This is some clear spiraling behavior here.

Why is she so blind to the obvious. He's trying to protect her from the Court-and of course they are always under scrutiny. That's why he shuns her presence, and avoids all signs of affection. Of course he loves her too. And probably he's a rebel by heart as well.

Uh-oh, here it comes. Why indeed? There's a necessary blind spot there when trying to comprehend your own parents as individual human beings. It turns out you can't, because you're them. And, as Mr. Donlan pointed out, your own individual self too, but truth be told, you're them. And that can be a very interesting thing to deal with if you try to judge them.

hey there's momma kat wanna shed some light?

the coolest

Awesome, time to peel back some layers and get to some true feelings. PS. To those constantly complaining about the direction the story and characters are taking, and you know who you are, consider the following: maybe Gunnerkrigg Court isn't for you. And if it isn't, maybe stop reading, without telling everyone that you're going to stop, because nobody cares. pizza

Poor girl. It all almost makes sence. Just a few more wild panic attacks and all the pieces will fit together. Good luck Kat.

isn't this a little out of character? did she just forget the conversation between Donald and Anthony entirely? i figured she might feel a little relieved that he was no longer just stuck in the same rut....

Alright, now I feel really bad for Annie. Also, what is wrong with Kat? Isn't she supposed to be a strong-minded and loyal friend? I don't understand this comic anymore.

The opposite of cool beans, Annie

Oh, poor Annie. Someone give this girl a hug. And Mr. and Mrs. Donlan? I think now would be a time to either talk to Annie about her parents or get Tony to get his head out from wherever it is and talk to his daughter.

Tony is a cool guy but a terrible father.

A lot of the commenters seem to be concerned about Annie, but this strikes me as pretty normal behavior for her. If nothing else, at least she's not blaming herself, suppressing her emotions, or setting anything on fire!

Who seduced who? Was it the semi autistic guy who didn't know what to do with himself when he learned the Valkyrie Brunhilda had a crush on him or the charming gal who tricked a trickster and used Reynard's feelings to lure him into the Court? For what it's worth Rey and James still have deep feelings for Surma while Brynnie hasn't been seen or mentioned since Tony rejected her.

Okay, I guess if someone is being manipulated here, it's Annie. She's making less and less sense with each and every sentence.

That is a fantastic question. But not exactly relevant. Let's not forget that Annie is racing down this rabbit hole because she'd rather believe Tony is using sinister techniques over the more simple explanation that Kat is just a shitty friend.

She's right, Surma did not seem like the girl who would marry the "I have matters to attend to"-Guy over Eglamore.

I'm really hoping that Tony isn't gaslighting her... but I think he may be.

Y'know, maybe Surma's the real charming snake here. Everyone remembers her as lovely and wonderful yet she seduced Rey to get him closer to the Court (probably ordered to but she still did it, and convincingly), dumped James while he was away, and - best intentions for Annie aside - robbed her loved ones of the chance to say goodbye before she died... FOR TEN YEARS! There's also the fact that one of the meanings of her name is "poison" and for whatever reason she failed to tell Annie the truth about herself - kind of important when Annie becomes an adult.

Everyone has freaked out at the thought of their parents bumping uglies at one stage or another...

You know, as much as I hate Tony, I think it's just karma that his cold, abusive behavior has finally made his daughter think the only way her mother could love him was through some manipulation. While I personally think there has to be SOME redeeming quality of the man Surma must have seen in him we haven't seen on-screen, it clearly wasn't enough to keep everyone else around him from thinking the man was a total tool.

By the sound of it, her beans are cookin'.

I don't think that we've ever before had such a clear impression given us as to just how totally and utterly screwed up Annie is. She's a total emotional mess; ripe for exploitation and manipulation (as Coyote, the Psychopomps and the Court have all been gleefully and unapologetically doing).

Is Annie aware of the past or is she just confused? This is becoming very dramatic.

Annie, what the fuck.

Ah, she is a teenager after all. High Weirdness does not protect from growing up.

Camera angle's changing... Annie's going crazy... Mrs Donlan HEEEEEEEEEELP.

is that a shirt or a saucepan?

i'm hangin out for a story from anja~ come on anja! tell us how it went down!

Way to go, Kat. You made your best friend doubt your mother's affections for your father.

You're losing your cool, Beans.

Thankfully Anja's here for some deeply needed answers.

It was Surma who manipulated Anthony. Calling it now. She wanted a child and Carver was the only one of her suitors willing to go along, in his Hybris thinking he could prevent death. We know from Renard she was not above manipulating the feelings of others.

it turns out people are stupid and broken as hell and then they have kids

The beans have to be at least luke-warm by now, come on.

Anyone see any facial resemblance between Annie and our JimmyJims? Surma and he did seem to be.. involved.. 'til whatever flawed reasoning saw her in Tony's arms. Love and rakish charm sacrificed for perceived stability?

Oh Annie... :( Anja, I hope you can set the record straight!

Gross. Here's the 'let's sympathize with Tony's hidden humanity' chapter. Wow I hate when children are expected to parent their parents.

When you fail at parenting so hard, your kid thinks you voodoo-ed her mom into marrying you.

D'awww!

And Sedna's arm in the latest (and last sadly) of Alice Grove has a certain familiarity. Perhaps a tip of the hat, subconscious or no, to GC and dear Ysengrin's arm-growing handiwork?

This is getting dark and I feel like crying.

just put on your tungsten foil hat Annie

Because he is introvert, and they did love each other very much but you tend to get really negative when you lose someone/thing you care about to something out of your hands. He left her at the court because he knew she would be safe while he figured out how, if, he could find a cure to the matter - which would end up hurting her as well in the end. Forgetting that he could get hurt as well, or manipulated with by other forces. But nooo, he is just a bad father to some I guess.

This is a very strange arc.

Hahaha, masturbatory side comics aren't going to convince anyone to give you extra money for this boring story.

I no longer have any idea what is going on in this comic. :S

I wonder when we'll see Zimmy again.

Yikes

She really is serious

So is this the first time she's really let herself question her father's behavior and motives?

Umm, Kat. You are not addressing the central issue here. If you can't reassure Annie that YOU have a reason to like her father, she won't believe ANYONE could.

Tom, could you release two weeks worth of pages in one day, just so we can all stop having to wait to see where this conversation is going to go? Thanks.

Being a medium, Annie can hopefully straighten out the matter.

Annie's emotional turmoil is reaching critical mass.

Annie seems to have some daddy issues.

For someone wearing a "cool beans" shirt, Annie's beans are anything but cool right now.

Remember: it's only paranoia if it isn't true.

Dark, Frank. Very dark.

Why would anyone want to marry a beautiful redhead ? Oh, gee, I dunno...

I mean, I can see how the story is trying to spin this as "Annie's so crazy, amirite?" but... does anyone else feel like this is totally justified? The man's a sociopath and abused his daughter and, last Annie knew, Kat hated him. And now Kat's buddies with him and offers no explanation. Like, Kat's not stupid, right? She knows how this 180 change in character would affect her friend? It just feels like the last couple chapters should have just been called Gaslighting Annie.

If I facepalm any harder about how Annie is acting my nose is gonna break.

It's nice to see a good old fashioned irrational freak out every once and a while. I'm just waiting for something to catch on fire.

She has been clear about it? I don't recall it ever actually being discussed.

'Cuz she wanted to have a baby, Annie!