Gunnerkrigg Court

Sneaky stuff.

1912

Good idea.

1913

Even better idea

Ruh roh.

yay!

KATURDAY IS KANCELLED.

This won't be good. He's so happy and emotional, then Annie is there, and in a instant.

Well that was an easy call...

I guess Kat specifically invited them both so they could spend more time together?

And next, Kat will realize something important came up for her specifically and she has to leave now, but maybe Annie and Tony can handle this experiment without her?

If she'd stay she could act as a mediator between them.

At this point, all of the Donlans have tried in their own way to get Annie to accept Tony's dickish tendencies.

Mr Donlan (I keep forgetting his first name) allowed Annie to eavesdrop on a conversation with Tony. Anja recounted the story of how Tony met Surma. And now Kat is seemingly trying to contrive a way for both of them to spend time together.

Do none of them realize how....nasty this looks from the outside? That they have to convince her that her father isn't a monster?

I keep getting the feeling that there is much more to Tony than "Beep-boop, I'm Tony-bot and only my true friends get to see the real me."

If that were the whole story, any sane friend would be trying to convince the guy to get commited to an institution and get help, considering how damaging he is to his own child. But the Donlans seem to be convinced that Tony and Annie can have a normal relationship, if only Annie understood him better. Maybe they know something they aren't talking about.

edited 22nd Nov '17 10:16:36 AM by GutstheBerserker

Someone should. Their goal is noble. And Donlans are not exactly strangers to both of them. Their methods probably need some work.

EDIT: They are not completely in the wrong, though: Annie's attitude of "My father brainwashed my mother into sleeping with him" is not a healthy and realistic way of looking at things.

edited 22nd Nov '17 10:34:06 AM by Millership

I think it's here where Kat is trying to get Annie to actually find out why her dad is so different around her. What is his reasoning, get a answer to that at last.

Well obviously she's wrong about that, but the problem here is that a child is telling adults "I don't understand how someone could genuinely love my father" and the response is "He's actually a pretty cool guy if you really get to know him" rather than "whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck. We need to get him away from you immediately".

...Because having her away from him for the past couple years clearly didn't help at all?

I would honestly think the exact opposite of "whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck. We need to get him away from you immediately" would be a more natural reaction. The Annie's experiences with her father are such that she legitimately can't see what's so good about him when everyone around her does seem to. Wouldn't it track, then, that trying to get them closer to one another becomes a more realistic reaction?

No. nononononononono

Abusers ALWAYS put on a smiley mask for outsiders, and then their real face to the abused.

This is a VERY unique case in that Annie legitimately DOESN'T know her father as well as her friends do.

Speaking from experience (My parents weren't abusive, but they were very controlling and somewhat manipulative, as per the stereotype) the outsider never witnesses the action. They are forced to hide in the presence of witnesses, and if they are skilled they don't leave paper trails either. This is why so many abusers try to isolate their targets and alienate their friends: fewer witnesses. More time out of the abuse-closet.

edited 22nd Nov '17 4:12:15 PM by blkwhtrbbt

In the case of Tony, specifically then. Though to be honest I hadn't been considering it from an Abusive Parents angle, just from the fact that Annie thought so little of her father she honestly assumed he only got his wife via mind control.

The only really abusive moment was the makeup bit, which even Tony admitted as a dick move.

Adding to the fact that Tony hates himself with a firey passion and doesn't even view himself as a proper living parent anymore.

To be fair, I think Tony was at least an emotionally distant, neglectful parent, in that he clearly carried his parental duties that require actions of an adult, like, he's returned to the Court only so Annie could continue her education, he stood up to the Coyote when he felt his influence is endangering her, but the part where he must comfort his daughter when she's sad/scared, I don't know, read her bedtime stories when she was just a kid? That's Surma's job. And she's dead.

They're very similar in certain ways. Like, I think both Annie and Tony ending up blaming themselves for Surma's death, Annie only later understanding why Surma died and assuming that Tony blamed her, Tony blaming himself from the start and believing that he didn't deserve forgiveness and that Annie would be better off without him.

That's my take on it, for the moment, at least. I guess we're about to find out.

To me, it really only started looking alarming when Tony put her in isolation. That scared the crap out of me.

Yeah, what was up with that?

I got the impression it was to keep her fire elemental half under control/from hurting anyone, but I admit I don't follow the plot as closely as I might.

Probably court mandated. Keep her away from meddlesome friends.