YES SMITTY. YES IT IS.

Whoa Tom. Annie's feet are really small in first panel.

So it's like public school already?

Yeah, that is kinda creepy.

Seed Bismuth turns out to be the seed of rebellion...

I'm still caught on the androgynous buck-toothed lizardfolk from Wales.

Has Annie always had such tiny feet??

Woah.

Wow... there must be a few transgenders at the court. Gender switching like that is bound to cause some gender dysphoria; which is *incredibly* unpleasant.

I like moments like this as they remind you that, despite everything, Annie is still a human with normal human reactions.

Seems perfectly normal to me. Where else would students come from?

I love that Annie seems to go mostly everywhere in her sweatpant-capri-leggings and her all-purpose-blue-shirt. She looks so comfy and relaxed. Do any of these kids take classes anymore? Or have they perhaps set up independent study programs or practica with the school? On the other hand, Gunnerkrigg Court is different enough from other schools I've encountered (especially re. its administration!) that I could believe it that the kids had just stopped bothering to attend their classes and no one had noticed...or that no one had cared so long as they were still doing something productive (Annie is a medium, Kat is building robots, Paz is working with animals, etc).

Mindless children should be kept in vats. Wait - are there any other kind of children?

...So, does this mean society is secretly run by Welsh people? WARREN ELLIS WAS RIGHT.

Are they only mindless or are they soulless and well?

So that's it? No other reaction from the Cardiff lady? Okay.

Putting it that way won't help it.

A simple "yeah, same here" would've sufficed, Annie :P

I blame that lady from Wales

"We were just in a room where they grow mindless children in metal vats.." Oh god, it's highschool all over again!

Stick it to the man tom... Stick it to the man.. Lol

Ooh! She's sassy today.

There is much controversy over test tube children. Smitty, Annie, you two are perfectly sane. You have no reason to be happy about this. ... Annie, there is a reason we have shoes, so wear some!

There is much controversy over test tube children. Smitty, Annie, you two are perfectly sane. You have no reason to be happy about this. ... Annie, there is a reason we have shoes, so wear some!

That's heavy man

Is it bad that I think Annie and Andrew would make a cute couple?

And no answers were found on that day. Honestly, at this point I'm surprised that I'm surprised.

Nonsense. I think it's awesome. So close-minded.

And here I was just marvelling at the astonishing possibilities of the Court's technology... I feel kinda bad now.

Tom Siddell laying the smackdown on public education

You should be MORE than creeped out, a**h**es. You SHOULD be ENRAGED that animals are being turned into different genders against their will for no reason, which YOU just helped with!

Oh no, I hope it's not Smitty x Annie! :( Don't do this to Parley!!

I love how Annie's barefoot this whole time. I also love her toes, they're so cute! Also, your comment would have made me spew out my coffee if I had any. Remember to read it in your best stoner voice.

This chapter conclusion can't happen any faster, though I can't wait to see the new character. Hopefully no love interests come about from that, it would just be weird.

is this the first time she has gone barefoot in the streets of the court?

Is it sad that this is still more tolerable and less creepy than what's going on in real life?

Is it weird that reading this all I could think is that I totally own those same capris?

I've clearly been reading way too much science fiction and fantasy. I wasn't nearly that disturbed. XD Still, I can't blame their reaction.

Society. Or High School. Whichever.

Not to mention the arbitrary sex change.....

It's not so bad for vat-grown children with no minds. They can always hang out on web comic forums and complain about politics.

Personally I'm just bummed that we didn't get to see Zhe/Zhay/Zho's magical incantation ritual.

Yeah, I'd need therapy too.

I had a dream... in which someone had made an ASCII art Boxbot. That is all.

Um... we don't need no thought control?

What if Antimony fell for Smitty? Wouldn't that be something?

Same, buddy. Same.

We have canned butchered animal parts for sale in the supermarkets, also in various other forms. If anything, this is saner than what most of us (societally) mistake for "normal".

Yup. That about sums it up. Mindless children are always creepy, regardless of whether they're grown in metal vats or public schools.

vat children represent

Sounds a lot like high school if you ask me.

They explained about the male students and female students.... but what about the mayonnaise students? Surf Wisely.

Poor Annie must have cold tootsies! I wanna give her some socks.

Tom, you probably get told this all the time, but you're awfully pretty. (Just watched the Kickstarter video.)

well, im from a metal vat

You cant fool me tom!!!

Sometimes, fear is the appropriate response.

@soukip- they're currently on summer break, hence the rather informal dress. I am, however, a little surprised at how clean Annie's feet seem to be, considering everywhere she's been. (See previous end-of-summer chapters for contrast.) Oh, and yeah, under the circumstances, I think a certain amount of "eww" is definitely justified. You're not the weirdo here, Smitty.

I was going to opine that the transition between species would be a much bigger deal than the one between genders, and that they shouldn't get much gender dysphoria due to their new body matching their new neuroanatomy. Then I considered that this is a fictional setting in which mind/body dualism is an observable fact, so the animals may still have some issues. Regardless, they are choosing to do it, so it can't be as bad as some people are saying.

Ripping the souls out of forest animas and shoving them in genetically engineered and artifically aged human bodies: totally okay Changing their sex: OMIGOSH NOUU HOW COULD YOU A couple commenters here have some freakish weird attachment to gender, but really it's a minor issue. Maybe the court's less patriarchal because they have people/creatures who've experienced both sides of the divide, who knows?

Is it me or do smitty and annie seem a little out of proportion?

eeehhhhhh... It's only weird if they weren't going to be filled with souls. Growing vegetable people is creepy.

@Anonymous Funny you should mention that. Andrew's growth has lessened the dominance of his mighty eyebrows and I saw a similarity with a younger Jack. And then there was the awkward silence... The Mediums together. It could make for a story alright. I mean, Parley is becoming a fearsome warrior and all...

Red has an awkward conversation headed her way.

Whenever they walk through the court it always looks deserted.

I think I'd be more concerned for you guys if you weren't unsettled by it.

Tom, I love your artwork. I'm a little annoyed that nearly every day, someone makes some comment on the artwork that's somewhat of a complaint, like "oh this is too small or too strange or too...whatever". It's big of you to let those comments through.

Everyone remember Alistair Kershaw? The boy whose parents passed a test and made him turn into a bird? I have a feeling we're going to see him soon.

Everyone always seems to forget that the kids are totally wiped of all their memory. Then they drone on and on about "bu-bu-bu muh dysphoria"

Everything the court does is super creepy. The whole basis for the school is creepy.

@toxbob gender variant and transgender people have hearts, sexuality and sexes also. Not sure where you got the idea that what is weird to you is unacceptable, or not actually totally everyday to others of us. Welcome to the world, thank god it is populated only of clones of yourself.

nooooooooo I need to know why that person from cardiff was so weird looking!

Annie, you're going to get ringworm walking around like that

Just another brick in the wall!

"I'd share your apprehension, but I spend all my time hanging around with a dog who turns into nothing but teeth and eyes repeating forever."

Man, I hated primary school too.

Proper, "You SHOULD be ENRAGED that animals are being turned into different genders against their will for no reason, which YOU just helped with!" It isn't against their will. They know fully that they will be forced to change sex (their gender presumably remains the same, it is their biological sex that is changing), they CHOOSE to make the change anyway.