Tom Sewell

Ah, no, Noriko would have to have had the child after Tedd. Unless... Well, what if Raven is really Tedd's father? Then Noriko could still have been a student. I don't <i>like</i> either possibility, but there's nothing I know of in canon that would rule it out. How about this? Noriko had sex with both Raven and Edward about the time Tedd was conceived, but assumed Tedd had to be Edward's child, since half-Immortals can't have children. But then later she gets pregnant again, and there's no one but Raven could have been the father, if we rule out parthenogenesis, secret implantation, roofies, etc. Anyway, the most plausible version to me is that Noriko had more and more problems with Edward wanting her to spend more time with Tedd, had a tryst with Raven in a weak moment, and bingo, pregnant again when she hasn't had sex with anyone else at any time when the second child could be conceived. Things like this do happen in the real world, I presume. You have a point, if Noriko believed Immortals could not have children and Edward believed Noriko wouldn't cheat. Again, real world precedents. But you still have a point; it does them knowing before the fact less plausible--except for Edward, I think. He's pretty much established as The Man Who Knows Secrets Known to No One Else. Although not every secret. Maybe.

At the least. Well, if Noriko had a child that she knew had to be Adrian's, she'd have a few reasons to keep it secret from: Tedd, because she has kept her other child/children secret from Tedd. Raven, to spare his feelings. Raven, because he could conceivably fight her for custody. The DGB, because of some secret nonsense, or because they might take the wunderkind result of her little fling. Nanase and Akiko--you really don't think Mama Kitsune wouldn't know, would you? Or would want them to know?

An amazing crackpot plot theory deserves its own post. This one is old, but it has a bit more credibility with today's revelation that Raven is the father of eighteen-year-old Diane, meaning he was sexually active eighteen or nineteen years ago (Diane's birthday was less than a month ago, Moperverse time). It is, big surprise, is that Raven fathered at least one sibling for Tedd. Or maybe twins. Remember the title of this entire arc is "Sister 3" so a third sister for someone is appropriate. And given how much Edward knows, he might know that Immortals really can have children and it may have come up in conversation, quite possibly just before the divorce. And given the long tradition in the Kitsune family, it's quite possible one of their family secrets is one (or more) Immortals in the old family 木.

I really think Helen and Demetrius reset when they realized how wrong they were to draft Susan and Nanase into killing that vampire when they were really still children. Pandora has lots to feel sorry for, but what she did did, protecting her child and his descendants, sounds more like responsible behavior rather than the irresponsible behavior of H&D in France. She knows he's broken the rules, but she doesn't really feel remorse for doing it, only for violating a rule she has followed for her very, very long life and believes all Immortals should follow. Of course, Voltaire, not so much. Agreed. However, I don't think Raven has ever robbed the cradle, allowing for the changing standards of time and place. Did you know that Edgar Allen Poe married his 14-year-old first cousin?

I don't mean I'm sure she isn't adopted, I was just floating an interesting possibility. And for an awkward reunion between Diane's mother and Raven. And much hijinks in trying to avoid this reunion. And complications between her mother and her partner, if her mother has a partner. If Raven tried to settle down, I'm guessing that all his partners: Were barren, or Left him before he found out they were pregnant, or He was away during their pregnancy, and they said the child was a foundling or an orphan she took in, or They told him the child must be from a lover from just before they committed to Raven, or Raven assumed they had cheated on him and he left them. In that last case, I think Raven would avoid committing after that. It's hard to read Raven. He seems very controlled, but he thinks he went too far in inspiring Noriko to commit to using her power for the greatest good. And if he can get so worked up after centuries of experience, maybe he's really a very passionate person disguised by a crafted persona of a person very much under control. And then, of course, there was Grace's first day of School.

Here's a thought no one seems to have put down yet: Could it be that Diane isn't adopted? That actually happens in the real world. For instance, Loretta Young made a movie with Clark Gable back in the day, and shortly after shooting finished, disappeared for awhile. Around a year later, she "adopted" a little girl. A little girl who grew up to look an awful lot like Clark Gable. The fly in the ointment here is Rhea, since she's older, but she may be only a year older, and even if she were two or even three years older, she probably wouldn't remember that far back. Plus, we don't really know about Diane's adoptive parents. Or parent; Rhea and Diane might have been raised by a single mom. Or, maybe Diane's mother married Rhea's father and they adopted each other's kids, something else that happens sometimes in the real world. Or married Rhea's mother, when it became legal in Illinois, assuming that happened in the Moperverse. Being raised by one white and one African-American parent would certainly encourage Diane's late understanding of how ethnicity works.

If Pandora just killed all vampires on Earth, it would be an event more likely to trigger the reset of Magic, especially if some of the vampires are public figures. In fact, it might change magic for immortals. Note that Heka is an immortal being but not what used to be called a fairy, so this suggests that the immortals formerly known as fairies might be under restrictions similar to the ones that have governed human magic. Maybe Tedd's secret second purpose has something to do with a change in Immortal magic. Well, maybe. What I think will happen is that the other Immortals won't be able to force Pandora to reset, but she will decide she has to reset or she will become a danger to her family. After, of course, shredding Voltaire. On the other hand, having Pandora resetting into a genuine little girl or even an infant has appeal. The most awesome season climax of the original Sailormoon was Usagi returning with baby Hotaru in her arms.

Looks like like reset time...or is it? There is the possibility that Pandora is so powerful the combined power of all the other Immortals may not be enough to force her to reset. She could break whatever magical mechanism they set up to enforce that Only Guide and Empower rule. Which, come to think of it, sounds like exactly what Voltaire wants. I got on the forum to reference this Next Generation episode, but see hkmaly beat me to it. The way Zeus is acting, I'm thinking that's exactly what Pandora just did--except wouldn't Sirleck be dead too? Maybe he is. It gets dark early in Chicagoland in January. Good thing everyone is wearing their seatbelts. I now suspect Dan went to extra trouble for that detail. Killing all the vampires makes a nice companion piece to Pandora's other great deed: Killing all the werewolves. Another reason I think Pandora may not reset is that someone needs to tear Voltaire to shreds. Or maybe feed him into a sausage grinder, as Wonder Wart Hog once did to a villain he took down. All the strings of ground meat emerging were saying "Ouch!"

What, not Another One Bites the Dust? Or Janie Got a Gun?

Fortunately I grew up in Idaho, where there were rifle racks behind the soda fountains and you could buy ammunition in gas stations. Used to make pocket money picking up the empty Coors bottles along the highway.

Even better: Making the bullet bigger inside the barrel. Now that would make quite a boom.

Forget about Grace; she's at Salty Crackers, as is Justin. I suspect it's "about six" now, when Sirleck said to meet Ellen at Charlotte's college. However, Rhoda might be at the mall. Maybe she could downsize the bullet? She certainly could downsize some vampires.

I just realized, Scarf is a poet!

Is she driving Christine?

That would be me. Others followed. Firing a pistol like that one-handed means he isn't going to get off a second shot very soon, if he doesn't, in fact, break something. Yes, being a vampire, he'll have regeneration like Susan and Nanase's vampire, but not instant regeneration, I think. Of course, none of this will do any good if he's on target with that one shot. Unless what Raven is casting is something like a Force Dome. Or that force field that Greg has?

Smarter than the three dead vampires, maybe smarter than Gullet. Smarter than Raven or Susan? Nope.

Koala's down, but not out, and he's distracted Susan from Raven's fight. As I've pointed out, that's enough to keep Susan from helping Raven. Now would be the best time for Scarf to make his attack. Unless... If Scarf has to close with Adrian, even if he kills Adrian, or even if he just gets Adrian to let down his defense against the flame attack, that flame attack would then hit Scarf. And why do I think if Adrian does kill Gullet, the sword will be used up?

Copyrights don't apply to temporary magical copies. And do you really think Susan doesn't own an authorized reproduction phaser? Fry's Electronics was selling laser pointers styled like TOS phasers twenty years ago.

I've wondered what would happen if Susan put a prop Star Trek phaser in her chest.

SPOILER!

Yes it did. There's a scene in the Charleton Heston Ben Hur where Judah ben Hur and his Roman friend (the one that betrays him later) throw a couple of authentic First Century pila at a target, and you see how the momentum of the pilum is concentrated behind the tiny point--it would cause a deep wound in soft tissue, and be more likely to penetrate bone or armor. You also see how the point bends away from the shaft after it strikes. It would be especially effective against chain mail, the best armor the Gauls and Germans were likely to be using, if they had armor at all. Most would not. BTW, the Roman troopers were mostly wearing chain mail in this era. Only the wealthy officers would have the bronze cuirasses with built-in-muscles you see in all those sword-and-sandal movies. The loricum segmentum, basically modular plate armor for the chest and shoulders came a little later; you see this in a lot of movies and historical re-enactment. It looks cooler and shinier, and the real armor provided better protection, especially against thrusting weapons.But it was more expensive, harder to make, less comfortable, and you needed someone else to help you in and out of it. It was made so the plates could nest inside one another and fit inside a pack. Okay. topic drift. Well, my reference is obscure because Wizards came out the same week as Star Wars in 1977. Bonus factoid: Mark Hamill did one of the voices in Wizards. Bonus factoid #2: The look Leia had in A New Hope, buns and all, may have been stolen from an unused character design for Wizards. There's a picture of that design on the collector's edition Blu-Ray.

If you throw your sword, chances are remote it will hit pointy-end first. This is why arrows and throwing spears have long lightweight shafts. The Roman pilum was often made with a lead weight behind the long, thin iron head for balance. To make it especially evil, the point was fastened to the shaft with two pins, one made of iron, and one made of wood. When it hit a body, a shield, or anything else fairly solid, the wooden pin would break, leaving making a hinge between the head and the shaft. This had two advantages. Number one, the enemy couldn't pick it up and throw it back in the middle of the battle. Number two, if the point stuck in an enemy's shield, it weighed it down and made it useless. Enemies without shields are much easier to stab with shortswords than enemies with shields. As an added bonus, if the Romans held the field after the battle, they could pick up the used pila, replace the cheap wooden pins, straighten out or sharpen any bent or dulled heads, and throw them again in the next battle. Interesting idea, if it works fast enough. Wouldn't do a lot of good against Gullet's flamethrowing if it doesn't; Scarf would be toast. A better power would be Absorption. This is one of the more expensive Powers in GURPS. Not only does it take energy away from an enemy's attack; it gives you some or all of that energy for your own use. However, that's so unbalancing, Scarf wouldn't need any allies. Maybe a better guess for Scarf's ace-in-the-hole is some kind of Illusion of Stealth magic which allows him to get close. He's been holding back, you might notice. Of course, his trick could turn out to be something like the one Avatar used on his brother Black Wolf at the end of Ralph Bakshi's Wizards. I believe Pandora pointed out something along these lines to the Emissary of Magic.

Remember that Susan has a couple of swords. Also, Dan putting "close range weapon" in Raven's last thought balloon makes me suspect that someone else does have a long range attack. I'd put my cookies on Diane; Pandora wouldn't leave her defenseless, and she's had a couple of days since tea and scones with Heka. Thinking more about Friday's comic, I'm suspecting that Koala is going to go after Susan again. What triggered this suspicion was noticing that Koala found it important that Raven borrowed the sword from Susan. I'm thinking that Koala is thinking if he kills Susan, or just disrupts her concentration enough for her magic to stop working, he can take Raven's sword away. Now, Susan has another sword, and even if she didn't, she's not really summoning an actual sword from her chest; she's creating a magical copy. Why not more than one copy? We already know she can summon at least three fairies at once, and a fairy and a sword at the same time. Koala's chances of actually defeating Susan are very poor, and of course, he has absolutely none of killing her. Still, while Koala may not be aiming for it, Susan won't be able to help Raven while she's dealing with Koala, and that could leave Raven fatally vulnerable. I'm not risking any cookies betting on Raven's survival.

But not as dangerous as a Danish parliament. With a clear look in good light at Gullet's fur and tail, I see that Gullet is basically a monster cat. And that means Susan can use her awesome KITTY! attack!

Here's the comic. That poor sandbag! Not sure Pandora knows if Raven is actually Susan's dad or an ancestor of Susan's dad. That seems probable, but what's surprising me is how much Koala is cooperating with Scarf. Susan's best way of helping Adrian right now is to send fairies. She can summon at least four, and I suspect she can actually summon a horde like the magic crows in Raven's murder shroud. BTW, how many of you figured out that it's a "murder" shroud because it hides a murder of crows? Gotta love those collective nouns, such as a gaggle of geese and a cunning of apes. Anyway, attacking Susan now could keep her from helping Raven when Scarf makes his sneak attack. Sure hope there's another player on the field for the not-vampire team.