PocketNinja

Susan was willing to play the game, at least in part, because the transformations that would happen to her would be outside her control.
But now she must chose a temporary transformation.
She must make that choice knowing that it is her choice alone.
She must make that choice knowing that the others around her know that it is her choice alone.
If you go into someone's home for a meal, you eat what you are served.
If you go to a pot-luck or buffet, your choices are limited to what has already been prepared and presented.
But if you are handed a menu, then the servers, the kitchen staff, and anyone who sees your dishes being presented knows that you have asked for that specific meal.
It can, at times, be difficult to publicly admit "I want this".

Anyway, to summarize: Magus's note about how Sirleck can't explain how the car works is WEIRD. We can argue about why that might be true about magic, but it's definitely not true about technology - Sirleck may be unable to rebuild the car from scratch, but his answer that he does know how car works in NORMAL for technology in technology-based civilization.
After all, it's not rocket science nor brain surgery.
I went to my first computer conference at the New York Hilton about 20
years ago.  When somebody there predicted the market for microprocessors
would eventually be in the millions, someone else said, "Where are they
all going to go? It's not like you need a computer in every doorknob!"
       
Years later, I went back to the same hotel.  I noticed the room keys had
been replaced by electronic cards you slide into slots in the doors.
There was a computer in every doorknob.
        -- Danny Hillis, cca 1999
 

Yeah, that about sums up my reaction to this one.  Magus has a body, Ellen is free, Sirleck is dead, Ashley is fine, Ellen will be fine....so will this story continue to wrap up this quickly, or will we be seeing a long section in the Warehouse Full Of Formerly Harmless But Now Potentially Extremely Powerful Things?
 
WFOFHBNPEPT?  Eh, no worse than the original....

We must speak good of the dead.
He's dead. Good.

It's confirmed, Ellen was able to fight back because she's just that awesome. Er, I mean because she was born from magic. (And yes technically it's just speculation in-comic, but the commentary implies she's right about the "born from magic" idea.)
Meanwhile, Sirleck looks even more creepy than usual in the last two panels, but a lot less imposing. Seen from that angle, he looks like the sort of JRPG monster you can beat in two or three turns at most if you're the proper level for the area. ...Which is rather appropriate since I expect Magus is about to trounce him.

Me too. Mostly because of a lot of other humans.

He liked it better than Ellen having no role whatsoever in this story save that of possession victim. I can kind of relate to that.

*grumble*
If I put on a crown, people would just call me a pretentious jackass...
*grumbles*

The second half of the commentary makes it clear that it is indeed Ellen holding Sirleck in the last panel, and also that it's a metaphorical visualization rather than what's literally happening.

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2474
Well, it's confirmed, Ellen has been fully aware this whole time, and she'd not about to let Sirleck get his way either.
This ain't going to be a thumb war either.
 
 

I can just see Abraham hitting it with a crystal-shattering spell, but it doesn't work on a crystal-over-wood construct. Next, he uses a fire hot enough to burn diamond (the only flammable precious gem) but the actual crystal is not diamond and not flammable and protects the wood core...

But... but then he won't ever meet his Madamleck so they can have their happily ever after
I wonder what they might read.
"Battlefront 2 Loot Box."
"Stored by request of Pandora*, please return unopened."
*The actual one, not one of the 243243243423423 Immortals calling themselves that.
A sign reading "This side up", right at the bottom.
"Do Not Open On Any Account. No Really Don't. We Mean It. We Are Serious. Don't Come Afterwards And Tell Us We Didn't Warn You."
"Odd tape containing 18½ minutes of some guy named Richard rambling about how much he hates stuff."
And so forth.
 
 

 
I think he's looking at Ellen's breasts, which he didn't expect to encounter when he folded her arms....

Ashley's idea of calm is about the same as mine when I'm late on my drugs.   It's a bit noisy.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS NOT CALM! I'LL SHOW YOU HOW CALM I AM GOLDARNIT! LET'S GO STEAL THOSE CODES FOR WAREHOUSE 13 AND OPEN WIDE THE GATES OF PHLEGETHON!

Stop right there. Please. It is either informed consent or it isn't. Maybe you want to defend Nioi. I get that. But if your method of doing that is to attempt to twist 'nonconsensual' into 'but she really wanted it and it was good for her', I can get that at any trial where a sleazy lawyer is defending a rapist. It makes me feel just as sick there.
I am not saying that Nioi is evil or that EGS is a bad comic. I am saying that Nioi screwed badly up, good intentions or no. And I am saying that that entire storyline is problematical because the absence of consent is never taken up again.
It is perfectly all right to like a story or movie or other kind of artistic work even if it is problematic. But if you do not acknowledge that there is a problem and consider that it could have been done better, you are effectively choosing to turn a blind eye to the problem -- and doing that can be habit forming. Once you get into the habit of justifying lack of consent it can carry over into real life. Conversely, if you do confront the problem, you become better at recognising it when you encounter it elsewhere.
This is my last word on this topic. If you still do not agree, fine. Just do me the courtesy of not making any further attempts to convince me that it was Ellen's own fault for wearing those clothes. I find it sickening and repulsive.

Uh oh. Very much uh oh.
TIme for the popcorn.

http://www.egscomics.com/?id=2468
"full of relatively useless or inert magic artifacts" eh?
Like ones that might have been used in previous magic systems?
That might not be so useless or inert anymore?
Probably a red herring.

Yeah, he can put on a raincoat and use an umbrella when it is raining, for example.

All I can say about this comic is really just the last panel make me cry.

I just realised that Voltaire is not even nearly as smart as he thought he was. He had hoped that magic's change would do away with the current crop of magicians. But if it had indeed changed, the doomsday scenario Tedd and the other seers foresaw would have happened and magic would have had to become permanent shortly after -- with two systems loose instead of one. So Voltaire's master plan to render humanity helpless by traumatising Tedd would, had it worked, instead armed the mortals with a hell of a lot bigger arsenal.

Nah. He is saying that he is old and only returned to solve this particular crisis. Since the situation has now developed beyond the time where it is 'solvable', he intends to retire again and allow younger people with a fresh point of view to take over. As to who gets to be his replacement, my vote goes to Agent Cranium.
As to the speculation about who could possibly be Van's father, please do not be ridiculous. There is only one possible candidate to fill the position.

Warning! Incoherent rambling ahead! Possibly uncomfortable and raw on feelings. I started writing this last night but never finished. Tried to pick it up and finish it today but failed to beat the rambling into something readable, so I'm posting it as is...
Oh, there may be some who feel uncomfortable by the use of words like "freak" and "normal". The thing is that neither of these are absolutes, but both are things that a lot of people use in their mind when comparing themselves to those around them. For some being a freak means getting turned on by shoes, for others it might be wanting to have sex with bicycles, but only those with a "ladies" frame. Or it might be that you feel that being gay is enough that you label yourself as a freak. I'm not saying that it's healthy, but it certainly is way more common than it should be.
I've tried to read through it to make sure there aren't any really bad triggers, but I may have missed them. If you find anything really objectionable then drop a PM and I'll see if I can rework that part or I'll delete it all if necessary. Or you can just ask a moderator to nuke the post if it's that bad.
I know I had some idea I thought was important when I started writing this, but now I'n not certain I managed to communicate it in this text...
Just because she likes to play a some what risky game with her friends it doesn't mean she's suddenly some kind of sex fiend.
She probably figured out that she's a "freak" at a very early age. Discovering that you are different from the "norm" can be quite hard on a kid. There are a lot of us here on this board that has gone through this, and a lot of posts has been written about how that has influenced our lives.
We have yet to learn anything about Ashley's parents. Most parents want their kids to be successful and fit into society, and usually this means they should be "normal", because that's what their parents taught them. It's easy to hurt someone unintentionally by assuming that your "normal" is going to fit all. At the same time you should not assume that any time someone is claiming something you consider part of the "normal" range to be abnormal they are doing so because they hate you. There are so many ways to deviate from any definition of "normal" you are likely to run into that it's almost bound to happen to all of us, even those who consider themselves cis normal heterosexual.
What we've seen of Ashley she seems well adjusted and outgoing. She doesn't seem to have many issues with her sexual orientation or gender. She has said she consider herself somewhat bisexual, and she's had fantasies about gender swapping and transformation of herself as well as of others. Of these only the part about being bisexual might have caused much of a negative reaction from others as the transformation and gender swapping are just fantasies as far as most know.
However even if her parents and close friends might not be bothered by her sexuality it's likely she's had enough people react negatively that she's taken to keeping that to her self only trusting close friends and potential boy or girl friends about it.
Secrets like these, as small and unimportant as some of them may seem, can easily cause a kid to classify itself as somewhat of a "freak", and that can put a damper on things like dating or even socializing with people they find themselves attracted to. In Ashley's case it can be as simple as her feeling that she doesn't want to have to choose between a girlfriend an a boyfriend, but that she want it all. Polyamory may be a hurdle for a youth trying to fit in and it's not certain that it would be the right thing for Ashley. Add bisexuality and it doesn't get easier. Now she's met Elliot, and it all started with her seeing him transform into a woman. Elliot ticks off some boxes in Ashley's spec sheet that no one else she's met could touch. Elliot can be both boyfriend and girlfriend without the need for a poly amorous relationship. This probably lowers the threshold significantly.
Her previous relationship was probably not something she went into wholeheartedly. I doubt she told him about her possible bisexuality or wishing she could have both a girlfriend and a boyfriend. She wanted to fit in with the rest of society and she needed to find out if she could be happy in a classical Boy / Girl relationship. Now she had the bad luck of hooking up with a manipulative jerk.
This time she met someone that fit her preferences way better, someone who is genuinely nice, and who is surrounded by family and friends that many would consider weirder freaks than her. Add that she has learned that magic is a real thing, that transformation isn't confined to comic's and fairy tales and suddenly sharing her fantasies and wishes with these new friends feels safe. Exhibitionism might or might not turn her on. Having wardrobe malfunctions in a game about transformations doesn't necessarily mean it's about sex or being sexy. It could just be another part of the game, and for what it's worth they are not likely to look much like themselves at any time after the game has started.

Trying to reconstruct something I posted before the forum crash... the following is said somewhere in Europe, in some language possibly beginning with the letter F...
 

Van's a seer as well though, if Noriko is his mother, it's likely she would have used a magic analysis wand on him after he was born as well, either Van wasn't scared by the wand like Tedd was, or the wand wasn't noisy like Edward's or maybe, she must still have had some concern about Van's ability to defend himself when she first tried to teach him to cast spells and he couldn't.
However, the guilt could have come if Van gave the same results as Tedd, but later on she realized just how ever Van could resist enchantments and maybe figured out that could be the case with Tedd as well. That would make her feel guilty about the way she treated Tedd as defenseless and useless as an apprentice without giving him a chance, she'd also believe that it's too late to go back an try to reconcile things since she had started a new family.
For the most part I do agree with that reasoning for her leaving Tedd in the first place, but it was also probably the biggest conclusion jump someone could do.
Let's see, failure to realize the wand was being resisted, failure to realize Tedd could see magic, failure to realize that Tedd was empowering the watches and not some fancy technodohicky he made, failure to realized Tedd's genderfluidity...
I don't think we have enough palms.