[252] Story Discussion - Dartboard

[ffej]

I do not wish to spoil it for those who have not read yet, but I wanted to make the topic first so I could point out that I totally called this a while back. ;D

Oh, and also:

[cyraptor]

WHAT

I guess I should start posting here huh

Hi Tom!

[mudmaniac]

This is great closure. Now to see what happens next.
At least its a conclusive thing. More cryptic writers would have the figure under the blanket explode in a flash of light, leaving behind Aly's clothes, leaving more unsolved mysteries in the school where someone punched science in the face.

as for reading updates, it is given that people should actually read the day's comic before coming to a forum to talk about it... www.drunkduck.com/Gunnerkrigg_Court/

[todd]

One thing today's page has settled; Tom doesn't change storylines because somebody correctly figured out where the story was going. (And a good thing, too, since he'd then have to come up with a new answer that fitted all the clues and build-up.)

But now we know that the metamorphosis theory was indeed correct, and those people who speculated that he was turning into a bird-man (bird-boy?) were also correct. Though now we'll have to wait another two days to see what Kat's response is.

(As I mentioned a couple of days before, I wonder if there might be some correlation between this moment, with Alistair afraid of Kat seeing him sprouting all those feathers, and Kat earlier trying to put on make-up for him and learning from Annie that she didn't need it.)

The popsicle-stick house that he was building on Tuesday is taking on new significance now. An abandoned house would be a good place for "mythical creatures" (such as bird-people) to hide themselves from the human world (though Aly must have had a lot of contact with it before he came to Gunnerkrigg, given his familiarity with pop culture). Maybe he was making a model of his family's home.

The fact that he's turning into a bird or bird-like creature makes the tower all the more appropriate a place for him to stay, too, beyond just the fact that it's a private, secluded place.

[Riess]

Did anyone mention that Aly looks pretty cool in this new form? Because he does.

[UbiquitousDragon]

todd said:

The popsicle-stick house that he was building on Tuesday is taking on new significance now. An abandoned house would be a good place for "mythical creatures" (such as bird-people) to hide themselves from the human world (though Aly must have had a lot of contact with it before he came to Gunnerkrigg, given his familiarity with pop culture). Maybe he was making a model of his family's home.

The fact that he's turning into a bird or bird-like creature makes the tower all the more appropriate a place for him to stay, too, beyond just the fact that it's a private, secluded place.

When I first saw the house it made me think of fairy tales, like the witches old run down shack. And this page especially makes me think of fairy tales--not only is it in a tower (and Aly is metamorphosing) but if you look in the background of panel 4 there's a swan in the picture. I don't have Hans Christian Anderson's Tales to hand but isn't one called 'The Seven Swans' or something similar

Found it, Six Swans in Grimms' it was the 'Seven Ravens'.

EDIT: Total awesomeness on Aly becoming a bird! That's why he was so light--hollow bones! (Got a bit over excited on the fairy tale theme ...)

[Bobbey]

This still doesn't explain to me why Alistair was keeping himself all bundled up during the week.
Was his feathers growing gradually through the week and he had to cover up some more to make his wings ( and attennas?) less visible to curious eyes? And I don't think birds are cold blodded creatures, so that's crossed out of my list...

But still, I'm happy that this part of the story is finally resolved, now to wait Kat's response to all of this.

[laserpig]

bobbey said:

( and attennas?)

Okay good, I'm not the only one who saw them.

Why would a bird have antennae?

[Yin]

I'm sure that there's at least one bird with antenna-like feathers... I'm positive there is but I can't remember what they're called...

[Madii]

I know some breeds of penguins have a yellow crest on their head which is kind of similar...penguins are birds! I think I know the type of bird you're talking about, Yin, and there are definitely birds with those antenna-like feathers on them.

Edit: Thanks to the wonders of Wikipedia, I found that the Northern Lapwing has a crest quite similar to Alistair's.

[Goatmon]

riess said:

Did anyone mention that Aly looks pretty cool in this new form? Because he does.

Agreed, he looks freaking awesome now. Of course, I have a bird as the main character in a comic of my own, so maybe I'm a little biased. =3

[nickgoodway]

The model house could just be the birdboy equivalent of making a birdhouse in woodwork class, only not too well constructed due to Aly not being used to having hands. It could also be looked on as a dexterity building exercise.
I think Aly's 'antenna' look more like Long Eared Owls' 'ears'.

[Boksha]

But now we still don't know what Aly was doing on the Court for a week.
The emphasis on preventing him from getting hurt is weird as well. Maybe he scars easily during metamorphosis?

[Mezzaphor]

The poor guy looks miserable. Is he embarrassed about Kat seeing him in his current state? Or is the metamorphosis just that uncomfortable (I'm sure being bundled up wouldn't help either)?

Re: the "antennae", I also assumed it's something akin to an owl's "horns".

The big question on my mind: Is that Ali's final form, or will he end up even more birdish? I guess that one will be answered if we see Ali's parents.

[owl]

He's beautiful. Absolutely lovely! O.O

Anyone else see the swan on his wall? That would certainly fit with the fairy-tale story...

Maybe he's like the Swans in Swan Lake! If he gets someone to profess love for him knowing he's a swan, he'll be free!

*nudge nudge* C'mon, Kat, that's your cue... ;D

EDIT: Oh, and hi, guys. Haven't been around much, but I will be more soon! I love this forum! Hello to everyone who has joined while I was gone.

[todd]

One other thing that we'll need an answer for: Why was Aly looking so cautiously at Annie when he first met her and Kat? Is there some connection between her and his family? (Obviously one that Annie isn't aware of.) Or is it something else?

[Yin]

*wildly* Uh... perhaps she's got the right face-shape for a bird-person? Or her eyes are the right shape?

Wait, wrong board.

(Camp, bye all!)

[owl]

Bye, Yin!

Todd - Maybe as a bird-swan-person-thing, Aly can tell that Annie is "special" and was afraid that she could see him as he really was, i.e. a swan-thing?

[0masamune]

okkkkkkkkkkkkay so its a bird.
aaaaaand its a boy >_>

but still

[Myrani]

The hollow bones thing also explains why he had to be careful not to get hurt... those can crush rather easily, and I imagine due to physics stuff with a bunch of terms I can't remember at this present moment, something about mass-to-something-else-ratio, Aly's comparatively larger size would put him at even greater risk for bone-crushing. Also, it makes perfect sense about him gradually donning more and more clothing, as there would have been pinfeathers coming through on his arms as well as like we saw on his face on last Wednesday's comic. And the toque to hide the lengthening antennas, of course. ;D This is so much awesome.

[todd]

owl said:

Todd - Maybe as a bird-swan-person-thing, Aly can tell that Annie is "special" and was afraid that she could see him as he really was, i.e. a swan-thing?

Yes, that is possible; we know that Zimmy was able to detect things about Annie, and maybe so can Alistair.

[Count Casimir]

Questions for speculation: Was he always a boy, and now is when he's turning into a bird? Was he just a boy for a week? Why?

[owl]

He seems like it's not a sudden, unexpected thing, so I'd think that it's happened before, or at least he knew it was going to...perhaps his mysterious "parents" told him, and/or went through this when they were younger?

Perhaps it's a yearly thing? Or maybe it's a curse that follows him, he can stay ahead of it for a week, but then it catches up and takes him over again. He flies far enough away in any direction, and he can escape it again, but always, always it will catch him up.

Well that's pretty grim. Maybe that's why he dosn't know where he's going yet. Just "away".

[Ben²]

He must have been a boy for some time earlier in his life to know so much about pop culture and music and stuff. I agree with the speculation that it's an on-and-off thing. Maybe it has something to do with molting cycles? I dunno, maybe I'm trying to put too many facts into this fairy tale of a boy who can become a bird.

[starkruzr]

I really hope this isn't another storyline where we see someone completely bizarre, they do something completely bizarre, and there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXPLANATION of where they came from or why they are at the school.

[Tom Siddell]

todd said:

One other thing that we'll need an answer for: Why was Aly looking so cautiously at Annie when he first met her and Kat? Is there some connection between her and his family? (Obviously one that Annie isn't aware of.) Or is it something else?

I'm going to put you out of your misery here Todd. He was looking at the door.

[todd]

admin said:

I'm going to put you out of your misery here Todd. He was looking at the door.

Kind of anticlimactic, though now that raises the question of why he was looking sideways at the door.

[Tom Siddell]

Because he was about to walk through it?

[todd]

countcasimir said:

Questions for speculation: Was he always a boy, and now is when he's turning into a bird? Was he just a boy for a week? Why?

I think (though I might be proven wrong in the next few pages) that he started off looking like a boy but was undergoing a transformation into either a bird or a "bird-man" at this stage in his life, probably as something to do with puberty. (He's at the age when puberty would start - and I thought that he looked a bit older and more "teenagerish" than the regular boys in the class like Winsbury and Sullivan's John.)

I'm reminded again of Lovecraft (though the tone of this story differs strongly from his tone). I'd earlier thought that Alistair's increasing amounts of clothes was a bit like Wilbur Whateley in "The Dunwich Horror" - and indeed, it turned out to be for the same reason, to hide his true appearance (though Wilbur looked that way from the start). In another of Lovecraft's stories, "The Shadow over Innsmouth", there's a race of fish-men who mate with the human inhabitants of a fishing village and produce children who start off looking human but gradually change into fish-men themselves. Maybe Alistair's metamorphosis is the same sort of thing.

[Aura]

fish-men who mate with the human inhabitants

*gets bad images*



Thanks a lot, Todd :[