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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 30, 2015 8:23:37 GMT
Woods-weirdos who think Coyote is cool. Do not speak of my subjects so. They may not be very bright, or reliable, but they are loyal. I care for them all, because without them, no one would laugh at my jokes. Or my pranks. Or, gods forbid, my puns. And even the God of mischief gets bored with no one to worship or watch him. And without a laugh, I am less than nothing, weaker than the dust that swirls through the wind in my wake, as empty as the void between the stars that I scattered in the heavens. ^Former subjects... they split to go to the Court, remember?  |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 30, 2015 8:27:47 GMT
I think the Court may have intended to let her continue on, but her father returned before the start of the term and convinced/ordered them to change their decision (he's her father and possibly important to the Court in other ways, who knows). That makes more sense than pretending to pass her and than pulling her back after term started. If we take Jones' word as a cue, the Court's was not going to let her continue. Maybe they hd to contact Anthony and bring him back and let him evaluate the situation (it start's to seem like this is the reason, or at least an important reason, why he is back, which is a little bit disappointing), and this took until the beginning of the year, which caused this inconvenience. Obviously it would have been better to prepare this half a year earlier, but it appears they only reacted to this recently. I wonder if she will be forced to retake bio and history as well, even though her father said she did well in those classes. He said her work is fine, which you can also read as "it's okay". Anyway, she has already passed them individually, but in this situation she can well be considered to have failed the years in their totality. In some places, failing just one or two courses forces you to pass the whole year again, and in this case, she has failed all but two courses. |
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Post by CoyoteReborn on Mar 30, 2015 8:29:00 GMT
Woods-weirdos who think Coyote is cool. Do not speak of my subjects so. They may not be very bright, or reliable, but they are loyal. I care for them all, because without them, no one would laugh at my jokes. Or my pranks. Or, gods forbid, my puns. And even the God of mischief gets bored with no one to worship or watch him. And without a laugh, I am less than nothing, weaker than the dust that swirls through the wind in my wake, as empty as the void between the stars that I scattered in the heavens. ^Former subjects... they split to go to the Court, remember? Unlike the rest of you close-minded Courtly fools, they remember my glory. It suffices. I am a creature of legend, not some paltry etheric anomaly, and they recollect me all too well. Unless, of course, I wish them not to. Then I can play the same trick on the same rabbit more than once! Such fun, oh yes yes!!! And now I have a foothold for the inevitable infiltration into your territory... (ah ha ahaha MUAHAHAHA!!) Can you say the same, with all your fancy espionage and preparation? |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 30, 2015 8:37:40 GMT
^Former subjects... they split to go to the Court, remember? Unlike the rest of you close-minded Courtly fools, they remember my glory. It suffices. I am a creature of legend, not some paltry etheric anomaly, and they recollect me all too well. Unless, of course, I wish them not to. Then I can play the same trick on the same rabbit more than once! Such fun, oh yes yes!!! And now I have a foothold for the inevitable infiltration into your territory... (ah ha ahaha MUAHAHAHA!!) Can you say the same, with all your fancy espionage and preparation? But after the Court has had them a few years, what will they remember you as..? And they will be prepared for making a foothold into who's territory..? |
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Post by CoyoteReborn on Mar 30, 2015 8:53:51 GMT
Bah! Unlike the rest of you close-minded Courtly fools, they remember my glory. It suffices. I am a creature of legend, not some paltry etheric anomaly, and they recollect me all too well. Unless, of course, I wish them not to. Then I can play the same trick on the same rabbit more than once! Such fun, oh yes yes!!! And now I have a foothold for the inevitable infiltration into your territory... (ah ha ahaha MUAHAHAHA!!) Can you say the same, with all your fancy espionage and preparation? But after the Court has had them a few years, what will they remember you as..? Their great, indulgent, mercurial God from whom all blessings flow? Who mercifully let them leave my domain when they so chose, to pursue their own desires in the Court? Even though they know that being mean to my subjects is my favorite leisure activity*? Certainly not a nigh-omnipotent being who made them all into Manchurian Candidates when he harvested their essences from their bodies. I'm preeeety certain they don't remember that.
*My homie Machiavelli once said "It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." I'm in that nice sweet spot where I benefit from both sides of that equation. Like in a cult. The Coyote Cult, which those copycats the Scientologists based their "religion" on.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 30, 2015 9:02:12 GMT
But after the Court has had them a few years, what will they remember you as..? Their great, indulgent, mercurial God from whom all blessings flow? Who mercifully let them leave my domain when they so chose, to pursue their own desires in the Court? Even though they know that being mean to my subjects is my favorite leisure activity*? Certainly not a nigh-omnipotent being who made them all into Manchurian Candidates when he harvested their essences from their bodies. I'm preeeety certain they don't remember that.
*My homie Machiavelli once said "It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." I'm in that nice sweet spot where I benefit from both sides of that equation. Like in a cult. The Coyote Cult, which those copycats the Scientologists based their "religion" on.
Do not worry, Lord Coyote. Once all the flows of the ether have been mapped and the Court's sophistication is complete your power and vital place in the cosmos will still be respected, a critical piece in the engineering of the cosmos, just like the float in a toilet tank. You will always hold a place of honor and fondness among the humans, right next to the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, Elvis, and all the other great legends man has created. |
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Post by mudmaniac on Mar 30, 2015 9:08:44 GMT
If anyone would be to blame in all this I would blame the court. Anyone that genuinely cares for Annie would have called her out about this sort of behaviour. Notice that only one other person to have done so, was Renard. Everyone can agree that that went pretty badly. Even after all the pain and fuss that it caused, Annie was still unrepentant about the entire issue, since she refused to address this problem for the entire year since. Harsh though this may be, it truly may be the only way for Annie to finally face her weaknesses instead of running away. Or she could just end up running into the forest, vowing to never return. I can not presume to know. All in all, Tom is given to writing characters that are complex yet quite believable. I truly look forward to Tom detailing the hows and whys of Surma ending up with Tony instead of James. Still a jerk though. 3 years away from her this is how he gets back in touch? Ice Cold. |
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Post by Daedalus on Mar 30, 2015 9:10:50 GMT
And without a laugh, I am less than nothing, weaker than the dust that swirls through the wind in my wake, as empty as the void between the stars that I scattered in the heavens. I see you've taken up poetry, oh Great One. |
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Post by CoyoteReborn on Mar 30, 2015 9:16:45 GMT
And without a laugh, I am less than nothing, weaker than the dust that swirls through the wind in my wake, as empty as the void between the stars that I scattered in the heavens. I see you've taken up poetry, oh Great One. If I want to be involved in this webcomic, I have to stay a three-dimensional character, of course! So this is my secondary hobby. My first hobby is unprovoked cruelty. That's a hobby, right? And I was better at poetry than rapping, humph. Once all the flows of the ether have been mapped and the Court's sophistication is complete... I can wait, and rule the ether omnipotently in the mean time... *checks wrist sundial* That'll take, what, twenty thousand more pages? Thirty? ...right next to the Easter bunny... Do I get to eat this one too?? Pleeeease? I think he'd taste like candy. |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 30, 2015 9:33:31 GMT
I see you've taken up poetry, oh Great One. If I want to be involved in this webcomic, I have to stay a three-dimensional character, of course! So this is my secondary hobby. My first hobby is unprovoked cruelty. That's a hobby, right? You're being too hard on yourself. You may think your jokes cruel but truly your whims simply serve to balance the etheric flows. Since you don't exist in the same sense as a human, you aren't accountable in the same sense as a human, right? Once all the flows of the ether have been mapped and the Court's sophistication is complete... I can wait, and rule the ether omnipotently in the mean time... *checks wrist sundial* That'll take, what, twenty thousand more pages? Thirty? I'd ask the headmaster but the topic seems to bore him. It's as if they think if nobody believes in you that you'll go away like a psychopomp out-of-memory and without anyone to harvest... and while that might be true, another such being would with similar abilities just be created out of the ether, so there's no point in it. Should I ask Kimiko Ross to run a simulation? |
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Post by parrot on Mar 30, 2015 9:40:15 GMT
From bad to worse I see.
What I am hoping will NOT happen is that Anthony just shoves her back to the year 9 and then buggers off.
What I am expecting to happen is as other have suggested, option of being tutored personally.
That would be interesting as it would help develop the relationship between Antimony and Anthony storytelling-wise.
But damn, that last panel.
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Post by ryrmyrbyr on Mar 30, 2015 10:08:08 GMT
Did Annie kill Surma by being alive or did Tony kill Surma by having impregnating her?
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Post by AnUpliftedCuttlefish on Mar 30, 2015 10:19:01 GMT
The art is so good, I'm feeling so bad for Antimony. Also - the red textbook is really catching my eye... I wonder if there's something more to it, it really stands out amongst GC tones and shades. And Woooooo! Angry Kat to Antimony's defense! I'm torn between wanting her to bap him, or not because she'll surely get into trouble for that. Nice to see them trying to protect each other. Almost makes me think he knew she was listening (grrrrrrrrr), since his reaction is one of "I knew this was coming" not "you've been eavesdropping Ms. Donlan?". And threatening her too, with no proof... seems more like a stratagy to scare Antimony into compliance. But Anthony, let me say: this feels all wrong, and I'm not sure a forced return to 9th Grade is the best course of action (opposite, in fact). But if the Court does know, and doesn't want to act for some reason, then someone does need to do something to correct the situation. Also - I just know you're up too something. The Court knew and yet did nothing? Why? Perhaps, if it's true*, they imagine having some future blackmail material - toe a Court line, or have her plagiarism exposed. And also - who at the Court, I wonder? The principal I could see, but if other staff knew it has to be a faction we haven't encountered yet. I just can't imagine Jones or Kat's parents being willing to ignore it, not without some sort of coercion. *I have my doubts Anthony is being fully honest, assuming this isn't a dream of some sort**... I honestly don't know, which just affirms for me that this is great writing from Tom. I can usually pick a dreams/hallucinations/reality in a story from a mile away, but here I'm going from dream, no real, dream?, real? But we just got the Friends-style apartment! Don't take this away from me! Maybe Lindsey could start quoting the show, just to soften the blow? As surprising as this is, Annie has been shirking accountability for a long time. Not just for cheating, but other stuff as well. And the more and more it builds up, the harsher the consequences will be. Well, she was nearly killed by someone she considered a friend, and terrified in the process. Plus she had the heated discussion with Rey that led to her fleeing to the forest for a time. I think those two events had more impact on her then dutifully attending detentions would have, as sometimes it takes experiences like that to motivate people to change course. After all, she's seemed a lot better behaved since then, with a far more constructive outlook. Failing to take her development into consideration would to be counterproductive, and more likely to either spur her back into open rebelliousness, or back into the shell she spent so long emerging from*. Babies and bathwater and all that. *Or it could turn her into Arnold 'Ace' Rimmer, I guess. Hear, hear! |
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Post by stclair on Mar 30, 2015 10:19:49 GMT
At this point, I'm at least 80% certain that Anthony is Up To Something which has nothing to do with actually punting Antimony back a grade (and just letting her retake it). That's merely the threat, stimulus, provocation, cover, etc.
He either wants to see how she reacts, has something (else) already in mind, or both.
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Post by sidhekin on Mar 30, 2015 10:27:57 GMT
At this point, I'm at least 80% certain that Anthony is Up To Something which has nothing to do with actually punting Antimony back a grade (and just letting her retake it). That's merely the threat, stimulus, provocation, cover, etc. He either wants to see how she reacts, has something (else) already in mind, or both. The remaining 20% is that Tom has something else in mind? |
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Post by calpal on Mar 30, 2015 10:27:59 GMT
... Well this is going to get very interesting real fast. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me to hear people talk about Mr Carver as being a walking nightmare of an arsehole. Yet on the other hand... well, it doesn't surprise me that the Court cares nothing about Antimony, except to have her fall in line (Just noticed now that was a very subtle hint for her to stop cheating). At least Anthony seems to be putting in the effort to actually make his daughter do the schoolwork properly, if done in possibly the worst manner imaginable and killing any chance of a happy reunion. |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 30, 2015 10:37:20 GMT
Did Annie kill Surma by being alive or did Tony kill Surma by having impregnating her? I think the correct way to put it is that Surma killed herself by passing her fire on to her child. |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 30, 2015 10:40:25 GMT
... Well this is going to get very interesting real fast. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me to hear people talk about Mr Carver as being a walking nightmare of an arsehole. Um... Annie is a cheat, sure, but an arsehole... is that not just a bit of an overstatement? |
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Post by speedwell on Mar 30, 2015 10:46:50 GMT
My feeling is that Annie will be required to retake all of her Year 9 classes, except biology and physics, which will be replaced by "independent study" in the form of being her father's assistant. I just can't lose the idea that he's up to something that involves studying her closely.
Also, if she's getting punted back to Year 9, does that mean we get new cast members and another whole year of the comic? Just saying.
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Post by rafk on Mar 30, 2015 11:05:34 GMT
Annie is not going to be punted back to year 9. This has the vein either of a test to see how she reacts or, more likely, a threat to induce her to pick option 2 which is coming right up, such as being tutored personally by Anthony and separated from her friends and forbidden to go to the forest.
The Court doesn't actually care about the academics, any more than they care about the suspiciously weak security robots being circumvented. It's not the Court's purpose.
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Post by artezzatrigger on Mar 30, 2015 11:22:17 GMT
I thoroughly agree with the sentiment that Anthony is just setting up Annie for Plan B.
We already know from Divine that he has hidden agendas involving Annie, and we also know that he is very deliberate in his actions.
...And one of the easier ways to manipulate people to do what you want is make them believe they have options.
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Post by Jelly Jellybean on Mar 30, 2015 11:40:18 GMT
Oh no, it could be much worse. Imagine if this page had begun with Kat saying/thinking "Wait, Annie, is that the only reason you've been my friend for all of this time? Did you move in with me this year just to be able to copy my work more easily? Was anything between us real???" Ow. Stop. Just don't. By the way, what would be Kat's punishment? Maybe, she will loose access to her lab? Kat and Paz have been open with their relationship. I have no doubt that the Court (or at least Anthony) would threaten to separate them. Might even do it as an example to others. |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 30, 2015 11:45:58 GMT
I thoroughly agree with the sentiment that Anthony is just setting up Annie for Plan B. We already know from Divine that he has hidden agendas involving Annie, and we also know that he is very deliberate in his actions. ...And one of the easier ways to manipulate people to do what you want is make them believe they have options. Maybe Plan B was to panic Antimony into putting her blame for the cheating onto Kat. Thus the book which shouldn't have been there if he'd already made arrangements for Antimony to repeat the previous year. Either way, that would split up the girls. |
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Post by Elysium on Mar 30, 2015 12:21:47 GMT
Can't quite understand what you mean? This perfectly explains why she does not need the textbook: she's not going to finish this class. Give me one, just ONE school that let you take you first lesson before telling you you're repeating the previous year. |
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Post by AnUpliftedCuttlefish on Mar 30, 2015 12:27:38 GMT
Stop. Just don't. By the way, what would be Kat's punishment? Maybe, she will loose access to her lab? Kat and Paz have been open with their relationship. I have no doubt that the Court (or at least Anthony) would threaten to separate them. Might even do it as an example to others. Sign me up as a member of the Donlan rebellion if the Court ever tried. Or even considered it. Unleash the protest bots, and commence the etheric computer rickrolling. |
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Post by zimmyzims on Mar 30, 2015 12:34:20 GMT
Can't quite understand what you mean? This perfectly explains why she does not need the textbook: she's not going to finish this class. Give me one, just ONE school that let you take you first lesson before telling you you're repeating the previous year. I'd say just about every school, in condition that the decision is made so late that the first lesson already takes place. That is, of course, a bad arrangement by the school, but in case that office is closed for the summer may be hardly avoidable if decision is not made the last spring, and would definitely not prevent them from making her repeat the previous school year - nor should it really, because her duty to actually pass all the courses is much more important than their duty to inform about this before the first lesson of the year, and she's the one who got herself to this crap anyway, there's also a real possibility that she'd be expelled altogether and would have to start again from year 8. In this case, the decision probably is not even made yet. I'm just about sure that Anthony will come up with an option for Annie, so that she will have to choose. They will not make her repeat a school year without hearing her first, and she will have a choice. |
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unrequited
Junior Member
Tormentor of the Heart, close friend of the Spleen
Posts: 74
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Post by unrequited on Mar 30, 2015 12:39:35 GMT
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Mar 30, 2015 12:43:13 GMT
Give me one, just ONE school that let you take you first lesson before telling you you're repeating the previous year. I'd say just about every school, in condition that the decision is made so late that the first lesson already takes place. That is, of course, a bad arrangement by the school, but in case that office is closed for the summer may be hardly avoidable if decision is not made the last spring, and would definitely not prevent them from making her repeat the previous school year - nor should it really, because her duty to actually pass all the courses is much more important than their duty to inform about this before the first lesson of the year, and she's the one who got herself to this crap anyway, there's also a real possibility that she'd be expelled altogether and would have to start again from year 8. In this case, the decision probably is not even made yet. I'm just about sure that Anthony will come up with an option for Annie, so that she will have to choose. They will not make her repeat a school year without hearing her first, and she will have a choice. But in panel #3 Anthony says that he already made the arrangements for Antimony to repeat the year. He did give her a chance to deny it, or I suppose shift blame, but I think this is/was the hearing, on the first day of the new term. That's why I've been saying that it's a bit fishy. He also says in panel #2 that he examined all of her work, so I figure that if the school knew about the cheating in the previous term they didn't know the full extent of it. |
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Post by todd on Mar 30, 2015 12:52:00 GMT
Why the Court did nothing about Annie's cheating until now:
The Court has itself shown a low level of morality and ethics in many places. First, the murder of Jeanne and her lover; this was carried out by the Founders, who are long since dead, and the present staff and faculty doesn't konw about it thanks to the cover-up (a cover-up which went to the point of omitting all mention of the victim from the records, Ministry of Truth-style). Then, deceiving Renard so that they could hold him prisoner out of fear of him. And one of its chief goals is carrying out experiments with the ether that are likely to have dangerous results (not only did it lead to a lot of trouble involving Zimmy, Jack, and the Whitelegs - and set the grounds later for the Seraphs and Ship's own big scheme, but Jones has warned about the likely eventual consequences).
Perhaps in its eyes, cheating is a sign that the student isn't likely to let "old-fashioned rules of conduct fit only for simple-minded fools rather than great invesitgators with a high and lonely destiny" stand in his or her way - and so a sign of promise.
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Post by chrisjenl on Mar 30, 2015 13:04:03 GMT
He and Donald have cheating them self?? Why els they cot a code so they can sent message only they now.
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