[1999] If you would prefer

[haspen]

He lets Annie decide? Wow.

EDIT: I just noticed... Annie so happy in the last panel she developed sparkles! (or butterflies)

[Angry Individual]

Soon there will be two chairs in the living room.

And nothing else.

[madjack]

Yeah there is no way she's getting back from the Forest anytime soon now.

[turniptree]

This makes me so happy, but now I'm afraid Tony's going to die or something.

[fjodorii]

Coming from Tony, that was the equivalent of 'Annie I love you, you are the only important thing in this life and please come back safely'.

[imaginaryfriend]

I'm guessing the invitation doesn't include a Renard that walks around and does stuff...

...it's like a death flag at half mast.

So it's okay.

[philman]

Jun 11, 2018 7:01:40 GMT Angry Individual said:

Soon there will be two chairs in the living room.

And nothing else.

Perhaps a dog/wolf basket?

[electricguitarsolo]

Tony looks very young in this one. Also interesting is that he descends below Annie, so that he's looking up to her.

[theonethatgotaway]

Jun 11, 2018 8:24:54 GMT electricguitarsolo said:

Tony looks very young in this one. Also interesting is that he descends below Annie, so that he's looking up to her.

I also noticed that! It's a nice touch of him, putting himself at facelevel or below compared to Annie, so that he isn't overbearing, when he makes his statement/request/proposition (all in the name of safety, of course).


It could also just be because otherwise it's an awkward/difficult angle to draw for Tom

[arf]

It's a long, slow drip-feed onto Jones-grade granite, but Kat's jokes are starting to make an impression.

[faiiry]

I fundamentally just don't get Annie. She fawns over this jerk. If I were her, I wouldn't want anything to do with him. My reaction would be less "happy sparkles" and more "no way Jose."

EDIT: And we don't know exactly what Annie prefers Tony over, but we can guess she might have the option of staying with the Donlans afterward, given how hospitable they've been before. Anja practically suplexes any chance to be nice to Annie. And Annie would prefer Tony over that??? Get outta here. I mean. I understand that she has craved any chance for his love and approval since childhood and that it's a deeply complex relationship, but at the same time, man! I just don't get it!

[noone3]

Jun 11, 2018 10:35:05 GMT faiiry said:

My reaction would be less "happy sparkles" and more "no way Jose."

That could be a reaction of an adult. Which Annie is not. She's practically an orphan, and now suddenly she can form some kind of relationship with her parent.

I still wait if Tony manages to redeem his deeds, but see it unlikely.

[youwiththeface]

Ugh. This is like that Katurday moment, only worse. "Daddy actually want's me to live with him!!" *shudder*

[faiiry]

Jun 11, 2018 10:53:27 GMT noone3 said:

Jun 11, 2018 10:35:05 GMT faiiry said:

My reaction would be less "happy sparkles" and more "no way Jose."

That could be a reaction of an adult. Which Annie is not. She's practically an orphan, and now suddenly she can form some kind of relationship with her parent.

I still wait if Tony manages to redeem his deeds, but see it unlikely.

Frankly at this point, Tony would quite literally have to die on some form of sacrificial altar for me to consider him redeemed. 

[zaferion]

Everyone say it with me: AWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[speedwell]

Jun 11, 2018 10:35:05 GMT faiiry said:

I fundamentally just don't get Annie. She fawns over this jerk. If I were her, I wouldn't want anything to do with him. My reaction would be less "happy sparkles" and more "no way Jose."

EDIT: And we don't know exactly what Annie prefers Tony over, but we can guess she might have the option of staying with the Donlans afterward, given how hospitable they've been before. Anja practically suplexes any chance to be nice to Annie. And Annie would prefer Tony over that??? Get outta here. I mean. I understand that she has craved any chance for his love and approval since childhood and that it's a deeply complex relationship, but at the same time, man! I just don't get it!

She doesn't have to graft herself to him. She doesn't have to stop going outside. He didn't command her to live with him because he was her father and he was responsible for her.

He asked her if she'd like to. He made up a lame-ass reason not to have to literally say "I realised what it would mean to lose you and then it hit me like a truckful of pigsh!t that I was actively losing you anyway". He knows damn well she has every right to say no. He risked it anyway. He's going to screw it up again and again, but bless the man, he's trying.

And she's a person to whom family ties have been repeatedly strained so hard they vibrate at the slightest touch. Yeah, it's not super healthy. But it's a whole lot healthier than "buzz off, jerkdad". She is a child who literally has no other family. But it's not as though she has no other protectors or no other recourse if things don't work out.

[netherdan]

Jun 8, 2018 14:32:14 GMT Per said:

"After we do this, Antimony, we'll sit down and talk about it all"

"Dad, stop raising death flags"

"We'll talk about your mother and everything"

"Dad"

"Everything, Antimony. Later"

"Dad stop"

Jun 11, 2018 7:06:47 GMT turniptree said:

This makes me so happy, but now I'm afraid Tony's going to die or something.

Jun 11, 2018 7:09:13 GMT fjodorii said:

Coming from Tony, that was the equivalent of 'Annie I love you, you are the only important thing in this life and please come back safely'.

Jun 11, 2018 7:39:17 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

I'm guessing the invitation doesn't include a Renard that walks around and does stuff...

...it's like a death flag at half mast.

So it's okay.

Jun 11, 2018 10:56:42 GMT faiiry said:

Frankly at this point, Tony would quite literally have to die on some form of sacrificial altar for me to consider him redeemed. 

Yep. He's dead. Next page is timeskip to Tony dead by saving Annie

PS: yay, I'm a Junior!

[todd]

One implication of Antony's request: he recognizes that meeting with Ysengrin might not end the emergency. Which is all too likely - while Annie's the one person who can reach Ysengrin's gentler side, she's got all that resentment against the Court to work against (not to mention whatever the effects of eating Coyote have done to Ysengrin), that's been piling up for generations. I suspect it's more a spirit of realism than of pessimism.

[madjack]

Jun 11, 2018 12:48:19 GMT netherdan said:

Yep. He's dead. Next page is timeskip to Tony dead by saving Annie

Y'know, those stairs look kinda ominous and I still think Eggers will be unhappy with him for allowing this "plan" thing....


Also, family is really really damn capital I Important to Annie. If Tony can't make progress with the research he was doing with Surma, Annie is likely dead by 40 with a young child still growing up. Whether she consciously realises it or not, she needs and wants all the support and connection she can get, and blood is the strongest connection there is.

[netherdan]

Jun 11, 2018 12:54:08 GMT madjack said:

Jun 11, 2018 12:48:19 GMT netherdan said:

Yep. He's dead. Next page is timeskip to Tony dead by saving Annie

Y'know, those stairs look kinda ominous and I still think Eggers will be unhappy with him for allowing this "plan" thing....


Also, family is really really damn capital I Important to Annie. If Tony can't make progress with the research he was doing with Surma, Annie is likely dead by 40 with a young child still growing up. Whether she consciously realises it or not, she needs and wants all the support and connection she can get, and blood is the strongest connection there is.

It's a tough decision for the fire elementals. You either have a child and physically dies as your soul is slowly transfered to her or you don't have a child and let your soul die (along with your mother's, your grandma's, and your every ancestor's soul)

[madjack]

Jun 11, 2018 13:02:36 GMT netherdan said:

Jun 11, 2018 12:54:08 GMT madjack said:

Y'know, those stairs look kinda ominous and I still think Eggers will be unhappy with him for allowing this "plan" thing....


Also, family is really really damn capital I Important to Annie. If Tony can't make progress with the research he was doing with Surma, Annie is likely dead by 40 with a young child still growing up. Whether she consciously realises it or not, she needs and wants all the support and connection she can get, and blood is the strongest connection there is.

It's a tough decision for the fire elementals. You either have a child and physically dies as your soul is slowly transfered to her or you don't have a child and let your soul die (along with your mother's, your grandma's, and your every ancestor's soul)

Yeah except Tom said somewhere that they don't ever choose the second option.

[faiiry]

Jun 11, 2018 12:41:39 GMT speedwell said:

He's going to screw it up again and again, but bless the man, he's trying.

"He's trying" is an extremely low bar. After 14 years of abandonment - during which Annie's fondest memory of her father was this, which is pathetic - Annie practically faints when her father says stuff like "You can live with me if you want" or says "Good work" to an entire freaking room that she happened to be in at the time. That's how much he's neglected her. Tony could blink in her direction and she would probably drop dead. If Tony was actually trying, he'd apologize to her face instead of just unloading all his guilt on a friend, he'd ask her how she's been, he'd try to make a connection, or he would show a hint of concern for her wellbeing, both mental and physical. Let us remember that this is the same guy who effectively orphaned his daughter right after her mother died by disappearing without a trace. Forgive me for not being impressed by him performing the absolute most basic level of fatherhood. Saying your kid can live with you is, like... the bare, bar-is-on-the-floor minimum. 

I know it's not in Annie's character, but I do really wish the fire elemental part of her would snap and she'd roast him over a spit (verbally of course). I really hate Tony.

[ctso74]

I'm choosing to imagine Annie's "sparkles", as her thinking about a "My Two Dads" situation with her, Tony, and Renard.
At first I thought, Tony would be the Paul Reiser character, with Renard as the wild fun dad. Then I realized, it would be far more hilarious if Tony was shoehorned into the "fun dad" role. Now, I can't stop thinking of Tony hanging around the house, wearing a leather jacket, saying "cool" things like "If you are so cold Renard, stand in the corner, because it is 90 degrees *finger guns*". He's often found standing by the new pool table, with the balls not racked up, but geometrically arranged.

[ohthatone]

oh Tony. So full of shame he can't even bring himself to ask his daughter to live with him without an excuse. Thankfully Annie is able to read between the lines that he wants her to come back safely.

[stclair]

Aw look, he's trying to people!

[Sky Schemer]

Jun 11, 2018 10:35:05 GMT faiiry said:

I fundamentally just don't get Annie. She fawns over this jerk. If I were her, I wouldn't want anything to do with him. My reaction would be less "happy sparkles" and more "no way Jose."

I think what you are missing is the power of familial bonds, and the fundamental irrationality of love, even in the face of abuse. These are the things that compel people to continue to try and repair relationships that they believe in.

[yinglung]

Jun 11, 2018 13:14:43 GMT faiiry said:

Jun 11, 2018 12:41:39 GMT speedwell said:

He's going to screw it up again and again, but bless the man, he's trying.

"He's trying" is an extremely low bar. After 14 years of abandonment - during which Annie's fondest memory of her father was this, which is pathetic - Annie practically faints when her father says stuff like "You can live with me if you want" or says "Good work" to an entire freaking room that she happened to be in at the time. That's how much he's neglected her. Tony could blink in her direction and she would probably drop dead. If Tony was actually trying, he'd apologize to her face instead of just unloading all his guilt on a friend, he'd ask her how she's been, he'd try to make a connection, or he would show a hint of concern for her wellbeing, both mental and physical. Let us remember that this is the same guy who effectively orphaned his daughter right after her mother died by disappearing without a trace. Forgive me for not being impressed by him performing the absolute most basic level of fatherhood. Saying your kid can live with you is, like... the bare, bar-is-on-the-floor minimum. 

I know it's not in Annie's character, but I do really wish the fire elemental part of her would snap and she'd roast him over a spit (verbally of course). I really hate Tony.

You are fully justified in hating Tony. However, I would like to say that it's somewhat unfair to expect him to both know the correct way to redeem himself, and to have the required empathy and social grace to do so.

[fjodorii]

Jun 11, 2018 13:14:43 GMT faiiry said:

(...) I really hate Tony.

You hide that emotion quite well though

[faiiry]

Jun 11, 2018 14:18:13 GMT yinglung said:

Jun 11, 2018 13:14:43 GMT faiiry said:

"He's trying" is an extremely low bar. After 14 years of abandonment - during which Annie's fondest memory of her father was this, which is pathetic - Annie practically faints when her father says stuff like "You can live with me if you want" or says "Good work" to an entire freaking room that she happened to be in at the time. That's how much he's neglected her. Tony could blink in her direction and she would probably drop dead. If Tony was actually trying, he'd apologize to her face instead of just unloading all his guilt on a friend, he'd ask her how she's been, he'd try to make a connection, or he would show a hint of concern for her wellbeing, both mental and physical. Let us remember that this is the same guy who effectively orphaned his daughter right after her mother died by disappearing without a trace. Forgive me for not being impressed by him performing the absolute most basic level of fatherhood. Saying your kid can live with you is, like... the bare, bar-is-on-the-floor minimum. 

I know it's not in Annie's character, but I do really wish the fire elemental part of her would snap and she'd roast him over a spit (verbally of course). I really hate Tony.

You are fully justified in hating Tony. However, I would like to say that it's somewhat unfair to expect him to both know the correct way to redeem himself, and to have the required empathy and social grace to do so.

I tried to figure out how to respond to this, but I kept coming back to the same conclusion: Tony and Surma just should never have had a child. Surma should've quickly realized that Tony isn't father material. Hell, Tony should have realized that he's not father material. Also, Surma chose to perpetuate an endless cycle of pain and death; the first woman in this fire elemental line to consciously avoid having a daughter is the only one worth praising. 

There are clearly some holes in this story, and "Why did a man with no social graces or empathy and a woman who was fully aware that childbirth would kill her choose to have a baby together?" is one that I'm most eager to see filled. But in any case, you're right. Tony is simply not father material. It's not fair to expect him to suddenly become father material. He's trying his best, which incidentally is a crappy effort and not good enough, but still, his best. 

In conclusion: Antimony Carver is the reason why God invented the IUD. 

[faiiry]

Jun 11, 2018 14:46:55 GMT fjodorii said:

Jun 11, 2018 13:14:43 GMT faiiry said:

(...) I really hate Tony.

You hide that emotion quite well though

And I'm not even trying!

For real. I don't hate Tony as a character. I hate Tony as a character. You feel me? He's richly complex and, like almost everyone else in the comic, neither fully dark nor light. As a character, he's great. But as a person? Lousy father, terrible friend, bad taste in women, just an all-around ne'er-do-well. I love hating him.