Gunnerkrigg Court 4: Friends in Need

[The Rose Dragon]

I come to the thread because I like the comic. I like the setting, the mythology, most of the characters (especially Hyland, Reynardine and Ysengrin). I like learning about how the robots came about, about Coyote's latest exposition, about whatever Zimmy is, about the hidden past of the Court (whether it is Diego's time or Surma's). I like reading Kat's growth, Hyland's anything, about George and Smitty, about Robot and Shadow. And I am especially curious about what Anthony's deal is.

I just don't like Antimony.

I am joking when I say I want her dead, and even if I dislike her, she is still interesting. Besides, Gunnerkrigg Court is not the first work of fiction I enjoyed despite having a protagonist I disliked (see Fate/Stay Night or Katawa Shoujo).

[eee]

OK, I have no idea what's going to happen. Rey could be going to just threaten her, he could be going to incinerate her, he could be going to drag Hetty to Adam and force her to tell him what's going on. Most probably it's something I haven't thought of. If Hetty was responsible for Adam's sister's 'accident', her chances may not be good...

[VariaVespasa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOErZuzZpS8

Do it!

[Luzahn]

I suppose it's good to remember that Renardine isn't some mostly-harmless sidekick of Annie's.

After all, he's still an ancient, arcane intelligence with the powers of a demigod.

[PhantomFox]

Will she burn though? I thought she was made out of porcelain?

[eee]

Will she burn though? I thought she was made out of porcelain?

High heat can make certain types of porcelain brittle. Even if Hetty is more durable, her clothes, hair, and I would imagine the paint on her body is not. Burning her could cause a great deal of damage. And destroy her chances of continuing to pretend to be just Adam's sister's inanimate doll, nothing to see here, don't look too close...

[Qwertystop]

High heat can make certain types of porcelain brittle. Even if Hetty is more durable, her clothes, hair, and I would imagine the paint on her body is not. Burning her could cause a great deal of damage. And destroy her chances of continuing to pretend to be just Adam's sister's inanimate doll, nothing to see here, don't look too close...

Well, she could still pretend. She'd just have to append "recently lit on fire" to that description.

[Marnath]

She already has at least one severe crack, I'm not sure her porcelain would fare any better than her clothes. Even if it does, Rey can always just attack her some more. If he is about to kill her there's pretty much nothing she can do about it unless she does have a human sized form she's been thus far unwilling to use. I doubt she'd get the chance to use it though, Reynardine got the surprise round, now he just has to win initiative.

[fwiffo]

She doesn't need to pretend. As Hetty mentioned, Adam doesn't know she exists. Her sister, whoever she is, left her stuff to him. Most likely he left it all in a box somewhere, unaware that one of the dolls was not an inanimate object. And Hetty, who expected that killing his sister would free her found that it didn't. So, she transferred her disappointment and hate onto the boy.

At least that is my take so far.

I do wonder who the sister is and what Hetty is. We might find out... and as is always with this strip, the answers would open more questions than they answer.

[memnarch]

Body stealing shrimp?

[eee]

OMG! Run AWAY!!

Screaming in terror.

(Rey certainly cann't be accused of being passive, at least. Evidently the mention of arsenic and seeing Adam was just a boy decided him it was time for Hetty to go.)

[Marnath]

I feel like this could end up going poorly for Reynardine, since she didn't drop immediately and his form is also flammable. She may be a match for him in the etheric realm too, that nose looks pretty pointy. It's all fitting though, facing down your nemesis is meant to be challenging.

*edit: Oh, and holy pun war Batman! You guys should check out that thread, I know how much the playground loves it's puns.

[AdmiralCheez]

It seems like we're about to witness an imminent duel between a spirit wolf and a spirit shrimp. The least expected encounter.

[Spacewolf]

I don't think Ysen would appreciate you calling Rey a wolf, he's a spirit fox.

[AdmiralCheez]

Yeah, okay, his actual spirit form is a fox, but I thought his big, animal-like form was that of a wolf? Or have I been completely wrong this whole time? In either case, I guess his spirit form wouldn't be fighting anyway. Let's hope his plushie form can withstand the retaliation of an angry shrimp.

[androkguz]

Wait... if hetty could get out of her porcelain doll body, why didn't she before?

Oh yeah, and a fight between a spirit shrimp and a spirit fox is... most unique

[Qwertystop]

Yeah, okay, his actual spirit form is a fox, but I thought his big, animal-like form was that of a wolf? Or have I been completely wrong this whole time? In either case, I guess his spirit form wouldn't be fighting anyway. Let's hope his plushie form can withstand the retaliation of an angry shrimp.

The spirit is a fox. The plush is a wolf, and he can turn it into a real one.

[AdmiralCheez]

Okay, that's what I thought. Good to know I haven't completely lost it yet.

[Coidzor]

I don't think Ysen would appreciate you calling Rey a wolf, he's a spirit fox.

Ysengrim doesn't appreciate humanity existing.

[BRC]

I wonder if wolf-form Renardyne feels like an actual wolf, or if he's soft like a big wolf-shaped plushy.

That is to say, is he just stretching the body into a wolf-shape, or is he saying "This doll is representing a wolf, therefore I can use it to be a wolf"

Edit: a quick look at the archive reveals he has a mouth with teeth, apparently confirming his complete wolfification.

[Spacewolf]

Ysengrim doesn't appreciate humanity existing.

Probably because Coyote has been messing with his pride with the whole belief created him retroactively and that he's nothing but a French fairy tale character.

[BRC]

Probably because Coyote has been messing with his pride with the whole belief created him retroactively and that he's nothing but a French fairy tale character.

We don't know that for sure.

Well, we know that Coyote has been messing with his brain. But we don't know if Coyote is the source of his pride. It's entierly possible that he was ALWAYS proud and hated humanity, and Coyote has just been pulling out memories for his own amusment.

[Spacewolf]

Didn't mean literally messing with his pride just pressing the buttons on it to inflame it and point it towards humans. Or maybe the court depending on how things play out.

On a different note quite a few things in this setting remind me of Discworld has the author ever stated if he got inspiration from those books?

[Marnath]

Wait... if hetty could get out of her porcelain doll body, why didn't she before?

Oh yeah, and a fight between a spirit shrimp and a spirit fox is... most unique

She isn't out of it. She's still connected to it at the eyes.

[eee]

Ie. Oh. Eiie. Ouch. Hope Rey's not allergic to seafood.

NEVER make Reynard angry. Or threaten Annie around him.

It would be STUNNINGLY creepy if Hetty were still animate after this.

[Qwertystop]

Ie. Oh. Eiie. Ouch. Hope Rey's not allergic to seafood.

NEVER make Reynard angry. Or threaten Annie around him.

It would be STUNNINGLY creepy if Hetty were still animate after this.

"What, you thought there was only one evil shrimp-demon possessing this doll? The fire just gave me a chance to kick out that freeloader."

[Giggling Ghast]

Glad to see someone following my advice.

[AdmiralCheez]

Well, right now it looks less like a duel, more like a snack-time kind of thing.

On a different note, the eye-less Hetty doll kinda creeps me out.

[eee]

Out, out, brief Hetty. Life's but a walking shadow... and you're a dead shrimp.

And now...

'Click'.

This might be Daniel's mother or some other family member and Rey's coming to apologize. That would be... painful...

[sihnfahl]

This might be Daniel's mother or some other family member and Rey's coming to apologize. That would be... painful...

A necessary pain, however.

His interaction with Hetty ... pretty much shows he's countering the stuff Coyote whispered in his ear.