ding
Full Member
Posts: 129
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Post by ding on Oct 7, 2009 16:26:22 GMT
Backpack: $39.99
Sleeping bag: $59.95
Telling a fairy her stupid trees are on fire?
Priceless.
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rageboy
Junior Member
just like real cows! only with lasers.
Posts: 91
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Post by rageboy on Oct 7, 2009 17:09:07 GMT
I'll throw in my (hopefully not too wild) speculation and guess that this is what's going down: - It's the teachers. If kids really were going missing, that walkie-talkie would have come out before now. this may be a bold assumption. Marcia really might just be a tree-hugging psycopath that doesn't care about kids, and hang the consequences if some disappear. (I doubt it, but there's a possibility) With regards to blinker stone abilities, Anja said "some people can develop their pyschic abilities to the point where they don't need the stone." I wouldn't imagine this would include making fires or glowy symbols. I just assumed this meant entering the etherium. Especially since Anja needed a stone to make a symbol before (I'd guess she's developed her abilities to the point where she doesn't always need it).
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Post by Casey on Oct 7, 2009 17:28:38 GMT
I outlined what I thought was happening in the second post of the thread, but I'm going to flesh it out now.
This is what I would do if I were Annie.
After Kat got captured I would use the blinker stone to see where they were. I would zoom out to see not only that they were in Marcia's house, but where in the house, and how to get to that room from the front door.
Then I would tell Kat and the others to sit tight for rescue and recall my blinker stone. I would set it down at Young's Monument, leaving it there while I took everyone else over to Marcia's house to hide around the corner. I would then remotely start the fake fire back at Young's monument, and have Matt get Marcia out of the house.
Once she was gone, I'd lead everyone in to the captives and free them, and raid Bob and Marcia's fridge and pantry. I'd recall the blinker stone just as I saw Marcia (and possibly Bob and Eglamore) reaching the monument, showing them the jig was up. And then I'd have everyone settle in to Bob and Marcia's comfy couches drinking their hot chocolate and brandy by the fire, so that those pesky adults could come back and we would all say "My goodness where have you been, while we have been enjoying this nice fire and hot chocolate and brandy?"
Something to that effect is what I think is happening.
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Post by Aris Katsaris on Oct 7, 2009 17:35:10 GMT
I'm not sure Anja *needed* the stone for that -- it may just be that she saw no reason to strain herself with a stone readily available: someone may be able to perform multiplication of large numbers in his head, and yet still not bother to do so if there's a calculator available.
Or it may even be that she just found the opportunity to show Annie what cool things a blinker stone can do and thus intrigue her.
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Post by judgedeadd on Oct 7, 2009 18:47:44 GMT
That's a honkin' big fire. I didn't know the blinker stone could do such a big fire.
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Post by Jiminiminy on Oct 7, 2009 19:07:39 GMT
Hey. Hey. Hey. I just realized that radio she's got there should not be able to reach nearly as far as Eggers and Bob supposedly went off to. Those things only have a few kilometers range on them on a good day, and they both went back to the court, which was a good train ride and long walk away, definitely more than a few km.
Methinks they are closer than we'd imagine. I half expect them to come riding out from behind a bush in the background. (Though distance could be explained through usage of extremely powerful radios)
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Post by katybee on Oct 7, 2009 19:14:39 GMT
Hey. Hey. Hey. I just realized that radio she's got there should not be able to reach nearly as far as Eggers and Bob supposedly went off to. Those things only have a few kilometers range on them on a good day, and they both went back to the court, which was a good train ride and long walk away, definitely more than a few km. Methinks they are closer than we'd imagine. I half expect them to come riding out from behind a bush in the background. (Though distance could be explained through usage of extremely powerful radios) That's a really good point! Most walkie-talkies have fairly short ranges, a kilometer or two at the absolute, absolute most. And that's the big ones! Little ones like the one Marcia have usually have about half that range.
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Post by Ulysses on Oct 7, 2009 19:17:26 GMT
That's a honkin' big fire. I didn't know the blinker stone could do such a big fire. Don't forget, it's Annie rather than the stone doing it. The stone is simply an instrument. The only parallel I can think of is, unfortunately, Harry Potter. Wands don't do magic, magic is done through them. Or, in the words of Goldy Looking Chain - "Guns don't kill people, rappers do!" Hey. Hey. Hey. I just realized that radio she's got there should not be able to reach nearly as far as Eggers and Bob supposedly went off to. Those things only have a few kilometers range on them on a good day, and they both went back to the court, which was a good train ride and long walk away, definitely more than a few km. They've probably been Gunnerkrigg-upgraded i.e. you can talk to people on the Moon.
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Konshenz
New Member
Avatar Shmavatar
Posts: 5
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Post by Konshenz on Oct 7, 2009 19:43:36 GMT
I wonder what kind of range those walky-talkies have. A radio's range (typically) is proportional to its wattage and elevation. A small hand-held radio, such as the one Marcia has, would probably be 1/2 a watt, allowing for very limited range (maybe as much as 1 mile); higher power radios tend to be a little "chunkier." But, if we consider that the Court clearly has advanced technology (allowing for greater wattage), and we assume that it has a network of repeaters, then that's not really an issue, as the network would allow for radio communication throughout the entirety of the Court. I believe these are fair assumptions to make. ----- Anyhow, I think this wasn't so much a prank as it was a test: a drill, as some have suggested. The students who strayed from the group and got "abducted," failed the test. They probably expected the kids to figure out that they needed to stick together and wait it out until Eglamore returns to save the day. They didn't expect for the kids to organize a rescue mission. I'm not prepared to go into great detail on my thoughts, but I do want to add a final note: I don't believe Marcia hates kids. In 601, and up until Bob and Eglamore leave, she acts pleasantly enough. I think it's more along the lines that she's uncomfortable with her role in the drill, and is a bad actor. Also, she's probably genuinely upset about Janet shooting the tree (617). If I get the time, I'll go into more detail later.
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Post by penguinfactory on Oct 7, 2009 19:46:14 GMT
I'm actually pretty surprised this (seemingly) turned out to be a trick. I want to know just what the teachers were up to She could always fall back on her initial story and say that she really was trying to rescue Kat and the others. What has me bothered here is that it looks like the camping trip is intentionally set up to be a lousy, unpleasant experience while the Eglamore and Bob "rescue" the children from nature and bring them to a more comfortable, walled-off home. I hadn't thought of it that way. Deep
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Post by crysiana on Oct 7, 2009 20:31:11 GMT
What I really liked about this adventure is that several of the kids came to the same conclusion about it being the teachers independently. Tom's always good about things like that, but so often in fiction there's one person who thinks of that sort of idea while everyone else gasps in astonishment at their wisdom.
I sort of hope that given the development in this chapter, we get to see Annie and Kat hang out with classmates more often; it would be interesting to see their reactions to more of the magical/ethereal sciences side of things.
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Post by eightyfour on Oct 7, 2009 20:36:34 GMT
Once she was gone, I'd lead everyone in to the captives and free them, and raid Bob and Marcia's fridge and pantry. I have the feeling that Annie & co. have something more in mind, like giving those adults a little taste of their own medicine. Not only are they going to show them they saw through their little charade, but they are going to turn the tables, and let Eggers, Bob and Marcia jump through some figurative hoops. ;D
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Post by wynne on Oct 7, 2009 20:45:29 GMT
Allright, I concede. It was a game by the teachers all along. I'm afraid I'm forced to second that motion. Ah well, perhaps we'll have better luck next time... I kind of thought that the kids are being held in some room in the house and the only reason they told Marcia that the fire was at the Young monument is because it's known that the laser cows don't maintain that area. That is an absolutely brilliant stroke of thought there. Anyhow, I think this wasn't so much a prank as it was a test: a drill, as some have suggested. The students who strayed from the group and got "abducted," failed the test. They probably expected the kids to figure out that they needed to stick together and wait it out until Eglamore returns to save the day. They didn't expect for the kids to organize a rescue mission. I'm not prepared to go into great detail on my thoughts, but I do want to add a final note: I don't believe Marcia hates kids. In 601, and up until Bob and Eglamore leave, she acts pleasantly enough. I think it's more along the lines that she's uncomfortable with her role in the drill, and is a bad actor. Also, she's probably genuinely upset about Janet shooting the tree (617). I'll go along with that, especially considering today's strip. And, finally: What has me bothered here is that it looks like the camping trip is intentionally set up to be a lousy, unpleasant experience while the Eglamore and Bob "rescue" the children from nature and bring them to a more comfortable, walled-off home. I mean, if Annie weren't there, the most fun thing about camping (the campfire) wouldn't even exist thanks to the cows. Not to mention the suspiciously bad timing that the camping trip was scheduled exactly when the weather is bad. That also makes a lot of sense, and is indeed very disturbing. We are inclined to label anything from the Forest as "evil", and while we all (as well as Jones, evidently) know the Court is far from what could be labeled "good", I think we expect a lot of the Court's members (i.e. Donald, Anja, Eglamore, and even Bob the Gardener) to be "good", while in the Forest the main figure who we might see as "good" is a trickster god who likes putting his nose up girls' skirts. Such subtle propaganda from the Court as the camping trip, especially from a nice guy like Eglamore, definitely puts much more of the comic into the "distinctly grey" area as opposed to the rapidly shrinking black-and-white (good vs. evil) arena.
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Post by Aris Katsaris on Oct 7, 2009 20:57:08 GMT
The difference between Court and Forest is less that of Good vs Evil, and more of Order vs Chaos -- and even that's not quite right I think, there are so many other aspects playing: Science vs Ethereal Tenet, Utility vs Emotion, Construction vs Life...
But even such divisions become subverted: Tree-creatures that function like robots from the forests, robots that act emotionally in the Court.
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Post by Casey on Oct 7, 2009 21:05:46 GMT
Maybe it's an allegory for the dichotomy of the human mind...
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Post by Aris Katsaris on Oct 7, 2009 21:14:21 GMT
Ego vs Id, you mean?
Or Left Hemisphere vs Right Hemisphere?
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Post by Casey on Oct 7, 2009 21:16:17 GMT
The hemispherical argument, of the creative abstract side and the logical analytical side.
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Post by Aris Katsaris on Oct 7, 2009 21:55:42 GMT
If it's the division of the hemispheres that is meant as an allegory with the Annan waters, it doesn't work very well for me -- the way I see it even creative abstraction is a function of human civilization.
Left vs Right side is more like Apollo vs Athena: gods of human civilization both of them, even with all their differences -- when the Forest reminds me more of the combined freedom and cruelty of Dionysus (and possibly Artemis).
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Post by Casey on Oct 7, 2009 22:01:58 GMT
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Post by todd on Oct 7, 2009 22:15:54 GMT
I sort of hope that given the development in this chapter, we get to see Annie and Kat hang out with classmates more often; it would be interesting to see their reactions to more of the magical/ethereal sciences side of things. Though there's a practical advantage to Annie and Kat adventuring on their own - fewer people to draw, give roles to, and keep track of.
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Post by Rasselas on Oct 7, 2009 22:16:48 GMT
I love Marcia's pose in the second-to-last panel! It's awesome and hillarious!
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Post by Ulysses on Oct 7, 2009 23:05:36 GMT
I've just noticed that Matt's explanation to Marcia about what's happening in no way explains why there is a fire. How does drawing a ghost out from a tree cause fire, unless you were smoking it out? And yet Marcia doesn't notice this hole in their brilliant plan. Either that is just the world they live in, or she is too concerned for the trees (/kids. See post immediately below) to care. I'm opting for both.
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Post by Casey on Oct 7, 2009 23:14:46 GMT
Concern about a raging wildfire can be both concern for the trees AND concern for the children among the trees at the same time. They aren't mutually exclusive.
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Post by Ulysses on Oct 7, 2009 23:32:07 GMT
But I get your point. Her prefering trees to children wasn't really my point though, I was more being amused at her not questioning Matt's feeble story. I guess it doesn't seem so feeble after actually seeing said fire, but I was thinking more about before she sees it which is, granted, only for a few seconds.
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Post by wynne on Oct 7, 2009 23:36:07 GMT
I think what Ulysses meant was that Marcia failed to realize that there shouldn't have even been a fire. Since the grownups probably don't know that Annie can create a blinker stone fire, Marcia should have realized that the fire itself was suspicious, as the laser cows would put out any regular fire that might have set off the trees.
Either that, or she should have realized that exorcising a tree shouldn't incinerate it.
Am I right on either count, Ulysses?
Edit: yargh. Right when I posted this posted your response. I guess I was right.
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Post by Casey on Oct 7, 2009 23:40:43 GMT
Marcia certainly could have questioned whether or not starting a fire was a smart way to ferret out a ghost. But once the fire is already started, it doesn't really matter whether or not it was a good way to ferret out a ghost, because it has already happened.
If what you're saying is that Marcia was gullible to believe that a fire could start -at all-, because of the laser cows, then that was the brilliance of seitosilver's comment on page 1 of this thread, namely that Young's Monument is the one place someone could actually start a fire without the laser cows interfering.
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Post by King Mir on Oct 7, 2009 23:52:37 GMT
If Marcia had her wits about her, she would have noticed that the fire is not generating any smoke. A fire that large should generate a lot and be clearly visible at this distance, but this one generates none.
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troll
Junior Member
Posts: 53
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Post by troll on Oct 8, 2009 1:39:19 GMT
And that's why you don't mess with Annie Carver's Main Babe.
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wlerin
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by wlerin on Oct 8, 2009 5:18:19 GMT
You're all assuming it's a fake fire. Young's Monument is the only place in the park where the kids could start a real fire.
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Post by Casey on Oct 8, 2009 5:22:13 GMT
Yes, we are assuming it's a fake fire. And yes, your second point has been mentioned at least twice.
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