[1272] Just the two of us...

[Gotolei]

Also worth noting that even glasses are kind of limiting. If you let yourself get used to them, it's harder to use your peripheral vision properly - you have to turn your head and focus on [thing] directly.

source: wears glasses

[GK Sierra]

Nov 7, 2013 18:54:34 GMT Gotolei said:

Also worth noting that even glasses are kind of limiting. If you let yourself get used to them, it's harder to use your peripheral vision properly - you have to turn your head and focus on [thing] directly.

source: wears glasses

One the plus side, a surprising amount of chicks dig them. Just don't get thick frames or square lenses, and you're dandy.

SPOILER: Click to show

I've heard that Lasik is risky and contacts are annoying.

[The Anarch]

Nov 7, 2013 18:49:00 GMT warrl said:

Nov 7, 2013 18:09:36 GMT zimmyzims said:

Anja also is just a strangely gifted human being, not a half fire elemental.

Also, blinker stones are usually given to a romantic interest (or, I suspect, an offspring or protege) who can actually use them. Based on what we've seen, I kind of doubt that either Donald or Katrina Donlan could use one; so whom would Anja give hers to?

Another also, given the part about romantic interests, it seems quite possible that Donald may have been the one who gave Anja her blinker stone. This would be plenty enough reason for her to keep it, let alone the fact that it may be handy to keep around just in case it's needed for an extra little boost, or simply for general sentimental reasons (ie, I've had this thing for a long time, it would feel wrong to get rid of it). Her still having it may have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not she actually needs it.

[Gotolei]

Nov 7, 2013 19:53:44 GMT GK Sierra said:

Nov 7, 2013 18:54:34 GMT Gotolei said:

Also worth noting that even glasses are kind of limiting. If you let yourself get used to them, it's harder to use your peripheral vision properly - you have to turn your head and focus on [thing] directly.

source: wears glasses

One the plus side, a surprising amount of chicks dig them. Just don't get thick frames or square lenses, and you're dandy.

SPOILER: Click to show

I've heard that Lasik is risky and contacts are annoying.

Judging from high school experience, this might be true. And it might happen to go both ways..
I guess I'm set on the shape, it's a nice simple joseph marc 4k or something (it was either that or halston gunmetal, but I like the darker gray).

SPOILER: Click to show

Lasik sounds pretty cool actually. Extraordinary vision? Aww yiss.  Agreed about the contacts though.

[GK Sierra]

Nov 7, 2013 23:17:59 GMT Gotolei said:

And it might happen to go both ways..

Hell yes it does! I'm marrying a four-eyes and it's frickin' primo, let me tell you. I love it when they sit crooked on her face and she looks like a red-headed version of Tina Fey.

Makes me wish this work day was over with already...

[Pig_catapult]

Noooo, they let the blue smoke out! The blue smoke needs to stay INSIDE the electronics for them to work! D:

[Kuraimizu]

Nov 7, 2013 18:08:10 GMT zimmyzims said:

The page you link was ages ago. She was unskilled without the stone back then. After that, you might have noticed that she has grown a lot and become helluvalot more skilled. There is no way you can say that was the only time she created fire without the blinker stone, as there is exactly no evidence at all on her using blinker stone, for example, in the last chapter.

The point here is that you are backing a positive statement, namely 1. she can only control fire she has created and 2. she can only create fire with blinker stone, merely on lack of absolutely decisive evidence for the opposite. But that kind of statement cannot be held on those premises. You are asserting as certain a positive statement that lacks basically any proof whatsoever. Best you could say is that "in lack of decisive evidence her ability to control "foreign" fires remains to be seen".

Meanwhile, it has already been proven that 1. she can create fires without the blinker stone and 2. she is expected to be able to do that at some point, and has been expected for some while. The "barely need it anymore" was over 300 pages ago. Indeed, the blinker stone has since then virtually disappeared from the comic, despite her doing things she earlier did with the blinker, such as moving aetherically ("booping" the robots, for example). The evidence for her not needing it anymore easily overwhelms the evidence to the opposite.

As long as you have no other evidence than supposing, against the evidence, that she only handles fire by the blinker stone, there is nothing to say she couldn't control a "foreign" fire. After all, as was pointed out before in this thread, she already did that as a very little kid in "Ghost story". So, we should finally put it more like "it seems entirely possible that she could control fires not created by her, but to decide whether she actually can, asks for further evidence". And again, in lack of decisive evidence, we cannot say anything affirmatively about this. In which case, your unhesitating assertions about her lack of ability are uninformative at best.

Annie usually keeps her Blinker stone on a necklace around her neck, www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=262
In chapter 32 her blinker stone hovers in front of her hand when she puts a force field around Robby Robot www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=854
and again it is hovering as she has a fireball around her hand. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=862
In chapter 34 in reference to focusing she said she barely needs it any more www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=915
in Chapter 41 Annie accepts the Position of forest medium and lights her hair on fire with the blinker stone in hand www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1159
But there is no rule stating it must be in her hand when used.
Chapter 44 is Annie's second venture into the forest as the Medium of the Forest.
So not all that long since chapter 41, Notice Annie is wearing her necklace
when she goes elemental www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1259

Guaranteed with the amount of concentration required for her elemental state
Annie is using the Blinker to focus her energies as the blinker sits under her shirt.
Seeing as it has at most been a week or two at most since she accepted the position of
Forest Medium. I don't think her abilities have changed so rapidly that she didn't require
her stone when she required it just a week ago for the small fire she did to her hair.

As for Foreign fires, we have seen no evidence in comic that she can control other fires yet.
Probably something she will train up to. probably under Ysengrin's tutorship.

[thedoctor]

Nov 8, 2013 0:39:24 GMT Kuraimizu said:

Nov 7, 2013 18:08:10 GMT zimmyzims said:

The page you link was ages ago. She was unskilled without the stone back then. After that, you might have noticed that she has grown a lot and become helluvalot more skilled. There is no way you can say that was the only time she created fire without the blinker stone, as there is exactly no evidence at all on her using blinker stone, for example, in the last chapter.

The point here is that you are backing a positive statement, namely 1. she can only control fire she has created and 2. she can only create fire with blinker stone, merely on lack of absolutely decisive evidence for the opposite. But that kind of statement cannot be held on those premises. You are asserting as certain a positive statement that lacks basically any proof whatsoever. Best you could say is that "in lack of decisive evidence her ability to control "foreign" fires remains to be seen".

Meanwhile, it has already been proven that 1. she can create fires without the blinker stone and 2. she is expected to be able to do that at some point, and has been expected for some while. The "barely need it anymore" was over 300 pages ago. Indeed, the blinker stone has since then virtually disappeared from the comic, despite her doing things she earlier did with the blinker, such as moving aetherically ("booping" the robots, for example). The evidence for her not needing it anymore easily overwhelms the evidence to the opposite.

As long as you have no other evidence than supposing, against the evidence, that she only handles fire by the blinker stone, there is nothing to say she couldn't control a "foreign" fire. After all, as was pointed out before in this thread, she already did that as a very little kid in "Ghost story". So, we should finally put it more like "it seems entirely possible that she could control fires not created by her, but to decide whether she actually can, asks for further evidence". And again, in lack of decisive evidence, we cannot say anything affirmatively about this. In which case, your unhesitating assertions about her lack of ability are uninformative at best.

Annie usually keeps her Blinker stone on a necklace around her neck, www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=262
In chapter 32 her blinker stone hovers in front of her hand when she puts a force field around Robby Robot www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=854
and again it is hovering as she has a fireball around her hand. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=862
In chapter 34 in reference to focusing she said she barely needs it any more www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=915
in Chapter 41 Annie accepts the Position of forest medium and lights her hair on fire with the blinker stone in hand www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1159
But there is no rule stating it must be in her hand when used.
Chapter 44 is Annie's second venture into the forest as the Medium of the Forest.
So not all that long since chapter 41, Notice Annie is wearing her necklace
when she goes elemental www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1259

Guaranteed with the amount of concentration required for her elemental state
Annie is using the Blinker to focus her energies as the blinker sits under her shirt.
Seeing as it has at most been a week or two at most since she accepted the position of
Forest Medium. I don't think her abilities have changed so rapidly that she didn't require
her stone when she required it just a week ago for the small fire she did to her hair.

As for Foreign fires, we have seen no evidence in comic that she can control other fires yet.
Probably something she will train up to. probably under Ysengrin's tutorship.

Ooh, much better evidence; hadn't noticed the necklace string in that image.  I'm going with Kuraimizu on this one.

[thedoctor]

Nov 8, 2013 0:21:04 GMT Pig_catapult said:

Noooo, they let the blue smoke out! The blue smoke needs to stay INSIDE the electronics for them to work! D:

AHAHAHAAH! That's exactly what this is!

[Daedalus]

Nov 8, 2013 5:21:24 GMT thedoctor said:

Nov 8, 2013 0:39:24 GMT Kuraimizu said:

Annie usually keeps her Blinker stone on a necklace around her neck, www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=262
In chapter 32 her blinker stone hovers in front of her hand when she puts a force field around Robby Robot www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=854
and again it is hovering as she has a fireball around her hand. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=862
In chapter 34 in reference to focusing she said she barely needs it any more www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=915
in Chapter 41 Annie accepts the Position of forest medium and lights her hair on fire with the blinker stone in hand www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1159
But there is no rule stating it must be in her hand when used.
Chapter 44 is Annie's second venture into the forest as the Medium of the Forest.
So not all that long since chapter 41, Notice Annie is wearing her necklace
when she goes elemental www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1259

Guaranteed with the amount of concentration required for her elemental state
Annie is using the Blinker to focus her energies as the blinker sits under her shirt.
Seeing as it has at most been a week or two at most since she accepted the position of
Forest Medium. I don't think her abilities have changed so rapidly that she didn't require
her stone when she required it just a week ago for the small fire she did to her hair.

As for Foreign fires, we have seen no evidence in comic that she can control other fires yet.
Probably something she will train up to. probably under Ysengrin's tutorship.

Ooh, much better evidence; hadn't noticed the necklace string in that image.  I'm going with Kuraimizu on this one.

I'm sticking with my argument from earlier in the thread on this one. Just because she has it with her does not mean she is dependent on it. Plus, there's the whole "I barely ever need it any more" comment.

[Gotolei]

Just as a curiosity, is there a time scale for chronological events in the comic set up somewhere?
This seems like just the sort of community that would keep track of seasons based on leaf color (of course, only after the trees' species are identified) or something.

Edit: 128 posts. Hooray for random pointless round-number milestones

[zimmyzims]

Nov 8, 2013 0:39:24 GMT Kuraimizu said:

Nov 7, 2013 18:08:10 GMT zimmyzims said:

The page you link was ages ago. She was unskilled without the stone back then. After that, you might have noticed that she has grown a lot and become helluvalot more skilled. There is no way you can say that was the only time she created fire without the blinker stone, as there is exactly no evidence at all on her using blinker stone, for example, in the last chapter.

The point here is that you are backing a positive statement, namely 1. she can only control fire she has created and 2. she can only create fire with blinker stone, merely on lack of absolutely decisive evidence for the opposite. But that kind of statement cannot be held on those premises. You are asserting as certain a positive statement that lacks basically any proof whatsoever. Best you could say is that "in lack of decisive evidence her ability to control "foreign" fires remains to be seen".

Meanwhile, it has already been proven that 1. she can create fires without the blinker stone and 2. she is expected to be able to do that at some point, and has been expected for some while. The "barely need it anymore" was over 300 pages ago. Indeed, the blinker stone has since then virtually disappeared from the comic, despite her doing things she earlier did with the blinker, such as moving aetherically ("booping" the robots, for example). The evidence for her not needing it anymore easily overwhelms the evidence to the opposite.

As long as you have no other evidence than supposing, against the evidence, that she only handles fire by the blinker stone, there is nothing to say she couldn't control a "foreign" fire. After all, as was pointed out before in this thread, she already did that as a very little kid in "Ghost story". So, we should finally put it more like "it seems entirely possible that she could control fires not created by her, but to decide whether she actually can, asks for further evidence". And again, in lack of decisive evidence, we cannot say anything affirmatively about this. In which case, your unhesitating assertions about her lack of ability are uninformative at best.

Annie usually keeps her Blinker stone on a necklace around her neck, www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=262
In chapter 32 her blinker stone hovers in front of her hand when she puts a force field around Robby Robot www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=854
and again it is hovering as she has a fireball around her hand. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=862
In chapter 34 in reference to focusing she said she barely needs it any more www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=915
in Chapter 41 Annie accepts the Position of forest medium and lights her hair on fire with the blinker stone in hand www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1159
But there is no rule stating it must be in her hand when used.
Chapter 44 is Annie's second venture into the forest as the Medium of the Forest.
So not all that long since chapter 41, Notice Annie is wearing her necklace
when she goes elemental www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1259

Guaranteed with the amount of concentration required for her elemental state
Annie is using the Blinker to focus her energies as the blinker sits under her shirt.
Seeing as it has at most been a week or two at most since she accepted the position of
Forest Medium. I don't think her abilities have changed so rapidly that she didn't require
her stone when she required it just a week ago for the small fire she did to her hair.

As for Foreign fires, we have seen no evidence in comic that she can control other fires yet.
Probably something she will train up to. probably under Ysengrin's tutorship.

Again, you say "guaranteed" when you have no proofs that would guarantee anything. It is a mere presupposition of yours that the concentration for "elemental state" requires her using the blinker stone. To presuppose what you should explain is begging the question. I wonder what kind of scientist you are, in my field, we require evidence for positive statements and cannot justify them by mere prejudice.

As to your list of references, again, all the first parts are before the Ghost Story, as you might notice from the numbers of the pages. Since then, and some years have passed since then, 1 or 2 at least, the only time the stone actually appears in the comic is when she accepts the mission, but there she has it in her hand, because she had tied her hair with the necklace and took it off to open her hair into flames dramatically. Maybe she blinked it into fire? She does blink there. But notice that she does not blink anything elsewhere, for example in last chapter. She wears it always, and I mean always, not only when she creates fire. Doesn't mean she uses it. There's no sign she does, for example when she torches the wisp-wasp. And again, in the very beginning, she controlled "foreign" flames as a little girl, without even any awareness of the existence of such thing as blinker stone. That actually is some kind of evidence of the opposite, but more importantly, there is no evidence that she could not control flames other than ones she has created, nor that she could not create fire without blinker stone.

Had she tried to control "foreign" fires and failed, and done that recently, there you would have evidence. But there is no such evidence. You cannot back a positive assertion on mere lack of any decisive evidence to any direction. Hence you are way too fast to assert that she could do neither. To leave it to be decided by later evidence is whole another thing than to state one position as right until the other is proven. As for now, we can say that there definitely is a common belief inside the comic that she at minimum could learn create fires without using blinker stone, if she is not doing it already which she may or may not be doing, and as to the control of foreign fires, her childhood experience is very suggestive of the possibility at least, but there has be no further, recent chances to see her even to try to do that, so we have no evidence of the limits of her skills and thus cannot tell them.

[zimmyzims]

Nov 8, 2013 8:38:25 GMT Gotolei said:

Just as a curiosity, is there a time scale for chronological events in the comic set up somewhere?
This seems like just the sort of community that would keep track of seasons based on leaf color (of course, only after the trees' species are identified) or something.

Good idea. Could you do the leaf colour research for us?

[The Anarch]

Is that her blinker stone necklace in Crash Course? I have to say, I thought it was just part of her shirt, some little decorative straps or something. I just looked through the whole chapter again and can see now that it probably is a necklace, but there's not a single instance where the pendant part is shown so there's no guarantee that it's that particular necklace.

[Kuraimizu]

Nov 8, 2013 8:45:13 GMT zimmyzims said:

Nov 8, 2013 0:39:24 GMT Kuraimizu said:

Annie usually keeps her Blinker stone on a necklace around her neck, www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=262
In chapter 32 her blinker stone hovers in front of her hand when she puts a force field around Robby Robot www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=854
and again it is hovering as she has a fireball around her hand. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=862
In chapter 34 in reference to focusing she said she barely needs it any more www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=915
in Chapter 41 Annie accepts the Position of forest medium and lights her hair on fire with the blinker stone in hand www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1159
But there is no rule stating it must be in her hand when used.
Chapter 44 is Annie's second venture into the forest as the Medium of the Forest.
So not all that long since chapter 41, Notice Annie is wearing her necklace
when she goes elemental www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1259

Guaranteed with the amount of concentration required for her elemental state
Annie is using the Blinker to focus her energies as the blinker sits under her shirt.
Seeing as it has at most been a week or two at most since she accepted the position of
Forest Medium. I don't think her abilities have changed so rapidly that she didn't require
her stone when she required it just a week ago for the small fire she did to her hair.

As for Foreign fires, we have seen no evidence in comic that she can control other fires yet.
Probably something she will train up to. probably under Ysengrin's tutorship.

Again, you say "guaranteed" when you have no proofs that would guarantee anything. It is a mere presupposition of yours that the concentration for "elemental state" requires her using the blinker stone. To presuppose what you should explain is begging the question. I wonder what kind of scientist you are, in my field, we require evidence for positive statements and cannot justify them by mere prejudice.

Fine Maybe Guaranteed is too premature.
But It is quite funny how you say I can't decide by prejudice, yet hypocritically you are doing worse than I.
You claim your science field requires evidence, Yet you show no evidence of Annie being capable of wielding Foreign fire.
You attack me for being unscientific. But it is the scientific standard to propose a theory
Provide and Cite evidence, and test the theory for failure, if it fails it's incorrect and you start again.
I have at least filled the first two, Theory and Evidence.

Nov 8, 2013 8:45:13 GMT zimmyzims said:

As to your list of references, again, all the first parts are before the Ghost Story, as you might notice from the numbers of the pages. Since then, and some years have passed since then, 1 or 2 at least, the only time the stone actually appears in the comic is when she accepts the mission, but there she has it in her hand, because she had tied her hair with the necklace and took it off to open her hair into flames dramatically. Maybe she blinked it into fire? She does blink there. But notice that she does not blink anything elsewhere, for example in last chapter. She wears it always, and I mean always, not only when she creates fire. Doesn't mean she uses it. There's no sign she does,

False.
Annie's hair is Tied in her forest fashion, it is not where she keeps her necklace or blinker stone.
She wears her Blinkerstone around her neck. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=262
Blinker stones only blink when summoned. Not when used or in use.
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=135 Fwoosh
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=509 Blink
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=610 Blink, Fwoosh
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=862 Hair tied, blinker stone en hand.
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1157 Offered medium of Forest hair tied
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1159 removed ties, and calls blinker stone to hand before showcasing her hair in fire.
Just because there is no evidence for or against her using the Blinker stone when going elemental
does not mean she didn't, she has a track record for using the stone when creating fire.

Nov 8, 2013 8:45:13 GMT zimmyzims said:

There's no sign she does, for example when she torches the wisp-wasp.

As an elemental Annie has an Elemental ability "Fire Spike"
Evidenced use is a three pronged crown.
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=789
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=807 - Anger - Sorrow
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=820
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1252 - Fear
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1255 - Courage
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1258 - Determination
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1259
while Aiding Ysengrin in the forest, Annie obviously used her Fire spike.
The real question though is did she at the same time use her blinker stone
to help her focus. sadly we can't say. it's obvious she was wearing it.
but no actual evidence for or against, which is why I decided to weigh her track record
alongside the incident. That track record is why I stated my opinion that she probably
used her blinker stone to help her focus her elemental abilities during that fight in the forest.

Nov 8, 2013 8:45:13 GMT zimmyzims said:

And again, in the very beginning, she controlled "foreign" flames as a little girl, without even any awareness of the existence of such thing as blinker stone. That actually is some kind of evidence of the opposite, but more importantly, there is no evidence that she could not control flames other than ones she has created, nor that she could not create fire without blinker stone.
...
her childhood experience is very suggestive of the possibility at least

False
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=343
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=344
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=352
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=353
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=355
www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=359
Annie didn't control any fire in this instance. What she experienced was a Haunting,
By the ghost of a boy who could not accept that he had died,
Notice the illusion of the Haunting is not able to touch her.
And the ghost flinches away when the truth behind the illusion is revealed by her touch.
When the illusion transforms to fire, it is still an illusion.
it's not that she controlled the flames, it's that she was able to see the truth behind the illusion
and the Knowledge that her mother wouldn't send her into danger. both pieces of knowledge gave her power
over the illusion allowing her to dis-spell it and free the ghost from the prison of his own making.

Nov 8, 2013 8:45:13 GMT zimmyzims said:

Had she tried to control "foreign" fires and failed, and done that recently, there you would have evidence. But there is no such evidence. You cannot back a positive assertion on mere lack of any decisive evidence to any direction. Hence you are way too fast to assert that she could do neither. To leave it to be decided by later evidence is whole another thing than to state one position as right until the other is proven. As for now, we can say that there definitely is a common belief inside the comic that she at minimum could learn create fires without using blinker stone, if she is not doing it already which she may or may not be doing, and as to the control of foreign fires... but there has been no recent chances to see her even to try to do that, so we have no evidence of the limits of her skills and thus cannot tell them.

Lack of evidence towards inability, is not proof of Ability,
Especially in a person who is still in training, and under the tutorship of a teacher.
Annie is in training, until we have been shown proof of an ability it is ludicrous to assume
she has more abilities than have currently been displayed.

And While I have been able to Cite my evidence I also have the Backing of one positive peer review.

Nov 8, 2013 5:21:24 GMT thedoctor said:

Ooh, much better evidence; hadn't noticed the necklace string in that image. I'm going with Kuraimizu on this one.

As far as your "Science" is concerned my theory is the correct one till proven otherwise.

[louisxiv]

Nov 8, 2013 8:38:25 GMT Gotolei said:

Just as a curiosity, is there a time scale for chronological events in the comic set up somewhere?
This seems like just the sort of community that would keep track of seasons based on leaf color (of course, only after the trees' species are identified) or something.

Edit: 128 posts. Hooray for random pointless round-number milestones

I’ve looked at it, but the environment within the court – modern-futuristic / industrial / urban – isn’t ripe with clues to the season and avoids concepts such as terms or months or kids’ birthdays upon which regular schools might remark. There is no Christmas in Gunnerkrigg Court, as far as I can ascertain.

GK started with Antimony arriving partway through Year 7 – aged 11-12, very likely.

Year 8 started here on p305  – which is probably late August / early September (if Gunnerkrigg Court runs any typical UK school year) – Antimony’s age 12-13.

This is currently Antimony’s year 9, commencing p844, so her 14th birthday should fall within this year.

For more history see the The Stone.

The Founding of the Court is illustrated on several pages and feature a tricorne hat on one of the characters, so likely setting the date somewhere in the ‘long’ eighteenth century – often held to be the period between 1688-1815 by real-world historians

If anyone can tease out more time references I’d be fascinated to see them…