire to work and the human desire to have them work happen to align nicely, nothing more. In my opinion, of course. However, the darker question is whether the robots were designed to want to work without pay, whether that is a form of coercion or enslavement, and whether their desires are any less valid for being constructed by outside sources. A fascinating discussion to have, sometime. |
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Post by Georgie L on May 30, 2016 17:15:15 GMT
Well in the forest the predator-prey dynamic probably still is a thing, so I'd say that not being a worry is already a large factor of why it's a great deal.
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Post by KMar on May 30, 2016 18:09:01 GMT
It's probably a variation on the 'robots enjoy their slavery' deal and they 'enjoy' the work or consider it 'easy' and thus less of a deal than the dangers of the forest and such. I'd be kind of uncomfortable with the comic justifying this. I personally wouldn't be uncomfortable with this, because it's not precisely that "robots enjoy their slavery". The robots, while sapient, are not human. They have different mental processes and priorities - like the robots in Freefall, they define themselves by being useful. As long as they're not under coercion, and they have the freedom to stop working should they so choose, it's not slavery. Their desire to work and the human desire to have them work happen to align nicely, nothing more. In my opinion, of course. However, the darker question is whether the robots were designed to want to work without pay, whether that is a form of coercion or enslavement, and whether their desires are any less valid for being constructed by outside sources. A fascinating discussion to have, sometime. I, for one, think this set-up might be one of the more interesting parts of the storytelling in this comic. Serious attempts at portraying complex ethical dilemmas that have no easy, clear-cut answers? Most commendable! |
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Post by zbeeblebrox on May 30, 2016 19:12:12 GMT
We're either going to get a funny answer that will leave us shaking our heads at how weird forest creatures are, or we're going to get a very troubling/surprising answer whose implications will ripple into much greater consequences down the line.
I'm assuming it'll be the former. Because forest creatures.
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Post by davidm on May 30, 2016 21:36:36 GMT
They insult each other, "fatso", long blowing on tongue sticking out, fight, etc... "such good friends!" So if court says "not useful for anything but teaching", is just fitting into culture, they get names, own clothes, etc...
Perhaps they work all day because court has learned the hard way that works better, they are happier, they cause less chaos and destruction. "wow, you don't feel pain when you cut your hair, lets try with my fingers"... imagine that sort of thing except scaled up, where the bigger the boom the better.
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Post by csj on May 31, 2016 4:42:36 GMT
So if court says "not useful for anything but teaching", is just fitting into culture The court is not culturally-aware enough to do that, even if that's how they'd interpret such an insult. The incongruence is pretty funny, though. |
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arzeik
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Post by arzeik on May 31, 2016 11:19:41 GMT
I'd be kind of uncomfortable with the comic justifying this. I'm going to begin by saying that, currently, my opinion of the Court and how it takes advantage of creatures and fairies' desire of having a different life is quite low, no matter how happy they are about it. But I understand the whole "justification" thing in quite a different way from yours. I mean: - You can state points in favour of almost anything, without justifying its adequacy. And in my opinion, it's always interesting to hear both sides of an argument, no matter how stupid I may find one of them beforehand.
- Forest people do not think the same way as us. Their culture is, as we all know, full of, well, subtlety. I would love to hear what they have to say about the situation.
- And last, but maybe most important of all: Tom having a character voice some point of view or trying to justify something isn't the same as Tom (or the comic, if you will) supporting that point of view. And for him to be able to show us so many different perspectives is one of the things that make me admire his writing.
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Post by Per on May 31, 2016 12:04:08 GMT
Even so, the scene implied that work was something that was assigned to the graduating former forest creatures rather then something they'd have to go out and search for themselves. Which to me says that their education have not enabled them to do so. Possibly the Foleys are not expected (or well suited) to transition out into the more mundane world, which could mean the Court is really their only prospective employer. There's the forest, but I would guess the Foleys wouldn't necessarily be very well respected (or safe) there, and there might not be anything like the HUMAN JOBS they crave. I'm actually suspecting a double subversion in this case - we've been told ten ways why life in the Court is terrible for these doofuses, so now we get to see what the Court does right. But first, have we been told it's terrible, or have we just been shown Annie's, Kat's and Smitty's bemused reactions to the fairies' atypical situation, leaving us with opportunities for projection? And second, maybe less a "double subversion" than "being shown one thing and then another", at least if a post-colonial filter was not vigorously applied to the analysis in the meantime. |
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Post by warrl on May 31, 2016 21:15:40 GMT
It's also possible that this is only "stage 1" and there's a "stage 2" (and maybe more) that Annie isn't aware of yet because she's only talked to people in stage 1.
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Post by youwiththeface on May 31, 2016 23:37:33 GMT
It's probably a variation on the 'robots enjoy their slavery' deal and they 'enjoy' the work or consider it 'easy' and thus less of a deal than the dangers of the forest and such. I'd be kind of uncomfortable with the comic justifying this. I personally wouldn't be uncomfortable with this, because it's not precisely that "robots enjoy their slavery". The robots, while sapient, are not human. They have different mental processes and priorities - like the robots in Freefall, they define themselves by being useful. As long as they're not under coercion, and they have the freedom to stop working should they so choose, it's not slavery. Their desire to work and the human desire to have them work happen to align nicely, nothing more. In my opinion, of course. However, the darker question is whether the robots were designed to want to work without pay, whether that is a form of coercion or enslavement, and whether their desires are any less valid for being constructed by outside sources. A fascinating discussion to have, sometime. I wasn't talking about the robots. |
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Post by davidm on Jun 1, 2016 5:37:42 GMT
So if court says "not useful for anything but teaching", is just fitting into culture The court is not culturally-aware enough to do that, even if that's how they'd interpret such an insult. The incongruence is pretty funny, though. The court has Jones and Surma Carver and probably many others if they wanted info on fairy culture. But good old trial and error can also help, eg may be if you give praise and former fairies don't care, you insult and they leave with smile on face. After a while there may be a manual just like the one that warns about discouraging robots from romantic interests in humans. |
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