Gunnerkrigg Court 7: Psychopomp and Circumstance

[Felius]

Kat, are you really formally agreeing to a long supernatural contract without even skimming it over, let alone carefully reading it?!

Also, see back at my post about "scammers" and "con artists" to it. They give out a shifty as **** feeling to me.

[Rodin]

Kat, are you really formally agreeing to a long supernatural contract without even skimming it over, let alone carefully reading it?!

Also, see back at my post about "scammers" and "con artists" to it. They give out a shifty as **** feeling to me.

I'm reminded of the time a bank decided to make a point to their customers by sticking a paragraph about taking ownership of their souls into the middle of a Terms & Conditions sign-up for their online banking or something similar. They sent out a mass e-mail after a month or so saying "thanks for the souls" and admonishing their customers to actually read the contract information. Not that it helped.

I don't know that I agree that they're con-men, they seem as legit as any of the other authorities around. However, the odds of there being some really nasty clause of the contract is pretty damn high, even if it is legitimate.

[Jimorian]

However, compared to the web of contracts they all got themselves committed to without knowing about it until these guys showed up, the fact that she at least had the opportunity to read it is a huge step up.

I don't think the shoe to drop from this chapter will have anything to do with a hidden clause in the new contract as much as the seemingly subtle change in Reynard's status, and the fact that he pretty much stated he'd be on the team even without being forced.

[Max_Killjoy]

However, compared to the web of contracts they all got themselves committed to without knowing about it until these guys showed up, the fact that she at least had the opportunity to read it is a huge step up.

I don't think the shoe to drop from this chapter will have anything to do with a hidden clause in the new contract as much as the seemingly subtle change in Reynard's status, and the fact that he pretty much stated he'd be on the team even without being forced.

I'm actually irked by this notion of "contracts" that can be unknowingly imposed without a person's consent.

[halfeye]

I'm actually irked by this notion of "contracts" that can be unknowingly imposed without a person's consent.

It's borrowed from real life. e.g. Whenever you buy something there is an implicit contract.

[Max_Killjoy]

It's borrowed from real life. e.g. Whenever you buy something there is an implicit contract.

They also didn't buy anything.

[SZbNAhL]

I'm actually irked by this notion of "contracts" that can be unknowingly imposed without a person's consent.

It seems to be more of a magical law of nature than a contract in the standard legal sense. Annie owns the cuddly wolf toy, so she has a contract of ownership over it. Same for her skirt, her pens and her eyeshadow, but none of those are possessed by fox spirits, so it never comes up. Everybody in the GC universe has such a contract over everything they own. Might as well complain that entropy keeps increasing when you perform a thermodynamic process without seeking your permission.

[tyckspoon]

I'm actually irked by this notion of "contracts" that can be unknowingly imposed without a person's consent.

I don't think they can be, normally - the contract is either between a mind and an inanimate object for which the notion of 'consent' is meaningless, or it's made between two sentient creatures and could not normally be made without consent. Diego's arrow, I think, functions by effectively hacking those contracts; the reason there's a problem here is that by using the arrow Kat has inserted herself as a party in contracts that she shouldn't be any part of (and apparently didn't realize this was a thing or figured out how to separate ownership of the various things going through the arrow, because the first thing the Arbiter said was she was trying to illegally transfer Reynardine/ownership of the toy he's inhabiting.. which shouldn't be involved in moving Arthur's mind into the new body at all! Except that both are/were mediated through Kat's computer and the arrow.)

[Willie the Duck]

I'm actually irked by this notion of "contracts" that can be unknowingly imposed without a person's consent.

It's creepy, but I think that's the point. Unintended contractual obligations are a fixture of faerie tales, folklore, etc. Kinda like 'you eat my lettuce, you owe me your daughter' (-Repunzel), or 'pluck one of my roses, you owe me your life (daughter's freedom acceptable substitute)' -(Beauty and the Beast), or 'you kissed me, now you must serve me for 7 years (additional time if you ever speak)' (-Thomas the Rhymer). Like most stories with children interacting with the supernatural, GK has the set dressing of a schoolyard soap opera but the heart of a horror story.

[wingnutx]

I'm actually irked by this notion of "contracts" that can be unknowingly imposed without a person's consent.

Sort of like the "social contract".

Also, implied consent is a real thing.

[Max_Killjoy]

Sort of like the "social contract".

Also, implied consent is a real thing.

More like how the "implied consent" of the "social contract" is the non-choice of "you were born".

Ugh.

[wingnutx]

More like how the "implied consent" of the "social contract" is the non-choice of "you were born".

Ugh.

Ugh indeed.

[Vinyadan]

I have exactly zero idea of what just happened. Owned Object Reynardine digivolves to Familiar Reynardine! Ergo?

[Giggling Ghast]

Weirdly, I can wrap my head around this much easier than that nonsense about object ownership.

Imagine Annie’s timeline as a road. Loup created a fork in the road and then merged them back together into the same four-lane highway.

[Doran]

Weirdly, I can wrap my head around this much easier than that nonsense about object ownership.

Imagine Annie’s timeline as a road. Loup created a fork in the road and then merged them back together into the same four-lane highway.

Kat thinks he branched the timelines and cherry-picked Annie out of it so that timeline still exists. Not sure what the Loup of that timeline thinks - or it might be the same Loup.

I wonder which Annie got shifted? Court Annie or Forest Annie?

[Ellen]

More like how the "implied consent" of the "social contract" is the non-choice of "you were born".

Ugh.

I'm willing to allow that the ownership thing is actually the concept of ownership as existing among humans generally. So, some things that may be near universal and possibly hard-wired (like the way dog's have a concept of their territory and their food) and maybe lots of sub-clauses for the cultural things.

But, there's always some kind of supernatural what's-it in the background for the inherently human things (I'm still not sure if the comic goes with those being created by human belief or human belief merely being one of those things that sustains them).

Anyhow, the anthropomorphic manifestation of the human concept of ownership almost never gets invoked. It doesn't oversee things like theft, it oversees things like violations of the underlying concept. This may have been its first showing in millennia.

Yeah, I find inter-dimensional Annies are much easier to wrap my head around, too.

[halfeye]

Yeah, I find inter-dimensional Annies are much easier to wrap my head around, too.

I think I probably will once it is explained, but there are so many multi-universe theories, and they kind of only work for solar system sized universes most of the time.

[sihnfahl]

I wonder which Annie got shifted? Court Annie or Forest Annie?

Neither. There was only The One Annie.

The Forest Annie got removed from her reality and moved into the reality of the Court Annie.

[wingnutx]

I wonder if the court is at war with the forest in the other timeline.

[Mith]

I think I would have preferred Loup creating a version of Annie and sending her out of the forest. Something like Annie's time in the forest has left hair, blood, skin, and memories around that Loup could use the argument in the ether as a moment to manifest a perfect replica of Annie in the first hours of their conversation. This replica was sent from the Forest and became Court Annie.

Perhaps Loup thinks they can control Court Annie as one of their creations, but Court Annie has enough independence of thought to not be compelled.

Multi dimension theory cloning always makes me roll my eyes.

[Shadow of the Sun]

So, understand that while this is An Explanation, it might not be The Explanation. I still don't entirely trust these guys and would not be surprised if this is misdirection.

[RowenMorland]

So, understand that while this is An Explanation, it might not be The Explanation. I still don't entirely trust these guys and would not be surprised if this is misdirection.

Well it would certainly be convenient and possible for Loup to be disguised as this duo in order to direct spur them on. The 'recorded' message could have been the same thing too.

[Ibrinar]

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Neither? Now that is a surprise. Hmm best to just keep them who knows what is the status of the one that should be there.

[halfeye]

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Neither? Now that is a surprise. Hmm best to just keep them who knows what is the status of the one that should be there.

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The implication is that there is an Annie that does belong in this timestream, which makes three.

[137beth]

The chapter 54 video is up. The next one is "The Breakout." Any guesses as to how long the retrospective video for a one-page chapter will be? I'm guessing between 3 and 8 minutes.

[DeTess]

The chapter 54 video is up. The next one is "The Breakout." Any guesses as to how long the retrospective video for a one-page chapter will be? I'm guessing between 3 and 8 minutes.

Nah, to properly complete the joke it has to be under a minute, preferably under 30 seconds.

[Giggling Ghast]

Damn. I was hoping for an abomination.

[137beth]

Is that Arthur?

[SZbNAhL]

Is that Arthur?

It was in Arthur's anti-coffin, so presumably yes.

[Rodin]

Damn. I was hoping for an abomination.

Well, he was supposed to look like this:

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