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Bulgakov

Yes, that Russian author.
(He/Him)
I love that Cvet is the obvious public gossip, but Jones is really doing the deep gossip dive.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
So, how much longer until Paz and Kat break up? I guess we will get a chapter about their relationship problems soon enough. Or have some stuff happen in the background - seems more in line with the comic, than actually seeing a big, dramatic fight.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Alternatively it will be a big dramatic fight where Paz brings her horticultural skills to the test to fight giant Mecha Bug Kat and her cyber-legions.

It wouldn’t be super on brand for the comic, but these are the sacrifices we must make sometimes
 
Here's the moment I was expecting this chapter, where it's revealed that all the characters hating Tony are the voice of the Dumb Audience, and now we get a character who gets to be the voice of the Wise Author to tell us that Tony's abuse is Good, Actually.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
That's certainly one way to read it. I don't know why you would privilege the opinion of the one character who has never actually met Tony over the entire rest of the cast, though.
 
Sometimes people who are too close to a situation and the players involved can't really look at things objectively or make rational evaluations of things when their own emotions and perspectives get in the way. And it helps to have a disinterested third party take a look and evaluate things without biases. I think that's pretty clearly the intent here.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
Here's the moment I was expecting this chapter, where it's revealed that all the characters hating Tony are the voice of the Dumb Audience, and now we get a character who gets to be the voice of the Wise Author to tell us that Tony's abuse is Good, Actually.
I think that's an overstatement of what's happening here. We have an outsider who isn't wrapped up in all this and has a different perspective, yes, but Annie HAS been spoiled and acted out, cheated, etc. It's been a major running plot point. Pointing it out isn't saying Tony's any good. The series has been pretty consistent about showing why Tony did what he did without giving him a pass for having done it, and since this is a mid-chapter page I'm not going to assume it's moving off from that. The series may head toward forgiveness or reconciliation, but that doesn't mean it will do so without accompanying amends either. (And a running theme of the entire series is that no one is right about everything, or always maximally nice and kind. Lots of emotional messes and complicated people running around Gunnerkrigg Court.)
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I also can't imagine that the comic wants to say that it's necessarily bad, to have your kids live away from their parents, or this weird notion "So they get influences from everything but their parents?" It's just something that wood lady thinks, one of the many perspectives of the comic.

I also trust Tom too much to just assume he would use a character to talk down to his audience that way.

Just this sentence "Is it bad, if he's gone or bad if he's here?" reduces the problem, and shows that wood lady doesn't know how complex the situation acutally is. It's just not as simple as that. He shouldn't have gone in the first place, leaving Annie alone, and yes, it's better that he is there, but not as the jerk that he is.
 

gogglebob

The Goggles Do Nothing
(he/him)
I feel like the forest folk have consistently been used across GC to not necessarily offer the "right" interpretation, but at least one that is outside the usual perspective. See also Red and her chastising of Annie and how she risked her friends' lives during Operation: Ghost Lady. Nothing Red said was technically wrong, and it was a new way of looking at the situation, but the majority of the "endangered" participants did not see the scenario like Red, either.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I'm probably repeating myself, but man, I like Kats parents so, so much. And Kat too. What a great family.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
A funny thing about this comic's long run is that I've reached roughly the adults' ages since starting it (not Jones, obvs).
 

gogglebob

The Goggles Do Nothing
(he/him)
Looks like.

See? Now this is the author telling you you've been a jerk for assuming the worst about a character.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Galaxy brain prediction: Annie was always two people. Loup separated her, allowing Tony to connect with her on a level he never could. Now, she's two people again, and Tony is back to being unable to talk to her.
 
Looks like.

See? Now this is the author telling you you've been a jerk for assuming the worst about a character.
I dunno even that though. It's showing the reason Tony did some things, but there's still a billion ways he could have made the situation better. He knew he had a problem relating to people, he knew that it was likely damaging his daughter, and he still didn't talk to any of the people who basically raised her who he can talk to and say "hey, I need you to talk to Annie about something"
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
Men will literally alienate their daughters and disappear to research omega devices and lose their arms instead of going to therapy
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
I admit that's not quite the explanation I was expecting, but it does track with everything we've seen from him so far.

Question now is if he'll ever seek help to improve himself or if he'll just keep shutting people out damn the consequences.
 

BEAT

LOUDSKULL
(DUDE/BRO)
Like yes, he very obviously has BRAIN PROBLEMS, but he's completely aware of his brain problems, doing absolutely nothing to cope with them despite having full knowledge of the obvious harm they're doing to his own child.

He's not a coward because he has severe anxiety. He's a coward because he'd rather wallow in a pit of his own misery than make the effort.
 

BEAT

LOUDSKULL
(DUDE/BRO)
Also he's probably helping an evil organization build a death ray to blow up the moon or whatever the fuck the omega device is that too.
 

SpoonyBard

Threat Rhyme
(He/Him)
Ok now this? This is brushing too close to 'poor me' territory and I hope someone can knock some sense into Tony soon.

Like, I can sympathize with some of this, but he clearly has never sought help for his difficulty connecting. I wouldn't be surprised if Surma was his crutch. But he's a father and it's on him to get his crap in order for Annie's sake. Hopefully this chapter ends with him taking steps to break down his 'mind cage' instead of just wallowing in it.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
I suspect that's where it's going.

I do not often find that any given page is the final word on anything in GC.
 
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