[198] Story Discussion - Hi Zimmy

[Aspen d'Grey]

You know, these would mean a LOT more if Tom would title the individual strips.


Woohoo for me being right about her eyes.

More analysis later. Keep checking this.

For now, z.z

(later 1)
She looks kidna cute with red eyes, and not nearly so creepy. Back to z.z

later 2
Sorry for adding more posts when I've got this one.
Those toes are just plain cute, too.
Um, analysis. The rain has washed her clean! The evil is at least mostly gone, and she's been healed? I wonder if this means that her eyes were just black orbs, tarnished by all the evil that she's seen? Yet again, this raises more questions than it answers, although the ones it answered were v. important. I'm very, very happy to see Zimmy happy, and I want to see Annie's reaction. Betting on not much of one for Wednesday. Yay! This is GREAT. And I think it means that Gamma can get some sleep for a while. Like me... Mmmmm sleep.

[my2k]

Ah, we get the author's comments, they're much better than titles could ever be!

[Aspen d'Grey]

What, so I'm supposed to title this [198] Story Discussion - Hi Zimmy?... actually, that's not a bad idea.

[Deleted]

Haah, but now comes the question-- Why exactly did she need to wait for a rainstorm to wash whatever that was from her eyes? ...Also, why is she still... for lack of a better word, steaming? So many questions! I can't wait for Wednesday!



She's so, so much less creepy now.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Oh yeah, liek everything will really be explained?!

[Deleted]

Haha of course, of course. I don't expect everything to be explained in one strip... or even three, for that matter. But even still... every page comes a little closer, right?

[mudmaniac]

Alas! I doubt we shall ever get an answer to Zimmy and her amazing evaporating noggin.

Nonetheless, she looks cute with red eyes. A sorta "I-will-eat-your-liver" cute.

[blackmantha]

Yes, she does look better with actual eyes. But part of that is that she's actually happy here for the first time.

[Aspen d'Grey]

I don't know if -everything- will be explained, maybe some of it.

This is where I gloat and say I told you so. Wait, dammit, I was going back to sleep.

[Deleted]

You cannot escape the lure of the forums. It is madness to try.

[geminisun]

Wow, the red eyes are actually sorta spooky to me, though it might just be the shock of Zimmy having eyes.

Looks like the comments speculating that the rain was needed for cleansing and purification are right. Zimmy's never looked so happy, despite the sizzling. I guess whatever she is, it causes her to get crudded up in a way that presumably bathwater won't clear away.

This leads me to wonder, actually... How deep does her reality-changing go? Is it possible that she has somehow been causing it not to rain over her? Her visions never seem to be anything pleasant, it would make sense if they also caused the thing she most needed and wanted to never come to her. Tom did make that comment about "sunny Birmingham"...

Which raises yet another question about the Court. What kind of place is it that it can damp out Zimmy's weird static enough that rain can fall on her?

Edit:

asorae said:

Haah, but now comes the question-- Why exactly did she need to wait for a rainstorm to wash whatever that was from her eyes?

Maybe it's something metaphysical. Like, terrestrial water that's been in reservoirs and pipes and stuff won't do it, it has to be water straight from the sky?

[Aspen d'Grey]

Going to agree on that last comment... Rarg, I don't want to keep posting new posts but it will make more sense if I do.
The rain is going to be more 'pure', in the sense that it's been untouched by human hands. I don't think Zimmy's been here for very long, certainly this is her first term (just because this is the first year one can be AT GC, and the hour support that.), so this is her first rainstorm- the Counter would seem to support this. The water from the sky is going to be more magical, and there are probably very good alchemical reasons for this since Tom is so keen on those, but I don't want to go google it... Can someone else do that?

Maybe it's just that the rain from the sky is pure... Ah, I'm repeating myself now. x.x

[Uglyhead]

Shaaaa!

People think she looks less creepy? I think she still looks creepy, just a different brand of creepy. Well, she seems happy enough. She looks kinda like a cat all of a sudden, too. It's probably the "actual eyes" + "needle-ey teeth" combination.

[brice]

I don't think it is at all clear what has happened here (sorry Aspen). As usual there are more questions than answers. Kudos Tom for that.

Did the steaming lightning and the rain uncover eyes that Zimmy already had? Or did she undergo some kind of transmutation? Maybe the eyes are new. Another step along some path of alchemical -- and personal -- transformation?

If she always had these eyes, why was she so affraid and hesitant before the storm? If Gamma knew the rain would cleanse or transform Zimmy, and knew the results would be so good, then why did she tenderly console Zimmy beforehand? Has Gamma seen the rains' effects before? She seemed to know Zimmy would need to go out into the coming storm. Were either of them certain the outcome would be good?

If this is a transmutation, could it have gone another way? A way worth fearing? Perhaps that is how Zimmy's eyes were "lost" to begin with? Maybe the rains are like Russian Roulette for Zimmy? Or did Zimmy recently pass some kind of test? Is this her reward? Do the rains mete out her punishment when she fails?

Will other characters undergo their own transmutations? The rains may work for some. What of the others? Do any of them have any control over their fate in the process? Do they know what the tests are? Do they know the rewards and the possible punishments in advance? The suicide fairies seemed to know their test and it's goal -- but maybe they were left behind because they were actually confused about the rules.

Are the children of GC at the mercy of unseen powers? My sense is no, they all decide their own fates... but they may not understand the rules. Yet. It is a school of sorts after all.

Lastly, and I'm sure we'll find out next update, are Zimmy's feet suddenly huge due to the perspective, or did she get transformed there too?

[alternativeoyster]

zimmy has a fever that is breaking. I don't know if this is a good analogy but i can't help but think of it that way. That is to say, her reality changing is part of her nature, but it's sort of like a fever in some ways.

also this comic is jawsome. and seeing zimmy with eyes is definitely weird.

[Aspen d'Grey]

brice said:

I don't think it is at all clear what has happened here (sorry Aspen). As usual there are more questions than answers. Kudos Tom for that.

Meh, of course there are more questions, that's a good thing. But I do think that whatever has happened to Zimmy is for the better. All I've said about the rain before is that it'd 'clean her up' somehow, especially her eyes. I wasn't expecting quite this much, though.

Damned if I don't like that Russian Roulette idea.

[Deleted]

brice said:

Did the steaming lightning and the rain uncover eyes that Zimmy already had? Or did she undergo some kind of transmutation? Maybe the eyes are new. Another step along some path of alchemical transformation. Turning lead into gold is a long, step by step process.

Aah, exactly what I was thinking. I don't think those eyes were always there. The black parts of pages past seemed too deep for them to have just been 'hidden'. Geh, I don't know. I guess I could see it going both ways. x.x

brice said:

Lastly, and I'm sure we'll find out next update, are Zimmy's feet suddenly huge due to the perspective, or did she get transformed there too?

This made my night. I can go to bed happy. XD


...all this speculation really isn't good for my Sociology homework.

[alternativeoyster]

asorae said:

brice said:

Did the steaming lightning and the rain uncover eyes that Zimmy already had? Or did she undergo some kind of transmutation? Maybe the eyes are new. Another step along some path of alchemical transformation. Turning lead into gold is a long, step by step process.

Aah, exactly what I was thinking. I don't think those eyes were always there. The black parts of pages past seemed too deep for them to have just been 'hidden'. Geh, I don't know. I guess I could see it going both ways. x.x

I figure it was always there. Looking at the strip, you can see black soot running down Zimmy's cheek. It only fully comes off when she rubs it off with her hands.

It's pretty clear, to me at least, that those eyes were always there...

[amaretto]

I like the sound that the rain makes as the downpour strikes. It's like the sky is sighing. Rather appropriate, I think.

[Yin]

Zimmy has eyes! H'ray! Though her soles seem to have disappeared. Or is that just foreshortening?

[dork457]

My avatar: I possibly knew it all along?

[todd]

I was definitely surprised to discover that this would be the effect of the rainfall on Zimmy. (Though it strikes me as almost inevitable that she'd have red eyes.) It'll be fun to see what happens next.

[La Poire]

That – and I don't just mean the eyes, but the whole page – is just really really cute. How I love Zimmy. I'm all for the cleansing rain idea, and I guess Gamma will sleep now, as the chapter title implies. I really can't wait to see what happens next. When they invent short-term cryogenic storage systems I'll just constantly freeze myself on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

[doublehelix]

again...eek, she's not immune to reynardine!

eyes seem to be a recurring theme in this comic. there's zimmy, the means by which reynadrine takes hold of bodies.....and Paz with the clowns that mort conjured up.

[La Poire]

Anyone noticed the huge eye signs all over the holding facility? I actually think it appeared on Mrs Donlan's binding spell as well. What's their significance?

Edit: link for lazy people: www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=51

[Uglyhead]

I just thought they were a "forbidden area" sign. You know, "You're not supposed to be seeing this, this is secret, don't even LOOK."

[La Poire]

What about the binding spell, then? I guess it covers his eyes, but still. And the eye-signs are even inside Reynardine's cell.

[mudmaniac]

It just kinda hit me. Zimmy looks asian.
Black hair, dark skin, GLOWING RED EYES and SHARP POINTY TEETH.....

[La Poire]

mudmaniac said:

It just kinda hit me. Zimmy looks asian.
Black hair, dark skin, GLOWING RED EYES and SHARP POINTY TEETH.....

Damn I wish I was asian.

[Uglyhead]

lapoire said:

What about the binding spell, then? I guess it covers his eyes, but still. And the eye-signs are even inside Reynardine's cell.

Then maybe it relates to Reynardine's tendency to body-snatch via the eyes. "If you've got eyes, keep your distance"?

I wonder if protective goggles could block him. Nah, probably not.