[294] Story Discussion - And so did I wait

[Mezzaphor]

Oh.

[Count Casimir]

I was expecting some sort of make-up-less revelation. Maybe the Antimony symbol tattooed on her eyelids; I dunno. Oh well. This is a good end to both the year and the chapter; only time will tell what comes next!

[my2k]

Oh my.

Time skip, here we go.

[Ed130]

End of another chapter.

The last panel is quite interesting

[mudmaniac]

That last panel is both heartwarming and scary at the same time.

I would very much like a wallpaper featuring that scene.

[neal]

Oh... Poor baby... My heart goes out to Annie so much right there, it hurts...

[ceezedby]

Oh, that's so sweet and sad and lovely and ominous.

Annie finally feels ready to face the world as... herself? We've never seen Surma's face as an adult. Did she wear make-up (maybe to disguise some disfigurement from a Court-Gillitie clash that neccessitated her exile into the outside world - inquiring minds demand answers dammit!), so that became Annie's way of staying connected to her? But recent revelations suggest it's time for her to let go of her mother's memory and find out about the Surma everybody else knows?

Or did Annie use make-up as an emotional shield against all the pain and hurt and loss in her life? And removing it now means she is ready to brave what comes?

Or maybe she's just getting ready for bed?

[Riess]

Beautiful page all around.

[todd]

I was startled by the specific revelation as to how long it would be before Anthony finally returns (or at least, sends a message to Annie). I hope, though, that the webcomic won't "fast-forward" to that moment. For one thing, I find it very unlikely that nothing of note would happen at Gunnerkrigg for the next two years. (I'm still curious whether Chapter Fifteen will take place during the summer or at the start of Annie's Year 8; at least we won't have long to find out.)

I think that Annie is just removing her make-up before bed, as usual. I'd like to know why she wears it, though - particularly in light of her remark to Kat that she (Kat) doesn't need it, prompting the question from Kat as to why Annie uses it.

Nice to see that Reynardine is being obliging enough to let Annie use him for a pillow (and it makes a lovely picture).

[Yin]

Do we have a contender for Most Independent Child or Most Negligent Parent here?

[UbiquitousDragon]

countcasimir said:

I was expecting some sort of make-up-less revelation. Maybe the Antimony symbol tattooed on her eyelids; I dunno. Oh well. This is a good end to both the year and the chapter; only time will tell what comes next!

We've seen Annie without make-up before, off the top of my head in Chapter 3 when she goes to see what smashed in the ceiling, from here. (One of my favourite chapters, y'see )

All I can say about this page is poor Annie. I just want to give her a hug!

[tangerinekiss]

So does she not hear from her father for an additional two years, or another year plus this year that she was already at GC?

[Monkey Roids]

Dawww, ain't Reynardine just a big fluffy doggie?

Just think how amazingly disturbing that'd look if he was still in that smaller toy-form.

[La Poire]

todd said:

Nice to see that Reynardine is being obliging enough to let Annie use him for a pillow (and it makes a lovely picture).

I find it pretty amusing that Reynardine has gone from Big Mysterious Killer Demon to the Family Dog.

I'm pretty sure there won't be a timeskip, at least not one bigger than till the end of the holidays. I seem to recall Tom speaking indirectly of "next year", so I assume we will see it.

[todd]

ubiquitousdragon said:

All I can say about this page is poor Annie. I just want to give her a hug!

So do I, though I'd ask first to be rejuvenated to the age of 12, so that if there were any bystanders about, they wouldn't get the wrong idea.

I'm still intrigued that Tom specifically tells us that Annie won't hear from her father for at least another two years. Giving away the ending has been known in fiction before, even in early times - in the Iliad, for example, Homer has Zeus reveal a couple of times how the story's going to end with Hector killing Patroclus and Achilles killing Hector, and the Chorus at the start of "Romeo and Juliet" reveals that Romeo and Juliet are going to wind up committing suicide - but that's generally in cases where it's based on a familiar story, not a new one.

I wonder if the stories that Tom will be telling about Annie's next two years at Gunnerkrigg simply won't involve Anthony at all, and that he wants to make certain that we won't mistakenly expect him to show up in a way that might distract us from the things that *will* be taking place in them.

Hmm... Annie will be at least fourteen when Anthony finally does show up, and maybe even older. I hope that he's not in for a big adolescent storm when he arrives - except that, knowing Annie, she'll be more likely greeting him in an overly stiff and polite fashion (the kind of treatment that she gives Muut and Eglamore) rather than screaming at him for deserting her.

[Mezzaphor]

ubiquitousdragon said:

countcasimir said:

I was expecting some sort of make-up-less revelation. Maybe the Antimony symbol tattooed on her eyelids; I dunno. Oh well. This is a good end to both the year and the chapter; only time will tell what comes next!

We've seen Annie without make-up before, off the top of my head in Chapter 3 when she goes to see what smashed in the ceiling, from here. (One of my favourite chapters, y'see )

Also chapter 8. The makeup came off in the Annan, and she lost that hair clip.

And ever since reading about the original uses of surma, I've had suspicions about Annie's real reason for the makeup...

EDIT: Also, I'm guessing Wednesday's update is going to be another Treatise (like chapter 7's bonus page), so I'm really looking forward to seeing that. Which reminds me, the ch7 Treatise also had Annie sans makeup.

This unfortunately means Friday will be the chapter 15 title page. Crud.

[Hazel]

mezzaphor said:

Also, I'm guessing Wednesday's update is going to be another Treatise (like chapter 7's bonus page), so I'm really looking forward to seeing that. Which reminds me, the ch7 Treatise also had Annie sans makeup.

Might it perhaps feature Rey and Coyote? I'd like to see something along those lines.

[ceezedby]

Annie without make-up isn't new, as has been observed. What's interesting is seeing her in the act of *removing* her make-up. We already know she's studying the photograph in her bunkbed, alone in the Court, at the end of school, contemplating things. We can assume she doesn't wear make-up to sleep. Why do we need to see this?

If Tom needed to drag the chapter out by another couple of panels, he could have shown us close-ups of the photograph, the blinkstone, Reynardine being all inscrutable... anything at all. He chose to show us Annie taking off her make-up.

Who knows why a writer does anything?

For me, it's an Annie Grows Up A Little Bit More moment. And it's beautiful. And the mirror shot particularly echoes imagery we've seen before (like that mirror face thing in Eglamore's office), makes us wonder how else Annie might resemble Surma, and plays on the duality that underscores everything in this story - like the relationship between the Court and the Wood, between magic and technology, between mortals and the divine.

[loxi]

I just can't wait for the storry to continue!
This must be one of the best online comics I've read.

Hope the storry will unfold itself a biit more from now on!