El Goonish Shive

Re: TobiasDrake's post

Speaking for myself the issue is all of that being true and yet Tedd's mere, very minimal presence seems to warrant taking unnecessary potshots at them by at least one or two people.

And I'll concede I have a bit of a hair trigger on this kind of thing, since the attitude behind it sincerely boggles my mind whenever I see it ^note  My usual first thought is "You do know these characters aren't actually real people, right?". It's why I made a point of quoting two posts that, in a row, made a comment of some kind.

I make no promises. Disliking characters is fine. Disliking them to the level of, what seemed to me, petty comments/jokes at their mere presence, I feel that, at least, merits a comment.

Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 6th 2019 at 10:04:01 AM

Like I said, it's just a "phooey, now we're getting several strips of interacting with a character I don't care for". Hell, it's barely an insult.

At the same time, maybe just relax over characters people don't like. Because they're not real, it's not like it hurts anyone to dislike them.

As for calling Tedd here a "plot device," inserting a minor bit of exposition is, in my mind, acting as a plot device - getting information out there (either to the reader or, in this case, the characters) does move the plot forward ever so much (how much does depend, of course, on what is done with that information). It's a neutral observation on my part.

Of course, I have to seriously question why someone would have issue with me explicitly saying "I have no problems with him here."

Comic Tsos 49

In retrospect, this should have been obvious.

NP NanaseCraft60

This is not how you earn a bonus.

I can't help but notice Nanase didn't ask her to unshrink them.

I predict they'll stay shrunk, Diane will end up with both the scales and an alliance with Ashley/Circe, Sarah will panic when she realizes they have no way of getting back, but Nanase won't care.

I wonder if there's a bonus for bringing back a fairy?

hoo boy.

...my dirty little mind has me thinking of Sly Stallone.

Well, I know what the discussions during the next story will be about.

Still, I kind of like that Shive added in another reason for Grace to have done this whole thing, even if it feels kinda tacked on at the last minute.

Let's hope for the better from the next storyline, I guess. Although I could barely write that sentence with a straight face.

Edited by TheLovecraftian on Mar 8th 2019 at 7:13:44 AM

I wonder - "party"? Was this foreshadowed? I mean, Tedd was sure to meet Ashley (and Tedd's gun was sure to meet Ashley), but were we ever told of a "party"? Or are we going through another preparation-event arc?

So am I the only one wondering whether we're finally going to see male Ashley?

So THAT took a bit of a turn. Also made me think of Gohan in DBZA - "Huh. Where did that come from?"

Thus ends "The Secret of Grace"... wait, "Secret of Sam"? Are we sure that's what the story was about? That's kind of like calling Episode IV of Star Wars "The Secret of R2-D2''.

I guess, in the end, there is some useful character development for Grace, although it was just handled in a really clunky manner. There were way better ways to handle this (not least of which, don't tease the fanbase with something they wanted and then snatch it away).

For the next storyline... first, to be obvious, no way Shive is going there, TwinBird. Second... look, maybe we'll get lucky and Shive is going to again make the storyline about something completely different, but this time it'll be because very few people actually want what's being promised here.

...I'm genuinely not sure whether you mean gangbang or male Ashley.

The former. This is EGS; I always assume a Gender Bender is always on the table for every character except for Ellen (for reasons that are evident in-story).

The previous storyline was pretty much a Sam sandwich. That is, we got some Sam backstory and other character fleshing-out in the middle of an arc that was mostly about Grace. At least the concluding "slice" had Grace act much less melodramatically than the opening one with her... not quite Wangst but over-deliberation and her inexplicable weeping over a character she never even met and who she knows isn't gone for good.

I'm surprised though that Grace didn't notice Sam's developed a crush on her. Granted, in real life not everyone picks up on cues like blushing, but when she isn't being all "whatdoIdowhatdoIdo" Grace has been shown to have a remarkable ability to notice and understand others' feelings. Sometimes a little too remarkable (as Dan half-lampshades in the later commentary to the linked strip), but it is what it is.

In any event, there's the potential for reignited Grace-Sarah drama, should Sarah learn Sam has no romantic interest in her but has it bad for Grace. The drama probably wouldn't last long before they talk-and-hug it out, but it'd at least be a change from almost everyone in the main and supporting cast all but prostrating themselves before Grace's perfection. (Seriously, some of y'all think Shive is shilling Ashley? She's got nothing on Grace, whom Dan's been gushing over almost from the beginning.)

Edited by AliceMacher on Mar 9th 2019 at 11:43:28 AM

At least Grace used to be a fun character to watch.

New Q&A comic My only comment is that Lisa is underestimating Prestidigation (I assume that's what she means by the non-combat wizard spell that cleans stuff).

Dude, Shive overthinks even the backgrounds in Q&A strips. Goddamn.

Well, yeah, Shive has always been enamored with Grace (particularly early on, when the writing felt like Grace was Shive's Galatea). That said, Grace has gotten better, to the point that I'm now kind of on the side that would agree that Grace is not a Mary Sue (it helps that the issues with her that needed tweaking/retconning were not outright awful ones). She still has her moments, and she's not among my favorites (that'd still be Justin, Susan, Ellen, and occasionally Nanase), but she doesn't drive me nearly up the wall as she used to (in part because Shive finally figured out ways to have conflict with her present).

For better or worse, Shive still hasn't figured out how to do that with Ashley (well, that, and the fact that I still miss the Ashley that appeared in the first few strips, the one who apparently had her brain rewritten by the tick gnawing on her skull). This makes it a bit easier to deal with Grace's appearances than Ashley's (that, and fitting Grace in feels way less ham-handed in many instances... though I think this past storyline shows that Grace is far from perfect in that regard).

Comic QA8-2

That answers that.

So no telekinetic crotch grabs. Got it.

I had assumed it was like some variety of sonar, but I guess visual input makes just as much sense.

...really, Dan? Sigh...

Yes you can give shoulder rubs with TK, but it's a bit like giving shoulder rubs with an invisible robotic arm. Unless for some reason grace gets some sort of tactile feedback from TK in which case that's actually kinda overpowered.

Also Ashley is decent for the third NP page in a row, holy shit

Edited by stevebat on Mar 14th 2019 at 3:28:00 PM

Comic QA8-3

Just in case you were wondering.

That's fair.