Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup

[WanderingMist]

Omega is Zimmy herself, or is somehow powered by her already?

I'm starting to think Kat may be Omega, and that Omega was the one giving the star ocean speech.

[Willie the Duck]

Omega is Zimmy herself, or is somehow powered by her already?

I'm starting to think Kat may be Omega, and that Omega was the one giving the star ocean speech.

Honestly, why can't they all just be Omega? Maybe the real Omega is the Omega they find inside themselves

More seriously, could it be that Omega is something that they unintentionally build to stop the Court, which was the Court's plan all along?

[wingnutx]

Everyone knows that the real Omega is Charleton Heston.

[Blackdrop]

This sort of predictive activity reminds me of a couple of things: one is how Kat had a glance at another time where she lost Annie, and had the foresight to send back a bird to save her. The bird was not destroyed, and instead built itself inside the Annan riverbank into what looked to me like a station meant to collect information.

But also of how Coyote interrogated Ysengrim to know what he would do when the time came.

Here's an idea: what if the Court has been using a Zimmy as wireless human computer and Zimmy World is Omega? Maybe the Omega Device isn't a computer running a prediction program, but it's a machine that lets them view an etheric simulation of reality.

[Devlerbat]

What if, on Kate's end, all she sees is a normal computer and, after finding her, thinks she is helping Zimmy out by deleting the info the Court has on her. Which is how she kills Zimmy with Omega.

[WanderingMist]

What if, on Kate's end, all she sees is a normal computer and, after finding her, thinks she is helping Zimmy out by deleting the info the Court has on her. Which is how she kills Zimmy with Omega.

That makes a terrifying amount of sense.

[JavaScribe]

Wasn't it their idea to cast the spell close to the star ocean? Why are they suddenly complaining now?

People sure are quick to assume the worst of Antimony. How many times has she been accused of being a sociopathic manipulator? Why does it keep coming up? I can see people accusing her mother, but not so much Annie.

[Devlerbat]

Wasn't it their idea to cast the spell close to the star ocean? Why are they suddenly complaining now?

People sure are quick to assume the worst of Antimony. How many times has she been accused of being a sociopathic manipulator? Why does it keep coming up? I can see people accusing her mother, but not so much Annie.

Yea I thought that was weird too. Like, why did they even summon her so close to the star ocean and why shouldn't their "what did you think was going to happen" not apply to themselves?

[eee]

Yea I thought that was weird too. Like, why did they even summon her so close to the star ocean and why shouldn't their "what did you think was going to happen" not apply to themselves?

I thought it might be one of those "Zimmy is reliving a past traumatic event and making those around her act the way others acted back then", like having the forest elves chase her. But Zimmy's gone, and they're still on Annie's case.

It's puzzling.

[WanderingMist]

Wasn't it their idea to cast the spell close to the star ocean? Why are they suddenly complaining now?

People sure are quick to assume the worst of Antimony. How many times has she been accused of being a sociopathic manipulator? Why does it keep coming up? I can see people accusing her mother, but not so much Annie.

Something is really off with the way they're acting. What really happened at the star ocean? If the Court had some sort of device that could influence minds to fall more in line with their side, Kat was probably immune.

[137beth]

Something is really off with the way they're acting. What really happened at the star ocean? If the Court had some sort of device that could influence minds to fall more in line with their side, Kat was probably immune.

So you think the court is mind-controlling Jack and Jenny?

[Vinyadan]

I thought it might be one of those "Zimmy is reliving a past traumatic event and making those around her act the way others acted back then", like having the forest elves chase her. But Zimmy's gone, and they're still on Annie's case.

It's puzzling.

Annie might actually be Zimmy. Maybe. It's hard to tell with her. Do they even know they are back to reality?

[sihnfahl]

Annie might actually be Zimmy. Maybe. It's hard to tell with her. Do they even know they are back to reality?

Possibly. Zimmy could have gotten so bad into it that she lost control again, and now Jack and Jenny are reflecting Zimmy's fears.

[Willie the Duck]

Wasn't it their idea to cast the spell close to the star ocean? Why are they suddenly complaining now?

People sure are quick to assume the worst of Antimony. How many times has she been accused of being a sociopathic manipulator? Why does it keep coming up? I can see people accusing her mother, but not so much Annie.

Doylist answer: Tom really likes the trope.

Watsonian answers: They are embarrassed as to their role in this screw-up and are lashing out and Annie; they are actually the ones trying to find Zimmy for the court (willingly or otherwise) and hope people focusing on Annie as the potential spy (and her focused on clearing her name) will throw people off their trail; the star ocean produces a corrupting influence and all the characters will slowly become more and more paranoid; These aren't Jack and Jenny at all (and maybe not Zimmy on the other end as well), but some manifestation of the Court/Zimmy/Future Annie/Evil Kat/Coyote/the-secret-puppetmaster-behind-this-all-who-we'll-find-out-about-next.

[WanderingMist]

So you think the court is mind-controlling Jack and Jenny?

Not directly mind-controlling. Just making them more paranoid about the ether and things associated with it. The Court has always been about subtlety.

[Murk]

People sure are quick to assume the worst of Antimony. How many times has she been accused of being a sociopathic manipulator?

I wouldn't trust Annie either! Would you?

She goes out (with Andrew) to have a private chat with Coyote, and when she comes back Coyote is dead and the Court gets attacked.
Or she goes out to have a private chat with Loup, and when she comes back all the forest elves get exiled.
Remember that time the Court captured a dangerous demon that can possess people, and she snuck out to free it?
And that creepy friend of hers! The mad scientist who creates new life, starts a cult, meddles with time. Remember how a horny cruiseship kidnapped all her classmates to blackmail her? She's bad news.

Or more in general: things between the Court and the Forest were quiet and peaceful ever since her mom left, and as soon as Annie comes to the Court, things go wrong.

We as readers know that most of this isn't (directly) Annie's fault, and that she has (mostly) good intentions. But whenever she gets involved, things go wrong.
If I were living in the Court I would stay far away from Annie, and if I was forced to interact with her I would be very wary.

[JavaScribe]

There's plenty of circumstantial evidence for Antimony being a troublemaker. A Machiavellian manipulator that uses people and doesn't care for their well-being though? I don't get where that's coming from, but we've seen her consistently accused of this by the psychopomps, the fairies, Paz, and now these two. Is her mother's legacy somehow etherically influencing how she is perceived? Does Tom Siddell himself consider her a well intentioned manipulator?

[halfeye]

There's plenty of circumstantial evidence for Antimony being a troublemaker. A Machiavellian manipulator that uses people and doesn't care for their well-being though? I don't get where that's coming from, but we've seen her consistently accused of this by the psychopomps, the fairies, Paz, and now these two. Is her mother's legacy somehow etherically influencing how she is perceived? Does Tom Siddell himself consider her a well intentioned manipulator?

It's not that she goes where the trouble is, it's that trouble comes to her, because she is the story, and the story requires trouble. This is true of all heros in stories and legends.

[WanderingMist]

Ominous chapter title.