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Reunion Page 17: Trust

Reunion Page 17: Trust published on 120 Comments on Reunion Page 17: Trust

So sorry for the wait, everyone! I went to bed last night blissfully unaware that I totally forgot to update the comic! Wow! Good job!

Here it is! And no, Anthony’s mom probably won’t go into more detail about why Anthony’s dad left. It wasn’t for any supernatural reason, it just went the way of many relationships and didn’t work out.

120 Comments

It would be a gracious gift to show a sketch of the Noirs awkwardly watching all these flashbacks and reactions going on.

As for Tony, sighs… He is deep in the depressing hole. Super hard to get out of the depressing hole. Hopefully his mother can help.

Anthony’s mother will want to try to help.
Problem is, after learning of the thorough going extent of her lies, Anthony will not trust her.

Is it a lie when you just don’t tell someone something?
Or an omission?

Anthony is freaking out at the moment, but his mum has a point.
If there was no reason to believe something like this could have happened, and plenty of reason to believe Anthony would freak out if informed… Would it have been better to tell him, or keep silent on the subject?

I see this as a “no win” situation either way for Ophelia.

-Badger-

I think there would have been actually very little chance Tony would have freaked out if he knew this from the get go rather than later. If he did, at that age he probably would have freaked out about being told he was human and not a rainbow farting unicorn too.

By the time people become teenagers, they are typically set on believing that what they know is right, and learning that it’s not is an earth shatteringly significant lie.

Children on the other hand, are typically far more open minded, because unlike a teenager, their mind is a blank book that is still in the process of being filled with knowledge. They are more likely to accept what they are told because they don’t have a solid knowledge base telling them that it’s wrong.

If Anthony had grown up knowing his Mom was a harpy, he would have at the time accepted it, perhaps later became disbelieving of the idea, but regardless this whole deal would have at least been less shocking if he had some hint about it growing up.

If he had grown up knowing his Mom was a harpy? But… a child might blurt that out to other children or adults, who would — if he insisted on it — then call him or his mother insane. And she has only a photo as proof, which would be pretty easily dismissed as trickery, even in the 80’s. So, likely much, much easier and less impact on their lives to simply never mention it.

There is that however if he had known about it and the magical world and been taken to the avalon, then it would have been considered normal to him, heck if madam u had tried the medalion earlier then this might have happened in this way, but in a better more accepting light when tony was but a youngster.

Do you instinctively believe every absurd thing a child says? He blurts it out, all anyone is going to think is that he has an active imagination. It wouldn’t even strike a person to take such a claim from a child seriously.

That is correct. Any younger child who blurts stuff like that out, would just be accredited with an over active imagination. Unless he was brought up to keem quiet.

Or publicly accused of being a liar, despite being truthful, Turboshed. Something I have been told I caused to myself decades ago, when I was in kindergarten.

You know what Jeniskunk that story sounds very failure as well. I too had the problem where I was accused of things I had not done and got punished for such, while the perpetrator got away with it. Always getting called a liar, admittedly it was nothing like “my mum’s a harpy and one day I’m gonna be this awesome great freaking bird monster” But in all honesty, that is something I really would not mind at all.

o_O In my opinion someone who made such a big deal about a child’s imagination in public, would be humiliating themselves more than they would the kid.

Another thing though is, it isn’t exactly a Tony exclusive thing. It would apply to any mythical child born in human form. It’s possible for any of them to spit it out. If children really posed any threat to the whole secrecy deal, they would have already blown it.

Tony, Tony, calm down sweetie. :C I wish he could understand that his mum just wanted the best life for him, harpy or human.

Still cannot really blame him for this reaction.

So, if someone, i.e. Tim, re-transformed him “back” into a “human”, would it fix anything? Or just make things worse

I thought Tim already mentioned it was beyond his capability?

Tim did mention this, but he said he would also look into it once the tunnel was completed.

And we have no idea just what the current status of the tunnel is, nor just exactly how much time has elapsed since Exchanges.

Remember, we discussed the timeline a while back. It’s been two or three weeks, four tops, from early August to late August. That’s arguably too short a time for him to have accepted such a drastic change of his situation. If anything, he’s probably been stewing on it and building up a head of steam that needs to be vented.

Tony is in that spot where he has every right to be pissed off. And most likely it would do him good to vent it, get it out in the open for everyone to think about. Then let some cooler attitudes prevail and move on in a pragmatic sort of way.

And Tonys mourning the loss of his old life, It is much to take in and deal with. And so far it seems like there is been very little put forward to him for him to make a new life.

I sympathize with Tony here, I really do. This is a lot to take in, even if he has gotten over the shock and trauma from his metamorphosis (which he probably hasn’t.) I think had his mom been more honest with him this might have been easier on everyone. But…

Honestly, while his behavior is justifiable, its not endearing. I feel like he’s looking for ways to stay miserable now. The conclusion he is drawing here, while again, logical, is basically the worst possible realization anyone could take away from this, and one that is likely to only alienate him from his friends and family more.

I just hope he can calm down and try to be more rational.

Wow! I guess it could have gone worse. Tony’s still stuck in his world of self-pity. Not really considering that his mother trusted, and still does, that she is totally human and not a harpy encased in a magical shell. Of course, if you consider Tim’s explanation of what the old medallion can do, I wonder if her shell has weakened enough over time to be broken also.

Oh dear, there Tony goes, off like a bottle of pop (exploding). Understandable given that he’s now aware every he cared about has more or less lied to him all his life. However, how could Tony have been told earlier in life without believing it and besides, i think Ophelia without prior knowledge that this might happen, made the right choice in not telling him in the first place, since she believed this would never happen.

Well, tony’s mom, you should try one of those medallion thingamagicks. It is said they dispell other minor magics, and you would have something to share with your son… Whether he likes it or not, it may be better in the long run to just forge a life around his true nature.

Well, that or find a sorcerer powerful enough to recast the original spell. Now that I think about it, that’s also feasible, and since Tony has (or has had) an actual life outside the avalon, it would be more fair.

That’s great, Anthony. I’m sure your mother is thrilled to hear the form she and her entire family were born with referred to as MONSTERS.

To be fair though Vixy, Tony is still a 16 year old lad, trying to deal with somethng that is far outside his depth and comfort zone. Then to top it all off, he’s been lied to all his life, by his mum and his best mate.

Actually, growing wings, claws, and a tail is probably far outside almost everybody’s depth and comfort zone.

Really? I’d actually be up for that. Especially if it came with flight. I mean, freaking FLIGHT.

I feel like there needs to be some awareness campaign spread across the Avalons: Even if you are enchanted to be “human,” your offspring are not!

I know that this type of thing is rare enough that it probably doesn’t happen often, but considering we have Tony and Ike, I would think it might merit some education.

Remember though that this shouldn’t have happened normally. Tony is a guy. Harpies aren’t guys, usually. If Ophelia had had a daughter then yes, that sort of information might have been of some merit.

What if Tony somehow isn’t a guy?

Are you saying that the magic was also hiding a second X chromosome?

Or rather, that the magic was fabricating a Y chromosome :C

(Lacking a Y chromosome makes you female, not having two Xs)

Fun fact: birds have a different set of sex chromosomes to mammals, and basically the whole thing works differently. Females have ZW chromosomes while males have ZZ chromosomes, so perhaps it’s possible that the magic screwed with his biology enough to confuse his genes into allowing him to be male AND harpy?

Good point. “No way something like this could have happened” is true on even the magical level.

Not necessarily. It isn’t a known, proven fact, but it is actually a matter of common speculation (as it has been shown) that many fantastic creature species exist due to the mingling of older species with humans, or due to the use of human transformation spells or abilities. The fact that nobody bothers to carefully and methodically study the cases where this kind of things happen, or raise awareness of how wild and unpredictable things can become when humans and transmutations are involved is actually kind of baffling…

Although it could also be the case that some larger avalons somewhere (or other larger non-avalon communities) did do their research, and they just didn’t share their discoveries that much.

Poor, poor poofy burd Tony. I bet he’s more angry/distressed at the current situation itself than at anyone in particular, really, but that’s hard to verbalize without someone saying “well, whatcha gonna do about it?” nonchalantly and telling you to just get over it. :c

It’s gotta smart, finding out how great your closest friends and family are at hiding world-shattering secrets from you. Even if Ophelia’s decision was sensible, I’d be feeling pretty freaked out in his shoes…

He’s so floofy that he reminds me of my old budgie. She used to fluff up so hard that everyone expected her to explode. I love how animated his feathers are, though. Even if I do feel sorry for him, being thrown in at the deep end and expected to cope.

I think the first mistake here was expecting “magic” and “logic” to at all get along like good friends.

What about magical logic? Harpies are >99.99% female; the <.01% is Tony exclusively. It was next to impossible for him to turn even in the magical world. Just because something is magical, doesn't mean it's illogical.

You know what they say.Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from science.

I don’t think anyone says that ever. Though the statement does hold up in the skin deep universe, except medallions and bugbears (not the radar the other creepy stuff).

It really depends on the setting. In some settings, magic does follow internally consistent rules, and, if well-enough understood, can function much like science. Yes, the original Clarke’s Law is science as magic, but I’ve seen the inverse used too.

Actually, Tony, I think knowing that such a transformation could be a possibility in his future would greatly decrease the trauma of it all. I know it would keep ME on the sane side of the street if/when it did happen if I had known it COULD happen.

Thing is, it was still assumed that it wouldn’t happen at all, I guess she never suspected that Tony might get sucked into all this in the first place. i still think Ophelia knew Adelle and Blanche where what they are though.

I agree. Blanche’s human disguise is far to the pale end of the spectrum /for albinos/. Usually at least the irises have some slight color to them. It’s not likely that someone who knows that there is always a chance that the person in front of them might not actually be human is going to meet him and not at least strongly consider the possibility.

Both yourself and mage_cat missed the obvious.
The OBVIOUS is hanging around Blanche’s neck.
His Medallion.
Don’t forget, Ophelia grew up in an Avalon, so she would know what a Medallion is, and what the various species ones look like.
With his friendship with Anthony, Blanche without saying a word, outed himself to Ophelia.

I didn’t forget it entirely, but a piece of jewelry like that, even a habitual one, is something that’s easy for a person not to notice unless they’re looking for it. While Blanche’s current style includes a lot of accessories and so naturally puts his medallion on pretty obvious display, when he was ten or eleven he may, say, have kept in tucked under his shirt a lot just because he just didn’t think to pull it out when he got dressed. I’m just saying that Blanche’s albinism is something that might have gotten Ophelia looking for other clues that Blanche wasn’t human, like the medallion.

Exchanges, Handshakes, page 4.
Blanche points out Rhonda’s Medallion to Django.

This… This is the making of a super-villain/super-hero. He has been raised in a rather sheltered life, and then suddenly thrown into a situation where he comes out loosing on every visible end. He’s angry, and poised to make drastic decisions without thinking.

At this point I’m sure he’s cursing the mystical world he’s unwittingly been thrown into. It doesn’t seem unlikely for him to try and get back at the forces that caused this. Even if it just entails him figuring out how to turn human then becoming like that other comic book character who suddenly lost what he loved and trusted the most, vowing to fight against the forces that took it away. He isn’t thinking too clearly, and rightly so. He feels betrayed, angry, sad, and in pain. He’s snapped and ready to attack.

Even though I doubt Kory would let Tony turn into a Batman like character, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to get revenge in some way. Grudges are hard to get rid of, and Tony has a big one building up inside.

The way you phrased that first paragraph really makes me think of the webfiction Worm. To be honest, I’m hoping Kory doesn’t go this kind of route with Anthony. Most of the characters in this story have been pretty good about not falling into obvious archetypes.

Hopefully Tony will realize how unreasonable and douchy he is being sooner rather than later (even if it’s totally understandable given emotions not being very logical and he is very deep in the depressed hole. Lashing at at friends AND mom. Sheesh.

Yeah, I don’t think he’s being “unreasonable and douchey” at all. I know I’ve made this argument multiple times already since this storyline started, but the fact that Tony is not a gibbering, insane wreck is nothing short of a miracle. What has happened to him is so far beyond normal that it can’t really even be quantified. He blames Blanche because had he not brought him into this world, this probably would not have happened. Unless some way can be found to reverse the transformation, his old life, his old friends, any plans he might have had are absolutely *over*. He is stuck in a town where he knows almost no one in a body he’s radically unfamiliar with, and he just found out that, from his perspective, his mother has been lying to him his entire life.

I don’t think “unreasonable and douchey” really applies at all, honestly.

i really do feel bad for tony, but i have a feeling if this happened to me i would actually be sorta excited. after all i would be able to FLY, and i would get to hang out with mythical beasts, although drawing would be hard for a little while… i do get where tony’s coming from, but, well, i’m strange.

so, all he has to do is go to greece and find an uncharted magically hidden island? sounds like a QUEST!

Come on, Anthony, you can’t stay mad forever.

He has to run out of angry sooner or later.

I don’t see how he can’t NOT stay mad forever.
REALLY THINK for a moment, William.

Everywhere he turned, since Exchanges, he’s been constantly reminded of just how comprehensively his life has been screwed over, and this has been compounded by having to rely upon the charity of the friend who caused the mess Anthony is in.

Now to cap things, he has just learned that he has been lied to up and down the line for his whole entire life.

And all of this, on someone not yet 16.

Anthony won’t be able to let himself TRUST ANYONE any longer.

People have gone through things like this before– and worse. Well, maybe not with the wings specifically, but you get what I’m saying. People get mad, then they get over it. I’ve gone through times when I felt betrayed and hurt. My mother once did something that I, in my youth, thought was cruel and unfair. I even told her that I’d never forgive her. Fast forward a few years, and I see how petty I had been.
Most everyone goes through some kind of experience where they feel they’ve been hurt worse, treated most unfairly, lied to most cruelly, etc. But with time, (hopefully) we realize that our pain is not the worst ever, and it’s all water under the bridge.
He’ll come around.
Eventually.
Some day.

Anthony is overreacting a bit, but given how quickly his world has gone lopsided I’m willing to forgive some of this outburst.

This is not overreacting. As Mishyana pointed out, the fact he’s not gibbering in the corner somewhere says quite a lot for his mental fortitude. While technically neither Blanche nor his mother has actually lied to him, they have been keeping secrets. They have good reasons, but that’s really not going to help Tony right now. All he can focus on is that he’s been turned into some kind of bird creature and that his mother and best friend have been keeping secrets (both of which indirectly lead to his current condition). That’s enough to make anyone angry.

Its also quite possible that Anthony is simply, really, deeply angry at his father leaving.
That would make his current state simply a focus for long suppressed rage to vent forth…Pretty much at everyone and everything within range.

We have not seen enough of his character outside this specific story to judge how he behaves normally.

-Badger-

This storyline gives me the shivers. It doesn’t help I IRL look a tonlike like Tony. LOL. Poor bird dude. But seriously, I wouldn’t blame him if he went off the deep end. His mother. His own flesh and blood, for chris’sake kept this secret from him and then compounds it by admitting she did something dumb.

Poor Tony. :/ That kid is going to be seriously damaged for life I reckon. At the very least, serious family / people-he-currently-knows estrangement on a deep level beckons.

Once he calms down, the solution to his physical problem should be obvious enough. Head back to that island Avalon. Best case scenario, he can get re-enchanted. Worst case scenario, he’s got a whole island of chicks who would leap at trying to pick him up.

That is one solution, but at this rate I cannot see him calming down at all. Though an Island full of “chicks” might not go down so well, if he has a girlfriend already, and even then the word chick, might set him on edge, since its also something related to young birds, of which he is half of.

And just HOW is he going to get there?
Think about the hassles Abbie has, just to get to Cardiff. She doesn’t have to cross international borders.
To do what you propose, Anthony would need to.

Its an island.
England is an island.
England to the Med is not a long trip by boat.
If they do not make stops at ports along the way, they never cross an international border. (Whoever Tony travels with…Assuming he does not fly and he does not borrow Stanley or another sea monster as transport or assistance.)
Since his mum would just about have to go along to point out where the hidden island is, a boat seems the most viable option at the moment.

-Badger-

True, the Avalon is located near the water almost specifically for this reason. Getting Tony on a boat and the boat to the Mediterranean would border on trivial. The biggest trouble I can see is that, depending on the exact parameters of the spell that keeps the island hidden, Ophelia may not be able to find it again.

Her man anchored near it years ago- So theres something visible enough to prevent ships from running aground on it.

Ophelia was born on that island, so presumably she can still see it. Unless she was specifically excluded from the shrouding spell when she left.

She might be able to remember well enough to get to the right general area as well.
From there, it would mostly be a matter of poking around until they either find it, or get the attention of someone on the island.

Theres also the question of whether magic folks would be able to see it via exclusion from the shielding effect, or might have some method of calling out to an avalon that they know is nearby.

Lots of possibilities, really.
Most of them depend on how dedicated the island folk are to avoiding everyone…Even others like themselves.

Wasn’t there a mention at some point in an earlier chapter that magical folk can sense or find an avalon near them at need?
Or am I remembering something else?

-Badger-

Thanks Ironbadger
I comprehensively overlooked that.
:)

Living here in Australia, whenever I think of travelling overseas, it’s ALWAYS travel by air, with its associated security hassles.
I completely forgot about Liverpool being a sea port.

I can’t help thinking of Sam from Exchanges this page. He was born from a magical background and has spent his life longing for a change that might never happen to him. Would Tony have done the same thing except instead of wanting the change to happen he would be dreading what would happen given his unique background.

Wacht, maar Tony veranderde toch omdat hij dat medallion a raakte. En Jim legde ooit uit dat je pas kan veranderen als je het originele medallion in je bezit heb, die van Tony was blanco, of heb ik iets gemist?

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