Gunnerkrigg Court 7: Psychopomp and Circumstance

[SZbNAhL]

Who says there aren't? We have no idea what's going on out in the rest of the world away from the Court.

From Annie's reactions in the early chapters, I got the impression that the GC world is effectively ours, outside of the weirdness in the Court and the Forest. It could be that all the powerful etheric beings are hidden away in forests like Coyote, but there are only so many places they could be, and it seems odd that the Court wouldn't know about them. At no point during any of the Coyote crises has somebody said "Maybe we should have our agents in Norway ask Thor to intercede", or whatever. Then again, the Greek minotaur exists, so maybe I'm wrong.

Coyote's ego may be self-sustaining at this point. There's also all the various Forest creatures, who most certainly do believe in Coyote even if the broader human population is moving beyond them.

I thought Coyote's theory was that it was exclusively humans who could affect the ether in this way?

Possibly Coyote has eaten all the beliefs and stories associated with his general archetype? Ie, he's not just Coyote, he's also feeding on the stories of Raven and B'rer Rabbit and Anansi and Loki and even more modernized trickster figures like Bugs Bunny and.. well, quite a few popular cartoon characters.

Now there's an interesting possibility. Then again, Reynard still exists, so he'd have to be absorbing tricksters selectively.

[Mith]

From Annie's reactions in the early chapters, I got the impression that the GC world is effectively ours, outside of the weirdness in the Court and the Forest. It could be that all the powerful etheric beings are hidden away in forests like Coyote, but there are only so many places they could be, and it seems odd that the Court wouldn't know about them. At no point during any of the Coyote crises has somebody said "Maybe we should have our agents in Norway ask Thor to intercede", or whatever. Then again, the Greek minotaur exists, so maybe I'm wrong.



I thought Coyote's theory was that it was exclusively humans who could affect the ether in this way?



Now there's an interesting possibility. Then again, Reynard still exists, so he'd have to be absorbing tricksters selectively.

Perhaps that was the nature of the bargain for power is to allow Coyote to absorb the other entities over time. But with Ysgrin, it backfired and Ysgrin absorbed Coyote instead. However, due to Ysgrin being weakened and undermined by Coyote himself, Loup is a hybrid of the two egos, instead of being a heightened Ysgrin.

[eee]

Kat is well on her way to godhood, if not already there.

[Giggling Ghast]

Who here is hoping for an abomination?

*Raises hand*

[Mith]

Who here is hoping for an abomination?

*Raises hand*

I'm expecting a lot of horrified screaming. There is too much happiness in this comic at the moment. (what does THAT say about current story arcs?)

[137beth]

Also, the chapter 48 retrospective video is up. I liked that chapter, although I got the sense that a lot of fans didn't.

[SZbNAhL]

Also, the chapter 48 retrospective video is up. I liked that chapter, although I got the sense that a lot of fans didn't.

I liked it. It progressed the plot, showed us a side of the Forest we wouldn't normally see and made good use of the "wild rumours relating to a thing that the audience saw first-hand leading to amusing dramatic irony" trope.

[137beth]

The video pointed out something that I had never noticed before: namely, that when the Canvey monster imagines Annie, she has flippers just like he does.

[Vinyadan]

The video pointed out something that I had never noticed before: namely, that when the Canvey monster imagines Annie, she has flippers just like he does.

And gills on her ribcage...

[eee]

Things are not making a whole lot of sense right now...

[Doran]

My guess is Diego/the Court installed some etheric countermeasures to prevent anything like the whale-ship scenario happening in the court.

They presumably do not want robots making themselves into humans because that calls into question the way they have been treating robots.

[Kornaki]

Spoiler

Show

This seems like an odd time for Tom to change topics, but ok.

[Adrastos42]

Huh. I wonder if Kat's use of her computer for the ownership transfer back here https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1927 has anything to do with this?

[Vinyadan]

Reading back, I had not noticed the GIF in panel 5 https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1933

[137beth]

This "arbiter" feels a lot like the RotD, in that they are another supposedly important authority that just came out of nowhere into the story.

[Vinyadan]

This "arbiter" feels a lot like the RotD, in that they are another supposedly important authority that just came out of nowhere into the story.

Royal of the Droids?

Who is the RotD?

[SZbNAhL]

Royal of the Droids?

Who is the RotD?

Realm of the Dead. They were important in their eponymous chapter and were revisited in See Ya, which is the one where Mort goes into the ether (I'm not spoiler-tagging that because it was over a year ago).

[DeTess]

This "arbiter" feels a lot like the RotD, in that they are another supposedly important authority that just came out of nowhere into the story.

I think the arbiter is something different. The RotD was important for the Mort arc and was an actual authority. I suspect that, despite its name the arbiter is not an authority as far as the story is concerned, but a plot-device intended to result in exposition regarding Kat's nature, while also reminding the reader that it's not just the forest that has some weird stuff going on.

[137beth]

The chapter 51 retrospective video is up. The videos seem to be getting longer. I definitely hadn't noticed Annie's "hidden motivation" for hiding why she was cheating from Kat.

[Mith]

The chapter 51 retrospective video is up. The videos seem to be getting longer. I definitely hadn't noticed Annie's "hidden motivation" for hiding why she was cheating from Kat.

I think it works really well to have someone asking questions from the reader's perspective.

I think I had got the sense that Annie wasn't willing to put in the work to learn/ask for help. However I hadn't thought of her being intentionally manipulative towards Kat.

[Felius]

I honestly wouldn't be too surprised if the "arbiter" and the translator turned out to just be a pair of supernatural scammers. They have been triggering my "bull****" alarms since the moment they started talking...

[Vinyadan]

I honestly wouldn't be too surprised if the "arbiter" and the translator turned out to just be a pair of supernatural scammers. They have been triggering my "bull****" alarms since the moment they started talking...

Fake Namekians! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fAQtmY2NUM

[Jimorian]

I like how Kat is all "That's great!" because the arbiter/interpreter have basically confirmed that she was on track to the next step.

[Clertar]

I think the arbiter is something different. The RotD was important for the Mort arc and was an actual authority. I suspect that, despite its name the arbiter is not an authority as far as the story is concerned, but a plot-device intended to result in exposition regarding Kat's nature, while also reminding the reader that it's not just the forest that has some weird stuff going on.

The guy is a figurative and a literal Deus Ex Machina.

[SZbNAhL]

The guy is a figurative and a literal Deus Ex Machina.

Since he's an obstacle appearing out of nowhere instead of a solution, I'd say he's the opposite of a deus ex machina. Daimonas ex machina?

[Vinyadan]

Daimonas ex machina?

If you're going Latin, daemon ex machina. Daimon would be Greek. Demonaz is the guy from Immortal.

[DeTess]

Since he's an obstacle appearing out of nowhere instead of a solution, I'd say he's the opposite of a deus ex machina. Daimonas ex machina?

tvtropes calls it a Diabolus ex Macina.

[137beth]

The new retrospective videos seem to be coming a lot faster. Maybe having his wife help make them has made it more interesting so he is more motivated to do them.

I liked chapter 52.

[Clertar]

Since he's an obstacle appearing out of nowhere instead of a solution, I'd say he's the opposite of a deus ex machina. Daimonas ex machina?

It's still a deus. That doesn't refer to the Abrahamic god, it's a Graeco-Roman god ;)

And I'd say it serves the same function as a classic "solution" deus ex machina: this figure pops up and it just takes the plot in the direction that the author wants. Be it positive or negative for the characters.

[Mith]

It's still a deus. That doesn't refer to the Abrahamic god, it's a Graeco-Roman god ;)

And I'd say it serves the same function as a classic "solution" deus ex machina: this figure pops up and it just takes the plot in the direction that the author wants. Be it positive or negative for the characters.

To be fair to Tom, re-reading this chapter with better context, I don't think this is truly ham fisted writing, so much as it's the outside forces taking interest in the actions of the characters.

Plus, it'll be interesting to see where this change will take Renard.