hkmaly

The part with Tedd might still come later. Yes. Exactly. Daaaaamn. Grandmother definitely did smoke. Who's pregnancy? ... did you saw Michael Jackson? Speaking of which total shot in the dark here but if Teed special role in all universes in as a seer, whatever that is. Is Elliot's special role in all universe's to be his restraining bolt? I can provide if needed. It has been speculated multiple times. I'm not sure if "restraining bolt" is best way to describe it but Elliot is definitely needed for Tedd. Pandora thinks it too - that definitely wasn't going to be just "friend". The spell is probably multifunctional. I don't think it involves anything with sexuality though. Meanwhile, highlighting vampires and/or Voltaire would be definitely useful. "Remember that you are absolutely unique ... just like everyone else." He said "private", not to not tell anybody. I would see little difference here, although yes it would likely be conflicting for Elliot. Definitely. And rightly so. I suspect that he would insist on doing background check on him. I would say this is how I read the comics. Tedd is genderfluid in the true sense, while Elliot's feeling about being able to change sex is from different level of personality. Note that you definitely can have an instinctive sense which surfaces as you being programmer. Actually two probably: one would be the same which could make you shaman or wizard in different time / universe, one would be shared with scientists. If you have both, you are limited to being programmer or work with magitech. (Or, well, utilize those senses in different time.)

Well, Damien didn't know that Mr Guyur was the one that made the eggs used to create Grace and her brothers, but I wouldn't doubt that Dr Sciuridae was the one the told Damien how Grace and her brothers were created, it would certain have been under threat of death or harm to Grace. It's possible Damien learned about Dr. Sciuridae from Hedge or Vlad, also under threat of harm to them and Grace, and Guineas of course, but I don't think Damien could understand snorts and squeaks. Damien also probably CAN read. Lot of information was certainly available in written form. We don't know what was the plan. It's possible that Magus had some plan which failed early on and then wasn't able to adapt, always being step behind. .... actually, yes: his plan might've easily be to amplify Ellen's feelings when she would be jailed with Elliot in the PTTAOLUTASF but that failed when Ellen escaped. The problem is that we know only about ONE attempt where we SAW Magus. We can obviously speculate, but no matter when the attempt was, we didn't saw him, therefore we don't know what might've make it fail. I would like to interject that the DGB is a subdivision of the FBI. It was mentioned in one of the earlier comics, but I don't remember which one. Though due to the paranormal division's highly secretive nature, special security clearances are likely needed to view any of their files or even know of their existence outside of a fairly nondescript section of the FBI's org chart. So, I doubt they would willingly share with the rest of the bureau. (Then again, Arthur J. Arthur previously appeared publicly as a critic and consultant to the FBI, so the existence of the Paranormal Investigations Division might be public knowledge, just everything they do is kept secret.) Yes, I should've said "rest of FBI". Although I'm not sure it was really confirmed - sure, Agent Wolf has FBI identity card, but with the correct amount of secrecy ... note that Arthur J. Arthur was officially CONSULTANT, which obviously wasn't his REAL position. Note: Paranormal Investigations Division might easily be public as long as they report all their cases as failures. Actually, Heidi likely act either like heterosexual who pretends to be lesbian, or as bisexual, which would both be easier if she actually WAS bisexual because it's the acting toward men Elliot will have normally problem with. I don't think Justin needs therapist, but he definitely doesn't need DGB one - his problems has nothing to do with stuff you need DGB clearance for. Tedd, Susan and Grace definitely need one, Noah probably. Tedd is the hardest, he currently needs his lab, Grace AND Elliot for "amateur therapy" and it's not enough. I'm sure Edward already understand his son enough to throw such therapist out.

And he doesn't need to worry about womanly image because he's always sexy so he can always go for "I'm too sexy to care".

Sure, but this is not like magic's flair for dramatic: rule of funny fails to be in-universe explanation. It was already weird that Mr. Verres said it (as mentioned in commentary), it would be even weirder if someone made it up ... but that would assume that it was specifically Dr. Sciuridae who did that, and for some reason (alcohol might've been involved ... I can imagine Dr. Sciuridae going on long monologue about how important she is to him and let go some details like this ...) told it to Mr. Verres. I don't think it would have saved her, Damien would not be happy, but he'd have no problem with resorting to using rape with Grace, remember he was willing to use any female Hedge could bring back if Hedge couldn't find Grace. The idea was that without ability to make uryuom eggs, Damien might not bother searching so hard for her and would search for ANY female from start ... although, considering Grace was still only female chimera he knew about, it might not be enough. Exactly. Therefore, no reason for Dr. Sciuridae to talk about that, unless the possibility is real and even then it likely wasn't him who told Damien. Ok, so it wasn't Helena and Demetrius, but something didn't go as planned. Pandora stated "twice bid for freedom, twice failed", if Ellen's creation was only the setup, and the only failed attempt we saw was on Grace's Birthday, then what was the other attempt? It could easily be this. Magus is not influencing Ellen here, at least not much, but it's possible his original plan was Ellen will zap Elliot when they get together, which failed basically because she stopped being annoyed at him before he arrived. The "twice" is actually suspicious. Magus was likely trying all the time, if you count the cases where he didn't get far (or near) due to the immortals watching Elliot. For some reason, Pandora doesn't count that ... Note that Pandora directly said he needs Ellen. The idea that he might make Tedd using TF gun on Elliot again NEVER APPEARED. Worse: Elliot WAS zapped into girl form at the party and Magus didn't tried to use that opportunity ... although, maybe he was still hiding.

... we should transform Edward. He was basically stuck with getting female transformation spells until he learns to like them, so ... Without the magic being confused he would likely get non-transformation spells - meaning, he would likely get superhero spell which would NOT change his look. Similarly how Justin got spell making him stronger. Although ... there is one way how this could happen: what if the magic WAS confused with the cat transformation? Elliot would then get male cat superhero spell ... and got bigger understanding of Brownie ... It's also possible that what Edward knew about that was part of the "version of the story told to people who aren't in the need to know." This seem like too random fact to be made up. Although ... wait. Wasn't Grace supposed to be male originally? What exactly did they do to her? And note that if he WOULD be able to prove she's not able to make the eggs, he would likely do it in attempt to save her from Damien's interest. At the time of Elliot first transformation, there would be ONLY MV1. Even William's form was created later. And MV1 only lasts day and would do NOTHING to someone who is already male, so ... While possible, I think that Ellen was necessary, specifically that Magus needs someone created by diamond. Obviously, she didn't needed to be girl, but as already said, that's the only transformation lasting that long Tedd had on gun ... We don't know why, but note that Magus WAS obviously influencing Tedd and Elliot was only one around, so the conditions were ideal. Outside of Helena and Demetrius arriving EXACTLY at the right moment to stop him, I don't see why it shouldn't ended as Magus planned. I don't think being a girl once or twice would be enough, having to change repeated for months certainly would, there's probably a specific point in time somewhere in there, but that probably varies depending on who you ask. Grace's birthday party would have been the 4th time I believe, 1st from original zap, 2nd to escape ropes, 3rd to show Ellen and Nanase, 4th Party. And then it was only a couple days after the party when the buildups kicked in. I said possible, not likely. On the other hand, I really wouldn't think he was thinking about stuff like this when escaping ropes. Once with some introspection might've be enough ... but Elliot isn't likely to make introspection, so ... Oh he would definitely stop saying anything. Question is if he would actually understand that.

Elliot's original girl spell was created by dewitchery diamond and therefore could have more common attributes with TF gun effect than is usual for transformations. (Although it stacks differently. Meanwhile, Ellen's original spell is COMPLETE copy of TF gun.) Ellen didn't needed to suspect it. She remembers it. I think he would still miss flying the most. Although ... he already have trouble sleeping without boobs ... The specific time limit is arbitrary, however the gun DOES have fixed maximum. I'm not sure if it was mentioned anywhere, but enchantments are temporary as a rule and the obvious upper limit would be based on how much energy the gun has. This information is from the time she only had three forms. It's likely it's now subject to the "mix-and-matching" rules and Grace can turn it on or off by will. Mr. Guyer was also her FATHER and Damien was convinced she has that ability. He might've be mistaken about the "rarity", but he wasn't that much stupid, so we can assume chimeras generally DO have the egg-creation ability. Grace's antennae might've been involved. Obviously, DGB knows about Teddtech. It's also nothing new for them - they already have magic users who can transform (including the one who pretended to be Cheerleadra). That doesn't mean they will share this with FBI or CIA. None, as long as DGB will send agents with magic wands against anyone trying to sell it. The Secret ID forms don't need heterosexual attraction to do their jobs. It does make them more convincing, just like the "no swearing" part. I find hard to imagine such option, as 1) Tedd doesn't have any male forms on gun 2) if changed into different male, Elliot would likely not bother with Dewitchery diamond 3) Pandora and Magus made sure this happens like it happened. Also, remember Elliot's counterargument when Ellen told him he doesn't need to be female to loosen up. Before he awakened but after his own experience with being girl. Although it is possible that even without his own girl forms, even the experience at Grace's party could be enough.

I'd be surprised if it doesn't end with Grace realizing that there's a security camera. Question is who is watching this camera. If only Justin's uncle, I'm sure Mr. Verres would be able to explain it to him. If it's being send to Wizards of the Coast or someone like this, it would be harder ... (... unless Wizards of the Coast are actual wizards and already on payrol of DGB)

47? I don't remember such die even from StarTrek. 48, sure. She MIGHT have some strapless dress or something ... or not finished changing yet. I don't think even Justing would overlook her being topless ... and he's gay.

Yes, this is what I would hope for, either gender-meh or cisgender once transformed. However, Justin at least stated that he didn't like being in the female body the TFG gave him, so it would seem things are not that simple and convenient. He also had trouble walking and standing and we KNOW the gun compensates for that, so he might be thinking too much about it . Although more likely, the gun REDUCES dysphoria instead of removing it and Justin just happened to be the most cisgender person in group. Or, maybe they'll just declare that those parts are private, and it's none of anyone else's business. They don't need to tell anyone, it would suffice if we would see their discussion - or part of it. If no reason would be shown at all, it would be weird. Right, it took some time before someone dared to build fulltext index of all web (I remember AltaVista, but WebClawler was apparently first search in current sense ; and Yahoo took few years before it replaced it's directory with fulltext search). I wouldn't recommend it to any real person either, but I wouldn't be surprised if Nanase took it as challenge. And it would definitely make the comics more interesting.

Eh, it depends on what the magic changes. Does it "set a value" or "flip a value"? Because you get different results: Set: male body, female identity -> female body, female identity Flip: male body, female identity -> female body, male identity In the former, you would remove the dysphoria by making the two align. In the latter, not so much. But I think the easy answer is that it more likely does the former. Because with the former, you are applying a known template to whatever you have, which sounds a lot like how the TF gun has been explained in the past. Kinda like how hkmaly puts it. Alternatively, if it would follow exactly what the TF gun does with sexuality, it will make cisgender people gender-meh by adding the "being ok with being spell's target gender" trait. If you look at it from the "this is likely not your last transformation" angle, anything except bisexual gender-meh will be suboptimal. (Note: gender fluid = your gender identity changes in time ; agender = you don't have any ; gender-meh = you are ok with what you are no matter what it is) I would consider "story around" almost too much ... but yes I would expect that if they go the egg way, they will have SOME answer to why not the TF gun solution (and tell us). The definition likely didn't, but what changed is how "popular" it is - the "Transgender" page on wikipedia was CREATED in 2001 and "Gender fluid" is STILL missing. You can certainly find the definition if you search specifically for it, but Dan is example that you could totally miss it even if it's something which would interest you. Ellen's libido is higher than usual as she normally is, maybe zapping herself might kick it into "I don't care if Nanase's a guy right now!" mode. Exactly. Or it could make Nanase attracted to Elliot. And if not FV5 zapping, Tedd might design something stronger. I considered this a possibility as well, while we may never find out what Ellen and Nanase do beyond kissing and touching, the use of various toys is possible, including wearable ones, so if a form could be programed where only the important bits are changed but the rest of the body remains the same, it may be enough. The form could certainly be programmed, only question is how it would make them feel, and yes, they can test this with toys beforehand. I'm not sure why hermaphrodite in particular, but male genitals + otherwise female would almost certainly be possible. (I guess with magic it would be possible to make a hermaphroditic human... would a lesbian be more comfortable having sex with someone with both genitals than someone with male genitals? As an asexual virgin I honestly don't know the answer to that...) Why hermaphrodite? Because they should BOTH get pregnant, obviously. (Also, still having own genitals could make it easier to BE hermaphrodite compared to changing gender, at least for Ellen.) I'm certain which is more basic depends on the person (despite not being able to prove it and likely not being genderfluid enough to use my own feelings as argument). Also, I wouldn't be surprised if at least some asexuals would actually have some of these impossible combination. Or something even more exotic: they are not actually asexual, they just aren't able to find what attracts them. (So, don't give up, keep searching ... although considering you read EGS, you likely didn't give up completely yet)

"Scruples are not hemorrhoids" (although both are more likely to affect people as they get older).

Seems that way. And apparently, it's harder in EGS than in our universe. Or maybe it's as hard in EGS as it WAS in our universe when Dan was starting with the comics. But only temporary. Well, the main eight might not stay main eight ... Could happen, but note that Uryuom egg is still an option - either Grace's or maybe using Grace's watches would allow them to make one themselves. Or having lots of energy and can-do spirit. Or being goth and sexy. It may be pressure, or it may be just laziness/inertia. It requires LOT of introspection to realize you are not completely cis (and heterosexual) if you MOSTLY are. Having good imagination? Or, to people who don't want to understand, pervert. (Ok, I imagined that as well, although I'm not sure if I would ever get such idea without EGS ... I'm not sure where is the line between just thinking about it and feel it being ok strong enough to say something about gender identity. If there is ANY such line ... maybe isn't.) I wouldn't accept "never" as anything stronger than "not in near future" anyway. People in general are using "never" too often, so I can always hope they eventually change mind. I suspect he can't do that anymore - at least officially, he can ask someone who can of course. I could wish for that to happen. It might well force the issues between Tedd and Mr. Verres out in the open and finally start Mr. Verres down a road where he actually tried to understand Tedd rather than just think there was something wrong with him. I would also like to see this, but I suspect Verres would object on ground of secrecy. On the other hand, even just TALKING about this could force the issues in the open. Considering FV5 already contain amplified feelings of lust, I think they can overcame those problems if they decide. I mean, it wouldn't be good idea to do something like this just for fun, but as a way to have own child they may decide it's worth it. There is also option of turning into hermaphrodite (with magic or TF gun), but I'm not sure if it would really help ... Think about how the TF gun makes heterosexual bisexual but homosexual heterosexual. It could still help trans person and yet not make Dunkels dysphoric.

So far, noone tried to correct him. He is convinced enough to not actively seek correction, but that doesn't seem he won't accept it if someone - possibly not one of the children - will explain it to him. Well, if everyone would be already perfect, there would be no character development and the comics would be less interesting because of it ...

I'm not sure she relaxed that much ... But, generally, it's hard to analyze her motivation if we don't know what exactly she knows and what happened with Noriko. I think she is walking on a thin line: on one hand, she does want her daughter to continue family legacy - or at least being able to defend herself from those who target family for revenge - on the other she doesn't want repeat of Noriko. She might've decided that the best way is to hide as much as possible from her until she is mature enough, but at the same time she can't have her completely untrained till then. Therefore, anime martial arts (she might've even be aware this could eventually awaken her), making sure she is used to study hard so she wouldn't have problems starting studying magic ... The incident with Abraham might've really made her realize that she is endangered. Might've also made her realize she is already capable of defending herself - I think she knew Nanase awakened, but likely didn't considered what she knew about her spell as sufficient (and for good reason). Or, yes, the fact her daughter is protecting others might've been the new part. Although ... I suspect Noriko also decided to protect others. She just didn't included her family to be in need of protection ... Tedd is only scared of the analyzer want because it was used on him very often while he was very young. Single scan at reasonable age, say 4, isn't going to scare the child. But, either Akiko didn't tested well, or Mama Kitsune considers the risk one of her children not ending well despite her efforts too big. She might consider third child. Or, more likely, she might regret not having third child earlier, as I suppose it's too late for her now. "Reverse engineering"? They should be able to get blueprints and source code. More likely, they are working on adapting Uryuom technology to human needs. Or, well, translating the documentation. Uryuom magic is likely ONLY useful on transformation. Their technology in general, however ... they seem capable of interstellar travel, possibly even FTL. They likely have LOT of useful things. Introducing them too fast might have negative effect on human ability to continue working on their own technology, but Uryuoms are on Earth long time. Why don't we see at least something? Or .... do we? Maybe the reason they got from landphones to smart phones so fast in EGS is because they used informations from Uryuoms to speed up the developement. Maybe they spent last 20 years building fusion power plant - and because DGB checked the plans with Uryuoms, they know it will work, despite most people thinking it's just experimental prototype. Maybe they have working antigravitation in airplanes and we just didn't noticed because we never saw airplane in EGS nor it was talked about it. There is lot we could've missed just because it wasn't in focus. We assume EGS world is generally same as our own except magic and aliens and both are hidden ... but it's just assumption.

... if that's the case, Nanase will have deja-vu when she finds out But yes, while I don't see what would Nanase's relationship with girl have anything to do with Noriko, feeling bound by some oath does seem matching Mrs. Kitsune personality. Although ... wait. It might work together, actually. The oath wasn't about the relationship. The oath is something like preserving family legacy and bloodline or something and Nanase not having child would be serious danger to that ... No. Unless ... the issue wasn't (just) exposing Susan. The issue was that after this, she couldn't even PRETEND to not know.

Well that only proves he lives with his dad but good point. ... he might be living with them and still not feel welcomed, though. I don't think she completely changed her mind, she just isn't pressing the issue. And, yes, she might totally stop complaining after Nanase and Ellen give her grandchildren Unlikely. IMHO she's much more likely to divorce and THEN go on quest for suitable offspring than to cheat. I'm sure the years before the cheater's cheating was revealed were good years for Susan. Maybe not her mother however. When Susan found out her dad cheats and when her mother found out may not have been the same time. Her parents could have been keeping up pretenses for her sake. Mrs. Pompoms doesn't seem like THAT kind of person. She might have suspicion, or maybe she caught him once already and gave him one last chance, but definitely didn't know he's cheating constantly.

Well, in our group talk wasn't a free action, other than that you could spew an incredible amount of drivel in the time it took to swing a sword. But basically anything said between players was said by their characters, and that included pizza orders... I remember a cunningly laid out ambush that failed as the sneaky halfling that was hiding near the road suddenly shouted that he wanted extra garlic sauce with his pizza... I would note that it was cruel but considering how this started it would be superfluous. THAT I understand.

Roster not quite complete. Parents who've actually been shown or heard to speak include: Ashley's mom and/or dad Mr. Kitsune Well, I think parents who are not BOTH shown and heard can't be compared. (Although ... well ... looking at Ashley, her parents MIGHT be even better than Dunkels ...) Technically, he did mentioned her here ... but yes that didn't added much details. Not only Raven, but even Agent Wolf talked about her more. Agree, although as you see in provided image, it might NOT be completely without problems. If your parents don't agree with how you choose your friends, it could hurt you. Seems to, and yes the drive to excellence is likely the most problematic part, but note also she classified Nanase's sexuality as "just a phase" and regarding the trust issue ... well, Nanase doesn't trust her mother, her mother doesn't trust her and they both are correct that the other is hiding something from them up to direct lie. She likely had own "drive to excellence" problems ... and she seems to get worse with age. Hmmm ... I wouldn't be sure except Susan recently directly said there were good years, so ... Good point - we never saw them but doesn't seem like they reacted correctly. And, well ... WHY didn't we saw them? I mean, sure, might be just Dan doesn't want to draw them, but maybe Justin really lives with his uncle and/or alone because he wouldn't feel welcomed with his parents (although I don't thing they would directly throw him out).

The GM we had for the Heavy Gear game would randomly run the dice command in IRC with various modifiers, but not explain why, while we discussed what actions we should take and such, we didn't know if he was rolling because we were taking too long to decide, or if he was just playing with the bot. There was one night he rolled several times with a low result and chuckled saying "well got those pathetic rolls out of the way for yas" and the later rolled high and only gave an evil sound chortle. Well, sure, if the group is arguing what to do next, you can say that "talking is a free action" doesn't apply and the arguing actually takes roughly same time as in real time. But generally, game-time and real-time are very unsynchronized.

Not if he is convinced he already knows why. Especially considering that between Tedd, Sarah, Elliot and Ellen we can't exactly prove that long term use of transformation DOESN'T affect person's gender and sexual identity. A parent that doesn't get you but is not abusive and is accepting enough to let you live life on your terms? I tend to think a lot of GLBT kids would consider that a serious upgrade in situation. I don't think this is limited to GLBT kids. In fact, considering state of world, I suspect that majority of ALL children don't have such luck ... "letting you live life on your terms" doesn't sound like something likely to happen outside democracies, and how far are they in India with getting rid of caste system? (Rhetorical question, answer would be offtopic.) Also, this reminds me the unofficial competition for the "worst mother ever" title in Drowtales ... let's compare him to other parents INSIDE EGS: Noriko? ... Mrs Kitsune? Pandora? Mrs. Pompoms? Mr. Pompoms? Grace? ... wait, it's not her fault she's dead. Mr. Brown? Dunkels? I think he would end in middle.

Good point. Especially considering the watches would DEFINITELY stop working - if the clog wouldn't be cleared out, the magic WILL reset. And, as already mentioned, TF gun is also time limited (and also top secret). Note that Elliot almost certainly doesn't know about this. I'm not sure Tedd would be able to make so many of them, they would have no means to distribute them AND the watches don't work outside Moperville. I personally think Mr. V has never heard of genderfluid. Or maybe even transgender. I think Mr. Verres DID heard about transgender, did some sneaky tests which had negative results YEARS AGO and decided that's not it. Genderfluid is harder to find informations about and was worse in past. It feels disturbing, but because Tedd has access to government secrets, he may be REQUIRED to. Especially in case of people who do or may visit Tedd at home. So, it's not really weird that he does it. Yup, maybe both we and Tedd are reading those sights incorrectly ... Those "good hearted people" likely understand TF gun and magic LESS than Tedd does, so no wonder they can't find any solution. But yes, even if they would find something, it would be hard to get this approved considering the source of such technology ... and not even Verres former position was high enough to change that. Sure, Verres was arguing with his son about making magic public ... but that's because he wants to be good parent (doesn't matter if he is failing that or not, he definitely WANTS to) and making argument like "If you try to make magic public I will be forced to put you in DGB's jail before some other agent put both of us there so stop talking about it" isn't good parenting. The logic is probably that if Elliot can become Cheerleadra more than once then he must have some way to change back ( from female to male) in-between. It's definitely more likely it's Sam than some completely new. Even if he would KNOW how Cheerleadra spell works - which he doesn't - it would still be best lead he has. Also, Sam wasn't originally planned ... maybe that Dan originally though about the other direction of trans but then decided that Sam would work as well. I would consider this bold assumption. Temporary change would be simpler and considering Felix can re-cast the spell it would suffice.

If I remember correctly, unlike players, DM MIGHT use dices in some cases, although the rules didn't specified which dices. You mean every REAL-TIME minute? That doesn't make sense ...

While possible, I would think it's longer as well. Didn't we agree last strip that flat-chested doesn't mean guy?

Those odds don't depend on the die at all, but whether the GM wants to kill you now or wait until later. In case of SOME GMs, it depends on how much he wants to save you from your stupidity. Remember, you don't play AGAINST the GM. If GM would be your enemy, you would simply meet dragon in first 3x3 room at your first adventure. And he would be VERY pissed off due to being stuck in so small place. (There is one exception: Amber Diceless RPG. In that, GM might actually assume pissed off dragon is adequate opponent for start of first adventure.)

Considering that if something have chance 1:1000000 it happens 9 out of 10 cases ...