Gunnerkrigg Court 6: Fire Away

[137beth]

Of course this needs to end with Coyote appearing beside Annie stating "Thank you, Fire Head Girl." before vanishing. Just to add a touch of "Did we just enable a war?" to the sense of victory.

I doubt Jeanne is really all that's preventing Coyote from launching an attack on the Court. If Coyote even wanted to assault the Court (which may not be the case), and if Jeanne is what's stopping him, then it means the founders of the Court had technology powerful enough to keep Coyote and all his followers at bay for centuries. If they had that sort of power hundreds (or thousands, I don't recall how old the Court is) of years ago, it seems pretty unlikely to me that the modern-day Court would still be scared of Coyote.

[Lizard Lord]

Geez Annie. I know its been a stressful day and you busy, but how could you not recognize your best friend?

[SZbNAhL]

If they had that sort of power hundreds (or thousands, I don't recall how old the Court is) of years ago

Going by the fashions the founders wore and the reference to fleeing a war, I've always headcanoned that the Court was formed in the early 19th Century (ie the Napoleonic era).

[137beth]

Well, now Annie can see why Zimmy is scared of Kat

[eee]

Ah, so Annie DOESN'T know about Kat. Hopefully she doesn't try to kill it with fire before she finds out.

[Mith]

I doubt Jeanne is really all that's preventing Coyote from launching an attack on the Court. If Coyote even wanted to assault the Court (which may not be the case), and if Jeanne is what's stopping him, then it means the founders of the Court had technology powerful enough to keep Coyote and all his followers at bay for centuries. If they had that sort of power hundreds (or thousands, I don't recall how old the Court is) of years ago, it seems pretty unlikely to me that the modern-day Court would still be scared of Coyote.

I had understood that the truce was that no one can cross the bridge without a breaching the truce, and that Jeanne was used as a sacrifice to make a safe guard that no one could cross to the COurt from the river itself.

I see it more that Coyote left a loophole that the Court filled, and that while he could deal with Jeanne, it would not be a trivial task. They were able to create a wraith that can kill those that are specifically meant to deal with her. So I could see Coyote thinking it would not be worth the effort.

[Lizard Lord]

Ah, so Annie DOESN'T know about Kat. Hopefully she doesn't try to kill it with fire before she finds out.

No one knows about Kat. WE don't even know about, really. We know she can look that way to some people/in some circumstances, but we only have guesses as to why.

[guttering flame]

No one knows about Kat. WE don't even know about, really. We know she can look that way to some people/in some circumstances, but we only have guesses as to why.

The author explained somewhere that Zimmy can pierce time with her vision. We are about to see the fulfillment of that vision.

[137beth]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I only remember seeing the mecha-angel once before this chapter. Near the end of Chapter 38, Zimmy states that she is scared of the way Kat looks to her, and on the next page we see Mecha-Kat.

[Yuki Akuma]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I only remember seeing the mecha-angel once before this chapter. Near the end of Chapter 38, Zimmy states that she is scared of the way Kat looks to her, and on the next page we see Mecha-Kat.

You misremember.

[137beth]

You misremember.

Thanks

[guttering flame]

Bad Kat! You're polluting the beautiful Aether with your rusty mecha-body! You looked better in Zimmy's vision. Go back to your workshop and upgrade your mecha-suit.

[eee]

I wonder if Kat will see her mecha body when she looks down, or just her normal form. If the former... O_O

[137beth]

Welp, that settles the question of whether Annie will be able to recognize Kat before it's too late.

[Lethologica]

Bad Kat! You're polluting the beautiful Aether with your rusty mecha-body! You looked better in Zimmy's vision. Go back to your workshop and upgrade your mecha-suit.

That's probably pretty much what happens, given the comment below Kat's appearance in Zimmy's vision.

(Mecha-Kat will always look wicked-cool to me, though.)

[137beth]

Quoting someone from Tumblr:

annie: great, i'm no longer the person with the coolest etheric form.
annie: my true etheric form is literally me but permanently on fire. i'm awesome.
annie: and now my bff who knows [scrubbed due to forum filter] about the ether is some giant mechanical angel right out of a book of revelation steampunk au.
annie: SHE CAN'T EVEN SENSE IT WITHOUT HELP
annie: HOW IS THIS FAIR???

[guttering flame]

Unimaginative Kat to the rescue This is a nice call-back to the ROTD chapter.

[eee]

Well, that answers that question. Kat sees the Ether the same way she sees regular life. So. She may be extremely unimaginative. Or it may be that you bring to the Ether what you perceive, and Kat perceives things scientifically. Or perhaps, as a proto-god, she is above such things...

Interesting that she sees Mr. Green Elf as shackled and huddled. I wonder what she would have made of the fight between he and Annie. I wonder how Annie is going to get it across to Kat that she sees her as something so awesome and terrifying that she can barely survive being in her presence.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I like that even in Kat vision, the ether shackles are solid. The ether does have power, even with its grandiose pomp stripped away.

[halfeye]

I like that even in Kat vision, the ether shackles are solid. The ether does have power, even with its grandiose pomp stripped away.

I wonder what happens if the shackles are removed?

[BRC]

I wonder if it's less a matter of lack of imagination, and more a factor of a person's ether-vision being influenced by relative power and comprehension.

Imagine, Katrina Donlan, potentially because she is the "Angel" who is ushering in a new age of bio-mechanical robots, is an Etheric Titan. The way you percieve things in the Ether is based on your ability to interact with them.

Annie and Mort, being a mere ghost/Fire-Elemental Human Hybrid, percieved the ROTD keepers as massive worm-things, because, as far as Annie and Mort interacting with them is concerned, they were as dangerous as a massive worm Monster.
The Final Testimonial became an eyeball and horrifying eldritch tome because they lacked the etheric senses to properly use them, just as they don't know how to use a horrifying eldritch tome.

Kat, as the Angel of the New Age, could use the Final Testimonials as easily as she could use a VCR in the real world. The ROTD Keepers were as threatening to her as a skinny teenager in a mask would be in the real world, so that's how she saw it.

Similarly, simply comprehending the nature of the Arrow is a staggering task for Annie, so she percieves a massive, non-eucledian mechanism of some sort.

Kat, on the other hand, can perceive it's true nature, and the effort to undo it is, to her, roughly equivalent in difficulty and complexity to picking a lock on a pair of shackles.

In the Aether, you are always yourself, and the rest of the world changes relative to you. An Ant and an Angel see the same world very differently.

[Randomguy]

I love the "Kat in the Ether" bits. The Ether is a drama queen, and Kat has no time for its shenanigans.

[GAAD]

It's Mort.

Briefly.

And it doesn't show his face.

[wingnutx]

Mort fun time

[137beth]

I don't think Mort will come back, ever. The world will continue to spin....

[Giggling Ghast]

Bringing a broadsword to a rapier fight was not the best move against an opponent with heightened speed.

Honestly, I think a sword and shield would have been more practical. The point is not to beat Jeanne, just delay her.

[eee]

BIP, George! BIP LIKE YOU'VE NEVER BIPPED BEFORE!

Still, it IS pretty amazing to consider how long she's holding out. Either Jeanne is still pulling her punches, or Parley is really good. Or both.

[137beth]

I hope we at least get to see the undoing of the lock from Annie's perspective.
At any rate, my guess is that Annie and Kat will emerge from the arrow just in time to prevent Jeanne from killing Parley (or someone else).

[Chromascope3D]

I hope we at least get to see the undoing of the lock from Annie's perspective.
At any rate, my guess is that Annie and Kat will emerge from the arrow just in time to prevent Jeanne from killing Parley (or someone else).

I think the maze is the lock from Annie's perspective.

[hajo]

Either Jeanne is still pulling her punches, or Parley is really good. Or both.

Well, it is Jeanne's first real fight against a real fencer in ages,
and she has nothing else to do.
So, I'm quite sure she is enjoying it, and will be drawing it out,
as much as she can