Nayl

I do find all of this fun, but I increasingly wonder just how long its going to be before Dan just gives in and goes full SlipShine? I still remember how much I enjoyed "Penny and Aggie" and how disappointed I was when Gisele literally cashed in with M3 and SDB, which had basically zero content that didn't involve outright titillation.

And now Ashley and unconscious Ellen are alone inside the big box of hair trigger plot hammers...

I'm finding Elliot the most interesting part of this segment. Panel 2-3 is basically "wtf is this?" while taking a defensive stance. Panel 5, he's checking on Ellen. Panel 6, he's finished making sure his girlfriend and sister are nominally ok, and that expression is all, "Do I hit you first, or should I wait for you to monologue some more?" Its reminding me a lot of Ellen's expression while "holding" Sirleck.

I shared this reaction, but as I think about it, it seems right. Ashley is still very new to the deeper reality of the magic and monsters that she has discovered through dating Elliot. This is their second date! She's a remarkably level headed and intelligent woman who has really shown the ability to think on her feet. She is also a teenage girl who has been kidnapped by a mage and a vampire, had her fight or flight reaction magically suppressed for hours, and then, very shortly after that dampening is lifted she is, without warning, confronted with the true appearance of the scariest monster Mr. Shive has yet depicted. A scream really does seem in order here.

Just wanted to comment on the level of art that Dan is putting out these days. What jumped out at me from this particular strip is the composition and flow of the first four panels, as the focus and perspective shift to emphasize the interchange between Ellen and Sirleck. I'm always impressed with the way Dan draws, but this set of panels was just something else.

"That sounds bad." "Yes, people would stop using magic." Is anyone else finding it maddening that no one is asking a follow-up question, like, why would that be bad? Has this been addressed previously?

Only if the sessions are done in EGSNP, otherwise the main comic would be nothing but until the sun goes cold.

So what I'm left wondering here is where the distinction actually lies. Is the issue "things" or is it doing "things" herself? She has no issues with "sexy" when it involves others, but she has a definite issue with sexual acts involving her. Is the issue that it involves her, or is it sexual acts? Maybe I'm putting too fine a point on it, but this seems like a significant distinction to me. All of this also raises a question I don't think I've ever considered, which is whether its ok for someone to simply have no interest in sex. My gut reaction is that must be the result of some kind of defect or injury/trauma. But given the much broader range of gender identities that EGS has opened my eyes to, maybe its just another range on the spectrum?

Susan is a vampire hunter by birth, yes? Is it possible that her aversion to touching and the acrobatic ability to avoid same is an instinctual defense mechanism that will kick in when the very unexpected attack comes? Seems more likely, given that its being put on display just now...

I think it closes the loop on the internal dialogue with what amounts to a decision by all of Pandora, not just the two subsets represented by Empathy and Chaos. If you track the sequence, when Tedd leaves, the dialogue starts as Empathy appears, followed by Chaos. What's particularly fine about this whole sequence is that it combines aspects of multiple personalities and the devil/angel-on-your-shoulders trope without being limited by either conceit. What I came away with was the sense that this is an abstract representation of Pandora's inner process, what the roiling, unstable emotional core of her looks like when it looks inward. Empathy and Chaos are not at war, they are having a discussion, indeed, they finish each others sentences at a few points. The shift back to Pandora actual at the end signifies resolution and decision in a very neat, show you don't tell you way that adds dimension and tone to what is being conveyed.

Dan = sneaky I didn't see it until about the fourth time I read this strip, the Pandora who speaks at the end is the one who has been standing silent in the background throughout.

I would offer an alternative viewpoint/attitude about the whole resetting = death idea. Just consider, depending on your age, how much like yourself as a child/youth/young adult you are now. I'm closing on 60, and while I share basic characteristics with my 20 year old self, I'm really, really not the same person. A reset sounds like a transition, not an ending. Many things are lost and gained over a lifetime, and after a certain point, there are things you wish you could lose but can't. What waits for immortals sounds to me more like a transformation to a new state, rather than a rending transgression of the self. All that said, I'm wondering about the end point of Pandora's internal dialogue here. She seems to be working towards a higher/deeper level of self awareness about her actions and motivations. What happens if she decides she did something wrong? Like, against "immortal law" wrong? My understanding is that she would reset right then and there, as soon as that realization hit. All the foreshadowing - "when will I see you again," and "you're a good friend," may be about to pay off a lot faster than anticipated.

Ditto the comments about panel 8. The intense amount of mutual support and bonding between these two is both giving me all the feels and making me really fearful for Pandora. Also, this conversation has now lasted over a month real time. I was pondering when it started that we might get to the big vampire hoedown by Christmas. Maybe Easter?

The continuing development of Pandora's character is really becoming my favorite thing in EGS. The constant struggle with the self she's come untethered from over centuries of manic isolation, her various aspects dividing and combining with increasingly less control. Very nice.

I mentioned in a previous comment thread that we are only one day from a potentially huge plot hinge, and it was rightly pointed out that we are talking about a Moperville day. This strip convinces me that we are probably going to experience a very, very long Moperville day. The Vampire attack will likely come late at night, so we have an entire day of Pandora checking in with Tedd and who knows who else. Just the conversation about to take place here is likely to take a full week of strips. Then you have Tedd talking to Grace/Sarah/Elliot about wtf is going on. Cue Mr. Verres for an expositional interlude. Oh, and hey, if we are setting the table for a truly game changing event, we need to get most of the others involved, so Ashley, Justin, Susan, Nanase, etc. will be on deck. Lots and lots of moving pieces, and at least three characters who urgently want to talk to various others about really important stuff. At this point I'm thinking we will be lucky to get to Sunday by Christmas.

Totally, but I would say its potentially waaaay sadder. I hadn't realized initially, but we are looking down the barrel of a metric F-ton of feels rapidly approaching with what is probably the biggest plotline resolution(s) to date. We are one day away from what will likely be some very big changes, and every time I look at Box fading from view while telling Sarah that she is a good friend I'm thinking that this will be the last time we see her, or some variation on that theme. She might as well have said "I'm retiring next week!" in a buddy cop movie. My money is on Box/Pandora resetting, along with Voltaire, and some future scene where Sarah again encounters Box, who she first thinks is still herself until it becomes apparent that she is now actually a child. /sniff

Pretty sure its been confirmed in the comic that other people can see that.

pm = private message, which is what sets Elliot off on her current introspection jag when she decides to check for them.

"Character is what you are in the dark." Elliot has been dividing her life for the past year(?) between sleeping as a woman and waking as a man. When she sleeps she communes with the koan of her dreams, and paints the walls of her subconscious with a landscape that is shifting, over time, from what it was when he was only him. The pm has dropped into her waking mind like a stone in a pond, and the ripples continue to draw her thoughts deeper. She does not swim these depths with ease, it is closer to a struggle for her to move here. The effort of it renders her supine, and then takes half her breath as she drops to a whisper while speaking a truth to herself about who she is become. It is a revelation, a truth not anticipated, and it advances on her like a great wave. This is why her main expression is worry shading into fear. She does not fear judgement - her blood family is accepting to the point of indifference, her friends are literally every color of the rainbow, and her girlfriend actually really digs her difference. This is about identity, and that very uncomfortable sensation as you discover that its not at all simple.

It occurs to me that all of this may be a clue as to what Elliot's new spell is. His awakening and initial experiences in magic have all been about gender swapping, and magic has required him to become not just tolerant of swapping genders but enthusiastic about it to the point that the potential loss of this ability is causing him distress. The new spell has something to do with vision, and Elliot mentioned the word "highlight." I'm thinking he's going to be able to see people's "actual" gender in the form of an aura.

The question this strip raises is, to me, a truly fascinating one - how is Elliot different from Tedd? Both regard their ability to switch genders as a core part of their identities. Is this not the basic definition (within the context and "rules" of EGS) of gender fluid? Up to this point I had regarded Elliot as a hetero male who was developing a taste for cross dressing. Now its not clear at all what his gender identity is, other than that he appears fully comfortable with being either.

Hi. I just wanted to point out that this particular installment really points up how much Dan's writing and overall scripting has improved from the beginning, along with his art. I've always seen this strip in terms of fantasy archetypes - Elliot is a paladin, Tedd a wizard, and so on. Elliot has always been compelled to do the right thing, and has always struggled a bit with just what that means. This strip is another step in his journey to finding and defining his cause, and its got some huge implications. Remember Tedd's argument with his dad about magic? I'm guessing Elliot is going to have a similar "discussion," and possibly we will finally get some exposition (which as I recall Mr. Verres is a fount of) on what Mr. Verres really thinks about the whole gender bending thing. I continue to suspect that Mr. V's attitude about Tedd is a little more complicated than "that's just wrong!" and I look forward to seeing that explored.