Gunnerkrigg Court 4: Friends in Need

[Giggling Ghast]

I think you might be a little confused on the timeline here? She didn't have such feelings yet in Faraway Morning. Her "perfect opportunity to confess" is what later sparked her feelings.

But she was apparently jealous of Annie moving in with Kat, which occured before Faraway Morning when she apparently still had a crush on Matt, the guy who fell hard for the moon lady.

[slayerx]

It also seems strange that Bobby would not simply tell Kat the truth when confronted. "It was not me, Angel, but Miss Paz who has romantic feelings for you." Like, WTF Bobby?

Actually bobby's reaction was understandable given that Kat's comments were not clear. She asked if he wrote the letter, and he did. She was also not really clear that her rejection was directed to him personally. She was talking to Bobby like a normal person, but he's a robot who takes statements too literally and doesn't read between the lines to get at their meaning... its basically word play to mess with the readers heads.

[Bobikus]

But she was apparently jealous of Annie moving in with Kat, which occured before Faraway Morning when she apparently still had a crush on Matt, the guy who fell hard for the moon lady.

She moved in with Annie in the previous chapter.

[stsasser]

This strikes me as an odd character choice, given that Paz was a) apparently interested in boys a short while ago, and b) had a perfect opportunity to confess such feelings during Faraway Morning (which occured after "From the Forest She Came"), and c) eventually went about confessing her feelings in a very odd, roundabout way involving robotic love letter-writing surrogates. Unless that's the sort of thing that makes perfect sense to young girls?

It also seems strange that Bobby would not simply tell Kat the truth when confronted. "It was not me, Angel, but Miss Paz who has romantic feelings for you." Like, WTF Bobby?

I suppose I should be the last person to criticize another writer's characterization, but this feels off to me. I can't help but wonder if there's another shoe going to drop here, like Paz ripping off her face to reveal she's actually a Doombot.

C'mon, give Paz a chance.

[banthesun]

But she was apparently jealous of Annie moving in with Kat, which occured before Faraway Morning when she apparently still had a crush on Matt, the guy who fell hard for the moon lady.

Actually, Annie moved in with Kat here, in Changes. Note the foreshadowing in panel 6.

[Giggling Ghast]

Oh, well, fair enough. I guess I was mistaken.

[Mono Vertigo]

Maybe Pae was interested in boys, but bisexuals exist, you know. *shrugs*

[The Rose Dragon]

Even if Paz is not bisexual, it is possible for someone who is gay to "act" attracted to someone of a different sex, especially during early puberty, because that's what society raises people to think is "the right way". Sure, some people just know from an early age, but a lot of others date people not of their own sex before coming to a realization.

((And then there is the Kinsey scale and the Klein Grid, which suggest that an overwhelming majority of people are really bisexuals-in-denial to some degree, but that's neither here nor there.))

[John Campbell]

Paz. You broke Kat.

[eee]

Kat's being articulate here. "You... but... I... huh?", and being paralyzed with shock.

Come to think of it, that IS pretty expressive...

[The Rose Dragon]

Actually, I had this weird mental image of a penny dropping veeeery slowly in Kat's head as Paz says "I know you and Annie are just friends!", and her going "...but I want to be more than that".

I would prefer Hyland and Antimony to end up together, but I can't bring myself to care that much about Antimony's romantic life, so...

[Silfir]

Kat's being articulate here. "You... but... I... huh?", and being paralyzed with shock.

Come to think of it, that IS pretty expressive...

She actually goes "You... but... I... huh!" with an exclamation mark, not a question mark. "Huh!" sounds a little like "Would you look at that!" - less helpless confusion, more earnest surprise. Maybe she's reviewing a couple of memories in her head at this moment that now take on different meaning. Has Paz acted strange before? Did something about the letter seem off to her after the fact? The evidence linking it to a robot was pretty strong (I'm guessing she suspected it the moment she saw the paper it was printed on) so she might never have truly entertained the possibility it was from an actual human while she read it.

Anyway, I think Kat basically gets it now, or at least is pretty close to getting it. She said "Huh!", not "Huh?", after all. She is still pretty paralyzed - her hand still stuck in the same position it was for the rest of the page in the very last panel, and Paz has been rambling for a while. So, I don't know. "Huh!" could serve the same purpose a "Huh?" would have served, or not.

We'll know when the blasted thing updates

[Giggling Ghast]

Maybe Paz was interested in boys, but bisexuals exist, you know. *shrugs*

Well, I guess Gunnerkrigg Court has a lot of mythical creatures in it. That was a joke.

[Marnath]

Kat's being articulate here. "You... but... I... huh?", and being paralyzed with shock.

Come to think of it, that IS pretty expressive...

Response program loading, please wait.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Well, I guess Gunnerkrigg Court has a lot of mythical creatures in it. That was a joke.

You know, I thought I had achieved near-immunity to TVTropes. It's been months since the last time I lost a couple of hours in that infernal place.

Boy was I wrong.

[Jordan Cat]

I like how this is playing out :) Cant wait for Monday to see how Kat reacts while sane.

[Cavelcade]

I am so happy about this development. I wish there was a smilie for this.

[Mono Vertigo]

Gotta say, didn't expect that at all. (Then again, this is Gunnerkrigg Court, when have things ever gone as expected? )
Let's see where this is going.

[Manticorkscrew]

All I can say is D'aww! D'AWW!

[Mionelle]

So cute, adorable, can't wait for the next updates. :3 Tom, don't change it, pls!

[The Rose Dragon]

The squeeing of the shippers. It burns our ears.

[eee]

Awwwwww.

So has Kat decided which way the gate swings, or if it swings both ways, or is she still experimenting?

[Jordan Cat]

Aw :) This strip was just so cute.

[Fjolnir]

Awwwwww.

So has Kat decided which way the gate swings, or if it swings both ways, or is she still experimenting?

I would say she still hasn't decided but is willing to indulge in the idea, because the worst that can happen is they have a bad time and break it off.

[TuggyNE]

The squeeing of the shippers. It burns our ears.

Yeah. I forgot and came back to check on the thread from my subscriptions panel, only to wince again.

[Marnath]

The shippers aren't nearly as annoying as the people who adamantly deny that Kat could possibly be gay even in the face of agreeing to a date with a girl. "Oh, she must just have agreed because she doesn't want to hurt Paz! Oh I disagree with you Marnath, that big list of examples of times when Kat has reacted to implications that she might be into girls clearly shows her behaving as any good normal hetero girl would to stick up for her friend!"

Blah.

Reposting my list of references here since it was so much work.

Spoiler

Show

http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=111
http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=618 (bottom row)
http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=957
http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1031
http://gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1050

1)Rey suggests that the girls should kiss and Kat blushes.
2)Jack suggests that Annie and Kat are a couple, Kat gets defensive.
3)Rey suggests that Kat thinks Parley is nice to look at, Kat gets embarrassed.
4)Zimmy says she's heard "things" about Kat. Things which would make her dress different, act different. Things we can assume Zimmy probably knows about since her girlfriend is standing right there.
5)The hairband of +5 straightness is taken from Kat by a known same-sex couple with the advice that you can't always run away from what scares you.

The implications seem clear.

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?)

[The Rose Dragon]

The first two I don't think are really valid examples. The other three, on the other hand, specifically address the issue.

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

[Fjolnir]

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

[fwiffo]

OK, there are parts of fandom which are good deal more annoying than shippers. This was a good demonstration of that, albeit very much not in the way intended.

[eee]

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

Probably not. Keep in mind all the differences in dynamics and personalities. Jeanne was in love with Mr. Green Elf (someday - I predict SOMEDAY - we are going to learn his name!), not Diego. Who was obsessed with her. All of which led to tragedy. None of that is in place with Kat and Paz. It's not even like Zimmy and Gamma, bound together by need as much as affection. It's more like Donald and Anja. Two different personalities drawn together because they enjoy each other's company. We'll have to see how they work out.