Drasvin

With Dan's commentary, it would seem that Kevin is a more recent creation, rather than an inert artifact from a previous system. He not only knows modern English, but also gets Elizabethan English significantly wrong AND thinks the 'Ye Olde English' sounds sophisticated and 'mystical.'
As for why Kevin, a wizard training device, would be considered useless (considering that even simple and benign wands can be used to awaken magic), he seems rather obnoxious and temperamental. The DGB probably just figured no one would be able to put up with Kevin long enough to get any use out of him.

With Dan's commentary, it would seem that Kevin is a more recent creation, rather than an inert artifact from a previous system. He not only knows modern English, but also gets Elizabethan English significantly wrong AND thinks the 'Ye Olde English' sounds sophisticated and 'mystical.'
As for why Kevin, a wizard training device, would be considered useless (considering that even simple and benign wands can be used to awaken magic), he seems rather obnoxious and temperamental. The DGB probably just figured no one would be able to put up with Kevin long enough to get any use out of him.

With Dan's commentary, it would seem that Kevin is a more recent creation, rather than an inert artifact from a previous system. He not only knows modern English, but also gets Elizabethan English significantly wrong AND thinks the 'Ye Olde English' sounds sophisticated and 'mystical.'
As for why Kevin, a wizard training device, would be considered useless (considering that even simple and benign wands can be used to awaken magic), he seems rather obnoxious and temperamental. The DGB probably just figured no one would be able to put up with Kevin long enough to get any use out of him.

With Dan's commentary, it would seem that Kevin is a more recent creation, rather than an inert artifact from a previous system. He not only knows modern English, but also gets Elizabethan English significantly wrong AND thinks the 'Ye Olde English' sounds sophisticated and 'mystical.'
As for why Kevin, a wizard training device, would be considered useless (considering that even simple and benign wands can be used to awaken magic), he seems rather obnoxious and temperamental. The DGB probably just figured no one would be able to put up with Kevin long enough to get any use out of him.

I think Kevin can only teach magic to wizards (and only wizards), he can't cast any magic himself, except perhaps in the process of teaching his apprentice (in which case either he doesn't have enough power to harm the Golem or he knows Ashely isn't ready to learn such spells and isn't willing or able to bend the rules on when he can use magic).
As for the magpie, first of all we don't know it's going after the Golem - it could be going after a fourth, as yet unseen magical artifact.
Secondly, while all these other artifacts activating around it might be what triggered it to act, it's also possible that it had been intentionally shut down and the magic released by the destruction of the Dewitchery Diamond turned it back on.
In fact, I suspect that all these artifacts activating now is only related to the Magic Change in the sense that there are more potentially functional artifacts in the facility now than there were earlier in the day; I think it is the energy from the destruction of the diamond that's actually turning everything on. (Which means the same thing would have happened on a smaller scale even if Magus had done his resurrection trick before the Change. Pandora probably knew about this and didn't tell him, hoping to watch the fireworks; she'll be disappointed she missed it.)

Now you have me wondering if one of the magical artifacts might be an Endless Barrel of Exposition.

I can't recall having any arguments with my characters, but that's partially because I generally just let them do whatever they want, and partially because when I do have a particular outcome in mind I'm not afraid to go back in time and play around with the course of history (i.e., rewrite/revise) until I find one with the results I want. (Although changing history does have it's risks; it's amazing how easy it is to create plot holes that way...)

I don't think "annoyed" or "embarrassed" are the main reason Susan is blushing right now.  Something else starting with an "a"....

Mph. As a kid I never did see the attraction. I was the social outcast and responded in the very mature way of taking pride in never doing what the other kids thought was cool. Drinking was one of these things.
Also, my mother was an alcoholic and drank enough to ruin four lives. This led me to a conclusion I have not once had any reason to change. If I don't begin, I don't have to stop.

Small aside. I just watched the pilot episode of Black Lightning. There was a scene where two cops decided Black Lightning was a bad guy and they both tased him repeatedly.
It developed that as brilliant plans went, shooting a superhero several times with a weapon that just made him stronger wasn't among the top ten on the list.

This is possibly the best NP strip I have seen for quite a while. Susan being able to even temporarily overcome her inhibitions for some reason fills me with contentment.

It's Dan plotting out the preliminaries for his new cult movie project, Talk Club.
Rule One: Do not fight about Talk Club.

I do. I also remember that I eventually told her to take that argument and stuff it.

I suspect if you had some sort of "gender-meter" that you could point at someone and it would tell you objectively what gender-category best fit them, it would place Ellen outside or between the "male" and "female" categories (in whatever category "gender-meh" was labeled as). However gender is such a personal issue that I think how a person chooses to label themself (or not label themself) is far more important than what a gender-meter would tell you - and not just because there's no such thing as a gender-meter.
Magus is extremely insistent he's male - so much so that I'm sure he's not gender-meh, and is somewhat insecure about his gender or how people perceive his gender; it's also clear gender has been a source of conflict in his life. This leads me to suspect two possible scenarios: Magus identified as female as a child and still feels female inside, and is trying to convince himself he made the right choice, OR Magus has always identified as male but no one respected or believed that and when he finally got the chance to transition he had to come up with some sort of justification for why he was doing so. I'm not sure which is more likely.
Either way, Magus clearly currently wishes to be referred to as male, so until/unless that changes I intend to use male pronouns for him.

A nit to pick: Super Elliot is wearing a costume. He wasn't wearing gauntlets and boots. It's mostly like the Uryuom suit Grace  uses, but the pattern of the upper part sort of matches the jacket Elliot was wearing before transforming.
Also, not a mere "plus". The word you are looking for is "AWESOME!"

Most likely, but I strongly suspect that Magus's prejudices are coloring his perceptions and he might not be as strong relative to the main cast as he thinks he is. He's not going to be a push-over, he is a trained battle mage after all, but his own confidence, combined with those prejudices, could be his undoing.

Ah, so this is how the fight between Magus and Elliot starts. Unless Ashley is able to convince Magus otherwise, but I doubt that is going to happen. I really hope Elliot goes Cheerleadra and wipes the floor with Magus.

Most likely, but I strongly suspect that Magus's prejudices are coloring his perceptions and he might not be as strong relative to the main cast as he thinks he is. He's not going to be a push-over, he is a trained battle mage after all, but his own confidence, combined with those prejudices, could be his undoing.

Susan. Definitely Susan. She's like an intelligent, snarky Elliot, and ...

Most likely, but I strongly suspect that Magus's prejudices are coloring his perceptions and he might not be as strong relative to the main cast as he thinks he is. He's not going to be a push-over, he is a trained battle mage after all, but his own confidence, combined with those prejudices, could be his undoing.

This is true. But call me old-fashioned, when I am part of a manned expedition headed into space, I would like the calculations to be just a little more exact than that. Especially that bit at the end where you probably want to head back to the Earth without either burning to a cinder or becoming a huge impact crater somewhere. (Admittedly the odds are against that -- a huge splash is more likely by far. But even though the odds of the crater outcome are low, I am sure that those who potentially might live where the crater-to-be is about to form would appreciate more exact calculations, too.)

My job often requires jerk-like behavior.
Why should I be a jerk when no one is paying me?

...I'm not sure. On one hand, I hope that he learned his lesson to adhere to the spirit of his vows instead of the letter of them. On the other hand, Abraham has shown himself to not be that good at thinking through his actions.

Ashley,
I know you were thrust from background to secondary to approaching-principal character status pretty quickly.  But that is no excuse.
You should have read the handbook and attended the staff meetings just like everyone else.