[2960] "It's real as long as it remains."

[imaginaryfriend]

I question if everyone is as happy as the tree elves, though some people who are trapped in the distortion are probably happier this way. The only issue is that Zeta is stuck with the bill.

Indefinitely stable is not the same thing as stable, also.

[lisanela]

But won't the distortion stop if Zimmy dies of old age/disease/distress? Is Zimmy stuck in eternal limbo?

[laaaa]

All in favor of punching Omega say "aye"

[silicondream]

Jun 28, 2024 7:06:49 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

I question if everyone is as happy as the tree elves, though some people who are trapped in the distortion are probably happier this way. 

I question whether the tree elves will remain happy, given that bad memories can apparently jump out and kill you. Or are Annie's memories particularly psychoactive?

[blahzor]

chaos plus selective chaos = stablity

[ezpak]

Perhaps Annie will need to ask Kat to bring things back to normal, and perhaps Kat will try to do so in a way that modifies "normal" to be a bit more to her liking…

[novia]

why is the chair blue

[imaginaryfriend]

Jun 28, 2024 7:13:49 GMT silicondream said:

Jun 28, 2024 7:06:49 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

I question if everyone is as happy as the tree elves, though some people who are trapped in the distortion are probably happier this way. 

I question whether the tree elves will remain happy, given that bad memories can apparently jump out and kill you. Or are Annie's memories particularly psychoactive?

The tree elves may be adapted to this sort of environment, or at least much better at handling it. My guess is that would make them less able to engage the fantastic possibilities open to them in the distortion but able of surviving it... let's say, indefinitely, and better able to exit safely if they felt they couldn't. Court personnel stuck in the distortion would be interesting to observe. I'd hypothesize that some may have panicked and zeroed already, others may be stuck in some sort of repetitious past trauma, and the bulk are probably still wandering. Even those that died may not have stayed dead if they didn't grasp the reality of it, and a lucky few are probably enjoying some lucid-dream style fantasies. People in groups are probably getting to know each other on a deeper level than they are comfortable with and in some cases odd situations will happen.

...but yeah, I suspect Omega is overselling this because it's her personal paradise.

[edit] It does stand to reason that Antimony's feelings and memories are more likely to become sorta-real in the distortion because she's got more etheric mojo than average, though a lot of people in the Court may have etheric ancestry. [/edit]

[imaginaryfriend]

Jun 28, 2024 7:31:16 GMT novia said:

why is the chair blue

No idea if it's an error or not but it's only blue in that one panel. Might be the distortion, might be Omega trying to influence things (Antimony in particular).

[worldsong]

Omega is used to the idea of a system running on the suffering of a unique individual.

Of course, she might be ignoring the part where she chose her fate whereas Zeta is forced into hers.

Not entirely surprising that someone who's been effectively omnipresent for hundreds of years has a rather callous perspective.

[basser]

Tony standing awkwardly in the background is such a vibe.

Also we doing Omelas now, I guess? Omega got the suffering child role for a good long while and don't seem too fussed to hand that role off. Good for her.

[arf]

The sensation of when sympathy meets sociopathy.

[blahzor]

Jun 28, 2024 7:31:16 GMT novia said:

why is the chair blue

stable distortion of course

[tibert]

I'd like Annie to answer "And Gamma" to the last panel's question. I don't expect Omega to be swayed by such an answer, but I'd like Annie to say Gamma's name, just to confirm she doesn't see the poor girl as an appendage of Zimmy as this point.

[czymsim]

Jun 28, 2024 7:38:05 GMT worldsong said:

Omega is used to the idea of a system running on the suffering of a unique individual.

Reminds me of premise of a short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin.
I wonder if that was a direct inspiration.

[worldsong]

Jun 28, 2024 10:21:09 GMT czymsim said:

Reminds me of premise of a short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin.
I wonder if that was a direct inspiration.

I'd be very surprised if it wasn't.

[hoob]

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omega

[Igniz]

Jun 28, 2024 7:11:17 GMT lisanela said:

But won't the distortion stop if Zimmy dies of old age/disease/distress? Is Zimmy stuck in eternal limbo?

That depends of her current status, as well as that of the others involved (Coyote, Loup, Gamma, Lana), which at this point we still have yet to see. Not that I believe such, but for all we know, they could very well have become the distorsion itself.

[mordekai]

Mmmm... Am I the only one who is starting to think this looks like Omega is trying to deceive the Court into moving into a false planet, a stage created by the Zimmy-Coyote distortion? As in, she understands that what they wish for, to live separated away from the Ether, is impossible, but she can at least give them the illusion of it, so they can be happy...

Think about it: The Court is going to use the power of the Zimmy's distortion, a distortion that sends you to a copy of the place you want to be, to fuel their machines to sail a metaphorical etherical sea and reach a planet they have dreamed about... What part of it doesn't sound like "they are going to dive into the Ether and move to an illusory environment crafted to replicate their desire...?".

Of course the Court doesn't know it... they think they are going to reach a real planet, but Omega does know, and she is allowing the lie because she understands that they will never achieve their goals, so all she can do is give them a dream of it...

[Polyhymnia]

Jun 28, 2024 7:34:12 GMT imaginaryfriend said:

Jun 28, 2024 7:31:16 GMT novia said:

why is the chair blue

No idea if it's an error or not but it's only blue in that one panel. Might be the distortion, might be Omega trying to influence things (Antimony in particular).

Ooh, I wonder if it has to do with Tony—he’s been pretty quiet over the past few pages, but if you watch his hands, they start out open but now they’re definitely clenched: www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=2958

[guntherkrieg]

"I built the Lotus Eater Machine from "Don't Build The Lotus Eater Machine""

[arf]

Jun 28, 2024 11:06:24 GMT hoob said:

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omega

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omega Lass.

(Trivia: LeGuin claimed she got the name 'Omelas' from reading a road sign backwards: 'Salem O')

[morrahadesigns]

Daaaaang Omega, that is COLD.

[crater]

Omega read Omelas and was like yeah... this freaking rocks...

[pylgrimm]

Hey Omega, now that you are a human again, you might be able to experience suffering again. How about we decide that beating you up for information on how to rescue Zimmy is worth the suffering of "just one person"? Huh? And?

[The Anarch]

None of us are free until all of us are free, Omega.

[ctso74]

Now I'm wondering, how much of Meg's bluntness is from severe lack of socializing vs psychopathy?

[linkzeldi]

Jun 28, 2024 7:38:05 GMT worldsong said:

Omega is used to the idea of a system running on the suffering of a unique individual.

Of course, she might be ignoring the part where she chose her fate whereas Zeta is forced into hers.

Not entirely surprising that someone who's been effectively omnipresent for hundreds of years has a rather callous perspective.

It's an interesting case of projection.

The narrative draws a lot of parallels between the two of them. They're both black haired, pale skinned, young women with red eyes. They're both named after letters of the greek alphabet. They both have extreme ether related powers they can't control, Zimmy is a broken radio that makes the ether distorted all around her, and Omega is apparently laplace's demon but she can't process the massive influx of information without taking her brain out of her skull and putting it into a computer. You think this would lead to Omega sympathizing with Zimmy because she comes from such a similiar situation, but her projection goes in the opposite direction: "Well, I was fine with making myself a sacriice for the court in turn for the help they showed me, so why wouldn't Zimmy be fine with it." 

It's the flaw of utilitarian logic, you can see saving one hundred people is justified by sacrificing one person, but it's different if you're the one being sacrificed. Of course there's the added twist that Omega did voluntarily sacrifice herself in the past for the greater good, hence as I said about she expects Zimmy to do the same, but at the same time Omega is also free now, and has the added icentive of wanting to keep the distortion going b/c she has agency for the first time in her life so noticably she's making Zimmy the sacrifice now and not herself. 

[Hatredman]

Jun 28, 2024 13:09:25 GMT pylgrimm said:

Hey Omega, now that you are a human again, you might be able to experience suffering again. How about we decide that beating you up for information on how to rescue Zimmy is worth the suffering of "just one person"? Huh? And?

She would bwip away from you.

[pyradonis]

That slightly smug smile.