[2734] I.. I have to go

[arf]

I mean... oh my, just *look* at the time!

[madjack]

Annie died on the way back to her home planet.


Seriously though, is that last panel a sign that she does know who Loup's disguise is? The last few pages have been a little jarring.

[imaginaryfriend]

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation. I guess that with Anthony and Surma being the way they were plus not being around too many other people in general let alone people with authority over her she's just not used to getting verbally lit up. I doubt Jones or the other teachers were big in the yelling department. That would explain why she went to pieces (also literally, when she cut her hair and fire off from herself) when her dad returned.  Antimony just stared at Winsbury when he griefed her a bit in class way way back but I figure she thought she had zero reasons to care about what he thought of her or said. It also explains why she judo flipped him instead of using words that time he shoved Kat; judo she knew well, better ways to handle the situation she did not.

[jda]

Well, on the last 2 panels, that level of distortion, I dont know.
Souds fake to me.

[blahzor]

Annie being terrible not too worried about killing Zimmy part

[blahzor]

Jan 18, 2023 8:23:39 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation. I guess that with Anthony and Surma being the way they were plus not being around too many other people in general let alone people with authority over her she's just not used to getting verbally lit up. I doubt Jones or the other teachers were big in the yelling department. That would explain why she went to pieces (also literally, when she cut her hair and fire off from herself) when her dad returned.  Antimony just stared at Winsbury when he griefed her a bit in class way way back but I figure she thought she had zero reasons to care about what he thought of her or said. It also explains why she judo flipped him instead of using words that time he shoved Kat; judo she knew well, better ways to handle the situation she did not.

She could even technically make herself fly to Kat and it should be easier due to her doubled fire power

[guntherkrieg]

Jan 18, 2023 8:45:51 GMT jda said:

Well, on the last 2 panels, that level of distortion, I dont know.
Souds fake to me.

What distortion? 

[Igniz]

Jan 18, 2023 8:14:20 GMT madjack said:

Seriously though, is that last panel a sign that she does know who Loup's disguise is?

More like what Loup is doing right now, in my opinion.

[TBeholder]

Jan 18, 2023 8:14:20 GMT madjack said:

Seriously though, is that last panel a sign that she does know who Loup's disguise is? The last few pages have been a little jarring.

Annie has reasons to suspect. Maybe she figured it out just now, when proximity to Star Ocean and Loup were mentioned together after Jenny told her that Loup is “hiding more than his location” (which she could correctly guess means he probably uses a disguise)?
Or this may be a somewhat awkward equivalent of “MEANWHILE…”

[wombat]

Jan 18, 2023 10:11:03 GMT blahzor said:

Annie being terrible not too worried about killing Zimmy part

I think Annie's just assuming that's not going to happen. She knows Kat, and probably thinks more highly of Kat than she does of herself, and why would Kat kill Zimmy anyhow? Meanwhile, having to kill Loup is something she's actually been worrying about.

[mochakimono]

Hmm. Recent Annie scenes have felt somewhat... abrupt and obtuse?

They asked her last page, "What did you think would happen?" but... What did they think would happen? What do they think is happening now? Did they think summoning an etherically sensitive person near the coast would make Zimmy explode/dissolve? That Kat is using it to charge orbital lasers and assassinate troublemakers? And if so, why did they still do it? And what was "it"? I thought they just "called out" to her, then Jack said they "summoned" her? It feels like every other page is missing. I don't know, I'm just feeling lukewarm about this sequence, but I'm holding out hope for a more satisfying resolution waiting in the wings.

I try not to be negative around here, and this isn't me trying to roast the writing or anything. Just some things I hope it addresses more clearly/satisfyingly at some point.

[blahzor]

Jan 18, 2023 11:30:17 GMT wombat said:

Jan 18, 2023 10:11:03 GMT blahzor said:

Annie being terrible not too worried about killing Zimmy part

I think Annie's just assuming that's not going to happen. She knows Kat, and probably thinks more highly of Kat than she does of herself, and why would Kat kill Zimmy anyhow? Meanwhile, having to kill Loup is something she's actually been worrying about.

Thing is she knows whatever Kat is going to do will kill Zimmy that's why she's running to Kat but that's worrying about Kat not Zimmy. Kat will probably think she's taking down a firewall/anti-virus of the Courts omega device

[ctso74]

Jack and Jenny are being strangely harsh. They knew, that they were calling Zimmy to that spot, as well. I still wonder if Zimmy was distorting them a little.
Very dynamic page, if abrupt. I'm curious if the next chapter will be titled Omega Device, and be Kay doing Kat stuff.

[Gemminie]

Once again I do two pages at once, starting with Monday's. The link broken, Jack immediately and angrily accuses Annie of being "up to" something. Annie's visibly sweating and says what we know to be true, that she just wanted to contact Zimmy. She doesn't get a chance to say that she wanted to warn her or protect her.

Jenny as much as accuses Annie of trying to get her and Jack to help her give Zimmy to the Court, reiterating her and Jack's goal of protecting Zimmy – we know that to be Annie's goal as well, but after what Zimmy said, they're turning on Annie. All Annie can do is deny all of this, but it sounds as if she's saying "no" to protecting Zimmy, because she's panicking.

Then Jenny accuses Annie of having them "summon" Zimmy right next to the star ocean. This is totally unfair of her; she could have picked any spot she liked to do her spell, and we didn't see Annie pick this spot. Also, she herself said the spell was meant to locate Zimmy, not summon her (though with Zimmy, that's basically the same thing). Jack picks up on what Jenny says and implies that even if Annie didn't intend for the Court to find Zimmy, she should have realized that doing the spell here would put her at risk. Again, this is unfair, because if Jack and Jenny really do want to protect Zimmy too, then they should have refused to do it there, or at least suggested another location, which they didn't do. Annie continues to protest their misconstruing of her actions.

On today's page, Annie runs. I mean, she's just learned that there's a very real possibility that Kat will harm Zimmy if she does what she said she was going to do, hacking into Omega and using it to find Zimmy. There's no way of knowing how long it would take Kat to do this, but what if it was actually very easy – either because Kat is that much better than whatever security measures the Court has around Omega or because the Court actually wants Kat to do this and is planning on it. So Annie has to stop Kat from doing it – besides, she's already warned Zimmy; there's no need to find her now.

She's also just learned that Zimmy, an independent source who has had visions of the future, also believes that Annie's going to kill Loup. This is something Annie's been trying to avoid, but it's dawning on her that she may not be able to. As she runs, the dagger appears behind her (symbolically, we assume), and behind it, there are Loup/Jerrek and Lana in each other's arms, looking very happy. Not that Annie knows about that, but we know that if this prophecy comes true, their happiness comes to an end. And, with Annie running, the chapter comes to an end.

Why would using Omega to locate Zimmy be harmful to her?

• The easiest answer is that suppose Omega's results are logged in some way that Kat can't conceal, so if Kat finds her, the Court does too.
• We know that Zimmy doesn't like being located or pinned down, but what if it actually hurts her? What if there's some kind of Zimmy Uncertainty Principle such that the more accurately a measuring device knows her physical location, the less etherically localized she becomes? Could precisely locating her make her literally unravel?
• Kat isn't always the Angel, but she can seemingly do anything technological when she needs to, by summoning the Angel's powers, so what if Kat does that to hack Omega or to find Zimmy with it, and what if Zimmy resists but the Angel insists? I saw someone mention the fact that the Angel's exoskeleton was shown to be cracked on the same side of the head that Zimmy had a vision of herself bleeding from.

[mitten]

The page gives me the impression that Annie knows Jerrek is Loup. I'm trying to remember if she's previously said or done anything that implies that, but can't recall anything on the spot. Maybe it's just an artistic thing to remind us, the reader, that Loup is currently acting peaceful and loving to make us care more about his fate, but I honestly worry far more about Zimmy. I hope she's wrong and that she won't have to die.

[Gemminie]

Jan 18, 2023 16:41:39 GMT mitten said:

The page gives me the impression that Annie knows Jerrek is Loup. I'm trying to remember if she's previously said or done anything that implies that, but can't recall anything on the spot. Maybe it's just an artistic thing to remind us, the reader, that Loup is currently acting peaceful and loving to make us care more about his fate, but I honestly worry far more about Zimmy. I hope she's wrong and that she won't have to die.

I don't want Zimmy to die – but I didn't want Coyote to die either, and he did. Sort of. I haven't liked Loup as a character, and that has nothing to do with Coyote being a good guy (he wasn't) or doing good things (I guess sometimes he did, but only when they served his own ends). Loup is all brute force and hamfisted smashing. He created a Jerrek persona that seems to have taken his place, and frankly the disguise is more interesting than Loup himself. But anyway, even if Zimmy dies, she may not die for real. I still think that Zimmy may not have been reading the future but rather Annie's fears about the future. But she may have set Annie on the track of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[mitten]

Jan 18, 2023 17:00:09 GMT Gemminie said:

Jan 18, 2023 16:41:39 GMT mitten said:

The page gives me the impression that Annie knows Jerrek is Loup. I'm trying to remember if she's previously said or done anything that implies that, but can't recall anything on the spot. Maybe it's just an artistic thing to remind us, the reader, that Loup is currently acting peaceful and loving to make us care more about his fate, but I honestly worry far more about Zimmy. I hope she's wrong and that she won't have to die.

I don't want Zimmy to die – but I didn't want Coyote to die either, and he did. Sort of. I haven't liked Loup as a character, and that has nothing to do with Coyote being a good guy (he wasn't) or doing good things (I guess sometimes he did, but only when they served his own ends). Loup is all brute force and hamfisted smashing. He created a Jerrek persona that seems to have taken his place, and frankly the disguise is more interesting than Loup himself. But anyway, even if Zimmy dies, she may not die for real. I still think that Zimmy may not have been reading the future but rather Annie's fears about the future. But she may have set Annie on the track of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Yes, I hope that either Zimmy is outright wrong, or else that her 'death' may not be a literal death but some other form of transition. I think she's one of the most interesting characters in the comic and I hope we'll eventually learn more about her. 

[mturtle7]

Jan 18, 2023 17:00:09 GMT Gemminie said:

Jan 18, 2023 16:41:39 GMT mitten said:

The page gives me the impression that Annie knows Jerrek is Loup. I'm trying to remember if she's previously said or done anything that implies that, but can't recall anything on the spot. Maybe it's just an artistic thing to remind us, the reader, that Loup is currently acting peaceful and loving to make us care more about his fate, but I honestly worry far more about Zimmy. I hope she's wrong and that she won't have to die.

I don't want Zimmy to die – but I didn't want Coyote to die either, and he did. Sort of. I haven't liked Loup as a character, and that has nothing to do with Coyote being a good guy (he wasn't) or doing good things (I guess sometimes he did, but only when they served his own ends). Loup is all brute force and hamfisted smashing. He created a Jerrek persona that seems to have taken his place, and frankly the disguise is more interesting than Loup himself. But anyway, even if Zimmy dies, she may not die for real. I still think that Zimmy may not have been reading the future but rather Annie's fears about the future. But she may have set Annie on the track of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When I think of Loup, I keep thinking of something I heard on an Overly Sarcastic Productions video, which basically said that you should never kill a character off unless their death is more interesting than their continued life in the story would be. I agree with you about Loup being relatively uninteresting, and that's why I was so frustrated when Tom basically killed off both Coyote AND Ysengrin in order to replace them with Loup. And in a weird way, I guess I have the same problem with the merging of the Annies; I was way more invested in the ongoing conversation between Court Annie and Forest Annie than I've been in this new, supposedly self-actualized Annie.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, when Kat uses the Omega device to merge Gamma and Zimmy into Gammy, an ordinary non-supernatural girl who's a little goth/punk, likes stuffed animals, speaks decent Polish, and has no other notable traits.

[yellowb]

Jan 18, 2023 8:23:39 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation.

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

[arf]

Annie *is* concerned for Zimmy's well-being.
- she's rushing off to warn Kat not to play with the Omega device for that very reason.
- while that action's in progress, her null cycles are worrying that she will ultimately have to kill Loup. I don't think the overlay of Jerrek with Lana indicates she knows who Loup is. It's more to emphasise the moral conflict in Annie's mind.

As for Jack and Jenny's problem... On a closer read, I think the issue arises when the Omega device is mentioned (which Jack and Jenny *don't* know about, specifically) and they side with Zimmy when she accuses Annie of helping the Court by leading them, and trying to kill her with the device (before clarifying that it's Kat that will be doing that). While both Jack and Jenny have been portrayed as fairly level-headed people, they may have been a bit overloaded by the revelations of the last few seconds and, in being over-protective of Zimmy, are reflexively lashing out in response to a potential threat.

[arf]

Who needs cell phones when you've got high speed maglev monorails?
(and cyber-horse driven wagons, and bicycles?)

[TBeholder]

Jan 18, 2023 23:36:51 GMT yellowb said:

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

Most likely no.
Who would want them to?
This would either increase demand for outside communications or discontent. Also, their attention would be more divided.
The adults don’t use those much either. Mainly because nobody would trust another faction to operate the system. While those who could push for this are mindful of the risks, including how much they can rock the boat.

[philman]

Jan 18, 2023 23:36:51 GMT yellowb said:

Jan 18, 2023 8:23:39 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation.

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

The comic started in 2005, before the idea of smartphones (iPhone was released 2007)and I think about 4-5 years has passed in comic time since then, although it was being written as if it was a history back then (I think that idea has been dropped though). GC has always been in a sort of semi not-real time period to me, which feels a bit like early 2000s with some modern references thrown in (such as the video game references in the side comics), so the lack of phones doesn't throw me too much

[zbeeblebrox]

Jan 18, 2023 11:47:29 GMT mochakimono said:

Hmm. Recent Annie scenes have felt somewhat... abrupt and obtuse?

They asked her last page, "What did you think would happen?" but... What did they think would happen? What do they think is happening now? Did they think summoning an etherically sensitive person near the coast would make Zimmy explode/dissolve? That Kat is using it to charge orbital lasers and assassinate troublemakers? And if so, why did they still do it? And what was "it"? I thought they just "called out" to her, then Jack said they "summoned" her?

Jenny rather obliquely explained a few pages ago that by completing the spell to "find" Zimmy, it alerts Zimmy to their presence. So yeah a bit like summoning. Not exactly the best description tho.

As for Kat, I don't think either of them think much about her at all. Their concerns are more with what the Court is up to. Kat probably wasn't on their radar until Zimmy brought her up just then. So now they want some answers, which only sounds unreasonable because we know it's all a big misunderstanding. Unless of course...it isn't. For all we know, Kat may indeed be about to kill Zimmy by accident.

[pyradonis]

Jan 18, 2023 23:36:51 GMT yellowb said:

Jan 18, 2023 8:23:39 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation.

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

This page made me think they don't. But I wonder if this radio ever gets a mention again? Annie never used it on screen, as far as I can remember.

[blahzor]

at the very least Kat wouldn't b/c it's too low tech. she's already conjuring material out of thin air why talk on the phone maybe project her screen over distance as video call

[liminal]

Jan 18, 2023 23:36:51 GMT yellowb said:

Jan 18, 2023 8:23:39 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation.

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

The most 'modern' use I've seen is Andrew's boredom scrolling here (and he gets a notification that Parley's back later in the chapter). 

There's of course Kat's Coyote Gift-Seeking Device and TikTok Tick-Tock Controller which fall more under "devices that resemble cell-phones."

[hannibalbarca]

i am... kind of really confused by what's going on the last few scenes honestly.
and by that, i mean - i know whats going on. i know the plot points and thanks to a few posters here explaining why characters go from one train of thought to the other, i can see how it makes sense. annie rushes out because she realised the omega device, which kat wanted to use to locate zimmy, will do something bad. jenny and jack freaked out because of the mention of the omega device. it makes a lot of sense.

it's the execution in the comic that feels very contrived and confusing, i think.

[imaginaryfriend]

Jan 18, 2023 23:36:51 GMT yellowb said:

Jan 18, 2023 8:23:39 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Right, so instead of using a cellphone (maybe didn't bring one?) or her link with Renard Antimony is going to literally run away from the situation.

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

Regarding cellphones and similar devices, I think it's reasonable to think that the kids at the Court [boarding] School did not have them, at least not regularly while at school. The kids were doing research at a physical library. It makes sense they'd want to limit the kids' access to and use of such things. The Court was pretty safe back then and I guess having robots and adults nearby was good enough for most small emergencies, plus they had Omega predicting stuff so they probably knew when stuff was going to go sideways and acted appropriately before things went down. Not sure if that applies the same to the older kids but we've just once seen Andrew apparently with a cellphone (thanks liminal).

However, when at home the kids are shown playing video games and having laptops. We've seen antenna on buildings, guys with walkie-talkie looking things, and yes Jones had a phone (was it ever returned?) and apparently needs to make calls from time to time. The Court always had a small population distributed around a wide area so they had to have been communicating somehow; maybe they were all texting and posting each other but I strongly believe they'd want a more immediate method like phones or video chat. Given the current emergency state the Court has been under for a while plus the increasing degree of unreliability from Omega, cellphones or similar devices are needed at a Goofus-level degree of obviousness and they would be relatively easy to provide in large numbers. Any parent with sound mind would demand one for their child if they didn't already have one or couldn't provide one.

Of course, that doesn't mean Antimony has a cellphone and if she doesn't she could ask.

[random] I find it interesting how the spellcheck tries to change "walkie-talkie" to "streetwalker" thus making what I typed earlier into "guys with streetwalker looking things." [/random]

Jan 19, 2023 8:17:16 GMT philman said:

Jan 18, 2023 23:36:51 GMT yellowb said:

Do we even know if the students have cellphones? We've assumed they must have, but how many times have we ever actually seen anyone in this comic use a cellphone? I mean aside from Jones, when Anthony's message came thru as a phone call to Annie. I'm drawing a blank.

The comic started in 2005, before the idea of smartphones (iPhone was released 2007)and I think about 4-5 years has passed in comic time since then, although it was being written as if it was a history back then (I think that idea has been dropped though). GC has always been in a sort of semi not-real time period to me, which feels a bit like early 2000s with some modern references thrown in (such as the video game references in the side comics), so the lack of phones doesn't throw me too much

The Court is/was also supposed to be ahead of the curve so it's complicated. I don't think cell or mobile phones were outside of their capabilities at the conception of the comic, though.

[arf]

I suspect the students do have access to mobile phones, which they refer to as 'cursed teapots'