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Post by hifranc on Feb 2, 2017 1:42:51 GMT
About Annie's duties to the Forest - part of the reason for the setup was because Jeanne was there. Coyote said that the Court did something to the waters to make it impossible to cross. Then again, Coyote created the ravine so maybe they are not unemployed after all.
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Post by fia on Feb 2, 2017 1:49:54 GMT
GUYS. I THINK TONY'S GOING TO TAKE ANNIE'S PLACE WHEN HE FINDS OUT!  Not sure it's the sort of place anyone can take one's place at. Annie has dispute-solving skillz that they need. Anthony is crummy at solving disputes... |
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Post by Runningflame on Feb 2, 2017 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by snowflake on Feb 2, 2017 4:44:05 GMT
About Annie's duties to the Forest - part of the reason for the setup was because Jeanne was there. Coyote said that the Court did something to the waters to make it impossible to cross. Then again, Coyote created the ravine so maybe they are not unemployed after all. Coyote then added that later a bridge was built, on the Court's own terms. We have seen Forest creatures cross the bridge into the Court many times, some of them uninvited. So I just don't think Jeanne's presence was of any consequence. Not anymore. She was a forgotten relic of a time long gone, and the Court and the Forest were conducting their relationship literally over her head. |
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Post by Trillium on Feb 2, 2017 6:46:58 GMT
You know this whole confrontation with the Psycopomps feels wrong. They don't quite look the same and they certainly aren't acting the quite right. And then there's the arrow. In Ch 47 we get some information that the arrow cut through a number of departments including the ROTD. That whoever made it knew what they were doing. Who helped Diego build something that would rip through etheric realms? I don't think he got there by himself.
We have The Psycopomps, the ROTD and whatever group Annie's dad tangled with. I think those guys were after Annie. With Annie now seeming about to connect to the ether she may see something very different than what was being presented. Are these guys actually who they seem to be? Could we possibly see an intervention by the ROTD? Does Annie get any help or will she see through this scam all by herself? She may end up facing them down and telling them to get lost.
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Post by bicarbonat on Feb 2, 2017 7:21:17 GMT
While I'm on the subject of adults repudiating their responsibility, I have a horrible feeling that the next soul for which Annie has to act as psychopomp may be her own despairing, broken, useless-at-his-life's-work and unsuccessful-at-containing-his-daughter father. I hope the reconciliation happens another way. Just when I thought Anthony couldn't have any more resemblance to Nathan Wallace from "Repo! The Genetic Opera", another checkbox is added to the list of similarities. & if there's a GK-style "Needle into a bug" moment, I will log out of life itself and make dial-up sounds for the rest of my days. |
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Post by bicarbonat on Feb 2, 2017 7:41:17 GMT
Even in the face of all the Jeanne stuff that just came to a climax, this seems kind of abruptly overdramatic. Was there any strong hints before this chapter that the psychopomps wanted to gain some kind of control over Annie? Because it feels like they've been looking forward to this kind of opportunity, by the way they're acting about it. Like lisanela said, their behavior feels really dickish all of a sudden. Not insomuch as they want something in return for saving somebody who was "supposed" to die, that seems like the kind of standard life/death balance concerns that psychopomps would have. Rather, them just being like "YOU BELONG TO US" after the fact feels a bit over the top. It's one step away from sinister maniacal laughter. Up until now they have, in the few times they've showed up, felt at least moderately sympathetic in attitude. Now they're being overbearing. But perhaps I missed some cues. I could see this attitude as an extremely long-game, nonhuman version of how the Court appeared to give Annie carte blanche for a time...but it was really just a long rope that the Headmaster yanked when he had an opening to repay her uncontrol. Anyone (besides Jones) registers disrespect in this universe and "digests" it according to their nature. Eglamore vs Annie, Coyote vs Annie, Annie vs Anthony, Muut vs Annie. The pomps have shown muted shades of exasperation or disapproval re: Annie "IDC" Carver, and been on the receiving end of her animosity. I'd be surprised if they showed their hand like a human would, considering they deal in the Great Inevitable and have existed for ages. Distracted though potent in childhood, intractable and even more potent in adolescence? Their expectations and her potential were destined to clash. And they'd waste no time cancelling out years of Annie's dismissals & snubs with one flat (prison) sentence. |
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Post by theonethatgotaway on Feb 2, 2017 8:35:29 GMT
What if they just want her fire-elemental spirit? Maybe Annie just loses her connection to the ether, until someone finds a way to get it back.
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Post by psybershadow on Feb 2, 2017 9:40:39 GMT
How likely do you guys think it is that the mechanical birds were watching all this go down?
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Post by hnau on Feb 2, 2017 9:50:32 GMT
What if they just want her fire-elemental spirit? Maybe Annie just loses her connection to the ether, until someone finds a way to get it back. They did not want Surma's fire-elemental spirit. While we do not know exactly what Surma did for the psychopomps, it clearly allowed her to live, to marry, and to have a child. Annie has already helped them in two cases where they could not collect the diseased person directly. Her new job is probably in the same vein. Plot-wise, this might give her opportunities to learn more about - the ether and how psychopomping keeps the world spinning - the court's secrets (e.g. through final statements of court members) |
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Post by Nnelg on Feb 2, 2017 16:14:56 GMT
I wonder... What happens next should Kat offer to take Annie's place? I'm pretty sure the Psychopomps would say something along the lines of: "We are not interested in your services. It is Antimony who we want." Perhaps, but it may not be up to them in the end... Ah, I feel like a grumpy old man now. Back in the day, the forum was abound with speculation that Kat would become the robot psychopomp. If there were even the slightest hint that it was about to happen, there would have been an uproar. But now, people seem to be only taking things at face value, forgetting how often a different light radically changes them. Have we forgotten our roots so?  |
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Post by Zox Tomana on Feb 2, 2017 16:51:56 GMT
I'm pretty sure the Psychopomps would say something along the lines of: "We are not interested in your services. It is Antimony who we want." Perhaps, but it may not be up to them in the end... Ah, I feel like a grumpy old man now. Back in the day, the forum was abound with speculation that Kat would become the robot psychopomp. If there were even the slightest hint that it was about to happen, there would have been an uproar. But now, people seem to be only taking things at face value, forgetting how often a different light radically changes them. Have we forgotten our roots so? Instead we're convinced Kat is instead going to become a machine deity =P |
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Post by Gulby on Feb 2, 2017 17:21:22 GMT
I think it might be something along the line of "in exchange of three years of your life". Imagine that Surma mat have had to save her friends' lives a dozen times at that rate : bam, short life span, Surma's death, etc.
Very unlikely, but if it happens to be the reason, I'd have called it.
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Post by Zox Tomana on Feb 2, 2017 18:27:55 GMT
I think it might be something along the line of "in exchange of three years of your life". Imagine that Surma mat have had to save her friends' lives a dozen times at that rate : bam, short life span, Surma's death, etc. Very unlikely, but if it happens to be the reason, I'd have called it. We already know why Surma had a short life, though. She had a child and passed on an essential part of her spirit to Annie. It had even been shown that all of her friends were aware of the fact that, should Surma conceive and have a child, Surma would die. That's why they were at Good Hope: Anthony was trying to find a way to help Surma survive. |
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Post by atteSmythe on Feb 2, 2017 21:52:38 GMT
Like lisanela said, their behavior feels really dickish all of a sudden. Not insomuch as they want something in return for saving somebody who was "supposed" to die, that seems like the kind of standard life/death balance concerns that psychopomps would have. Rather, them just being like "YOU BELONG TO US" after the fact feels a bit over the top. It's one step away from sinister maniacal laughter. Up until now they have, in the few times they've showed up, felt at least moderately sympathetic in attitude. Now they're being overbearing. But perhaps I missed some cues. I don't think they see it as a sinister thing. I've gotten the impression that they feel that Annie has been shirking her duty rather shamefully for a while. It's just an impression, but... They consider her service inevitable It's not a question of If, but WhenAnnie may feel a deep need to perform this serviceBeing an afterlife guide may be an integral part of who Annie isService has been solicited and denied in the pastAnkou suggests Annie doesn't really have a choiceThen, of course, just a few pages ago, there was Muut's insistence that they don't owe Annie for this. This is a duty she was already bound to perform, from their point of view. |
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Post by darlos9d on Feb 3, 2017 15:58:39 GMT
Like lisanela said, their behavior feels really dickish all of a sudden. Not insomuch as they want something in return for saving somebody who was "supposed" to die, that seems like the kind of standard life/death balance concerns that psychopomps would have. Rather, them just being like "YOU BELONG TO US" after the fact feels a bit over the top. It's one step away from sinister maniacal laughter. Up until now they have, in the few times they've showed up, felt at least moderately sympathetic in attitude. Now they're being overbearing. But perhaps I missed some cues. I don't think they see it as a sinister thing. I've gotten the impression that they feel that Annie has been shirking her duty rather shamefully for a while. It's just an impression, but... They consider her service inevitable It's not a question of If, but WhenAnnie may feel a deep need to perform this serviceBeing an afterlife guide may be an integral part of who Annie isService has been solicited and denied in the pastAnkou suggests Annie doesn't really have a choiceThen, of course, just a few pages ago, there was Muut's insistence that they don't owe Annie for this. This is a duty she was already bound to perform, from their point of view. I don't know if the fact that they decided they were going to have her when she was very young - and thereby acting like they're entitled to her from that point forward - is terribly fair to Annie. And the fact that she is still merely an adolescent just makes it feel like a bunch of old fogeys manipulating a relative innocent, no matter how much she agrees or disagrees with them at times. Going back and looking at all this evidence just makes them seem CRAPPIER than I thought, not better. And her mom too, to a degree. |
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Post by atteSmythe on Feb 3, 2017 17:16:04 GMT
Yeah, and as others have pointed out, Annie seems to resent this, as best demonstrated by her freak-out over being 'claimed' by the blinker stone.
But I still don't know that the pomps are staking a claim per se. She -is- an afterlife guide, and that's not something that they did to her.
That said, even if they are claiming her for their purpose, I don't think they would think twice about it. Claiming souls is what they do, after all.
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Post by rafk on Feb 5, 2017 6:05:10 GMT
This is so not secret. If this isn't tripping alarms the Court didn't even remember it has, they're doing it wrong. There shouldn't be any alarms. All record of Jeanne, the plot to entrap her, and all actions that night, were covered up, erased. To have some sort of alarm system, ties you back to what happened. Alarm goes off, questions start getting asked. What does the alarm mean, who is it supposed to alert, why, how, and by whom was it set? This is a critical Court security thing. Even if they erased all memory of the alarm, there should still be one. If not, they will still find out when Coyote comes over to rub their noses in it or whatever it is Jeanne and the arrow were preventing stops being prevented. Also, the Court is surveilling these guys. |
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