Strip 321

Content:

• So. Let me get this straight.
  • Ellen threatened Tony with castration. Tony does not care. This means that physical threats do not affect him, which means that any type of physical offense is completely pointless in fixing the situation.
  • Elliot sees this as the last straw. Because the OTHER harrassments that Tedd went through were pretty much a non-issue, it's only when Tony does something vague and non-specific that Elliot gears up. Forget the verbal abuse specifically directed towards Tedd (making fun of his pictures and possible furryness, making fun of his femininity), the fact that Tony was prolly nonchalantly plowing through every (still a dick move) meant he needed to die.
    • Elliot. You're a dick.
  • Sarah, meanwhile, sees no problem with either the physical or the verbal violence, apparently. It's not worth starting a scene over. Fuck you Sarah. Fuck you. No. Seriously. You're the bystander syndrome, and while that might be realistic, it just makes you even more generic, and more of a stereotypical boring person.
  • Now, also, keep in mind, that while Ellen was punished for threatening to hurt Tony, Susan slamming down a hammer is completely A-OK to the teaching staff.
  • Not ONLY that, but apparently the hammer thing doesn't even physically harm males, from what I can tell. So, not only is violence not given a second thought, Tony isn't even going to have any after effects on it, so it's not like THAT will do him much good.
  • So, why is this strip a good thing?
• And you know what? I actually believe that Sarah, Susan and Elliot have never tried to verbally defend Tedd, physically defend Tedd, or try and tell authority? Why? Because they are all amoral douchebags that live in a stagnant world where progress must NEVER be made until the plot is happening, and ONLY during that time.
• I can understand if Elliot is trying to be a Technical Pacifist. I really do. I'd like to do the same for myself, personally. That does not mean there is a lack of solutions to a problem. I'd be lying if I said that I have not seen incidents of violence solving a problem. It is most definitely a way to do it. But that is not the ONLY way, and it's not usually the most LOGICAL way to do it.
• You know what this strip is? Vapid, bland, wish fulfillment. And it's pathetically disgusting.

—

Strip 322

Art:

• oh dear god what is wrong with those feet heaven help me.
• Nanase now looks like she is wearing a sports bra, which actually makes sense. It even might explain why she appears smaller chested in this strip.
• Nanase's eyes are pretty bad in this strip, especially panel 2 and panel 4.
• And, for some reason, her half-lidded makes her eyes more rounded.

Content:

• It's a bit late, I know, but I think I finally can see Nanase as...sue-ish here. Bit odd, considering everything else she's done, but here's the thing:
  • Does Nanase even have any flaws?
  • Here, let's go down the list:
    • TEDD: perversion (maybe?), nonaction guy, aspergers on par with Cakman
    • ELLIOT: A douchebag. Also a bit thick and does not know how to handle a hint. Violent.
    • SARAH: Is disapproving of anything magical, for the most part. Non-action person. Occasionally has thick moments, but for the most part, is a flat character with a LOT of screen-time.
    • ELLEN: Rash. Lazy. Elliot's clone, and thus, a douche-bag. Also, kinda psychotic.
    • GRACE: ...hah. Flaws. That's funny. Well, OK, I GUESS you can say that her constant bawwingness, naïvete and need to avoid fights to the point of stupidity count. Only the first two are pretty clearly meant to be turn ons...
    • JUSTIN: A gay male in a strip written by a straight male. CAN'T GET OVER ONE FRICKING CRUSH. Plays children card games and has issues because of it.
    • SUSAN: A bitch. That everyone miraculously tolerates.
    • NANASE: ...let's see...she's slutty...only that's never actually shown...uhm...uh...uhm...yeah.
• My point is, the whole cast is out of whack, but Nanase is REALLY out of whack.
• Also, the punchline is rather dull and bland, if I do say so myself. All of them.

—

Strip 323

Content:

• It would be no more awkward than meeting her for the first time at the karate school.
• Ellen isn't here, for two reasons.
  • To show more of Nanase's abilities
  • To start showing how Ellen is trying to emphasize how she and Elliot are different.
• To this, I say, bullshit. Damn it, Ellen. Why should you let ELLIOT take everything? Yeah, you're the clone, but you think you could let Elliot pick up a LITTLE slack and let you have something of your own.
• Also, not going to karate is fucking stupid no way around it. Not even emotionally, physically. You need to keep up a constant pace of training, or you WILL detoriate faster than you think. Sure, you can build it back up again easily, but you won't be able to do anything instinctually that way, nor can you build it back up if you get into a fight and are beaten senseless. Well, you can, you just kinda missed it when it would have been useful.
• And no, running around your house fifty bamillion times is not the same thing, don't pretend like it is.
• Grace has never been to a movie theater. The horror.
• So, have I mentioned that Nanase has a crush on Ellen?

—

Strip 324

Art:

• Suddenly, everything is colored in greyscale.

Content:

• Oh Justin. You clearly have your priorities completely straight.

—

Strip 335

Art:

• Ewgh. Crotch.
• And...pose...
• She looks like she's ready to engage in some bad animé OP dance.

Content:

• ...
• OK, we KNOW Nanase can only go into places she's been. Maybe she could, I don't know, LOOK AT HER SURROUNDINGS? Houses are not that uniform.
• But, to be fair to Nanase, she is in a world populated by completely white backgrounds.

—

Strip 326

Content:

• Now in this stri—
• Oh. That's odd. We've seemed to have stumbled into some ecchi manga.
• Sorry about that. We'll just skip to the next strip, since this was clearly a mistake.

—

Strip 327

Content:

• That's right slap Tedd. That'll teach him! I'm sure that as his cheek stings, he'll regret causing traumatizing life-changing experiences that could easily make someone compromised emotionally and physically for life!
• And OH MY GOD THE EXPOSITION.
• I am going to tell you a little story. My school life went like this: Preschool, Elementary school K-3, another elementary school 4, homeschooled 5, homeschooled half of 6 and public school the next half, homeschooled half of 7 and private school the other half of 7. Private school 8. Public school 9-12.
• Now, lets say someone asks me "why don't you have report cards from middle school?" I'd say "I went to a private school." Why? Because that's all that needed, maybe mention how they were Quakers, no, not the one from the oatmeal box, and no, not those people, those people are amish, but for the most part, I would not launch into my entire history.
• What Nanase just did? She's pretty much doing the equivalent of answering the question with not ONLY my anecdote bullet points, but with even MORE detail.
• Speaking of Nanase, in case you can't tell, she has a crush on Ellen.

—

Strip 328

Art:

• Ellen's eyes just got REALLY huge. Look at those things. They're bigger than her boobs, and that is a REALLY disturbing thought.

Content:

• Hahah. It's funny because she's a lesbian.
• Jokes aside, I saw a hentai game LP (Benzai, Immoral Study) with a verrry similar premise.

—

Strip 329

Art:

• —stares at fairy doll—
• what in the world is that thing? ._.

Content:

• Yeah, I mean, could you imagine how TORTUROUS it must be to be to stay in that thing? —shudders—
• Well, I GUESS it makes sense as a threat if you think Nanase is straight. Or...something.
• I dunno. Girls keep phones in their bras. I've heard weirder.
• Are they...are they quoting something I am unaware of? The lines are funny enough, sure, but...they're clearly not natural lines, and not in the good way either. It's just this random fluke in the dialogue that is never done again (so really can't be seen as a quirk they enjoy doing sometimes) and really doesn't contribute much so...?
• Oh, and also, if you noticed Nanase's blushing, that can probably be contributed to her having a crush on Ellen.

—

Strip 330

Whaddya know. Finished one arc, and completed another. Now we go on to the actual social interactions. Forgot that the movie arc came first. So, we get the original quartet instead.

Art:

• To give Shive credit, he did that last panel BEAUTIFULLY. I really wish he hadn't ruined it by the title, or the pre-reveal dialogue. It kinda...makes it obvious. Too obvious.
• Because, really, Shive actually did the last panel quite well. Tedd and Grace are both clearly OOC and it works! But noooooo lets ruin it! Blargle flargle grarging larg.

Content:

• Thank you Sarah, for that lovely exposition. Good to know the two of you were only bothered to talk about this five seconds before going into the house.
• And so Tedd and Grace have switch bodies. Really now. What kind of fucking losers would think it's fun to switch identities for a day?
• Deprived morons. That's who.