El Goonish Shive

SUSAN

I'm just entertained because I happen to know of a few rental places that still exist. That said, for all of them, rentals are just a side part of their business, and a good chunk of their rental stock is more rare films such that they effectively operate that portion of their business as a paid membership-only version of a film library.

Mind you, I only know of three of these places, and they're spaced pretty far apart (for example, one's in Seattle and another is in Portland... Portland, Maine). So yeah, Tensaided's business is probably not going to last much longer as it currently exists. That said, I could easily see tweaks that he could make with his business model such that the store could survive to this day even if Susan leaves and never comes back.

Also, I remembered the fact that the story is now, what, taking place 15-18 years ago? EGS is still a good decade away from streaming finally delivering the death blow to most of the rental industry.

I mean there's definitely been a sliding time scale with the tech and the social norms. Such as the terminology used and the fact that Elliot and Susan had a popular online show (for some fucking reason). And while you could argue that sort of thing happening in the early 2000s, that sort of thing didn't really take off until years later and you definitely couldn't watch it on your phone in bed like they did in the comic.

Edited by MrAHR on Mar 20th 2019 at 3:47:31 PM

There is that, admittedly. Still, while definitely niche, the fact that some video stores still exist leads me to think that there is a way to tweak Tensaided's business for the modern day (for example, he could become a candy shop, because unless he has outrageous markup on the candy near the register, I doubt that's keeping the store afloat).

Outrageous markup on candy does seem in line with rental stores of yore. I remember pestering my dad to get us popcorn and ice cream at the exit (in other words, I'd fall hook line and sinker for the marketing tactics they used) every time we rented games or movies, but thankfully he was a cheapskate.

There's nothing in the story that implies he's even British, but I continue to imagine Tensaided is voiced by Brian Blessed.

Must be the beard. Also, I believe you mean BRIAN BLESSED

Edited by ironballs16 on Mar 20th 2019 at 8:45:31 AM

There's a rental place in walking distance of my apartment.

I don't watch movies much to begin with, but my girlfriend rented Star Wars.

................ I suddenly remember that I've been wanting to watch certain films that Netflix doesn't have. I should see if these people do.

I use my library for that. But then, I'm given to understand that the Central Ohio library system (about a dozen different libraries, not just branches, but separate libraries, share their content with each other) is better than most.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Mar 21st 2019 at 11:10:15 AM

Comic QA8-6

Come on girls and do your duty...

NP NanaseCraft 66

The answer's in the name for a specific value of 'party'.

I mean, I get that rental places traditionally have a distinct markup on register candy, but even still, between how often people buy it (not that often), and the margins needed to keep a store open, Tensaided would have to be charging at least 5 bucks for a king-sized candy bar to be able to stay afloat via candy sales unless he did go full-on candy store (and thus could afford to go with more reasonable prices).

For today's comic... huh, while EGS occasionally has the Only Six Faces problem, those aren't the two I would have picked as being hard to distinguish.

Yeah, I can pretty easily distinguish between Sarah and Diane. They have pretty different face shapes.

I was not aware this even was a point of confusion. Sarah's pretty recognizable. And Diane has Susan's distinguishable body shape. This was a plot point.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 22nd 2019 at 12:23:51 PM

Diane paid millions of dollars to get an artifact for party fun times?

The scale of value shifts when you have millions of dollars.

That's why whales exist, after all.

I know you meant Bribing Your Way to Victory, but I'm just gonna have fun imagining you meant the actual real animal of whale exists due to rich people with nothing better to buy

The only time I’ve ever seen confusion between Sarah and Diane was at the beginning of Nanase Craft.

For what it's worth, rich people wasting their money on stupid shit is actually good for the economy. It keeps the money in circulation.

It's when rich people horde billions of dollars in dragon vaults and refuse to spend it that the economy suffers.

Like. If Eric Trump spent all of his dad's money on stupid shit, feeding those billions of dollars back into the economy and bankrupting the Trump Organization, he would be a national goddamn hero.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 23rd 2019 at 9:37:40 AM

It does also depends on where they spend that money. If they're blowing millions on the artwork of an already rich artist, that money probably isn't trickling down into the economy very quickly. Arguably, even things like expensive cars and real estate only benefit a handful of people (and the latter drives prices up for everyone else, sometimes edging the residents out of their own neighborhood).

Comic QA8-7

NP NanaseCraft67

I know Shive is trying to poke fun at the "obvious solution" and have Voltaire's response in the sixth panel be obvious bluster, but Voltaire's actually right. Don't Shoot the Message is a very real problem in both education and debate. Someone arguing a good point terribly can have a devastating impact on that point's ability to get across.

"I think we should have a basic guaranteed income for all Americans!"

"And why is that?"

"Because the Mexicans get welfare so why shouldn't I?"

That dude's not winning any arguments, and he's actually making the argument for basic income, a very good thing that we should have, look shittier by being involved with it.

That is what Voltaire was trying to do with Tedd: shoot the message by sabotaging the messenger.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 25th 2019 at 8:23:07 AM

Voltaire obviously puts a lot of stock into appearing as wise and powerful as possible. That said, while I know this is technically all non-canon, it's interesting to note that Voltaire seems genuinely worried about the possibility of Tedd's parents gunning for him. For all that they played up being ridiculously powerful, this is the first indication that mortals have the potential to threaten immortals. I know that "suffer" can have all sorts of possible meanings, but it's still the first indication of any sort that it's even possible.

Unrelated to the above, this comic also opens up the small but distinct possibility that, much as he may not want to admit it, Voltaire doesn't want to murder if he can at all help it. Of course, that isn't to say he's even remotely good - there's a whole lot of evil one can do while ensuring everyone lives.

Not really the first indication. The whole point of Voltaire trying to change magic was to keep mortals from being able to threaten him when he went full Evil Overlord (or whatever) on them. "Knives in the toy chest," to use his analogy.

If we include non-human creatures, the first indication that immortals can be vulnerable to mortals was Tara displaying a hint of her full power as she told Voltaire to "Be GONE!" Voltaire of course claimed she was no threat to him, but his shocked expression as she powered up said otherwise.