El Goonish Shive

I'm guessing it's government work.

Well this was unexpected.

Beedrill more closely resembles a wasp or hornet but okay...

According to Shive's blurb today, it's a question with no answer. He's just teasing fans with it.

Its Japanese name is "Supia", which is meant to be the English word "Spear". Following suit with many Japanese works, Pokemon likes to use English as an exotic-sounding language to turn ordinary words into cool names.

Thus, it is literally just called "Spear" in Japan. So. Yeah. It might actually be a wasp or a hornet; the localizers added the "bee".

EDIT: That being said, there is a bee Pokemon in its evolutionary chain. But it's Weedle, whose Japanese name, "Beedle" is a portmanteau of "Bee Needle". So it didn't exactly come out of nowhere when they decided to call Supia "BEEdrill".

EDIT EDIT: In case anyone's curious, Pikachu is one of the few Gen-1 Pokemon to not have its name localized. It literally translates to "Squeaking Mouse" in Japanese. Its evolution, Raichu, is "Squeaking THUNDER".

Edited by TobiasDrake on Jul 16th 2018 at 8:05:35 AM

Must... resist... geeking on Pokemon...

I like to do my own headcanon that what Pandora did isn't done because it requires certain steps ahead of time that most immortals don't know how to do. Pandora spent the extra time figuring out those steps - this solves for the most part the issues of why others aren't doing it.

As for why she didn't until now, that's much easier to explain regardless of the reasons why these types of resets aren't done more frequently. Even though she's more or less returning to the same state mentally, she's not returning to the same level of power. It'd be like if you were suddenly reverted to being an infant but with your current mental acuity and knowledge. Sure, you'd be just as smart and know all the things you currently know... but with literal baby strength (possibly not even able to hold your head up yet, depending on how far you were rewound), you're not going to be able to actually do most of the things you could do in your adult body.

Regardless of whether or not she was correct in believing so, she felt that she needed to have a certain level of power to accomplish her aims, and she did as much as she could to maintain that. Her reset, such as it is, was her own Godzilla Threshold. Now, she has to accept that she has much less ability to accomplish her aims, regardless of the fact that she was able to keep them more or less intact.

For a minor point, Ellen could also start carrying around an (empty) contacts case and say she wanted to experiment with colored contacts. It's about as much effort as saying that she wants to experiment with hair colors.

As for the Dunkels in the latest strip, well, the elder Dunkels have previously shown an eerie level of planning and preparedness when it comes to logistics. I know what I'm personally hoping for - Mr. Dunkel happens to work for a box chain and organizes floor plans for a living, Mrs. Dunkel just happens to have similar talents, and they both have the GURPS advantage Unfazeable.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if, if asked, they credit it to having done a seminar. They seem like the sort of parents who occasionally left Elliott at home while they attended something to enrich their marriage or to become better parents.

Comic Sister3-304

Chatting.

Oh, Greg and your logistics. That said, I always appreciate, even if it's not vocalized, when someone suggests changes to make sure sartorial desires don't get in the way of a fight.

Oh, and relevant to the previous - it occurs to me that everyone (myself in particular included) overthought the "eye changing colors" thing. It's well documented even in our (presumably non-magic) society that there are several factors that can cause a change in eye color, and we still don't know all of them.

Elliot seriously does have long hair. Didn't greg teach him about grabbing points and wind turbines?

Greg's not concerned with Elliot's hair getting in his way in a fight. If that was his issue, he'd have no problem stating it out loud.

He's willing to accept Elliot's logic with a Sure, Let's Go with That because his actual rationale for encouraging Elliot to cut his hair is impolite to state aloud. He's trying to politely say, "You should get a haircut because your mullet is ass-f*cking-ugly. What is this, the 90's?"

NP Gam-14

Who wears short shorts?

Jesus, for someone who abhors violence, Justin sure did an awful lot of XP-grinding in the Viridian Forest if he managed to get his Grace to evolve before even facing his first Gym Leader.

Then again, he seems to be soloing this with his Starter, so that might account for it. I know some players do that. It's weird.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Jul 18th 2018 at 11:20:32 AM

I did it when I first picked up Pokemon Red. Of course, I was like ten and just thought Charmander was cool, so I didn't want to use anyone else. But still, the fact that the strategy actually works doesn't really say the best thing about the difficulty level of the games.

This is a situation where the limited difficulty fits the motif better. Pokemon is a game about a child exploring the world with his pet; it's not unreasonable to allow a play-style where you pick a favorite pet and stick with it through thick and thin.

That's so weird to me.

Pokemon, to me, is about two things. An engaging collectathon where the random monsters that litter a game's world are, themselves, the collectibles for players to try and obtain. And a strategy RPG about formulating different tactics to allow different teams to overcome the Violence-Puzzles presented in each encounter.

I cannot see the appeal of ignoring the "capture Pokemon" dynamic entirely in favor of just brute-force leveling your Starter and having it bulldoze through every encounter in the game. Like.

I can see why it works; the game was designed to provide adequate XP to level a team of six, so having one Pokemon hog all that XP is guaranteed to skyrocket its level to the point that none of the complex battle mechanics actually matter anymore. But. I don't see how that would be fun.

...

Then again, I'm weird. I stop at every Pokemon Center to select a completely new party at random in order to shake up the team's dynamic and force myself to devise wholly new strategies out of Pokemon I might not have considered using before. "Three water types, Raichu, Jynx, and Jumpluff? Alright, let's see what we can make from this!"

B-but, I like long hair Elliot. Don't cut it!

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the impression that Graceasaur is The Stoner at this point? That's a very "mellow" expression in that panel.

@Tobias That's because you're looking at it from the stance of an adult. Think about being a pre-teen kid who wants to be THE hero. Not "part of a team," but the one who can do it all. Sure, not how I like to play, but I understand from whence it comes.

As for the main comic, I agree with you - that mullet is not doing Elliot any favors. I realized who he reminds me of - Brand from The Goonies. And you know, Brand was a bit of a dingus, if I'm allowed to say that about the kid who grew up to be Cable and Thanos.

My experience with brute forcing it as a kid was that I would find one Pokemon I adored, and then I would try to make it the Strongest Ever. Which is why I ended up with an absurdly powerful Chimecho that just destroyed everything.

http://www.egscomics.com/comic/sister3-305

"@#$! Yes!"

Is keeping your phone on you during a haircut something that people without glasses do?

Also, lady, you're not her mom. You don't get to talk about what language Diane uses.

I... what have glasses got to do with it?

I think because, when you're nearsighted, it's difficult to see your haircut in the mirror, but if you snap a picture, you can then hold it closer to your face.

Because I always take off my glasses when I get a haircut - they can get in the stylist's way when they're cutting.

It's usually hard to do cuz of the poncho thingy you wear. But diane probably doesn't give a fuck.