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Post by arf on Mar 27, 2015 8:45:04 GMT
Annie 'sleeping over' in class? The few times we've seen them in class, she seems to have been one of the more attentive. That was in Year 7, though. I don't think she started cheating until Year 8, and suspected she'd quit sometime in Year 9. (And, yes, I'm curious to know why the other teachers hadn't noticed... they usually do have their ways.) |
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Post by edzepp on Mar 27, 2015 8:46:12 GMT
I agree on technicality: he's been attentive, yes (though it may be more likely that someone else found out and he heard through the ether-vine), but he is still very unkind in how he acted in previous pages, and this does not change that. And makeup had nothing to do with schoolwork, so I'm still waiting for an explanation of that. I'd be willing to debate this further if you want later, but I have to sleep now if I want to be functional tomorrow for my classes, sorry. How irresponsible would it be from me to prevent you from preparing to your classes, young Daedalus. Oh, this reminds me of something I had to speak to you about... Daedalus, I'm your father.  So, don't mind to respond now. I will, however, but please, continue later. I ask you to notice that if he actually did not care about Annie's feelings, he would have spoken to her about cheating before the whole class. Instead, he asked her to stay behind so that he can speak to her about it in privacy. So, I'd say he was very kind or at minimum sensitive toward her. Why to then be so strict, and for example send her to wash off her make up and not give her a book? Well, firstly, that was disciplining, making her already feel uneasy and a bit bad which is a better preparation to calling out her cheating than letting her feel all comfortable and well just until that. It is better than she's already emotionally waiting something negative than to bring it all as a surprise. Secondly, notice here that this was just putting her strictly to the general order: nobody is allowed to interrupt the teacher, nobody is allowed to wear makeup (or I'd suppose that it meant that). She requests such special attention already because she's so very undisciplined and uncaring about her responsibilities in school. Thirdly, these two come together: the facts that he's her father and had gone through her school work and realised she's been cheating, likely contributed to that special disciplining during the class. As I stated above, that is only very reasonable way to prepare the situation when they actually talk about the important thing: that she's not only doing awfully in school, but has been cheating so much she shouldn't have passed any grade so far. She must understand that that makes also the smaller, apparently arbitrary things of behaviour during the class important. That she is not focusing to the classes is the number one reason why she's failing her studies, so it is important to start from the basics: come to classes as expected and focus to the subject, not to something else - and there's really no other way to do this but to make her behave during the class, so it is necessary that he calls her back to order, even harshly first, so that she'll feel that she actually has to behave. Her fatherly schooling must start from that. Fourthly, he might have wanted to observe how she works with Kat - does she rather just copy Kat, letting her do all the work, or did she actually study with Kat, contributing some herself, in which case this could be a way to make her study and learn: pair her up with Kat so that she gets personal tutoring and might catch a nerd bug. So he was treating her badly so she would be ready for something worse? Well, if those cracks behind Annie there are any indication, it's clearly doing wonders for her right now. And she was all hopeful when her dad asked her to stay behind, so clearly she didn't quite get that cue. And really, your idea is that she's cheating because she's not paying attention or she's irresponsible, but aren't there some other possible reasons? For all we know, she's trying hard but can't keep up. She cheated BEFORE she went to the forest and became unruly you know. We first found out about the cheating in A Medium Beginning, and she was still pretty reserved then, and there's no indication she wasn't trying hard enough. |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 27, 2015 9:02:28 GMT
Yes, I've been reading this comic too, but I couldn't see any line hinting at she didn't read the syllabus, or wasn't any less prepared that any other student, or that make-up rules were mentioned in it, or anything. I think I said that on the assumption that the makeup rules were mentioned there. It is not as if he distributed the syllabus in the beginning of the class (he did not), so it must have been made available in before hand (which also is sensible, because otherwise the students cannot prepare for the class). That she had not read the syllabus is not firmly proven, but supposing that that rule existed, at least she hasn't cared about it. Regardless of the rule about makeup, that she hadn't read the syllabus or just didn't care about it would be expected by this point, since so far the only course she has not been shown to neglect was that first history course when she came to school. So, as a general point about her attitude towards school it certainly is true and is a fair assumption here as well, at least to the degree that she needed to be disciplined. The speaking without permission happens when she returns to the class. |
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Post by parrot on Mar 27, 2015 9:07:52 GMT
Asperger syndrome? Kind of fits his personality. Could be. Or schizotypal disorder. Or some combination of both. |
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Post by youwiththeface on Mar 27, 2015 9:08:04 GMT
Strangely, it seems to me that this is the first time this chapter that his criticism has been valid, while at the same time it would seem to be the first time he isn't being an asshole about said criticism. Yet. You haven't heard his remedy to the situation yet... and the logical one would be to separate Antimony and Kat. I could totally see him pulling that after finally acting somewhat reasonably. Screw that. He's not taking away the person that reached out to her and kept her from being completely alone and supported her while he wasn't around. Not if either girl can help it. |
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Post by edzepp on Mar 27, 2015 9:10:49 GMT
I feel like the trouble here is that I don't think we've seen enough of the actual classes to tell whether or not she doesn't give a shit about them.
And really, if she's doing well at History and Biology (which aren't easy courses), then isn't it at least feasible that she's not being irresponsible, she's just struggling with everything else? Yes, being unruly wouldn't help, but she was already copying answers before all that.
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Post by arf on Mar 27, 2015 9:12:01 GMT
Yes, I've been reading this comic too, but I couldn't see any line hinting at she didn't read the syllabus, or wasn't any less prepared that any other student, or that make-up rules were mentioned in it, or anything. I have always got the impression Annie has been fairly attentive in class, the few times we see her (eg. here/ and here) Now, that *was* in Year 7. Annie's cheating spree began at the start of Year 8, and sparked the events at the end of that year. It hasn't been explicitly portrayed since, and may have stopped some time in Year 9, when Jones nailed her. (Although this suggests she hasn't been keeping up) Not giving Annie a book may be Tony underscoring the point about cheating (why do you need this if you'll just be looking at Kat's work anyway?), except biology is one of the few subjects she is OK on. One other thing to note on this page: Tony doesn't say he is disappointed in *Annie*. We already know that details matter with this guy. He may be giving Annie a bit of 'corrective counseling', while reserving his ire for other teachers (eg Anje?) for letting this go on for so long. |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 27, 2015 9:13:57 GMT
Yeah, the robots say they're old but their reappearance was around Antimony's enrollment if I recall correctly. Also around Zimmy's. And in sacrificing one of their own they've been doing what Anthony would want. He could have found them or he could have built his own, using the legend as cover. Not concludin'. Just observin'. Reappearance? We've wanted to capture one of them for a long time."Long time" being open for debate. I'm manually searching through the Q's to T for the posts that suggest that the Tic tocs weren't always hanging around the whole of Court history but already I've found this that throws a different light on what the robots were saying and this from formspring. Since Mr. Siddell didn't always quote questions along with his replies the search engine is limited in use, but I think that one can infer that if there were strange robot/birds hanging around the Court, which doesn't like things flying over it, they'd catch one before too long, therefore they can't have been there for years and years before the comic started. But tic-tocs were known of before that, so I said they reappeared around the time Zimmy and Antimony came to Court. [edit] Additional posts dug up from Q's to T: this [/edit] |
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Post by youwiththeface on Mar 27, 2015 9:13:58 GMT
Yes, I've been reading this comic too, but I couldn't see any line hinting at she didn't read the syllabus, or wasn't any less prepared that any other student, or that make-up rules were mentioned in it, or anything. I think I said that on the assumption that the makeup rules were mentioned there. It is not as if he distributed the syllabus in the beginning of the class (he did not), so it must have been made available in before hand (which also is sensible, because otherwise the students cannot prepare for the class). That she had not read the syllabus is not firmly proven, but supposing that that rule existed, at least she hasn't cared about it. Regardless of the rule about makeup, that she hadn't read the syllabus or just didn't care about it would be expected by this point, since so far the only course she has not been shown to neglect was that first history course when she came to school. So, as a general point about her attitude towards school it certainly is true and is a fair assumption here as well, at least to the degree that she needed to be disciplined. The speaking without permission happens when she returns to the class. You are extrapolating a LOT here. Anthony himself says that aside from the cheating she's doing very well. And how do we know he didn't distribute the syllabus at the beginning of the class, or had them waiting on the kids' desks before they came in, (I've had teachers do that, it saves them class time.) or that they said anything about make up on them? We don't. Besides, it still wouldn't justify the way he'd been treating her anyway. |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 27, 2015 9:43:49 GMT
This page proves that Anthony is not neglecting but actually extremely attentive father. And if he is behind the Tic-tocs he may have been watching her this whole time. Like through a camera. . However, could he use them somehow? I doubt it. I don't think he's been watching at all, just gone through her exams. |
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Post by KMar on Mar 27, 2015 9:44:52 GMT
Yes, I've been reading this comic too, but I couldn't see any line hinting at she didn't read the syllabus, or wasn't any less prepared that any other student, or that make-up rules were mentioned in it, or anything. I think I said that on the assumption that the makeup rules were mentioned there. It is not as if he distributed the syllabus in the beginning of the class (he did not), so it must have been made available in before hand (which also is sensible, because otherwise the students cannot prepare for the class). That she had not read the syllabus is not firmly proven, but supposing that that rule existed, at least she hasn't cared about it. Regardless of the rule about makeup, that she hadn't read the syllabus or just didn't care about it would be expected by this point, since so far the only course she has not been shown to neglect was that first history course when she came to school. So, as a general point about her attitude towards school it certainly is true and is a fair assumption here as well, at least to the degree that she needed to be disciplined. The speaking without permission happens when she returns to the class. Did I understood correctly: her unruly behaviour and unpreparedness for the class (like wearing make-up) is demonstrated on the basis that she didn't read a speculated syllabus (where there might been a mention of a make-up rule or not), which we can expect she wouldn't have read because she has been lately unruly? Discounting the bit about rules, we're not actually shown how anyone performs during this class (or has or hasn't prepared for it), just hinted it is hard (Margo and Janet sweating). Actually, we have not been shown much about the everyday school part of life at the Court at all, so I don't think it's sensible to make much assumptions (except for that Annie cheats for homework for other subjects than biology and history). Well I agree that it's quite clear that Annie's been unruly and not 'a good student', but I don't really get how this syllabus would be so important; I think you're making a ton of assumptions here. Maybe he didn't hand out any syllabus at all, because it doesn't exist in a printout form, and he was just referring by the word 'syllabus' to the topics they will be studying this year? (Or a continuity error by Tom.) Also, all the other cues seem to suggest that all the other students were surprised by Anthony being the teacher, the "no cosmetics allowed" rule, and difficult and advanced class, too. Speaking without permission I don't dispute, but I don't think that's very important (or given the context and nature of whole exchange, even demonstrates particularly bad behaviour; these are not so small children that the class would be total chaos without "raise your hand" thing; but that I'll count as culture differences). |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 27, 2015 10:00:42 GMT
And if he is behind the Tic-tocs he may have been watching her this whole time. Like through a camera. . However, could he use them somehow? I doubt it. I don't think he's been watching at all, just gone through her exams. Remains to be seen. I merely observe that the robots' timeline's open to question due to a formspring answer and circumstances in the comic, at least with regard to these tic-tocs. Watching over the Wood and other stuff doesn't mean they weren't watching Antimony. And assuming the robots are correct that it was a "divine" being who made these tic-tocs, we do not know Anthony is any less so than Diego and Kat, just that they are made with Court tech that the kids hadn't encountered when Q's to T were still being answered. |
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artezzatrigger
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Post by artezzatrigger on Mar 27, 2015 10:18:54 GMT
Finally, a page where he actually seems reasonable. Seeing the deflation of Kat's spirit is saddening, though.
I'm baffled this has never been brought up until now. Surely the court would have realized long before. I'm afraid he might split the two of them up. A reasonable course of action given the situation, but with Annie kind of mentally falling apart around her father I'm beginning to wonder how psychologically dependent she might have become about her friendship with Kat.
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Post by nightwind on Mar 27, 2015 10:24:26 GMT
Ooooh, brown stuff just hit the fan. That will have fallout with Kat.
Still no reason to be a-hole of the year the pages before, though.
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 27, 2015 10:33:02 GMT
Annie 'sleeping over' in class? The few times we've seen them in class, she seems to have been one of the more attentive. That was in Year 7, though. I don't think she started cheating until Year 8, and suspected she'd quit sometime in Year 9. (And, yes, I'm curious to know why the other teachers hadn't noticed... they usually do have their ways.) What she was doing there was probably copying Kat's answers because that's the most active we've seen her since her the early on when she had no friends and appeared to be studying more than others - but even then it was mostly just the history and literature, whatever had to do with mythology and that kind of magic stuff. Since she started visiting the Forest and doing the medium training and get all the mythology and magic she wants there, she's been neglecting her school work, showing general disinterest and lack of discipline, definitely not learning even the stuff that you'd suppose her to be interested in, and of course, she was already skipping a lot of classes because of both Medium training and the Forest visits. Now, I may be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure there's at least some page of her sleeping when a class ends, too, but I just cannot locate that to any chapter (like Kat sleeping would be in the Schoolyard myths before they find the minotaur), maybe it was on a bonus page... I thought it would have been somewhere around the Fire Spike, like right after or just before... |
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Post by Fishy on Mar 27, 2015 10:41:39 GMT
Of all the times Kat could find out about this, now is probably about the absolute worst.
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Post by hypixion on Mar 27, 2015 10:48:25 GMT
Man, Tom really know how to shake or feelings  |
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Post by sidhekin on Mar 27, 2015 10:50:33 GMT
Of all the times Kat could find out about this, now is probably about the absolute worst. That's what you get for eavesdropping, miss Donlan. And of course, that's why Tom arranged the timing so. |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 27, 2015 10:54:44 GMT
I think I said that on the assumption that the makeup rules were mentioned there. It is not as if he distributed the syllabus in the beginning of the class (he did not), so it must have been made available in before hand (which also is sensible, because otherwise the students cannot prepare for the class). That she had not read the syllabus is not firmly proven, but supposing that that rule existed, at least she hasn't cared about it. Regardless of the rule about makeup, that she hadn't read the syllabus or just didn't care about it would be expected by this point, since so far the only course she has not been shown to neglect was that first history course when she came to school. So, as a general point about her attitude towards school it certainly is true and is a fair assumption here as well, at least to the degree that she needed to be disciplined. The speaking without permission happens when she returns to the class. Did I understood correctly: Apparently you didn't.Her attitude towards her school work has been proven by her avoiding to do any of the work and her carelessness about Court's rules even after several notes. Then, she here again breaks one basic general rule (do not talk without permission) and another that may or may not be in the syllabus. And she is disciplined for perhaps smallish matters, but it is about the time that she is disciplined so that she doesn't think that she can just do what she wants. Well I agree that it's quite clear that Annie's been unruly and not 'a good student', but I don't really get how this syllabus would be so important; I think you're making a ton of assumptions here. Maybe he didn't hand out any syllabus at all, because it doesn't exist in a printout form, and he was just referring by the word 'syllabus' to the topics they will be studying this year? (Or a continuity error by Tom.) It is provided that she's been an outright crap student since she started visiting the Forest, and that she hasn't given a rat's arse about Court's rules. It is possible that Anthony is referring to something else than an actual syllabus, but I'd question his use of that term then. Anthony being the teacher clearly is surprise to all, so clearly, if they got the syllabus, it does not mention the teacher's name. Instead of the "no cosmetics allowed" rule, it may be the way he addressed Annie, what precisely he decided to say to her and how, being her father which they know, that surprised them. Just how difficult a course really is in action may not be obvious from syllabus. To be honest, it seldom is. Most you can deduce it from, is the reading list. But if that was not provided (apparently was not), then it is difficult. The objectives of the course (like what exactly students are supposed to master after the course) can tell it, but do not necessarily, because it is possible that the depth and level varies so that same description can mean different things. If it does not exist in a printout form, then it is somewhere to be seen and you should be able to suppose that students have seen it before the course begins. It is true that this is very ambiguous so far. But this disciplining motive would explain all of the chapter already alone. You do not really need to add anything to that. He's disciplining her, if syllabus was unknown before the class (in which case my question is "what the f-ing school is this!?") that's a bit harsh, but still functions as inserting some discipline in her, and in general she has passed two grades without actually having the right to it and needed someone to really get her back in order, and he's been doing it, you don't really need any ulterior explanation to what happened during this class. Speaking without permission I don't dispute, but I don't think that's very important (or given the context and nature of whole exchange, even demonstrates particularly bad behaviour; these are not so small children that the class would be total chaos without "raise your hand" thing; but that I'll count as culture differences). The point I am making is that the reason why he would pay extra attention to this all is to rectify her attitude towards school because it is for her attitude in general that she's lagging and you have to start from getting her back in line if you want her to, not only start to follow again, but to catch a couple of years advance that she's given to others. |
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Post by Jelly Jellybean on Mar 27, 2015 11:00:34 GMT
Others have already commented about most of my observations, so I only have this small addition...
- Reference the question about Annie's cheating not being called out sooner by other teachers: Maybe Annie is tagged for "special handling" and her teachers were told to bring issues to the administration instead of confronting her like a regular student. They didn't want her flaring up unexpectedly.
- This is meant to be humorous, not nit-picking:
-- Kat’s quantum hair! The part exists on both the left and right side, until she is drawn in a panel and it collapses down to just one state.
-- Kat is so smart, her hair has a mind of its own.
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 27, 2015 11:05:02 GMT
How irresponsible would it be from me to prevent you from preparing to your classes, young Daedalus. Oh, this reminds me of something I had to speak to you about... Daedalus, I'm your father. So, don't mind to respond now. I will, however, but please, continue later. I ask you to notice that if he actually did not care about Annie's feelings, he would have spoken to her about cheating before the whole class. Instead, he asked her to stay behind so that he can speak to her about it in privacy. So, I'd say he was very kind or at minimum sensitive toward her. Why to then be so strict, and for example send her to wash off her make up and not give her a book? Well, firstly, that was disciplining, making her already feel uneasy and a bit bad which is a better preparation to calling out her cheating than letting her feel all comfortable and well just until that. It is better than she's already emotionally waiting something negative than to bring it all as a surprise. Secondly, notice here that this was just putting her strictly to the general order: nobody is allowed to interrupt the teacher, nobody is allowed to wear makeup (or I'd suppose that it meant that). She requests such special attention already because she's so very undisciplined and uncaring about her responsibilities in school. Thirdly, these two come together: the facts that he's her father and had gone through her school work and realised she's been cheating, likely contributed to that special disciplining during the class. As I stated above, that is only very reasonable way to prepare the situation when they actually talk about the important thing: that she's not only doing awfully in school, but has been cheating so much she shouldn't have passed any grade so far. She must understand that that makes also the smaller, apparently arbitrary things of behaviour during the class important. That she is not focusing to the classes is the number one reason why she's failing her studies, so it is important to start from the basics: come to classes as expected and focus to the subject, not to something else - and there's really no other way to do this but to make her behave during the class, so it is necessary that he calls her back to order, even harshly first, so that she'll feel that she actually has to behave. Her fatherly schooling must start from that. Fourthly, he might have wanted to observe how she works with Kat - does she rather just copy Kat, letting her do all the work, or did she actually study with Kat, contributing some herself, in which case this could be a way to make her study and learn: pair her up with Kat so that she gets personal tutoring and might catch a nerd bug. So he was treating her badly so she would be ready for something worse? Well, if those cracks behind Annie there are any indication, it's clearly doing wonders for her right now. And she was all hopeful when her dad asked her to stay behind, so clearly she didn't quite get that cue. And really, your idea is that she's cheating because she's not paying attention or she's irresponsible, but aren't there some other possible reasons? For all we know, she's trying hard but can't keep up. She cheated BEFORE she went to the forest and became unruly you know. We first found out about the cheating in A Medium Beginning, and she was still pretty reserved then, and there's no indication she wasn't trying hard enough. Started even before that. If she was trying, she'd ask Kat to help her with the work and didn't just copy her. It's a lame excuse, anyway. It is bloody high school stuff and if it is not too difficult for the others to pass regularly, it is not too difficult, and so nobody endowed with just a mediocre brain who just pays attention on classes and does his/her homework, starting from the beginning and following the curriculum through, will fail his/her courses.* And about that first part: maybe she didn't quite get the cue that he's found out that she's been cheating (which may not have been his intention either), but at least she did get the cue that there are strict rules applying to her and she must follow them and work hard like everybody else. That seems to also have been the cue he wanted her to get. And now to get to the situation where she got herself by thinking that it was not the case, and that can be only corrected by her picking that cue. *Unless you've got something like dyslexia, but that's a condition you can work with, just takes a bit more work and requires the teachers to take that into account, and anyway, that's not the case here. |
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Post by avurai on Mar 27, 2015 11:58:51 GMT
This has been an excellent crash course in how abuse excusing works.
Objectively we have:
A father who leaves for two years unannounced without contact
Returning suddenly without warning
Directly insulting his daughter's appearance and thus her sentimental behavior with regards to her deceased mother in front of entire class
Acting unprofessionally by keeping her educational tools from her under the guise of being purely professional even when such a practice is not allowed in educational systems
Then bringing up one fair point about her schoolwork and misbehavior
This means we have:
A non-neglectful, actually attentive father
A man whose actions all make perfect sense and are justified
A reasoning that completely alleviates all abusive microaggressions displayed in a setting he controls
A syllabus that is never seen, referred to, or even made relevant which goes into detail and conveniently writes off all teaching parent's behavior
A petty and emotionally abusive insult that is inconsequential and meaningless and doesn't actually matter because of new fabricated evidence that doesn't relate to the insult in the slightest
How is this not bending the text to see one's preferred result?
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Post by spoonr on Mar 27, 2015 12:01:07 GMT
Ya know, I don't remember any of my classes having a syllabus in the course guide, even in college. At most, the teacher might hand out a plan on first day of class. I assumed he was talking more about a 'lesson plan', what he will lecture on each day. No need for him to give it out.
"As punishment, you must tutor Zimmy, and she must pass all classes." Supposedly the best way to learn is to teach, and Antimony is one of few folks Zimmy is most friendly to.
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Post by kalechibki on Mar 27, 2015 13:05:05 GMT
Anything's machine-readable with enough time, effort, and competence on the behalf of the programmers. I assume it is possible at the Court, because it's possible (but hard) here in the mundane non-GKC universe. Key word: Effort. Never said it was impossible, just said it would be an undertaking that would require a good amount of time and effort. Teachers are people too, their lives are as meaningful to them as anyone else's are to them. Perhaps everything gets fed into computers (though not etheric computers, given the Court's distrust of anything that can't be explained scientifically) but this circumstance would seem to take enough time and effort that I smell a fishing expedition. Maybe not by Anthony, but by someone looking for something to use. Anthony would seem to be the best suspect. Actually...when I was at college (I graduated back in 2003), we had one computer science professor who wrote a program that examined the compiled machine code of our programs. There was a story a friend told me before I had my first class with him. He was so obsessed with catching cheaters that when he first used his program, he made a bunch of t-shirts. He gave one to the student with the shortest program, the longest, and for a few other things (like two kids having the same number of lines of code but two completely different algorithms). He then called two students forward and handed them one t-shirt, and said "Since you are so good at sharing code, I thought you could find a way to share this shirt. You have until you get to the academic dean's office, who has got your papers for expulsion already filled out. Good bye." Like I said, I wasn't there, but given the fact that every class I had with the guy he showed us a video of him looking for cheaters, to the point of ignoring his kids and holidays (and yes, it was a video, so it wasn't true, but the fact that he made it...) made me believe that the story was legit. And he was the only CS professor not involved in R&D (I went to a hard core research college where many of the professors resented the fact that they had to teach as well). These days, with all the handwriting that computers can analyze and process correctly, this wouldn't surprise me if schools started doing this. And then add in the etheric potential... Though I don't disagree that there is some intent to get at Annie here, I just wanted to point out that computers are VERY capable of this. |
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Post by todd on Mar 27, 2015 13:32:55 GMT
There's been no mention anywhere in the text of this chapter of the students being distributed a syllabus containing rules such as "cosmetics is forbidden in this class"; we're only assuming that that happened because some real-life schools followed such a practice.
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Post by alpacalypse on Mar 27, 2015 13:35:16 GMT
I have been waiting for this revelation for a long time. I always figured if anything could cause a major rift between Annie and Kat, this would be it. But seeing how Anthony has ignored and treated Annie over time and now, and Annies's lack of a parental or educational mentor (Jones doesnt count and the Donlans seemed more like friends), I think the fact that Annie is not hiding it anymore, Kat might be willing to forgive her
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rama
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Post by rama on Mar 27, 2015 13:41:19 GMT
Not going to sugarcoat Anthony, he can most appropriately be described as a jerk. He does not, however, appear to be willfully ignorant or uninterested in his daughters life and studies. In a way Antimony is very similar to him. She's individualistic and does not ask for help easily, and she's also very difficult to read for most people. Remember how the other kids felt about her before Kat acted as a mediator? They didn't really know how to feel, because she's a person that guards her emotions to the point where she seems cold. This is something that she clearly got from Anthony. The main difference is that her friendship with Kat has drawn her out and allowed her to become more open and secure in showing her emotions, while Anthony doesn't really have that kind of relationship. That died with Surma. Imagine if Annie became isolated from other people again, even traumatically. Is it any stretch of the imagination to believe that she'd revert back to her cold front self again? Especially if she had something important to do? That's what Anthony is living at this point. It started out as a hopeful endeavor to save his wife, and after years he lost that fight and his main ally and confidant. Now it's just him against the clock to save Antimony. Perhaps he's hoping that he'd be able to do it without her realizing that she basically took Surmas life. Annie knows this fact now, but it was from another source in the heat of the moment, so I don't really find it a stretch to believe that Anthony kept as tight a lip as possible about his work to ensure that Antimony didn't find out. I might be reading too much into it, but considering the vast depths to which details matter in this story, and for Anthony in particular, that bit can be considered canon for me. The real question is: does he still keep his work hidden to keep her away from that truth (as in not wanting to talk about his arm), or is there even more stuff he's trying to cover up? Are there even worse things lurking in the rafters that we aren't yet aware of? This is told from Annie's point of view, so maybe this another rabbithole that proves way deeper than was first expected. I think that Anthony is a reflection on what Antimony could have become if she had been isolated for too long. Then again she is not a clone, and she has quite a bit of her mother in her apart from the fire familiarity. Her temper is one thing Anthony shows no indication of having. It might be reading to much into nothing, especially considering his character and the nature of the simplified comic style, but I feel that his face in the second panel of last page betrays some humanity to his robotic facade. Is this just me hallucinating? This has probably been debated better before at some point. I don't really keep up, so I'm sorry if I step on any toes, just wanted to write down what I thought was the deal with prof.Carver. |
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Post by csj on Mar 27, 2015 14:12:15 GMT
Let alone that she's mediocre* in science. *at best, that is. 'hi dad, I've been plagiarising my bff's work for the past two years.' oh boy i hope the person involved isnt overhearing everything that would be kinda awkward ahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa |
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Post by Covalent on Mar 27, 2015 14:27:06 GMT
Is this the end of GKC? D: Antimony's expulsion?
Nah, probably not. She'll find a way to get out of this.
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Post by AnUpliftedCuttlefish on Mar 27, 2015 14:27:58 GMT
Oh Anthony (if that's really your name, I'm still not entirely convinced*), you're even being hamfisted in tackling this, when it should be so much easier for you. Also, if he is aware Kat is likely to be listening... grrrrr. Though wait, I thought Kat knew Antimony had copied from her in the past? But I wonder if this is setting up the true reason he didn't give her the book - he's going to be personally tutoring her. And presumably keeping the fact she cheated secret, since I suspect no one else knows. *Really, this would have to have been kept from the other staff if it's real. Eglamore, Donnie, Jones... I can't imagine them going along with the "lets ensure Antimony is surprised in class by her father returning as a teacher" plan. Thinking of that, I just couldn't help but think how bad and anomaly the situation is when Annie being just about the worst student in the whole school despite having got probably about the best grades, and how notable this is. She's got probably better grades than even Kat, because Kat isn't good in history where Annie brills. Conjecture. She's received detentions (which she went through a phase of skipping) for out of class shenanigans. She's also went through a phase (in the past) of being less than respectful to authority. Also out of class. Despite that she's still liked and respected by those authority figures, is far more liked & respected by her peer group than she used to be etc. We've seen nothing to indicate she's the Boxbot of students. Yes, she's been cheating, which is serious, but lets not going jumping to conclusions. Most of the examples of her being rebellious you've provided don't indicate what she's like in class, or show that she's still acting like that (also - skipping classes for medium training? Court approved. Trips into the forest now? Court approved. Not Antimony being a bad student). If anything, most of the examples we see of her in class indicate she at least puts on a show of being an attentive student. It could indeed be about disciplining Antimony, and still confirm Anthony is wrong. The world is not binary, especially where people are concerned. I'm not sure that is a good thing... and probably why some schools make it policy not to have teachers teaching their own children. I'd call him a bad father for pretty much abandoning her after her mother's death for years, engaging in no communication with her, then parachuting back into her life without a word or thought on how it'd affect her, giving her no time to adjust or assimilate the development, and then engaging in behavior that's borderline (if I'm generous) emotional abuse considering the history. Oh, and also putting her in a coma and potentially risking her life, for unknown reasons, without her consent. I don't know any, thankfully, since most would probably be more concerned about the emotional and mental impact of their return. Not whether they've been copying off their deskmate. It is indeed. Terrible, extreme parenting. It's not about taking over their lives, but guiding them, supporting them and encouraging their positive development into independent, happy people. If Anthony is a bad parent it's because he's neglected those things. If he thinks the most important thing he can offer his daughter, after a years long absence, is an admonishment for cheating... then he is a terrible parent. *Well, the first thing he could offer was singling her out in class over something that might not even be a rule. So, yes, he's not been a good parent, regardless of his intentions. A rather condescending, and old school (1950s old school), position to take. One that isn't supported by reality – students, even exceedingly gifted students (sometimes especially gifted students), struggle for all sorts of reasons. That attitude is one of the reasons why so many go unaided in their struggles. We do, after all, live in a world where Darwin was considered dull by his teachers, Churchill failed 6th grade and Einstein was expelled at 15 (and, if I remember rightly, was considered the class dunce by the headmaster who expelled him). We don't know why Antimony cheats. But assuming the only reason a person could struggle at school is because they aren't pulling themselves up by their bootstraps hard enough is not a good worldview. I think most people would say it'd be significantly more professional – plus just common human decency – to have such a reunion before classes all together. Unless he arrived at the court only minutes before he was due to start teaching that should have been quite easy to arrange, especially considering they're just coming off a break. And if for some reason that wasn't possible – notes, letters etc. are a thing. Quite. He has a modicum of professionalism. 1. So an outright emotionally abusive strategy? 2. I don't buy it. All we know of Anthony suggests he is a logical, results driven individual, and that strategy flies in the face of every recommendation when delivery bad news/criticism/discipline. It most certainly is not “better preparation” to break someone down emotionally by finding other things to attack them over so they feel terrible for an hour or so before dealing with the actual issue. By that logic police delivering bad news should fine a person first, then reveal their loved one is dead. 3. Times, places and ways. A good teacher, backed by an actual rule on something like make-up doesn't single people out. And definitely doesn't make the whole class wait. And teachers, typically, don't get to make up such a rule for just their class. Either the school has a no makeup policy, or it doesn't. 4. Also counterproductive to deny her the book - “I will deny you a tool that will assist you in completing your work in a class you don't cheat in, in fact do well in, to punish you for cheating elsewhere.” Really, I'd ask where Anthony got his teaching credentials, but I think we know the answer is “he stole the Robot King's marker and made them himself”. Does she? She's flouted the rules in the past, but I don't recall her requesting special attention in class. Unless asking for a book – something a student should be able to do when everyone has been given a book – is requesting special attention. If a teacher did that to me I know I'd be reporting it, since bullying isn't on, from students or teachers. And he's also her teacher. And teachers are not allowed – in most schools – to deliver such “special disciplining”. Most schools have a policies on how cheating is to be dealt with. They don't, unsurprisingly, consist of "focus attention on the student for unrelated matters, whenever possible, and ensure they have a harder time learning by denying them learning resources." This is biology class. The class in which Anthony himself notes she doing well, on her own merits. So apparently it is necessary to call her back to order in a harsh fashion so that she'll feel she has to behave, in a class where she was already in order and behaving. Now that, is in fact, a good idea. The encourage her to be open with Kat and get them to work together part. The execution is very flawed, and he has a lot of answering to do, but the outcome could be productive. |
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This whole chapter is completely explainable from that point of view.