[2684] "My name is not JERREK, damn you!"

[imaginaryfriend]

I don't think she knew before but she knows now. Or she will, once she's had a moment to process.

Figured she'd find out but I didn't expect him to tell/show her. And of course this means...

[jda]

Oct 3, 2022 7:05:10 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

I don't think she knew before but she knows now. Or she will, once she's had a moment to process.

Figured she'd find out but I didn't expect him to tell/show her. And of course this means...

View Attachment

"And my name is not Lana!"

[bicarbonat]

[oprah-hands.gif]
And either Lana's going to twig that he was never "himself," or she's going to think that Annie did something that ~took him away from her~, and we'll all let out a sigh so deep it'd put a Lamaze instructor to shame.

[speedwell]

Up till now we have only ever seen Lana close to a boy and exercising her self-defined seductive superpowers. Ex-robot she may be, but nobody with more than a walk-on part in this production fails to have hidden depths. I'm looking forward to seeing what Lana's are, even if they should happen to be powered by "woman scorned" energy.

OK, especially if they are. 😁

[arf]

Loup: "My name isn't Jerrek, dammit!"
Lana: "... and *my* name isn't 'Dammit'!"

[yhbc]

"Oh! But MY name is Loup, too!!!"

[Corvo]

Kat did a good job with these bodies, they even have the "teenage hormones" that— Wait, that's a terrible job!

[jasmijn]

"My name is Dave!"

[laaaa]

Goddammit, Loup, you RUINED IT. I was beginning to root for you. How can you not be moved?!

[pyradonis]

Woah, I'm not exactly Lana's biggest fan, but now I'm really feeling for her. Poor girl, she just wanted to help him. Deceived, used and now attacked, I'm really worried for her.

[shadow3]

[Surprised Pikachu with ominous shadow on face meme]

[timopy]

Yo just how dumb is Loup? He was saved from what seemed to be death and he throws his whole disguise in a tantrum.

Though I guess tantrums are his thing, gotta keep it up

[maxptc]

Figured this was coming. I really hope Loup doesn't kill Lana, but Lana has major "I'm the lovable character introduced to die and raise the stakes" vibes.

[madjack]

Let's see if that 'no harm to NPs' promise he made to Robot actually binds his actions.

If it does, and it turns out he still needs the Jerrek disguise, he's going to have to do anything Lana wants or else she spills his secret.

[Gemminie]

Once again I've missed a couple of installments and have to catch up.

Two pages ago: Loup is wondering whether this is the "when you find out my plan, you will agree that it is an excellent plan! And then you will die!" thing that's supposed to happen. He thinks he's going to die if the train keeps going. Interesting thing, though: he can't travel there unless he dies, he thinks to himself. Not "if I try to go there, I'll die." It's "I cannot travel there unless I die." That implies that he would still somehow get there in some way, despite dying.

Previous page: Annie has stood up and cleared up for us that they're only "a couple more" stops away now – probably meaning two, or approximately two. But when the doors are open, Lana takes the opportunity to pull "Jerrek" out the door onto the platform, losing Annie. The doors close, and the train moves on, leaving Annie confused and unable to go back. But the camera follows Lana and "Jerrek."

Today: Loup/Jerrek is very upset – we don't see how badly the star ocean is affecting him at the moment, but it can't be affecting him less than it was when last we saw his Ether perspective, since they're somewhat closer to it now. He demands to know why Lana pulled him off the train. She reveals that she's noticed his sweating and distress, adding that she's worried about him.

But she calls him by the name Jerrek, and he reacts violently to that, throwing her off. It looks as if he's making a fist but not actually punching her; he seems to have raised his arm to shove her away. The side of his face that's away from her is in shadow but has a pointed ear, glowing red eye, and distinctly animal-like mouth. He may still be presenting a New Person-like look to her, but he also yells that his name is not Jerrek, leaving Lana astonished.

They're not getting closer to the star ocean anymore, but they aren't getting any farther away either, so Loup's feeling its effects, which we can tell aren't pleasant. What he'll do about it I don't know; since he's Loup he could always just teleport away ... or can he? Would he just get sucked in closer if he tried to travel noncorporeally? I suppose he could try to find whatever machinery was involved in sustaining the star ocean and break it, but it may not be nearby, and that's assuming it's easy to find. And then there's the question of what exactly he tells Lana – if his name isn't Jerrek, what is it? Is he going to reveal himself as Loup to her? How will she respond? Annie's conveniently not here, so Annie won't be hearing this confession. But Lana might tell her – assuming she survives. Will Lana die here? Or will she make a deal not to reveal his identity? Will she take this as "I've been dating a monster" or as "I've got a super-powered boyfriend?"

I don't know what happens if Loup doesn't get away from the star ocean, which seems to be pulling at his ethereal substance, if not draining his power outright. If he doesn't get away, we may end up with Loup stuck in Jerrek's form, or even a Jerrek who really thinks he's Jerrek. Or he may come apart completely. Unless he jumps inside Lana's body, but considering that Renard has that power and Loup explicitly doesn't, that seems unlikely.

Worst possible scenario from a reader's perspective: Loup is drained to the point where Jerrek just thinks he's Jerrek and continues the love triangle where he's attracted to Annie but Lana's attracted to him. Teen drama foreverrrrrrr ...

[ctso74]

Is this "Loup" acting this way, though? Or is it the "Ysengrin" part of him? Y would not like being saved by a love-struck teen.

[mturtle7]

Oct 3, 2022 14:49:49 GMT ctso74 said:

Is this "Loup" acting this way, though? Or is it the "Ysengrin" part of him? Y would not like being saved by a love-struck teen.

"Damn you" is very much a Ysengrin-ism, I certainly can't picture Coyote ever saying something like that with any degree of sincerity. That being said, the "Ysengrin" part of Loup is still Loup, just as much as the "Anthony" part of Antimony is still Antimony. I'm not sure the distinction is quite as meaningful as you think, here!

[hannibalbarca]

literally did the pikachu face in front of the screen seeing how he pushed lana away. i'm sure it's at least a little bit exaggerated comics style, but did he really just fling her off was lana sent flying the no harm promise is already broken, methinks !

i know the "throwing tantrums left and right" is a core element of loup's personality, and i appreciate the scorned baby god aesthetic, but so far i think its his seventh tantrum or so and i don't really see how it affects the story any. okay, renard's body burned. big sad. he doesn't care. the two annies. solved by zimm zimms... showing up to renard's taunt. somehow did not end in his capture. i guess it's too early to say whether or not "pushing lana away after she tries to help him" tantrum will actually finally bear consequences, at least the "he will not get to the star ocean/his friendship with annie is actually damaged from this" consequences. i guess him attacking the court resulted in the court hijacking the robots and speeding up the new people process ? and him defending lana in the back alley scene resulted in her getting a crush on him ? but i wouldn't say these are consequences, really.

[rabbit]

Oct 3, 2022 13:47:01 GMT maxptc said:

Figured this was coming. I really hope Loup doesn't kill Lana, but Lana has major "I'm the lovable character introduced to die and raise the stakes" vibes.

I agree. Lana started out as naive and highly annoying, but it seems we are seeing her transition from "books about romance" to actually understanding of what love is, at least in part - caring about someone else's well-being. I hope we get to see her become more than first impressions made her seem.

And honestly, can any of us recall what we thought love was when we were adolescents, versus all we come to understand it is later in life - without cringing?

[speedwell]

Oct 3, 2022 11:56:16 GMT jasmijn said:

"My name is Dave!"

No! I'm Spartacus!

[warrl]

Oct 3, 2022 14:26:51 GMT Gemminie said:

And then there's the question of what exactly he tells Lana – if his name isn't Jerrek, what is it?

When Antimony or Robot find out about this stunt, his name is mud.

[Gemini Jim]

Well, now Loup's gone and done a silly thing. I can't tell if he always planned to reveal himself to her, or if he's just being typical angry impulsive Loup as usual.

But it's Lana (in her own impulsive way) who added herself to this Star Ocean excursion. And now it's Lana, not Loup, who forced Jerrek off the train... and into this situation where it looks like Jerrek/ Loup is going to attack her.


Which brings to mind the Robot/ Loup bargain, where Loup agreed not to harm any of the New People. Will Robot do the same "Batman appearing out of nowhere" trick that he did when he struck that bargain? Did he, perhaps, even ask Lana to go along... to keep an eye on Loup, stick close to him, see what he does, etc. etc.
Because Robot swooping in to rescue Lana, and effectively trap/ detain Loup long enough for (Annie, with the tooth, in the train station?) to arrive, would be awesome.


Of course, Annie is stuck on the train, and there's no telling how long it would take for her to get back to the station. Best case scenario, she's able to hit the emergency brake/ reopen the doors before it leaves completely, and it would be mere moments. Otherwise.... Gunnerkrigg trains are clearly elevated with no visible emergency exit.

[drmemory]

I can't see many ways this can end well. I really don't want to see Lana torn apart and possibly eaten, and that seems like a possible outcome here...

On the other hand, we may be about to finally find out something I've wondered about for a long time - what kind of connection does Kat have with her NPs due to her contract? What about Robot? If one dies by violence, I bet we'll find out!

[bedinsis]

Brief reminder that the title of this chapter was "Confessions".

An additional brief reminder that Loup promised to not harm any newly awakened.

I can see this going one of three ways:

1. Lana finds out that Jerrek is actually Loup and informs Annie. The cat is out of the bag.

2. Lana finds out that Jerrek is actually Loup, Loup kills Lana to keep her quiet. Robot finds out what happened, reveals to Annie. The cat is out of the bag.

3. Jerrek manages to come to his senses and convince Lana that the shove on this page was merely the stress getting to him for traveling to the Star Ocean. Lana buys it. The chapter title refers to what Aata said.

I'm mostly leaning towards option #1.

[jda]

"And This is SPARTAAAAA!"

Ok no.

[rabbit]

Oct 3, 2022 21:08:32 GMT bedinsis said:

Brief reminder that the title of this chapter was "Confessions".

An additional brief reminder that Loup promised to not harm any newly awakened.

I can see this going one of three ways:

1. Lana finds out that Jerrek is actually Loup and informs Annie. The cat is out of the bag.

2. Lana finds out that Jerrek is actually Loup, Loup kills Lana to keep her quiet. Robot finds out what happened, reveals to Annie. The cat is out of the bag.

3. Jerrek manages to come to his senses and convince Lana that the shove on this page was merely the stress getting to him for traveling to the Star Ocean. Lana buys it. The chapter title refers to what Aata said.

I'm mostly leaning towards option #1.

Or slight variation: Lana is not quite sure what is going on and informs Annie of this event, and Annie figures out who Jerrek is. 
Either way, I think Bedinsis is right that #1 is most likely. Also that Lana got an unintended confession from Jerrek.

[drmemory]

Let's not forget we've got a slightly flustered and fairly confused Annie on the train nearby! Being a well-known meddler, she is fully capable of getting off at the next stop and trying to find them, to see what's wrong.

[heranje]

Another option for what happens next: Lana, powered by her romance-novel understanding of the world, interprets this as a classic beauty and the beast-I'm in love with the monster-I can change him scenario, and decides to (try to) keep Loup's secret. Kind of hope this isn't it, since I'd love to see some more depth to Lana, but it's possible.

[Igniz]

How tough can he be with a name like Francis? That's his legal name.

Oct 3, 2022 13:16:08 GMT shadow3 said:

[Surprised Pikachu with ominous shadow on face meme]

[laaaa]

I'm not sure why anyone (Annie included) finding out about Loup's identity should really change... anything at all.
Coyote could just pluck a person's memory out of their mind.
Loup can make anyone forget they ever found out. Repeatedly. Forever.