[196] Story Discussion

[rastarogue]

We all seem to agree that the Tic-Tocs are a non-sentient surveillence system. We can't seem to agree on whether or not they are evil.
The only basis we have for thinking that they are evil is that Zimmy seems to think that they are, but I don't really trust Zimmy's senses in this area. They havent done anything to hurt anybody (that we know of).
However if you look at what they have done to be labeled good, they did save Annie.
So I would guess that they are good.

[xux]

Well, the alarm could be related to a few things.

It could be triggered by Mr. Eglamore as a sort of warning that a large man is coming with a large sword to save your life so you should just duck and cover until he's done.

Or they could be a monitor of dark energies. The alarm goes off when Robot grabs Reynardine and Shadow 3 gets all angry. So maybe there was a surge in dark energy from Shadow 3 or the arm when that happened. This could also explain why Zimmy is sensitive to them and maybe the alarm'll sound again when the storm hits and whatever's going to happen happens.

[ethyl]

xux said:

Or they could be a monitor of dark energies. The alarm goes off when Robot grabs Reynardine and Shadow 3 gets all angry. So maybe there was a surge in dark energy from Shadow 3 or the arm when that happened. This could also explain why Zimmy is sensitive to them and maybe the alarm'll sound again when the storm hits and whatever's going to happen happens.

That makes a lot of sense to me, thanks.

I wonder why the bird actually flew away, a stick's hardly gunna hurt a robot unless it wants to hide it's identity as such

[La Poire]

A stick probably wouldn't hurt a robot much, but it could knock it out of balance.

Or maybe the Tocs, like Reynardine, are afraid of anything Zimmy has touched.

[xux]

Judging by the "clatter!" sound effect, I'd say she did hit the Thousand Eyes...It then flew away for whatever reason.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Tic-Toc + Stick, Maybe it just got annoyed.

Anywase, I think that the alarm was a 'STUDENT OUT OF BOUNDS' alarm, as it went of exactly when Annie's foot stepped over, not when Robot & EvilShadow stepped onto the bridge. The Tic-Tocs might have told Eglamore that they were there, however, and so when the alarm went off he brought the sword too.

[ethyl]

if you look on chapter 7 page 31, the tic toc gives off an unusual Beeeeeee sound, which I thought was probably another type of alarm as it doesn't usually make that noise Aspen though I do agree that the out of bounds alarm dragged poor ol' Eggy out

[E!]

Well there's got to be more to them than the panoptic style-vision, I mean they <i>tick</i>. Like a count down. I agree with others here, they aren't evil... I said 'demonic,' I didn't say evil demons. This is a place where death and monsters can be your friend. It's all shades of grey... or rather, lavender.

[xux]

Aspen d'Grey, I was talking about the "Beeeeee" alarm that the Thousand Eyes apparently makes not the "WEEEOOOOOO" alarm.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Ooh, I was talking about the alarm in [113], and now that I read your post over again, it makes more sense... Before I was kinda going 'hu-wah?' because I didn't remember that it had gone off there. A comic number woulda been useful.

As for THAT alarm, yeah, I'll agree that the Tic-Toc was warning Annie, as Reynardine was trying to do. Reading through the comics I realize that Reynardine had been forbidden from talking, and I assume that while his interests may have been selfish, he didn't really want Antimony to let this thing get him. (Thus the pulling 'n' stuff.)

Dang, I've read those comics at least 10 times, and this is the first I noticed the Tic-Toc alarm. x.x

[mrw]

I had totally forgotten about the alarm when Annie stepped onto the bridge. Thanks Aspen!

[alexthegreater]

The birds are just robots. they are called the thousand eyes because there are a thousand of them*. Zimmy just hates being watched.

Thats what i got out of it.

But then again i didn't think there was anything strange about zimmy and gamma when I first saw them.





*or mabey 500 (2 eyes per bird)

[missushow]

I wonder /why/ Zimmy is so paranoid...? Could it have to do with the men in the black suits?

I mean, it seems liek ti's a probability...since it happened in her childhood and stuff.

[rastarogue]

I think she's more paranoid because she grew up with random things popping up and attacking her.

[owl]

I think that the Thousand Eyes have a brain behind them...and something tells me it's not Mr. Eglamore. Perhaps an as-yet-unseen principle, leader of the MIB?

Also, as has been said, I'd like to see Reynardine's reactions to this. His connection with eyes...what would happen if he tried to possess the Tic Toc? Would he just be stuck, like he is in Annie's puppet, or would something weirder happen? It might be kind of neat to have Tic Toc foxes instead of Tic Toc birds...

Wait, nevermind, no it wouldn't. Reynardine is EVIL, remember? *smacks forehead*

For that matter, I know it's been asked before, but what WOULD happen with Reynardine/Zimmy, considering she doesn't really have any eyes?

[ethyl]

The toy doesn't really have eyes either, just bits of cloth. I don't think he'd be able to possess Zimmy though but not because her lovely sockets. I just don't think he'd be able to touch her full stop.

[Uglyhead]

Besides, even if Rey did -somehow- take over Zimmy, he may run the risk of inheriting her... condition, by inhabiting her body. With the things coming out of the walls and all. That's the sort of thing that would make a body-snatcher think twice.

[todd]

One side-thought. Now, this is all the more speculation because we don't even know whether this story will close Book Two or not, but the re-emerging slash on Annie's cheek would make it an appropriate ending for Book Two if it was.

It's been said that one of the marks of good storytelling is to end the story with certain echoes of the beginning (and the same goes with the divisions in the story). Book One ended with Chapter Seven, and this one contains strong echoes of Chapter One: Robot returns with what appears to be Shadow2 (though it turns out that it isn't), crossing back over the bridge to Gunnerkrigg Court - and this time, Annie, who had been so scrupulous about obeying school rules in Chapter One, ignores them to rush out and meet them.

Book Two would begin with Chapter Eight, where Annie meets the ghost girl and gets that slash. If the current chapter ends Book Two, then that would make the re-appearing cut an echo of Chapter Eight in the same way that Robot's return in Chapter Seven was an echo of Chapter One.

But if it turns out that there are a couple more chapters to go before "Book Two" ends, then please ignore this speculation.

[feralkiwi]

ethyl said:

I wonder if Annie looked in a mirror she'd see it? She obviously can't feel it and didn't feel it when she recieved it (though knew she had it) because she checked her face to see if it was there.

It also seems that the Tictocs have their own alarm system, as soon as Annie was about to fall into danger it let off a Beeeeeee noise, which I find quite a weird noise for a none sentient being to make without being programmed.

the tic tocs are definitely weird. Other than the argus myth that someone mentioned previously (though argus wasn't turned into a peacock, his eyes were placed as a memorial to him on the tail of one), there are a couple of slavic and indian gods with a thousand eyes that represent (respectively) ominpotence and control the atmosphere. I like the idea of the "birds" as a security system for the school, though. It doesn't quite explain why they have such a creepy vibe though...

EDIT: there's also a famous poem, "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" which may or may not be relevant.

Francis William Bourdillon (b. 1852)

THE NIGHT has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Reynardine calls Zimmy a demon, and his obvious hatred (maybe even fear) of her in comic [80]. I doubt he'd posess her even if he could, and he says that he can't touch anything that she's made. On another note, that comic is the most surprised I think that we've ever seen Antimony, and Zimmy's real name is Zeta. (Oh, hey, the name is in the Cast page too. x.x)

Looking back at that chapter, it seems that Zimmy's dialouge and accent has changed somewhat between then and now. Either she was putting it on before or she's changed somewhat. She certainly seems a lot more vulnerable now.

[penitent]

I only check in to see the latest update and the way the panels seem to happen in a disjointed time order leaves me confused. I hope the comic starts appearing in.. chronoligical order from now onwards.

I never miss an update, I'm just too casual to bother going back and working out what happened where

[rastarogue]

Zimmy has definetly changed, from the annoying don't touch me Zimmy, to the kinda cool zimmy with tons of problems.

[amelie]

Yes, it's nice that she didn't end up as a Draco Malfoy sort of character.

[rastarogue]

I don't think that the stick hit the tic-toc, from where the clatter was written, I think it hit the wall and the tic-toc flew away to a place where it could be observed without being interrupted.

[owl]

I don't think Zimmy herself has changed, I think it's that the characters (and the readers, through the characters) have gotten to know her better. I think if someone she doesn't know approaches her, she'd still seem to be the "annoying-don't-touch-me" Zimmy.

[E!]

Maybe she hurt the tic-toc's feelings and it went away to cry.

Or maybe it went to get reinforcements.

[xux]

Where'd Kat go?

[owl]

Class, maybe? Or to get help from someone?

[Aspen d'Grey]

Meh, lookign at both comics featuring stick + Tic-Toc, I'm goign to say that it got hit. He moved the sound effect down so that he could draw uber-cool robot bird in greater detail.

[mrw]

owl said:

I don't think Zimmy herself has changed, I think it's that the characters (and the readers, through the characters) have gotten to know her better. I think if someone she doesn't know approaches her, she'd still seem to be the "annoying-don't-touch-me" Zimmy.

I agree. In addition, I think she has recognized that Antimony is not a threat to her or Gamma. (She may have had a lot of negative experiences with more "normal" people like Kat due to her odd appearance and behavior. Certainly "normal" people are likely to have stared at her.)

Kat probably left after leaving the blankets for Gamma. She clearly doesn't like Zimmy, so why should she hang around for hours while Gamma sleeps?