El Goonish Shive

16861: My guess would be that at least Elliot has to deal with menstruation regularly, although it never has been mentioned to my recollection. I'm pretty sure men's hormones have cycles (without similar effects, of course), so it would make no sense for them to just happen to reset every time. Tedd must have run into it once or twice as well.

Yeah, I think we passed the point where the Takahashi answer was acceptable way back when we found out about the aftereffects. Especially since there were a load of period jokes back in Sister, weren't there? Dan's really written himself into a place he can't ignore it anymore.

I think it's going on the "reset every time" rule, so chances are neither Elliot or Tedd would have experienced it. Ellen has never mentioned it after the Sister arc, but it may have been an additional factor as to why she was shown staying in bed a lot and not wanting to do martial arts in her first couple of months- the hormonal variation was probably a bit of a shock to her.

Early NP!

"Early"? In the desert, perhaps... currently, NP is the one comic that's been updating on time.

:c

Goddamnit, they're so cute together in the face of something bad, worrying about each other. If Dan does take the characters all the way to college, I hope he gets Tedd and Grace married.

edited 1st Sep '14 12:04:42 AM by MrMallard

What's with the sudden Justin panel?

Unless Shive pulls another timeskip, it will be decades before the gang's in college.

it's the daily gag I think, Kyler. Tedd's wondering why Justin hasn't been looking for Grace, and the Smash Cut shows that Justin's still trying to get Luke's attention with the earring.

Dammit Justin, just. friggin'. ask. You're literally surrounded by superheroes - the worst that can happen is that things get ugly, and Shade Tail kicks his ass.

More importantly, I think by then, the world will be very different from any that looks at all familiar to us.

edited 1st Sep '14 1:02:58 AM by TwinBird

Dammit, Justin, now I have that annoying Willow Smith song from ages ago stuck in my head.

For some people, the fear of social humiliation brought on by rejection actually outweighs the fear of violence, and there's nothing Grace could do to save him from that.

Remember: death is only the number two most common fear. The first is public speaking. Many people, at a funeral, would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy. Rejection isn't much better for people with little experience, and for someone like Justin who actually has had the world come crashing down around him as a consequence of exploring his sexuality, I can understand why he's so reticent to just come out with it.

Basically, by sitting here and making an idiot of himself, he has a safety net. His chances of actually accomplishing what he's trying to accomplish aren't spectacular, but his chances of social rejection are pretty low as well. If Luke never bites, he can rationalize it to himself, "He's probably just not gay or wasn't interested," without ever risking that rejection. It's silly, but not uncommon for people who are terrified of getting burned again.

What in the world would make anyone think Justin "kicked a fire monster into a river" Tolkiberry was scared of violence here? He didn't mention it, did he?

Tangentially, some people might say that, Tobias, but if someone has the choice of "give a speech or die" I think almost all people would give the speech.

edited 1st Sep '14 6:43:32 AM by RaichuKFM

I find the sweet release of death ten times preferable to possible rejection thank you very much.

Be funny if Luke does notice, but doesn't know what it means.

Hmm... I think the implication is that this arc is very much about "hiding" who you are. Justin is trying to "subtly" hint his homosexuality with the earring and Tedd is "subtly" trying to indicate to Grace that hey, you know, maybe he really does like this being a girl thing. And yes, I know that I sort of overdid the scare quotes there...

Eh, Justin shouldn't be trying to pick up a guy at a card game tournament anyway.

Just because it failed for Dumbass #2, doesn't mean it won't work for Justin!

Really, he could just say to Luke, "Yeah, I've dealt with some assholes in the past as well, and this place isn't entirely free of them, but there are plenty of cool people here as well. I'm usually here (*Justin's shift days/hours*) if you ever want to drop by and say hi."

He doesn't have to ask him out the first time they meet, but simply open up the possibility of another "chance meeting" and put the ball in Luke's court to see if he's interested in catching up again.

You are requiring Shive write an interaction that isn't entirely awkward.

Not awkward would totally forfeiting the mandate of this comic.

Yooooo

I need to stop jumping to conclusions like I did yesterday. Tedd's well and good, and he can totally switch between genders with magic. Awesome.

It is really hard to tell what physical sex Tedd is in. Both forms look very much alike.

Uhh... revelation?

He's still a chick. That much is clear.

I'd say he was a guy. Seemed clear enough to me.

Addendum: Insert Super Saiyan joke here.

edited 2nd Sep '14 5:19:00 AM by RaichuKFM