Gunnerkrigg Court 7: Psychopomp and Circumstance

[Fawkes]

I believe the intention is to extrapolate that if Tony is charming 1-on-1 to have someone fall in love with him, he's charming enough to earn forgiveness from someone who hates his guts.

Yeah, I'm not buying it. It should take a lot more than some jokes to forgive someone for routinely abusing your friend. Just because someone is capable of being loved doesn't mean that everyone automatically likes them.

It's just absurd that the Donlans just stopped caring about how poorly Tony treats Annie.

[Typewriter]

Yeah, I'm not buying it. It should take a lot more than some jokes to forgive someone for routinely abusing your friend. Just because someone is capable of being loved doesn't mean that everyone automatically likes them.

It's just absurd that the Donlans just stopped caring about how poorly Tony treats Annie.

I honestly don't understand why what's happening has to mean that nobody cares. You can like someone for one reason while hating them for another. You can be influenced by someone you hate. You can love someone you hate. You can like someone that you think is scum. I work with people that I despise for a wide variety of reasons but can still manage to make the best of my time with them - we joke together, we eat lunches together.

[CWater]

I honestly don't understand why what's happening has to mean that nobody cares. You can like someone for one reason while hating them for another. You can be influenced by someone you hate. You can love someone you hate. You can like someone that you think is scum. I work with people that I despise for a wide variety of reasons but can still manage to make the best of my time with them - we joke together, we eat lunches together.

Yeah, humans are complicated like that.

And otherwise good people can also be hypocrites, impassive or simply uncertain what to do in a complicated situation, like the one presented in the comic. I can well see how people could act in the same way the characters presented have. (Well, Tony's personality is rare, but not within the realms of impossible. People can have much weirder issues.)

[Vinyadan]

I get the feeling that Kat is actually trying to be a bridge between Annie and her dad. Having them interact, instead of going ballistic like "Hhhheeeaawwww caaan youuuuu beeeeee sooooo baaaaaaaaaad tooo yeeeeeeeouuuur daaaaauuuuughteeeeeer!!!?!11". As Dad Donlan noticed, the direct bullrush approach doesn't work with Tony.

I mean, it seems quite plain to me: Kat hates Tony > Kat works a bit with Tony > Kat finds out that Tony isn't an evil robot > Kat tries to create a situation where Tony cannot limit interaction with Annie, because they have to work together. Also, Kat and Annie are equals, while, at the dinner, he could avoid Annie by interacting in different ways with the children and the adults.

Now, one can wonder why Kat wants Annie and her Dad to do dad& daughter things. There are two options. One is that Kat thinks that Tony isn't a menace to Annie, since she has seen his nice side, and she wants him to be with Annie as he is with her. The second one is that she simply knows how much Annie wishes to be a family with her dad, and she's trying to make it real. The two options don't exclude each other.

May Kat be wrong on some or multiple levels? Sure, but many underage girls are often wrong.

How old are they, btw?

[CWater]

I get the feeling that Kat is actually trying to be a bridge between Annie and her dad. Having them interact, instead of going ballistic like "Hhhheeeaawwww caaan youuuuu beeeeee sooooo baaaaaaaaaad tooo yeeeeeeeouuuur daaaaauuuuughteeeeeer!!!?!11". As Dad Donlan noticed, the direct bullrush approach doesn't work with Tony.

I mean, it seems quite plain to me: Kat hates Tony > Kat works a bit with Tony > Kat finds out that Tony isn't an evil robot > Kat tries to create a situation where Tony cannot limit interaction with Annie, because they have to work together. Also, Kat and Annie are equals, while, at the dinner, he could avoid Annie by interacting in different ways with the children and the adults.

Now, one can wonder why Kat wants Annie and her Dad to do dad& daughter things. There are two options. One is that Kat thinks that Tony isn't a menace to Annie, since she has seen his nice side, and she wants him to be with Annie as he is with her. The second one is that she simply knows how much Annie wishes to be a family with her dad, and she's trying to make it real. The two options don't exclude each other.

May Kat be wrong on some or multiple levels? Sure, but many underage girls are often wrong.

Sounds reasonable to me.

How old are they, btw?

15 or 16 I think?

[Ibrinar]

Technically mind control hasn't been ruled out kat's mum just knows the story she got told, doesn't have to be true! But with the "remember that…" thing she seems to be trying to behave like he does solo so Vinyadan might be right.

[BannedInSchool]

Yeah, set Kat on fire too so she stops this.

[Hitchkok]

I believe the intention is to extrapolate that if Tony is charming 1-on-1 to have someone fall in love with him, he's charming enough to earn forgiveness from someone who hates his guts.

Well. I didn't think about it quite so precisely, but yeah, that chapter answered not only the question of how Surma and Tony got together, but also the question (posed at the end of the previous chapter) of how come Kat doesn't hate him. And the last page wasn't Annie asking why he was like that with her mother and not her, but why he is like that with everyone but her.

[137beth]

I wonder if Rey's role here might be to stop Anthony from running away to avoid talking to Annie.

[SZbNAhL]

Kat regularly hangs out with a demonic body-hopping entity that's killed at least two sapient creatures and attempted to kill Annie and steal her body on his first appearance. Just saying.

How old are they, btw?

They'd just started year 10 when Tony showed up, so 14 or 15.

[eee]

Zimmy! Get here and hit him again! So hard it knocks the ability to inflict causal harm on Annie with everything he says right out of him!!

[eschmenk]

Tony isn't just being cruel, he's being tediously evil. He's demonstrating the banality of evil very well.

I get the feeling that Kat is actually trying to be a bridge between Annie and her dad. Having them interact, instead of going ballistic like "Hhhheeeaawwww caaan youuuuu beeeeee sooooo baaaaaaaaaad tooo yeeeeeeeouuuur daaaaauuuuughteeeeeer!!!?!11". As Dad Donlan noticed, the direct bullrush approach doesn't work with Tony.

I mean, it seems quite plain to me: Kat hates Tony > Kat works a bit with Tony > Kat finds out that Tony isn't an evil robot > Kat tries to create a situation where Tony cannot limit interaction with Annie, because they have to work together. Also, Kat and Annie are equals, while, at the dinner, he could avoid Annie by interacting in different ways with the children and the adults.

I would have thought it's just that, but Kat checked with Rey about him doing something at 3:00, so I think there is probably more to it than that. Rey's thing could be something that's completely separate though. Maybe Kat intends to create a situation where Annie has to do something special or heroic?

[Fawkes]

I hate reading about Tony just so much. He has effectively killed any positive interest I have in this comic. At this point I'm only reading because of a combination of inertia and masochism.

[Leewei]

Sheesh, Tony sure is driving it home. Annie just can't get things right. It's almost like she's completely lacking a responsible adult to nurture her.

[CWater]

Could it be that he actually meant to comment on Kat's understanding of biology, and that's why the anatomy designs needed extra work (so it was good that Annie helped), but the way he phrased it made it sound like Annie screwed up?

[Shadow of the Sun]

Could it be that he actually meant to comment on Kat's understanding of biology, and that's why the anatomy designs needed extra work (so it was good that Annie helped), but the way he phrased it made it sound like Annie screwed up?

I think this is more consistent with what we know about Tony - specifically, that he's completely and utterly socially incompetent, rather than necessarily actively malicious towards Annie (since his loathing seems to be focused almost entirely on himself, rather than Annie).

That said, he could be trying to drive her away from him for what he considers her own good, but... it's not working.

[Typewriter]

I think this is more consistent with what we know about Tony - specifically, that he's completely and utterly socially incompetent, rather than necessarily actively malicious towards Annie (since his loathing seems to be focused almost entirely on himself, rather than Annie).

That said, he could be trying to drive her away from him for what he considers her own good, but... it's not working.

I tend to think that he's a **** to her for a variety of reasons - not sure how to be a father, wants to push her away, anger, depression, etc.

As an aside - I think I just sort of assumed that the reason he wants to work with Kat on this project is to fix his arm but it occurs to me that maybe he wants to make an artificial body that could house the fire elemental soul or something in some attempt at saving Annie?

[Ibrinar]

Is the fire elemental soul something separate?Like are they a family line possesed my fire elementals instead of that being an integral part of them?

[SZbNAhL]

Is the fire elemental soul something separate?Like are they a family line possessed my fire elementals instead of that being an integral part of them?

It's probably part of the soul, since without it they wither away and die, but it can't be all of the soul, since a) Surma and Annie are very clearly different people and b) Surma could survive without the elemental for over a decade. That's just my spur-of-the-moment hypothesis, though, I could be making a false assumption about how souls work in the GG-verse.

Regardless, the question isn't how the fire elemental actually works, but how Tony thinks it works, and when you're a surgeon every problem starts to look like a disease to be cured.

[eee]

Yes, Tony, you stay over there and don't bother the adults.

Juliette and Not Romeo have arrived, so maybe today IS Robot's Download Day.

(flashback to the powerhouse scene)

[Typewriter]

Regardless, the question isn't how the fire elemental actually works, but how Tony thinks it works, and when you're a surgeon every problem starts to look like a disease to be cured.

Exactly - and, if I recall correctly, he spent the last years of Surmas life trying to 'cure' her - why would he be doing any less now?

[eschmenk]

Exactly - and, if I recall correctly, he spent the last years of Surmas life trying to 'cure' her - why would he be doing any less now?

Maybe someone should remind him of "First, do no harm."

[Shadow of the Sun]

I dunno if Tony was ever the most stable person in the first place, what with his difficulty dealing with emotions, and now he's gone mad with grief and guilt.

I don't think we can expect him to be entirely rational.

[Typewriter]

I dunno if Tony was ever the most stable person in the first place, what with his difficulty dealing with emotions, and now he's gone mad with grief and guilt.

I don't think we can expect him to be entirely rational.

Plust the fact that he has a strong belief towards science/reason and his recent journeys have sort of smashed that into the dirt. Not rational, not stable, not healthy. Broken man is broken.

[Giggling Ghast]

They’re following the path set by robotics pioneer Dr. Noonian Soong, I see.

[eee]

While there's a LOT going on in today's strip, the thing that sticks out (no witticism intended. Well, maybe not) is Juliette talking about her interface. Interface to what? What's SHE up to?

[137beth]

I think my favorite part is Annie's complete lack of comprehending what they mean.

[Vinyadan]

Nanananana Schlongbot
Schlongbot
Schlongbot
Nanananana

[Mith]

Nanananana Schlongbot
Schlongbot
Schlongbot
Nanananana

For a moment I was confused and thought I was in the Questionable Content thread. Further confusion occured when I rdcalled that Pintsize has nothing to do with the current storyline.

[137beth]

The long awaited return is here.

When was the last time we saw Shadow before this chapter?