Personal experiences with Gunnerkrigg Court.

[CloudedAtTheMoment]

Honestly, while I will use this account to see what the fanbase is posting about, I just had to make a profile to express my utter praise to Tom Siddell, if any of you cool fellas are interested, feel free to share your experiences as well. Really, I just wanted to find a place where I could talk to the fans about this freaking amazing comic.
...Ohhh boy...Where do I begin.
So I started this whole adventure just last Friday, browsing through random google images when I found one of the panels to this particular comic that really caught my eye. Something about it's stylized look spoke to me. Not sure really how to describe it, but it's vibrant colors and unique art style really grabbed my attention. So I figured out the name and eventually found Tom's site, which hosted all of the comic for free (What a nice guy!). Not really interested in any of the story(yet), I mostly just looked around on random chapters hoping eventually I'd find the one with that specific panel. (An expert method of the highest intellectual caliber, if I do say myself.) But as most of you may be able to imagine, 47 chapters is kind of a lot of content... :/
So my attempts were rendered as complete failures. However, I was still far too curious to leave it be, as that image had a certain charm...a certain attraction to it, you could say. So I made up my mind that I'd just read through all of the thing, until I found what I saw.
And boy, oh boy. I don't think I've ever been more fangirly then after catching up on a series like this. At first it was a little strange, the art was kind of wonky, and the story seemed to still be pondering what it wanted to be. I found Antimony to be a little boring, as she didn't really emote too often. Not to say that she was necessarily a brick, just that there wasn't anything about her that particularly intrigued me. But I decided to stick my self through. But, It was as soon as I hit chapter 6 "Hand Full Of Dirt", that all my opinions and doubts about this comic immediately died. So much so, that I may even call it my personal favorite of the story thus far. You guys should all know this one. It all happens when Kat and Annie go into that fake, grassland thingy for the first time.
(Forgive me as I go on a bit of a long description about just how endearing this chapter was for me.)
There is just so much depth within the dramatic events that occur here. I mean not only do we see Annie really begin to have fun and laugh, but soon after, we get a pretty intense and jarring breakdown from her. The tone goes from seamlessly joyful, to grim and mature in an instant. I don't think I've ever seen such a fast shift in a story's mood  nearly as well done as in this scene, and it really made me see Annie as a different character entirely. It was here I realized that she wasn't just some quiet emotionless stoic, but more like a shattered character who had been going through some serious conflict. Sure we all knew that her mom had passed away, but it wasn't until this chapter, that we really got a good glimpse at just how much of an impact, how much of painful burden on her shoulders this truly was for her. All along she had just been holding all the pain inside, keeping it locked up along with her other feelings, where no one ever seemed to tread or explore. And as such, all these feelings just stayed, slowly building up rampant. Until at last, when a kind friend like Kat took interest on her and showed up to break the shell. And in that moment where we see all the joy finally seeping out of her, the sadness and realization of it all comes spilling out, making a pretty grand puddle of character development between these two, that for me would stick in my head the whole way through. From this chapter on, I was just utterly, obsessively addicted.
Pretty soon, I didn't even care about getting back to whatever other daily agendas sat waiting for me. All I wanted to do was just read and read. It was almost hypnotic, chapter by chapter, watching the plot gradually dig out more and more devastating origin about the school. Seeing all these wonderful eccentric characters gradually change. Letting the events take us through Kat and Annie's beautiful friendship, as it kept on growing tighter and more endearing. Watching how such a cute and imaginative story, slowly became more illusive and complex. Before I knew it, I was already far past the panel I'd seen on Google. With all the immersive story and plot reveals drowning me in this enthralling world, I'd completely lost interest. And honestly, it only got better from there. When Monday had reared  around it's disgusting face and school came around to drag me out of my safe and cozy computer chair...well let me just express it like this.


(Nothin' like some good ol' drawing and a little MS Paint editing to show your love for something!)

It was all so amazing! Aaaaaaaaaaaand then I caught up.... :l
So now indeed part of the fanbase, the first thing I wanted to do was talk to someone about this comic. So the first place I went to was Facebook, which didn't really seem to have too much activity. It was here I figured out that Gunnerkrigg Court didn't really have too massive of a fanbase, which honestly pains me lots. Don't get me wrong, I mean there is definitely fanbase, but it's somewhat niche compared to something like maybe Scott Pilgrim. (unfair comparison, I know. After all that comic had an entire film.) Anyway, I tried Tumblr, and boy had the fanbase really shined there. But despite the huge abundance of awesome fans, eye opening, retrospective, revelations regarding Annie's past, and Tear jerking Mort posts, I'm not too sure how Tumblr works and how to talk to the fans there. So yeah, I came here. Seeing as this place seemed to be perfect for long appreciative fan-drooling posts. I've told just about every close friend and sibling I know about this story, desperately begging them to read it. (Believe me, when you're this obsessed over something, it's a little hard to keep your mouth shut about it. >_> ) But no one has really picked it up like how I did. :/ It's a pretty huge shame, a comic as compelling as this one really deserves a bigger fanbase.
Now I'm just sitting in my seat like the rest of you, waiting for the next chapter. Only Tom knows what emotional jug he'll leave for us to cry in, so he can drink from more of our tears. Like seriously though Tom, did you really have to have that last page of the empty rooms? I'm fairly sure we were all sobbing enough by then...
Anyway that gigantic monstrosity is my personal experience with the comic and all it's sadly obscure glory. Feel free to give me your personal insight on the story. After all, I did start this purely for the fact of talking to the fans. 

[GK Sierra]

>Feel free to give me your personal insight on the story.

Always take care when using adjectives. For example:

>Anyway (comma) that gigantic monstrosity is my personal experience with the comic and (in) all it's sadly obscure glory.

SPOILER: Click to show

Welcome aboard, and don't forget- you're here forever.

[CloudedAtTheMoment]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll make sure to take note. It's just kind of hard to fully describe something with one sentence. :/
Anyway, you seem to know you're way around. Know any threads like mine that where I can talk about this kind of stuff?

[GK Sierra]

May 19, 2014 0:26:45 GMT CloudedAtTheMoment said:

I found one of the panels to this particular comic that really caught my eye. Something about it's stylized look spoke to me. Not sure really how to describe it, but it's vibrant colors and unique art style really grabbed my attention.

I completely agree about the eye-catching look. There's nothing else quite like it out there, and that's a sign of an artist who is really good, really confident with their craft, and has their own style going on. It's one of those things where you only have to take a glance at just a bit of the art and you know you want to read it.

And on top of that, he can write fantastic, interwoven storylines complete with foreshadowing? Goddamn. I'm still struggling with that, and I'm not drawing a six or seven panel comic with every few lines of dialogue like Tom is.

May 19, 2014 0:45:34 GMT CloudedAtTheMoment said:

Know any threads like mine that where I can talk about this kind of stuff?

I think general discussion might be the closest match-

gunnerkrigg.proboards.com/thread/2066/general-discussion-board

You may also be interested in the introduction thread-

gunnerkrigg.proboards.com/thread/116/introduction-thread

[CloudedAtTheMoment]

Okay, I'll give those a shot. Thanks a lot.

[GK Sierra]

May 19, 2014 1:08:08 GMT CloudedAtTheMoment said:

Okay, I'll give those a shot. Thanks a lot.

Also, uh... I didn't see an explanation for why you are vomiting in each page of the comic. Can you elaborate?

SPOILER: Click to show

It might be the swag milk. Just saying.

[CloudedAtTheMoment]

It's supposed be intense drooling and not vomit, my good man. It's to highlight my obsession with the comic, conveying how I fantasized over wanting to read it. But I can understand why you're confused. That comic was initially intended for an audience with a much more random since of humor, like say Tumblr. That and it does kinda look like vomit now...
Looking back at it now, it might be unnecessary. Think I might get rid of it.

Swag milk was actually my original idea, but I realized the hypothetical concept was far too sophisticated and would merely bypass the dull-witted confines of the average Homo sapien's thinking capacity.
   

[philman]

For discussion of topics, we usually have a new thread for each comic page to discuss new developments etc.

If you want to talk about something specific, then feel free to start a new one on a topic. Oh and since you seem to be an artist too, check out these three pages as well if you have anything to add... (Also this one which is a bit more serious)

And welcome aboard, The chapter you mentioned is where I always felt the comic started to get more interesting as well, changing from a random 'character of the week' type of thing into a deeper and more emotional story.

Out of interest, did you ever find the page that first attracted you to the comic? Or did that get lost in the archive binge once you got into it!

[Rasselas]

I found that fan comic hilarious (and true). Welcome!

Lurk in the forums for a while, and you'll figure out the main threads. Mostly it's based on new threads for each new update, where people discuss and speculate. There are some general threads, a general speculation thread, and such. You'll find them!

I think the moment I was hooked was the line "A god came out of the forest," in Fangs of Summertime. Funny enough, it showed Ysengrin first, and it's only later that we find out that the god is Coyote. Well, Ysengrin is some kind of demi-godly creature too.

Or maybe it was Zimmy and Gamma. Or the Court itself. Or Shadow 2. Ever since that line, "I seem to have obtained a second shadow" I knew I was going to keep reading.

[Daedalus]

May 19, 2014 1:08:08 GMT CloudedAtTheMoment said:

Okay, I'll give those a shot. Thanks a lot.

Seconding the welcoming message!! This is possibly the best place on the internet, so enjoy we even have a religion - have you seen it?

[CoyoteReborn]

May 19, 2014 1:08:08 GMT CloudedAtTheMoment said:

Okay, I'll give those a shot. Thanks a lot.

A new victim? Fabulous! I am the great god Coyote, whose teeth are daggers and bones are the stones of the Earth! You may cower if you wish! (preen) And you are?

[Deleted]

Here is my personal experience with Gunnerkrigg Court: After two years of readership, I am steadily losing interest in the comic; but I feel unable to point out exactly why that is, because the art, at the same time, seems to be improving just as steadily - Kat presenting the visceral, cyclopean camcorder and giving the thumbs-up, for example, made for a brilliantly funny panel. Lately, since my switch to Slavistics, I've been reading a much larger variety of short stories, personal letters and poems, and also pretty much everything by Borges, and Eco's Name of the Rose; I stopped translating the comic into German as a fan-project two months ago when I got to the horse robot quoting Paradise Lost, having realized that I'd rather, well, be reading Paradise Lost. Perhaps I just prefer the works of people who are blind, or long dead, or Italian. This is all so confusing.

I still like this comic, but I seem to have misplaced the delight I used to find consistently when reading it, despite two months of cold-turkey abstinence. Perhaps I just need to give it some chapters' time.

[GK Sierra]

May 20, 2014 2:41:15 GMT @korba said:

I still like this comic, but I seem to have misplaced the delight I used to find consistently when reading it, despite two months of cold-turkey abstinence.

I think perhaps it is as much the readers as it is the comic. Just look at this thread. Clearly the magic of discovery is not dead, we've just become accustomed to it. A lot of us have been reading for years, and some have been around for almost a decade now. People get older. People change.

[Daedalus]

May 20, 2014 18:08:45 GMT GK Sierra said:

May 20, 2014 2:41:15 GMT @korba said:

I still like this comic, but I seem to have misplaced the delight I used to find consistently when reading it, despite two months of cold-turkey abstinence.

I think perhaps it is as much the readers as it is the comic. Just look at this thread. Clearly the magic of discovery is not dead, we've just become accustomed to it. A lot of us have been reading for years, and some have been around for almost a decade now. People get older. People change.

I also agree that the comic itself has lost something recently, but it will be regained. I have faith.

[Chancellor]

I've only been around since...Eh, January? So I suppose I either haven't been with it long enough, or I just haven't noticed anything.

And weelcomer.

[CloudedAtTheMoment]

Posted by philman
May 19, 2014 at 2:17am
For discussion of topics, we usually have a new thread for each comic page to discuss new developments etc.

If you want to talk about something specific, then feel free to start a new one on a topic. Oh and since you seem to be an artist too, check out these three pages as well if you have anything to add... (Also this one which is a bit more serious)

And welcome aboard, The chapter you mentioned is where I always felt the comic started to get more interesting as well, changing from a random 'character of the week' type of thing into a deeper and more emotional story.

Out of interest, did you ever find the page that first attracted you to the comic? Or did that get lost in the archive binge once you got into it!

Oh, I found it alright. But the thing is that by the time I discovered it, I was so enthralled by the story that it didn't concern me nearly as much as it did at first. Don't get me wrong, the panel is still great to look at and all, but I ended up finding an even greater story that had caught my eye substantially. I'm actually currently working on a GC drawing, so I'll definitely visit those fan art threads and post it up.

Posted by Rasselas
yesterday at 3:50am
I found that fan comic hilarious (and true). Welcome!

Lurk in the forums for a while, and you'll figure out the main threads. Mostly it's based on new threads for each new update, where people discuss and speculate. There are some general threads, a general speculation thread, and such. You'll find them!

I think the moment I was hooked was the line "A god came out of the forest," in Fangs of Summertime. Funny enough, it showed Ysengrin first, and it's only later that we find out that the god is Coyote. Well, Ysengrin is some kind of demi-godly creature too.

Or maybe it was Zimmy and Gamma. Or the Court itself. Or Shadow 2. Ever since that line, "I seem to have obtained a second shadow" I knew I was going to keep reading.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. The line in particular hooked you in? That's kinda different. But GC has some fantastic dialogue, so I can't argue.
(Annie: How could I possibly help against these monsters? I'm supposed to be a diplomat!
Coyote: Haha so start speaking their language!) I'm sure there are other better quotes but this one comes to mind for some reason.
And yeah, kinda odd how they first show Ysengrin. I dunno, maybe he was trying to build up to Coyote's appearance/design or something.

While I can say that Hands full of dirt might be my favorite chapter, I've put a whole lot of thought into some of the others too. I mean Chapter 6 is a great hook and really shines with the character development, but I'm starting to find myself leaning more towards other chapters that have a huge shift in mood too. One in particular I feel like taking a moment to hold on my pedestal is Fire Spike. This one still gets to me emotionally. I mean wow, the confrontation between Annie and Renard is just pretty damn intense. Seeing how both of them just kept going at each others throats. And we even get another glimpse at Annie's bitter side in this one too, when she tells him about how Surma never loved him. I dunno, but just the way she smiled as she kept smothering him with this cruel revelation hit me as really disturbing. Like you could tell that she was really getting some kind of sick since of enjoyment from taunting him. Things just keep building up until Renard just utterly crushes her, when he reveals how her existence led to Surma's death. Everything in this chapter is just incredible, and the emotions behind it hit hard. I just can't express enough love for how Tom illustrated Antimony's devastation.

I absolutely adore the way he gives everything in her crying, running scene a sort of broken distorted look to represent just how heartbroken and crashed her world has become. He really manages to capture the feeling of being absolutely miserable, unsure of where to go, but just wanting to desperately escape from the situation. That sort of hopeless, overwhelming desire to just be anywhere but there, that only a young teenager going through a lot of drama can comprehend. And I mean, to be able to capture so much of that feeling in a comic through only depictions, is truly, honestly a walloping feat. I have to give all my praise to Tom for that.

daedalus
yesterday at 8:35pm

Seconding the welcoming message!! This is possibly the best place on the internet, so enjoy we even have a religion - have you seen it?

I don't believe I have, but I assure you that ever since I caught up to this comic, I've prayed every night to the divine god of compelling story telling, Tom Siddell. For his righteous gospel is what keeps the wretched depths of hell at bay. And so I preach of our lord and savoir, spreading the word of his cleansing depictions.
...
Foreal doe, I'd totally worship a religion over this webcomic. My obsessive compulsive need to love it already begs me to do so. XD

Lord Coyote
yesterday at 8:50pm

A new victim? Fabulous! I am the great god Coyote, whose teeth are daggers and bones are the stones of the Earth! You may cower if you wish! (preen) And you are?

Why, salutations my good sir! I am unworthy to be greeted by such an angelic beast of divine powers. For, every letter of your text alone on my computer screen is equivalent to the powerful gusts of a mighty hurricane.  
The funny thing is that behind this well made persona, for all you guys know this guy right here might be Tom Siddell in another account. ...Just speculating..

daedalus
2 hours ago
GK Sierra Avatar
10 hours ago GK Sierra said:
korba Avatar
yesterday at 9:41pm korba said:
I still like this comic, but I seem to have misplaced the delight I used to find consistently when reading it, despite two months of cold-turkey abstinence.
I think perhaps it is as much the readers as it is the comic. Just look at this thread. Clearly the magic of discovery is not dead, we've just become accustomed to it. A lot of us have been reading for years, and some have been around for almost a decade now. People get older. People change.

I also agree that the comic itself has lost something recently, but it will be regained. I have faith.
Posted by Chancellor
2 hours ago
I've only been around since...Eh, January? So I suppose I either haven't been with it long enough, or I just haven't noticed anything.

And weelcomer.

Honestly, I'm kinda having trouble understanding what exactly it is about the comic that you guys feel is lacking. For me, the plot is only getting more admirable. I mean will admit that maybe some things have kind of fallen out of the loop just a tad. I mean things like Kat's sudden turn in sexuality was just a little sudden, and I can admit it's a bit of a stretch from her character in previous chapters. But I wouldn't consider too much of a set back. Clearly her and Annie are still very close....Well, I do have to admit I kind of liked the idea of Annie and Kat having only each other. And I don't mean as a relationship, but more just as too very endearing friends who were going to stick together through thick and thin, slowly digging out more of the Court's uncharted past. I don't know, the two are still close so I don't think it's all that bad to just have another person tag along. I suppose my only worry is just whether or not she'll always be present during their adventures. But getting back on topic, I really think the story is still great. However one thing I definitely think of as a setback about the comic is it's rate of progress. 3 Pages a week doesn't leave a whole lot to read once you've spent a whole weekend on the edge of your seat. Under these circumstances, I think I can see how you would begin to fall out of the series. Because I was new to it all, I was given the luxury of experiencing the series at fast natural pace, where as older fans had to get past each arc page by page. Unfortunately for me I experienced it chapter by chapter. Don't misunderstand me, I absolutely appreciate Tom's hard work and certainly don't want to rush him, considering how amazing one page alone can look. But personally I'd rather prefer a bit of a different system. Maybe a chapter every 3rd week/month or something. That way at least we could get a full segment of advancing plot. There's only so much satisfaction that can be given with a certain number of pages.        

Anyway thanks a lot for welcoming me to this site everyone! I'm glad this thread is beginning to pick up a little.


     

  

[CoyoteReborn]

May 21, 2014 1:56:14 GMT Daedalus said:

May 20, 2014 18:08:45 GMT GK Sierra said:

I think perhaps it is as much the readers as it is the comic. Just look at this thread. Clearly the magic of discovery is not dead, we've just become accustomed to it. A lot of us have been reading for years, and some have been around for almost a decade now. People get older. People change.

I also agree that the comic itself has lost something recently, but it will be regained. I have faith.

One thing that it is missing is Me! We have forgotten what is most important and sexy in the comic (sulk) I demand reparations!

[keef]

May 20, 2014 2:41:15 GMT @korba said:

when I got to the horse robot quoting Paradise Lost, having realized that I'd rather, well, be reading Paradise Lost.

There is a time for Bach and there is a time for Miles Davis.

[Rasselas]

I don't feel that the comic has lost anything. It's still just as interesting and thrilling to me as it used to be.

You gotta also have in mind that it's been going for years now. A child would already be in school if they were born when the comic started.

[philman]

I have felt that the comic has got more serious lately, as we've been concentrating a lot on the deeper mysteries and less on the school or comical events. I don't take that to mean that the comic is getting bad, its just changing, as any story does. The major events of the last few chapters have not really lent themselves to humour.

[Rymdljus]

My two cents: This comic has been in a constant state of change since the beginning. Every few chapters, it becomes a bit different: the way it's drawn, the way it's paced, the way the dialogue is written. It's always evolving, and what we might have liked from the beginning isn't necessarily there anymore. But it keeps getting bigger and more complex. And gosh golly if it isn't still the best comic on the internet.

May 21, 2014 10:03:24 GMT Rasselas said:

You gotta also have in mind that it's been going for years now. A child would already be in school if they were born when the comic started.

WHOA.

[sidhekin]

Every long-running comic eventually loses some of its "raw". This "raw" appeals to me. More slick (art as well as story) is often less charming. To me.

GK has indeed lost that "raw", and my experience with other comics (and stories) suggests it will not recover it. If that "raw" were the only good thing I found in the comic, I'd have dropped it.

But it retains other qualities I find endearing and entertaining, so I still take delight in it. A different delight, sure, but still.

[Deleted]

May 21, 2014 8:51:45 GMT keef said:

May 20, 2014 2:41:15 GMT @korba said:

when I got to the horse robot quoting Paradise Lost, having realized that I'd rather, well, be reading Paradise Lost.

There is a time for Bach and there is a time for Miles Davis.

I need to say that you're one of my favourite users on this forum. But, if some brutal journalists' academy forced me to express my feelings by means of a football analogy, I would rank this comic as the Udinese Calcio to Bach's Internazionale under the reign of Herrera or Davis' Hungarian national football team of the 1950s (him acting the part of Nandor Hidegkuti, of course).

I don't believe that my problem stems from some objective decline in artistic quality; on the contrary, I think that the artwork is constantly improving on the whole. I can pinpoint my greatest disappointment with the latest chapter as easily as my favourite part (the camcorder): that would be Mort's absorption by the Ether, which is depicted as a comfortable retreat into a featureless white void as he blissfully forgets everything; in other words, much the same as an anonymous patient's death from an overdose of anaesthetics that the hospital silently chooses to cover up. It seems strange to me that the Etherized souls should forget their closest friends, yet continue to nourish the much more distant beings of mythology; that would lead me to consider all mythological beings in the comic as parasitic by nature, destroying or at least disregarding the peculiarities of a personal fate in order to fuel their own existence.

By the way, Mort's soul being disputed over by two different afterlife guides has sort of a prominent parallel in literature that someone might want to look at, perhaps (Dante, Div.Comm., Inferno XXVII ll. 112-123).

Here's a different excerpt from Dante that I find visually appealing, and perhaps serves to illustrate what I lately feel this comic is lacking - not because of what is depicted, but because of the way it is depicted. Presented without context: (Purgatorio XXVI, ll. 43-51):

SPOILER: Click to show

Poi, come grue ch'a le montagne Rife
volasse parte, e parte inver l'arene,
queste del gel, quelle del sole schife,
l'una gente sen va, l'altra sen vene,
e tornan lagrimando a' primi canti
e al gridar che più lor si convene,
e raccostansi a mi, come davanti,
essi medesmi che m'avean pregato,
attenti ad ascoltar ne' lor sembianti.

(Then, like cranes, some of which would fly towards the Rifean mountains, and others towards the sands, these fleeing the cold and those the sun, one crowd of people goes [further away, cf. Span. irse], the other draws near; and they turn [again], crying, to their first songs, and to the cry that fits them best, and approached me like [they had done] before, the same ones that had prayed to [or: begged] me, all eager to listen, apparently [lit. "in their appearances/semblances"].)

[fish]

May 21, 2014 15:24:47 GMT @korba said:

I can pinpoint my greatest disappointment with the latest chapter as easily as my favourite part (the camcorder): that would be Mort's absorption by the Ether, which is depicted as a comfortable retreat into a featureless white void as he blissfully forgets everything; in other words, much the same as an anonymous patient's death from an overdose of anaesthetics that the hospital silently chooses to cover up.

It seems you have an ideological problem with this storyline. That's a togh one. No matter how good the story, if it betrays your ideals, the bitter aftertaste is gonna last a while.

I've had this problem with some stories before (Harry Potter is one that comes to my mind), but never with Gunnerkrigg Court.

But don't give up on it just yet, maybe this whole ether-thing will be questioned at some point.

[Purgatorius]

When I first found this comic and started reading, I remember restraining myself from reading too much at once, so that I wouldn't read up all the published comics too fast. One chapter per day was my rule, if I remember correctly.

[CloudedAtTheMoment]

Wow, I really should've tried your one chapter per day method. :/

[Deleted]

May 21, 2014 17:47:32 GMT fish said:

It seems you have an ideological problem with this storyline. That's a togh one. No matter how good the story, if it betrays your ideals, the bitter aftertaste is gonna last a while.

I've had this problem with some stories before (Harry Potter is one that comes to my mind), but never with Gunnerkrigg Court.

But don't give up on it just yet, maybe this whole ether-thing will be questioned at some point.

I usually tell myself that neither religion nor politics as such fascinate me, unless they are relevant to a certain work of art. Here, in this case, I consider my problem a structural one: the force that sustains people's shared imagination sustains itself by deleting the wealth of individual memory. Now, I actually find this self-conflicting combination very interesting; in contrast, what is not interesting at all is a completely white background, or death looking mostly as life already does. Considering that the Ether is usually realized in a particularly gorgeous manner, as are backgrounds in general throughout this comic, I found Mort's transformation rather lacking in comparison. Even though the emptyness of the background was probably the point, also serving to highlight the importance of Annie's actions while briefly cosplaying as Beatrice, (Kat's comment, "is that it?", seems like a subtle hint at this), I cannot bring myself to like the scene, simply because it is dull to me. In other words, you're completely right: my motive is ultimately ideological - because nothing expresses one's ideology quite as well as interest and disinterest.

I also didn't like the narratives of Chapters 43-45 much at all, not so much due to some girls of Spanish ancestry kissing each other on the mouth, as I must inform one Mr. Cloud Strife, who must have misunderstood my intentions thoroughly; but rather owing to the strange strain of facile sentimentality that pervades them. To use a counter-example of a scene I liked very much, from this same comic:
When Annie breaks down into tears during Fire Spike over Renard's cruel statements (factually correct, and still wrong), one is compelled to sympathize with her; but at the same time, one has been alienated by her similar cruelty towards Renard and her arrogance in stealing Kat's homework all the time - using a friend that she genuinely, deeply loves, in order to support her self-centered, blindly rebellious truancy. All this tension, all these contradictions and mixed colours, so to speak, give the impression of a very well-crafted situation, thereby creating conflict (and thus engagement) in the reader themselves.

By contrast, Chapters 43 and 44 finished with one-sided fight scenes, in which the losing side was portrayed as blatantly, undeniably brutish, which is probably the least interesting type of conflict in fiction, no matter the execution (in both cases, I enjoyed the visuals!). The conflict in Chapter 45 - impatience and idle moments disquieting, as time passes, two people who already know how they are obviously in love with each other, until one of them bests their fears in a display of what makes humans great - was built up very well in my opinion, but I feel like the tension was resolved somewhat too effortlessly, with Kat not having contributed enough. (For the record, I once made essentially the same remark about Posthumus' part in Cymbeline, and I love that play regardless.)
But the improvised candlelight dinner/bio-electrical experiment, with a bunsen burner acting as a candle and lab coats as fashionable eveningwear (I cannot tell you how fundamentally funny I find this), which ends in noxious clouds of artificial blue smoke, like any good disaster of a date, makes for such a great scene that everything I've bickered about in this thread immediately becomes a non-issue. Or take Paz' "It's nice and cold in here!"/"No, I like to see it!" inside the not-so immediately fascinating server room, which goes to show something beautiful about what love means to her, I think. It furthermore demonstrates how stronger impressions tend to be left by more precise sentences, when they are enriched by their unspeakable circumstances - something that this comic, in my opinion, has always excelled at, and, of course, still does.

I do like this comic; very much so, even. Enough to type a few words about it, even. It's just that I seem to prefer other stuff now, which will not detract from the fond memories I already have, nor keep me from checking back for every update anyway. At this point, to sum it all up, I'm not even sure if I've succeeded in making any sense of my thoughts at all.

[keef]

May 21, 2014 15:24:47 GMT @korba said:

a football analogy

Please don't, I hate soccer. I'm Dutch, my country goes completely ape-shit when there is some tournament coming up.

I can pinpoint my greatest disappointment with the latest chapter as easily as my favourite part (the camcorder): that would be Mort's absorption by the Ether, which is depicted as a comfortable retreat into a featureless white void as he blissfully forgets everything.

Death in the Gunnerverse is at least an interesting experience. You can have an afterlife, record your last thoughts, and then as boredom sets in, or whatever reason, you can choose for oblivion. We don't know for sure all memories are wiped, they might well become part of some sort of collective memory; giving shape to the gods.

In my opinion it beats death in the real world.  It maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I agree with Peggy Lee it's probably going to be the final disappointment.

It seems strange to me that the Etherized souls should forget their closest friends, yet continue to nourish the much more distant beings of mythology; that would lead me to consider all mythological beings in the comic as parasitic by nature, destroying or at least disregarding the peculiarities of a personal fate in order to fuel their own existence.

But it is not like that. The guides come when you have just died, you remember everything until the moment you are dissolved in the Ether. OK, after that your Godfood.
It's stretching the meaning of “parasite”. Dead animals and people enrich the soil we grow our crops on, that does not make us parasites. Although you could call the gods scavengers.

[Deleted]

May 21, 2014 22:05:47 GMT keef said:

May 21, 2014 15:24:47 GMT @korba said:

a football analogy

Please don't, I hate soccer.

Hissssss

Death in the Gunnerverse is at least an interesting experience. You can have an afterlife, record your last thoughts, and then as boredom sets in, or whatever reason, you can choose for oblivion. We don't know for sure all memories are wiped, they might well become part of some sort of collective memory; giving shape to the gods.

I once thought about making a videotape that would consist of maybe two minutes of myself talking about my achievements and dreams on a fixed date every year, and then arranging for the tape to be played at my funeral, instead of some moralizing or blindly hopeful sermon; but I still feel much too young to do this (and, on top of that, too old to die young).

In my opinion it beats death in the real world.  It maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I agree with Peggy Lee it's probably going to be the final disappointment.

The most unappealing thing about death is how it tends to be less of a concluding fermata, and more like someone interrupting your mental preparations for a marriage proposal with a shrill "Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know the time".

But it is not like that. The guides come when you have just died, you remember everything until the moment you are dissolved in the Ether. OK, after that your Godfood.

I thought that Mort was already unable to remember Annie when she kissed him on the forehead, before he had fully dissolved, as suggested by his calling her "Miss"; but that might also have been due to a momentary tingle of very understandable confusion.

It's stretching the meaning of “parasite”. Dead animals and people enrich the soil we grow our crops on, that does not make us parasites. Although you could call the gods scavengers.

The exact workings of the Ether are unclear, but if the Etheric beings are born from large-scale generalizations of individual memories, they are harmful to their hosts (human minds) in a certain way, because they suppress the unique imaginative capacities of each human being. I think this is reflected in the comic as well; the divine beings Coyote and Jones both have extremely one-dimensional, consistent personalities, and both of them are magnificent, but their beauty lacks what sidhekin called "rawness" in this thread - that very quality that made Wedekind's Lulu the most alluring woman of them all, which must not be confused with tepid vulgarities; and which, of course, is often alluded to, and never precisely pinned down.

Of course, I do appreciate how a shared cultural code makes it easier for people to communicate their ideas (we require more vampire butts in this modern romantic novel, more cigarette butts in this modern detective novel); and great artists are fully capable of transforming the abstract blazon of, say, Pallas Athena into works of art that defy parametric description.

I guess this is talking ideology again.

[GK Sierra]

May 21, 2014 22:05:47 GMT keef said:

Please don't, I hate soccer. I'm Dutch

>Dutch
>Hates football
>Calls it soccer



I have some bad news keef. According to the readouts from the Yankee-o-meter, you might be a closet American.

SPOILER: Click to show

I would alert your next of kin. There's a significant drop in life expectancy associated with this condition.