[1202] Yea.. Ok

Hi everyone *waves tentatively* First time poster, long time reader here.

So, I finally broke down and registered an account here because, while I usually absolutely adore this comic and its various twists and turns, this is the first time it has left me staring at my screen in utter confusion. Because I thought for sure she was going to turn Paz down. Yes, I know there've been a lot of recent scenes showing Kat supposedly struggling with her sexuality...but I honestly assumed she was struggling because she was upset that people were supposedly mistaking her for gay, not because she actually was gay.

I mean, Kat in the past has been shown to rather enthusiastically like boys. She liked Alistair, she had a crush on Eglamore, she went gaga over the idea of Muut (and then got all adorably shy in his presence), she seemed interested in Kamlen when Annie told her about him, I seem to remember Tom saying something about her having a "top ten list of boys," she collects action figures of male characters who are popular with the ladies in their respective fandoms, etc.

Of course, this could all be an act, or her trying to convince herself she liked boys, but I've never seen any hints about that in the story, nor have I seen any hints that she was attracted to girls. To me this all seemed to come out of nowhere. Paz confuses her attempt to cheer her up as a come-on, and that suddenly make Kat start questioning her sexuality? And decide that yes she is gay (or bi?) I mean, I've been mistaken for gay before, and it didn't make me wonder if I was gay...it made me uncomfortable sure, because I realized I'd been accidentally sending a message I didn't know I was sending, but someone else thinking I'm gay didn't make me think I was, or even might be. It just made me think "whoops, I had no idea I was sending that message." And that's what seemed to be going on with Kat, in my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with Kat being gay. I mean, I was hoping she wouldn't be, or at least, wouldn't get together with Annie, simply because the "two people of the same gender are close friends...they must be gay!" gets used so darn often in fanfiction (which I'm heavily into) that I'm a bit bored of the trope and would find it refreshing if that wasn't the case here. But if she is, that's fine. It's just that, the way it was handled in this case doesn't feel organic to the character. To me it just seems like a really weird way of having someone realize their sexuality and leaves me scratching my head.

I do apologize if I'm pooping the party here. I'm just really confused and want to talk to someone about it. And who better than fellow fans of the comic?

Party pooper? Hardly! There's already a spirited debate going on about that very subject. Check out the sexuality topic.

Kat's just figuring stuff out, like everybody else her age.

Thanks. And I guess it's more that she's only been shown to be interested in boys until now, when she says yes to a date from another girl that makes it seem jarring.

I guess if there had been some sort of hints that she might be into girls before the scene with Paz in "Faraway Morning," this would seem less weird to me and more in character.

Sooooo.... this is THE Catalyst.... I've theorized that this may be the catalyst of Kat and Annie's falling out or something seeing how Annie is a girl who doesn't really have total control of her emotions. She may feel jealous, she may be ambivalent about Kat's new relationship with Paz, she may spew out flames out of anger like at that one time with Eggers or something. Thus creating a void or rift between Annie and Kat seeing how they are opposites of each other. Anything may happen at this point.

Like a line in Django when Leonardo diCaprio said "First you've caught my curiosity, now you have my attention."

And also, are they lesbians/bisexuals now or is this something similar to BROMANCE (Loving a another bro in the most heterosexual way) because it could be...

*Yay, first time I finished a chapter with to the very last page.(I'm a newcomer)

i put them pretty firmly in the "questioning" bracket.

neither of them seem too sure about their feelings but there's something there and they're willing to try and see where it goes. (that's what dating is for after all)

Eeee!!! So cute!

I swear to God, if anyone in the Gunnerverse gives them some sort of shit for this... they had better watch out. I'm not saying that I've been trying to replicate the machine from MythQuest or anything, but our wrath shall be swift.



EST solidarity! I'm in PA, mate, what part of this great time zone do you hail from?

If it were just Alistair, I'd be inclined to agree with you. Sure, I could see it as "she liked him, and assumed it was puppy love because of their age/inexperience." But like I said, she's been shown to quite loudly and enthusiastically like guys. And I've never seen that same behavior directed toward girls...nor any other type of romantic/sexual feelings/gestures/appreciation.

If she'd developed a crush first, the way you said you did, then her questioning and struggle would definitely make sense. But as it is, it comes across as "I like boys! I like boys! I like boys! Wait...you think I'm gay/bi? Hmmmm.....okay, I guess I am. Let's go out."

I honestly don't know if this is a (very rare) moment of clumsy storytelling from Tom or if everyone is seeing stuff I've missed (a definite possibility, given how I'm the only one who seems to be confused here )

I know what you mean, because there is a lot of evidence that Kat is interested in men in the past, and little evidence that she is interested in women.

But there could be a lot of reasons for this. Well, two; both involve her being bisexual.

1 - She always knew she was interested in girls as well as guys but played up her interest in guys because she thought her interest in girls would make her more of an outcast. She may have been primarily interested in Annie but realized that confessing this would threaten their friendship. She may have been in denial. The fact that there is another girl in her class - Paz - who is interested in girls now (and isn't scary or weird like Zimmy or Gamma) probably makes her feel less afraid to come out.

2 - She has only recently become aware that she is interested in girls as well as guys. This might have to do with the fact that she is growing older and new things are awakening in her. What she finds interesting may change as she develops. Her childhood interest in men might have been more informed by fairy-tales and by watching her parents than by, I don't know, actual sexually motivated feelings. Maybe she was able to suppress her inclinations earlier because they were less strong, because she was still a child.

EDIT: And I agree with Monkmonk, Spritznar, and Americonedream a lot as well.

i think that was a general comment on the forum weather rather than a pointed comment at you in particular

(but i wasn't enturely entirely clear on the meaning either so...)


edit: it's 5:25am and i can no longr type properly. i'm going to bed

I wouldn't be so sure if I were you.

I find her instant acceptance of Paz's proposal as a bit jarring because this is Kat we're talking about... ya know, the girl who was very very enthusiastic about boys (the word enthusiastic doesn't even cut it). Even at the very beginning and later chapters of the comic we see her obsessed wi Eggers, blush at Muut's Jesus bronze abs and even wear makeup for Allistar, the boy she likes... I mean I'm a guy, I don't really know if wearing makeup for a guy at such a young age is a BIG thing or not... But I think so... Probably... I don't know. I don't even know if something like that is even common.

Ladies, would you care to enlighten me?

But still... It's a great twist and if this is the direction we're heading, I'll even love and support the comic even more

This comic never ceases to amaze and intrigue

Okay I just started following Gunnerkrigg Court about three months ago, entirely because I was bored/my usual web-comics weren't updating quickly enough.

After some early awkwardness I decided that I liked it...a lot.

I was content to simply read the updates as they appeared but the most recent finally got me to register.

My response to today's update *ahem*.


SQUEE! OH MY GOD IT'S HAPPENING! YES THE SHIPPERS WERE RIGHT!!!!!

*Ahem* Anyway good show Tom it's thoroughly enjoyable.

Well, that was unexpected, but not unwelcome. It's easy for writers to lay gayngst too thick. I hope that the whole comic doesn't turn into a teen romance drama, but I doubt that it's a serious concern with our talented author at the helm.



What I find rather interesting in hindsight concerning all this is that Kat's interest in men seems to have proportionally decreased as she's progressed into puberty. It was usual for her to drool after (mostly fictional) guys early in the comic, but it's all but vanished in the later chapters. Even the interest in Kamlen was later explained as her wondering whether Annie had been involved with him.

Unfortunately for Paz, though, I suspect that with this development potential for relationship between Annie and Kat has been set in motion. I'm not saying this as a shipper, but rather it's starting to look like thematically logical direction for the story to take. All the Treatises have dealt with the duality between two worldviews in a way that's traditionally done as masculine/feminine-dualism, but with two female characters, instead. With the theme of the comic being borders between different opposites and bridging of gaps between them, it would be a novel perspective.