Results 541 to 570 of 1116
-
2022-01-07, 12:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Pull out the jargon, and we're left with the forces of Technology/Order/Reason not really liking or understanding Magic, but knowing it exists and has power; and wanting that power for themselves to help create a more Technology/Order/Reason-friendly world (or go to a part where only they are using whatever powers magic for their Technology/Order/Reason ends). Reminds me of Mage: the Ascension/wakening or stuff like that.
-
2022-01-07, 01:17 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
- Location
- On Paper
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
I think the key to understanding the Shadow Men is to look back at what we already know about the setting.
So, The Court was founded on the principle of Etheric Science, the impossible technologies of the Court are made possible by combining The Ether and mundane Science and Engineering.
Since then, they have learned that the Ether can be extracted, measured, and used, but not Understood in any real way. By it's nature it defies understanding.
The Shadow Men therefore reject The Ether, they cannot understand it, therefore they cannot trust it. The reliable uses of it may stop working tomorrow. For all they know the things they can reliably do with it, like Parley's Teleportation, only happen at the whim of some powerful entity like Coyote.
The Shadow Men hate that, but the Ether is baked into the very heart of the Court. Dragonslayers and ghosts and psychics are everywhere. Heck, the Robots themselves are magical in nature.
So they want to start over, they want to create a new Court, one where they understand everything that's going on. However, so much of what makes Gunnerkrigg Court possible is based on the Ether that they can't just go cold-turkey with the Ether, that would just make them another MIT or whatever.
Their solution, as far as I guess, is to Steal a massive amount of Etheric energy to use as the basis of their New Court, then take it far away from any godlike entities. The Court was built in the Gillette Wood, to make use of the ample supply of Etheric energy found there, which means that they don't control it. This New Court would run it's etheric technologies off the battery of stolen power they brought with them, something safe and controlled.
-
2022-01-07, 02:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- England. Ish.
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
The best kind of Zen. Also, good pun.
EDIT:
...Right up until the battery runs flat.
I assume that there are other revelations to come that will make this make sense.
Oh, random thought while I was half-awake this morning: Zimmy reversed Loup's splitting of Annie, and Loup was surprised (and angry, 'natch) about it. Where does that put Zimmy on the power scale?Last edited by Manga Shoggoth; 2022-01-08 at 04:31 PM.
Warning: This posting may contain wit, wisdom, pathos, irony, satire, sarcasm and puns. And traces of nut.
"The main skill of a good ruler seems to be not preventing the conflagrations but rather keeping them contained enough they rate more as campfires." Rogar Demonblud
"Hold on just a d*** second. UK has spam callers that try to get you to buy conservatories?!? Even y'alls spammers are higher class than ours!" Peelee
-
2022-01-13, 01:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
1) I'm assuming "not allowed to go" and "not alive to go" are synonyms in this case.
2) And, by "go," I wonder if they mean, "Wipe away every sign of anything that ever used ether," including the forest, people like Annie, etc.
3) Of course, it's also possible they have some way of their own to use ether (or are hoping they can use it) and will wipe out the competition. Envy has pushed folks to do things like that in the past. But, I'm still betting on etheric armageddon.
4) Since ether seems to help the world go round and also plays a role in the afterlife in this story, that would be a very, very bad thing.
5) I think the court managed to corrupt a bodhisattva. I'm not Buddhist, but I thought the flaws of our world (including inequality) were supposed to be driven by desire or craving. The envy over etheric abilities would seem to be right up there. They've got a bodhisattva who is working for a group driven by jealousy and desire. To serve them, he's willing to not use his abilities to end suffering (or he is in theory) and considers helping others wrong if it means using the extra abilities he's been granted to do so.
6) If being left behind is fatal, I see why not letting that happen was the bribe/threat that made Annie's dad cooperative. Not sure what he knows about this--he doesn't seem to trust the court, either--but I think he knew Annie was in danger.
-
2022-01-13, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
IIRC, Zimmy said she thought the Court was almost done with her. Presumably that means she won't be allowed in the new Court, since she can use the ether.
But Annie can use the ether, so it would seem she won't be allowed in the new Court no matter what. I think we need another info-drop to make sense of what is going on.
-
2022-01-14, 08:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
-
2022-01-14, 09:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
So the Shadow Men don't know about how Kat is actually an Ether-user too? They should have been clued by how nobody understood how her antigravity device works.
Hark! An avatar drawn by Kate Beaton!
-
2022-01-14, 10:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
I mean...there is surely no way Kat is leaving her best friend, her girlfriend, her life's work, and nearly all of her other friends as well actually. All of those are disqualified for either being either users, non-humans, or both. (At least i assumed talking to animals is ether use.)
Last edited by Lizard Lord; 2022-01-14 at 10:09 PM.
-
2022-01-15, 02:49 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- The Land of Angles
-
2022-01-15, 05:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
This plan doesn't make a ton of sense. Do we know... Anyone who would go?
-
2022-01-16, 02:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2017
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Jasnah avatar by Zea Mays
-
2022-01-17, 12:28 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
I'm assuming Shell and Aata aren't on the need to know list.
From what we've seen ether users can show up anywhere. Also, it seems like the court should already have the means to pack up and relocate without all this work. Sure, they'd leave some buildings behind, but Loup has seriously damaged those already. Collect your insurance and build elsewhere (yes, that's assuming they have coverage against supernatural beings attacking. But, given the neighborhood, they should).
-
2022-01-17, 01:24 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
I second the notion that the exodus will not be followed by most of the current cast.
However, if this means there will be only a few dozen of the humans left in the current court area, that may mean this conflict with Loup will be the climax, as opposed to one last story arc after Loup is gone centered around Zimmy and "Omega".
We're close either way...An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
-
2022-01-21, 01:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- England. Ish.
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Hmmm... Remembering Shell's comment here, I wonder if this is Aata at least trying to make sure that the non-court folk aren't suddenly left hanging.
Warning: This posting may contain wit, wisdom, pathos, irony, satire, sarcasm and puns. And traces of nut.
"The main skill of a good ruler seems to be not preventing the conflagrations but rather keeping them contained enough they rate more as campfires." Rogar Demonblud
"Hold on just a d*** second. UK has spam callers that try to get you to buy conservatories?!? Even y'alls spammers are higher class than ours!" Peelee
-
2022-01-21, 01:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
-
2022-01-21, 01:57 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2016
- Location
- The Lakes
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
If Aata is what it's implied he is, then there's also some things to learn about Coyote (or the fragment of Coyote) in the way he treated and commented on Aata.
It is one thing to suspend your disbelief. It is another thing entirely to hang it by the neck until dead.
Verisimilitude -- n, the appearance or semblance of truth, likelihood, or probability.
The concern is not realism in speculative fiction, but rather the sense that a setting or story could be real, fostered by internal consistency and coherence.
The Worldbuilding Forum -- where realities are born.
-
2022-01-21, 02:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
The bitterness is likely in regards to Aata's views of the Ether. Aata may well have privately resented not being allowed to use the Ether at all...or maybe he resented that it was a part of him?
He may be on our protagonist's side in the future, but it's plausible the fragment was making the same conclusion - Aata not being allowed to use the Ether was because of jealousy from the Court. And, as a result, much of Loup's wrath is coming in part because of said jealousy.An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
-
2022-01-21, 03:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Or that Aata rejected it in favor for the Court.
Aata not being allowed to use the Ether was because of jealousy from the Court. And, as a result, much of Loup's wrath is coming in part because of said jealousy.May you get EXACTLY what you wish for.
-
2022-01-22, 12:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2019
- Location
- Magrathea
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
An explanation of why MitD being any larger than Huge is implausible.
See my extended signature here! May contain wit, candor, and somewhere from 52 to 8127 walruses.
Purple is humorous descriptions made up on the fly
Green is serious talk about hypothetical
Blue is irony and sarcasm
"I think, therefore I am,
I walk, therefore I stand,
I sleep, therefore I dream;
I joke, therefore I meme."
-Squire Doodad
-
2022-01-22, 05:53 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- England. Ish.
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Warning: This posting may contain wit, wisdom, pathos, irony, satire, sarcasm and puns. And traces of nut.
"The main skill of a good ruler seems to be not preventing the conflagrations but rather keeping them contained enough they rate more as campfires." Rogar Demonblud
"Hold on just a d*** second. UK has spam callers that try to get you to buy conservatories?!? Even y'alls spammers are higher class than ours!" Peelee
-
2022-01-22, 06:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2009
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
At the moment, I think the bitterness really referred to the injustice of the ether, which won't be accessible to everyone. Aata would be bitter towards this fact, because of his kindness towards other people.
Coyote also calls him cousin, so I assume that he sees him as himself, born from people's beliefs. And failed because Aata didn't embrace his own nature and instead is living like any other man.
By the way, Aata tryng to be just a human reminds me of what Ysengrin said after Coyote revealed his great secret: "Does [Coyote] think we would be mere simple minded animals were it not for humans? Impossible. I cannot bear the thought." Besides how Aata might be feeling about his own situation, I can't help but feel that the Shadow Men are short-circuiting the process. If powers are due to belief, if everyone believed that every human has a connection to the ether, then maybe it would really happen. Instead, they force their adherents to act as if they had none, reinforcing the belief that men have no connection to the ether.Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
-
2022-01-24, 08:53 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Oh. Hi Loup.
Who'd have guessed he got to that point?May you get EXACTLY what you wish for.
-
2022-01-24, 01:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- England. Ish.
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
It's not a good sign, is it...
I went back to "She Gave Us An Ocean" to see if Loup got in there, but there's no sign of it - so must be more recent.Warning: This posting may contain wit, wisdom, pathos, irony, satire, sarcasm and puns. And traces of nut.
"The main skill of a good ruler seems to be not preventing the conflagrations but rather keeping them contained enough they rate more as campfires." Rogar Demonblud
"Hold on just a d*** second. UK has spam callers that try to get you to buy conservatories?!? Even y'alls spammers are higher class than ours!" Peelee
-
2022-01-24, 08:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Location
- Somewhere...
-
2022-01-26, 02:07 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
I reread it just to make sure, and Kat never actually met that form. Admittedly I am unsure to what (if any) degree of making human bodies Kat has a direct hand in vs. just making the process automated so it is possible she wouldn't realize he wasn't one of the former robots anyways.
Last edited by Lizard Lord; 2022-01-26 at 02:08 AM.
-
2022-01-26, 08:51 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2008
- Location
- Gasp... Iowa
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Nice parallel to Renard posessing a random court schmo to woo Surma.
All numbers are grammatically correct
-
2022-01-26, 09:31 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
That was in the chapter 'She Gave Us An Ocean'
They can customize their appearances.May you get EXACTLY what you wish for.
-
2022-01-26, 12:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- England. Ish.
- Gender
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Hmmm. Shell went from "Thank you. I love this dress." to "This old thing? Why, I only wear it when I don't care how I look.".
She's putting on some form of act, but for who and why? Well, apart from Aata, of course...Warning: This posting may contain wit, wisdom, pathos, irony, satire, sarcasm and puns. And traces of nut.
"The main skill of a good ruler seems to be not preventing the conflagrations but rather keeping them contained enough they rate more as campfires." Rogar Demonblud
"Hold on just a d*** second. UK has spam callers that try to get you to buy conservatories?!? Even y'alls spammers are higher class than ours!" Peelee
-
2022-01-26, 12:18 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2013
Re: Gunnerkrigg Court 8: Thrown for a Loup
Well she is saying the second line while posing.
-
2022-01-26, 08:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2020
- Location
- massachusetts
- Gender