About the Court

[Uglyhead]

Good point about internal security seeming lax, tomenglish. The tictoc in chapter 3 must have seen Antimony in the forbidden area, but nobody came to stop her. So either the security guards weren't paying very close attention, or perhaps security is not the true function of the tictocs after all. The teachers seemed to think Antimony had died from her fall off the bridge, too, despite the fact that they should have known the tictocs had saved her. It could go either way, but I'm starting to suspect that the birds may not be for security, after all.

[Aspen d'Grey]

In one of the very early comics (I'll check numbers in a bit) when Annie sends Robot & Shadow2 across the bridge, she is confronted by a teacher. But yeah, that's about it.

[alternativeoyster]

I've always interpereted the series as taking place in a different world than ours where some of the things going on are commonplace (the steampunk-y design of the school, etc) and even the weird things are possible. I wouldn't try to connect it to the "real" world. To be honest, I think overanalayzing the world is a little pointless, you just have to run with it.

tomenglish said:

Has anyone else wondered why security around the border of Gunnerkrigg is so tight while inside there seems to be almost no security structure whatsoever? Inside the school, kids rarely seem to be supervised, and the obvious lack of large crowds of students makes me wonder just how many people live at Gunnerkrigg. Outside, there are numerous ticking mechanical birds, a giant bridge with an alarm, and the school itself is apparently set in a very dangerous location. The "Gunner's Cragg" doesn't strike me as the kind of place designed to "nurture," but rather as a place where you put something (or someone) to forget about it.

that is definitely very odd. i think some of that security is due to the threat or what have you of the old forest. also i would speculate that there's some sort of other things going on there besides a school, but i'm sure others know much more than i about that.

also i'm pretty sure that tea is a avatar sort of deal, i wouldn't expect her to have any major plot implications.

[todd]

Tea also appears in the Epilogue to Chapter Eight, by the way.

[ethyl]

uglyhead said:

Good point about internal security seeming lax, tomenglish. The tictoc in chapter 3 must have seen Antimony in the forbidden area, but nobody came to stop her. So either the security guards weren't paying very close attention, or perhaps security is not the true function of the tictocs after all. The teachers seemed to think Antimony had died from her fall off the bridge, too, despite the fact that they should have known the tictocs had saved her. It could go either way, but I'm starting to suspect that the birds may not be for security, after all.

That is such a good point, I hadn't thought of that! maybe they come from out of the school? They look normal enough to be real birds so fit right in. On that note, Zimmy trusts the school enough to attend so she may realise the birds don't belong there which is why she doesn't like them looking at her.

[rastarogue]

I feel that it may have been put there because it somehow draws together people with special talents, and it may be a source of magical power.

[my2k]

I don't think it's limited to special children. I'm sure there are lots of normal kids there.

[Aspen d'Grey]

Define 'normal'. ^^

That said, I agree with my2k. There's certainly a lot of weird stuff going on, but it's not happening to everyone as far as I can see. We tend to only notice the weird things that happen because, well, those are the interesting things to see.

This phenomena is present in all good fictions, simply because conflict makes the story progress. Seeing Antimony attend a slightly quirky school might be interesting, but it's neither sustainable or good reader fodder.

[puck]

Assuming Gunnerkrigg is a school for mystically gifted/ridiculously talented children, perhaps the teachers are just watching to see what happens? Maybe the children are supposed to harness their abilities/curses/what have you/etc. on their own, and Gunnerkrigg just acts as a safety net so that things don't get out of hand?

[Aspen d'Grey]

They are being taught actual classes, Annie & Kat + Basil == Homework for history, and there are references to other classes as well.

[my2k]

puck said:

Assuming Gunnerkrigg is a school for mystically gifted/ridiculously talented children, perhaps the teachers are just watching to see what happens? Maybe the children are supposed to harness their abilities/curses/what have you/etc. on their own, and Gunnerkrigg just acts as a safety net so that things don't get out of hand?

On that note, I just wanted to point out that Zimmy learning to harness her reality-bending powers would be insane. The amount of raw power she would have would be mind-boggling so I doubt that's a true goal.

Maybe it's more about what your potential is than what you are. That could explain a lot.

[puck]

I never said they couldn't have classes. What the classes can teach them about themselves is a different story.

[lau]

Hmm, the suicidal faeries from the river said that they would become students at GC when they "passed the test," i.e. died.

And they said that a number of the current students are former faeries...

Something is definitely up with a lot of the students.

[Aspen d'Grey]

They didn't say that the current students were fairies, because they haven't met them. They said that that is where they are going. So, I think that the faeries are elsewhere in Gunnerkrigg.

[aoeniac]

They didn't say it, but Antimony suggested it and they affirmed it.

[freemage]

At this point, I'm going with most of the children, if not all, having at least a tenuous connection with the para-real. I'm also still backing the notion that the paranatural is not utterly commonplace in the world in general, and thus that GC is fairly exceptional, if not unique.

However, these connections vary in both strength and kind, and in many cases may be totally unique to the student in question. Some of the kids may have 'spot on the wall' talents (a reference to Piers Anthony before he became a total hack--while all inhabitants of Xanth have magical powers, some have powers that are as useless as making a spot appear on a wall). Others might be polymaths, able to tap into a wide variety of different paranatural phenomenon--Antimony is a strong shaman, by my reading, but she may have other, unrelated abilities. Or maybe merely facets of that natural power.

[fruitcake119]

Given that Tom's email address is 'teasan@hotmail', i'd call Tea an avatar of Tom

Also, Tea is a nice drink, good with digestive biscuits and toast ^_^

[Aspen d'Grey]

aoeniac said:

They didn't say it, but Antimony suggested it and they affirmed it.

At my reading, they affirm that there are students there that are fae. They didn't say that there are students there, in Annie's classes, that look like she does, and are her kind. They didn't know WHAT they'll look like after they 'graduate', so I think that they are in a different part of the Court.

[rastarogue]

freemage said:

At this point, I'm going with most of the children, if not all, having at least a tenuous connection with the para-real. I'm also still backing the notion that the paranatural is not utterly commonplace in the world in general, and thus that GC is fairly exceptional, if not unique.

However, these connections vary in both strength and kind, and in many cases may be totally unique to the student in question. Some of the kids may have 'spot on the wall' talents (a reference to Piers Anthony before he became a total hack--while all inhabitants of Xanth have magical powers, some have powers that are as useless as making a spot appear on a wall). Others might be polymaths, able to tap into a wide variety of different paranatural phenomenon--Antimony is a strong shaman, by my reading, but she may have other, unrelated abilities. Or maybe merely facets of that natural power.

I like your theory, but I disagree about the commonality of para-normal events outside of the school. I would guess that those outside of the Court have had no expierience (sp?) with anything unnatural. The court may even be like a shield generator that relies on not only technology but magic to maintain the border between the "normal" world and the world on the far side of the bridge.

[La Poire]

rastarogue said:

expierience (sp?)

Spelled "experience". Seriously, am I the only one who uses the spell checker? (I know Aspen claims to, but nooooooo)

Anyway, I didn't post (just) to point out spelling mistakes. I posted in some other thread about the facade of the Court, and I wanted to say it in here to: over the entrance to the Court (from Gillitie Wood) are shown the alchemical symbols for bismuth, gold and lead, and the bismuth symbol seems to pop up other places as well: I think it was on a banner in the science fair and on the detention slip from Mr Eglamore, at least.

[Aspen d'Grey]

I use it whenever I manage to get into the full reply thing... That said, I do try and go back and spellcheck my posts when I get a chance.

[rastarogue]

Sorry, I tend to post fast and don't typically make it to the full reply box, just the quick reply.

[Aspen d'Grey]

rastarogue said:

freemage said:

At this point, I'm going with most of the children, if not all, having at least a tenuous connection with the para-real. I'm also still backing the notion that the paranatural is not utterly commonplace in the world in general, and thus that GC is fairly exceptional, if not unique.

However, these connections vary in both strength and kind, and in many cases may be totally unique to the student in question. Some of the kids may have 'spot on the wall' talents (a reference to Piers Anthony before he became a total hack--while all inhabitants of Xanth have magical powers, some have powers that are as useless as making a spot appear on a wall). Others might be polymaths, able to tap into a wide variety of different paranatural phenomenon--Antimony is a strong shaman, by my reading, but she may have other, unrelated abilities. Or maybe merely facets of that natural power.

I like your theory, but I disagree about the commonality of para-normal events outside of the school. I would guess that those outside of the Court have had no expierience (sp?) with anything unnatural. The court may even be like a shield generator that relies on not only technology but magic to maintain the border between the "normal" world and the world on the far side of the bridge.

Yet Another Back On Topic:
If this is supposed to be taking place in our world (which is my impression) then all the weird stuff going on in to Annie is jsut that- weird stuff. Remember how freaked out the rest of the class was when they brought in Basil? GC might be a little 'off', but they certainly didn't take that nearly as well as Annie and Kat. For that matter, even Kat didn't take it all that well when they foudn him, resultign in oen of my all-time favorite expressions on a webcomic character.

[rastarogue]

aspengrey said:

rastarogue said:

I like your theory, but I disagree about the commonality of para-normal events outside of the school. I would guess that those outside of the Court have had no expierience (sp?) with anything unnatural. The court may even be like a shield generator that relies on not only technology but magic to maintain the border between the "normal" world and the world on the far side of the bridge.

Yet Another Back On Topic:
If this is supposed to be taking place in our world (which is my impression) then all the weird stuff going on in to Annie is jsut that- weird stuff. Remember how freaked out the rest of the class was when they brought in Basil? GC might be a little 'off', but they certainly didn't take that nearly as well as Annie and Kat. For that matter, even Kat didn't take it all that well when they foudn him, resultign in oen of my all-time favorite expressions on a webcomic character.

so there are a select few who have brushes with the para-normal more than others?

[Aspen d'Grey]

Of course, and we focus on them because that is waht we find interesting. I think I've described that effect in more detail in another thread.

[rastarogue]

you did. The other kids may just not attract the para-normal as much, but are still probably connected to it in some way.

[alternativeoyster]

aspengrey said:

rastarogue said:

I like your theory, but I disagree about the commonality of para-normal events outside of the school. I would guess that those outside of the Court have had no expierience (sp?) with anything unnatural. The court may even be like a shield generator that relies on not only technology but magic to maintain the border between the "normal" world and the world on the far side of the bridge.

Yet Another Back On Topic:
If this is supposed to be taking place in our world (which is my impression) then all the weird stuff going on in to Annie is jsut that- weird stuff. Remember how freaked out the rest of the class was when they brought in Basil? GC might be a little 'off', but they certainly didn't take that nearly as well as Annie and Kat. For that matter, even Kat didn't take it all that well when they foudn him, resultign in oen of my all-time favorite expressions on a webcomic character.

I don't know that this is taking place in our world (or an equivalent thereof). A minotaur can still be weird even if hovercars and ghosts are normal. Just because they're not common, doesn't mean they're not known.

To be honest, I think the school and the forest fit into a small world of their own. Everything else doesn't really matter.

[La Poire]

I think Gunnerkrigg Court is meant to be located in some analogy of the "real" world, but remember the articles about Rogat Orjaks, anyone? We sure as hell haven't discovered anything like that on the Italian/Slovenian border yet.

[todd]

At least the entertainment media must be close to that of the real world, since we know that Kat's a fan of "Batman" and "The X-Files".

[Aspen d'Grey]

By 'we' I meant the comic... We don't spend much time on the others, if they had paranormal stuff I think we would have at least gotten a hint.