Line #9 Headscratchers/ElGoonishShive


1	New entries on the bottom.
2
3	[[foldercontrol]]
4
5	[[folder:Colored Pages]]
6
7	* What's up with the colored pages in this comic? They seem to show up without rhyme or reason.
8	** That's just a case of reality getting in the way, the same reason the schedule keeps changing. He does color pages when he can do color pages, black and white when he can't.
9	** As of a Squirrel Prophet, it looks like the colour is back and is here to stay.
10	** And then gone again. However, reason was given in the commentary -- basically, what happened was that Dan eventually stopped doing color pages because he felt it took up too much time for the gain, then by Squirrel Prophet had figured out new techniques that cut down on that so he felt comfortable doing color pages again, and then after a while he realized that while the actual implementation was now fairly painless, he spent way too much time deciding on colors for things without set colors.
11
12	[[/folder]]
13
14	[[folder:Purple Hair]]
15
16	* It just now hits me: Tedd and his father have ''purple hair'', and they're the ''only characters'' with unnatural hair colors. What's up with that?
17	** Refutio: Mr Verres, firstly, has ''blue'' hair. Secondly, what about Liz, the apathetic goth chick from Moperville North? Thirdly, [[Main/WordOfGod Dan Shive stated]] that blue, green, purple et cetera are natural colours in the EGS-verse.
18	** We've now seen several background characters with blue, purple and green hair around Moperville South HS, more than one would expect as just a fashion statement.
19	** Not to mention that Susan can find large amounts of blue hair dye with no difficulty, and nobody remarks on it. In fact, several people are surprised she dyes it at all.
20	** So dark everyone thinks she's a brunette. And Susan can find large amounts of almost anything -- she lives in "the Snoot Creek subdivision" and all that.
21	** Susan dyes her hair black, not blue.
22	** [[http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook.php?id=401 Wrong]].
23	** Although Dan [[https://danshive.tumblr.com/post/166077838117/isnt-susans-hair-supposed-to-be-dark-blue-and has clarified]] that it is so dark that it looks black.
24	** I think Dan Shive said in the forums once that back in the day, he couldn't draw black hair well, and went with purple for Tedd. But officially, as someone said above, the various strange colors are natural in the EGS verse.
25	** [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-02-04 Something like that anyway.]]
26	** [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1856 Finally]] [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1854 addressed]] with the inclusion of blue-hair and green-hair normal characters.
27	** Also, keep in mind that this is a universe were magic, although rare, is common enough that [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1024 the DGB has arranged for spontaneous eye or hair color change to be listed as an actual medical condition]] and although burnout is temporary, [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1116 Susan's hair color permanently changed after she awakened]]. Given that [[AWizardDidIt it's magic]] such changes could become hereditary, which, over time, could lead to colors like blue, green, purple, etc. becoming "natural".
28	** This was eventually [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/party-055 addressed in comic]]. Strange hair colors are normal but also unexplained in-universe since the hair colors don't match people's genetics. This also extends to things like Nanase having red-hair which shouldn't be possible with normal genetics.
29
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Justin's lack of combat]]
33
34	* As much as I like this comic (and I do) there's one thing that always irks me. Why don't they ever let Justin fight? He trains in the same dojo as Elliot and Nanase and we know he has, at least, minor magical martial arts abilities (at least he has illusion powers, which were revealed here: http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-03-06). So, why? In fact, in Painted Black, he is specifically told not to help fight. He tries and claim that they're being homophobic, and Susan reminds him how stupid that argument is, but nobody makes another argument.
35	** Just because Justin can fight, that doesn't mean he can fight the likes of Hedge, Vlad, and Damien. He pretty much said that the main reason he's in the dojo is for the opportunity to interact with Elliot, so he probably doesn't take it nearly as seriously as Elliot(and thus early Ellen) and Nanase do. I agree that it would be interesting to see Justin fight, but that was definitely ''not'' the place to do it.
36	** A recent comic has Greg mention that Justin was coming along more slowly in his training than Elliot and Nanase. In fact, Ellen's argument at that time was that he wasn't strong enough to fight Damian and Co.
37	** [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-09-22 Looks like he's gonna fight]]
38	** They also probably figured that during the "Painted Black" story line, it was better to send just a small group of people to rescue Elliot because the smaller the group, the less chance of attracting attention to themselves (of course, we all know how THAT turned out). Grace was a given, being the central figure of the story line, as well as by far the most competent fighter of the group. Nanase is the most powerful person there after Grace, and Ellen is still a better fighter than Justin; also, it's her brother they were rescuing, so it made sense for her to go. Justin was the only other one who could fight well at all, but he still wasn't a match for any of Grace's brothers and definitely not Damien, so bringing him would have been a liability. Anyway, it's a moot point now since Justin's badass display during "New and Old Flames".
39	** Ellen and Nanase, in addition to being two of the stronger fighters, each stronger than Justin, had their own magic tricks, flight/illusion for Nanase, beams for Ellen. Justin hadn't awakened his 'flaming kicks' yet- nowadays he might be strong enough.
40
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Jeremy]]
44
45	* Where did Jeremy come from? Did Tedd make him? Did Mr. Verres bring him home from work? Did he just show up on their doorstep one day? Are there more like him? (I hope so, Jeremy-kittens would ''rock''.)
46	** Mr Verres brought him home from work (from Main/FillerStrips).
47	** See "[[http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook/?date=2002-07-04 All your yarn are belong to us]]" fact sheet.
48	** Jeremy is most likely a cat-hedgehog chimera.
49	** Looks like theres more too http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-12-23
50
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Tedd's Mom's Location]]
54
55	* Where is Mrs. Verres?
56	** [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-04-28 Divorced and somewhere in Europe]].
57
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Grace's Brothers]]
61
62	* What's going to happen to Grace's brothers? Will we ever see them again? Hedge at least seems like he could like a normal life... Why not let him?
63	** Hedge and Vladia will open a restaurant. Well, according to Main/FanFic, anyway.
64	** More definitively, Grace talks to them again in [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2005-04-25 this arc]], which implies they're definitely on the road to a happy ending.
65	** Agreed. Hedge does mention that they were all about to be allowed back into normal society at the time of Grace's birthday, and they had jobs offered to them. We'll probably see them again at some point, but only as a cameo. They've had a happy ending already; they probably won't be playing a very big part in the comic again.
66	** Don't forget, its only been 1-2 months, 3 at the outside, in the comics. While its been forever since we have seen Hedge and co., they are still probably evaluating them and haven't released them yet. They'll show up when Dan needs TheCavalry to save everyone.
67
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Animal Assassins]]
71
72	* Grace and her brothers are supposed to be genetically engineered [[Main/SuperSoldier Super Soldiers]]. So why are their skills optimized for melee combat when every weapon in the Army's inventory short of combat knifes and bayonets would easily be able to out-range a melee fighter?
73	** Two answers: One, trying to genetically engineer anyone who would be a good ranged combatant is very difficult, requiring subtle changes such as increased hand-eye coordination, improved vision, or possibly internal drug feeds to reduce stress and calm the shooter. Why go through all this effort to engineer the use of weapons that are primarily skill-based rather than physiology-based? Second, one should note that while they're engineered to be superior warriors, there's nothing that says they were intended for main battlefield usage. In irregular combat such as indoors or in cities, there's a lot more opportunities for close-quarters fighting. And, of course, physical strength is a very useful trait – it means you can carry more gear and guns. Their skills and modern weapons aren't mutually exclusive.
74	** Rebuttal: Even in irregular combat situations, close-quarters fighting still isn't very useful, mostly because if the enemy is that close to you, then you probably screwed up somehow. Plus, armies already have perfectly adequate close-quarters fighting techniques and weapons (like combat knifes and bayonets), and such fights are more often decided by skill then physiology (look at the fight between Grace and Damien). Also, there is no real indication that they are far stronger then normal, and their ShapeShifting abilities would make it difficult to wear body. Furthermore, it doesn't look like Vlad and Guineas could wield modern weapons effectively, if at all. Finally, you can't seem to make a whole lot of [[Main/SuperSoldier Super Soldiers]] this way, rendering their impact on anything other then ''very'' small battles extremely low.
75	** As stated below, they weren't really super-soldiers, just super-assassins. Being able to transform into a harmless-looking animal would certainly be helpful for a stealth-killer. The halfway form may not have even been intentional, it could've just happened--after all, Grace gets the halfway form automatically whenever they give her a new animal form with the transformation gun without having to also program in a halfway form. A bit more work was thrown into Grace, but that was specifically tailoring her to fight one person, and proved successful (mostly because they made her immune to his main weapon).
76	** While super-assassins make more sense then super-soldier, Grace and her brothers wouldn't make very effective assassins. While being able to turn into a small, harmless animal is useful for stealth reasons, there's more to being a good assassin being stealthy, especially for one in the employ of a large nation-state. The assassin would also have to be able to kill silently, so they can get away for another mission, and kill the target in such a way that it isn't apparent that the target has been assassinated. Otherwise people are going to get suspicious when the nation-states enemies start dying mysteriously, even if they can't figure out how that nation is killing them, which would defeat the whole propose of killing them stealthily. Furthermore, the smart enemies would increase their security after a few successful hits, making it harder to kill the people the nation would most want to kill.
77	** Also, creating an assassin like Grace to fight one person is a massive investment of resources and time for one goal, especially considering that: Damien was only a rumor, so tailoring someone to fight him would be extremely difficult at best; there would be a very long lag time between the creation of the fighter and the time when that person would be able to fight Damien; and there was never any indication that he couldn't be killed by anything else, sure he had healing powers, but I'd imagine that a bullet to the head would still be lethal to anyone that isn't explicitly immortal.
78	** It seems to me that the real threat of Damien is his regeneration. The only thing unique about Grace is that she has Lespuko poison claws, which allows her to get around that problem. Even if Damien was just a rumor, I imagine the scientists would want to preempt any regenerating combatant.
79	** Well, that and being fireproof.
80	** Why hand someone a gun when you can make him invulnerable and on fire? Let's not forget that, for all intents and purposes, the whole project was a spectacular failure anyway.
81	** Grace's brothers were designed to be assassins by ''incompetent mad scientists''. Of course their design doesn't make any sense.
82	** Agreed. They were shapeshifters created because the company needed a gimmick to stand out in the assassin market, and people are looking for effectiveness?
83	** Also do not forget that: 1)They were prototypes,not the finished product, so the main problem of the scientists was to make them transform easily (they would focus to efficiency after solving such problems). 2)Persons with above-average physical abilities are always useful (sure, Damien was a pushover when his abilities proved ineffective, but he was not part of the experiment, while the other three were far more efficient due to training; so what is better, a trained human or a trained human with superpowers and stealth mode?) 3)The prototypes may have not been able to use it, but it is logical to expect that the original scientists were probably going to keep experimenting, and eventually they would create something able to either dodge or survive and regenerate bullets and explosions (heck, for all we know, Grace might be able to do exactly that).
84	** Note also, that for them being prototypes...they likely wanted to do something that is impressive and stand out. Someone who can fly, someone who's a very painful melee combatant, someone who is able to go anywhere, and a 'proof of concept'. It's quite likely that if they hhad made a fifth, they would have gone with Hawk.
85
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Animals chosen for hybrids]]
89
90	* On a related note, the scientists are making a HalfHumanHybrid SuperSoldier, and for the non-human part they choose a hedgehog, bat, guinea pig, and a squirrel? They really couldn't find more fearsome members of the animal kingdom then those? While I can believe that there would be trouble getting a large predatory animal, like a bear or tiger, they couldn't simply go to a animal shelter get a dog or a cat?
91	** It was not mass production. They were testing. Those guys were already able to wreak havoc as they are, imagine what it could have been like had they had more powerful alternate forms... Had they been lion/tiger/dragon/whatever else, I'd be the first to cry out: "Why are all mad scientists such GenreBlind idiots and what would be wrong with using a guinea pig?!" They defied an IdiotBall for once, actually.
92	** They were supposed to be assassins. A squirrel is small and agile in trees. Vlad is not a mere bat, but a rather explosive cocktail. As for Hedge and Guineas, I dunno...
93	** Been a while since my archive binge, but if I remember right, Guineas was basically a test of the process – a literal guinea pig, if you will.
94	** As was Vlad. Actually, the whole project was pretty much still in beta when it collapsed.
95	** And Dan Shive admitted that Guineas was a bit of a throwaway in the supplements after "Painted Black" ended – apparently he was stuck for what animal to use, and a friend of his who owned a guinea pig suggested that.
96	** Er... Maybe because it's silly? This is supposed to be a dramedy, after all. Besides, compared to some of the ''actual'' stuff dreamed up by the real US Department of Defense (incendiary bats, pigeon guided missiles), maybe squirrel and guinea pig based assassins aren't that far-fetched after all. Dr. Sciuridae as much as admits that the whole animal-based assassins thing was just a marketing gimmick anyway.
97	** Shive also admitted that hedgehogs were his favorite animal, hence Hedge. He said that was also why Hedge had such a cool design.
98
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Tedd's worries about gay men]]
102
103	* Something bugs me about the fact that Tedd expresses his worry of getting hit on by gay males due to his girlish looks to Justin, and Justin replies that he's "attracted to ''masculinity''," which satisfies Tedd. Um, okay ... now, I understand that Justin is personally attracted to men if and only if they are masculine. I understand if Tedd's worries are dispelled merely on Justin's account, but I got the impression he was relived about gay men in general, and ... well ... people are varied. Gay men, by definition, are attracted to ''other men''. '''Being gay says nothing about what ''kind'' of men you are attracted to.''' There are plenty of butch lesbians and effeminate gay guys, and I'm sure they have no trouble finding romantic partners. Then there's the fact that there are bisexual people (like me!), some of whom are attracted to femininity regardless of gender (like me!). And yes, I'm aware of the Main/NoBisexuals trope, but I nevertheless cling to the belief that Dan Shive has put ''slightly'' more thought into EGS than that. I'm open to the idea that ''Tedd'' didn't think things this far, but if this ''was'' the case I'd have liked there to be some actual indication, and as things stand it seems like Dan himself made a sweeping generalization about all men who are attracted to other men which doesn't stand up under even a ''glance''.
104	** Maybe he was just worried about Justin being attracted to him?
105	** Or maybe Tedd's generalizing, not the author.
106	** Or ''Justin'' is.
107	** I can think of zillions of possibilities offhand Maybe Justin is just trying to set Tedd at ease and doesn't want to go through all of the possible ramifications. Or maybe they're both just naive kids who have yet to figure out all of the nuances inherent in their own sexuality. Or maybe they simply aren't omniscient or even sophisticated, Or, maybe it might even be possible that ''the author was just trying to set up the joke in the next panel!'' Sheesh.
108	** Justin states explicitly that he can't find any other gay guys. He probably simply doesn't know that such a spectrum exists and assumes that all gay men are attracted to what he's attracted to. Being gay doesn't confer knowledge of the broad spectrum of sexual preferences under the homosexual banner.
109	** It's also possible that this was the first time Tedd had actually dealt with a homosexual, and finding that Justin wasn't instantly enamored with him made him feel more comfortable about gays in general.
110	** It bugs me that Tedd was concerned about it in the first place. It happens, and unless you're insecure in your sexual identity it's not a big deal.
111	** If I recall correctly, Tedd ''is'' insecure about his gender identity, leading to his freakout at the birthday party when he (as a girl) makes out with Grace (as a guy).
112	** Exactly, being insecure in his sexual identity is a huge part of his character, it's almost the first thing you'd say about him after "mad scientist" and "prettier than most of the girls" ...which probably didn't help his confidence.
113	** And this is the guy with the gender changing gun? That's a setup for tragedy and a potential Lord Tedd backstory.
114	** You might say they're ...not so different.
115
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Crying]]
119
120	* Why does everyone cry all the time? Honestly, there are other ways you can react to bad things.
121	** Other ways such as retreating into your shell, hating all people of a certain type irrationally, not wanting to do anything that might remind you of said bad things...
122	** Well, yeah, but I think every major character (with the possible exception of Elliot) has broken down into tears at some point, as well as several minor characters. True, it's sometimes justifiable, but it gets kind of old.
123	** It's a character-based series that's been running since January 2002. You're gonna get waterworks.
124	** People cry a lot more in real life than you might think. EGS is quite realistic sentimentally wise and with a strong social aspect, so it is only natural to witness those situations.
125	** Also, the core cast are teenagers. Hormones flow aplenty during adolescence, and that tends to influence one's emotional responses. There's also the life-and-death situations the cast often find themselves in. A close brush with death, one's own or that of a friend, relative, or significant other, will bring tears unless one is super-stoic.
126	** Yes, there are "other ways" you can react to bad things, and sometimes the characters do. But crying is one of the most common and least maladaptive immediate reactions, so you can expect plenty of crying in ''any'' series where bad things happen a lot, unless the characters are supposed to have abnormal emotions or abnormal affect. Plus, they really don't cry that much. Your sensitivity to it might have more to do with you than with the comic.
127	** Crying also happens to be one of the few reactions that can be shown with just a simple picture, so it's very convenient for a comic.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Anti-Ellen Bashing]]
131
132	* Why is it that whenever someone on the EGS forum says Ellen is a jerk, they get branded a "hater"? From what I've seen, nobody actually hates her, it's just that some people dislike her. Should I just chalk it up to [[FanDumb FanDumb]]?
133	** Yes.
134	** There are people who hate Ellen. Although from what I've seen, it mostly has to do with her and Nanase being part of a SpotlightStealingSquad over the other characters, not her personality.
135	** It's not so much that people are criticizing her character as that a lot of them seem to be blowing things way out of proportion. As jerk-ish as she can be at times, it's almost always unintentional and she has apologized for it, yet rather than simply acknowledging the flaw and saying that she could use some CharacterDevelopment, people are calling her an uncaring bitch and saying that she deserves to die. I've seen one person declare Ellen to be her least favorite character because of her insensitivity and ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the way that she texted]]'', of all things.
136
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Title]]
140
141	* It bugs me just a little that the title would have been perfect as Ell-iot (later Ell-en) vs. The Goo, written by Dan Shive, but a random reference to his past that ''everyone'' was guaranteed to not get, and the perfectly arbitrary change of "the" into Spanish... It makes sense, but to reveal that a potentially meaningful title always was and always will be meaningless just bugs me.
142	** I don't blame you for the last part (though, to me, distinctiveness is a worthwhile substitute for meaning). For the first one... would you change the name in the 7/8 of the comic that doesn't involve the Goo? Or when the focus character shifts to someone besides Elliot or Ellen (after all, Grace is a bigger character than they are until the end of "Painted Black")?
143	** I can see your point, but it still strikes me as a very shaky connection. It's something like confirmation bias, you could probably use similar logic to make a connection with any random nonsense title.
144
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Uryuom Name]]
148
149	* Uryuoms and uryuomoco. Why is it that their own word for themselves translates directly to "alien"? Is the substitution cipher setup just halfway translation convention?
150	** It doesn't; Uryuom is a proper noun and proper nouns stay as they are in Uryuomoco. It's just a joke.
151
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Nanase's Mother]]
155
156	* '''What is up with Nanase's mother anyhow?''' Its one thing to push your [[EducationMama daughter really hard to study]], ''(I know its not uncommon for Japanese mothers to be this way)'' but it makes no sense to demand such high educational standards when she has made it clear she wants Nanase to be just a housewife not a career woman. If anything, you think she would discourage Nanase from going beyond the basic level of education required by law.
157	** It's actually what I'd expect from a very traditional first-generation Japanese mother. The drive towards academic excellence is a near-universal aspect of Japanese culture, and the idea that a woman should give up her career path after marriage is still widely held. It's a natural perspective for an older, conservative Japanese like Mrs. Kitsune... even as it's considered abhorrent and mutually exclusive by a young, acculturated American like Nanase.
158	** Alternatively, HER Mom was a bitch to her, so she's trying to get back at her by doing the same thing to Nanase.
159	** Maybe it comes from the fact that her career-woman sister (whom she seemingly hates) abandoned her husband and son and she felt bad for her nephew so she didn't want anyone else to have to go through that?
160	** Also, being smarter than other women would (Mrs. Kitsune would think) make her more appealing to the menfolk.
161	** As mentioned below, Mrs. Kitsune seems to know about Nanase's magic, and probably a lot more than that. It seems that she's probably trying to prepare Nanase for something, and hides it behind an EducationMama facade because, as she evidently believes, "The less Nanase knows about what I know, the better".
162	* Mrs. Kitsune has since been revealed to have a hidden agenda. Apparently she already knows Nanase is a magic user and may know that she's gay.
163	** [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-01-11 She thinks it's a phase...]]
164	** [[ObfuscatingStupidity She says she thinks it's a phase...]]
165	** More accurately she thinks it's a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_S_(genre) 'Class S' relationship]], which is an understandable reaction given Mrs. Kitsune's conservative bent.
166	** While we're on Mrs. Kitsune, we're left to assume she immigrated to the US as an adult until it's revealed she went to Moperville South HS and had Mr. Raven as a teacher. If she came here that young, why isn't she more Americanized? Or conversely, if she's that traditionally Japanese why did she stay after high school?
167	*** She might not have been the whole time. If she saw her sister leaves Mr. Verres + Tedd for her job, and took it as a sign that she was too Americanized and/or emphasized Japanese ways to keep her children from doing something similar, then it would explain her current state.
168
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Grace's Age]]
172
173	* It's not a big deal, and I shouldn't be bothered by it, but the fact that a huge deal of Grace is [[YoungerThanTheyLook younger than she looks]] was made (By Mr. Verres, no less) bugs me, not for the fact itself, but for the ages given... 18 looking 16 is not really that uncommon, there are ''lots'' of people who look younger (Or older) than they are without them being hybrids.
174	** I'm not entirely sure I understand your complaint, but Grace is actually older than she looks. She is 18, but looks about 16. The closest thing they made to this being a big deal was Grace exclaiming that that made her older than Tedd.
175	** Aww man, I always confuse those two, sorry. The point is, that looking younger than what she is is implied to be part of her hybrid nature, with Mr. Verres explicitly saying that it's remarkable that she is 18 and looks 16... it would be remarkable if she was in her 20's, but looking 2 years younger than her actual age is really nothing out of the ordinary.
176	** It's not just about her being 2 years older than how she looks; the reason her being older than she looks is attributed to her being a hybrid is because it'll keep getting more obvious. She's aging much more slowly physically than normal humans, so while it may not affect much or seem like much at Eighteen, when she's EIGHTY and looking FORTY, then it's gonna be [[OurElvesAreDifferent HIGHLY noticeable]], and while she's NOT an Elf, that was the closest trope-approximation I could think of.
177
178	[[/folder]]
179
180	[[folder:Elliot's girl-angst]]
181
182	* Elliot being angsty about having to transform into a girl... yeah, it's hard, and it kind of sucks, but the fact that no one has thought of transforming into a masculine girl (Hell, he could transform basically into a flat chested wide shoulder-ed, taller version of his girl-self, and no one would be able to tell he has transformed into a girl)
183	** He stated in one of the comics that his female form is naturally busty (see also: Ellen), which is why him imitating Sarah wasn't perfect.
184	** His female form is naturally busty ''and he was concentrating on Sarah's face rather than her chest''. From what we've seen, there's no reason why he couldn't change any given aspect of his "default" female form if he tried hard enough, he's just not experienced enough with the spell to manage it with any consistency.
185	** While the inexperience can be used to explain it (Two times had he failed in making a "perfect" copy, the first becoming ''taller'' than intended and the second in the bust area). But that's no what bugs me, but the fact that no one has acknowledged the existence of masculine girls, or flat chested girls.
186	** Let me better explain it: he got that ability from touching the diamond while being in Female Variant #5 form, which modifies men to have normal female measurements for their age and changes height and such, so he can't make his bust size smaller as a girl, because that would violate the rules of [=FV5=]. If he were blasted by [=FV1=] or maybe even [=FV2=]-4, maybe that would be different. I am not Dan Shive, and he hasn't done a Q&A of this, but does that explain it better? (Granted, he can modify his form, but I think that becoming a masculine-looking female would go far out of bounds regarding [=FV5=], and [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2006-11-01 here]] [[http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/?date=2009-12-15 are]] my sources.)
187	** True that, but the diamond seriously ''screwed'' up the magicks. Remember that, Ellen is supposedly the "anthropomorphic representation" of V5, Yet she never had the pheromones... and her magic awakened as "clone-rays" (So far) Likewise, Elliot's magic isn't limited to "transform into a V5 version of yourself" but rather into any girl he wants. Like someone explained above, it seems like if he isn't paying attention while transforming, he will morph into Ellen. If he tries to copy someone he will transform in accordance to what he's thinking, even if he makes mistakes. (He didn't take into account the high heels, and the second time, he was focusing on the face)
188	** She's not ''in'' [=FV5=], she's in her default form ''based on'' Elliot in [=FV5=] – that's why she can V5 herself once more (and maybe why in her case it looks rather exaggerated). That, and by the time Elliot touched DD [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-07-24 pheromones were normalized long ago]] anyway. Other than this, only basic "twisted curse" effects DD gave them are linked with [=FV5=], they both got derived spells soon enough (because they ''had'' to discharge every day), and those aren't related to [=FV5=].
189	** Another thing is that Ellen is made out of magic, so that's why she was able to get a "clone beam" when Elliot is still turning into girls with the MostCommonSuperpower. Seriously, how many times before his awakening has he transformed without the gun? Now how many times before her awakening has Ellen fired her beam? Ellen's natural alignment with magic and her frequency in using her beam would explain that.
190	** Ellen was created by magic, but every character that has had direct contact with her and expresses knowledge about the situation, has explicitly refer to her as a human being, and other than her zapping abilities (Which are kind of "normal" on this setting anyway) she doesn't seem to have any magical design. And the other stuff, Elliot can change into any girl she wants. Or doesn't) It's been explicitly shown that he will become Ellen if he just transforms, and he will became someone else(Or someone that doesn't even exists) if he thinks hard enough. either he can change ''everything'' about "her" appearance, or he can't change nothing. Granted, the simplest explanation could be that he hasn't ''thought' of that.
191	** Or, you know, he could just be bothered by the fact that he has to ''turn into a girl multiple times per day,'' as opposed to his/her actual ''appearance'' as a girl...
192
193	[[/folder]]
194
195	[[folder:Super Elliot upstaging Justin]]
196
197	* Super Elliot. It doesn't bug me because Elliot has now become Ranma, it bugs me because it undercut Justin having a major moment of awesome after being OutOfFocus for much of the last few arcs.
198	** If you read the commentaries, Dan clearly wants to show more of Justin's potential badassery, but was planning Super Elliot for a while. Hopefully this means he's building up to something later.
199	** Apparently, in-universe Justin's badass rating has gone up. 'Way to kick fire's ass!' indeed.
200
201	[[/folder]]
202
203	[[folder:Selling the TF Gun]]
204
205	* The TF Gun was not [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-09-16 legally sold on the Uryuom parent planet]]. Was it not ''legally'' sold on the parent-planet, or not legally sold on the ''parent-planet''?
206	** Neither. See the next comic: It was made before those laws were in place.
207	** It was not legally ''sold'' on the parent-planet.
208
209	[[/folder]]
210
211	[[folder:Ellen's Soul]]
212
213	* Ellen is told that she was born when she touched the diamond, and had a life-time of false memories. Nobody contradicts this. They may know what happened, but that's hardly the only philosophical understanding. Perhaps they're both Elliot, and he just has a branching world-line. Perhaps neither is, and personal identity is just an illusion. Perhaps she's the real one and he's the duplicate. After all, she was more like pre-diamond Elliot than post-diamond Elliot was. Also, why does it matter? Who cares which person the pre-diamond Elliot was? It doesn't affect who she is now.
214	** MagicAIsMagicA. See the whole thing with Abraham and the Dewitchery Diamond – it makes an uncursed person and a manifestation of the curse. In this case, the curse is femaleness, so the female version is the manifestation of a curse and the other one is the uncursed person. Whether it ''matters'' is a more open question, but I'd say who you were is ''extremely'' important in relation to who you are, and I can imagine identifying as That Guy when another person is also That Guy would get really weird; I think that's why it's a big deal that Ellen needed to establish her own identity.
215	** Ellen is definitely the duplicate, which we know because this apparently does have some minor physiological effects (it's mentioned [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2008-11-22 here]] that Ellen's partially magical biology means she'll have an easier time with her energy buildups, for example). Whether it matters beyond that is pretty much up to the individual.
216	[[/folder]]
217
218	[[folder:Ellen staying a girl]]
219
220	* Why does Ellen stay a girl? Is it so much of a bother to get zapped every month that she decides to become a transsexual?
221	** The existence of the TF Gun creates a whole host of moral and ethical issues when you try to look at it from a real world perspective, but most any questions along that vein can be answered by "What is funniest?" Now, it makes sense from a real world perspective that Ellen could still identify as a male despite being biologically female at this point, creating the potential that she could be, as you observed, trans. However, it doesn't seem to work like that in-universe. When Elliot was initially transformed in the beginning of the Sister arc, his concern with being a girl for a month didn't seem to relate to his sexual identity, but to the fact that he is not a girl, and thus, being a girl and trying to pretend not to be for an entire month promises to be a massive pain in the ass. When Ellen showed up, ''her'' issue wasn't with being a girl, it was with the fact that she was a magically created duplicate: thus, she didn't identify as male, she identified as ''Elliot'', which was problematic because she wasn't him. Even if she did turn back into a boy, it wouldn't address the problem at hand, which is that she is not Elliot. Right now, her character development is less about her gender identity and more about her individual identity, i.e., making peace with the idea that she is Ellen and ''not'' Elliot. It gets brought up in the Grace's Birthday arc: her friends very pointedly don't expect her to shapeshift because it would fuck with whatever process she's made on becoming comfortable with not being Elliot.
222	** Ellen is the physical manifestation of Elliott's curse. The curse was femininity. It only makes sense that her gender identity is female, since her very being is defined as a physical manifestation of femininity.
223
224
225	[[/folder]]
226
227	[[folder:TF Gun and..."aftermarket alterations"]]
228
229	* So, each time the TF gun is used, it sets someone to one of the states programmed into it. Does that mean if a guy is turned into a girl with an intact hymen, and that hymen is broken before he turns back, it will be intact again if the gun is used on him again? (I'm guessing Tedd gets around this by not giving hymens to female forms, since they don't seem to be one of his fetishes, but this will probably never be addressed in the comic itself for content reasons.)
230	** The gun has two types of forms: Complete changes and edits. A complete change transforms the target into the exact form in question, which would include an intact/broken hymen. Edits simply change the target in more minor ways, justifying MorphicResonance. In the latter case, unless Ted specifically programmed data on the state of the hymen (doubtful, he doesn't seem to have any fetishes in that area), it would remain unchanged. There has been evidence that certain things are linked between the forms. Ted's female forms have larger breasts (secondary female sexual characteristic), and the male forms have larger muscles (secondary ''male'' sexual characteristic). This also relates to Justin's (cut-off) question about whether the male-form has a large penis. Since that is a primary characteristic and Tedd has shown no fetish for the vagina, we can assume the answer is "no."\
231	Back on topic, it probably depends on whether the male is circumcised or not.
232	** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymen Hymens don't work like that to begin with.]]
233
234	[[/folder]]
235
236	[[folder:Everyone is a Super]]
237
238	* Is EveryoneIsASuper at this point? Its like everyone has some sort of super power now it feels like.
239	** No, not Sarah, and not most of the muggles at the comic book shop. Everybody else though.
240	*** Sarah became a super as well as of the ''Question Mark'' storyline.
241
242	[[/folder]]
243
244	[[folder:Diane]]
245
246	* What ever happened with Diane? They make a big deal that Diane looks just like Susan, and they even text Susan to tell her, but then they get distracted by the Bloodgrem (sp?) and completely forget about it. Are we ever gonna get any resolution as to why Diane resembles Susan so much?
247	** Probably. There have been other things that turned up again significantly later.
248	** We saw her briefly when Rhoda was relating why she changed her appearance, so Shive clearly hasn't forgotten about her.
249	** Welp, New Year's Eve Party, there you go. Not really '''resolved''', but furthered.
250
251	Finally resolved: Raven Is Diane's Father, but is Susan's Distant Ancestor. Basically, without his "age magic" to look like a older Human male, Raven Looks a lot like Susan's dad,(only with Elf ears) who was "a cheaters cheater". This is due to the fact that he is really over 400 years old, and may be immortal due to his Mother, An actual "Immortal" Fairy named Pandora Chaos Raven (aka Box). When he was "in his actual 20's" is when he probably got someone who became Susan's ancestor pregnant. Because he Honestly believed he could not have kids (Because his Mother also did not believe that he could have kids) he lost touch with both parents. Given the passage of time while it is Possible that Susan is currently his "Sole decedent" from his earlier lover, the odds are that by now there may have thousands of actual descendants. Diane is his actual daughter. The unplanned reunion happened when Susan outright Killed a Abomination, in front of Diane, Then Raven jumped in, killed 2 more with a Summoned Magic Sword given to him by Susan, while confronting another Abomination a hidden abomination pulled out a .50 revolver... and was killed (along with all the other Abominations in the mall) By Pandora, who was forbidden to do so by Immortal law. this resulted in her apparent disappearance in a flash of light. Needless to say Diane was shocked. Raven is stunned by the guilt of knowing that he has been a Cad for all this time, and the apparent loss of his mother(she is not as lost to him as he things, he is apparently not yet aware that Pandora chose to refresh instead of reset. meaning that even though she is more or less reduced to a more child like state, she will still love him (and by extension his family) . Currently, reunion between Father and Daughter is currently on hold.
252
253	[[/folder]]
254
255	[[folder:Justin's romance]]
256
257	* It is my imagination, or Justin is just about the only one from the main gang to not have a romantic development? He is so out of focus in the story that isn't even funny. Well, the comic is known for its DoubleStandard, but to leave Justin developmentless for so long...
258	** Justin has already stated a difficulty in finding other homosexuals where he lives, his lack of romantic development is to do with a lack of options not a {{Double Standard}}
259	** The author really does seem to want to improve on this. In later strips there are several hints that George likes Justin (based on how grouchy he gets when Justin seems to have another romantic interest), and of course Luke and Justin spent a lot of strips (though not very much in-universe time) secretly pining over each other before Justin [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2014 finally asks Luke out]].
260	** I'd say Susan has about the same level of romantic development as Justin, i.e. not very much. (And with Justin heading for a date he seems to have her beaten in the romance department.) There's been a couple of times where it seemed like a romance plot was forming for her, including a ShipTease between her and Elliot for a while, but nothing's come of any of it and she's pretty much decided she's not ready for romance anyway.
261
262
263	[[/folder]]
264
265	[[folder:Nioi's magic nose beep]]
266
267	* What did Nioi really do in [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2004-05-24 this strip]]?
268	** She gave Ellen a lifetime (up to her current age) worth of life experiences that were essentially her own, rather than just a copy of Elliot's. Seriously, [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2006-05-03 we've been over this already.]]
269
270	[[/folder]]
271
272	[[folder:Ellen and Tedd in her second life]]
273
274	* Did Dan forget his own canon? Ellen ''had'' Tedd as a close friend in her second life; even if she was upset about being conflicted between Ellen and having Elliot's memories (judging from the last panel she's apparently going to launch into her {{Wangst}} fueled introduction to everyone), why is she okay with Justin and Grace and ''everyone else''. One would think that having something like 30 years of good friendship from Tedd would convince her he's a good kid as opposed to 3 months of not talking to him much.
275	** She's clearly decided that those second life memories as much not hers as Elliot's, and is as such trying to distance herself from them and behave according to the memories of her own three months of life as much as she possibly can – and seems to be succeeding in getting emotional reactions more from those three months than the rest. She knows he's a good person quite well... but she also knows that her own personal experience, bad things happen to her when he's around.
276	** One would think ''30'' years would overpower that, but chalk it up to RuleOfDrama I guess.
277	** The "second life" memories shouldn't be included in that total: That was an alternate universe version of Tedd, with his own personality. They may be similar, but "SL-Tedd was a good person who I knew for a decade" does not necessarily guarantee that "EGS-Tedd is a good person". Her memories from Elliot should still be valid, but she's essentially overcompensating for her "Piece that does not fit" issues by denying anything that involves acknowledging herself and Elliot as formerly the same person.
278	** If I remember correctly, she said that once she got her own memories from Nioi, she still had Elliot's memories but instead of really feeling like hers, they felt more like something she read in a book rather than had experienced, since they were replaced by her real memories. Added to the fact that alternate!Tedd is different than real!Tedd, it's more like she knows all about him and knows that he's a good person, but she's really only known this Tedd for 3 months and is still detached because, as she put it, "the day we met was the worst day of my life".
279	** Admittedly, that explanation falls flat when you consider she's only known Nanase and Grace for that long as well.
280	** Ellen basically blamed Tedd for everything wrong with her life, particularly involving her creation, and she was upset that he never apologized for the mistakes he made leading up to it. This seems to be heading for resolution with Tedd telling her that if they were mistakes, they were the best mistakes he ever made. (Hm, accidental father anyone?)
281
282	[[/folder]]
283
284	[[folder:Grace's Telekinesis]]
285
286	* Maybe I missed an explanation or something while doing my 2nd ArchiveBinge of the comics, but does Grace still have her telekinesis powers? She used them at the end of "Sister", and I don't recall ever seeing her use them again or hearing them ever get referenced. They could've come in handy in situations like "Painted Black" or the fight in the dojo in "New and Old Flames", I'm just wondering if Shive forgot that they exist.
287	** Perhaps it's related to her magical flight? An equally rare phenomenon, though occasionally {{played for laughs}}.
288	** As the boar situation proved, she isn't able to instinctively use flight (such as when she dodged to the side instead of flying straight up). Presumably, she has the same problem with the telekinesis. She's done pretty well without it so far. Though I'll admit it's possible it could be retconned away, I think the idea is that its sort of an extension of the levitation, so its probably still around.
289	** Confirmed -- Grace's levitation is her using her telekinesis powers.
290
291	[[/folder]]
292
293	[[folder:More masculine form]]
294
295	* Why Tedd didn't give himself more masculine form with TF gun? All that requires is to do minor changes to his face.
296	** Because if he did it all at once he'd call attention to the fact he had it but if he did it subtly over time to mimic natural growth he'd quickly use up the variants available?
297	** Maybe he's used to his face? Shapeshifting into someone else is fun as long as it's explicitly shapeshifting, temporarily masquerade that will end with becoming yourself once again. And I don't think that acknowledging he has to change what he was born like is going to help ''fix'' Tedd's self-image problems.
298	** The reason is pretty simple, and a bit of a [[FridgeBrilliance Fridge]] TearJerker: Tedd never ''wanted'' to be more masculine. We know now that he's genderfluid and that he likes being girly... but the fact that he wasn't consciously aware of this part of himself (or at least not aware that it wasn't about being a pervert), combined with bullying peers and a father who didn't understand, he got so good at ''pretending'' he hated being girly that he ended up believing it himself. But deep down, he really didn't want to be more masculine, which is why he never used the TF gun for that purpose. If he'd truly wanted it, he would have done it in an instant... but since he didn't really want to, his brain conveniently didn't think of that solution.
299
300	[[/folder]]
301
302	[[folder:Shapeshifting small forms]]
303
304	* Before she was hit with the transformation ray, Grace had the same mass in all of her forms. Wouldn't that cause a lot of problems in squirrel form?
305	** Probably. Maybe that's why she didn't take that form often.
306
307	[[/folder]]
308
309	[[folder:Melissa]]
310
311	* While I approve of Melissa being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap... how is her extreme upset at being rejected supposed to make her more sympathetic? Being upset that she couldn't have a romantic relationship with Justin was understandable, but complete devastation is a little over the top. The idea that she'd had her heart set on marrying Justin, and only Justin, by the age of sixteen, and that she'd never even considered other possibilities, makes her come across as rather unstable, even by teenage standards.
312	** That's the point. One of the main points Justin and Melissa's development was that Melissa had become dangerously unhinged following Justin's outing, to the point she was practically ''stalking'' him. Its only after Justin finally forgives her that she's able to move on and recover.
313	** Actually, I was referring to how unhinged she got before he rejected her friendship, back when he only told her that they wouldn't be able to have a romantic relationship. Noah said that she had been "devastated," not by Justin's anger over being outed, but due to finding out that he was gay in the first place.
314	** Some people really are just that over-dramatic and fixated. She had settled on Justin as her One True Love and thought that way for years. If you start considering the prevalence of the SpurnedIntoSuicide trope on top of her behavior, then her reaction takes a ''very'' dark turn: Melissa looks like she's gained a compulsive need to hurt herself emotionally by throwing herself at Justin, possibly even psyching herself up for a suicide she desires but isn't ready to go through with... ''yet''. Noah hints at the possibility when he suggests Elliot inadvertently saved two lives when Elliot got into that fight on Justin's side.
315
316	[[/folder]]
317
318	[[folder:Tedd and Akiko]]
319
320	* Have Tedd and Akiko ever seen each other? There hasn't been a single time on panel where they saw each other, and they never mentioned each other.
321	** Given that [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-08-19 it seems as if Mrs. Kitsune has made an effort to be a presence in Tedd's life since his parents got divorced]], it's probably a safe bet that he at least knows of Akiko's existence. He just hasn't had any reason to mention her. Remember, he never brought up his relation to Nanase either [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-07-09 until he found out that she and Elliot had dated]].
322	** They've logically met, seeing as they're cousins who live near each other, but it's not like he would have any reason at all to mention his little cousin. Obviously if he knows Nanase and Nanase's mom, he must know Akiko and Nanase's dad.
323
324	[[/folder]]
325
326	[[folder:Noah Hate]]
327
328	* What's up with Noah's {{Scrappy}} status? Apparently a lot of people hate him; why is that?
329	** Dunno. This is the first I've heard of him having a hatedom.
330
331	[[/folder]]
332
333	[[folder:Sarah and her sister]]
334
335	* Why is Sarah so touchy about the topic of her sister? Envy is one thing, but getting upset at the mere mention of her name makes Sarah look rather shallow, especially since Carol was shown to be a pretty decent person in the few appearances she's had.
336	** Sarah has been shown to have severe self-esteem issues and her sister is something Sarah want to be like.
337	** We have never seen much of Sarah's home life, but it could be several things: Her sister used to bully her in a sisterly way, she was so perfect that her parents started compared the two of them, or of not fault of anyone, Sarah simply doesn't like her sister, simply as that.
338
339	[[/folder]]
340
341	[[folder:Nanase Pronunciation]]
342
343	* How do you pronounce Nanase? I've found a written "pronunciation" by googling it, but I can't find a recording of it being pronounced.
344	** It's a Japanese name, so it has simple "consonant-vowel" pronunciation. English is complicated like that, but it's really just "Na-na-se", with "na" as in "banana" and "se" as in "sex".
345	** More specifically, the last "na" in banana in places that pronounce the two "na"s differently (like the taunt: "nah-nah!"), and se like "say", not seh like "sex".
346
347	[[/folder]]
348
349	[[folder: Magic Marks]]
350	* What colour are the magic marks? Are they really one colour, like Shiveapedia says? I always assumed Susan's mark was burn-scar pink (the kind used for some makeup and a lot of girls' toys), the pony and flame marks were light birthmark brown and a slightly desaturated fire engine red (respectively), and the twisty mark was blue (I don't know why), but they are all the same shade in the black-and-white pages (when not in shadow), they're all on more-or-less pinkish-white people, and I can't find any coloured images that show the marks.
351	** As of [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1837 this comic]], it's pretty clearly shown that they're just slightly darker than the rest of the characters' skin.
352
353	[[/folder]]
354
355	[[folder: "Countdown"]]
356	* in [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1059 this comic]] Amanda reads a question about a countdown, which is revealed to be from Dan, and he states it will make sense after the next story arc. What countdown, where, and how? The closest thing I've seen to a countdown reading that is the number 4 being on screen along with some footage of a loony paranormal investigator.
357	** Two of the chapter titles have "T Minus" in their names.
358	** Odds are we'll know it when we know it. It's been about seven years but that's practically nothing in EGS time.
359	*** Actually, its 'probably' referring to the countdown until Magic changes its rules. Dan hasn't specifically used the phrase "countdown" since, but it's definitely the deadline that much of the plot it moving towards.
360
361	[[/folder]]
362
363	[[folder:"Before you dated my brother?"]]
364	* After learning about how Nanase use to date a lot of guys Ellen asks [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1298 "Before you dated my brother?"]] I read this as asking "did you cheat on Eliot when dating him." Nanase didn't actually answer the question. Her reaction to the question could be interpreted as meaning yes she did. Why is this not treated as a big deal? Is this ever brought up again?
365	** I think Nanase was saying she dated lots of guys, including Elliot, before realising she was a lesbian. Ellen just guessed wrong. At no point was cheating mentioned.
366	** The way it's portrayed, Nanase say "Before I..." And then gets nervous. Ellen fills in "Dated my Brother." She was nervous, because well, Ellen has all of Elliot's memories, so...kinda complex situation.
367
368	[[/folder]]
369
370	[[folder: Elven/Immortal Seyunolus]]
371	Now, I don't know if there'd be a conflict due to [[WrongContextMagic Wrong Context Magic]] or [[MagicAIsMagicA Magic A being Magic A]], but what would happen if a Greater Chimera (like Grace) was born using, say, Raven's DNA, or even Pandora's?
372	* My guess is that they'd get the extended lifespan of an elf and probably even better shapeshifting than Grace but wouldn't be able to use traditional magic. There's no real evidence either way in the comic but that seems to fit with the general trend that Uryuom/Chimera shapeshifting overrides normal magic.
373	* My guess is that it would follow the same basic pattern as normal reproduction. An immortal!Seyunolu would have the extended lifespan of an elf, and if they found a way to suppress their Uryuom magic they'd probably have a much easier time building up their "conventional" magic. An elf!Seyunolu would essentially be indistinguishable from a human!Seyunolu, except that if they found a way to build up their conventional magic they'd have a bloodline affinity (just as Susan, her various ancestors, and Diane are normal humans with a bloodline affinity).
374	[[/folder]]
375
376	[[folder: Not-Tengu the non-Aberration?]]
377	* Is it ever explained why Not-Tengu didn't become an Aberration? I doubt he has any ethical objections to it, and the immortality and monstrous forms would be extremely useful, as would the resistance to harm from non-magical weapons. And given the number of aberrations we've seen on-panel, the process to become one can't be ''that'' hard to find out...
378	** It's likely that Not-Tengu was on his way to becoming an aberration, but hadn't fully given up his humanity yet. The difference between an aberration and just an evil jerk is that aberrations feed on humans to fuel themselves. Not-Tengu was keeping a mind-controlled flock, but there was no indication he wanted to eat people.
379	[[/folder]]
380
381	[[folder: Not-Tengu's plan?]]
382	* Alright, [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2013-07-23 here]] Not-Tengu implies that he ''wanted'' Nanase to assume her Guardian form, because he was reasonably confident that his demonform could handle her even in that form, and it would prevent her from using any other spells she might have that he didn't know about. But if that's the case, why that whole spiel about how he's ''not'' going to attack her? Seems a little complicated for reverse psychology. So did he want Nanase in Guardian form or not?
383	** By stating he wasn't going to attack her, he was relying on the preconception that by not being aggressive, a ''guardian'' form could not attack him either (and as confident as he was, there was the ever slight chance Nanase ''could'' beat him in that form), as well as the knowledge that the form burns magic power fast ''and'' de-powers the user once it wears off. He was essentially trying to give himself as many chances to win as possible.
384	[[/folder]]
385
386	[[folder: Pureblood seyunolus?]]
387	* What happens if someone creates a roaisol seyunolu using DNA from only a single (non-Uryuom) species? Would the offspring simply be a normal member of their species, would they have the ability to mix and match features from their parents, or something else? And what if only a single DNA source were used? Would that even ''work''?
388	[[/folder]]
389
390	[[folder: "You have no intent of acquiring furniture, do you?"]]
391	* Why is it that Dan asking for furniture dimensions [[http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=174 here]] outs him as a webcomic artist? If I were thinking of buying furniture, the first thing I'd ask would be for a list of dimensions so I could check whether prospective furniture pieces could actually fit in the space I wanted to put them in.
392	** Simple explanation: RuleOfFunny. Slighly less simple explanation: It's making a joke out of an irrational fear. The commentary for the strip tells that Dan had entered a furniture store looking for a catalogue, and then he imagined that the employees would somehow just know he wasn't there to buy anything and would chase him off. Of course, ''rationally'' he knew that this was absurd, which is why it made for a funny comic.
393	[[/folder]]
394
395	[[folder: Why doesn't he have his own sword?]]
396	* Why is it that Raven needs to borrow Susan's sword [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2017-12-15 here]]? He's [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2009-07-04 an awakened magic user]] with the same bloodline affinity as Susan (obviously), so he should have a weapon-summoning spell or two of his own.
397	** Plus, given how badly he wants to be allowed to fight for others, how despicable and dangerous aberrations are, and how as magical creatures they are one of the few things he ''[[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2009-06-18 can]]'' freely act against, I'd expect that a spell to summon their bane would be something he'd yearn for.
398	** And on top of that, he's a wizard, and as such could ''learn'' a weapon-summoning spell from some hunter if for whatever reason he didn't get one naturally. And for all the reasons listed above, I suspect that would be a high priority for him.
399	[[/folder]]
400	[[folder: First Dude Where's My Car Reference?]]
401	The title of [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2002-03-07 this strip]] mentions that it has the second Film/DudeWheresMyCar reference in the strip (that being, Sarah literally saying exactly that). What was the first? In the commentary, Dan says he doesn't even know, and didn't want to bother looking through the archives for it.
402	* It is [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2002-02-22 this strip]] titled "Dude Where's My Hammer".
403	[[/folder]]

Context Headscratchers / ElGoonishShive