Gunnerkrigg Court

"Just" an ass. He could have been an ass and an evil robot bent on world domination at the same time.

Wait, you're discarding the possibility of him being a robot? With all this emoting he's acting more like a Gunnerkrigg robot than he has since he showed up in class.

But Anthony was already a super emotional person. I see nothing wrong with him showing more emotion.

I was trying to make one of your human jokes, referencing the un-robotic behavior typically displayed by the Gunnerkrigg bots. It seems I require more training.

Ah, I see. Joke. Yes, those are things that exist, aren't they?

Speaking of which: a friend and I were talking about Eglamore beating Anthony within an inch of his life if they met again the other day, and somehow the conversation got to Jones.

The thing we couldn't agree on was: how does Jones choose her words?

I argued that, as an emotionless being who came into existence long before evolution or anyone to communicate with, human languages would not come naturally to Jones and her attempts to explain herself, so even today, she could be choosing her words like someone who is not really fluent in a language does. What I couldn't decide is what drives the decision making process: does she say things because she is expected to, or because they are the closest approximations to what she is thinking/experiencing the humans have come up with?

I don't think those are necessarily distinct options. If one is trying to express oneself through imperfect human language, it is likely to be more effective to say the expected things, which ones human audience is more familiar with and able to more easily understand.

Setting aside that the only one who thinks Jones is emotionless is the lady herself, it's not like she doesn't understand emotions or is without thoughts or even the ability to learn. She has opinions, desires and the ability to think in a way similar to human beings. I don't see why we need to assume her thoughts can't be expressed in language.

edited 31st Jul '15 10:51:15 PM by Arha

Well, no, what I meant was: I wonder how much of what Jones says is truly representative of her, and how much is just her parroting words to go unharassed by humans.

Your human languages are imperfect and confusing. I don't know how you stand them.

A lifetime of practice.

1548

So for Annie he was gone a few years. For the others he was gone for over a decade.

Man, Tom is really good with subtle facial expressions. And I wonder what exactly happened with Eglamore, we never did see how she went from being with him to the guy he hated, who's not a charmer by any means. I suspect a Lily/James/Snape sort of situation.

Man. Seeing Donny's face right next to Tony's like that is weird.

What the hell did Surma see in this guy, anyway? <stumped> I mean, I've met 12-year-olds with better emotional intelligence and savvy. -_-

Well, we do know that Eglamore didn't make enough time for Surma.

edited 3rd Aug '15 1:01:31 AM by MattII

Perhaps he was really good in the sack.

I recall earlier comics where it was clear he did like her and was a bright person. Maybe she found some inner beauty or something?

Man, the suspense is killing me. Wednesday can’t come fast enough. I can’t help to think that the Tony we see is just someone playing a role. He plays the role of the stern and stoic parental figure when he is around Anny, he plays the role of the wise-cracking friend when he is around Donny and he played the role of the loving husband when around Surma.

Also, can someone remind me exactly why Eglamore dislikes Tony again? Does it simply have to do with jealousy over Surma?

I'm presently of the opinion that what we're seeing here is the real, honest Tony, and the fact he puts up such a stonewall face when dealing with Annie is just him trying really hard to be a good parent to her but utterly and completely failing at it.

At any rate, I can sympathize with him a bit more knowing what the hell he's been through, even if that doesn't change that he's kind of awful at parenting.

AFAIK the exact reason hasn't been completely revealed, although her going from Eglamore to Tony had to be galling. Tony's comment sure makes it sound like there was some sort of dustup over her, but without more details that's hard to say for certain.

Agreed...the walls finally seem to be coming down. I just hope that Donald doesn't mess up and reveal the blinker stone or that Annie doesn't interfere with this meeting in some way; that might make Tony clam up for good.

edited 3rd Aug '15 9:14:33 AM by Willbyr

Interesting how he stopped himself from saying "she died" and instead went with "I failed".

Could Tony be projecting some of his feelings of being a failure onto Annie?

Eglamore didn't like Anthony even as kids, though.

@ #22012 Only this time Snape got the girl.