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Post by saardvark on Dec 31, 2016 16:59:26 GMT
Yes, Coyote can certainly be controlling as well. But he seems to treat Rey as more of a (near)-equal; his manipulation of Rey has been more indirect (e.g., giving him the power to possess people, flawed). Still, annoying... Rey would have to be ever wary of Coyote's tricks. |
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Post by bedinsis on Jan 3, 2017 22:50:13 GMT
I've recently reread Coyote stories, and something remarked upon by Coyote himself was that his gifts were imperfect(Reynardine's bodyswitching left the host to die, Ysengrin shakes as an old man and his physical body is a mere husk). This is interesting since Antimony was quite purposefully given one of his tooth, and that was probably due to Coyote having a reason in mind for her having it, the apology gift excuse being a mere smoke screen.
The reason I post here however is because the Annan waters and the Ravine was made by Coyote. Coyote seldom tells the whole truth, as we saw with how Reynardine got his bodyswitching powers, so I wonder if Coyote had some long term plan with the Annan waters? And if not, if this could be considered as another one of Coyote's tainted gifts, i.e. that its purpose(keeping the humans and forest creatures out of each others throat) had some backside that has already been revealed or is about to in the future?
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Post by todd on Jan 4, 2017 0:10:28 GMT
The reason I post here however is because the Annan waters and the Ravine was made by Coyote. Coyote seldom tells the whole truth, as we saw with how Reynardine got his bodyswitching powers, so I wonder if Coyote had some long term plan with the Annan waters? And if not, if this could be considered as another one of Coyote's tainted gifts, i.e. that its purpose(keeping the humans and forest creatures out of each others throat) had some backside that has already been revealed or is about to in the future? I can think of one possible price - the Annan Waters, keeping the Court and the Wood separate, might help foster an atmosphere of distrust and "us vs. them" on both sides - thus ensuring enough tension between the two to amuse Coyote, without the danger of an all-out war that could wipe out both sides and end the "comedy" before Coyote gets bored with it. |
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Post by bedinsis on Jan 5, 2017 18:17:30 GMT
Rereading "Ties" and combining this with how the greenies of the forest always have their eyes closed leads me to believe that Anja Donlan is of greenie ancestry.
Have they been officially named, by the way? Since they are human like, have pointy ears and are in tune with nature, "elves" prop up a lot, but have they been called so in-comic? Before I edited this post I called them anwyn, before I realized that was probably the family name of the family of greenies Annie stayed at.
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Post by fish on Jan 5, 2017 19:09:48 GMT
Rereading "Ties" and combining this with how the greenies of the forest always have their eyes closed leads me to believe that Anja Donlan is of greenie ancestry. Have they been officially named, by the way? Since they are human like, have pointy ears and are in tune with nature, "elves" prop up a lot, but have they been called so in-comic? Before I edited this post I called them anwyn, before I realized that was probably the family name of the family of greenies Annie stayed at. That's all we know so far. |
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Post by jda on Jan 6, 2017 4:30:47 GMT
Rereading "Ties" and combining this with how the greenies of the forest always have their eyes closed leads me to believe that Anja Donlan is of greenie ancestry. Have they been officially named, by the way? Since they are human like, have pointy ears and are in tune with nature, "elves" prop up a lot, but have they been called so in-comic? Before I edited this post I called them anwyn, before I realized that was probably the family name of the family of greenies Annie stayed at. That's all we know so far. Well, gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1359 the "frog" talks about "the prince of the anwyn", so, even taking in account that the storyteller is exaggerating, seems like they are known as such. |
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Post by bedinsis on Jan 6, 2017 9:00:00 GMT
Well, gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1359 the "frog" talks about "the prince of the anwyn", so, even taking in account that the storyteller is exaggerating, seems like they are known as such. No-no, Kamlen is a member of the family Annie stayed with, if their family name is Anwyn calling him "the prince of the Anwyn" would be correct. Though it does imply that the Anwyn family is quite powerful if other creatures know them as such. In that very page they are referred to as "tree people", but that is something that creatures that never climb trees are likely to call creatures living in such strange locations. |
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Post by Runningflame on Jan 21, 2017 0:05:04 GMT
Wildspec about the events from here on out: Smitty dies but is taken into the RotD. Since he is allowed to take whatever form he wants as a ghost, he chooses to look the same. He goes back to the Court, acts like nothing happened, and continues serving as their medium. Nobody at the Court notices the difference. Coyote notices right away, but he thinks it's hilarious so he decides not to say anything about it. (This won't happen, but it would be pretty funny. As funny as Smitty dying can be, of course.) |
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Post by mturtle7 on Jan 23, 2017 3:18:48 GMT
Wildspec about the events from here on out: Smitty dies but is taken into the RotD. Since he is allowed to take whatever form he wants as a ghost, he chooses to look the same. He goes back to the Court, acts like nothing happened, and continues serving as their medium. Nobody at the Court notices the difference. Coyote notices right away, but he thinks it's hilarious so he decides not to say anything about it. (This won't happen, but it would be pretty funny. As funny as Smitty dying can be, of course.) Granted, he'd still be required to scare people, which seems a LITTLE conflicting with his duties as a medium. But hey, with the illusionary powers of a ghost, combined with the powers he already had in life, he could probably pull it off. |
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Post by bgb16999 on Jan 23, 2017 5:16:01 GMT
The Court might notice that they surveillance devices they put in Smitty's food stop working, since ghost-Smitty might not be able to eat.
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Post by Storel on Jan 23, 2017 23:09:36 GMT
The Court might notice that they surveillance devices they put in Smitty's food stop working, since ghost-Smitty might not be able to eat. But they probably won't notice that unless they have some reason to try tracking Smitty's whereabouts. I don't believe the court tracks all the students all the time, or none of the nighttime excursions would ever happen. What probably happens is that nobody looks at any of the tracking logs until a student turns up missing, and then they check to see where that student was last recorded. |
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Post by todd on Jan 24, 2017 0:26:00 GMT
I don't believe the court tracks all the students all the time, or none of the nighttime excursions would ever happen. What probably happens is that nobody looks at any of the tracking logs until a student turns up missing, and then they check to see where that student was last recorded. The Court probably even secretly tolerates - even subtly encourages - those excursions and other rule-breaking, to prepare the children for when they're the new generation of people running the Court and will most likely be adopting the same amoral "ends justify the means"/"ours is a high and lonely destiny" mentality of the Founders. |
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Post by Gulby on Jan 24, 2017 22:47:26 GMT
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Post by jda on Jan 25, 2017 2:25:07 GMT
Well, my last wildspec for today, on SkeweredSmitty:
Do we know anyone who LIVES even when its host physically dies ?
Yes, our old friend Annie's/Surma's FIRE ELEMENTAL.
Through Etheric Shenanigans and Medium Magic, Smitty LIVES, and Annie loses Once again (and forever?) her inner fire (without dying, I mean).
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Post by mturtle7 on Jan 26, 2017 6:16:05 GMT
Well,there's no way I can match that epiphany (or that degree of madness), but I can certainly try. You see, there is one other character (or rather, set of them) who seemed to be incredibly important way back in the past, and yet their actual significance to the narrative was left unexplained. Figures of a long-standing mystery, who desperately require a comeback. Who have actually saved a man character from certain death in the Annan Waters ONCE BEFORE. These guys. AND, WHATSMORE, they have demonstrated EXTRAORDINARY powers of growth and regeneration BEFORE. Mechanical growth, similar to the work of Katerina Donlan, who happens to have plenty of tools to work with RIGHT HERE. *sanity slowly fading* It's the PERFECT callback. Possibly even outdoing the hairclip a few pages ago. And it WILL HAPPEN, do you hear me! THE TIC-TOCS WILL SAVE HIM. |
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Post by OGRuddawg on Jan 30, 2017 0:30:05 GMT
Well, my last wildspec for today, on SkeweredSmitty: Do we know anyone who LIVES even when its host physically dies ? Yes, our old friend Annie's/Surma's FIRE ELEMENTAL. Through Etheric Shenanigans and Medium Magic, Smitty LIVES, and Annie loses Once again (and forever?) her inner fire (without dying, I mean). It is fairly well established that if Annie passes on her fire elemental to someone else, presumably her child, then she dies. I seriously doubt she could give her fire elemental side to Smitty without deadly repercussions, even if it were possible. Also, someone with a degree of power over the future and probability is already overpowered without fire elemental abilities. |
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Post by hp on Jan 31, 2017 13:17:28 GMT
So. Jeanne out of the picture is a major change in the status quo. Has anyone already "wildspecced" about what will come of it? Now the shadow men and other beings can cross the Annan at will against Court Wishes, and vice versa. Wonder if the new book will be called Gunnerkrigg Court: Black Ops  |
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Post by bedinsis on Feb 1, 2017 22:39:53 GMT
I've already posted this theory in the thread for page 1786, but it might bear repeating in the appropriate thread: When Annie got the blinker stone she was mightily upset when she found out that can be considered a way to claim somebody. I don't know if this aspect of her personality has been explored at another time or if that was just a generalized annoyance at people taking liberties, or, and here's where the theory comes in, it signifies something the comic has yet to explore. The theory I had was that at one point in the past Annie's ancestor agreed to become a psychopomp once she perished. Then she became with child, and the contract was left unresolved, since her life force/soul was never harvested and used to make the world spin. The Psychopomps however still think they have a claim on her services, and after Surma's passing claimed that she would join them once she died. Annie got upset, and refused. This is what they want from her, for she to fulfil her ancestor's agreement. Since she has inherited her life energy from that ancestor it could be argued that she is on the same agreement. |
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Post by zbeeblebrox on Feb 2, 2017 0:07:01 GMT
So. Jeanne out of the picture is a major change in the status quo. Has anyone already "wildspecced" about what will come of it? Now the shadow men and other beings can cross the Annan at will against Court Wishes, and vice versa. Well keep in mind that the bridge is still the easiest way to cross, and this action doesn't affect the Court's ability to monitor that. In an immediate sense, only the Psychopomps will care about Jeanne being gone, since they kept getting killed by her. Longer term, the only creatures who would would directly benefit from a clear unmonitored Annan River are those who wish harm on the Court. At the moment, Coyote's peacekeeping has made that moot (I think). The belligerent ones only make up a small minority, and they reside deep in the forest as we saw. The Court would have to do something particularly egregious in order to really make this security hole a problem. And I'm sure they'd never do such a thing! ;D |
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Post by mturtle7 on Feb 2, 2017 0:16:55 GMT
So. Jeanne out of the picture is a major change in the status quo. Has anyone already "wildspecced" about what will come of it? Now the shadow men and other beings can cross the Annan at will against Court Wishes, and vice versa. Wonder if the new book will be called Gunnerkrigg Court: Black Ops As a matter of fact, I DO have a theory for this, and it's the wildest, craziest one you can imagine. I hereby theorize that there shall be absolutely NO SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES that will result from Jeanne's demise. For Annie and the main cast, there are obviously consequences going on due to the fight, but in terms of Court-Forest relations...NONE WHATSOEVER. Because we as readers have known about Jeanne for years and years, I think we tend to forget that other than Annie & co., NOBODY is aware of Jeanne's existence. All that anyone in the Court or Forest or indeed anywhere else knows is that you can't cross the Annan Waters. No way, no how, and why is irrelevant. Noone's crazy enough to even try, and it's been that way for ages. The only ones who knew the nature of this sentinel were the ones who created her, and not only are they dead, but they totally wiped out all records of her. Well, okay, Coyote might or might not know, but he swore that he would leave the Court alone, so it's not like he can do anything about it if he did. Conclusion: if a ghost dies in a ravine, and noone knows about it, it doesn't have any effect on any political or military plans. Even if people did know that the Annan Waters were now cross-able, I don't think it would change much. The only Forest denizens who might want to invade the Court are Ysengrin and his army, as well as the Shadow people. The Shadow people have already gotten into the Court, and Ysengrin and his army aren't exactly working together anymore. So that's out. And the Court honestly couldn't care less about those brainless animals in the Forest, and long as they keep their plants and magic stuff away. If anything, thanks to Annie and Andrew, relations between the Court and Forest are downright friendly! Most of the larger action from here on is actually going to be with the psychopomps and the inner working of the Court, with the occasional break to deal with problems in the Forest and/or Coyote's schemes. Relations between the Court and Forest might not be ideal, but Jeanne's death certainly won't change anything. |
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Post by hp on Feb 2, 2017 3:51:37 GMT
I was thinking exactly of the shadows. The first chapter makes a point to show the lights on the bridge are there to specifically stop them. And shadow folks are pretty hateful of humans and can control robot actuators.
Now they have an easy passage...
I wasn't thinking about Ysengrim, but from what I got from that storyline you linked, I dont think that was all his army or that all of it scorn him.
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Post by zbeeblebrox on Feb 3, 2017 9:00:49 GMT
There's one hole in your wildest, craziest theory mturtle: Annie is still the Forest Medium. That may not mean much for the immediate circumstances and I'm fairly confident things will return to normal more-or-less, but sooner or later she's going to be talking to Coyote again. And there's no telling whether or not she'll be able to keep her trap shut about Jeanne's passing. Will Coyote like that news? Be horrified over it? Not care? I don't know, but I suspect this future turn of events will inevitably yield consequences of great import down the line.
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Post by mturtle7 on Feb 5, 2017 0:21:49 GMT
I was thinking exactly of the shadows. The first chapter makes a point to show the lights on the bridge are there to specifically stop them. And shadow folks are pretty hateful of humans and can control robot actuators. Now they have an easy passage... I wasn't thinking about Ysengrim, but from what I got from that storyline you linked, I dont think that was all his army or that all of it scorn him. Oh, alright, alright, I admit defeat. Both of your points make a lot of sense, and actually sound like they would lead to some pretty cool developments in the story. It's just that I've seen a lot of people declaring that, without a doubt, that this chapter will be followed by some sort of all-out war between the Court and Forest, so I thought it would be fun trying to counter that. |
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Post by mturtle7 on Feb 6, 2017 23:21:57 GMT
Welp, this latest page has just completely and utterly killed my wildspec.
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Saliant
New Member
Still working at it!
Posts: 23 
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Post by Saliant on Feb 7, 2017 22:26:53 GMT
My question out of all of this is... What's Kat going to do with the green arrow? I imagine such soul binding power would have its uses for a deity in training...
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Post by Runningflame on Feb 8, 2017 1:19:19 GMT
My question out of all of this is... What's Kat going to do with the green arrow? I imagine such soul binding power would have its uses for a deity in training... My prediction: they're going to destroy it using Coyote's tooth. |
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Post by Jelly Jellybean on Feb 8, 2017 1:41:53 GMT
My question out of all of this is... What's Kat going to do with the green arrow? I imagine such soul binding power would have its uses for a deity in training... My prediction: they're going to destroy it using Coyote's tooth. And there will be a truly earth shattering KABOOM! Or the arrow will warp reality and imprison the tooth. Either way I don't see the tooth coming out ahead. I would like Kat to use the arrow as her magic girl wand, but that's not going to happen either. What am I saying? This is wild spec where anything is possible. |
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Post by boxbot1 on Feb 9, 2017 23:49:27 GMT
My question out of all of this is... What's Kat going to do with the green arrow? I imagine such soul binding power would have its uses for a deity in training... My prediction: they're going to destroy it using Coyote's tooth. We have no idea what that could end up doing! I think she's just going to put it either with Jeanne's shrine or Diego's past work to be used in about 10 chapters. |
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Post by jda on Feb 21, 2017 4:59:38 GMT
According to the Treatise gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1741, Shadow is going to take Robot thru the ravine into the Forest, maybe sparking war/the public knowledge of the Free Pass between the sides.. |
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Post by brilliantgrey on Feb 25, 2017 2:51:27 GMT
Theory: The Court is trying to completely cut out its connection with the ether, and that is the purpose of the Omega Device that Tony was researching. Zimmy will be critical in the execution of the Omega Device.
Warning: this is about to be very rambly and confusing. Please bear with me.
One of the main motifs associated with Tony is the coyote/coyote skull. This connects to Coyote's metaphor to explain his grand theory that he does not exist. He explains that without the ether, he would just be a regular coyote. Furthermore, he states that he believes human intellect to be a disease. Tony, the literal human personification of pure intellect, utilizes his own intelligence (and surgical skills), as well as etherical knowledge and guidance from many supernatural beings to cut through the layers of reality, causing Annie's illness and very nearly completely severing Annie from her fire elemental spirit. The Court views etheric manipulation as an abnormality, or something that should be changed, regulated, and controlled. Therefore, to remove themselves from the influence of the ether, Gillitie Woods, and Coyote, they will seek to completely sever themselves from the ether. (In essence curing the disease of human intellect upon the ether, as their minds will no longer be able to impact the formation of supernatural beings. Coyote would be reduced to the desert coyote he described and all the inhabitants of the forest would become regular animals and creatures, with human energy no longer being used to form ether. This also ties into the reason the Court only allows human residents(besides a few creatures which they keep as curiosities, like Sivo, Renard, and Jones), and the forest only allows non-human residents. They can completely reduce the Gillitie Woods to normal only if they were to completely cut off every human mind connected with the ether which also has a belief in the creatures of the Wood and Coyote. Even a single human mind could produce the belief necessary to continue the powers of the forest once it passed into the ether, however faintly. This might also be why they seem to collect people with unusual relationships to the ether, which either grants them abilities or makes them have especially etherically susceptible minds (possibly making the power of their beliefs which will shape the ether upon death stronger). Thus the collection of people like Parley, Donnie, James, and Zimmy, as well as all the students that weren't originally animals or creatures and weren't born in the Court.
The Court is seeking to manipulate the ether for some grand and sinister purpose, as indicated by the many ether collecting stations (of which only one has been pictured). In the ether station on the lake, experiments in extracting the natural ether from the water result in a disruption of Zimmy's abilities. Zimmy is maintained at the Court likely as an experiment, or at least a curiosity. In my opinion, I believe she generates raw etheric energy, as the robots in The Torn Sea refer to her as an etheric generator. Thus, she could essentially be used to power a device run by ether. Like a very angry and rather greasy waterwheel.
Other odd court experiments regarding the ether include the Hollow Fairies. It would appear that the fairies and forest creatures can swim and manipulate the ether, but they cannot create it, unlike human minds, which in certain circumstances generate ether or return it along with their beliefs upon death. (Unlike matter, there is not a finite amount of ether, as Zimmy seems to be able to create it in large amounts if she does not receive enough of it to maintain her semblance of normalcy.) However, we have never seen a magical being returned to the ether upon death, likely because their beliefs do not shape it. They are the medium while the disease of human intellect is the sculptor. So they do not need to be returned to the ether, as they never removed any energy from it in the first place. But why would the Court desire for certain supernatural beings to be born without a physical form? My theory is that they are creating a sort of super race which does not need to be returned to the ether upon death, and they are trying to take the ether out of the process of creating life. (which even Coyote is incapable of, possibly because he does not have the human ability to give power to the ether, but rather is powered by it himself.) If they could successfully continue to create life which would not be returned to or shape the ether, then there would be no danger in wholly separating the Court's residents from the ether, as there would still be a means by which 'humans' could be propagated. (which raises an interesting parallel to the self-propagation of Diego's robots, but I digress)
The Omega Device itself would have to be powered by both etheric and mechanical means, and likely the reason the Court allowed Tony to go on his mystical wilderness adventure. He now possesses firsthand experience in separating through the layers of reality to divide between the ether and the non-etheric world. This is also why they've brought him back, and why he is so deep into the inner circle of the court. The Court, also probably resentful of the fact that to truly and finally separate themselves from Gillitie Wood they must utilize etheric means, understands that there is no other way to achieve their end goal. The Court knows that if they remove enough ether from Zimmy's surroundings, she will be forced to generate an essentially endless amount of it, which could be used to power the device. Also I just think it's thematically likely that our friend Zeta and the Omega Device are connected just based on name alone.
I have a lot more thoughts on this subject but I feel like this might be enough for now LAUGHING ON LINE.
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