Gunnerkrigg Court 7: Psychopomp and Circumstance

[Tvtyrant]

I wonder what Loup is going to offer that he thinks Annie won't be able to pass up, to the point of helping a possibly insane and certainly dangerous god become more powerful. He's talking about the Arrow, and Jeanne, and the Court's cleverness, so something connected with some part of that? Knowledge of another soul trapped by the Court? Details of the Omega Device? (they might be the same thing). Some way to contact her mother? Heal her father (and maybe win his open affection)? Whatever it is, he seems pretty smug that whatever he's got, will get him what he wants...

Loup knows a lot from Coyote and Ysengrin, but he doesn't seem to comprehend it like they did. He thought Annie would find dating him in human form appealing, doesn't get her relationship with her father is more complex then just wanting to avoid it, and probably thinks whatever he is about to offer is a great deal.

He knows Annie like he read her biography, but he doesn't seem to "get" her at all. Both Coyote and Ysengrin understood her as a person.

[eee]

That's it? "I will free you from the psychopomps"? That's his whole pitch? That's lame.

But if Annie's smart, she'll agree. It's clear that the bone, the water, they're tricks. Coyote set something up to happen after he died, and those are the triggers. If she gives them to Loup, something's going to happen. And it may be not what Loup expects, or wants. And it may also free Annie from Muut and his crew forever, in the process.

Annie in mummy wraps is quite appealing. If rather spooky.

[Drascin]

I get the subtle feeling Annie may not be a fan of Loup, guys.

[Giggling Ghast]

This course of action is ill-advised, Annie.

[Mith]

This course of action is ill-advised, Annie.

Definitely. But it is probably really satisfying.

[137beth]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the reaction Loup was hoping to get out of Annie.

[jwhouk]

"We didn't start the fi-yah..."

Oh, wait, maybe it's:

"THIS girl is on FI-YAHHHHH..."

Nah, maybe it's:

"Hunka-hunka-burnin' loooove..."

[Nettlekid]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the reaction Loup was hoping to get out of Annie.

Or if not Loup then Coyote.

[Vinyadan]

"We didn't start the fi-yah..."

Oh, wait, maybe it's:

"THIS girl is on FI-YAHHHHH..."

Nah, maybe it's:

"Hunka-hunka-burnin' loooove..."

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!

[RowenMorland]

Oh wait, is Annie the Seed Bismuth? The union between fire and humanity that allowed civilisation to grow. Well I guess she'd be the latest iteration of it anyway.

[Mith]

Oh wait, is Annie the Seed Bismuth? The union between fire and humanity that allowed civilisation to grow. Well I guess she'd be the latest iteration of it anyway.

Interesting idea.

[Rodin]

Indeed, I am intrigued by that idea.

For today's comic - looks like Annie is calming down and starting to think her way out of this. Fitting if she beats Loup by tapping into the humanity that he doesn't understand.

[Giggling Ghast]

Jesus, Carver. He tried to murder you once. And he killed Coyote.

[Drascin]

Jesus, Carver. He tried to murder you once. And he killed Coyote.

He's still the best father figure she has, though.

This might be pointed out as kind of depressing.

[eee]

This is sweet. I'm not sure Annie knows Ysengrin as well as she thinks, and she may be seeing a bit of what's not there; but still, it's sweet.

Let's see how Loup reacts to that.

[Mith]

Jesus, Carver. He tried to murder you once. And he killed Coyote.

So have other people in her life. Perhaps she has decided to look past that aspect of people.

[Willie the Duck]

Jesus, Carver. He tried to murder you once. And he killed Coyote.

This is sweet. I'm not sure Annie knows Ysengrin as well as she thinks, and she may be seeing a bit of what's not there; but still, it's sweet.

He's still the best father figure she has, though.
This might be pointed out as kind of depressing.

Child with abandonment issues takes on proxy parental figure and overlooks their flaws, up to and including putting them in jeopardy and harming mutual loved ones? Sounds about right. Not like she hasn't done so before (admittedly, the whole comic was a bit lighter in tone and 'taking in guy who tried to murder you and making him your partner in crime' made more sense at the time).

I mean, it is depressing, but so is the comic when you actually break it down. This is another Harry-Potter-esque 'orphan comes to school where their life is constantly in peril and even their friends and mentors are cavalier with their and everyone else's safety' style kids tale.

Anyways, regarding the day's plot: Depending on where this is being taken, it could be a 'sees the good in everyone' thing, or a 'child learns they were wrong about someone' plot. Maybe Ysengrin even has some hidden depths that Loupe doesn't realize. When it comes to 'who knows X better,' I'm not sure who to pick between the hero-worshipping, damaged kid with rose colored glasses and the personification of X's self-loathing, combined with someone who used and abused him. Okay, now I'm really depressed.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

She and Ysengrin did seem to hang out a lot, and she is a medium, so maybe. I can see Ysengrin's rank and perpetually grumpy demeanor preventing anyone else from getting close.

"Love" isn't the word I expected to see though. Friendship, understanding, consideration, sure. Love? That's a whole different ballgame.

Then again this is Annie, so her understanding of it may be a little off.

[Mith]

She and Ysengrin did seem to hang out a lot, and she is a medium, so maybe. I can see Ysengrin's rank and perpetually grumpy demeanor preventing anyone else from getting close.

"Love" isn't the word I expected to see though. Friendship, understanding, consideration, sure. Love? That's a whole different ballgame.

Then again this is Annie, so her understanding of it may be a little off.

It depends on how broadly one defines Love. Can friendship and a mentor student relationship result in love? If it can be reasonably said so for Renard and Annie, then I can see it also being true for Ysgrin and Annie as well.

[PhantomFox]

It depends on how broadly one defines Love. Can friendship and a mentor student relationship result in love? If it can be reasonably said so for Renard and Annie, then I can see it also being true for Ysgrin and Annie as well.

This is why I wish other language's words for love were used more often. I think Greek has 4? Eros for romantic love, Phileo for comradely love, Storge for familial love, and Agape for unconditional love.

[Willie the Duck]

"Love" isn't the word I expected to see though. Friendship, understanding, consideration, sure. Love? That's a whole different ballgame.

Aside from a few jokes like (in stuffed jerk form) Rey once suggesting he wouldn't mind if Annie and Kat made out (this is before Kat revealed she had same-sex attraction, so it was pure joke), or how the canines can smell Parley and Andrew on each other, the comic is pretty chaste. Love is mostly used in relatively close relationship to what Annie is talking about most of the time.

[Lethologica]

Annie's father figures, ranked:
1. Renard
2. Eglamore
3. Ysengrin
4. Muut
5. Literal trash
6. Tony

WMG: Annie's not just disputing the myth of Ysengrin the Fooled, she's adding to Ysengrin's myth. If Loup thinks Ysengrin is doomed to act out his mythical allegory, well, two can play at that game.

[Fawkes]

Annie sure loves her abusers.

"He may be physically abusive, but you just have to get to know the real him on the inside!"

Barf.

[guttering flame]

You're all being too hard on Ys-man. Sure, he once lost his mind and went berserk on her, which we later learn is because Coyote messed with his mind. And he hates the Court and humans in general but he was a good mentor for Annie throughout the story. Unlike her biodad he believed in her and supported her which is something she really needed from an authority figure. You can respect an enemy in a war. Everyone is multifaceted and there are no one dimensional villains in Gunnerkrigg universe.

How similar is Gunnerkrigg Ysengrin to legend Ysengrin? Anyone read the Reynadine stories around here? Also, do you recommend them?

[Mith]

The summary that I've read of Renard the Fox wasn't that Ysgrin (name is different) was an idiot, he was just a straight forward authority figure being defied by the trickster hero Renard. Hell, Ysgrin one up's Renard on a few occasions if I recall correctly.

As far as "Ysgrin is an abuser", aside from his initial introduction as an enemy and his moment of instability, am I forgetting where a moment where Ysgrin was a threat to Annie? Ysgrin is one of the few authority figures in the comic that forces Annie to step up and deal with her problems, followed by Jones. Yes, him taking Annie in to deal with the old forest creatures is seen as a bad form from a civilised perspective, but Annie as her role as the Forest Medium has to be sble to deal with them.

[Willie the Duck]

As far as "Ysgrin is an abuser", aside from his initial introduction as an enemy and his moment of instability, am I forgetting where a moment where Ysgrin was a threat to Annie? Ysgrin is one of the few authority figures in the comic that forces Annie to step up and deal with her problems, followed by Jones. Yes, him taking Annie in to deal with the old forest creatures is seen as a bad form from a civilised perspective, but Annie as her role as the Forest Medium has to be sble to deal with them.

Volatile and dangerous activity performed by Ysengrin (pre-becoming Loupe):

1. Initial meeting-When Antimony slapped Coyote, Ysengrin went mad and tried to attack both her and James Eglamore. Coyote however, stopped the attack and carried him back to the forest.

2. Not very long after, Ysengrin was out fishing, using his wooden arms as a whip. He then stripped to eat the fish but Antimony showed up out of the bushes. Ysengrin became very enraged and nearly threatened Annie for tresspassing and spying. Coyote then showed up and Ysengrin realized Annie had been tricked.

3. After hearing the great secret Coyote wants to share with her, Annie then finds Ysengrin and talks to him about Coyote's theory. Eventually, Ysengrin snaps and acts like an enraged wolf. He then chases Annie through the woods in his blind rage. After Annie has escaped, Ysengrin snaps out of it.

4. When Antimony comes to the Forest after cutting out her negative emotions Ysengrin is unable to comprehend why she would do such a thing, but disapproves when she tells him she was following his suggestion, saying that he had not intended for her to treat the advice so literally. He then destroys her blinker stone, which was keeping her emotions at bay, in order to force her to deal with her problems instead of ignoring them

5. When given Coyote's strength, Ysengrin attacks, kills, and devours Coyote, causing the children to flee. Actions after this are performed by Loupe, but these are done by Ysengrin, simply with additional power.

Sure, she also spends summer with him, rides around on his arm, and generally acts like the best of friends. However, those times of great love and friendship are interspersed with moments of deadly peril, destruction of things precious to her, knee-jerk accusations, and the casual murder of a mutual loved one right in front of her. If that does not fit the definition of abuse, the definition needs rework.

[Lizard Lord]

The first two examples are before their relationship was established. Ys sees the Court as the enemy and Annie was just another member of the Court to him. The third and fifth examples are due to Coyote's manipulations. The fourth example is a good thing and exactly what Annie needed.

[Willie the Duck]

The first two examples are before their relationship was established. Ys sees the Court as the enemy and Annie was just another member of the Court to him. The third and fifth examples are due to Coyote's manipulations. The fourth example is a good thing and exactly what Annie needed.

I don't see how any of that changes anything. They are all still examples of him showing volatile tendencies, being a serious threat to her wellbeing, and traumatizing her. Excuses such as it not being his fault, it being for her own good, or him not being her friend yet don't really change any of that. Remember, we aren't really here to assign blame, just map out danger or trauma.

[Lizard Lord]

Calling him an abuser is assigning blame.

[Ibrinar]

I don't see how any of that changes anything. They are all still examples of him showing volatile tendencies, being a serious threat to her wellbeing, and traumatizing her. Excuses such as it not being his fault, it being for her own good, or him not being her friend yet don't really change any of that. Remember, we aren't really here to assign blame, just map out danger or trauma.

Of course it is about blame. A super powered human hating being close to madness is obviously dangerous. The point of using the abuse label is not that he is dangerous but to connect it with the emotional connotations carried by the term which aren't just that he could be harmful to her but do contain a blame component.