Gunnerkrigg Court 4: Friends in Need

[Moonwolf727]

I'm not sure why people even claim Kat isn't gay. It is pretty obvious to me that she is into birds.

I see what you did there. :D

[teratorn]

What about you guys? Anyone on this board care to argue with me that Kat "suddenly being gay/bisexual" comes totally out of the blue and there are no hints at her orientation in all of the comic's history(even though I just linked them?)

I'm fairly new to the comic, having read most of the archive in quick succession, and I saw Kat as intended to be gay from rather early on, this was no surprise. There was an obvious crush, but getting a romantic interest for Antimony seemed wrong story wise. The author is doing the right thing by focusing the romantic stuff on the side characters and I hope the author keeps Antimony single.

I called the Paz thing as soon as I saw her in the strip where Kat goes to confront the robot. It's the kind of cute that gives you warm fuzzy feelings.

[Marnath]

I'm fairly new to the comic, having read most of the archive in quick succession, and I saw Kat as intended to be gay from rather early on, this was no surprise. There was an obvious crush, but getting a romantic interest for Antimony seemed wrong story wise. The author is doing the right thing by focusing the romantic stuff on the side characters and I hope the author keeps Antimony single.

I called the Paz thing as soon as I saw her in the strip where Kat goes to confront the robot. It's the kind of cute that gives you warm fuzzy feelings.

Regarding Annie, I'd be surprised if she isn't asexual, honestly. The cast is really too young for us to be certain about any of them though, really. Lots of people are confused about who they are and what they want at that age.

[Spamotron]

does this mean paz is the new jeanne to go with kat's new diego?

I'm more worried that Robot will become the Diego to Kat and Paz's Jeanne and Hot Green Elf Guy.

[Randomguy]

What are the odds that Green Elf Guy has something to do with Kamlen? I wouldn't bet against it.

[Astrella]

I'm more worried that Robot will become the Diego to Kat and Paz's Jeanne and Hot Green Elf Guy.

Iunno, Robot's interest in Kat seems to be on a more spiritual level? His heart belong to Shadow 2 after all~

[Cavelcade]

Yesterday's comic is one of my favourites.


It just...it makes so much sense.

[Othniel Edden]

Too bad we had to change threads. I rather like "Like an Octopus Out of Water" as a title.

[eee]

Quicksilver - mercury - IS somewhat poisonous...

[MrSee]

Might quicksilver have to do with Kat?

[Landis963]

It could be something to do with the fact that Kat's growing robot parts. Quick-moving, changing; silver-metal. Changing metal seems like a pretty accurate descriptor. I'm of two minds of the fact that it is shown with a highly visible poison sign on it. One: Red herring. The fact that it's poisonous will not be relevant to the story, and may or may not come back as a Chekhov's gun. Two: the serious tone of Gunnerkrigg, even in chapters as innocuously named as "Changes" or "Parley and Smitty are in this one" means that this could be a major Wham episode for good or ill.

Of course Tom's not going to let us know either way. He's sadistic like that.

[Qwertystop]

Might quicksilver have to do with Kat?

Does it have any properties that would make it useful for hydraulics?

I almost thought grown-robot wiring because it flows, but you'd need something to keep it where it should be at which point you have normal wires.

[eee]

Is Mr. Siddell drawing Annie different around the eyes? I don't see her usual eye-liner...

Rey reads a lot.

[Astrella]

Is Mr. Siddell drawing Annie different around the eyes? I don't see her usual eye-liner...

Rey reads a lot.

You can see a small stripe of eyeliner just above her eye-lashes.

[AdmiralCheez]

I like how he hung his pigeon drawing on the wall in the first panel. He must really be proud of it.

[eee]

You can see a small stripe of eyeliner just above her eye-lashes.

(zoom in, zoom in, zoom in)

Ah yes, you're right! Thank you!

I wonder when we're going to get a definitive answer about her makeup obsession. We've received some hints, but nothing that tells us exactly why she insists on this.

[Marnath]

(zoom in, zoom in, zoom in)

Ah yes, you're right! Thank you!

I wonder when we're going to get a definitive answer about her makeup obsession. We've received some hints, but nothing that tells us exactly why she insists on this.

In some cultures eyeshadow, or kohl, is used to protect people from the evil eye. Since we know that not only are the spirits real for Annie, but also that she is exposed to them far more than others due to her nature and training it is not hard to believe that she wears it as protection from malevolent spirits.

This theme of protection is also seen in how guarded her emotions are. See here(and the next page), and here for times when she is not wearing the make-up, and her emotions are much more evident. The make-up is like a mask for her which may or may not be what was referenced in Zimmy's vision during Divine.

The best part? In South Asia one of the names for kohl is Surma. Ponder the symbolism of that.

[Landis963]

I love that Renard's essentially stopped being the teddy-wolf.

[Marnath]

I love that Renard's essentially stopped being the teddy-wolf.

I think a lot of people would take the opportunity to become more likeable people if all it took to alter your personality was shifting to a different form. If you've noticed, he's a much calmer, more sensitive guy as a wolf than as a teddy. Maybe he likes being nice.

[Dorizzit]

I think the point was made at one time that Renard shifts his body according to his mood, not the other way around.

[Dakkagor]

In some cultures eyeshadow, or kohl, is used to protect people from the evil eye. Since we know that not only are the spirits real for Annie, but also that she is exposed to them far more than others due to her nature and training it is not hard to believe that she wears it as protection from malevolent spirits.

This theme of protection is also seen in how guarded her emotions are. See here(and the next page), and here for times when she is not wearing the make-up, and her emotions are much more evident. The make-up is like a mask for her which may or may not be what was referenced in Zimmy's vision during Divine.

The best part? In South Asia one of the names for kohl is Surma. Ponder the symbolism of that.

I love this post. And this is one of the reasons I love Gunnerkrigg court, its possible to read detail and meaning into very small things, and when you do, other things start falling into place.

[Landis963]

I think the exact phrasing he used was "the mind is the plaything of the body." And he is notably a different persona in noble wolf-mode rather than in teddy-wolf, although he is still noticeably "Renard" in both. Maybe it's more of a conscious choice to choose between immature teddy ("You transported us to your bed? What on earth where you doing?") and wolf ("*snifsnif* Hehehe...") than he realizes.

[Randomguy]

Might quicksilver have to do with Kat?

Mercury is somewhat close to Bismuth in the periodic table, which might be relevant. But yes, I'd guess either Kat or the sciency roboty part of the Court.

[Coidzor]

So, how long till Annie finds out, and does she figure it out or have to be beat upside the head with it?

[eee]

Rey's up to something. Mayhem may ensue.

AWWWWWW for the last two panels.

[Astrella]

My face right now:

[Othniel Edden]

Actually the symbol on Reynard's head is a modified one for Mercury, and something tied to possesion. If this is Reynard centric chapter this will make lots of sense.

Gunnerkrigg Wiki

Probably been asked before, but what does the symbol on Rey's forehead on [Chapter 3, Page 22] stand for?Edit
It is the symbol for mercury. [35]

[The Rose Dragon]

Actually the symbol on Reynard's head is a modified one for Mercury, and something tied to possesion. If this is Reynard centric chapter this will make lots of sense.

The symbol for mercury is quite different, resembling the symbol for Venus with horns on the head. The symbol on Reynardine's (nitpick: or Renard's, but not Reynard's) head is closer to that of Pluto. Originally I thought it was the symbol for antimony, but it turns out that symbol is quite different.

((Tying to the earlier discussion about kohl, it turns out antimony sulfide was used as an eye cosmetic as early as 3100 BC. I did not know that.))

EDIT: If that is Word of God, I can safely say I have never seen that symbol used for mercury before.

Also, antimony's symbol is an upside down venus symbol, so that's good to know.

[Othniel Edden]

There was an article on TVTropes that was about the gunnerkrigg treatises that lead me on that path, but given Rey's screen time here, I think its most likely that this is a Rey centric chapter and I'm pretty sure thats the tie in to the title. It does look a lot like the Astrological symbol for Pluto, but thats an modified from Neptune and has no alchemical element matches it, and its the alchemical side that matters. Mercury is tied to Rey here. You can also see the Y-cross version here on his forehead. On the chapter tilted Reynardine you see the symbol for Mercury on right hand of the page along side the symbol for antimony and the opposite of the sign for Jimmy. You see this largely when he's possesing a body, starting here.

Oh, see the source of confusion.... The symbol on his head is Antimony, showing her ownership over him. I meant the extra symbol that shows up in these links. Sorry.

[teratorn]

There are several alchemical symbols for antimony, and one of them is the one we see on Reynardine's forehead. No way it is mercury.

EDIT: oh, now I understand where mercury comes from, though that last link looks more like the symbol for metal.