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Post by saardvark on Sept 7, 2017 12:30:20 GMT
I wonder if hairstyles for fire elementals are determined for life. Surma's always had poofy hair, while Annie's always had straight. If someone had wavy hair, would their ether transition look more like flowing lava? I like this idea; or a related idea, that perhaps fire elementals don't all have the same sorts of fire powers. I mean, fire is related with lots of stuff, like smoke, but also heat, energy, light, pyrotechnics, etc. Although I guess most of what I can find in terms of smoke pyrotechnics involves phosphorus, so maybe that's misleading? I just looked up oxides of antimony and I found out that Antimony (III) Oxide can be generated, with sulfur dioxide gas as a byproduct, in furnaces from Stibnite. Interestingly, when heated with carbon, the Antimony trioxide can be reduced to antimony metal. I'm going to go out on a Wildspec limb and suggest that maybe Tony represents the Carbon element, and this explains Antimony? so you get Surma (Stibnite) all hot, add Tony (carbon), and you get Annie (Antimony; chem symbol Sb ... from Latin Stibium, root of Stibnite)? GC chemistry 101 ! |
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Post by Per on Sept 7, 2017 16:31:34 GMT
"Hahaha! What a stupid, ugly, inhuman face you made!"
"What? I didn't make a face."
*awkward*
*stare*
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Post by Zox Tomana on Sept 7, 2017 20:11:29 GMT
I like this idea; or a related idea, that perhaps fire elementals don't all have the same sorts of fire powers. I mean, fire is related with lots of stuff, like smoke, but also heat, energy, light, pyrotechnics, etc. Although I guess most of what I can find in terms of smoke pyrotechnics involves phosphorus, so maybe that's misleading? I just looked up oxides of antimony and I found out that Antimony (III) Oxide can be generated, with sulfur dioxide gas as a byproduct, in furnaces from Stibnite. Interestingly, when heated with carbon, the Antimony trioxide can be reduced to antimony metal. I'm going to go out on a Wildspec limb and suggest that maybe Tony represents the Carbon element, and this explains Antimony? so you get Surma (Stibnite) all hot, add Tony (carbon), and you get Annie (Antimony; chem symbol Sb ... from Latin Stibium, root of Stibnite)? GC chemistry 101 ! Funny enough, this chapter *is* about getting to see the developing chemistry between these two ;D |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2017 20:43:28 GMT
Whether or not it was the intent, I find Tony's grimace reminiscent of a gargoyle's.
Some possibilities: (a) Tony is making this face to amuse Surma (and subtly gauge whether she's curious enough to look at him again -- or what she can see in the Ether; this could mean both flirting and more impartial curiosity), which would also show how mask-like both his usual expression and this intentional grimacing are; (b) the Ether reveals Tony's mythological footprint, i.e. stories that others make up about him, partially from his frequent failures to communicate (a self-pleasing, cerebral, arrogant and malicious man), (c) the Ether reveals Tony's nature where he cannot conceal it.
Can't offer any judgment.
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Post by TBeholder on Sept 7, 2017 23:08:53 GMT
It's in grey. So most likely image of corporeal reality (that is, Tony making faces) rather than Ether-weirdness.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Sept 7, 2017 23:42:28 GMT
I agree with saardvark , I think Anthony's making the face to find out if Surma can perceive it. In the previous comic when he observed that she closed her eyes she claimed that she 1. needed concentration and 2. could see the leaf from the ether. It's not a perfect test since she might not look at him from the opposite side but if she remarks on the face he's making then he'll know more about what she can do than before. |
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Post by Zox Tomana on Sept 7, 2017 23:44:07 GMT
It's in grey. So most likely image of corporeal reality (that is, Tony making faces) rather than Ether-weirdness. Have to double down on this one. In no other circumstance have we seen greyed out stuff through Ether-vision representing anything other than what the object or person looks like in the physical plane. Renard's empty body, for example; or the Fairy children's bodies continuing to work; any number of mundane objects that have been thus viewed from clothes, to a laptop, to the stick in this page; even Parley and Smitty have been shown thusly, with the only color coming off them being Smit's Strings of Fate. The portrayal of the physical realm as viewed from the Ether has been pretty dang consistent thus far, and our (reasonable) suspicion of Tony (given our limited interactions with him, especially with him being open and personable) is no reason to upend the rules that have been established. |
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Post by spoonr on Sept 8, 2017 0:22:58 GMT
Okay, I am now severely creeped out / worried. This no longer looks like autistic, or at least not JUST autistic (based on my personal experience). Shutting down unless you are one on one with someone, sure. But, what I'm seeing is one on one AND not under surveillance. In their room back in the court, shut down and actively prevents himself from possibly touching Don or Anja. Still quiet on the Court-owned airplane (or just court chartered). Suddenly turns human when they reach the cabin. Other places where he opened up. His apartment, which he told Don he'd disabled surveillance. www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1547And Donnie/Anjas workspace that Kat inherited. Hm. Looks like the shadow men disabled the sur for that meeting. I also thought that D/A originally found that space for special reasons beyond 'nice machine shop'. This is starting to look less autistic and more cursed or under so much surveillance that must choose words carefully. Side thought, but were we ever told how Annie learned lockpicking, and heck where she got her picks? I'm starting to think that she might have inherited them from Tony. |
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Post by pyradonis on Sept 8, 2017 0:39:21 GMT
(b) the Ether reveals Tony's mythological footprint, i.e. stories that others make up about him, partially from his frequent failures to communicate (a self-pleasing, cerebral, arrogant and malicious man) Ohh. I do so like this idea. Sadly, it is not very probable, since a person has to die, to make their stories and beliefs part of the Ether. Okay, I am now severely creeped out / worried. This no longer looks like autistic, or at least not JUST autistic (based on my personal experience). Well, it was never claimed in-comic that Tony was autistic (but I still think he is, at least to some degree). |
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Post by 華癒羅「ℍanayura」 on Sept 8, 2017 5:53:18 GMT
I get Aspie vibes from Antimony and Anthony.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2017 8:17:40 GMT
The traps can (should) sometimes be as enjoyable as the truth. pyradonis: Some of the living can manipulate the Ether, or manifest their perception prematurely (I believe Zimmy is an instance, but it's difficult to say -- in Power Station only Annie and Jack crossed over; in The Torn Sea the beacons seemed to have been meant to ensure that everyone, even the seraphs, would). Then again, perhaps they should not. Or Tony's special abilities could feasibly involve that stories about him stick to him especially, which would make it both easier to loathe as well as fall in love with him, I suppose. Today's comic dissolves all these notions anyway and implies (a) instead, but I'm easily entertained by idle speculation about what's admittedly not very likely. |
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Post by tc on Sept 9, 2017 7:54:41 GMT
I think Anthony's making the face to find out if Surma can perceive it. Possibly - I think he's also just trying to make her laugh and put her a bit more at ease, because he's well aware that not only is Surma out of her comfort zone, but she wouldn't be there at all if she weren't trying to help a friend who's having a rough time. Whilst we know Tony has no etheric affinity of his own, he's been close to Donny and (until relatively recently) Brinnie for long enough to have some idea of how the etheric plane works, so I reckon he made a pretty solid "educated guess" that Surma would be able to see him doing his best gurn while he was turned away. Okay, I am now severely creeped out / worried ... what I'm seeing is one on one AND not under surveillance. I think you're *very much* on to something there. It would certainly imply a somewhat deeper meaning to Donny's telling Annie "I just wanted you to see this side of him. I don't know how else you would." at the end of "Annie And The Fire"; i.e. Tony is skilled at circumventing technological surveillance, but the blinker stone (being etheric in nature) is something he's unable to block. I said this before : The central tragedy of Annie and Tony at this stage (via some really nifty storytelling) is that the overriding factor standing in the way of the familial relationship they both crave is their shared tendency to take responsibility almost reflexively - and thus blame themselves first and foremost - when things go wrong... ...and there's no question that part (if not most) of the reason Tony is keeping Annie at arms' length is because he believes himself unworthy of her love (having "failed" to save Surma's life and almost getting Annie killed herself when he was trying to find answers). However he also knows that the Court is keeping extremely close tabs on Annie, and it's likely that any attempt he makes to help her (or reveal more of the Court's "shenanigans") will be reported and the reprisals would make Annie's situation worse. The more we see of Tony, the less I think he might be "on the spectrum". For one thing, we've never seen him suffer what might be called a "catastrophic" shutdown (i.e. being overwhelmed resulting in alarming behaviour). Recently, we've seen him instinctively move to comfort Anja, then deliberately and consciously suppress that impulse - atypical for someone with autism based on what I've learned. In general, I think Tony exhibits too much self-control for a person on the spectrum, and while some of his traits are consistent with that diagnosis, he has exhibited at least as many (if not more) traits which aren't. Both he and Annie seem to have a behavioural tendency to suppress emotion almost to a fault (hell, it took 92 pages for Annie to express what must have been truly overwhelming hurt and sadness over the loss of her mother). We've just discovered that Tony doesn't want to discuss his parents... Tom's just thrown a new mystery in there... |
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