hkmaly

It was mentioned in commentary. I think she suspect that by staying, she would be risking they end up even WORSE. (Spoiler for Friday's comics: she's right.) Also, while the duration is unpredictable and can be long, she may already know that it IS going to expire by itself eventually.

http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=672 I fail to see how turning Nanase Akiko's age would help the situation ... unless that wasn't the point. However, I'm sure that if the clothes ending small would be mentioned, this answer would win by very wide margin.

Yeah, she can likely pick which colour to be when she casts the spell, but beyond that she only seems to change colour to indicate her clones going poof. It's less "which color to be" and more "which color to skip summoning".

Well I don't think there is limit in the spell ; only reason she can't cast two Foxes would likely be she doesn't have enough energy for it ... or DIDN'T have. Her magic capacity went up while she was burned out, didn't it? No she wasn't. Look at this and next three comics and you'll see ALL color clones AND Nanase next. She was one of them only when she needed to. Hmmm ... combined attack: Nanase changes into three versions which are completely identical (instead of color-coded). One of them is illusion, one is real Nanase, one is Fox.

... I should've reloaded the page before making the edit. I don't think Fox actually have some personality. I think she's using Nanase's personality and is unable to have separate "character grow" or anything. True. Although ability to make permanent duplicates like this sounds 1) OP 2) Evil if you get rid of them and quickly going out of hand if you keep them. Well FOX is the upgrade, isn't she? I mean, sure, Nanase acts like Fox is something completely different, but come on, the spell is called Decoy Summon. It's totally upgrade of her color clone spell which can interact physically.

How about making clones of other people? Perhaps seven extra Ellens? ... good point. Fox, but targetable to other people like Ellen. Now, would she be controlled by Nanase or Ellen subconscious? If controlled by Nanase, it would be just like transformed Fox (and possibly upgrade to Fox instead of separate spell). However, I'm not sure if spell can give control to someone else ... Or maybe something more like the color spell targeted at other people ... or, even better: mass distraction - clone group of people which can't really operate as individual but can make convincing ... uh, cluster? ... group of people which can for example block up path.

She already have two clone spells. What exactly could third clone spell be doing to be different from both previous? More likely, she has some upgrade on Fox, just like she got multiple upgrades on fairy. Like, two Foxes at once? Therefore the speculations that he takes "vacations" from his long-term host to drain energy from some other hosts and then return. Also, can still be decades. He might possess current host at 40, is now 60 and looks as 80. Note that possessing him at 20 might again attract too much attention ... but at 40? Friends from school gone, his wife left him with someone younger and more competent, parents got tired of nagging him to get children, fired from work for drinking (see the wife part) ... ideal target. Then Sirleck possessed him, picked up the wealth from previous host and started to multiply it.

Well I don't have any argument against THAT part.

But that's cheating This isn’t exactly the Olympic Games.

I don't think the lockdown barriers have an automated trigger. I think Raven has to cast them whenever he wants to lockdown the school. (Though his spell does automate a majority of the placement of those barriers) My evidence for this is the lockdown ending after Abraham knocked Adrian unconscious. Even if there was an automated trigger, Adrian would have to reset the lockdown spell every day (unless he doesn't sleep, which would be odd considering even his more magical mother sleeps) and there would be the steady energy drain of the spell sitting there, ready to trigger. There can be two (or even more) spells. Sure, the active lockdown has so big energy drain it goes off when Adrian sleeps, but the wards (meaning: detecting spells) may not. Edward Verres protected his house with defenses which he likely didn't needed to refresh every day after waking up, especially considering there were supposed to hold even when he was on "business" trip for multiple days. Not only Adrian is likely to be better than Edward, it's likely HE taught him the spells. Their MAGIC POTENTIAL can't be detected. You can see them on physical plane just fine and I think someone would comment if Helena nor Voltaire wouldn't be visible on all those videos from Mall incident. Magus likely can't be detected by people and things on the physical plane, though it's also possible, if unlikely, that Mr. Verres didn't include a means to detect spirit plane residents in his wards, assuming such a means exists of course. The only spirit plane residents that we know of are Immortals (which can't be detected if they don't want to be anyway), Magus (who is a unique circumstance), and certain aberrations like Sirleck (Which have to shift to the physical plane to attack someone anyway and might be fairly rare). He might have figured that such detection means weren't worth the effort and cost to implement. Again, I think it's unlikely that Edward would skip on a defensive measure, even one unlikely to be helpful, as he's really concerned about his son's wellbeing (even if he's not always good about approaching certain topics properly) and his line of work makes a degree (but not too much) of paranoia healthy...unless the costs of said defensive measures are simply too great, or the implementation too unfeasible, for even a healthy amount of paranoia. Well, given the "anything except time travel" limit, there MIGHT be way to detect spirit plane residents ... however, Mr. Verres, experienced wizard, seems to not know any. Most likely, aberrations need active methods to evade detection. They can either hide on physical plane by masking as human or on the spirit plane by masking as nothing. Well, EGS vampires might be able to turn other people into vampires, the rules just require it to be intentional and consensual. They can't turn someone by accident or against that person's will. And I'm not sure if they would have much incentive to change someone into a competitor for resources, unless there was something to gain which could be possible in some cases. Right. They can't force-turn, they may be able to turn willing victims. And regarding the gain ... well, empathy or not, some of them might have lovers or just friends they would like to turn ... but generally they would need to be bribed, yes. Francine doesn't look like the type who would WANT to be turned, AND she's unlikely to have anything valuable for vampires. I think Magus is in exactly same situation as young immortals - he is on spirit plane, so he can't be seen from physical one, but he doesn't know the additional method(s) of hiding allowing older Immortals to hide from other immortals.

"Never" is pretty strong word to be used in comics this full of transformations. Rhoda is RIGHT THERE.

And in this forum, neh? Well sure, but THOSE can't really tell Adrian anything.

Oh. Didn't occurred to me. I interpreted Pandora's theory as Pandora being the Francine we saw earlier but this being the real one. Still, neither makes sense. Sure, Pandora CAN look like anyone, but she's more likely to be completely invisible. Also, Dan said in comics "Francine's unconscious for some mysterious reason". The chance is definitely there, however I still think Adrian WILL learn about it and so far it seems that Pandora is only one who can tell him without LOT of conclusion jumping. Of course, we DO have some conclusion jumping champions on cast ...

I maintain that the host was already dying and so there was no saving him anyway. So we can't count that as proof for or against it. The fact that host will die when Sirleck leaves doesn't prove anything, yes. The fact Sirleck COMPLAINS about it suggests (although doesn't prove ; the phrasing is not clear) that he CAN take break from other hosts without them dying. Immortals can't be detected, it's possible that Magus might not be detectable on that plane either though dunno for sure. Sure Sirleck might not be detect if he's on the same plane, but ... If Magus can't be detected - and he probably can't, he was in Tedd's house multiple times and Tedd's house is warded - then it would make sense than Sirleck wouldn't be detected either. The same might be true for other aberrations, in fact some might be even harder to detect if they don't want to be detected than Sirleck. It's still before the last act, so not too late to fire that Chekhov gun. Besides, Dan likes to diddle us about these things as long as he can get away with it. Also, a proper job of showing Francine's possession could easily take two or three pages, and I'm not sure Dan has fallen in love with this character enough for that. Note that there ARE flashbacks. I mean, there is the option to show something which will surprise us and then show the things leading to it which would spoil the surprise in flashback. Or, as I said, Sirleck might return to the butler.

That's the "not admitting the comics ended" alias "This hiatus is just temporary, the comics will return next month." , yes. Which can continue indefinitely, end with "I give up, I'm not able to finish this story" or ... sometimes they really DO continue.

You said that like it would be surprising.

So what, you expect her to be victim of ordinary human attack? ANYTHING magical is likely to trigger Adrian's wards. Although I agree that it's weird we don't see the wards activated. How else can we be surprised? Sure, it would be weird if we never saw the butler again, but if Sirleck is switching multiple hosts then it would make sense to not show who is he in to make better suspense. AND he can return to the butler later. Yes, we do know. Sirleck complained about not being able to "take a break" because his host would die as soon as he left his body. And if it would be normal, Sirleck would be unlikely to complain. I agree that it's unfair ... but it was one of very few cases we saw her. Susan can do it. Sure, noone is more surprised by it than her, and she's not able to do it deliberately, but it happened. Pandora is unlikely to bother to "remove" real Francine just because she wants to pose as her, she doesn't need to be on physical plane to keep an eye on anyone (in fact it would limit her a lot) and ... HOW could she "remove" real Francine inside limits of "empower and guide"? Could Pandora be the reason Helena and Demetrius are watching over Elliot? Yes. Any connection to her being their mother? Unlikely.

Grace, Nanase, Elliot, Noah, any immortal, Magus ... I think compared to other comics that's quite high. But yes, the stripped tail would point to Nioi. Or her "twin". If they are really done, they don't say "The story is finished". They say "I give up, I'm not able to finish this story". If they finish just the story, the chance is high they find a way to continue or come with another. Remember last book of Earthsea Cycle from Ursula K. Le Guin? (At least I think it was her ... can't find the quote ...)

Which nobody guessed if I remember correctly. One or the other, yes, but not this combination. That was my first thought too. My first though was "she's newly turned vampire". Then I remembered EGS vampires can't turn people to vampires and though about Sirleck. Although she can just as easily be victim of some other aberration ... Having a big headache and just waking up would be even better. I think that Sirleck moved her to the toilet and detached, which made her unconscious, and she's now slowly getting back to her senses. And if she knows, did Sirleck get this memory? Even if he would be able to, it is possible he didn't bothered. I think that unlikely. Sirleck used the old man for a long time, and acting like someone who has empathy would be difficult and distasteful to Sirleck. Any man that rich would have lots of important people watching him, and even if none of them figured out what was really going on, he could have lots and lots of trouble with his businesses if his behavior changed radically. Trouble like loans being called in, credit ratings downgraded, stock prices falling, unwelcome investigation from the authorities, hostile takeover atempts, etc. On the other hand, if the old man was already well established as a selfish jerk and still got and stayed rich, the people who worked with him before to some mutual profit would go on holding their noses to make even more money and/or avoid making him angry enough to crush them. Holding their noses? If he was selfish jerk, the people around him would likely also be selfish jerks and wouldn't see anything weird on working with other selfish jerks if they get enough from it. And yes, I agree: especially in case of old people, radical change of behaviour would be noticed. I was wondering if one or both of them have some magic, however I don't think it would be summoning, as Elliot doesn't seem to have such talent. Either Susan's mother OR her father, it's not necessary for BOTH having it - and in fact, the signs point to father. That might be easily explained by the amount of alcohol in her blood. OR by the fact the house is big enough to hide not only fairy but elephant. Money. And possibly being friends with other important people, like in city council or something. Or maybe SHE is in city council. ... ok, this MIGHT be signs of magic ... although not necessary Mrs. Pompoms magic. What if both the couch and the intercom are something left from Mr. Pompoms? (Who, I would add, is very unlikely to be Adrian Raven. Maybe his son, more likely grandson.)

Cool. I thought Schwartz ended the comic when Sabrina and RC got married and Sabrina got pregnant. I am happily wrong. I tend to not believe webcomics authors when they say things like "I'm ending the comics" or "This hiatus is just temporary, the comics will return next month." (Unfortunately, the second one is more common.)

Sabrina was a fun webcomic. I miss it. Why? I still follow it. Last update September 2017. http://www.sabrina-online.com/thismonth.html

Do you mean that the Will of Magic is absolutely going to change how Marks work? Do you mean that Marks are a part of the rules that could be changed? Or something else? ... I meant it mathematically. The rule is part of set. The set will change on reset. That doesn't necessary mean the specific rule will change, but makes that possible. I would think that people that have marks would lose them in a system change and so an Immortal would have to remark a person again. ... and I would say it's likely, as too many marked people (by Pandora) might be one of the last drops before the rule change (although not completely last, THAT would be the vampire attack). I was mainly pointing out that Cheerleadra would NOT act like a phone without Elliot having that phone in pocket while transforming.

The lizards disruption force ARE present in The Thawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.

Maybe Cheerleadra will be needed immediately when they get there. .... poor Ashley.

Ok. Sooo, Catalina wants to make out with Susan and Rhoda wants to make out with Susan looking as Diane. ... and Ashley will be there just to round the numbers, apparently.