[197] - Story discussion

[iMacThere4iAm]

Wow! Amazing perspective there! It looks like a raindrop's view of the world.

And also: Zimmy smiled, yay Zimmy! *dances*

[my2k]

Poor Zimmy needs veneers so badly

[Uglyhead]

Does rain in the UK regularly sizzle upon making contact with human skin, or is this a special case?

[fjodor]

And of course, one new page, ten new questions. "Tsssss"....?

[mudmaniac]

The way the story is going, this webcomics can either go the way of X-files with the mounting questions and unsatisfactory answers that make for more questions, or like Lost, with mounting questions and payoff in the end that justifies the devotion of this fanbase.

But Zimmy and the creepy smile? I know for sure there is one webcomic I will not be missing on Monday.

[Yin]

Maybe it's special rain. Oooo...

[todd]

The thing that really surprised me was the revelation that *that* was what Zimmy had been shouting "Come on!" to: the storm (rather than the Tic-Toc bird or Annie and Gamma).

But it makes sense, in light of Zimmy's earlier impatience for the rain to get there. Now, however, we'll want to learn just what the significance of the rain is to her.

[Yin]

Hey, maybe it makes the THINGS go away too. Like in the previous flashbacks. It wasn't raining then. Okay, maybe I'm guessing a mite too wildly but what the hey.

[mrw]

Well, that explains the poor hygiene...

Oh Zimmy, what's to become of you?

[alexthegreater]

Maby zimmy's hot headed?

[drummk]

Judging from strip 195, I'd guess the rain is going to somehow kill her.

[starkruzr]

When did we first meet Zimmy? Do we have any idea what her origin is, why her eyes look like that, what her relationship is to the other characters, or if any of this is even actually happening and not a dream sequence?

[Aspen d'Grey]

Damn, she is shouting at a storm, and it's none of our wild and crazy ideas.
Bummer.

Sizzle doesn't inspire confidence, but, then again, she's not screaming in pain, so she's either masochistic or it doesn't really hurt. I do not think that Zimmy would willingly kill herself.

And, sorry about not posting this today, i slept through the alarm that was set to go off at 1am... or... I just set the clcok wrong. x.x

[La Poire]

This makes me really curious as to what hides inside Zimmy. Is she really some kind of demon, like Reynardine called her, or is it something else entirely? She's got really weird eyes and teeth, her nightmares are a bit to real, water evaporates on touch and even actual demons fear her. Whatever her science project was even Annie was relatively shocked by it (and remember her science project?) and no-one believed Zimmy's claims it was harmless.

I love Zimmy.

[owl]

So the main question I have is whether it's acid rain or Zimmy's head that's going "Tss." I would guess its Zimmy. Perhaps the rain, like Gamma, calms the white noise in her that causes her nightmares? Maybe it has something to do with heat, and rain the cools her off?

Hmm.

[aoeniac]

My guess is that the rain will burn away all that pastey-grey color on her skin, clean out that greasy-unkempt-scraggly-ness in her hair, and let that coagulated darkness around her eyes drip away.

Temporarily anyway.

[nyanko]

Tom has created yet another amazing sound effect: Crackoom!!

[twilightkat]

uglyhead said:

Does rain in the UK regularly sizzle upon making contact with human skin, or is this a special case?

I think perhaps this is a special case...
I really like Zimmy, she's strange and creepy, and perhaps not entirely human (??).
But I do like the idea that the rain cuts the white noise she's plagued with.

[nickgoodway]

'Crackoom!' as comics thunder is a lot like 'Krakaboom!',which always heralded oncoming disaster in the 'Mr Monster', the good Doctor would be very interested by the goings on at GC

[eggie]

Well...I know I don't get it.
I love it, though.

[Mobius Soul]

My first impulse is to say that GC isn't really about concrete explanations for things, and this probably won't be very clear. On the other hand, it's not Dresden Codak--there are some explanations, some idea of the hows and whys of things. The complete lack of explanation (or indeed questions at all, from anyone) about Zimmy's clear and obvious weirdness makes me think not much is likely to be revealed here, but I could be wrong. However...

drummk said:

Judging from strip 195, I'd guess the rain is going to somehow kill her.

...I think this and all the similar comments are probably wrong. Gamma's way too happy in 195 for this to be something bad.

[mrw]

Well, no matter how many times I look at it, I'm not too keen on the 7th panel. I'm quite certain it's her skin that's burning or melting.
But the expression on her face - I just can't read that expression as anything other than "completely frikkin insane".
And from what I've seen, Zimmy's got issues, but she's not insane. I can't help but wonder if the intent was that she's feeling a kind of release, like a great weight is being or about to be lifted from her.
Unfortunately, I think the artwork came out looking too much like Tom's avatar. (Apologies, Tom... )
If that was the intent, it's a whole different matter of course.

In contrast, I love the 5th and 6th panels.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Zimmy's teeth have always looked like that, so I don't think it's too close to Tom's avatar. That said, I like the theory that the storm will 'wash her clean' of the static. I don't think it'll happen that way, but I like the though.


(Since I don't like to leapfrog to reply...)
Reply to MRW: I'm not really too freaked out by her expression myself. As I mentioned earlier, I don't think that she is willing to kill herself on purpose, or to take pain for no other reason than to be hurt, I don't see Gamma taking that too well, and Zimmy cares for Gamma too much to hurt her by hurting herself. So, she's smiling because this is going to be a 'good thing' (TM).

[mrw]

Aspen: It's not the teeth in particular - it's something about the mouth and the whole presentation. I can't really define it, but I also can't break the avatar connection in my head. I don't feel creeped out by panel 7 - and I'm disappointed by my inability to be creeped by it. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, though.

[missushow]

Again the theory that Zimmy is some sort of demon pops into mind... Maybe something to do with the rain... if she were a demon it would explain that horrible experiment, though even Reynardine wouldnt' touch that thing...so that's just got me confused...what she could have done...I doubt we'll ever know.

mrw: I don't feel creeped out either... To me it's just sort of like she's saying 'ahh'.

[mrw]

I just remembered that in the world of alchemy (the symbolism is pervasive throughout GC), water is a symbol of cleansing and purification.
That fits well with demon theories. Perhaps it is having a "holy water" effect on her. It is coming from the heavens, after all.

(Nagging issue: it rains so frequently in the UK... so...)

Eh, never mind. Just have to wait til Monday.

[aoeniac]

Don't be worried if Zimmy's skin really is the thing that's sizzling and burning. After all, you have no idea what might be under that skin.

[alternativeoyster]

mrw said:

I just remembered that in the world of alchemy (the symbolism is pervasive throughout GC), water is a symbol of cleansing and purification.
That fits well with demon theories. Perhaps it is having a "holy water" effect on her. It is coming from the heavens, after all.

(Nagging issue: it rains so frequently in the UK... so...)

Eh, never mind. Just have to wait til Monday.

I like this theory, considering the other alchemical symbols in the series. Certainly a sort of cleansing thing, getting rid of all the weird stuff around her, regardless of whether she's a demon (which is very possible).

However, I think that all we can say for certain is: shit gonna go down.

[fjodor]

Alchemy does play an important role in GC. I never bothered to Google for the meaning of the various symbols, but it may very well help to understand the story better.

Here are some symbols I found, but there are many more.

www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/spellbinder/images/alchemy-symbols.gif

Any alchemists on the forum that can give an Alchemy for dummies explanation?

[mrw]

This may not be what you're asking for, but these links do have explanations of symbols.

www.alchemylab.com/dictionary.htm

www.chemsoc.org/VISELEMENTS/pages/alchemist/alchemy.html