Gunnerkrigg Court 7: Psychopomp and Circumstance

[Ellen]

Given that they make bodies all the time for the people from the Forest, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Arthur came out looking like that, but I'm surprised he came out looking like that. I was expecting something much more:

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[Honest Tiefling]

Kat took a LOT of input from Juliette is my opinion...I mean, if you gotta do it, you might as well put in all of the features, right?

[Mith]

I wonder if the downside of this all is that Arthur does not have pain tolerance. So he'll stub his toe and bawl like a baby.

That's going to give this development a dark turn.

[DeTess]

Chapter 55's retrospective is up, and it is a massive 11 minute retrospective as befits this most massive and intriguing of chapters.

[137beth]

The chapter 54 video is up. The next one is "The Breakout." Any guesses as to how long the retrospective video for a one-page chapter will be? I'm guessing between 3 and 8 minutes.

And I was wrong.

[geoduck]

I wonder if the downside of this all is that Arthur does not have pain tolerance. So he'll stub his toe and bawl like a baby.

That's going to give this development a dark turn.

Or one or both of the couple instantly fall out of love and break up with each other.

[Giggling Ghast]

“You completed the transfer ... Now I can ditch your fleshy ass and create a far superior robotic mate of my own!”

That probably won’t happen, but it would be pretty funny.

[SZbNAhL]

So his speech bubbles are round, but the tails are angular instead of curved. I wonder what type of voice that's supposed to signify. I'm imagining something very uncanny valley.

[sihnfahl]

I wonder if the downside of this all is that Arthur does not have pain tolerance. So he'll stub his toe and bawl like a baby.

Or all the other biological functions.

Like when his stomach starts making noises.

[Ellen]

Here's hoping there's a manual they give people from the forest, since their bodies could function in all sorts of different ways than a human's. Here's also hoping that, unlike the way things work for the kind of humans who get born into it and spend years mastering things like not needing diapers, reading the manual is a good substitute for lots and lots of practice.

So, I'm not going to think about how much work goes into learning not to bite your tongue when you start on solids or anything else like that. Arthur's going to take to that like a duck to water, and I am not going to ask any awkward questions about it.

[Kornaki]

It's interesting that in most works, people try to free themselves from the limits of flesh by becoming a machine. Here we have the opposite storyline.

[Shadow of the Sun]

It's interesting that in most works, people try to free themselves from the limits of flesh by becoming a machine. Here we have the opposite storyline.

I dunno. The "machine wanting to become human" has just as long of a pedigree and a whole bunch of examples - Pinocchio, for example. Or Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

[Honest Tiefling]

I think less people would try to free themselves from the limits of the flesh if they have a fleshy, attractive, girlfriend.

[Leewei]

I dunno. The "machine wanting to become human" has just as long of a pedigree and a whole bunch of examples - Pinocchio, for example. Or Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

There's even a character in a Zelazny story who slowly replaces bits of himself with machinery until he's a robot with an ornamental leather ring made from the last of his human skin - then has his human body cloned and transfers consciousness back into it to start the same cycle anew.

[RowenMorland]

There's even a character in a Zelazny story who slowly replaces bits of himself with machinery until he's a robot with an ornamental leather ring made from the last of his human skin - then has his human body cloned and transfers consciousness back into it to start the same cycle anew.

Ah, so they were in it for the ride, not the destination.

[Doran]

Update

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Is that pose a JoJo reference?

[137beth]

The chapter 56 retrospective video jives well with the current chapter. I wonder if the reason he seemed to be rushing through lots of videos recently was to get to the chapter 56 one while the Arthur's-new-body arc is ongoing.

[Mith]

The chapter 56 retrospective video jives well with the current chapter. I wonder if the reason he seemed to be rushing through lots of videos recently was to get to the chapter 56 one while the Arthur's-new-body arc is ongoing.

It also probably helps that he's presenting to/with his wife, which helps with keeping things moving.

[137beth]

Yea, probably. IMO, the videos with both of them are also more enjoyable than the ones he did on his own, so I am glad that they switched formats.

[Tom Tearcamel]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0551.html

Also, it appears that the Annies have swapped the necklace again. Maybe they’re trading it back and forth weekly or something.

[Mith]

I wonder if the Annies can communicate through Reynard, since he is a familiar to both of them. Essentially the middle man of their communication.

[137beth]

The chapter 59 retrospective video is up. That was an important chapter for me, because I caught up just as it was ending: the first new pages that came out after I finished reading the archives was the book 6 treatise. For the chapter 61 video, I wonder if he will explain why we didn't see Annie get a final record from Jeanne.

[Ibrinar]

My guess: Weird space warping and the monster is one of the other group who is now gigantic in comparison. Or now on second look they seem to be in the same environment so probably not.

[Kornaki]

I like the idea. That's why one of them said they didn't think they had made any progress.

[137beth]

The chapter 60 video didn't answer the biggest question I had about that chapter: did Annie somehow extract a Final Record from Jeanne without us seeing, or did she forget/just wasn't able to get a final record?

[eee]

This is all probably an illusion...

[wingnutx]

Neat transition from fist to body.

[wingnutx]

This is all probably an illusion...

Agreed. Whoever Parley is fighting probably sees her as a monster.

[RowenMorland]

So the other two 'monsters' peering in at Parley are Annie and Eglamore stepping into the cave/ruins.

[Iruka]

The plot thickens!

No idea what is going on ... I guess the majority of background characters can be assumed to be actually wisps, but who is Green Girl?