[198] Story Discussion - Hi Zimmy

[La Poire]

They might, actually – Reynardine seems to need direct contact to take over, or else Annie and Mr Eglamore wouldn't have been able to simply dodge him; even Mr Eglamore shielding Annie's eyes seems to be enough.

[mrw]

Zimmy has eyes!! I have never been so happy to have a theory proved wrong!!

She's just so adorable. Sharp teeth and all. I love that last panel.

I too look forward to Annie's reaction. This has got to at least raise an eyebrow - hee hee!

I wonder how long this will last; if maybe she will revert over time. Gamma's comments and behavior imply this has happened before.

Zimmy may have been scared because it ... hmmm, how do you think her personality will have changed? Has this released an aspect of her she was *trying* to keep chained within her? (but finally realized she must release sometime?)

Regarding looking asian - uh, asians tend to have dark brown or black eyes, not glowing red eyes.

Regarding Reynardine - I suspect he may be bragging when he says he can possess anything with eyes. These eyes may be too much even for him.
And there's got to be a reason why he couldn't just take over Mr. Eglamore.
Second thought - if he got into Zimmy's head and for some reason couldn't kill her, he'd be trapped in there with her visions, heh heh

Anyway... this is awesome stuff. I seriously will be smiling all day now. Even vector mathematics aren't going stop Zimmy-inspired happiness... (evil grin)

[katana]

She...she...she has eyes ....btw. very nice eyes ..

She looks absolutely happy ^^

[oorahairforce]

mudmaniac said:

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

I think I got gypped.

[AluK]

In our folklore, down here on Brazil, rain has a spiritual and emotional cleansing power. Something about being "free water".

This strip was of an insurmountable cuteness. Seeing Zimmy happy made me smile. And now I empathise a lot with her, when I was younger I played a lot in the rain, took my share of "rain baths". How I miss that. It felt like re-charging my batteries.

[iMacThere4iAm]

I had assumed that that sign somehow limits Reynardine's power, but it didn't seem to stop him from possessing the wolf. Maybe it's just a warning sign.

I think this page calls for a big wallpaper-sized version of the last frame. It's the right thing to do with a picture as cool as that.

[mrw]

imacthere4iam said:

I think this page calls for a big wallpaper-sized version of the last frame. It's the right thing to do with a picture as cool as that.

I second that motion. How about it, Tom?

Edit: Just thought of something. What if Zimmy's transformation is not finished? Guess we'll see Wednesday!

[oorahairforce]

It just occurred to me, reading through GC again, that eyes seem to be a running theme. Tom uses them a lot and pays a lot of attention to the details of the eyes. They seem to be used a lot as a key feature to distinguish personalities.

Shadow 2's expressions and communications are almost exclusively through his eyes (except when he does the crazy word shadow play).

Reynardine possesses people through the eyes. He is also bound by that spell from Kat's mom which has an eye motif.

Eye patterns are abundant at the school.

In the current arc, Zimmy's eyes are playing a fairly crucial role, it seems.

That's all I've got off the top of my head. I don't feel like going too deeply into it, but there you go.

[alexthegreater]

Eyes are windows to the soul. Or so they say.

And I am getting a feeling that Reynardine was being quite literal when he called Zimmy a daemon.

[salenth]

I'm glad to see Zimmy happy and her eyes are positively gorgeous. I just wonder if she'll stay this way for the rest of the comic. Was this supposed to be the first time this has happened to her?

[fjodor]

Good point, Oorahairforce. There's also the remark about the TicTocs being the Thousand Eyes.

So water cleanses. Zimmy and Gamma seemed to know this. If Gamma knew already, it might mean she's seen it happen (or Zimmy could have told her). That would imply that Zimmy's eyes keep clodding up during dry periods. Could be because she doesn't sleep.

So what do we know about Zimmy's oddities sofar:
- red eyes
- pointy teeth
- can conjure up all too real visions from future/past
- doesn't need sleep
- definately has some dark side (think of the science project)
- most probably an orphan
- probably missing some important facts

But, if you see it lined up, and you connect the lines, so to speak, it all becomes clear: Zimmy is in fact...

owww who am I kidding. I'm as clueless as ever. I like Zimmy's eye lashes though.

[cluricaun]

alternativeoyster said:

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.

The rain hitting her with the sizzling noise made me think of a fever as well, an extremely high fever to cause steaming but still...

[owl]

She's beautiful! And so happy!

For some reason her eyes make her seem even more supernatural while still making her more human, if you know what I mean. She seems like...I dunno...a shapechanged dragon or somesuch.

EDIT: Actually...hmmm...dragon....could explain the steam, if she's of the fire-breathing variety...but I'm not sure what would be up with the whole nightmares thing.

Maybe she's a nightmare-dragon shapechanged to human form, overheating because she's unable to release her heat into fire? Perhaps she's cursed? The overheating would cause her brain to malfunction, explaining the "static"...so then would Gamma have some magical heat-stealing powers?

By Golly, I think I've got it!

[missushow]

*scream* Her eyes!!!

I've nothing intelligent to say, but her EYES!

They're so PRETTY!

[julieth]

OK, is it just me, or is Zimmy incredibly adorable in the last panel? For some reason I just want to hug her. Although I've always wanted to hug her, even before her eyes got uncovered...

*Edits: Aparently it isn't just me...
I think Alternativeoyster has a point about the fever. That's the first thing I thought of when she started steaming in the last page...wow. I can't believe how good this comic is, sometimes...

[mrw]

One possible problem with the heat theory is that Gamma had no trouble putting her hand on Zimmy, or kissing her on the forehead. I kind of doubt Gamma is especially heat resistant. (though you never know...)

My take is that it is a kind of "holy water" effect, purifying her. The illuminated sky in the first panel may also indicate some sort of divine light. Or not.

Whatever the case, those eyes have been worth the wait!

[wanderer]

I was figuring it to be some sort of metamorphosis. This can't be the first time it's rained around her. There's something special about this.

[feralkiwi]

well. that's interesting. the eyes plus the teeth plus the expression kind of make her look like a mad kitten who has just seen something very shiny. I like the organic-ness of the rain against all of the machines/technological background. It clearly has an organic effect on zimmy as well.

perhaps her eyes need rainwater to stick around? without it, they shrivel up into a fetal form or something...just a thought.

[rastarogue]

okay... you guys seem to think red eyes and pointy teeth are cute, but my first thought was VAMPYR. Especially with the pure/holy waters coming from the sky and she is now sizzling.

[owl]

But she's enjoying the sizzling.... I doub this is the case with most vampyres.

Also, it it just me? The "steam" rising off of her reminds me more of the stuff that mort's made out of than actual steam. Maybe her soul/spirit, if she has one, is released somehow by the rain?

[rastarogue]

If her spirit is released we should look for an Alchemical symbol somwhere in it.

[Mighty King Akro]

At any rate, someone should probably tell her that her head is smoking. I mean, she probably knows but even if you think someone is aware their head is producing a frighteningly large vapor collumn, you should -always- tell them just in case. If they have red eyes, you compliment them on the eyes first though and slip it into conversation somehow. I've had to deal with this more often than not when reading things on the internet - my head starts steaming and my eyes turn red and someone always points it out, for which I'm thankful. You just can't leave someone hanging like that.

Also, Zimmy kinda looks like a Gorillaz character with her jaggedy teeth and big red eyes. Just sayin'.

Also, it's weird seeing Zimmy gleefully kicking off her shoes and frolicking in the rain. I mean, she's normally about as cheerful as La Danse Macabre.

[alexthegreater]

mightykingakro said:

Also, Zimmy kinda looks like a Gorillaz character with her jaggedy teeth and big red eyes. Just sayin'

Why the F*** didn't i think of that?

[trevor]

I am so happy for Zimmy. Maybe it won't last, but it's beautiful to see her happy, and with lovely eyes. I never would have expected red eyes to look good, but Zimmy makes it work.

[aoeniac]

If her hair and skin get better too by next comic, I'll have been right as well ^_^

Looks like all the people who said she'd be washed clean somehow were on the ball.

[xux]

Whoa, whoa, whoa...that shoe in panel 5 is spinning in a different direction than the two that Zimmy kicked off. It also has a tiny bit of steam coming off of it.

[La Poire]

mightykingakro said:

Also, Zimmy kinda looks like a Gorillaz character with her jaggedy teeth and big red eyes. Just sayin'.

She's the child of Murdoc and the Sandman. Don't know how thet would work, but she is.

[Uglyhead]

Heh! Why didn't it occur to me before? All the insect references around Zimmy, the greek sign in the library, the shadow-insects that seemed to crawl on her... she's going through a metamorphosis here, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. A butterfly with pointy teeth and red eyes...

Insects technically don't sleep either, not unlike miss Zeta here, though they do enter a state of torpor.

Of course, this raises uncomfortable facts about the giant insect Zimmy saw coming out of the alley walls back in Birmingham; It had red eyes, too, and an abundance of pointy mandibles coming out of its mouth. Could she have been frightened that she might become something like that?

Hm, maybe I'm just seeing connections where there aren't any, though.

[ethyl]

Zimmy looks so weird with her new eyes, lovely but weird! I guess it's true when people say eyes are the windows to the soul because she looks an entirely different person!

Is it me or is she also growing in the second to last panel (since we know she is quite a small girl it's maybe not that far-fetched) either way it doesn't seem like the end of her transformation!

As for the fever think, she always seems to have perspiration on her face so it's Rather plausible!

for the alchemy theme: She seems quite acidic, water is neutral, maybe it's neutralizing here?

[fjodor]

mightykingakro said:

Also, Zimmy kinda looks like a Gorillaz character with her jaggedy teeth and big red eyes. Just sayin'.

Look at Tom's Avatar. It could do lead vocals on any Gorillaz album.