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Post by imaginaryfriend on Jul 10, 2015 0:39:24 GMT
I suppose at the very least if all the rage and petulance being repressed by one's drug use is held in a nice giant white room you at least don't have to deal with having it bottled up inside you where it attacks your sanity instead. Point, but if the externalized rage starts setting her stuff on fire that's bound to bite her in the arse sooner or later. We just haven't seen that part yet. Also if the photo, which was stolen from the Donlans and was a precious memory of daddy while he wasn't around, gets destroyed I think that will mark a turning point where the rage is starting to outweigh the need for Anthony's affection/approval/whatever. This has been the the second installment of "sharing personal stories with perfect strangers on the internet for no reason beyond it being vaguely related to the storyline" thanks for tuning in. Hang in there.  |
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Post by zbeeblebrox on Jul 10, 2015 23:18:45 GMT
Is the fire elemental actually her though? I mean, it contains her life force, yes, but it's also many generations older than she is Why do you assume it is so? That would be the result of it persisting between lives. The story implies that the elemental is being traded from one generation to the next. But the whole position of the elemental being more than Annie would rest on it, so if you take the other position, you would necessarily want question that premise, yes. But the proper way to go about that would be to actually, y'know, try to work out how it might not be so. Like, maybe the elemental kind of "resets" between lives? Thus, it's "old" but has no memory of its previous lives. Or maybe the elemental, being the person, gives a piece of their flame to the next generation - as that child grows, its flame grows at the expense of the previous fire elemental. In which case, Annie is not effectively Surma reincarnated, but far more like her offspring. I'm not sure I quite buy that, but it's certainly a possibility. |
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Post by TBeholder on Jul 11, 2015 3:21:42 GMT
Why do you assume it is so? That would be the result of it persisting between lives. The story implies that the elemental is being traded from one generation to the next. Not seeing it. A possible interpretation, yes, but no more than this, so far. |
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Post by zbeeblebrox on Jul 11, 2015 7:29:57 GMT
That would be the result of it persisting between lives. The story implies that the elemental is being traded from one generation to the next. Not seeing it. A possible interpretation, yes, but no more than this, so far. Did you even read the rest of my post? I offered a number of interpretations for your perusal. And I welcome further interpretations from you, if you're willing to exercise your imagination somewhat |
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Post by hajino on Jul 12, 2015 5:58:53 GMT
That would be the result of it persisting between lives. The story implies that the elemental is being traded from one generation to the next. But the whole position of the elemental being more than Annie would rest on it, so if you take the other position, you would necessarily want question that premise, yes. But the proper way to go about that would be to actually, y'know, try to work out how it might not be so. Like, maybe the elemental kind of "resets" between lives? Thus, it's "old" but has no memory of its previous lives. Or maybe the elemental, being the person, gives a piece of their flame to the next generation - as that child grows, its flame grows at the expense of the previous fire elemental. In which case, Annie is not effectively Surma reincarnated, but far more like her offspring. I'm not sure I quite buy that, but it's certainly a possibility. But until this chapter we never saw any interaction between Annie and the elemental as different beings. We also never got an inkling the "elemental" would have knowledge about its history as Annie didn't even know she wasn't fully human until she was flat out told about it. She was temperamental, yes, but she didn't know what she could do. If the elemental had its own mind or memories from earlier lives one would think it would have given Annie a few hints... The incident with the boy in the hospital seemed also very unconscious, she didn't seem to notice, what she was doing. So I am going with the "giving a part of your own flame to your child until your own goes out". Also whenever Annie became the walking light torch it was her decision and her emotions that led to it, at least I detected no switch. This separate being that was revealed now only came out after the haircut and after we followed an Annie, that seemed to lack a few qualities and seemed stunted. I really think its her and her repressed emotions. |
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Post by Refugee on Jul 12, 2015 5:59:07 GMT
About fire:
As fire burns, it takes up the substance of its fuel, transforms it, and expels it, from one instant to the next. There is very little about a fire that is THE FIRE. Fire is a flux, not a thing.
Fire remembers nothing; its only memory, its only link to its past is the eroding surface of the fuel it consumes.
Annie's elemental does have its own substance, its own memory, but I think it is not anchored by these things in the same way Annie herself is.
If a new candle is lit from a guttering wick, is it the same flame?
The elemental is eyeless--it must be, fire cannot see, it is too hot and bright. Eyes must be cool and dark relative to what they see. And yet Annie's fire does perceive.
It has no mouth, it is a scream. (I wonder, in the emptiness of Annie's room, would you hear the sound of a gas flame billowing?)
It cannot touch or burn.
Annie's elemental calms and cools upon perceiving Anthony's picture, despite her initial rage.
Is that what pulled Surma to him, that he cooled her fire?
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