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Post by Mezzaphor on Sept 12, 2007 5:04:24 GMT
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Ed130
Junior Member
Courage And Duty
Posts: 68
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Post by Ed130 on Sept 12, 2007 5:17:57 GMT
The different possible meanings of the image are endless.
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neal
Full Member
Posts: 166
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Post by neal on Sept 12, 2007 5:20:11 GMT
Gah! The symbolism! SYMBOLISM OVERLOAD!
But other than that, very pretty. Very neat. Can't wait to see what happens next.
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Post by Count Casimir on Sept 12, 2007 5:37:27 GMT
Wow. I see Ysengrin sans tree arms, shadow people, a hammer with bismuth power, a torch, sword girl, the lights, a sword, several symbols we've seen before and one we haven't (just above Kat. Anybody?), sun/moon images, Rey and Coyote, Kat and Annie, Aly and a TicToc, a rocket ship, and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Also, Kat is wearing the suit that the various faculty were wearing, and Annie's dress is one we haven't seen.
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Post by papaya on Sept 12, 2007 6:00:54 GMT
I looked at the alchemy site for the symbol above Kat...I got nothin'. Possibly it's not a symbol of an element at all... could it be a symbol for something else in nature? Maybe something connected to the Court or technology, since that seems to be the side Kat is representing. Electricity? It's kind of squiggly, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to try and identify it with lightning. I'll have to go back to the charts of symbols, and see if it could be an altered version of one of the symbols we know, or two symbols together.
It's interesting how, once again, we see Kat and Annie portrayed as representing two opposites. Maybe as they grow up, they will come to represent opposing 'forces,' with their friendship becoming a force for balance.
@count Casimir: Holy Hand Grenade?
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Hazel
Junior Member
Posts: 76 
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Post by Hazel on Sept 12, 2007 6:34:22 GMT
@count Casimir: Holy Hand Grenade? It's right there in the middle. ;D The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, as featured in Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. Try the Wiki article if you're not familiar. |
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Post by Uglyhead on Sept 12, 2007 6:38:06 GMT
Probably not the hand grenade, but rather an outline of the sort of relic/regalia the hand grenade was parodying. You can see kings and emperors holding them in old paintings. A symbol of authority, I suppose.
Oh, and the squiggle above Kat's head rather reminds me of a bit of wiring on a circuit board or something, but that's just me.
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Post by mrw on Sept 12, 2007 6:54:36 GMT
Very nice and tantalizing treatise here.
This whole past chapter has been absolutely fantastic.
The "wind-down" with Annie and Kat at the tail-end of chapter was a great way to bring it to close. Excellently done!
(...vanishes into the mists again...)
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Post by fjodor on Sept 12, 2007 7:20:30 GMT
I agree: best chapter up to now. The 'hand grenade' looks like a globus cruciger, or royal apple, that symbolises a king or queen holding the world in his/her hand. Cross added for Christianity. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_cruciger |
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chibisoma
New Member
Banned - Rule 1
Posts: 49
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Post by chibisoma on Sept 12, 2007 7:51:41 GMT
Let's not forget the fact that Annie isn't wearing her makeup there.
Also, *waves little Kat/Annie flag* This picture is adorable in that regard.
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Post by UbiquitousDragon on Sept 12, 2007 9:27:26 GMT
I looked at the alchemy site for the symbol above Kat...I got nothin'. Possibly it's not a symbol of an element at all... could it be a symbol for something else in nature? Maybe something connected to the Court or technology, since that seems to be the side Kat is representing. Electricity? It's kind of squiggly, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to try and identify it with lightning. I'll have to go back to the charts of symbols, and see if it could be an altered version of one of the symbols we know, or two symbols together. It's interesting how, once again, we see Kat and Annie portrayed as representing two opposites. Maybe as they grow up, they will come to represent opposing 'forces,' with their friendship becoming a force for balance. @count Casimir: Holy Hand Grenade? It *could* be a circuitry symbol, from what I remember of my GCSE Physics. Though I can't tell you what it is without research ... A beautiful page. But I completely agree with neal, SYMBOLISM OVERLOAD ;D |
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Post by todd on Sept 12, 2007 10:28:02 GMT
Perhaps my favorite part of the Treatise is the way that it shows Kat (who, judging from her surroundings, is here connected to the school and its forces of technology) and Annie (who here evidently is linked to the forest and its forces of nature) as holding hands in friendship, in dramatic contrast to the hostility that exists between Gunnerkrigg and Gillitie. Perhaps this is a sign that, in the end, there can be peace between these two places (let us hope).
One other thought. Nearly all the cast members whom we see in the background (Ysengrin in his - presumably - original form, Ghost Girl, Reynardine in his white wolf form, Coyote, and the Tic-Toc Bird) are either recurring characters (Reynardine and the Tic-Toc) or set up in such a way that we can expect them to return and continue to play a major role in the story (Ghost Girl, Ysengrin, Coyote). The one exception of note is Alistair, who appears here in his bird form but has only shown up in one chapter. Is this a hint that he may appear in later stories? We know that Kat will never see him again, but that doesn't mean that Annie will never see him again. It's not impossible that, if our heroine ever ventures into Gillitie Wood (maybe finally succumbing to the temptation to find out what Coyote has to say), she might see Aly at some point - though if so, that means that Kat won't be with her at the time.
Or maybe Tom just needed another bird-character to set opposite the Tic-Toc for symmetry.
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Post by Yin on Sept 12, 2007 12:50:32 GMT
Ha! I *like*. Personally, to me it sort of shows the difference between the Court and the Forest. Odd that the Tictoc is on the Forest side, though.
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Post by spritznar on Sept 12, 2007 16:28:09 GMT
actually, if you think about it the tictoc is also on annie's side of the picture, and aly on kat's side. if you think about it like that it makes more sense than the birds being reversed in respects to the court and forest.
also, i just noticed that patch of lights they're standing in isn't randomly placed, they're in the middle of the bridge. o.O; they're giants, run!
edit: i forgot to mention, the symbol above kat kinda reminds me of a nose and open mouth in profile. it's probably not but that might sort of make sense with the court and technology and the spoken word or something. (wildly speculating here)
ok, i think i'm done for now
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Post by UbiquitousDragon on Sept 12, 2007 16:49:06 GMT
Hm, well I couldn't find anything that matched the symbol above Kat, though in truth I could've probably looked harder. What did strike me looking at the treatise again was that the Coyote and Rey's positioning and colour make them look very much like the yin-yang sign. And I don't like the way the Girl With Sword is stood between the Kat and Annie, albeit at a distance but all the same ... Also, GWS's sword on the GC side reinforces that she was on that side and so it perhaps connected to GC itself  (More thoughts later) |
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Post by Monkey Roids on Sept 12, 2007 17:42:22 GMT
Oh aye, can't wait to see more of Coyote, he's an interesting character for sure  |
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Post by popo on Sept 12, 2007 22:57:23 GMT
Does that sword belong to the woman from the Annan waters, or Eglamore?
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Post by papaya on Sept 13, 2007 0:28:54 GMT
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Post by ekhornbeck on Sept 13, 2007 20:08:31 GMT
No one has commented about the rocket flying up (and away) from the Court on the far left?
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rawshark
New Member
The Anti-Tom!
Posts: 10
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Post by rawshark on Sept 13, 2007 20:23:52 GMT
To me, the image (and its a beaut by the way, Tom), is more a reflection of things that happened in Book 2.
Though I'm certain many of the elements will re-appear in future books.
With that in mind, the rocket is probably just a "nod" to the "Moon" story (remember they did take a rocket ship to the secret moon-base on the moon.
As for all the symbols, try as I may I can hardly define a handful.
Perhaps the symbol above Kat is, like Spritznar was saying, a profile of a mouth and nose... hence refering to Kat's "Big Nose"... just kidding.
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Post by todd on Sept 13, 2007 22:58:29 GMT
To me, the image (and its a beaut by the way, Tom), is more a reflection of things that happened in Book 2. Though I'm certain many of the elements will re-appear in future books. With that in mind, the rocket is probably just a "nod" to the "Moon" story (remember they did take a rocket ship to the secret moon-base on the moon. I think that it's probably a summary of events between Chapters 8 and 14 as well, though I think that most of the elements are going to come back. The one possible exception among the characters shown is Alistair - Annie said that Kat would never see him again - but (as I mentioned before) that doesn't mean that Annie won't meet him again. I don't know if Dr. Disaster will return; probably if Tom decides to do another "change-of-pace" story that's really a parody using Gunnerkrigg characters. But of course, since the students' "adventures" in that story were only a live-action role-playing exercise with nothing genuinely at stake, there'd need to be something more; we had Annie's learning to be less stuffy about the adventure in that chapter, but I think that Tom would need something else for a future such story. |
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Post by fjodor on Sept 14, 2007 18:32:53 GMT
Could the symbol over Kat's head be a star constellation? There are no references to horoscopes as far as I can recall, but there's no reason that this will not happen in future chapters. And it could be a link to the rocket ship.
And native speakers please help me out: what is the meaning of 'treatise'? I googled for it but got too many different definitions.
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Post by Yin on Sept 14, 2007 20:57:43 GMT
I didn't know either, so I checked dictionary.com and came up with either:
A systematic, usually extensive written discourse on a subject.
or
[Obsolete] A tale or narrative.
Personally I think the latter is the intended meaning.
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aijuan
Junior Member
Posts: 92 
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Post by aijuan on Nov 2, 2007 19:29:33 GMT
Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I have to say this for no-one has yet pointed it out. The first treatise and the second one. Striking similarity. And is it just me or does it look like Kat and Annie would be getting married? Kat looks so tomboyish. |
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my2k
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by my2k on Nov 2, 2007 20:11:45 GMT
Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I have to say this for no-one has yet pointed it out. The first treatise and the second one. Striking similarity. And is it just me or does it look like Kat and Annie would be getting married? Kat looks so tomboyish. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar  |
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Post by venndiagram on Nov 3, 2007 1:49:43 GMT
Forgive me if this is old news, but I just got to the forum and I am pretty excited about untangling symbolism. I looked up some alchemical signs on this site: www.iridius.info/current/info/ , and I found that the central horned-circle-cross in both of the treatises is mercury, the up/down triangles are fire and earth, respectively, the circle-dot in the second is the sun, the horned circle in the second is rocksalt, and the symbol on Eglamore's demon-fighting gear is lead. However, I, like those before me, couldn't find Kat's, and I also couldn't find the symbol Reynardine had on his spirit-forehead when he went into the stuffed wolf. Reynardine's was similar to several symbols, but I think that's more because alchemical symbols are similar than because they are related to him. |
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Post by Yin on Nov 3, 2007 2:17:08 GMT
There is an Alchemy thread, dear =)
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Post by AluK on Nov 3, 2007 2:17:28 GMT
Reynardine's symbol is another form of the mercury symbol. It fits his fiery, mutating form, if you ask me. We've got an alchemy/symbology thread running, if you're interested. Besides that, welcome to the boards. |
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Post by venndiagram on Nov 3, 2007 2:29:07 GMT
Oh, no! I'm sorry! Well, the first ten posts are for embarrassing yourself.
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aijuan
Junior Member
Posts: 92
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Post by aijuan on Nov 3, 2007 7:29:16 GMT
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar Whaddya mean? |
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(More thoughts later)
