[365]Is she a teacher?

[Mezzaphor]

traedl said:

Come on, she's not sacrificing babies to the devil. She's a person.

The trail of wrongdoing has to start somewhere. Slippery slope and all that. ;D

(Actually, that reminds me of something Todd posted after it was revealed that Annie stole that photo. Read the last paragraph.)

I agree with Starban and Asuka on the shock (SHOCK!) towards Annie cheating. And I really shouldn't have been so surprised, considering that she's lied and stolen before.

Hmm... I wonder if this has anything to do with Annie's mistrust of Sir Eglamore.

(Someone should make Annie watch this.)

[todd]

Speaking of the girl in the photo (since Tom mentioned it in the comments), does anybody besides me suspect that she's dead - and probably died while Surma, Anthony, James and the Donlans were still students? It might explain why she hasn't shown up since (which is suspicious, given the importance, in one form or another, of the other five people in the photograph).

For that matter, I wouldn't be at all surprised if her death turned out to be connected to the backstory - maybe, for example, Reynardine had something to do with it, which led to his being imprisoned in the holding pens.

[neal]

I'm not sure where people are getting the whole "strict moral code" and "Annie would never!" thing. She's broken rules, lied, and stolen before, all of which generally don't point to a strictly upright moral bearing. She's got strong convictions, and strong sense of personal morality, but that doesn't mean she's totally aligned with society's priorities in said moral code.

That being said, cheating on a lab isn't exactly a gasp worthy event. I got through four years of science by letting my best friend copy my data and then copying his calculations. I'm rubbish at maths, he's rubbish at science, we're like symbiotic organisms!

And the assumption that she doesn't need to cheat because she's smart is silly. Everyone has weaknesses. Maybe Quantum Mechanics isn't such a strong point for her. (Man, I'm a college student and we just did that experiment. This is an accelerated science course.)

So, Jones. I'm with the kids here. IS she a teacher? Also, something that hasn't really been commented on, probably because it is unnessecary: Jones is beautiful. Very beautiful. Wow.

Tom, I'm in love with you. That comment made me laugh so hard.

[Vratislav]

I think that Annnie's "moral code" is moreless OK. People can have own morality prior to given rules.
I have the rule that I may do anything that doesn't harm anybody, regardless on written laws. It allows me to trespass against many pedantic (or straightly stupid) rules/laws without having conscience problems. (Leave legal aspects aside, please :-) ). And I am sure that Annie's personal rules are very close to this approach - that's why I like her character.

[faxmaster]

neal said:

That being said, cheating on a lab isn't exactly a gasp worthy event. I got through four years of science by letting my best friend copy my data and then copying his calculations. I'm rubbish at maths, he's rubbish at science, we're like symbiotic organisms!

And the assumption that she doesn't need to cheat because she's smart is silly. Everyone has weaknesses. Maybe Quantum Mechanics isn't such a strong point for her. (Man, I'm a college student and we just did that experiment. This is an accelerated science course.)

Its worth remembering that Tom has set up a very bi-polar world here, and Kat is portrayed (quite obviously) as the one in tune with the science side of things, while Annie is connected to the mystical and natural. That Annie would have trouble with science makes quite a lot of sense, and fits nicely into the themes already in the comic.

[spritznar]

faxmaster said:

Its worth remembering that Tom has set up a very bi-polar world here, and Kat is portrayed (quite obviously) as the one in tune with the science side of things, while Annie is connected to the mystical and natural. That Annie would have trouble with science makes quite a lot of sense, and fits nicely into the themes already in the comic.

while i agree that annie's science troubles aren't unexpected, i wouldn't call tom's world bi-polar. look at kat's parents - both of them are science teachers who also appear to possess mystical abilities

[Midnight Meadows]

As fun as reading into this is, I would be inclined to say that it's probably more simple than we think.

Showing her cheating is just a device to illustrate that Annie is, in fact, a human person with flaws just like the rest of us. Throughout the majority of the comic she seems a little too perfect and maybe even 'invincible,' if you will. Tom threw this in to balance it out, as any good writer should.
Crossing the line into 'Mary-Sue' territory is bad news.

[neal]

Oh geez, don't even mention the dreaded word! Not Mary Sue!

[fr4tbrn]

We forgot one other thing: we're actually seeing Jones's lower half! So much for any theories on if she's part tree-whatever.

And the thought of Annie as a Mary Sue makes me cry.

[todd]

One thing that worried me while reading the comments on the main page was that many people posting them apparently were bewildered about who Ms. Jones was. Either they haven't read Chapter Fourteen or else they've forgotten the events in it already.

Annie's moral code does seem to have its peculiarities: back in Chapter One, she looked for a way to get Shadow2 back to Gillitie that wouldn't require her to cross the bridge herself and thereby break school rules, but her solution involved taking robot parts out of one of the school storerooms, which might be considered theft of school property. (Not to mention - though to be fair, she didn't realize this at the time - that she thereby started an "international incident" that, by the end of her first year, had almost brought Gunnerkrigg and Gillitie to the brink of war.)

[cenit]

you're worried about that Todd? Some of the people in the comments interpreted from Tom's remark that the woman in the last pannels "was not Jones", and that of course Tom must be lying... which mean that a lot of people are still thinking that Jones is the girl in the picture

[aijuan]

That girl not being Gamma's mom nor the girl in the photo doesn't mean that she isn't Jones.

[cenit]

Of course she is Jones (that or I'm seriously blind), but some people in the comments gave me the impression of thinking otherwise.

[popo]

It is obviously Jones' twin sister.

[starban]

It looks to me like the person in the photo has light brown hair, not blonde


either that or I'm blind

[Tenjen]

It is obviously Jones' twin sister.

You mean one of her clones. ahem*

[popo]

Clones? Now you're just being silly.

[Mezzaphor]

The people not recognizing Ms. Jones might just have started reading after chapter 14. When you read that much in one sitting, you're reading for the story, so a lot of details fall through the cracks.

I remember I started reading the comic partway through chapter 7, and it wasn't until my second read-through of the archives that I realized that the dragon slayer and the gym teacher were the same person.

[todd]

mezzaphor said:

The people not recognizing Ms. Jones might just have started reading after chapter 14. When you read that much in one sitting, you're reading for the story, so a lot of details fall through the cracks.

I remember I started reading the comic partway through chapter 7, and it wasn't until my second read-through of the archives that I realized that the dragon slayer and the gym teacher were the same person.

Good point. I've got a good memory, but I had to reread Chapter Seven to realize that the bridge that Annie ran out onto was outside of school grounds. (Before I remembered that, I thought that Annie's detention for leaving school grounds was for being knocked off the bridge into the forest by the possessed Robot - which certainly seemed questionable. Giving her detention for running out onto the bridge, on the other hand, made sense.)

[rallan]

neal said:

Oh geez, don't even mention the dreaded word! Not Mary Sue!

Well y'know, when you think about it...

She's psychic. She's really really smart and good at virtually everything she does. She's got a mysterious family secret. She's got angst about having a mysterious family secret. She's got a small circle of friends because she's busy being really deep and taking care of Serious Business. She turns up and nobody bats an eyelid at her taking centre-stage in virtually everything. Her name has symbolism. Absolutely everyone except Zimmy likes her right from the start, and she and Zimmy end up with a mutual respect after an angsty "awww" moment.

Let's be honest, the one thing saving Antimony Carver from Mary Sue status is that we all agree that yes, she really is as awesome as the author thinks she is

[Yeagger]

Agh, I'd totally forgoten Jones. I thought she was another new character. XD

Oh look, my first post.

[Count Casimir]

As I see it, Annie cheating ain't the issue. The issue is that she didn't ask Kat. Remember when she teared up as soon as Kat came back? Annie's not the type to hang back from asking Kat for help, and her look of extreme guilt as well as the secretive way she takes it while Kat's back is turned makes it seem like she's nervous. Maybe about Medium lessons?

And todd, you're only 4 posts away from the most metal number ever!

[fr4tbrn]

countcasimir said:

And todd, you're only 4 posts away from the most metal number ever!

You realize that he can never post again after reaching that number.

[todd]

One other thing stops Annie from being a Mary Sue; she's the main character in the story, not someone inserted by a fan into someone else's story to take over from the main characters.

[Mezzaphor]

The term "Mary Sue" has evolved over time; it doesn't just apply to characters from fan fiction anymore. See Canon Sue.

EDIT: I ran Annie through this Mary-Sue litmus test. She scored 11.

0-16 Points: Most likely Not-Sue. Characters at this level could probably take a little spicing up without hurting them any.

[nikita]

todd said:

Not to mention - though to be fair, she didn't realize this at the time - that she thereby started an "international incident" that, by the end of her first year, had almost brought Gunnerkrigg and Gillitie to the brink of war.)

Since the central issue in that scandal was Court technology seemingly digging into Gillitie Wood, which turned out to be a lie, technically it's Ysengrins "fault".

Annie has her own opinion about what's moral. She owns lockpicks (and uses them) and in general isn't afraid to steal stuff (Robot parts, Robots CPU, maybe the photo).
So, it's not that shoking that/if she's cheating .

[spritznar]

mezzaphor said:

The term "Mary Sue" has evolved over time; it doesn't just apply to characters from fan fiction anymore. See Canon Sue.

EDIT: I ran Annie through this Mary-Sue litmus test. She scored 11.

0-16 Points: Most likely Not-Sue. Characters at this level could probably take a little spicing up without hurting them any.

oh man, mezzaphor, i can't believe you ran annie through a mary-sue litmus test. i did even know they made mary-sue litmus tests. i'm dying right now

[Mezzaphor]

nikita said:

Annie has her own opinion about what's moral. She owns lockpicks (and uses them) and in general isn't afraid to steal stuff (Robot parts, Robots CPU, maybe the photo).
So, it's not that shoking that/if she's cheating .

She wasn't stealing Robot's CPU, she was rescuing Robot from wrongful imprisonment. (Which she was unintentionally responsible for.)

[popo]

'Responsible' is such a harsh word to use.

[spritznar]

that "Canon Sue" link was a bad bad thing. i've spent the past 2 hours linking through tv tropes.

i shouldn't be allowed near reference materials...