[284] Story Discussion - RAAAAGH!

[Mezzaphor]

countcasimir said:

Why would Rey intervene? If Annie dies, he's free again! Does he really have to protect her? After all, she didn't ORDER him to.

We don't know that. Perhaps the contract of ownership isn't annulled upon Annie's death, so if Annie were to die, Rey would pass to whoever inherits the doll. Or maybe he gets stuck in the doll, under whatever Annie's last orders were, forever.

Besides, Rey leaping to Annie's rescue would be a great way to earn Annie's favor and/or prove that he's not completely evil.

[pudgimelon]

This might be the first time Annie has actually been ANGRY in the entire comic. Can anyone else recall a moment when she lost her cool like this? I can't.

I mean, she actually HIT someone. Even Winsbury couldn't get her to go nuts like that. Sure, she tossed him good, but that was more to prove a point, not out of anger.

Also, I might be the only one to think this, but I don't think Ysengrin is completely out of line. After all, in his eyes, she just committed a pretty major BLASPHEMY, so he's justifiably upset.

That said, if Annie was a bit older and more experienced, she never would have allowed Coyote to maneuver her into that outburst. Somebody might have to pay a heavy cost (their life?) in order to save her from her diplomatic faux pas. She's shown herself to be very mature for her age before, but she's still a child, after all, and the deep political game being played out here may finally show that she's still got a lot to learn.

Coyote may be a pretty funny guy (when he's on your side), but it seems pretty clear that he's NOT on Annie's side. He wants Renardine dead or captured, and he's already put Annie in harm's way twice in order to do it.

First, his minion tossed her off a bridge (to her death without the Tic-Toc's intervention), and now he's probably HOPING that Renardine has feelings for Annie (so that he'll sacrifice himself for her sake).

If Renardine jumps in front of that spike, he DIES, because he can't possess another body without Annie's permission. If he doesn't, then Annie dies and Renardine is released from her bond (in which case, the Court would probably aid Coyote in killing him).

Either way, Coyote is playing a deep game. He's no fool. He saw the symbol on Renardine's forehead and probably guessed what it meant (why else would the Court allow him to roam freely?).

I like Coyote as a character, but he's definitely an Antagonist, not an ally, even though he seems like a pretty easy-going god. He's also a god who just "happens" to have some pretty murderous and evil followers, that says loads about Coyote's real nature.

[Ptollu Vux]

She got angry at the suicide fairies for being careless and suicidal, and she was pretty angry with Robot for shoving her off the bridge if I remember correctly and then Shadow2 for possessing him, before those issues were resolved.

[pudgimelon]

ptolluvux said:

She got angry at the suicide fairies for being careless and suicidal, and she was pretty angry with Robot for shoving her off the bridge if I remember correctly and then Shadow2 for possessing him, before those issues were resolved.

True, she's expressed anger before, but she's never violently expressed it.

She hit Coyote, and that's something I don't think we've seen from Annie before.

Justifiable, to be sure, but a bit out of character for such a cool-headed kid.

Like I said, Coyote is playing her, just as surely as he's playing Ysengrin and Renardine off each other.

Coyote is probably one of the most intelligent characters we've encountered in this story. Of course, he's still a perv, but he's one very shrewd and devious perv!

- Pudgi

[Ptollu Vux]

pudgimelon said:

ptolluvux said:

She got angry at the suicide fairies for being careless and suicidal, and she was pretty angry with Robot for shoving her off the bridge if I remember correctly and then Shadow2 for possessing him, before those issues were resolved.

True, she's expressed anger before, but she's never violently expressed it.

- Pudgi

True, but that's not what you asked. :]

[todd]

In all fairness, how would you expect her to act after Coyote did *that* to her? (Not to mention that it seems to be the first time in the comic that somebody hit on her in that fashion. Coyote's act was all the more tasteless since she can't be over 12. I don't think that diplomatic immunity covers that kind of action - and if it does, it shouldn't.)

I'm not certain that what happened on the bridge was a deliberate murder attempt on Annie so much as an accident (though I'll have to reread the end of Chapter Seven to make certain).

I doubt that this is actually going to have alarming results - at least, not immediately. Since Tom's mentioned that the webcomic still has a long way to go (meaning that this isn't the last chapter), I don't think that anything catastrophic is going to happen - though relations between Gunnerkrigg and Gillitie may be more strained afterwards. Certainly I don't think that Annie is going to get killed, unless :a. she is to be somehow restored to life, b. she spends the rest of the webcomic as a ghost roaming the school, or c. someone else - say, Kat - becomes the new protagonist/narrator, and none of those three options seems at all probable.

[Mezzaphor]

todd said:

In all fairness, how would you expect her to act after Coyote did *that* to her? (Not to mention that it seems to be the first time in the comic that somebody hit on her in that fashion. Coyote's act was all the more tasteless since she can't be over 12. I don't think that diplomatic immunity covers that kind of action - and if it does, it shouldn't.)

Yeah, if Coyote's not going to act in a respectful manner, then he doesn't deserve respect. Ysengrin would disagree, of course, but he's out of his mind.

I doubt that this is actually going to have alarming results - at least, not immediately. Since Tom's mentioned that the webcomic still has a long way to go (meaning that this isn't the last chapter), I don't think that anything catastrophic is going to happen - though relations between Gunnerkrigg and Gillitie may be more strained afterwards. Certainly I don't think that Annie is going to get killed, unless :a. she is to be somehow restored to life, b. she spends the rest of the webcomic as a ghost roaming the school, or c. someone else - say, Kat - becomes the new protagonist/narrator, and none of those three options seems at all probable.

I agree that it's highly unlikely that Annie's going to die, but I also think it's unlikely she'll come out completely unscathed. If chapter 8 were to begin with Annie waking up in the infirmary, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. On the other hand, maybe the "injury" will just be psychological.

[todd]

mezzaphor said:

I agree that it's highly unlikely that Annie's going to die, but I also think it's unlikely she'll come out completely unscathed. If chapter 8 were to begin with Annie waking up in the infirmary, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. On the other hand, maybe the "injury" will just be psychological.

Good points, except that the next chapter is going to be Chapter Fifteen.

One further thought about the events leading up to the negotiations.

Both Annie and Ysengrin have sent Robot across the bridge with a shadow-man accompanying him. However, the manner in which they have done so reveals a lot about their differing natures.

Annie sends Robot on his mission in order to help Shadow2 get home and rejoin his family. She tells him that afterwards he is free to go wherever he chooses, giving him his freedom (as Robot himself states at the end of Chapter Twelve).

Ysengrin sends Robot on his mission to kidnap Reynardine and take him back to the forest against his wishes. Furthermore, he does so by having the shadow-man who accompanies Robot on that mission possessing him (the wooden arm obviously helps here), denying Robot his freedom.

I think that this tells us a lot about the difference between these two characters.

[Mezzaphor]

todd said:

mezzaphor said:

I agree that it's highly unlikely that Annie's going to die, but I also think it's unlikely she'll come out completely unscathed. If chapter 8 were to begin with Annie waking up in the infirmary, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. On the other hand, maybe the "injury" will just be psychological.

Good points, except that the next chapter is going to be Chapter Fifteen.

Brain fart: I got really caught up in the parallels between this chapter and chapter 7. ;D (The ch7 parallels are pretty much my only reason for thinking that Annie's going to be injured.)

EDIT: Good catch on the two trips across the bridge. One nitpick: Reynardine accused Coyote of being behind the kidnapping attempt, and Coyote never denied it.

Actually, now that I look at it again, Rey is speaking to Coyote, but his line "I didn't appreciate your attempt at stealing me away on the bridge, either," could be referring to both Coyote and Ysengrin.

[neal]

ptolluvux said:

[todd]

Incidentally, I think that the rest of the school (and especially Annie's male classmates) should be informed of Annie's response to Coyote's sticking his nose up her skirt, so that they'll be aware that she doesn't put up with that kind of behavior. It could save a lot of trouble later on, once the boys in her class hit puberty (though maybe Annie will be fortunate enough that the boys more inclined towards that kind of behavior might consider her too weird to hit on, and leave her alone anyway).

[papaya]

Wouldn't that be a great thing to bring up before a first date? "Just so you know, if you try anything inappropriate, I will put you in the emergency room. Oh, what pretty flowers."

Annie is a woman after my own heart.