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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 25, 2016 16:20:16 GMT
I believe Annie lifted Renard's ban on escaping when she came back from her Summer in the Forest and Renard stayed so he could be with Annie. I don't know if this freedom remained after his ownership was transferred to Kat, but I want to think it did. I hope the story continues long enough to see whether Annie stays in the Court and what Renard does if she leaves the Court. Rey's conversation with Hetty came after Annie's return from the forest, so I got the impression it was still in effect. His verbal defense of Annie against Hetty's accusation is to say that the Court wouldn't allow him to roam freely without Annie forbidding him from going to Gilitie Forest. If Annie had actually lifted the ban already, I'd expect Rey would have just told Hetty instead. I could easily be wrong though. While I think that the Court's leadership would almost certainly like to deal with Annie somehow, I don't think it would try killing her unless its method could simultanesously kill Reynardine and thus keep him from exploiting his freedom (knowing the Court's take on Rey, they'd probably be expecting his likely response to possess, then abandon, practically every person in the Court, then run back to Gilltie when he'd done so to report that the Court is no more - though I think it unlikely that he'd do something like that). And I suspect by now it wouldn't dare anything against her for fear of angering Coyote again so that he'd show up and knock down more buildings. (Short of figuring out some way of neutralizing Coyote - and maybe Ysengrin and everyone else in Gilltie Wood.) Even shutting her up in a fire-proof cell would be dangerous. It must be all the more a frustration for them, since in the immediate aftermath of Anthony's return and laying down the law, Annie had become so submissive as to be "de-fanged". It must have seemed to them like the best solution - Annie's will to investigate the strange goings-on in the Court and meddle had been removed. But, short of putting something in her food, I don't think they could succeed at that again. Agreed. Also, the Court does seem to value some of their employees as tools at least if not as people. Attempting to kill Annie, regardless of their success, would be a good way to lose the support of Kat, Parley, Smitty, Eglamore, Anja, Donald, Anthony, and possibly others. And the Court knows at least some of that.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 25, 2016 15:47:21 GMT
Good. The author's comment says "meanwhile," which means pretty soon we will see one of my favorite words in the comments: Un-meanwhile! I'm guessing that Annie and Kat will emerge from the arrow just as Jeanne is about to stab Parley.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 24, 2016 18:29:15 GMT
I'm envisioning a scenario in which the fact that Reynardine is under Kat's control, and not Annie's, becomes significant as more than an emotional development. For example, suppose the Court does decide to get rid of Annie. Maybe they try to kill her, or maybe they just want to kick her off of Court grounds, but one way or another, they want her gone. The Court sends someone to catch Annie alone to either remove her or harm her unexpectedly. Rey is nearby and protects Annie, telling her to escape. The court agent tries to capture Reynard in the process. Annie is ready to run off to the forest, and calls out for Reynardine to follow her...but he can't, because he is forbidden to try to escape, and Kat isn't there to lift the ban. Heck, maybe Anthony shows up mid-struggle to help in capturing Reynardine, and inadvertently allows Rey to escape ( since if Anthony tries to hurt Reynardine, he can do whatever he needs to defend himself.) Alternatively, Reynardine does get captured, and there is a subsequent breakout organized by Annie, Kat, and the robots. However, I do not think any variation of this scenario is actually likely to occur. For one thing, the transfer of control from Annie to Kat has a purpose in the story already: it is a part of Annie and Rey's character development and internal struggles. It doesn't also need to be an artificial restraint on Reynardine's movements that comes back to bite him. Moreover, I don't think the Court ever actually wanted to expel Annie, for reasons I've discussed earlier in this thread, and outright killing a student seems more violent than the Court's usual methods. And even in the unlikely scenario where the Court does decide to kill Annie, and for some reason hadn't restrained Reynardine first, and everything else lines up so that Kat's control over Reynardine could cause trouble.... any such scenario could be avoided if Kat were to simply grant all-encompassing permission to Reynardine along the lines of "You may do whatever necessary to protect yourself, Annie, me, Paz, George, Andrew, Shadow, Robot, or my parents." And it is entirely possible that Kat has already said something like that off-panel. Hence, even though variations of this scenario keep popping up in my head, I don't think it is at all likely to happen in GKC.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 21, 2016 22:21:14 GMT
Aww, a whole week without any new votes? WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO?!?
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 21, 2016 22:19:49 GMT
But Annie is not afraid of monsters is my point. Even back at the very beginning with Basil the minotaur. Looks for her are irrelevant re the evilness of the person. Or so I understood There's monsters, and then there's eldritch metallic humanoid insect things that distort everything and seem to go on forever. However, those were all etheric creatures. Right now, Annie is in an artificial pocket-dimension created by Diego and the Court. What she sees is a giant robot. It's not a huge leap for her to guess that the giant robot is a part of the prison, created by Diego to stop any powerful ether-users like herself from destroying the device.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 21, 2016 16:28:08 GMT
Now this seems even more likely, as Kat sees the intricate puzzle as a simple lock.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 21, 2016 5:06:27 GMT
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 19, 2016 2:16:52 GMT
It wouldn't be very lucky otherwise, I suspect.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 19, 2016 2:15:45 GMT
Quoting someone from Tumblr:
Actually, I suspect Kat will be less than pleased to learn about her appearance in the ether. It's not very scientific.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 18, 2016 15:19:27 GMT
Hopefully she asks questions first and kills it with fire later rather than the reverse, or awkward won't be the half of it. If Kat could even be killed in this form. Fortunately, killing first has never seemed to be Annie's style. Has she ever attacked anyone without them attacking her first? I sort of called it!Okay, only called that Annie wouldn't attack Kat before asking questions, and that part was pretty obvious. But I still called something. Is that worth, at least, like, one cookie crumb?
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 18, 2016 5:05:52 GMT
The one I'm really excited for is the Chapter 55 retrospective
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 23:59:27 GMT
That's in character. This oh so humble hubris of oh so clever Tony. He was just as confident that the boss was negotiating with him seriously - at least until being literally thrown to the dogs. I conjecture that Anthony's house contained both a technological surveillance device and an etheric surveillance device/spell. Which Annie wouldn't immediately notice during that blinker peeking foray? When Annie was watching Tony and Donald, her etheric powers were at their weakest point, and she wasn't actually present, so she might not have noticed an etheric surveillance device, particularly a hidden one. Alternatively, maybe Annie did notice, and just hasn't told Anthony. Or, ya know, I could be totally wrong.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 23:42:26 GMT
I am kind of surprised that the Court hasn't tried to get Smitty and Zimmy to work together with the objective of using Smitty to control Zimmy's indisputable reality warping power so it can be exploited by the Court. Gamma moderates Zimmy, but she doesn't provide a way to harness and exploit Zmmy's power. Jack may be filling that role, but we haven"t seen any indication yet that Jack can provide a control function. They may want Smitty to be more experienced (and possibly more obedient- I'm not too sure they were happy about him immediately being willing to defend Annie when she took the Forest Medium job) before trying something that drastic. It sounds like a good idea but here I am thinking of ways that "Zimmy can now control her powers" could go very wrong. How much more obedient do they expect Andrew to become? He seems to have a clear internal idea of what he considers right and wrong, and it doesn't always jive with the Court's. He also seems to genuinely care about the forest creatures, which means it would be harder to convince him to do anything like what Surma did to Reynard. Also, like most people his age, Smitty is deeply influenced by his friends, including Annie and Kat. If the Court wants to turn Andrew into another Ysendrin or Surma, they will have their work cut out for them. Then again, we don't really know what Surma was like at this age. Maybe the Court has methods for stamping their ideology into key employees. Maybe we will see a long and slow process in which Andrew is pushed more and more into the Court's power. Even if turning him into another Ysendrin is beyond their capabilities, making Andrew at least as submissive as Surma was might be something Jonathon thinks is possible. (Obviously, the Court doesn't see Annie as being as controllable as Andrew, hence why they didn't make her the Medium.)
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 20:01:46 GMT
Kat's probably in for a surprise too. I don't think she knows what she looks like to Zimmy or to the robots, otherwise she probably would have told Annie about it.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 20:00:46 GMT
Interesting. I expect more exposition in the Chapter 38 retrospective, this one was rather quick. Then again, I watched the first 36 back-to-back after reading the first 59 chapters back-to-back, so I suppose any one chapter's video will feel quick for me if I only get one at a time.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 4:51:53 GMT
She shows up here, here, here, today's page, and possibly in one or two of the treatises I think. Thanks! I had a suspicion that there was one I was missing (I'm not counting the treatises, since I assume those scenes aren't literally happening in the comic's world.)
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 0:20:43 GMT
I only remember seeing her once, but I could be missing one or more appearances.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 0:19:31 GMT
Webcomics I am currently following: --The Order of the Stick --Gunnerkrigg Court --XKCD --Dinosaur Comics --Darths and Droids --Strong Female Protagonist --Mare Internum
Completed webcomics I used to follow: --Girls with Slingshots --8-bit Theater --Abstruse Goose
Still-active webcomics that I stopped reading --Questionable Content --Cyanide and Happiness --Penny Arcade
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 0:13:42 GMT
You should be. This is worse than laughing at dead baby jokes. Good work! Not exactly dead babies, but probably dead people. As an American with pre-existing medical conditions, I would not be able to get health care were it not for the PPACA. I can quite literally say that I would not be alive were it not for the ACA ("Obamacare," as it's also called.) If it gets repealed, there is a high chance that I won't live to see the next election (Trump vs Warren 2020?) So while you may not be laughing at dead babies, you might be laughing at a dead me. And ya know what? I'm okay with people making jokes about it. If I'm a few years away from death, I better darn well enjoy myself. And if by some miricale I manage to survive the next four or eight years, comedy will make it go faster. I got a chuckle out of your edited strip, sotha, so thanks for that
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 17, 2016 0:05:40 GMT
If Kat could even be killed in this form. She most certainly could die, young one. Even I am not invulnerable, despite all my power, yes yes! Could Wandering Eye destroy you? Or could your teeth destroy her? (I'm guessing the answer to the second question is "yes," based on your claim that your tooth can cut "the very earth.")
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 16, 2016 15:31:26 GMT
Oh boy.
When she finds out who that is, things are gonna get awkward. Hopefully she asks questions first and kills it with fire later rather than the reverse, or awkward won't be the half of it. If Kat could even be killed in this form. Fortunately, killing first has never seemed to be Annie's style. Has she ever attacked anyone without them attacking her first?
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 16, 2016 6:17:30 GMT
(This was from a previous strip's thread, but I'm putting it here since it isn't outdated and to keep the current discussion in one place.)
I don't think they were ever actually planning on expelling Annie. They made a threat to Anthony, and it worked based on the limited information that Anthony had. I think the threat was empty, though, because the Court (and the audience) had and have more information than Anthony had. Were the Court to expel Annie, she would go live in the forest. She would either continue working as the Forest Medium (and get to visit her friends in the Court as a result), or switch careers and become an afterlife guide (and get to visit Kat and others whenever someone in the Court steps on a spider.) In either case, it wouldn't be particularly bad for Annie, but it would be bad for the Court. They would lose what little control they have over her, without gaining anything. Reynardine might also decide to go live in the forest with Annie, which the Court seems really opposed to.
Nonetheless, I agree with others who said that the Court might not know about the current attempt to free Jeanne, and might not find out immediately afterwards. If the Court does know what Kat, Annie, Parley, and Smitty planned to do, then I suspect either a)They would have tried to stop it, or b)The Court isn't actually opposed to Jeanne being freed.
Obviously, (a) didn't happen. (b) seems like it could create an interesting story, since it would leave open the question of the Court's motivation. However, if the Court had wanted Jeanne freed all along, then the dramatic pay-off of the kids' victory will be reduced considerably. Seeing as we've been building up to this moment for most of the comic's life, I'm guessing the Court either doesn't know what Annie is doing right now, or else there is a huge twist coming later in this book.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 15, 2016 16:53:27 GMT
... Anja initiates plan theta (baking distraction) to keep the court from investigating those strange jargon jargon etheric babble fluctuations. The baking distraction, of course, is a mix of artificially enhanced robotic baking soda and robotic vinegar.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 14, 2016 22:38:43 GMT
"The other shore" might mean someone is going to pass to the next world. However, it could also mean that help is coming from the (literal) other shore--i.e., from the forest. It could also be both. If so, that would indicate that Ysendrin or Snuffle are more likely to arrive. It could also be someone Annie met during the Annie in the Forest arc. Or it could be no one, and the "other shore" just means death.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 14, 2016 16:56:39 GMT
Geez, it looks like we lost a fair number of members during the break. Hopefully they'll be back. Can you really say that when only the title page has been posted? This isn't really content yet for people to be commenting on. But can't we over analyze the title page? (Regardless, you gained at least one new member: me).
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 14, 2016 12:56:21 GMT
At first I misread it as "the other stone," and was expecting someone or something related to Jones. But since it is actually the other Shore, I'm guessing it means one of two things a)Help (or another hinderance) will arrive from the forest side of the water. Right now, everyone involved came from the Court side. If Ysendrin arrives to help, he will be from "the other shore." b)The other shore refers to the afterlife, and Annie will take Jeanne into the ether this chapter (or next chapter.)
This is the first update in the main story (i.e., not counting City Face) that I get to read as it is released, so my speculation skills aren't yet as developed as the rest of the forumites.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 11, 2016 23:54:00 GMT
Okay, I deleted and recreated the poll, with Shadow as an option. Seven people other than me had voted, and their votes were lost. It was worth it.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 11, 2016 14:47:14 GMT
And where is Shadow, both in comic and in the poll? Uh, Shadow's totally there. He's just hidden, like a Shadow! I actually forgot about him...maybe I mentally grouped him with Robot. It doesn't look like I can add additional options to the poll now that it's been created, unless I'm missing something.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 11, 2016 4:34:20 GMT
With the current fight with Jeanne ongoing, it seems likely (as far as the forum speculation is concerned) that Annie et al. will soon "defeat" Jeanne. This "defeat" might involve besting her and her etheric lover in combat, or diplomatically talking them into letting Annie take them into the ether. Or both. But one way or another, there is a very high chance that the group will succeed in freeing Jeanne in a very small amount of in-comic time. It is, of course, possible that they will fail, but most forumite speculation suggests that they will succeed, and so I will assume that this is Jeanne's last fight for the purposes of this thread. It is possible that the conflict will be won with just the actors already present. It is also possible, however, that Annie and friends will need the assistance of another ally, who will arrive just in the nick of time. The question is: if the cavalry arrives, who will it be?
If anyone not already present arrives to help, I believe the most likely candidate is Reynardine. As a forest creature (not to mention Coyote's cousin), Jeanne's lover may be more receptive to him than he would be to a human, and Rey could join Annie inside the arrow. He's also powerful enough in the ether that he could help Parley protect the others from Jeanne for at least a little longer. Jones is unlikely to make an appearance, IMO. This whole subplot seems to be about the group coming together to tackle someone far more powerful than any of them individually. The narrative effect would be greatly lessened by the arrival of a being who is probably at least as powerful as Jeanne. For the same reason, Coyote is unlikely to help. In the unlikely event that Coyote does intervene, I doubt he would actually help so much as "make things more fun." Then there are the friendly teachers: Anja, Donald, and Eglamore. The strikes against them showing up are threefold, IMO. Firstly, needing the adults to help lessens the accomplishments of the younger protagonists. Secondly, this conflict might not be winnable through combat alone. If it comes down to diplomacy, the arrival of non-medium Court employees probably wouldn't help. If anything, they could just enrage Jeanne further. Moreover, it's not entirely clear if any of them would want to help. Eglamore has the job which used to belong to the guy who originally trapped Jeanne. Kat's parents are also pretty clearly on the side of the Court, and both were and are at least complicit in entrapping Reynardine. They might oppose releasing Jeanne.
Anthony is even less likely to help, for the same reasons as the other teachers. There is, however, a (remote, IMO) possibility that Tony shows up, and either a)Actively tries to prevent the others from freeing Jeanne, or b)Tries to redeem himself in Annie's eyes, but accidentally makes things worse.
Stepping further out on a limb is Zimmy. The plan relies in a crucial way on keeping Jeanne trapped in an etheric illusion. The one person who we know can trap people in alternate realities with ease is Zimmy. However, Zimmy has no control over her connection to the ether. Even if she wanted to help Annie and co, she could just as easily make it worse.
So what about you? Who, if anyone, do you think will arrive on the scene before the end of this sequence?
EDIT: I have restarted the poll with Shadow as an option. Apologies to the seven people who had already voted.
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Post by bgb16999 on Nov 10, 2016 13:57:36 GMT
He might not have figured that out immediately. He might not have known immediately (and he probably didn't IMO), but by now he probably knows she is welcome in the forest. He doesn't necessarily know about everything else, though. By the way, anyone else find it suspicious that Anthony could disable all the surveillance in his house? Given that Tony and his friends were able to launch spaceships when they were kids, it seems perfectly plausible (likely, even) that he is fully capable of finding and disabling any technological devices the Court has put in his house. But it seems equally likely that the Court would know about Anthony's technical skills. So why would they put a tracking device in his house if they knew he could disable it? One possibility is that they were counting on Anthony's loyalty to not disable it, or they were counting on his fear of repercussions. There is another possibility, however. I conjecture that Anthony's house contained both a technological surveillance device and an etheric surveillance device/spell. The non-etheric devices were decoys which the Court expected Anthony to find and disable. With the surveillance that Tony knows about gone, he will feel free to speak and act in ways he wouldn't if he thought the Court were watching him. The Court also knows that Anthony is largely ignorant of how etheric power works, so they can count on him not finding it. If my conjecture is true, then Reynard may already know from the time he spent in Tony's house. I'm imagining a scenario in which Anthony tries to have a "private" conversation with Annie. Tony: Annie, I need to speak with you about something important, in my house. Don't worry, I disabled all surveillence devices here. Annie: Um, dad? There's an active scrying spell right next to your head. How do you not see it?
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