[242] Story Discussion - Sucks to be Annie

[yeochild]

I believe that much of this strife comes from the fact that Kat has misinterpreted Annie. He's not just very light . . . he's supernaturally light. And now Annie knows.

Still, one has to wonder how she guessed that it could have been extreme lightness. Does she have prior experience with birdymen/animated balloons/whatever-the-heck-Aly-is-s? Would it have been obvious to anyone who actually saw the jump and was constantly looking for something out-of-the-ordinary? Or was it just a lucky guess?

[chibisoma]

Okay, now Kat's just being a jerk.

Surely she wonders how the heck Aly did that too. She needs to be swatted back into reality or something. -.-

[todd]

It looks as if Annie should have chosen a different way of investigating Alistair (or at least, waited until Kat's back was turned before trying that). Now Kat thinks that Annie's really gone over the edge. Something tells me that Annie's in for a couple of very lonely days now.

[mudmaniac]

I'm sure Kat doesnt really mind Annie picking up boys, just ones that she has a fancy for herself.

[Jarakin]

mudmaniac said:

I'm sure Kat doesnt really mind Annie picking up boys, just ones that she has a fancy for herself.

Good lord not with the punning please.

[todd]

This is certainly the only way that I can imagine Annie picking up a boy.

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here. Whatever the mystery is about Alistair, I doubt that he has any sinister agenda towards Kat (unless he's a very accomplished actor), so I don't think that this will turn into one of those cases where Kat almost comes to a bad end and is tearfully saying to Annie at the close of the chapter, "I should have listened to you from the start" (it's probably too corny for Gunnerkrigg, anyway).

[mrw]

todd said:

It looks as if Annie should have chosen a different way of investigating Alistair (or at least, waited until Kat's back was turned before trying that). Now Kat thinks that Annie's really gone over the edge. Something tells me that Annie's in for a couple of very lonely days now.

Absolutely. I get the feeling Kat is hugely upset over Annie treating Alistair like some sort of object to be analyzed. He's not an object, he's a person (until proven otherwise ). Even worse, he's a person Kat likes.

If Kat thinks about it more, maybe she will start to wonder if Annie would happily dissect her to see why she's so smart!

It's curious and perhaps telling that Annie does not think to simply ask Aly about his speed and lightness.

I think Kat will get over it, but it will take time and Annie apologizing. Seriously apologizing.
In the mean time, Annie's learning a hard lesson. I really feel bad for her - she didn't mean any harm, but forgot to think about the consequences of her actions. Again.

todd said:

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here. Whatever the mystery is about Alistair, I doubt that he has any sinister agenda towards Kat (unless he's a very accomplished actor), so I don't think that this will turn into one of those cases where Kat almost comes to a bad end and is tearfully saying to Annie at the close of the chapter, "I should have listened to you from the start" (it's probably too corny for Gunnerkrigg, anyway).

Also, as far as I can tell, Annie has never said anything about Alistair anyway. There's nothing for Kat to have listened to.

[todd]

I can't imagine Annie dissecting anybody (at least, unless the person was already dead when she got there), but this is a good point. I almost wonder now if we're starting to, for the first time, get a close look at her flaws. Until now, we've seen her as a calm, brave, kind-hearted, resourceful girl exploring a strange place, or as someone grieving for her mother's passing. Now we're seeing her as someone who gets a little too curious about Alistair's strange qualities and winds up mortifying Kat in the process.

I found myself jokingly wondering whether Kat would at some point shout at Annie, "How would you like it if I went about lifting your boyfriend - if you had one - off the ground in front of you?" - though it's a moot point, since I simply can't imagine Annie with a boyfriend in the first place.

(Mort's the closest that she's got to a boyfriend - though even there, the romantic feelings are all his - and obviously Kat wouldn't be able to grab hold of him. Though she could always rig up some weird sort of vacuum-cleaner that catches ghosts and use it on him. Though I hope that she wouldn't.)

[CoyoteKing]

It seems Annie is more baffled than anything else, at what has just happened. I don't she understands how what she did could be construed as weird/threatening, she just saw a quick, practical and rational experiment. She was even polite to Alistair just before she did it.

Also, Kat seemed to react in a very hostile manner, which is probably due to the fact that she has a crush on Aly, but still.

[boredomman]

That's just messed up, at least she sould've ask him to stand on a weight...and Kat's just getting...let's just say, not the way she usually acts towards Annie...

[neal]

Annie... kind of blows at people. She's the kinda weird, too quiet, awkward kid who doesn't realise they've done something socially wrong until a few days later.


I was that kid until sophomore year of high school. Somehow, I think a lot of us were.

[jercos]

neal said:

Annie... kind of blows at people. She's the kinda weird, too quiet, awkward kid who doesn't realize they've done something socially wrong until a few days later.


I was that kid until sophomore year of high school. Somehow, I think a lot of us were.

Right there with ya... 'cept, being home schooled, I have less people to experience said wrongness with...

[Aspen d'Grey]

As to all of you mentioning people that dont notice the social taboo until 2 days later:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome


I don't really know if Annie could be said to have this, I dont believe that she does. She's just weird.

[nickgoodway]

Could Aly's weight vary with the phases of the moon? There are some folk tales where the waxing and waning has that effect on magical individuals.

[aoeniac]

I don't see why Kat thinks Annie was being rude or something. I mean, Annie even begged his pardon before lifting him off the ground!

I wouldn't mind being hoisted off my feet as long as they said, "pardon me" first!

Haha, but anyway yeah this is probably going to end with everybody having learned a lesson. That is to say, Annie will have learned a little bit about proper social interaction, Kat will have learned about the nature of obsession with boys and its delicate relationship with friends, and Aly will hopefully have learned just what the heck is going on.


Oh and Reynardine will have learned knitting.

[todd]

I don't think that Annie has Asperger's either; her social naivete more likely stems from the kind of upbringing that she's had. Remember, she didn't get to know very many children her own age in the hospital; instead, she spent her time with the Guides. She probably simply isn't used to these kinds of situations.

Incidentally, if Annie ever gets a crush on a boy (though I still doubt that we're likely to see that happen for a long time, if at all), I hope that she'll have learned from this experience enough to: a) make certain that she doesn't inadvertently make Kat feel as if she's being left out and b) not to get *too* intrigued by any paranormal features that he might have (and knowing the way that Annie's life goes, if she ever had a boy-friend, he almost certainly *would* have something "weird" about him).

[Goatmon]

aspengrey said:

As to all of you mentioning people that dont notice the social taboo until 2 days later:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome


I don't really know if Annie could be said to have this, I dont believe that she does. She's just weird.

You beat me to it.

I was diagnosed with it a few years back, and I have a ton of the symptoms. But, I don't think that's really how Annie is. She seems pretty aware of herself and others, which is what AS sufferers tend to lack significantly.

I think in this case Antimony simply let her curiosity get the better of her. Normally she probably wouldn't be so grabby but I Think, unconsciously, she feels a tiny bit threatened by Aly's presence and so she isn't showing as much tact towards him that she does towards other people.