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Post by wanderer on Apr 5, 2010 13:42:18 GMT
Someone REALLY NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT SPIDER. Annie, if you aren't going to handle it yourself, TELL SOMEONE.
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Post by Casey on Apr 5, 2010 14:27:51 GMT
The Court superiors dismantled Kat's anti-grav ship, shouqi.
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Post by chiparoo on Apr 5, 2010 14:36:17 GMT
If Jack can see the etheric all the time, what do you think he's seeing in [596]?
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Post by Afalstein on Apr 5, 2010 14:39:39 GMT
I think there's definitely a romantic subtext here. The whole thing--passing off a note, meeting late at night, going out on the lake in a boat, Jack's "maybe we should..." comment--has lots of potential. It might not come to anything for a while, though. A lot of romance tends to be understated in this comic. I wonder if Annie could get that spider off of Jack now that she can move things around when in her etheric form. It would be the nice thing to do, after all. It might not be that easy. The spider could very easily be connected to Jack's psyche, trying to remove it could cause problems for Jack (leave him brain-dead or whatever). Also, it might attack if it feels threatened. Whether that would be an etheric attack, or a physical one in the form of a possessed Jack, is hard to say. Basically, I imagine Annie is holding off on interference for the moment simply because she doesn't know much about that spider. If the power station makes it stronger, though, she might not have a choice. Another question. If Jack can see her now, could he see her previously when she retrieved the blinker stone before? He didn't mention it, but he definitely sensed her, and he doesn't seem surprised by Annie's ability.
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Post by Casey on Apr 5, 2010 14:43:40 GMT
If Jack can see the etheric all the time, what do you think he's seeing in [596]? Another question. If Jack can see her now, could he see her previously when she retrieved the blinker stone before? He didn't mention it, but he definitely sensed her, and he doesn't seem surprised by Annie's ability. These are both really good questions... Finding out that Jack can see into the ether does sort of put a different perspective on a number of things as you look back. One possibility that occurred to me is that Jack's ability to do so has been developing and improving as the spider gets bigger, so he might not have always had it. Another thing that occurs to me is that he didn't say anything before, so therefore perhaps a person's etheric side can only be seen when they are actively projecting it from themselves.
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Post by Max on Apr 5, 2010 14:50:03 GMT
EDIT: Unrelated, but I wonder if Katarina is following them on her antigrav unit. Given her temperament lately I could see her being distrustful enough of the situation, and of Jack in particular. It could end rather badly for Jack if this is the case.
Tom said on his Formspring that the Court disassembled her hovercraft.EDIT: (never mind, Casey beat me to this) Maybe it's already been mentioned, but Tom put up the thumbnail on the main page for this chapter: . Might be a clue.
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Post by Jiminiminy on Apr 5, 2010 15:06:53 GMT
If Jack can see the etheric all the time, what do you think he's seeing in [596]? Another question. If Jack can see her now, could he see her previously when she retrieved the blinker stone before? He didn't mention it, but he definitely sensed her, and he doesn't seem surprised by Annie's ability. These are both really good questions... Finding out that Jack can see into the ether does sort of put a different perspective on a number of things as you look back. One possibility that occurred to me is that Jack's ability to do so has been developing and improving as the spider gets bigger, so he might not have always had it. Another thing that occurs to me is that he didn't say anything before, so therefore perhaps a person's etheric side can only be seen when they are actively projecting it from themselves. I was wondering about this as well, generally for the same reasons of Jack's apparent abilities improving as time passes and the spider gets bigger. I agree with the first bit; I don't think that Jack had any real disposition towards etheric things, save association with Annie, and that the spider seems to have formed a sort of unwilling mutalistic relationship with Jack, providing him with this ability in exchange for being an active host. Although really it could be considered parasitic if you take Zimmy's feelings about the idea. As the spider grows, so does its perceived benefit, which generally means some interesting things in the times ahead. As for the second bit, he didn't really seem to be looking the right way for long enough to see more than just Annie's hair-floaty-thingy, up until the last second, when I am assuming Annie just grabbed the blinker stone and got the hell out of there before Jack could do anything. He probably didn't say anything because he wasn't exactly up to speed on what was happening. Or, as this thought comes to me, he only said he could see her when the spider was present on today's page. Maybe he could only see her in the last panel, when the spider was 'helping' him then.
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Post by hal9000 on Apr 5, 2010 15:36:33 GMT
The Court superiors dismantled Kat's anti-grav ship, shouqi. That's a pity. Then again, it's not as if she hasn't had access to a machine shop full of robots who worship the ground she walks on at her disposal for the past few months/years now. Considering she built the first one out of spare parts over the course of a few hours without significant help, she could probably have another one built from design in a few minutes with the aid of her robot friends. Also, I don't think using the knife is such a good idea. We know that Coyote's gifts backfire in unexpected and horrifying ways almost without fail. For this one in particular, he himself even advised caution, as the blade is 'sharp enough to cut the very earth'. I suspect if that blade ever gets used, it's going to cause some apocalyptic AoE damage.
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Post by violet on Apr 5, 2010 15:45:49 GMT
I don't know how much time has passed between the chapters but Annie has obviously been a good student and practiced the new found aspect of her ability a lot. Going from hardly being able to move a flower to pushing a boat is a great stride. It could also be that moving things astrally doesn't work like moving things physically. It might not be much harder to push a boat than it is to push a flower. It might actually be easier, since it's not alive and was intended to be moved (in the direction she's pushing it, in fact). But she has probably been practicing, yes.
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Post by the bandit on Apr 5, 2010 15:46:31 GMT
Somewhere Tom said Jack sensed someone was there but didn't see Annie. I bet the Tooth is great at cutting spiderweb. As well as skin, bone, brains, oar, power station smokestack, the moon... - - - Annie seems very diligent at practicing new skills with her blinker stone.
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Post by warrl on Apr 5, 2010 15:49:32 GMT
I wonder what the tooth looks like when Annie's using the blinker stone. It is a part of Coyote after all. Did she even bring it though? She appeared to have two string necklaces at the beginning of the chapter, when she was talking to Kat. We've previously seen that one is for the blinker stone; she started wearing the second soon after receiving the Tooth. Now, she's intelligently wearing a higher-neck sweater (goes well with a heavy coat, indicating somewhat chilly weather). So we can't tell. I'd figure that if she carries the blinker stone and the Tooth in her own room (noting lack of posters on walls --> probably not Kat's room) she normally carries them pretty much everywhere. But... we KNOW it really doesn't matter if she brings the blinker stone or not. Maybe the Tooth is also something she can reach etherically.
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Post by linnabean on Apr 5, 2010 16:12:43 GMT
very interesting that Jack can see her in her etheric state. I love this chapter!
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Post by popo on Apr 5, 2010 16:25:20 GMT
I wonder what the tooth looks like when Annie's using the blinker stone. It is a part of Coyote after all. Did she even bring it though? She appeared to have two string necklaces at the beginning of the chapter, when she was talking to Kat. We've previously seen that one is for the blinker stone; she started wearing the second soon after receiving the Tooth. the second one is for her antimony necklace thingy
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Post by Casey on Apr 5, 2010 16:25:56 GMT
She appeared to have two string necklaces at the beginning of the chapter, when she was talking to Kat. We've previously seen that one is for the blinker stone; she started wearing the second soon after receiving the Tooth. Actually if you look closer, it's three necklaces: The tooth, the blinker stone, and her mother's Antimony symbol. Here it is again in better detail.
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Post by cazador on Apr 5, 2010 16:32:25 GMT
I wonder if Zimmy looks like that from an Etheric perspective...
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Post by evilanagram on Apr 5, 2010 17:36:41 GMT
I bet the spider's name is Cecil Belvedere VIII. He comes from a long line of spider-gentlemen and has decided to stick around with Jack so that they can go traveling together in hot air balloons. The symbol on his back is a snowman because, in addition to being gentlemanly, he's also quite festive.
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Post by wynne on Apr 5, 2010 18:43:19 GMT
I wonder what the tooth looks like when Annie's using the blinker stone. It is a part of Coyote after all. Did she even bring it though? She appeared to have two string necklaces at the beginning of the chapter, when she was talking to Kat. We've previously seen that one is for the blinker stone; she started wearing the second soon after receiving the Tooth. Now, she's intelligently wearing a higher-neck sweater (goes well with a heavy coat, indicating somewhat chilly weather). So we can't tell. I'd figure that if she carries the blinker stone and the Tooth in her own room (noting lack of posters on walls --> probably not Kat's room) she normally carries them pretty much everywhere. But... we KNOW it really doesn't matter if she brings the blinker stone or not. Maybe the Tooth is also something she can reach etherically. Nice call! Pretty soon she'll have to make a charm bracelet or something, though... you can wear only so many necklaces before people start to notice things. For some reason, it really bothers me that etheric Annie can push the boat without pushing off something else.
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Post by shouqi on Apr 5, 2010 18:43:53 GMT
The Court superiors dismantled Kat's anti-grav ship, shouqi. That's a pity. Then again, it's not as if she hasn't had access to a machine shop full of robots who worship the ground she walks on at her disposal for the past few months/years now. Considering she built the first one out of spare parts over the course of a few hours without significant help, she could probably have another one built from design in a few minutes with the aid of her robot friends. This, and I caught the MST3K reference However, given that we haven't seen any sign of Kat's ability to fly rebuilt, I doubt we'll see her do so again unless it's a reveal Tom has in store. A good thought either way. Concerning today's picture, the only thing I drew from it was that it's now possible that Jack emerges from this alive, which is more than I gave him credit for on the way in. Tom hasn't shown a predilection towards offing his characters for good, but this would have been a heart-buster of an act to start that business. Concerning naming the spider: probably not a good idea. The spider is meant to be an etheric abomination and we're not supposed to mourn his passing (should it die) or celebrate his life (should it live). I like the suggestion that Coyote's "gift" is literally a two-edged sword. It fits his character precisely. This is a good comic, it makes me think
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Post by evilanagram on Apr 5, 2010 19:10:01 GMT
Something occurred to me: Rowing isn't that hard. Even before I joined a crew team in college, I could row a boat reasonably well for a pretty good distance, and I'm not all that strong. I'm not sure if that boat has a lot more drag than most, but the boy needs to suck it up. If he's making Annie do the work, he can at least not let his oars drag. Also, the fact that Annie's doing this to ease his discomfort is kind of cute if the shippers want to read into that. For some reason, it really bothers me that etheric Annie can push the boat without pushing off something else. Annie's not good at science, so she wouldn't let something like Newton's laws get in the way of her getting things done. I like the suggestion that Coyote's "gift" is literally a two-edged sword. It fits his character precisely. It's definitely not a literal two-edged sword; it's a knife. It's far too short to be a sword. Plus, I'm pretty sure it's only got one edge. It might have two, but it's still a knife. It might metaphorically be a two-edged sword, though.
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Post by cazador on Apr 5, 2010 19:22:21 GMT
I like the suggestion that Coyote's "gift" is literally a two-edged sword. It fits his character precisely. It's definitely not a literal two-edged sword; it's a knife. It's far too short to be a sword. Plus, I'm pretty sure it's only got one edge. It might have two, but it's still a knife. It might metaphorically be a two-edged sword, though. Actually, Tom said it was a short sword.
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Post by Casey on Apr 5, 2010 19:28:02 GMT
Something occurred to me: Rowing isn't that hard. Even before I joined a crew team in college, I could row a boat reasonably well for a pretty good distance, and I'm not all that strong. I'm not sure if that boat has a lot more drag than most, but the boy needs to suck it up. Two quick points on this: One, Jack hasn't eaten or slept in God knows how long, and Two, see if you can find in the old threads where I and some other folks calculated just how far it appeared to be from the shore to the station, because my recollection was that it was pretty damn far.
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Post by King Mir on Apr 5, 2010 19:31:20 GMT
Something occurred to me: Rowing isn't that hard. Even before I joined a crew team in college, I could row a boat reasonably well for a pretty good distance, and I'm not all that strong. I'm not sure if that boat has a lot more drag than most, but the boy needs to suck it up. If he's making Annie do the work, he can at least not let his oars drag. He's rowing. The ripples left by the oars are not those of being dragged in the water. Compare it to the wake of the boat. Tom said on formsprig that it's a short sword. I do agree that it looks like it only has one edge though.
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Post by Refugee on Apr 5, 2010 19:45:50 GMT
...Rowing isn't that hard. ...but the boy needs to suck it up. Two quick points on this: One, Jack hasn't eaten or slept in God knows how long, and Two, see if you can find in the old threads where I and some other folks calculated just how far it appeared to be from the shore to the station, because my recollection was that it was pretty damn far. Moreover, Annie, who very recently could barely pick a flower [683], is now able to provide substantial thrust in her etheric form. Perhaps there is an etheric current, whatever that might be, flowing outward from the station?
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Pig_catapult
Full Member
Keeper of the Devilkitty
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Post by Pig_catapult on Apr 5, 2010 20:22:21 GMT
Something occurred to me: Rowing isn't that hard. Even before I joined a crew team in college, I could row a boat reasonably well for a pretty good distance, and I'm not all that strong. I'm not sure if that boat has a lot more drag than most, but the boy needs to suck it up. Two quick points on this: One, Jack hasn't eaten or slept in God knows how long [...] ^This is what I was trying to convey in my earlier post. The boy's running on empty. He's probably going to collapse sometime this chapter.
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Post by Ulysses on Apr 5, 2010 20:23:21 GMT
Swords don't have to have 2 edges. I work around plenty of 1 edged swords. In Residential Jack could only feel Annie's etheric presence, not see her, so his affliction has definitely gotten worse since then - www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=614.
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Post by shouqi on Apr 5, 2010 20:27:45 GMT
Heh, metaphoric, folks -- guess when I used the term "literally" it was quite different the meaning I had in my head. Looks like I tripped over my lingual feet. And yeah, I can see Jack collapsing this chapter. EDIT: I was doing some research for possible inspiration for Jack, and a little naming history might help. His full name (that we know so far) is Jack Hyland. Jack: Derivative of "John", meaning God is Gracious. Originally Hebrew, heavily used in the Irish community. Not much we can get from here, save to say that it's evidence that Jack is Irish. Notably, several major English criminals and monsters (Jack the Ripper, Spring-Heeled Jack, Jack-in-Irons) feature his name. Hyland: Strongly Irish, goes back to Celtic times (orig. derived from "Uallach"). Its core word means, "Proud". So from this we can safely infer that Jack Hyland is an Irishman, and his behavior gives away his pride in his accomplishments. This chapter (and prior ones, notably "Residential") is a fine example of that -- Jack clearly needs help, and on some level he's aware of it, and he's invented an excuse to get the local Etheric expert into the same area with him, but he's abjectly refusing to bring up the fact that an Etheric spider is currently draining his energy and growing due to it. He's very quick to point out his accomplishments and show off, and acting in a manner meant to impress upon Annie his great skill and ability, but in doing so he's coming off as pitiable and I think on some level he knows it and wants that to happen. Jack's a very proud man to ask for help. Do you guys think I'm onto something, way off, etc etc... feedback = win also I'm bored with my wife out of town
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nar
New Member
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Post by nar on Apr 5, 2010 20:54:34 GMT
If Jack can see the etheric all the time, what do you think he's seeing in [596]? Rey's etheric form is a fox, not a wolf. If he could see Rey's etheric form in that strip, would he have said 'fox' instead? Seems evidence for an escalation of his etheric vision to me, which combined with the escalation of his spider problem seems evidence that it's the spider's doing.
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Post by strangethoughts on Apr 5, 2010 21:12:06 GMT
Swords don't have to have 2 edges. I work around plenty of 1 edged swords. In Residential Jack could only feel Annie's etheric presence, not see her, so his affliction has definitely gotten worse since then - www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=614. Technically a sword doesn't need to have an edge at all, it can just be a piercing tip.
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Post by cazador on Apr 5, 2010 21:36:22 GMT
Swords don't have to have 2 edges. I work around plenty of 1 edged swords. In Residential Jack could only feel Annie's etheric presence, not see her, so his affliction has definitely gotten worse since then - www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=614. Technically a sword doesn't need to have an edge at all, it can just be a piercing tip. That would be called a 'spear'.Nvm, fencing.
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mariposa
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Hi, I'm Elise!
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Post by mariposa on Apr 5, 2010 22:21:27 GMT
I was thinking that Annie partly started helping as an excuse to see what Jack looks like in the ether. And, I wouldn't be surprised if he had no knowledge, besides the itching, of the spider on his face, the same way Annie has no knowledge of her cut. He does seem to be developing an ability similar to Zimmy's, worsening (presumably) as the spider grows. I doubt he can see the whole ether, as Annie can through her blinker stone, because he seemed a little surprised to see her in her etheric state. He probably just gets glimpses, in the same way Zimmy did when we saw her before the storm.
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