Chrome
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The Shiny One
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Post by Chrome on Apr 7, 2009 0:00:58 GMT
Well, let's not forget Anja can use a blinker stone. She may even have it by now, and be doing stuff with it.
That can be seen as magic by outsiders who don't get what it is.
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reyo
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Post by reyo on Apr 7, 2009 3:48:42 GMT
If Anja can already work magic - at a point when she's still a relatively new student at Gunnerkrigg - then that suggests that not all of her magical/etheric abilities are the products of a computer program directed through her pendant. At least, it's unlikely that she would have developed (or have access to) that computer program yet. (Though, as I mentioned during the last chapter, I think that the computer program would have to have some etheric elements to it, in order to be able to, say, block Reynardine's body-hopping powers.) After doing some thinking, I've come to the conclusion that maybe anja (and perhaps Annie) display a certain type of brainwave that allows them to send messages through the crystal to allow stuff to happen. There are quite alot of similarities between the human body and a normal running machine, and there are different machines built for each task that will display different "abilities." What if Anja and Annie are displaying some sort of "Wi-fi" capabilities, much like yourNintendo DS will do?
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Post by Ulysses on Apr 7, 2009 11:13:07 GMT
It's possible. Like you said, people are built for different things. Given that Chester house is renowned for its magic-users I don't think this 'brainwave' is particularly rare though. Very important in GC is the division between etheric and technological, which is one reason I find Anja so fascinating - she appears to be very competent in both magic and machinery, bridging the gap. I think she would have made a good medium if she had been more confident.
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preus
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Post by preus on Apr 7, 2009 11:48:04 GMT
I love Anja and Donald. They're that absolutely solid couple who set and example for every other character, like Turk and Carla or Wash and Zoe.
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Post by Ulysses on Apr 7, 2009 18:21:08 GMT
Finding out that Donny is Scottish made his "Dang it, Jimmy" sound so much funnier in my head. Everyone is Jimmy in Scotland! See you, Jimmy.
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Post by martinjh99 on Apr 7, 2009 19:33:09 GMT
I love Anja and Donald. They're that absolutely solid couple who set and example for every other character, like Turk and Carla or Wash and Zoe. I know Wash and Zoe from Firefly but who are the other two?
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Post by wombat on Apr 7, 2009 20:51:23 GMT
I love Anja and Donald. They're that absolutely solid couple who set and example for every other character, like Turk and Carla or Wash and Zoe. I know Wash and Zoe from Firefly but who are the other two? Turk and Carla are from Scrubs.
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reyo
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Post by reyo on Apr 7, 2009 21:06:48 GMT
It's possible. Like you said, people are built for different things. Given that Chester house is renowned for its magic-users I don't think this 'brainwave' is particularly rare though. Very important in GC is the division between etheric and technological, which is one reason I find Anja so fascinating - she appears to be very competent in both magic and machinery, bridging the gap. I think she would have made a good medium if she had been more confident. Oh absolutely. And did you know that we are this close *kinda hard to show representation* to having implants that may allow us to see things that those without the implant cannot or even record things to be able to replay them like video (Don't quote me on the second one, but it does sound possible). What if the "program" that adult Anja was talking about was really a surgical implant that manifests itself in her "magical" ability to do things like seal Raynardine or allow Thomas to create a shield like the one that protected Annie that one time? That necklace could even act like an on switch for the program that Anja's able to turn on and off by just thinking it. I love Anja and Donald. They're that absolutely solid couple who set and example for every other character, like Turk and Carla or Wash and Zoe. I know Wash and Zoe from Firefly but who are the other two? For not getting that certain referance, I'm gonna have to ask for one of your man cards.
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Neats
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Post by Neats on Apr 8, 2009 2:29:51 GMT
If Anja can already work magic - at a point when she's still a relatively new student at Gunnerkrigg - then that suggests that not all of her magical/etheric abilities are the products of a computer program directed through her pendant. I wouldn't necessarily assume that she's a relatively new student. She could be, but her level of English isn't really an indication. It can take 7-10 years, or even longer, to become fluent in a language, and English is a particularly difficult language to learn — it's incredibly inconsistent, and there are about a gazillion exceptions to every rule. Some of the ESL students I work with who speak with a level of proficiency similar to Anja's have been studying in the US for a year, and some have been studying in the US for 5 years or longer. Unless, of course, Tom has told us that she's new, I don't think we can say for sure from the way she speaks. Regardless, I suspect that she does have natural or inherent magical/etheric power, which may have been what allowed her to merge etheric and court technology into that computer program. Even if it's learned, and not inherent, she would have to have had some knowledge of "etheric science" in order to create a program that uses both. Since Donald can't use blinker stones, Anja is likely the one who had to handle the etheric aspect of the program's design.
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reyo
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Post by reyo on Apr 8, 2009 5:11:29 GMT
If Anja can already work magic - at a point when she's still a relatively new student at Gunnerkrigg - then that suggests that not all of her magical/etheric abilities are the products of a computer program directed through her pendant. I wouldn't necessarily assume that she's a relatively new student. She could be, but her level of English isn't really an indication. It can take 7-10 years, or even longer, to become fluent in a language, and English is a particularly difficult language to learn — it's incredibly inconsistent, and there are about a gazillion exceptions to every rule. Some of the ESL students I work with who speak with a level of proficiency similar to Anja's have been studying in the US for a year, and some have been studying in the US for 5 years or longer. Unless, of course, Tom has told us that she's new, I don't think we can say for sure from the way she speaks.Regardless, I suspect that she does have natural or inherent magical/etheric power, which may have been what allowed her to merge etheric and court technology into that computer program. Even if it's learned, and not inherent, she would have to have had some knowledge of "etheric science" in order to create a program that uses both. Since Donald can't use blinker stones, Anja is likely the one who had to handle the etheric aspect of the program's design. Isn't the Court set in a European setting anyway? That one girl who hangs with Zimmy (can't remember her name for the life of me) doesn't speak a shred of english while it seems 90% of everyone else does. This could be due to a variety of things; maybe this is all happening within the last 20-30 years or so (it is a flashback) and Kat and Annie are living in OUR time making English the official language of business. English being the official language of business makes it an extremely popular language for Europeans/Asians/South Americans to learn, but Zimmy's friend never bothered to learn/remember the English language. That would make the Court a relatively English, if not bilingual, atmosphere while physically existing in a European Geography. So perhaps Anja isn't new to this school at all, maybe she's just new to the language. PS, if this were true, it would raise another question though. If English is her second language, what is her first?
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Post by martinjh99 on Apr 8, 2009 5:52:26 GMT
Turk and Carla are from Scrubs. Thanks - Never seen Scrubs so thats why I didnt get it!
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Post by clementine on Apr 8, 2009 5:53:44 GMT
It is in Britain.
Gamma is Polish. Tom has said that the city she comes from, Birmingham, has a large Polish population. If Gamma were a recent immigrant, she probably just hadn't learned English when she came to the Court if no one in her neighborhood spoke it and she hadn't learned (enough) of it in school. English is really, really hard, and Polish, if i remember correctly, has a completely different grammar system (and is from the Slavic language family as opposed to the Germanic, so there would be fewer vocabulary similarities to go on). This unfamiliarity is common in my city in some neighborhoods.
This is just an idea on Anja's background that I got from snooping on Wikipedia. Tom has said that Anja is of Romani descent. The Romani have their own language (also called Romani), but several different dialects and mixed forms. Tom said that Kat knows no other languages but a few words of Gitano. The Romani of Spain are called Gitano, but I can't find a dialect named that. However, the Gitano speak Caló, a mixture of Spanish and Romani. This, uh, slightly convoluted trail leads me to think Anja is probably Gitano and her first language was therefore Caló.
And sorry for totally language-nerding out on here.
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Post by warrl on Apr 8, 2009 6:46:15 GMT
And sorry for totally language-nerding out on here. You're posting on a forum discussing a webcomic. Anyone who reads it is pretty well nerded out already. And probably will appreciate the language tidbits. (Er, I think in England that would be titbits, wouldn't it?)
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reyo
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Post by reyo on Apr 8, 2009 7:49:16 GMT
It is in Britain. Gamma is Polish. Tom has said that the city she comes from, Birmingham, has a large Polish population. If Gamma were a recent immigrant, she probably just hadn't learned English when she came to the Court if no one in her neighborhood spoke it and she hadn't learned (enough) of it in school. English is really, really hard, and Polish, if i remember correctly, has a completely different grammar system (and is from the Slavic language family as opposed to the Germanic, so there would be fewer vocabulary similarities to go on). This unfamiliarity is common in my city in some neighborhoods. This is just an idea on Anja's background that I got from snooping on Wikipedia. Tom has said that Anja is of Romani descent. The Romani have their own language (also called Romani), but several different dialects and mixed forms. Tom said that Kat knows no other languages but a few words of Gitano. The Romani of Spain are called Gitano, but I can't find a dialect named that. However, the Gitano speak Caló, a mixture of Spanish and Romani. This, uh, slightly convoluted trail leads me to think Anja is probably Gitano and her first language was therefore Caló. And sorry for totally language-nerding out on here. Oh I can completeyly believe this. The point I was trying to make is that GC is a general European school which houses students from all over the countinent (or globe) by using Gamma's (thank you) inability to communicate with the other students. By the way GC is described, it's a type of boarding school that freely allows students to come and go as they please, unlike any traditional school, so it's possible to have students from as far west as Portugal and as far East as Russia coming into the school with their different levels of laguage. It's completely possible that someone from Portugal can walk into the Court knowing fluent English while someone who is 3 years older than then can walk into the court knowing English at a 3rd grade level. So in that sense, Anja's most likely a Gitano (or whatever language you were trying to get at above) speaking student who is starting to become fluent in English (but is obviously having troubles).
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audacity
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heLLoooo!
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Post by audacity on Apr 8, 2009 14:00:25 GMT
If Anja can already work magic - at a point when she's still a relatively new student at Gunnerkrigg - then that suggests that not all of her magical/etheric abilities are the products of a computer program directed through her pendant. At least, it's unlikely that she would have developed (or have access to) that computer program yet. (Though, as I mentioned during the last chapter, I think that the computer program would have to have some etheric elements to it, in order to be able to, say, block Reynardine's body-hopping powers.) I had the impression that her magical abilities were actually routed THROUGH the computer program. I thought the computer program was a representation of the combination of both Anja's magical abilities and Donald's abilities with technology, working together. Thus the third panel here.
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