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Post by centzontotochtin on May 5, 2010 13:06:11 GMT
You know, there's probably a better time and place for this, but... Reynardine never really made good on his promise re: the kicking of rear ends. I must say I'm a tad disappointed.
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Post by legion on May 5, 2010 13:35:03 GMT
A cliffhanger?
That cannot be!
My internet has a sense for such things!
It said there would be no cliffhanger!
</referencing cult movie>
Wow, just, woah.
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Post by Tobu Ishi on May 5, 2010 13:36:33 GMT
Tobu, that's a great capstone for the discussion because I actually can completely agree with that. I don't have anything else to pick at anymore, so we'll call it off... FOR NOW. [...] So, is Tom going to start posting City Face: Lightfoot's Revenge now? That would be double super-awesome. City Face is always double super-awesome. Also, you know what's triple super-awesome? Having a discussion on the internet that goes somewhere, reaches a consensus, and ends agreeably. High five. ;D
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Post by Afalstein on May 5, 2010 14:12:45 GMT
Dang it, Jack! I liked you. Now you're like one of the few clearly defined evil people.
If Annie tells the court about Jack, she might be able to mitigate the effects of breaking into a facility and smashing a robot. After all, the court knows Jack has been... unstable lately. I'm guessing Jack avoided most of the cameras, though.
There's going to be more than a detention for this one. The power station is separate from the rest of the court, it's probably got more to do with the court's ACTUAL purpose.
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Post by Casey on May 5, 2010 14:21:03 GMT
Technically, the only thing Annie has done wrong has been to break curfew.
She opened the locked door, but only to prevent Jack from opening it anyway through use of destructive force.
I don't think she's going to get off scot-free, but I don't agree with those that say Annie's going to be locked away and Kat's going to become the main character and some other etherically-gifted girl is going to become her foil. I mean come on, Annie is far and away the most popular character... the comic is ABOUT her. She's not going to be replaced.
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Post by hal9000 on May 5, 2010 15:34:26 GMT
Technically, the only thing Annie has done wrong has been to break curfew. She opened the locked door, but only to prevent Jack from opening it anyway through use of destructive force. I don't think she's going to get off scot-free, but I don't agree with those that say Annie's going to be locked away and Kat's going to become the main character and some other etherically-gifted girl is going to become her foil. I mean come on, Annie is far and away the most popular character... the comic is ABOUT her. She's not going to be replaced. Well, there's also the trespassing in a highly-sensitive facility thing. And, since she has no easy way of proving her innocence at the moment, it seems like she's going to at least temporarily take the heat for all of the things Jack has done (like starting up the plant, smashing guardbot, breaking/entering, etc). It would be unbelievable to me if she got away with a slap on the wrist for all of that, especially considering her history of getting into this sort of situation.
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Post by Casey on May 5, 2010 15:36:02 GMT
especially considering her history of getting into this sort of situation. As someone (Mezzaphor?) pointed out recently, she's never done anything wrong from the Court's point of view except to be tricked into leaving school grounds by Reynardine.
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Post by johnnycakes on May 5, 2010 15:45:08 GMT
This is so exciting! I wonder if anyone noticed the "113" in the corner of the room in the last panel by the way ^^
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Post by Per on May 5, 2010 16:28:43 GMT
another "City Face"-type story Yesssss Also, I don't see why the interrogation chapter shouldn't go something like this: Annie: It was Jack. Jones: OK. But it may be more likely to go something like: Annie: ... Button people: ... Also also, I love the idea that Jack sees himself as the great protagonist, that it seems to him Annie is rejecting her role as his co-conspirator for completely irrational reasons, and that he's giving her a last "Why did you have to do that?" look. It goes perfectly with GC's "no Saurons" policy.
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Post by the bandit on May 5, 2010 17:03:37 GMT
I love panel 1. I might even snatch it for an avatar. I think, at long last, now Annie finally has something that can be called an antagonist. "At long last"? What about the antagonist present since page 1 and referenced by the title of the comic? Antagonists don't have to be people. Dang it, Jack! I liked you. Now you're like one of the few clearly defined evil people. Not so clearly defined. This sort of statement is the foil to the Jack-lovers' exclamation of parkour at the beginning of the chapter. Our scared little girl... ...and our hardened young man. Put Jack back in Zimmingham and let's see how brave he stays. That's like proving a gun-trained Shetland is more powerful than a Clydesdale by showing their simultaneous reactions to the latter's first exposure to a gunshot. Irrelevant, and short-lived in remaining a proof. unless Tom's planning to write Annie out of the comic and make Kat the lead I don't understand your obsession with this line of thinking, bud, except maybe you like Kat so much that it's some sort of unconscious wish. Anyway, a wall of darkness is easily penetrated by light. Tom knows exactly where he is going, and he's yet to write anything that seems incongruous once the reader has learned all the facts. No matter how much you try to short-sell him, Jack IS serious business. Definitely true, no discussion there. But to me Jack acts like a kid who found a gun and a Swiss army knife. Even though he can do a lot with it, he will probably end up hurting himself. And while he looks very smart and clever in situations that he controls, I am not so sure how good he will look if he has to react to unforeseen situations. But I hope we'll find out soon. /salute
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Post by Tobu Ishi on May 5, 2010 17:35:38 GMT
That's like proving a gun-trained Shetland is more powerful than a Clydesdale by showing their simultaneous reactions to the latter's first exposure to a gunshot. Irrelevant, and short-lived in remaining a proof. Fair enough. I'm definitely interested to see how Jack stands up to further exposure--I just felt the need to throw that out there in response to the idea that Zimmy is fundamentally 'weak'. She's stronger than Jack in some situations, at least, and she's not as utterly lost in Zimmingham as the earlier poster seemed to be saying. But you're right, we haven't had a fair situation for comparison yet. (Heck, part of me was arguing this simply because, although I like Jack, he's making very foolish decisions right now--I totally agree with the Swiss army knife comment above!--and that part of me would love to see Zimmy and Gamma curbstomp him a bit for his trouble. LIVING UNDER AN ELDRITCH CURSE: UR DOIN IT WRONG.) Hmm... ;D
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Post by warrl on May 5, 2010 17:47:53 GMT
I could SO see Annie just taking charge.
"I haven't figured out yet what's going on, and Jack Hyland just left through that window. Some sort of etheric parasite is messing with his mind. Can anyone here follow him? Next, who knows how to run this plant? Jack initiated the startup sequence. Do whatever is appropriate and let me know what to expect. Third, etheric traps. Anybody good at them? Jack built this one starting with some of Mrs. Donlan's code, and we need to get Reynardine out of it."
The trick to taking charge in a situation like that is: 1) Start barking orders 2) At least the first few orders have to make sense from the new arrivals' perspective, and be orders the legitimate authorities would also issue 3) Good orders to give involve people going elsewhere for specific purposes, and people reporting back to you 4) Act as if you assume your orders will be followed.
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Post by Ulysses on May 5, 2010 17:57:24 GMT
Technically, the only thing Annie has done wrong has been to break curfew. The punishment for breaking curfew is death! I'm sure I read that somewhere. I really wasn't expecting a cliff-hanger here, although in retrospect it makes sense - there wasn't going to be a clean ending to this chapter, and if anything else big were to happen that would add another 6 pages and it's reached the average chapter length already. The longest chapter was S1 with 43 pages but I think that'll be a bit of an anomaly.
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Post by digikitty on May 5, 2010 19:29:50 GMT
Another thing to consider as far as Annie is concerned is this: They are training her to get into situations like this, in a sense. They are teaching her to be a Medium, and I think that something like Jack, and trying to help him would fall under that role. No doubt she's going to be in a great deal of trouble, she's out of the dorms past curfew, she's inside the power station, ect. so yeah, I think she's definitely heading towards more than a week's worth of detention on this one.
At the same time, Aata and Shell HAVE BEEN LOOKING for Jack for awhile now, it would seem, and I'd think that all those who just showed up will at the least allow Antimony to explain things before just locking her up or something.
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Post by centzontotochtin on May 5, 2010 20:51:01 GMT
Well, I find it doubtful that they'd simply "lock her up" to punish Annie or keep her out of trouble. More likely, what they'll do is put everything into stricter surveillance, which would mean installing security systems that aren't as easy to hack, building and deploying more guardbots to at least monitor things (I doubt they'd really stop anyone), or start using some as-of-yet unseen means to keep things under tighter control. While this will likely be used across the entire Court, if possible, I also think that they'll be keeping in close touch with Annie, as she probably has more info on Jack than anyone else.
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Post by todd on May 5, 2010 22:21:57 GMT
I don't think she's going to get off scot-free, but I don't agree with those that say Annie's going to be locked away and Kat's going to become the main character and some other etherically-gifted girl is going to become her foil. I mean come on, Annie is far and away the most popular character... the comic is ABOUT her. She's not going to be replaced. I agree, especially because I think that a lot of the threads would be difficult to handle if that took place. (The replacement etherically-gifted girl could attend medium classes with Parley and Smith, allowing that thread to continue - but how about the missing Anthony, Coyote's invitations to Gillitie Wood. or the sword that Coyote gave Annie?) Of course, protagonist shifts in stories have taken place before (cf. "The Lord of the Rings", with the gradual shift of the lead from Frodo to Sam) - and note that in the Third Treatise, Kat's in the foreground and Annie's behind her. But I doubt this would work here. So this will be a big challenge for the next chapter: how to have Annie and Reynardine get off lightly enough to allow the story to continue, without it looking like "We should have you expelled or sent to prison for life after what you did here, but if we did that it would make it difficult for Tom to continue the webcomic". Though I think Tom will be able to find a solution for that.
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Post by lurker on May 6, 2010 0:37:11 GMT
[...]So this will be a big challenge for the next chapter: how to have Annie and Reynardine get off lightly enough to allow the story to continue, without it looking like "We should have you expelled or sent to prison for life after what you did here, but if we did that it would make it difficult for Tom to continue the webcomic". Though I think Tom will be able to find a solution for that. Look at it from a positive point of view: what they will do with Annie now will definitely reveal something more about the true nature of GC. One thing is sure: Annie will not get expelled. Suspended, maybe. Have some other punitive action taken against her, maybe. But definitely not expelled. I mean, the very start of the story makes it clear that it is her personal account of what happened at GC while she was there, which means the story must end if she leaves. Given the large number of unresolved threads, and the fact that Tom is a competent writer/artist, this is the most unlikely possibility. With that out of the way, though, many other possibilities abound. We will never know until the next chapter. Who knows, maybe we're about to see a whole new aspect of GC that has previously only been vaguely hinted at. New locations, new intrigues, new personae, new encounters -- definitely an exciting future lies ahead!
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blue
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by blue on May 6, 2010 2:53:44 GMT
Next chapter is everyone playing card games since they are all stuck in the plant after the lock-down mode Jack scheduled activates.
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Post by Mezzaphor on May 6, 2010 3:35:33 GMT
[...]So this will be a big challenge for the next chapter: how to have Annie and Reynardine get off lightly enough to allow the story to continue, without it looking like "We should have you expelled or sent to prison for life after what you did here, but if we did that it would make it difficult for Tom to continue the webcomic". Though I think Tom will be able to find a solution for that. Look at it from a positive point of view: what they will do with Annie now will definitely reveal something more about the true nature of GC. One thing is sure: Annie will not get expelled. Suspended, maybe. Have some other punitive action taken against her, maybe. But definitely not expelled. I mean, the very start of the story makes it clear that it is her personal account of what happened at GC while she was there, which means the story must end if she leaves. Given the large number of unresolved threads, and the fact that Tom is a competent writer/artist, this is the most unlikely possibility. With that out of the way, though, many other possibilities abound. We will never know until the next chapter. Who knows, maybe we're about to see a whole new aspect of GC that has previously only been vaguely hinted at. New locations, new intrigues, new personae, new encounters -- definitely an exciting future lies ahead! I could see the status quo getting upset by separating Reynardine from Annie in the aftermath of this. As mentioned before, it really depends on the exact nature of Jack's trap for Rey (and how much the Court can manipulate it). From a narrative standpoint, Rey's original reason for being in the story no longer applies. He was a big mystery when he was introduced, but now all the questions about Rey (What is he? What's his story and how did he know Annie's mom? Who's that cousin he mentioned?) have been answered.* As a result, Rey has shifted to being a protector for Annie. Which means that any plot arcs dependent on putting Annie in physical danger have to either incapacitate Rey or separate him from Annie. And this certainly seems like a good opportunity to do so. Granted, physical peril has only occasionally been a driving force of the comic so far. *As for the one question that hasn't been answered (Did Rey really try to possess Annie?): considering how Rey and Annie have both been reluctant to discuss the subject with each other, I don't think Rey's continued companionship with Annie would help us to answer the question at all.
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mariposa
Full Member
Hi, I'm Elise!
Posts: 149
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Post by mariposa on May 6, 2010 3:39:22 GMT
I was not expecting the chapter to end, but I was starting to wonder how there would be enough time to resolve it. It kind of seems like the next chapter will completely switch gears, but (correct me if I'm wrong) hasn't Annie been in every chapter except "Ties"? There's a first time for everything, though. I'm just hoping we get Reynardine back, because if he dissapeared I would miss him sorely. I don't think we need to be afraid of anything too drastic happening to Annie, because, no matter what, the comic will go on, and it will most likey still be pretty interesting, so I don't think we're looking at constant surveillance or something like that.
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mariposa
Full Member
Hi, I'm Elise!
Posts: 149
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Post by mariposa on May 6, 2010 4:22:18 GMT
Wow, I'm dense. Just went back to reread the only other two-chapter storyline. Change of gears without excluding Annie? Flashback. (I knew I was missing an obvious possibility) WOW. I just realized how extra-stupid I am. I even mentioned the exception of a flashback in my last post without acknowledging it as a possibilty.
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Post by kermittheforg on May 6, 2010 6:52:04 GMT
One thing is sure: Annie will not get expelled. Suspended, maybe. Have some other punitive action taken against her, maybe. But definitely not expelled. "That's it, young lady! We're calling your parents!"
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jon77
Full Member
Posts: 245
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Post by jon77 on May 6, 2010 7:47:35 GMT
One thing is sure: Annie will not get expelled. Suspended, maybe. Have some other punitive action taken against her, maybe. But definitely not expelled. "That's it, young lady! We're calling your parents!" That's exactly what I was going to say! We'll finally get to know Anthony Carver... by seeing how he handles a very awkward PTA meeting.
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Post by todd on May 6, 2010 10:46:12 GMT
I mean, the very start of the story makes it clear that it is her personal account of what happened at GC while she was there, which means the story must end if she leaves. Though Annie still being the narrator is no longer a given, after Chapter Twenty-five, where the narrator was Sky-Watcher.
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Post by the bandit on May 6, 2010 14:20:22 GMT
From a narrative standpoint, Rey's original reason for being in the story no longer applies. He was a big mystery when he was introduced, but now all the questions about Rey (What is he? What's his story and how did he know Annie's mom? Who's that cousin he mentioned?) have been answered. Um, who's the guy Rey killed? With such a good study of human nature, and a love for humans, why would he think Surma would go for a body he snatched, killing its owner, and why would he go to such lengths to enter the Court? What happened between him and Surma? What trick did the Court use to capture him? Next chapter is everyone playing card games since they are all stuck in the plant after the lock-down mode Jack scheduled activates. All a part of the plan.
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kevin
New Member
Posts: 8
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Post by kevin on May 6, 2010 16:27:54 GMT
But does this mean we have to wait until next Monday to see what happens? D: Why do you torture your readers so, Tom? At least Wednesday, since Friday will be the bonus, Monday the next cover. But more likely Wednesday will start with flashbacks or something not immediately relevant to the current situation. So, yeah, give it a month and if Tom's being nice we'll have some clue about what happens.
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kevin
New Member
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Post by kevin on May 6, 2010 16:35:39 GMT
Our first "To Be Continued." Oh SNAP! Fer real, Tom. A cliffhanger. Thanks a lot. Edit* Yea, I definitly see Aata (buddah guy), and I think that's Shell by the door next to him. And yea, I think that female looking one's pose suggests Jones. You call this a cliffhanger? This is a cliffhanger. Note: cliff and hanging. (The very original book ended with that. My friend who found it in my chair and read through it was pretty frustrated until I told him it continued online.)
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Post by Mr Pitchfork on May 6, 2010 20:34:02 GMT
That first panel looks just like one of Tom's Ustream drawings that he posted to the site. Where is it?
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Post by todd on May 6, 2010 22:19:19 GMT
Another thought I had. We've been talking all this while about the external barriers that are likely to be thrown into Annie's path as a result of these events. But what about the internal barriers?
Annie must have noticed by now that so many of her adventures usually end with things worse for herself, her friends, and the people she was trying to help. Getting Shadow2 back to Gillitie Wood (we know how that turned out). Trying to rescue Reynardine (she almost got killed by him). Trying to patch up the friendship between Red and Blue (though to be fair about it, anyone shallow enough to choose her friends by their hair-style probably deserves to be pushed about by Red). And now this.
Might Annie decide, even if she doesn't get expelled or suspended for this event, that she should stop meddling and from now on should just let the grown-ups handle things and concentrate on her studies? I know I'd be considering that, if I was in her place.
(Maybe this is Tom's way of putting an end to the "sneaking about in dark corridors" stories - at least, for a while - as too easy, with the majority of the chapters after this one being classroom stories or school activity stories or "flashback to Good Hope/Surma's generation/the Founders' generation" stories.)
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Post by TBeholder on May 6, 2010 23:01:50 GMT
I've got 20 internetdollars saying that Jack is a hardened, determined young man with considerable etheric power; Zimmy is a weak, scared little girl who needs Gamma and Annie to clean up after her power incontinence. Birmingham isn't her turf, Zimmy's scared shitless by everything there. Don't be fooled by her bluster. Just keep in mind her first reaction to anything: Cling to Gamma. In her Happy Place she at least knows what's up and where. And other than with Nobodies, mostly she stands before Gamma, not vice versa. Speaking of which, Annie GOP them without slowing down, while Jack's first encounter with the local... errr... "fauna" didn't end well for him (judging by the result). Also, his power is ultimately derived from the place. Keep in mind how much similarity what happens to Annie here bears to Gopping a Nobody, that's definite cause for concern. Not much. Nobodies dissolve into dirty spray, he just repulses. So, is Tom going to start posting City Face: Lightfoot's Revenge now? That would be double super-awesome. Bwahahahaha! Tom sometimes is evil like that, true. Aaand thaaat's beauuutiful! ;D I could SO see Annie just taking charge. By now it's hard to imagine her not doing this for me. Even without a proper explanation. I see four things she's going to need from them: 1) sending someone to Zimmy (because that's where Jack gone and while he didn't say why it's a safe bet he doesn't just wants to give her a few flowers), 2) dealing whatever they know better to with the station, 3) giving her a line to Anja Donlan right after she finishes with the trap - and, 4) by the way, not to approach this thing. They'd have to think hard to make up one sane reason why not to follow, giving that it's them who asks what the hell. And if she says she's going to report to Anja, asking more would be kind of redundant. And may even mislead into thinking she's authorized to be there. Next chapter is everyone playing card games since they are all stuck in the plant after the lock-down mode Jack scheduled activates. ...while Annie says "sorry, no time! Must catch him!", grabs Rey and flies out after Jack? ;D "That's it, young lady! We're calling your parents!" Exactly.
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