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Post by aaroncampbell on Mar 21, 2014 14:28:39 GMT
Grim Reaper or Grim Romantic? Classic Ankou. If he had cheeks, they'd be blushing. And that flirty "Old One" line. Who hasn't used that on a girl? Poor Reaper, though. He sharpened his scythe and everything. Your comment made me realize the many similarities between today's page and this one. · There are buildings in disrepair in the background. · The discussion is about an unexpectedly early termination. · An old man, who wears a skull(!), enjoys being in Jones' presence. · Jones reduces him a stuttering loss for words in the last panel. · A surprised boy watches the whole exchange. Of course, there are plenty of differences too. Jones and her outfit are a little worse for wear after being hit by a 50kg bomb, and Randy isn't exactly Ankou -- though who knows, given the way that particular guide works that could change in the future! But even so, the comparison still made me smile. Someone with photoshop skills and time should do a mashup between these two pages; Ankou bearing flowers could either be funny in a romantic-towards-Jones way or poignant in a farewell-toward-Mort way. |
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Post by Dvandaemon on Mar 21, 2014 16:48:28 GMT
More grim reapers stuttering. Does anybody in the underworld have any spine at all? They're psychopomps, they can't kill people, only bring them to the other side. They're probably just not used to confrontation. |
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Post by warrl on Mar 21, 2014 16:57:44 GMT
More grim reapers stuttering. Does anybody in the underworld have any spine at all? They're psychopomps, they can't kill people, only bring them to the other side. They're probably just not used to confrontation. Oh, I'm sure they are used to confrontation. "I'm not ready to die!" " TOO LATE." But not with third parties that could easily remain uninvolved. (Third parties that are involved, sure. "You're not taking my son away from me!" " THAT IS CORRECT. YOU ARE ALSO COMING.") |
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Post by The Anarch on Mar 21, 2014 17:27:09 GMT
Oh, I'm sure they are used to confrontation. "I'm not ready to die!" " TOO LATE." But not with third parties that could easily remain uninvolved. (Third parties that are involved, sure. "You're not taking my son away from me!" " THAT IS CORRECT. YOU ARE ALSO COMING.") "Not like this! Not like this! Blubber blubber whine whine whine!" " OKAY THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH THANK YOU" |
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Post by admiralcheez on Mar 21, 2014 17:49:10 GMT
Now I'm picturing Lindsey as a psychopomp, and it kinda terrifies me to imagine being taken into the ether by her. And that's just picturing her physical form. I don't even want to speculate on how terrifying death would be if her etheric form came for me.
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chaosvii
Junior Member
I absolutely did not expect this!
Posts: 84 
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Post by chaosvii on Mar 21, 2014 18:23:36 GMT
What are the hormone-loaded male readership thoughts? Sporting nosebleeds at the sight of that tasty shoulder or disappointed by the insufficient might of those bombs of +0.05 unclothing? :-P Perhaps I don't qualify for such a category, but I for one am ambivalent. Perhaps this is fitting given that Jones herself is not so ambivalent and Ankou is taken aback by her firm objection to his job execution. |
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Post by warrl on Mar 21, 2014 19:20:13 GMT
What are the hormone-loaded male readership thoughts? Sporting nosebleeds at the sight of that tasty shoulder or disappointed by the insufficient might of those bombs of +0.05 unclothing? :-P I have a hard time even recognizing unintentional "hotness". A woman half-undressed because her clothes were blown off her in an explosion isn't hot, she's a victim in need of aid. (Unintentional beauty is a quite different subject.) |
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Post by Señor Goose on Mar 21, 2014 19:32:17 GMT
This just got about six times mre interesting, and I wish I was able to have called this. So Jones both knows and can see Ankou, but she can't see Mort. And, it looks like there's a bit of a chance at reversing his death? Probably not. Oh, that must be the special circumstances he mentioned! I don't see any indication she can't see Mort? She's just talking to the guy in charge right away without complicating matters. And I like to think I called it, though can't be bothered to go back and check whether I actually wrote down my thoughts on what was going to happen or not. You're right, I don't know why I assumed that. |
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Post by grahamf on Mar 21, 2014 19:33:43 GMT
Aack. I was wrong, so wrong. Also: Lemonjones heh |
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Post by The Anarch on Mar 21, 2014 19:52:01 GMT
A woman half-undressed because her clothes were blown off her in an explosion isn't hot, she's a victim in need of aid. I dunno if I can speak for the rest of the Jones-admiration brigade, but to me Jones half-undressed because her clothes were partially blown off in an explosion is pretty hot specifically because she's not a victim in need of aid. She's tough enough to take the brunt of such a blast without any damage to herself, and that's awesome. |
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Post by warrl on Mar 21, 2014 20:49:10 GMT
A woman half-undressed because her clothes were blown off her in an explosion isn't hot, she's a victim in need of aid. I dunno if I can speak for the rest of the Jones-admiration brigade, but to me Jones half-undressed because her clothes were partially blown off in an explosion is pretty hot specifically because she's not a victim in need of aid. You're mistaken. She needs aid. Not a lot of it, but some. Sufficient to get her dressed in a socially-acceptable fashion. |
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Post by The Anarch on Mar 21, 2014 20:57:12 GMT
You're mistaken. She needs aid. Not a lot of it, but some. Sufficient to get her dressed in a socially-acceptable fashion. I'm pretty sure that Jones is perfectly capable of finding and putting on clothes without any help.  |
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Post by Reynaerde on Mar 21, 2014 21:38:33 GMT
 Those who knows, knows. I'm sure Team Python knew the guy. More trivia: the role of Ankou was taken over by the last dead spirit of each year. Sounds a bit like Father Time. The lack of mustache stands explained! This Ankou is not the same as the Ankou of the flashback (i.e. the Ankou Annie encountered in Good Hope); the latter is a successor. Either that or he grew the stache later, but that's a little far-fetched. |
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Post by Ophel on Mar 21, 2014 22:02:44 GMT
Purely as a hypothetical, is it possible for someone without emotions to have some moral code (that goes beyond 'no interfering')? Preferrably one that encourages action in this case? Alright, so prepare for read a theory (is it one?) of mine as to why Jones would interfere for Mort, assuming that her stubborn statement of having no emotions or empathic connections is true. The way I see it, it is, in a way, possible. Since she has been observing humankind for so long, I can imagine she now has an understanding of what people feel is morally acceptable, or what is fair in respect to humankind. At the very least, some understanding about what people feel is just, fair and morally right in the current society that she blends in with. (This is, of course, subjective to the society she is in, as well as to the individual) One of the most common moral code that people would want to see others to uphold is : "It's your fault! You take responsibility (/ fix it)!" This may be subjective, rather than objective in morals, but for people, us, that's usually what we want see. Using this understanding for her current situation, as she feels the early death of Mortimer is her fault (and therefore interfered, even though indirectly), she may conclude that she should take responsibility of his death in some way. A few incentives to uphold this is: - If Mortimer realises he is dead, being young as he is, he may accuse of Jones for his death.
- If he's a sweetheart (and probably is) and doesn't think that, she can assume his parents will.
- Dying so early is always subjectively unfair, even if it was during a war and especially when it is not expected of Mort (e.g. if he was a recruit. or something '>_>).
- Furthermore, Mort's death could have been avoided.
So, to uphold the implied and commonplace "It's your fault! You take responsibility (/ fix it)!", she is doing what she's gonna do, in hopes of to fulfill this moral code in the eyes of the victim. And that's what I think/my input. Any criticism is welcomed. Any mistakes needed pointed out, go ahead. Is it wrong? Say it. It's a discussion and I put mine out there. But as always, don't be mean about it. Please and thank you. |
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Post by keef on Mar 21, 2014 22:30:56 GMT
Normally I don't claim cookies unless trolled but I think this page flat-out demonstrates Jones desiring (or to be more precise, refusing to accept what is). So yay me. May they taste sweet. But I don't think everyone is ready to accept Jones has feelings. Including Jones. If Ankou were to take Mort away now, Jones would effectively have ended a human life. Today's page may look like she's intervening, but she's actually trying to undo her previous, unintentional intervention. Curiosity is an emotion. Jones could have jumped into a volcano, and stayed down there for the rest of eternity. She didn't. She chose to live with people. Guilt is an emotion. Jones must have accepted long ago that she influences the lives of the people around her. So she must know by now, that trying to correct a mistake, will often make things worse. Not making sure someone followed her in the street was a mistake and Mort's death an accident, but stopping Ankou is interference. As she can not know the effects, (Mort the ghost could give someone a heart attack, or give a blinkerstone to a webcomic heroine) she would not know where the disturbance stops. A bit like that famous butterfly. But still she maintains she makes as few changes as possible. And why would she worry about disturbing the course of events anyway. Is she feeling responsible? Maybe not proof. But now add those small changes in facial expression, is that anger in panel four? Thinking about it, Coyote seems similarly devoid of emotion: whenever he throws himself into this or that little pose, the object of his displays is only to aggrandize himself, and his gleeful, bare-teethed stare seems as stereotypical as Jones' statuesque indifference. He's nowhere near as conflicted as the humans, or Renard and Ysengrin. Coyote is a trickster, a stereotype and it is us who created the Gods that way. He is a bit like Pratchett's Gods but smarter. He can't help himself, he must trick people and enjoy the chaos that follows. In a way he is to be pitied. |
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chaosvii
Junior Member
I absolutely did not expect this!
Posts: 84
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Post by chaosvii on Mar 21, 2014 23:04:56 GMT
Thinking about it, Coyote seems similarly devoid of emotion: whenever he throws himself into this or that little pose, the object of his displays is only to aggrandize himself, and his gleeful, bare-teethed stare seems as stereotypical as Jones' statuesque indifference. He's nowhere near as conflicted as the humans, or Renard and Ysengrin. Coyote is a trickster, a stereotype and it is us who created the Gods that way. He is a bit like Pratchett's Gods but smarter. He can't help himself, he must trick people and enjoy the chaos that follows. In a way he is to be pitied. I imagine that lacking empathy would be of great use to a trickster, it could very well result in greater surprise (and thus greater pleasure at such unexpected events) at how others react to their curiosity. |
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Post by thedoctor on Mar 22, 2014 4:51:15 GMT
Oh, I'm sure they are used to confrontation. "I'm not ready to die!" " TOO LATE." But not with third parties that could easily remain uninvolved. (Third parties that are involved, sure. "You're not taking my son away from me!" " THAT IS CORRECT. YOU ARE ALSO COMING.") "Not like this! Not like this! Blubber blubber whine whine whine!" " OKAY THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH THANK YOU" Terry Pratchett? |
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Post by thedoctor on Mar 22, 2014 4:57:54 GMT
The question is, why is it unacceptable? I realize that the way Jones phrases it, it sounds like it's because of her interference, but Ankou's responses almost make it sound like he's the wrong psychopomp; like the right one was too busy in Continental Europe to come pick Mort up.
If this is true, anyone got a guess at Mort's "true" psychopomp?
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Post by philman on Mar 22, 2014 8:14:18 GMT
"Not like this! Not like this! Blubber blubber whine whine whine!" " OKAY THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH THANK YOU" Terry Pratchett? No, Tom Siddell (Although I think Warrl's comments were based on Pratchett) And I think it's fairly clear, her personal code means no interference in human affairs, just observation. This boys death would not have occurred were she not there, therefore her 'observational' status has been broken. She feels guilt, or at the very least a breaking of her own code (Although I think she feels more guilt than she lets on). She is going to try and put it 'right' with Ankou, but obviously she cann't bring him back to life. Surely Ankou would only not take Mort if he refused to come, so somehow she will have to convince Mort not to go with the large scary skeleton with the big sharp scythe... Who WOULDN'T want to go with that? |
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Post by csj on Mar 22, 2014 12:32:21 GMT
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melkior
Junior Member
Nice Hat!
Posts: 84
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Post by melkior on Mar 22, 2014 15:50:58 GMT
This story needs to become an epic series of movies. I'd watch it.
And I'm imagining Ankou's voice as sounding like his vocal cords are made of dry leaves.
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Post by aaroncampbell on Mar 22, 2014 16:32:20 GMT
The question is, why is it unacceptable? I realize that the way Jones phrases it, it sounds like it's because of her interference, but Ankou's responses almost make it sound like he's the wrong psychopomp; like the right one was too busy in Continental Europe to come pick Mort up. If this is true, anyone got a guess at Mort's "true" psychopomp? I like your line of thought! The question is a curious one, especially when you consider psychopomps like Ketrak. The logistics break down unless you factor in omnipresence or the ability to freeze time. As for who Mort's "true" psychopomp would be, I'm going to have to go with Annie! :-D Or more specifically, her predecessor, which I would say would be somewhere around Annie's great grandmother? I wonder what she was off doing at that time? Maybe not doing her official duties, or doing them somewhere else? It would be interesting if Mort's family had, in the past, made a family friendship with Annie's ancestor that included a deep bond that went all the way to the grave, as it were..... |
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Post by aaroncampbell on Mar 22, 2014 16:45:27 GMT
Ankou: "Old one, it is always a pleasure to be in your presence."
Jones: "You are Ankou. You have come for this boy."
A different thought. Clearly Jones and Ankou have met before, but what if Ankou wasn't a psychopomp before? This is pure speculation (obviously) but if that guide changes annually as described in Wikipedia, then it's quite possible Jones is recognizing someone she knew from their living state. In anyone who expressed more emotion, the exchange might go something like this:
Ankou: "Old one, it is always a pleasure to be in your presence."
Jones: "Mark*, you are Ankou? I see. And now you have come for this boy."
But Jones being Jones, she would see no point in telling the person their own name or saying "I see." Even saying, "You are Ankou. You have come for this boy." isn't stated for her sake or Ankou's, but for Mort's. Jones can tell he is there and is scared and confused, so is using her every word as efficiently as possible to communicate to him (though addressing Ankou) what is going on. How caring of her, in her way!
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Post by Per on Mar 22, 2014 20:02:29 GMT
Every time I see the title of this thread:
Jim North is as mad as hell and he's not going to take it any more.
From now on all comic page titles should be read as statements from the posters to the rest of the community.
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Post by thesteve on Mar 23, 2014 2:49:04 GMT
Profile Name: Ankou27 Age: Immeasurable Location: Brittany Body Type: Slim Occupation: Agricultural Management; Applied Etherics Interests: Hats, Harvest, Horseback Riding, Pensive walks on the beach, Loading dead people on carts Likes: Shadow, Graveyard, Hospitals, Scythe polish Dislikes: World Wars, Irreverence Looking for: Souls The first thing people usually notice about meModest attire You should message me if...You are about to die in eight days' time LAUGHING ON LINE - Awesome and hilarious. Well done Korba |
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Post by The Anarch on Mar 23, 2014 5:55:44 GMT
Every time I see the title of this thread: Jim North is as mad as hell and he's not going to take it any more. |
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Post by keef on Mar 23, 2014 11:14:14 GMT
One of the most common moral code that people would want to see others to uphold is : "It's your fault! You take responsibility (/ fix it)!" This may be subjective, rather than objective in morals, but for people, us, that's usually what we want see. If Jones is a completely rational being, she also knows it is impossible to "fix" unintentional interference without creating more disturbance. Funny though that this is exactly the kind of moral code we saw in AitF 2A different thought. Clearly Jones and Ankou have met before, but what if Ankou wasn't a psychopomp before? This is pure speculation (obviously) but if that guide changes annually as described in Wikipedia, then it's quite possible Jones is recognizing someone she knew from their living state. In anyone who expressed more emotion, the exchange might go something like this: Ankou: "Old one, it is always a pleasure to be in your presence." Jones: "Mark*, you are Ankou? I see. And now you have come for this boy." I really like this. I will almost be disappointed if not true. And I think it's fairly clear, her personal code means no interference in human affairs, just observation. |
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Post by GK Sierra on Mar 23, 2014 16:16:49 GMT
Every time I see the title of this thread: Jim North is as mad as hell and he's not going to take it any more. As long as I live, I will always remember this man as Niedermayer from Animal House. |
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Post by Ophel on Mar 24, 2014 9:14:14 GMT
One of the most common moral code that people would want to see others to uphold is : "It's your fault! You take responsibility (/ fix it)!" This may be subjective, rather than objective in morals, but for people, us, that's usually what we want see. If Jones is a completely rational being, she also knows it is impossible to "fix" unintentional interference without creating more disturbance. Funny though that this is exactly the kind of moral code we saw in AitF 2No, I suppose not. But I was thinking along the lines of "allow Mort to get something out of life", or something like that, you know? That's what I think most would want to do before having to depart from this world. And this is something Jones can do. If she's done something like this before, she knows she can at least give this. Though Jones might want to ask consent beforehand, just in case. Even if she knows what she's doing, to an extent. If you can't be brought back to life, well, do something as a ghost I suppose. What can you do as a ghost? I dunno, stuff? What's Mort been doing? Surely you can do some fun stuff out of being a ghost. At the very least, you're time in the world is extended. So now you get to enjoy undeath! Who needs food anyway? And physical contact is overrated. |
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Post by keef on Mar 24, 2014 14:07:59 GMT
I was thinking along the lines of "allow Mort to get something out of life", or something like that, you know? That's what I think most would want to do before having to depart from this world. And this is something Jones can do. Well it's a nice thought, "If you can't have an interesting life, al least you can have a fun afterlife. " I could think of something, and so do others. Are you sure? I kinda like it. And who decides ghosts can't cuddle anyway? |
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