El Goonish Shive

Do not import or export drama. We don't want that to be what people associate when they think of TvTropes.

But good on you for coming forward. It sounds like you understand why this was a terrible idea.

edited 13th Aug '15 5:48:58 PM by TobiasDrake

Well, I get it now.

WHY WOULD YOU SIGN THE FORUM'S NAME ON THE QUESTION!? It is like you were actively attempting to make us look bad.

Here's a funny joke, here's where it's from.

But yeah, sorry. I thought it was a joke.

For those who were wondering...

Huh, looks like Dan touched on the elephant in the room regarding his avatar on Tumblr. I'd sort of thought he was putting that off for the coming sketchbook, which is why this one had to be delayed even as he could get Thursday's done point-blank. That's probably still true - he doesn't say much - but more than I would have expected.

Story comic

You know, transforming with this many witnesses might have consequences, but I can't really see it being that big a deal. I mean, what's the worst that's gonna happen, right? Elliot was transformed already, so he didn't exactly blow his secret identity, and Ashley isn't in any worse a position than Justin for being associated with him, so, eh. Smart people might make deductions if they knew Ashley was supposed to be with Elliot, but then again, if a bunch of eyewitnesses identified a pink-haired girl transforming into Cheerleadra, that's likely to throw the scent off. Nobody expects a superhero to have a secret identity for their secret identity. TBH, I'd be more worried about Ashley's friends wondering why she apparently blew off her date to hang out with a superhero. (Actually, I guess that's kind of an "answered your own question" thing, isn't it?)

First, regarding the demonic duck - called it! Okay, it was in sketches instead of NP, but still, knew it was coming soon.

Second, for Sunday's strip... In terms of people who could find out, Catalina is low on who'd I'd really worry about. Sure, she's pretty horrible about keeping secrets, but that's only with friends. Pretty much every friend who she could potentially "spill" it to pretty much already knows.

Rhoda is the one I'd worry about, but not out of malice. I could see her off-handedly mentioning all of this to Diane, and Diane connecting the dots between what Rhoda tells her about Cheerleadra's appearance and other rumors she hears about Elliot's date (and you know Diane probably is searching those latter rumors out).

If you think it might be contrived that might all come together like that... well, yeah, but when has that ever stopped Shive before?

The way Shive calls attention to Catalina and Rhoda seeing Cheerleadra means one of two things, I think.

1. Shive's drawn attention to how much Cheerleadra resembles Ellen in the past. Rhoda's the first person to witness the transformation who actually knows Ellen and thus might assume that she actually is Ellen.
2. Shive just wanted us to have some Rhoda/Catalina WAFFs.

From the Commentary

Please don't tempt fate, Shive. We all know how you love explaining things.

edited 17th Aug '15 7:09:27 AM by TobiasDrake

Well, the actual transformation, yes. That said, Diane has seen both Ellen and Cheeleadra. Of course, she saw them simultaneously, so Diane can quickly assure people that they are two distinct people. Though even if she isn't about to tell details about the New Year's party, since Diane is hanging out with Ellen right now, Diane can quickly shoot down any "Ellen is really Cheerleadra" rumors definitively.

And a bunch of people just saw a pink-haired girl (who is not Ellen) transform into Cheerleadra, so that probably cuts down on the risk.

Complete tangent, something that occurred to me...

When the Dewitchery Diamond does its thing, it basically embodies the enchantment while allowing the original to go back to normal. The Cheerleadra form is an enchantment. Does that mean that Elliot could produce a free-standing Cheerleadra if he touched the diamond in that form?

I mean, there might be some rule (like those affected by the diamond cannot split off further copies) that we're not aware of that would keep it from happening. And supposedly, "new souls" like those born of the diamond (like Ellen) are under some sort of risk from their creation, so maybe it's not the best idea. But in theory, it could be done, right?

I mostly wonder because that could be a Chekhov's Gun that was overlooked (although I do assume that Edward Verres' former employer has put in some stronger security around it).

I believe that would be how it works, barring the existence of some additional rule we don't know about. But I'm not convinced that's likely to come up.

Maybe Rhoda will tell Diane and Diane will immediately deduce that Elliot is Cheerleadra based on a chain of suspiciously accurate assumptions.

Shive kind of loves that trope.

edited 17th Aug '15 12:40:44 PM by TobiasDrake

I've just realised how easy it would be for someone with a super-form enchantment to create a clone army of themselves with the DD.We know that it's never been pulled off successfully due to Abraham, but I could definitely see a future villain trying it.

A shapeshifter shifting his or her shape isn't really a curse. It's a feature.

The "curse" that created Ellen came from a third party and was not, at the time, a standard aspect of Elliot's powerset.

edited 17th Aug '15 2:52:04 PM by TobiasDrake

I think you could easily justify the DD not knowing the difference.

Plus it would wake up Abraham and he'd get a chance to do that whole atonement thing by saving the world from an army of clones.

edited 17th Aug '15 2:53:55 PM by Elfive

You could justify about anything, but I don't think Shive would. He puts a lot of work into the metaphysics of his story.

Besides, if he wanted someone to have an army of magic clones, he could just give them "Army of Magic Clones" as a spell. No need to involve the DD at all.

edited 17th Aug '15 2:55:37 PM by TobiasDrake

Actually thinking about it you might be right. It's a fairly simple test to tell an alternate form from a curse form: Can you turn back?

Do we really have to keep calling the dewitchery diamond the DD?

In the context of EGS, when I hear DD, all I can think about is boobs.

Does no one remember how Nioi got her clone? She was idly changing her color with magic when she touched the dewitchery diamond and was disenchanted. So no, the DD doesn't make a distinction.

So in a nutshell, it would work on Tedd if he used his watches or the TF gun, it would work on Elliot as Cheerleadra or Nanase's Guardian form, but it would not work on Tedd using his magic mark spell, since that's not counted as an enchantment.

Yeah, I was wondering what huge racks had to do with transformations. Then I remembered this was EGS.

Honestly, in the context of EGS, my first thought when I hear "DD" is the Demonic Duck. Even though the Dewitchery Diamond is more plot-important all things considered (...having brought one of the main characters into existence is somewhat important...), the Demonic Duck has been in the strip more often, and is frankly more interesting.

I mean, is he actually demonic, or does he just look demonic? Is there some sort of Hellish or not-so-Hellish world he's from, or was he just an ordinary duck, human, and/or demon somehow cursed? That girl with him in last Thursday's sketchbook - who is she? Honestly, her status as a sexy prop feels gross enough that I really hope Dan does something, anything with her in the future...

He's confirmed non-demonic. He just looks that way.