Gunnerkrigg Court 7: Psychopomp and Circumstance

[eee]

Tony continues to act human.

Obviously this is not reality.

[Gez]

Tony continues to act human.

Obviously this is not reality.

Tony is the fake Annie.

One of the Annies is actually the real Tony in disguise.

The other is Coyote, of course.

[Vinyadan]

Maybe they could cut down on the Antimony & Antimony name confusion by adding Forest and Court to the front of the name, but shorten it to Fanny and Canny.

I would call them Uncanny & Unfanny.

Also, Tony is having fun watching Annie deal with herself.

[Willie the Duck]

Tony is the fake Annie.

One of the Annies is actually the real Tony in disguise.

The other is Coyote, of course.

Everyone is Coyote. Tony, both Annies, Tom Siddell, you, me, we're all Coyote. We just don't remember that bit.

[137beth]

Everyone is Coyote. Tony, both Annies, Tom Siddell, you, me, we're all Coyote. We just don't remember that bit.

Coyote is actually Trigak!

[halfeye]

Court Annie seems really bitchy to me.

Come to that, all of the court people except Kat seem a bit angry. Is this whole thing a fake, and Annie and Jones the only real ones there?

[Leewei]

I fear the worst. Tony couldn't bring back Annie's mother without killing her. Now, he has a surplus Annie.

[Clertar]

Tony continues to act human.

Obviously this is not reality.

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Does he usually act like this with Annie? In principle he doesn't. It could sound like he's all chill and laid back now, like he's e.g. with Kat. Which might mean she's not the real one, huh.

[lord_khaine]

I fear the worst. Tony couldn't bring back Annie's mother without killing her. Now, he has a surplus Annie.

Ah come on now.. really?
That theory is rubbish. Tony has already showed that he cares deeply for his daughter.
He is just an extreme introvert, and have absurd troubles expressing his emotions except with a select few.

But here he has now had a further 3 months to adjust to having a teenage daughter.
So of course he is acting a little more like a person.

And i do think his reaction is hilarious. Because from his point of view it kinda is.
He has just about adjusted to having a daughter, when fate turns it into having a pair of explosive twin teenage daughters.
Thats prime sitcom material there.

[BannedInSchool]

Tony's obviously laughing at Fanny because he thinks she's Coyote.

[Fawkes]

Tony has already showed that he cares deeply for his daughter.

When exactly did this happen? Before or after he abandoned her for years, nearly got her killed, and then showed back up to neglect in person?

(Tony still sucks)

[Shadow of the Sun]

When exactly did this happen? Before or after he abandoned her for years, nearly got her killed, and then showed back up to neglect in person?

(Tony still sucks)

The simple fact that he came back at all, given he thinks she's better off without him around says a lot - he only came back because the Court was threatening to expel her if he didn't. Yes, he's still a terrible dad, but it's not that he doesn't love his daughter, it's just that he's terrible at interacting with pretty much everyone to begin with.

[Lethologica]

When exactly did this happen? Before or after he abandoned her for years, nearly got her killed, and then showed back up to neglect in person?

(Tony still sucks)

Around when he stood up to Coyote on her behalf. I think that was 'after', according to the question parameters.

[lord_khaine]

So yes, people already answered the question of when and where.

Another subtle detail that i think should be pointed out, is how Tony's body language have changed here at his home.
He no longer looks or stands like an emotionless robot. His angles are more fluid and relaxed.

[SZbNAhL]

A major component (if not the core) of the plot of Gunnerkrigg Court is the cold war between two vast and unknowable magical superpowers (Coyote and whoever really runs The Court). Tony has stood up to both of them to protect Annie. He may be emotionally distant, but he definitely loves her.

[memnarch]

A major component (if not the core) of the plot of Gunnerkrigg Court is the cold war between two vast and unknowable magical superpowers (Coyote and whoever really runs The Court). Tony has stood up to both of them to protect Annie. He may be emotionally distant, but he definitely loves her.

WMG: The Seed Bismuth is the ruler of the Court. Somehow.

[The_Snark]

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First reaction: OH GOD TONY IS THE DOPPELGANGER

Actual thoughts: whoa. This is a change. We've seen Tony like this before, more or less, when he's alone* with someone he likes and is comfortable with: Donny, Surma in flashbacks, and by implication Kat. But Annie's never been part of that group. Did that change in the intervening months...? Or is something weirder going on? I'm honestly not sure, either seems plausible.

*Although he seems to have gotten better at expressing warmth even with multiple people present, too. I'm hopeful about this trajectory.

[Shadow of the Sun]

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First reaction: OH GOD TONY IS THE DOPPELGANGER

Actual thoughts: whoa. This is a change. We've seen Tony like this before, more or less, when he's alone* with someone he likes and is comfortable with: Donny, Surma in flashbacks, and by implication Kat. But Annie's never been part of that group. Did that change in the intervening months...? Or is something weirder going on? I'm honestly not sure, either seems plausible.

*Although he seems to have gotten better at expressing warmth even with multiple people present, too. I'm hopeful about this trajectory.

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Well, he has been alone-ish with Annie for four months...

I still smell a rat, sadly.

[NEO|Phyte]

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I am fine with these Tony developments, if there was ever going to be a single magic thing that let him connect with antimony, it was going to be the shared experience of having to interact with antimony.

That being said, this means Loup managed to (presumably unintentionally) do something nice for annie.

[PhantomFox]

My bet is that he doesn't think she counts for whatever his guilt problem is.

[eee]

It will take MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE THAN THIS to EVER make me like Tony!!!

Toleration is possible, though.

[137beth]

Tony is being nice to Annie: NOT BACK TO NORMAL! The author comment is a LIE!

[Rodin]

Triple fantasy! TRIPLE FANTASY!!!!!!

[Nettlekid]

So Tony can only be friendly and charming when around exactly one other person. Could it be that Court Annie has had some stowaway (maybe the Fire Elemental in her soul, maybe something else) and this Forest Annie doesn't have that tagalong?

[Yuki Akuma]

I really think Tony has just adapted to living with his daughter over the past six months, realises Forest!Annie really needs the emotional support, and is doing his best to be a good father for her.

[Smurfton]

Would Annie have taken that opportunity earlier in the comic? Anthony invited her to be in the same room, but Annie needed to ask to help. When helping Kat in her lab, it seemed like Kat asked Annie to help. When did that change?

I'm sure Cannie will be totally fine with this. If she hasn't had this happen for her plenty of times

[Lizard Lord]

So Tony can only be friendly and charming when around exactly one other person. Could it be that Court Annie has had some stowaway (maybe the Fire Elemental in her soul, maybe something else) and this Forest Annie doesn't have that tagalong?

We have seen that both Annies have the Fire Elemental soul.

[RowenMorland]

So yes, people already answered the question of when and where.

Another subtle detail that i think should be pointed out, is how Tony's body language have changed here at his home.
He no longer looks or stands like an emotionless robot. His angles are more fluid and relaxed.

I think the best example of your point was when Tony was drinking with Donny and he talked earnestly about how hurting Annie was such a failure on his part.

[wingnutx]

I think it's just their newly shared experience of being awkward outsiders. Tony sees this as common ground, and feels more at home with her now, or at least has it as a segue-way into a conversation.

[Gez]

My bet is that he doesn't think she counts for whatever his guilt problem is.

He's the only one who has accepted without reservation that this Annie is as real as the other.

My bet is that he has come to see that his daughter is a person, with her own flaws, who needs love from her father and that he has to get over himself. This has happened during the six months we haven't seen, and it has happened when he saw the petty Annie infighting.

That's the real Tony, and he's a great guy once you get to know him. The story would suffer enormously if there's a back to the status quo after that. He's not Rick Spender from Paranatural.