El Goonish Shive

It's not about realism, it's about sending the wrong message. I mean, the idea that "if your heart is filled with justice (in the eyes of the author) you will win" is already ridiculous enough as is, but after Sarah EXPLICITLY told Larry NOT to let her win, it's like, what exactly are you going for here?

If we HAD the turn by turn playthrough it'd be less obnoxious, just because there'd be a bit more coherent of a narrative. But with it just being glossed over because SOME OF YOU HATE CARD GAMES!!! it just comes off as lazy writing. Moreso than usual.

edited 16th Aug '14 6:36:41 AM by TheyCallMeTomu

Ehh, she beat his ass after she told him not to just let her win. I don't see the issue - he didn't hold back, and she beat him fairly.

It's cool if you see it your way, but I don't really mind that one aspect - Larry's a nerd who hangs out at Salty Crackers, but he's never really appeared on-screen as a Magic player so I can buy him being a mediocre player. Sarah also seems to have a talent for the game - that's up for debate whether it's bad writing or not, but again - I don't really mind. W/e.

Comic!

NP!

Getting sketchy with it.

Creed of the Happy Pessimist:Always expect the worst. Then, when it happens, it was only what you expected. All else is a happy surprise.

Susan is giving Tedd too much credit.

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That's, uhhh, one heck of a sketch.

No, really, Tedd is such good guy! It's not like he regularly fantasizes about randomly subjecting people to body issues just because they annoy him. And even though Susan's comments are bit more on point, it feels really awkward that they're randomly just talking about all of the good points of the friend that they regularly deal with.

I know I don't usually look too hard at EGS:NP, but today's main strip had so little going on (not only would condensing that into two or three panels have given more room for other stuff, but it also would have better conveyed the idea that Tedd wanted out of there realsoonnow).

Is it just me, or does nameless extra's hand look odd to anyone in panels 5 and 6? Based on the position of his thumb (particularly in the last panel), it looks like his cars are just sticking to his index finger via magnetism or something.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

To be fair, Nananse is Tedds cousin...

wait...

That just makes it worse.

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.

Really, despite all that Tedd's behavoir suggests once you get a look at what he's keeping a lid on you realise he's practically a model of self-control.

Holding people's fantasies against them seems odd to me.

Mostly does better things now. Key word mostly. Writes things, but you'll never find them. Or you can ask.

@32 Footsteps I... Honestly don't agree with you on Tedd. He really doesn't seem that bad to me—but then I recall that we disagree on the distinction between "urge" and "intent" (at least I think that it was with you that I had this discussion—my apologies if it wasn't! ^^; ), which may well be the source of our differing views on Tedd.

I will grant that the dialogue is a little unsubtle, but I pretty much agree with Susan's assessment, I believe: if I had a similar relationship with Tedd to hers, I think that I'd happily let him store a copy of my shape for backup purposes.

As to that extra, well-spotted: he really is holding on by the tip of that finger. o_0

Said extra has a hitherto-unrevealed mark that grants him touch-telekinesis; hence he need only be

Regarding Good Tom: In the background, out of view of the main characters, a great and dire conflict is going on. The fate of all the world hangs by a bare thread; only Good Tom stands in the way of despair and destruction. The clashes are mighty, the powers wielded are beyond any shown in the comic thus far. Praise widely is heaped upon Tom in al forms of media; his opponents are feared beyond any others, and spoken of in only furtive whispers until Tom appears.

edited 18th Aug '14 8:13:52 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

Oh, right, because Tedd hasn't yet followed through with transforming someone for getting on his nerves (though remember that, the first time in the comic's timeline he fantasized about it, he didn't follow through because he was distracted by the fact that he accidentally transformed Elliot instead, not because he suddenly had a bout of self-control), that makes him a good person. He totally deserves a cookie for not traumatizing people.

The fact that Tedd hasn't followed through with his baser desires is why I don't say that Tedd is an evil person. At the same time, his selfishness and the fact that he does think that inflicting Body Horror on people is a just move for insulting words definitely shows that he's not a good person (I'm actually slightly more willing to give him a pass on his mild misogyny and homophobia, because he is still learning about those issues, but those aren't exactly glowing aspects of his personality either). I don't have any problem with Tedd being greyer on the morality scale. And for all that I could see him finally falling to evil in the future, he's not a bad guy at this time. But let's not pretend that he's actively good.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

Holding it against people for having dark fantasies is a little much.

I neither condemn Tedd for having those fantasies, nor do I kudo him for not acting on them.

I agree that holding someone's fantasies that they don't act on against them is silly.

Personally, I hold Tedd's actions against him.

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...Looking at the sketchbook, I get the feeling Shive's enjoying using Patreon as an excuse to draw the stuff he wanted to but felt too guilty to.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

That's how it worked with some commissions I've done.

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I give full credit for when characters have the best of intentions; why shouldn't I also hold it against characters when their motivations are more base? Heck, "he means well" is often used to show that a character isn't as bad as it might first appear. It's just as fair to say that "honestly, he doesn't mean all that well" when a character is, well, like Tedd.

Like I said, he's not evil... but he's not good either.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

Except Tedd does mean well.

Addendum: Tedd rarely has an actively malicious motivation; him wishing a Baleful Polymorph on a creep was petty but it isn't like he actually tried to do it. Make what you will of how he's handled the magic situation, but he's meant well.

edited 18th Aug '14 11:41:33 AM by RaichuKFM

Mostly does better things now. Key word mostly. Writes things, but you'll never find them. Or you can ask.

Tedd doesn't engage in behaviors he considers to be morally wrong.

He does, however, engage in behaviors that are morally wrong, because he doesn't consider them to be. This primarily manifests in his treatment of women. Were I female, I wouldn't trust him not to abuse a stored copy of me; he wouldn't deliberately do anything he considers unacceptable with it, but I'm not comfortable with his personal definition of what is acceptable behavior towards women.

edited 18th Aug '14 11:46:58 AM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

That's an excellent way of putting it, I wholeheartedly agree.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

If Patreon or whatever is leading to sketches like these, then all praise be to Patreon, all hail its name.

I largely agree with Tobias, I believe: Tedd does seem to mean well, but does also have some potentially-troubling perceptions. I don't quite agree with Tobias's specific assessment regarding the clone forms: my impression of Tedd's character suggests that while his use of a non-clone female form might be include objectionable behaviour, he's unlikely to do anything untoward with clone forms of his friends.

I take it that you're referring to Tedd transforming Elliot during the "Sister" arc? (No, I don't know the comic that well—it took some digging for me to figure out when it happened beyond "early in the comic". ^^; ) If so, wasn't that done not only in the heat of the moment, but also under supernatural influence?

I'm not saying that I laud Tedd for his behaviour in that scene, but I

In all fairness, a quick look back at those pages suggests that he had intended to use the gun to transform is bully in vengeance. However, my impression of his character is that he's come quite some distance since then, and would be unlikely to do so again.

The recent case of his wishing such a transformation on his opponent in the card game (Rich, I think his name was?) might be given as a counterargument to that impression, but I don't find it convincing: it strikes me as the sort of thing that one thinks when one doesn't truly want it to happen. Just before, he speculates about a "mind-reading genie", and addresses his "wish" to that; based on his expression and choice of explanation (as I recall, he knows perfectly well about immortals), I doubt that he really believes that he's likely to be overheard, and suspect that he'd be ashamed if he found that he had been and some entity had acted on that wish.

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It's been implied that Magus influencing Tedd's emotions was the reason why that happened. That Tedd was under the influence of something was hinted at almost immediately after the fact. Once Magus was introduced, he was trying to use his emotion-amplifiying powers to get Ellen to zap Elliot because somehow that would resurrect him, and it was also implied that Ellen's creation - including Tedd's spontaneous emotional outburst that started the whole thing - was the result of his manipulations.

So yes. It's all but directly stated that Tedd was under the influence of a supernatural entity at the time.

edited 18th Aug '14 5:10:20 PM by TobiasDrake

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Yeah, him wanting to TF Big Blue seemed more like idle speculation than serious consideration.

Tedd DID claim that the reason he was a woman when he showed up at Elliot's house that day was because he was prepping the TF Gun to make his revenge fantasy a reality, but that was retconned out with his father establishing that Tedd just really likes turning himself female.

See here, here, and here.

Retconned here and here.

edited 18th Aug '14 6:16:26 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.