Tom Sewell

Of course Lucy is the third partner who doesn't know about magic. However, as far as we know, Diane doesn't have magic, yet, although it's quite possible Pandora marked her as soon as she found out Diane was her granddaughter. By the way, Sarah could use her power to examine Sam without him knowing , and while Sarah might not be looking for a magic mark, I can see her taking an interest in exploring Sam's manscape and stumbling on the mark.

Dan's given himself five days before putting up another comic. I'm guessing we won't see Liz again for awhile. However, it was still maybe a little into the first class period at MNHS at the end of this comic, and, of course, MSHS. Maybe Dan will jump to the start of the party next, but I can see an interesting alternative to that. There are three known dates set up for tonight, Diane-Lucy, Justin-Luke, and Sarah-Sam. They might all be at the same bowling alley, which could set up some interesting interactions, especially between the three partners who don't know their partners have magic.

Eliot is in severe need of a Grace-hug,

Actually, writing ™ is not enough. You also need to register the name and pay for it. And actively use it. But it can be worth it. Way back in the late Dark Ages of Disney, or 1981 in our time, Disney came out with a little movie called Dragonslayer. Appropriately, it was set more or less in the actual Dark Ages, in a kingdom more or less in Saxon Britain before Christianity caught on. It got both thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert, but not big box office. And it got a lawsuit that Disney lost! A really tiny operation that made a line of miniatures for tabletop fantasy RPGs called Dragonslayers actually got Disney to pay up.

The first sign of real self-awareness came in the shower the morning after Elliot dreamed about Susan as Counsellor Troi, which was a bit before Christmas, around a month ago, Moperville Time. Sarah had already decided to break up with Elliot, but Elliot was absolutely unaware of any trouble with that relationship--much as he was until the moment Nanase slapped him before breaking up with him. Then, with blinding speed, after talking with Tedd, and with Ellen (who wasn't available for the Nanase breakup because she didn't exist yet), Elliot actually decided he needed to break up with Sarah. Of course, he also decided not to tell Susan about the feelings he'd developed for her, so that created another shoe left to drop. And, finally, Elliot actually made what he thought was the first move and told Sarah. Fast forward. Some time in early January, after all the fun with not-Tengu, Elliot made the video with Susan and Sarah announcing their breakup. This could have happened on January 3rd, a Sunday, and if school started on Monday, January 4th, this could be the day Elliot gave Ashley her phone back. But Dan's been more careful about keeping dates vague, so it could have been later. This is also the day Elliot learned about the rumors he was gay, and Catalina kiss-tackled him, and boys started talking to Sarah, and Bad Tom made his first move on Susan. That night Elliot dreamed up a harem, woke up, decided to sleep as a guy for the rest of the night, and... The next day, Susan figured out Bad Tom, while Ashley saw Elliot transform, and Elliot asked her for a date! Initiative! Well, a second example. The date of the date wasn't actually set yet as Ashley admitted to Liz, but it was definitely a comin'. Whenever the date came, it was on a Saturday, the day after the Friday Sarah and Sam made a date for the following Friday, and now we are into relative dating. Not incest, but dating relative to an arbitrary day, like D-Day. I Use NW-Day for "New World", and the relative date of Elliot and Ashley's first date is NW-6, six days before Magic made "minimal" changes. NW-Day, besides being the last day for most vampires on the planet and Susan, Diane, and Adrian finding out they were all relatives, was the day of Ashley's second date with Elliot. Actually it turned out to be sort of double-date, plus a fifth wheel. Elliot's third date with Ashley was on NW+7, another Friday evening. Nothing went wrong, but Elliot felt dissatisfied the next day, and so, on NW+8, we come to Elliot's third example of real initiative in dating: the party at Tedd's the following Saturday, NW+15. That's maybe as little as a month's time, in Moperville. Or about six years in our time.

http://egscomics.com/comic/party-034

I wasn't, until now. My pet theory up until now was that Tedd was the internet girlfriend, but that just got blown out of the water because Tedd was already with Grace when Liz met Ashley. Or did it? Remember the plot of Sleepless in Seattle? It is possible that Ashley and Liz had an anonymous internet relationship before they met in person. Maybe a bit more credible is that Liz started one after they met to test the waters. The only times Liz has ever been seen in anything other than sweats and a hoodie have been in gym uniforms, in school uniforms before Verrucht's hairbrained scheme was defeated for a change--and in the two flashback panels in the bookstore at the mall, the only time in canon Liz has ever dressed up to be sexy. So there is a little evidence that might support Liz wanting to be more than a friend of Ashley's. Plus this whole thing between Ashley and Elliot could be laid down to jealousy. On the other hand, we just had the whole Diane-Lucy thing, and Lucy did seem to get back with her so-far-nameless boyfriend.

Are you saying Ashley wants to date Liz?

Even before I went back to this comic and read Dan's comment, I knew that panel was a reference to the smoking man from X-files. And now we know that Ashley has only known Liz for less than a year (Moperville time). And maybe this hints that Ashley's internet girlfriend is also from less than a year ago.

I think the griffin started the conversation. Of course, Ashley did start a conversation with another griffin, at the mall.

http://egscomics.com/egsnp/pizza-05 Up before the story comic for a change.

Let's not forget that Moperville is a suburb of CHICAGO! It's not exactly famous for it's lack of corruption.

I was reading through The Secret of Sam for the umpteenth time and I came again to Grace and Sarah talking about how much Justin and Sam like talking about how bad the Star Wars prequels were. And that got me to thinking: Is that a clue that EGS is taking place before Episode VII was released? Or is this a perhaps happier alternate universe where Episode VII and (especially) Episode VIII were never made?And perhaps not Star Trek Discovery, which didn't even rate a mention in the NPs? Since EGS is a long-running comic that doesn't advance too far ahead in time, I can understand why too many references to pop culture might be wisely avoided, but I wish they weren't entirely ignored sometimes.

If Elliot invites Ashley to the party, it breaks the "everyone will have magic" promise he made to Ashley, at least in his own mind. But Elliot could do it anyway; Dan has given Ashley a lot of panel time. And given what Ashley has done so far, it's not unreasonable for her to crash the party. Or Ashley could decide she really needs to bring Liz along.

Neither am I, but I am pretty sure Edward will be making an alien invasion while the party is going on. Are we going to have silhouettes in every last panel for awhile?

http://egscomics.com/comic/party-031 Liz grew chin whiskers?! Select invisible text below if you want to read it. So how did Liz guess that there were others who could transform? Did Liz notice that Tedd is a girl sometimes? Does Liz think that Ashley thinks she can actually transform people like the stories she writes?

Definitely right about the uniforms. Missed it. I wasn't considering the non-canon NPs. Looking at that one with fresh eyes, though, I'm wondering if the girl is supposed to be the daughter of Grace's avatar in the game. The girl is holding the same squirrel in all four panels.

Here's what I hope is a complete list of Liz appearances (in story time order): Liz meets Ellen (Sister I) Panel 1 cameo (Sister I) Smokin' (Sister I) I look so preppy (Sister II) Liz gets her name (Sister II) Batman's Goth (New and Old Flames) Not the bookstore (Marker) A noticeable enlargement (Marker) That might have taken a day to heal. (Marker) You answered that way too quickly. (Marker) I can give her... hm. (Marker) Another jerk? (Identity) He's a total dork. (So a Date at the Mall) I said you're dorks. (So a Date at the Mall) Just stay away from the book store. (So a Date at the Mall) It's been an hour. (So a Date at the Mall) ...But you'd tell me if there was a problem with you and Elliot? (Title Pending) Gym talk 1 (Title Pending) Gym talk 2 (Title Pending) WE NEED TO TALK. (Title Pending) A talk with Liz (Title Pending) You are the worst at this. (Title Pending)

Pandora seemed to be close to drawing the same conclusion about Ashley that Jerry did about Sarah,, so she was disappointed. But she didn't see the same obstacles with Liz. I see her giving Liz a spell as being more about having a little fun and giving Liz something that she deserves rather than a great possibility that it would help her apocalyptic plan. And making that spell something Liz could use without realizing what it was could encourage Liz to use it a lot. And Pandora was a very old Immortal at that time, so not being able to predict the exact outcome of giving Liz such a spell would be a plus.

It may also mean that Glar has gained transformation powers. And, wouldn't Glar be the perfect boyfriend for Liz? Seriously, I haven't heard anyone really use "The Man" since the Sixties.

That's a possibility, but Liz doesn't know Rhoda--Rhoda goes to Moperville South. Liz would probably have recognized Catalina; they were together with Susan during the great fighting-gang-violence-with-dorky-school-uniforms incident. You mean sort of like Tedd, Arthur, and Van's talents? Pandora didn't know about Seers back in October.

Of course it is, but Dan could have changed her pose a little so it doesn't look like a goatee in silhouette. Are you new to El Goonish Shive, or just to the forum?

While Charlotte wouldn't post anything herself that she thinks could betray trusts, I think she would find it hard to censor the postings of others on her forum. So, yes, Liz could have got some buzz about transformations from Charlotte's web... forum. I didn't miss your pun.

Charlotte wouldn't post anything that would expose Cheerleadra, Shade Tail, Nanase, or Ellen--the encounter with not-Tengu was before either of the mall incidents.

http://egscomics.com/comic/party-029 Four little words, Twelve little letters, That simply mean YOU"RE IN DEEP SH**!!