[256] Story Discussion - ... I will NOT use your..

[Aspen d'Grey]

comment, Tom...

That's just horrible. Dammit. Not. Fair. Kat -deserved- Aly.

[owl]

I....Kat!....

DAMMIT.

(more when alive, awake and not overcome with pity.)

[Aura]

Just posting this for anyone else who was as lost as I was: www.drunkduck.com/Gunnerkrigg_Court/

And now: Uh-oh, poor Aly. Come to think of it, poor Kat! D=

[owl]

Oh My Feudal Goats.......I know I said I'd comment when I wasn't delirious with pity, but something just ocurred to me and I felt it had to be shared:

Aly+Kat=Alykat=Alleycat! O.O They're so perfect, Tom, that their names together MAKE ANOTHER WORD!

Okay, I'm done now. *curls up in the corner*

[neal]

Ohhh, poor baby. Man, isn't that typical. Just when you think you find the perfect guy, he goes and gets turned into a bird by a magical pact his parents made.

...maybe it isn't typical, actually....

[Yin]

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I say thee nay! Aly has has HAS to change back!

...sometime.

...sooner or later...

[todd]

A sad moment - though inevitable. (Aly would have to make the full transformation in order to be able to fly out the window with his mum and dad. At least, I'm not certain that he could have done it in his transitional form. And I doubt that they'd have been able to just carry him out.)

[0masamune]

.....so who likes duck for dinner?

[La Poire]

0masamune said:

.....so who likes duck for dinner?

Mmmmmmmm duck.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Rarg. No.

Sorry for not posting the early update link. x.x

Ok, after sleeping on it... I -still- hate you Tom. Horrible person. I mean, WHY!!!!

[Bobbey]

I wake up this morning, saying to myself "This is it, this is the day that something great will happen for Kat". I open my computer, wait for the never ending computer connection that is about as fast as the speed of smell, which fills me with even more excitment (kinda like going up a roller coaster in the first slope, anxiously waiting for what will happen in the next few seconds)...and then I find this?! I know this was inevitable for Tom, but...Aly...better...change....back...as soon as possible!

Poor Kat, I can feel her pain right now:(

[mrw]

(Gripe: Darn summer semester classes start so early, I can't wait up for the updates anymore. *grumble, mumble, curse, fumble*)

Ohhh, so sad... *whimper*
Aly looks sad too, even as a bird... nice artwork. The first panel is just terrific though.

Can birds cry?

[chibisoma]

*resumes waving tiny Annie/Kat flag* *grumble*

[mrw]

chibisoma said:

*resumes waving tiny Annie/Kat flag* *grumble*

OFFTOPIC
Chibisoma, do you read "In the Puddle?" If not, you should. 'Tis fun.
(Warning - just barely worksafe)
inthepuddle.com
/OFFTOPIC
I really wonder what Annie's next step is going to be. Consoling Kat, probably. But such a mystery! Why become birds and live in that dark, foreboding Gillitie Wood? Why why why why?

[Madii]

/me beats the screen with her fists until the monitor runs red with blood

Nooooooooooooo etc. !

No fair! Totally no fair! DO NOT WANT!

On the plus side, the first panel was just lovely. But still. Aly looks so sad in the last panel. Please, Tom, it's not meant to be like this...

[todd]

Yes, I know it's a sad thing, but if Tom's going to undo the transformation and get Aly back to normal, I hope that it's not going to be for several chapters down the line (and after a lot of hard work for Kat, with Annie helping her out, of course). It'd be a real cop-out to have him reverted just like that so quickly after these touching moments.

[Yin]

I just want some sort of proof that that will happen, todd.

*waves her teensy weensy Kat/Aly flag*

[Myrani]

Am I the only one who liked this outcome?

(cringes to avoid thrown tomatoes)

I sure do feel sad for them both, don't get me wrong. This is quite a tragic moment, which is why I like it so much, the whole what-might-have-been. I'm a sucker for this sort of tragedy.

[Count Casimir]

That's GK Court for ya, kickass storytelling with actual feeling behind it.

[todd]

One thing that interests me is that this whole sad farewell hug is taking place in front of Aly's parents; I wonder what they're thinking about it all. Maybe that when they get to their new home in the forest, it's time to have a long talk with their son about the bir - um, never mind.

[Boksha]

myrani said:

Am I the only one who liked this outcome?

(cringes to avoid thrown tomatoes)

I sure do feel sad for them both, don't get me wrong. This is quite a tragic moment, which is why I like it so much, the whole what-might-have-been. I'm a sucker for this sort of tragedy.

Agreed. I feel having the whole thing turn out well (for Aly and Kat) would've been kind of... cheap, especially considering Aly's been slowly transforming since the beginning of the week, apparently.

todd said:

One thing that interests me is that this whole sad farewell hug is taking place in front of Aly's parents; I wonder what they're thinking about it all. Maybe that when they get to their new home in the forest, it's time to have a long talk with their son about the bir - um, never mind.

Ugh!
Anyhow, I don't think those birds really think a lot, at least not as humans do. In fact, I'd expect having a human brain in a bird body permanently would be quite excruciating.
(edit) I just read the fact that they have bird brains was confirmed by Tom in the Questions thread.

[UbiquitousDragon]

boksha said:

myrani said:

Am I the only one who liked this outcome?

(cringes to avoid thrown tomatoes)

I sure do feel sad for them both, don't get me wrong. This is quite a tragic moment, which is why I like it so much, the whole what-might-have-been. I'm a sucker for this sort of tragedy.

Agreed. I feel having the whole thing turn out well (for Aly and Kat) would've been kind of... cheap, especially considering Aly's been slowly transforming since the beginning of the week, apparently.

I'm not a fan of happy endings. Not that I really like unhappy ones, I just prefer endings to 'They All Lived Happily Ever-After', 'cause no one ever does! I did want happiness for Kat and Aly, but I'm not going to cause a fuss 'cause they didn't ...

Beautiful artwork again this page (and in general, but especially).

[todd]

Tom's mention that Aly and his parents were changed mentally as well as physically into birds makes the situation all the more interesting. Now Kat will be to him just one of those two-legged things that don't have wings and feathers - maybe he'll have some vague fond memories of her, but he won't remember her or think of her the way that she'll recall him. Just when you thought that their parting couldn't get any more tragic (though we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the details of that).

[starkruzr]

They sure are an ugly breed of bird, aren't they?

OK, the next step is finding out how to undo this. GET CRACKIN', KAT. And don't let the bird that used to be Aly anywhere near a window!

[mrw]

edit: From the Questions to Tom thread:

admin said:

They have bird brains. Their change was complete and all that implies.

/edit

todd said:

Tom's mention that Aly and his parents were changed mentally as well as physically into birds makes the situation all the more interesting. Now Kat will be to him just one of those two-legged things that don't have wings and feathers - maybe he'll have some vague fond memories of her, but he won't remember her or think of her the way that she'll recall him. Just when you thought that their parting couldn't get any more tragic (though we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the details of that).

Ok, I wasn't creeped out before, but I am now. Either Aly and his parents didn't know they would lose their brain function, or they willingly chose to lobotomize themselves.



What would make someone choose that? Are these especially smart birds, capable of self-awareness? Or is my opinion of birds too low?

I suppose I could see Zimmy potentially choosing a fate like this, given her history and suffering, but with Aly we have had no indication that this was driven by any sort of desperation.

Bizarre behavior that can be explained by something (like Zimmy and Gamma) is cool.

Bizarre behavior for no reason is not cool. It's just plain icky.

Somebody please make this less icky!

[yeochild]

Hmm. Is it permanent? Why did they change? What's so good about Gillitie anyway? I notice that Aly, even at the last, doesn't seem too unhappy, nervous or angry about his feathery fate . . . what's so great about bird-dom that it makes up for a lack of human comforts? Why did his parents change first, instead of transforming as a family?

So many questions . . . and all the answers I can think of belong in Wild Speculation . . .

[todd]

It's more accurate to say that Aly's parents chose to "lobotomize" themselves; Aly simply got duped into agreeing because he wasn't paying attention. As for why he was so calm about it - maybe he's just resigned to it.

As a side note, do you think that Annie did the right thing in getting Kat to go up to the tower and learn the truth? For my own part, I think that she did. Yes, it's going to be upsetting for her to know that her boy-friend's now a bird, but it's probably better than not knowing what happened to him (particularly given how miserable she was before Annie pulled her off to the tower). Aly got to share with Kat the truth at last, and the two of them had a much more proper good-bye, including the big hug.

(Though I've got to admit that Annie comes across in the latter part of this chapter almost as an unmarried marriage counsellor - the girl who doesn't show any interest in having any romance in her life proceeding to give Kat some very good advice in interacting with Alistair.)

[starkruzr]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this was a revolting thing to do to your child.

Although Alystair certainly seems like a remarkably weak-willed kid.

[todd]

starkruzr said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this was a revolting thing to do to your child.

I found myself reminded of Diane Maza's comment about a somewhat similar situation in the "Mark of the Panther" episode of "Gargoyles": "That's not love, that's selfishness."

[mrw]

(Posted after the next strip went up)
I've got to speculate Aly's not really against the idea, and at the same time he does understand what he's giving up. That's why he's saddened, but not fighting it, and also why his parents are not selfish. I think Kat realizes this, and that's why she's smiling in the last panel of the next strip. She's happy for him and for what they had, however briefly.


...but I'm feeling sad.