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Post by djublonskopf on May 27, 2010 3:56:50 GMT
Back tracking a bit onto the Food-Tracking... Maybe I'm missing something in the archives were it states that Jones cannot tell lies or make jokes, but does anyone else think that not only could Jones have somehow overheard Jack and Annie's conversation but is now joking about it? If the Court could really track people then a LOT of Annie's adventures no longer make as much sense to me. So the Court just LET Annie discover the location of Renard despite how dangerous he is? I know you can argue it both ways, after all there WAS the fortuitous train, and Eglamore DID show up just in time to save her, but in the context of Gunnerkrigg those being happy coincidences makes as much sense to me. What about in Chapter 8 when she has fallen off the Bridge, the tracking devices let everyone know where she is but they just leave her to rot in the Anan Waters? Well, "tracking" is not the same as "always actively monitoring". Just because they're recording locations doesn't mean there's also a person sitting in front of a monitor watching every little blip. And when she fell off the bridge . . . even without trackers, they would have had a good idea of where she was . . . straight down from the bridge. That's still a very long drop, and mounting a recovery into a steep canyon takes more than one evening (unless you invent a hovercraft overnight) . . ..
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Post by djublonskopf on May 27, 2010 4:00:36 GMT
What about in Chapter 8 when she has fallen off the Bridge, the tracking devices let everyone know where she is but they just leave her to rot in the Anan Waters? Recall that in Ch 7, Annie set off an alarm as soon as she set foot on the bridge. Robot crossed the same bridge in Ch 1 without setting the alarm. And even without the tracking devices in her food, the Court knew that Annie was alive at the bottom of the gorge: Annie's contract over Reynardine would have been broken had she died, and Anja knew enough about the contract that she noticed that Rey was still bound and was able to connect the dots. (Hence why, for the print edition, Kat's last line on page 144 was changed to "They said you were okay!" or something to that effect.) Why didn't the Court swoop in to rescue Annie? Because Kat was already on the job. Oooh, if that's true, then I stand corrected. I didn't know about that little bit.
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Post by warrl on May 27, 2010 5:08:41 GMT
Why didn't the Court swoop in to rescue Annie? Because Kat was already on the job. Because the Court is a bureaucratic institution, and can't easily move that fast. Because the Court formally sending someone after Annie would have increased tension with Gillitie Forest, whereas an individual freelancing kid could be more easily dismissed.
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Post by jesses on May 27, 2010 7:27:37 GMT
I'll concede it is possible they are tracking, djublonskopf (how in the hell do I pronounce that?) raises a really good point that "Tracking" and "Active Monitoring" are entirely different.
As for Annie setting off the detectors on the bridge and Robot didn't there are a number of ways to explain that without tracking devices being considered. After all, there was a Tic-Toc Bird WATCHING Annie (yes I know the Court doesn't know a lot about the Birds, that doesn't mean they don't use them, they can't build competent Robots either like the Original Court Bots, actually, wasn't it implied that the Robots maintain themselves, we don't even know if the Court CAN make them period...).
Until proven otherwise I'm going believe that Jones was just taking the piss out of Annie, because it makes me like Jones even more!
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Post by TBeholder on May 27, 2010 7:55:38 GMT
Before i forgot... quoth Renard, Bwahahahahah! Next question for Annie: And what about you, Ms. Jones? Are you Human? She leaves it to herself as a more exquisite enigma. Besides, Jones probably could answer "it's your homework" anyway. Or, far more amusingly, repeat the answer. It's interesting that Annie's first assumption is always that someone abnormal is not human (she thought Jones was a Robot) It's natural, given her... err... wider than normal experience with non-humans. It "helps" if she still underestimates possibilities and writes off the most powerful cases as done via artifacts - heh, she probably doesn't even know that Anja has at least ether-vision and repulsion wall before blinker. Oh my god the Court tracks people through their food Jack was right oh that is so creepy What is more creepy? That the Court tracks people through their food or that Jack was right? ;D Am I the only one who's bothered by that question at all? After hearing " in a similar manner to Coyote or Renard"? And seeing Coyote from etheric point of view? I'm shocked, shocked that she asked it. I think what bothers me most about Zimmy being described as subhuman That is, a suspicion that someone is not a human is describing them as inferior? Heh. I know, i know, this coming from a beholder... I truly believe that Annie sees all things that can speak as equals ...like herself and certain god, by the way. ;D So [...] Jack isn't crazy Don't worry, he's plenty crazy. Just not delusional. It is patently unbelievable that the court (or at least Jones) has no idea about the power station's effects on Zimmy at this very moment. But even Jones she knows about this as much as we saw, there's still no reason to assume that for Zimmy it was anything worse than one more annoying noise on the street. Or even that it was enough to wake her. It's always a trip to see what creative discussions crop up from a given page. Ah, the beauty of pure Chaos. The bonus page for this chapter is the characters giving a PSA regarding anorexia. Now it would be an auto-parody, wouldn't it? those are probably there either as a method of providing a technical challenge to the students Given the attitude of Sir Eglamore... Also, both his pals and kids visiting the station with Jack managed to slip. I'd compare this to guard rails or low hedges: ensures that no one may pass by accident, but that's it.
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Post by Mishmash on May 27, 2010 8:52:56 GMT
Everyone seems to be assuming that if Jones is telling the truth and the Court tracks students through their food, it means they are tracking every single student that way. She already said they are not tracking Zimmy, a potentially dangerous individual, so why would they track ordinary students?
My interpretation was that if there is a particular student they want to keep an eye on (like Jack) they give that person food with trackers in. Generally they don't.
I also felt a little uneasy about the way Jones talked about Zimmy being brought to the Court for research, as if she is something in a test tube rather than a person. Even if they are trying to take care of her to an extent by not monitoring her, Jones's attitude seems a bit unfeeling to me.
Jones describes both Zimmy's condition and the idea of just sitting back and watching Jack's antics as "interesting". As a member of staff at a school, her number one priority (and that of all the staff) should be the children's welfare. I like Jones, but I am starting to question her awesomeness lately...
Tom is so good at creating realistic characters. No one is perfect. No one is purely good or bad. I love this comic!
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Post by Mezzaphor on May 27, 2010 11:20:58 GMT
Has Annie grown about a head taller? Compare her height in the last panel of this strip from chapter 17 to her height in the third panel of yesterday's strip. In the former, she comes up to around Jones' shoulders, but now they're both about level. My, how she's grown. Growth spurt? As for Annie setting off the detectors on the bridge and Robot didn't there are a number of ways to explain that without tracking devices being considered. After all, there was a Tic-Toc Bird WATCHING Annie (yes I know the Court doesn't know a lot about the Birds, that doesn't mean they don't use them, they can't build competent Robots either like the Original Court Bots, actually, wasn't it implied that the Robots maintain themselves, we don't even know if the Court CAN make them period...). The Tic-Toc was there in Ch 1 as well, watching Robot. And considering that the Tic-Toc on the bridge had its own alarm klaxon, which went off only after Annie got attacked (where the Court's alarm went off as soon as she left the front steps) it strikes me as unlikely that the Tic-Tocs would be connected to the Court security system. I think your larger point about Jones' trustworthiness is a valid concern. Just a few pages ago, she showed that she can and will mislead others for the right ends. But, if "Generally? Through their food," isn't the truth, then it's a straight-up lie. And we haven't, to our knowledge, seen Jones outright lie--she stated the truth in a misleading way.
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Post by todd on May 27, 2010 12:53:21 GMT
As a member of staff at a school, her number one priority (and that of all the staff) should be the children's welfare. For that matter, I can't help wondering whether the Court's overall nature and surroundings make it a poor place for a school from the perspective of the children's welfare - next door to a forest many of whose inhabitants hate the Court (especially Ysengrin), and with potentially dangerous experiments going on. At least they don't have three-headed dogs in the corridors or basilisks sneaking up from the cellar.
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Pig_catapult
Full Member
Keeper of the Devilkitty
Posts: 171
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Post by Pig_catapult on May 27, 2010 13:48:55 GMT
Has Annie grown about a head taller? Compare her height in the last panel of this strip from chapter 17 to her height in the third panel of yesterday's strip. In the former, she comes up to around Jones' shoulders, but now they're both about level. My, how she's grown. Yes, this is another diversion. I think she's standing on something. :3
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cathect
New Member
At last the birds take off.
Posts: 10
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Post by cathect on May 27, 2010 14:58:53 GMT
The undead?! Where? Quick, bring me my holy water and chainsaw nunchucks! Joking aside, did you mean zombies, vampires and the like? Or was it a typo?
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Post by TBeholder on May 28, 2010 1:08:41 GMT
I also felt a little uneasy about the way Jones talked about Zimmy being brought to the Court for research, as if she is something in a test tube rather than a person. Even if they are trying to take care of her to an extent by not monitoring her, Jones's attitude seems a bit unfeeling to me. Why? So far she narrated everything just like this. What would you want? Jones "reading with expression" the same text like a talking head in idiotic ads? That would be plain creepy, no? ;D As a member of staff at a school, her number one priority (and that of all the staff) should be the children's welfare. I like Jones, but I am starting to question her awesomeness lately... Boom! welfare check. (sorry, can't resist). I thought it was already established that the school is only a small (albeit necessary) part of the Court. And it's not a public school, so it's hardly surprising that even the teachers see as their first priority their students' learning. Tom is so good at creating realistic characters. No one is perfect. She is. Just not in the sense you want expect.
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blue
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by blue on May 28, 2010 3:24:10 GMT
The undead?! Where? Quick, bring me my holy water and chainsaw nunchucks! Joking aside, did you mean zombies, vampires and the like? Or was it a typo? This is an excellent question regarding the side conversation on abortion. In addition to zombies and vampires I also meant skeletons. In fact, when someone brings up the undead my first thought usually goes to skeletons, before zombies - though those are certainly more popular. I blame the magic cards. For me thinking of skeletons, that is.
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Post by Mezzaphor on May 28, 2010 3:35:49 GMT
Tom is so good at creating realistic characters. No one is perfect. She is. Just not in the sense you want expect. Wild Speculation: Jones is perfect, and the fact that we find fault with her is actually a sign of our own imperfection.
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Post by the bandit on May 28, 2010 15:05:10 GMT
Don't worry, he's plenty crazy. Just not delusional. Best parsing of Jack's mental breakdown yet. And Mezzaphor puts forth some wild speculation I can live with. This thread is shaping up.
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Post by todd on May 28, 2010 22:07:51 GMT
Many of Jack's actions seem almost like dark exaggerations of the Court's activities:
1. Jack kills a guard robot. The Court hasn't gone that far yet, but it does encourage the children to subject robots who take a fancy to them to emotional abuse.
2. Jack imprisons Reynardine, based on the Court's own methods for imprisoning him (though modifying it so that it subjects Reynardine to physical pain).
3. Jack switches on the Power Station to set it loose on Zimmy (as a way of forcing her to show herself), paralleling the Court's experiments - only here we can be certain that he's fully aware of the effect it has on her.
Will Jack try doing in Annie during their next meeting in anger at her refusal to help him, in an echo of Diego murdering Jeanne (or assisting in her murder) out of anger at her rejecting him? We'll have to see, but I fear he's capable of such an attempt by now.
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