hkmaly

A good point as far as it goes, but I wasn't suggesting that Sirleck should have possessed him back then. Now is another matter, though, isn't it? Of course NOW it's another matter. Especially considering he no longer has access to his money, unless he has it as cash. The important question is what exactly he bribed the guard for. It PROBABLY was something making the already minimal security even smaller, but was it PRESENTED that way? The most weird thing happening was the diamond being presented on second floor instead of somewhere in box, although Tedd being allowed inside is definitely second. Maybe the bribe was for allowing someone to come look on the diamond, but with supervision of that guard, so what Tedd and Elliot did was still not allowed. Or, yes, maybe the guard accepted the bribe but didn't wanted to actually commit to the terms. Also, third weird thing? Them being let out. While this might've already be done by Edward, perhaps it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't ONE bribe, or perhaps Sirleck actually called with "some details" which made the guard change mind and let Elliot go. EDIT: Wait ... Edward said it was him. Nevermind. To put it more generally: Sirleck bribed the guard based on assumption of what will Elliot do. Guard putting Elliot and Tedd in holding cell might be result of them not behaving according to those assumptions. From my end, I got the notification of your post after I posted. I assume my post went on a different stack than yours. I think what happened was that my post WAS earlier but the notification about it got delayed so you only saw it afterwards. If that happens, I will be very disappointed if Dan doesn't have GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!! in the comic or at least in his commentary. Wouldn't really fit in the comic. Commentary, though, really should include it.

Nyerguds suggested "Pretty Useless". If you suggest he possessed him, remember that possessing him would mean the old rich man would die meanwhile. Tour. It was definitely tour. There is no enchantment at work. Would be against everything we know about the diamond. But neither is likely to happen before Magus touches the diamond. Also, it would be part of battle, so not so disappointing. Ashley kicking the diamond on Sirleck and killing him (and possibly destroying the diamond) while everybody else is busy fighting would actually be funny enough I would consider possible it will happen. Are you sure? According to server times, I made it 320 seconds before you. Not sure how could the system make that big difference. More likely, my post was already on server and you just didn't saw it because you didn't reloaded ... ... unless you mean there was glitch in that automatic notification system which usually warns you if other post was made in forum you have open. That wouldn't surprised me.

The only significant aspect of vampire hunters is that they can summon weapons that are effective against aberrations, that doesn't mean that non-vampire hunters can't kill aberrations, they'd just have more difficulty. Although we can note that Tara and Andrea were very capable of killing aberrations as well and they didn't claim to be vampire hunters. Noriko and her family in general are classed as monster hunters which likely include aberrations but their affinities might not have been specifically geared toward killing aberrations, could have been something else and then branched to include spells for killing aberrations later. Abraham could summon a sword and shield, he probably had to learn how to do that in order to fight the monsters created by the diamond, no telling if one of those monsters was an aberration but I'm willing to bet his summoned sword can still be effective against them. I would say that "vampire hunter" is not about ability but just job description. Summoning talent like Susan's one is useful for such job, but not necessary - and Noriko and her family are likely wizards who learned the necessary spells, as well as lot of others, making them even more qualified than Susan. The same would be true for Tara and Andrea - they have the qualification, but neither actually does the job long-term. And, yes, one can likely kill vampire even without summoned weapons or other anti-aberration spells, so with enough determination they can be vampire hunter too ... it's just not case of anyone we saw so far. As I speculated earlier, he might split into the (miserable excuse for the) human he was before giving up (what little) empathy he had and a body thief who could create more body thieves. All in all, not that funny. OR: The unprecedented situation destroys both Sirleck and the diamond. If this happens before Magus-Elliot touches the diamond... I repeat that Sirleck CANT touch diamond unless he let Ellen go and goes to material plane. Specifically, Ellen controlled by Sirleck touching the diamond doesn't count as Sirleck counting the diamond. No, Sirleck is his name and we already know that gender flipping magic doesn't affect names. I can't even remember seeing that premise done decently. It is too often done for laughs in situations that are not really funny. I suppose it can be funny if it's temporary (although can't remember where/if it was anywhere either) but definitely no way can that be decent permanently. Also, we got ELLEN as separate character because it gets funnier than Elliot switching to Ellen sometimes (well ... he still switches to female, but not single female). I don't think Dan would suddenly want to explore inverse condition. Also, I think destroying Sirleck so suddenly would miss lot of opportunities. It's more likely someone would actually need to spend some effort destroying him.

Thinking Voters. "Governor, you have the vote of every thinking person!" Spectator to Adlai Stevenson To which Stevenson supposedly replied: "That's not enough, madam, we need a majority!" Exactly what I wanted to imply.

Unlikely. Sirleck's plan isn't to keep main 8 occupied ; it's to keep the immortals (Helena and Demetrius) occupied, and maybe DGB. Of course Dan's plan still may be to show how everyone deals with vampires while scattered. Frankly, Sarah's best strategy for dealing with vampires is to run and call for help. She doesn't have any fighting capabilities. EGS is not Buffy. Susan is only awakened weapon summoner we know of, sure. Edward and Wolf don't have specific summoning talent, but they are wizard and likely do have some anti-vampire spell learned. Adrian CERTAINLY does, if the Murder shroud wasn't it (summoned crows might be superefective against vampires). And there is nothing SPECIFIC about slaying vampires except the method used. Technically, he MIGHT've been present when Susan told the story to Grace and Sarah - no immortals around. However, Elliot or Ellen also not around so what would he be doing there? This sounds a line from the Politics thread. Noah has no future in politics. Too open and honest. Also, his way of dealing with anger is to speak formally. What kind of voters he can get with such strategy?

Can you tell me where Dan said that? He set up that not-date for this Friday night back in Squirrel Prophet and had Sarah talk about it in Sister III already. I guess that means he doesn't have to show the not-date itself in Sister III, any more than Dan had to bring Ashley in to provide a witness for Magus. I'm speaking about what he said exactly in the comics where Sarah talks about the (not-)date. Although there are more ways to interpret "As much as people might throw things at me for this, we're not suddenly shifting focus to Sarah and Sam's date, as that's not the focus of this story." I got the feeling the story might be Sister III and that it means we won't see the (not-)date until AFTER it.

Also not counting the switch to Sarah and Sam on their not-date. I wonder if it's a not-date at the mall; I don't know if Sarah knows that Susan is meeting Diane at the mall. Didn't Dan said he's planning to postpone this one AFTER Sister 3? Did it had fuel consumption as a tank as well? I though that's what blinker (turn signal) is for.

Reach? Maybe. It is possible that we will follow them during ride until they get to destination and then we switch to Susan and Diane. Very unlikely to see them actually take the diamond - either it will be done off-panel, or it will take too long for them to finish before December arrives, AND that's not counting the switch to Susan, Diane and vampires OR to Nanase. PS: There is also possibility they are driving to some place where they stored the pre-stolen diamond. However, I consider it unlikely now ; if they already stolen it, it would be closer - if they need to drive somewhere, they likely plan to use Magus's magic to get to the diamond.

Considering statistics regarding how often teenagers crash, I think letting one on street without insurance would be irresponsible anyway - and the lawyers would prosper without insurances as well. If some group is likely to not need the insurance, it's pensioners. All the more reason to encourage overconfidence, which so often leads to carelessness. Possibly. I still think Sirleck is not faking to prefer leaving Ellen alive. They are certainly driving to the place Dewitchery Diamond is kept now ; I don't think Magus would underestimate THIS part of plan. Not if the guard would be sleeping as well, if he will be killed or taken over by Sirleck. Also, the car doesn't need to be parked right in front of the facility. Sure, if it's the same facility, there may be no place around to put the car to where it wouldn't be discovered, but the same doesn't need to be true for some other place. But, yes, it is also possible that Magus and Sirleck will leave Ellen, Elliot and Ashley to be found, especially if the security would be better so it wouldn't be so easy to get to the diamond without raising alarm. In that case, Edward would likely get them out ; sure, he's not in control anymore, but I don't think Dan actually wants to explore the possible complications of Arthur Arthur trying to jail anyone of main eight. It is also possible that there wouldn't be enough guards to search for Ashley left ; Sirleck may take over one, Magus can put multiple to sleep, some will need to follow Abraham in his pursuit because no way he is waiting for reinforcements ... Another possibility is that Sirleck will use the opportunity of Magus touching the diamond and take him over immediately after splitting ; in that case, he's unlikely to care about others, will likely put Elliot into sleep immediately and leave them there. Hmmm ... actually this seems quite likely. In that case, Ashley might wake up in car alone ... Note: It's not in Sirleck interest for anyone to notice the Dewitchery diamond was used ; it's better if there is no missing body. And while Magus is explaining everything to Ashley, he MIGHT prefer if she's only one aware of that plan, to delay the chase.

It specifically says she's better! A bit. Sirleck is SCARED of Pandora, but he's also generally careful. He's likely not scared of main 8 the way he's scared of Pandora but I think he sincerely doesn't want to fight them, especially if there is easy way to avoid it. It's quite likely Sirleck is weaker than Magus in fair fight and knows it ... BUT he doesn't plan fair fight. He plans to use element of surprise. You mean the teenage boys have other reason for driving that getting girls? No wonder it has bigger priority if one is (seen as) prerequisite of other. Oh. Wait. FOR girls. Sorry. Misunderstood it. The fact Grace raised the issue of not having car when Adrian invited her to his home suggest that suburb or not, people in Moperville have hard time getting around without car. First though: Ashley may not need to drive, she can just call someone else in the unlikely case noone arrives before she wakes up in car with Elliot and Ellen long after Magus and Sirleck left. But wait: Elliot's phone is special DGB version. Magus should know that and leave the phones in Dunkel's house so Edward can't track them ... Magus doesn't even know how cars works. Magus is probably not aware that phones can be tracked and Sirleck might not be up-to-date with technology enough to raise the issue either, especially if Sirleck doesn't know about Edward being in DGB ... Ok. It will be interesting to see if they still have phones. Actually, it may not really be an issue even if noone arrives and they don't have phones: if everything will go according to Magus's plan, I would expect Ashley and Elliot would be put to sleep close after each other by same spell so Ashley wouldn't need to wait too long for Elliot to wake up. Ellen might sleep longer before she recovers from Sirleck.

http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=694 That really doesn't seem ditzy. Although she seems to talk faster than she's thinking. Sooo ... next comic will show how would really ditzy Susan be? Will we also get explanation why she's not so ditzy?

No, and they only awakened due to dewitchery diamond which apparently gave them considerable boost (bigger in case of Ellen).

Cats were threatened by extinction from decades of Heathcliff and Garfield comics. It was internet videos that saved our lovable feline parasites. Your timeline is weird. Sure, internet videos saved cats from Heathcliff and Garfields comics, but tens or maybe hundreds of thousands year before that, cat's cuteness was the reason most predators gone extinct or endangered while cats were worshipped. (Well, that and the fact they made agriculture worth it by protecting granaries from rats.)

That may be the biggest secret of raccoon survival: They're so darned cute. Messy, destructive, but cute. Well it DID saved cats.

She could act like grace? I would like to present several examples of non-ditzy squirrel: http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=538 http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=635 http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=657 http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1106

There are two ranks called "colonel" in the US Army, Air Force and USMC. Lieutenant Colonel (Grade O-5) and Colonel (grade O-6). When some one wants to make sure that you know they mean an O-6 type colonel the phrase "full colonel" is used. That doesn't really help. Is that supposed to illustrate how good he was in convincing? Or is it sign of him no longer being friend with rest of group? Or should that help us identifying him in case we knew him? Good point. It could've also been recommended by Magus, but Magus himself didn't had that much opportunities spying on them recently, so getting this information directly from Ellen's memories sounds more likely. Maybe not "muscle memory", but still automatic. I'm not convinced about muscle memory being sufficient for driving car - bicycle, sure, but reactions like avoiding squirrel sounds more like he's using bigger parts of Ellen's brain than just "muscle memory" parts instead of him deliberately search for it in her memories. Of course, that is even stronger claim ... While he may be that old, I don't think he was particularly interested in cars, so if he was it would be huge coincidence. ... are there people who don't recognize name "Mercedes"? I don't think Elliot has so ridiculous magical talent. He got his magic by training ASMA and touching the diamond. No. The hereditary talents comes from having Immortal ancestry, but you can use magic even without such talent. On the other hand yes, Sarah DOES have hereditary affinity, Rhoda likely has hereditary talent too and Catalina being almost like cat might've been caused by something more than just her name, yes ... (However, we have no signs that Justin have any hereditary talent. Just like Elliot, he may just worked hard at ASMA.) That's definitely issue: having talent doesn't mean you know about it. Multiple generations could not become magic users and still passed the gene. Considering he was mainly trying to get somewhere safer, he might just make up "reasons" and wouldn't be particularly sad if the spying involved spending some time searching for him. Sounds reasonable to me. 'Friends and family', to me, includes the families of friends. Hmmm ... ok, that is alternative. The families of Ellen's friends are definitely noteworthy. That's quite likely, yes. Winning? Possible. Actually hurting her in the process? Unlikely. Trying to fight Nanase in Ellen's body would put Ellen into "sparing with friend" mode. Or possibly in "sexual foreplay" mode ... we don't know what became with that tradition of kissing after match with Nanase actually being attracted to Ellen. Neither would include any dangerous moves, if Ellen even knows those. This wouldn't really be "Ellen actively fighting against control", but it would STILL limit Sirleck's options. Of course, Nanase at the same time would limit herself because she doesn't actually hurt Ellen, so the handicaps would likely be similar. Hmmm ... would Sirleck be embarrassed by ending fight with kissing against his will or would he enjoy the sensation enough to not really care it's not what he wanted? There is alternative explanation: maybe Sirleck doesn't exactly have lot of time of surviving without host even when the previous host is healthy.

Probably the parts "saw on charlotte's forum" and "elliot's gonna drop me off", at least. And, of course, "see you there". Confirms that's Sirleck taps into hosts memories, including muscle memory, in order to keep suspicion down. Yes, that as well. Technically she was sent somewhere specific, to Charlotte and Rhea's apartment expecting expecting Ellen to be there as well so they could investigate the "Case of the College Creeper". Yeah, but just technically. Sirleck didn't had any plan requiring her being on specific place, just not around and preferably far away. She didn't because ITS NOT SIX YET. I mean, we don't know but as I was already saying in previous comics forum thread, it would make more sense if Sirleck's and Magus's attack happened between the start of vampires attack and the time Nanase arrives at college. If it takes half hour to drive to college, they can be sure she's already away in 5:30 and they can have more than hour headstart when Nanase finally gives up waiting for Ellen and trying to phone her and returns to Dunkel's. ... and yes, even at Dunkel's she wouldn't be able to see which direction they left in. Meaning she'll probably tries to contact Edward if he has some means to track them, but Edward would already be busy because vampires are attacking since 5:00 ... EDIT: Wait ; we don't know how long Ashley was sleeping. Maybe it IS six already and they are already hour (so, like, 60 miles) from Moperville.

I'm sure they only do it because they are hungry and the lawns are much greener than what they are used to. Most likely, his range on spirit plane is limited. And/or time he can spend without host. It's big school, searching through it on spirit plane would take long time. Also, might alert Adrian Raven, if he was still there and didn't left early due to his charity.

Not counting the colon bit, I'm not sure what "as a full colonel" signifies. I'm pretty sure Sirleck is talking about ELLEN's family. Of course, unless he means Elliot, this still leaves the question of how powerful they are. We know her FRIENDS are powerful, starting with Tedd and Nanase, yet he still mentions Dunkels? Does this have something to do with how calmly they took Elliot being girl and later split into two? I would assume the deer though it's enough in country. Remember, deer doesn't use cars for transportation (at least not deliberately) so those few miles looks longer to them.

You think Ashley will destroy the world? Wouldn't be first.

If you can roll a vowel on 2d6 you are using weird dice. Just saying. I think I have those. Sure, they're meant as scrabble pieces, but they are more like cubes.

I can tell you if that car is going 80mph, it's most certainly going to get the attention of police, that's at least 20 over the speed limit, probably 40-50 over if they're still in the city. Wait, I though 80mph is the correct speed for highway? Obviously, too much in city. Sure, that information was based on playing transport tycoon, but when I check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States it seems to confirm that ... for Nevada and Idaho and few more. Right. Illinois has 70 mph. So I meant 70 mph. Most interstates in Chicagoland are official speed limit 55 or 60 mph, but with the average actual speed at least ten mph above that. 80mph might risk getting noticed, but if it's a heavier traffic time of day, they've pretty much admitted they're a lot less likely to enforce mere speed limits. Good. 70mph will work. According to Nioi, it treated a colour changing spell and a temporary rejuvenation spell as a curse. I think that durn thing is way too trigger happy on the false positives. What do you mean, false positives? It IS enchantment. Works as designed. By Abraham. ... totally support Ashley touching the diamond and split into Ashley which can make herself calm and calm Ashley who can make others calm. The first one can date Elliot and the second Magus. After Magus convinces her he meant well, obviously. Sirleck won't touch the Dewitchery Diamond unless he let's Ellen go, as he's not on material plane. Ellen, meanwhile, is not enchanted even when controlled by Sirleck. Presumably, however considering Cheerleadra spell is not ranged, it won't make a ranged version for the permanent Cheerleadra either. Most likely, Cheerleadra would need to kiss someone to transform him. Or her. ... ok, thats another good idea ...

Body cams (and shoulder radios) can also have live feeds. The beauty of body cams, radios, and live feeds is that however a cop stop goes, it can lead to more things. Things like footage showing up on the news later; for instance, or further interest by law enforcement. And what do Ashley's parents do, anyway? Or Elliot's dad? For all we know, any or all of them could be in law enforcement. I was implying that after the cop would be put to sleep Sirleck and Magus would be chased by police who want to ask them what they did to the first cop. Magus can easily disable the cop BEFORE Ashley is clearly seen. And I would be more concerned with what TEDD's dad going to do - I'm sure that live feed showing cop being attacked by magic is going to be reported to DGB. Although Arthur Arthur may be handling that now, without anyone informing Edward (unless agent Cranium does it again). But this is basic mind control we're talking about, Ashley may be calm in a way that's like "you don't feel the need to run from us". Sure she can ask questions about what's going on, but if she doesn't feel the need to stop them, then she's not going to try. So far it seems it's stopping her from panicking. Which may stop her from trying to run from car in 80mph - that's not the kind of stuff calm people would try (while it MAY be something panicked Ashley would do if the doors are not locked, which would DEFINITELY make this too dark). She may also quickly realize that any plan for stopping them should include a way to get Elliot back. So, even without the spell having explicit "you don't need to run from us", just being calm can make her not considering running good idea. And just hearing the last panel in this page can suggest to her that Sirleck is the more dangerous one. First, no. Second, there is mind switch in Goonmanji. It just didn't happened in canon. Although Tedd and Grace changing their bodies to each other has similar effect.

Also keep in mind that Plan CM was set in motion before Voltaire vowed, the loophole could be that that vow only applies to future attempts, where Plan CM would be a past attempt that's still in progress and Voltaire doesn't feel duty bound to stop it. It still somewhat limits what he can do with Elliot. It's not complete protection, of course, but I still think that the reason why he appeared and voluntarily vowed was that killing Elliot was no longer part of his plan. Sure, can still happen, he certainly wouldn't be broken-hearted by it, but it's not part of plan CM. Sirleck could be using Ellen's knowledge of driving. Magus' method of possession likely doesn't have that perk of having access to a host's memories, I would guess that if he did, he'd be able to tell if Elliot would remember this experience. Good point. Which is largely Elliot's experience of driving. Even if Sirleck can access Ellen's memories, sorting out which memories are which could be giving him unprecedented difficulties. Ellen has three sets of memories; her own since she came into existence, Elliot's before, and Second Life Ellen's. Only if he attempts to find something specific. The spell was recent memory, newer than the Elliot ones or the Second Life. The driving experience doesn't need to be divided - he can use both Elliot's and Second Life Ellen's experience together. I totally support this idea for more fun. Not sure if Dan has enough panel space for it, though. Still safer like this than if Ashley would be bonded. Although, if Ashley will be TOO calm in such situation, she may appear to be high. That might also not be safe appearance in front of cop ... WE may remember that, but would Magus? (Cop stops them. Magus puts him in sleep. Sirleck will explain the body cam idea to him. Could be fun.)

Yes. Might be "twice". It is clear she was first OBVIOUS non-monster. There might be some debatable cases before. He only won because Adrian wanted to give him chance to surrender. He's not powerful enough for guardian form. But doesn't matter: I was not questioning his power. I was questioning his experience and wisdom. It can be deliberate statement he may not be able to fulfil.