Tom Sewell

Seems to me the person to clear the clog would be whomever Pandora empowered and guided to create it, and it seems highly unlikely that would be her estranged son. Remember, she's only spoken with Adrian once in the last fourteen or fifteen years. So his “chore” is liable to be more complicated than “OK, stop doing that now”. Cookies to whomever guessed Adrian Raven would be the Mystery Guest. No cookie for me.

The point I'm making is that both Susan and Diane like to keep a reserved demeanor, and are embarrassed when they show unrestrained emotions--except anger.

Yeah, "not awful" cartoons, like Diane talking about "sappy" griffins.

That may have been Susan's true feelings ten months ago in Moperville time, on the first day of mandatory skirts for girls. But Susan does have cousins she cares about, likely the children of that sister that Susan's mother went to visit because she'd broken her leg, giving Susan's dad the opportunity to pull the dumb-ass move of bringing his girlfriend to his house when Susan was home, thereby probably providing an anecdote for divorce lawyers that's probably universal by now, and narrowly missing a Darwin Award.

I think Catalina looks younger now, maybe a sixth-grader?

So who hasn't been seen for a “while”? A “while” in EGS can be a very, very long while in the world we are stuck in, but there are, as usual caveats. Does the “while” refer to just the main comics? Main comics plus canon NPs? Main plus any NPs? What about sketchbook appearances? Mall openings? Sides of milk cartons? Anyway, here's my list of possible candidates: Principal Verrucht hasn't been seen since a flashback in Hammerchlorians. However, he's never seen when he's not at MNHS, so unless it's at least Monday, probably not yet. Lucy hasn't appeared in the main story since Family Ties, although she's made a cameo in Escape From the Mall. Rhoda only appeared briefly near the beginning of Squirrel Prophet, but she's had pretty much her own arc in Escape From the Mall. Pretty much the same applies to Catalina, although if Rhoda is with Diane, Catalina probably won't be. Ashley, obviously, since Elliot is supposed to be meeting with her. But maybe a little too obvious. We're pretty sure The Shive won't have stopped being a stinker by (our) Wednesday. Ashley's dad. He's never been seen; only heard speaking to Ashley-in-pigtails in a flashback. Almost the same applies to Ashley's mom, heard off-panel nagging Ashley to put on a coat for Heaven's sake, it's cold outside, you want to catch your death?! Liz. Liz would be nice. Liz is always nice to see. Wouldn't you like to see Elliot coming to Ashley and finding Liz with her? Bad Tom. Wouldn't you like to see Elliot beating up Bad Tom? Especially with Liz joining in? Good Tom. All that's needed is a puppy in peril. Splendid opportunity for mistaken identity; I don't think Elliot has met either Tom yet. If the Mystery Guest is supposed to appear in Part Seven, it depends on where and when it will be set. If it's still Sunday, most likely the next part will begin with Elliot getting together with Ashley or Susan meeting Diane. Only people who know either Ashley or Diane would naturally fit. Adrian does know Diane, but I doubt he would bring Noah along since Adrian and Noah have gone to some trouble to keep Noah's powers secret, and Adrian hasn't shown great trust in Diane's judgement. And as far as we know Adrian would only know about the Mall incident from the media, which didn't feature Diane at all. Ditto with Justin; he's probably talked some with Nanase and/or Ellen a bit, but if he was at the mall, wouldn't he would have butted in. On the other hand, if we skip over the Ashley-Elliot conference to the next school day at Moperville South, Justin, Noah, and Adrian are all readily available. Or maybe Sirleck will begin raining hell down on Moperville.

Ah, yes, the second mirror revelation, way back in Death Sentence. First mirror revelation, after Grace's birthday party, actually titled by The Shive The Other Woman With Susan's Face.

Ah, yes, the second mirror revelation, way back in Death Sentence. First mirror revelation, after Grace's birthday party, actually titled by The Shive The Other Woman With Susan's Face. Cousins? Since Blaike has been dead for more than three hundred years--quite possibly a lot longer--very distant cousins. But Blaike might not have been the father of all Pandora's children. Ever wonder where those wacky twins Helen and Demetrius came from? Ever wonder the reason why Tedd's dad knows so much about Immortals?

Actually toll house cookies were invented by Hershey's as a way to sell the drippings left over from candy bar production.

How about Greg's dojo? Greg knows about magic, has magic (and how!), and the other issue can also be addressed: Getting Diane up to speed on monster fighting. The other logical place would be Tedd's house, where the Scary Wand could be used to analyze Diane's magic, not to mention Tedd's magical insight. And maybe the scanner in the basement to see just how alke Susan and Diane really are. When to get together could be an issue. How late has it gotten? It's Sunday, the night before Monday; parental units tend to frown on their children being out on the eves of school days. Unless, maybe, this happens to be the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day, which would place this Sunday at January 19th.

Ah, no. The very first enchantment Rhoda cast was permanent; it only dispelled after the boar died. And then there's Vladia. So we have at least two examples of permanent enchantments. Plus the way Tedd explained Sarah's power as an enchanting herself, Sarah can basically stay in her simulated worlds as long as she likes; it's only the casting of the enchantment (which involves scanning the vicinity) that takes energy.

So it looks like Susan's going to try to develop a relationship with Diane while keeping it secret from her mother. Oh, that should be easy. Speaking of Susan's mom, we've only seen her on two occasions: At her house when Susan told her mom not to worry because Justin was gay In a flashback just before Susan and Nanase went to France There's quite a difference between these two views of Mrs. Pompoms, and I'm not talking about The Shive's drawing style. In the flashback, Mrs. Pompoms is very much in charge of herself and pretty much everyone else who encounters her. But two years later, she's in her bathrobe early in the evening and doesn't seem to be willing to put down her drink. I suggested before that the drinking might be a response to Susan resembling the Other Woman more and more as she matures. But the earlier strip is from thirteen years ago, so The Shive's conception of Susan's mom might have evolved in the seven years between that strip and the flashback. And we don't know if Mrs. Pompoms ever met the Other Woman or even knows what she looked like. However, Mrs. Pompoms keeping Susan's adoption a secret from her does sort of fit the EGS tradition of everyone having a secret or three to keep. Another thought: Mrs. Pompoms must have some kind of relationship with Mrs. Kitsune going back to the trip to France. That could mean that Mrs. Pompoms knows an awful lot more about what's going on than Susan wants to think she knows. And that would be another reason for Mrs. Pompoms taking, in the words of one of my old girlfriends, "chemical vacations."

Maybe Susan and Diane share yet another trait. Way back in Sister Part Un, Susan was shown crushing on girlified Elliot. Now, this was very early Susan; The Shive HImself has admitted that His conception of Susan has changed considerably since her early appearances. But... The only person Susan has ever been shown kissing (and perhaps approaching second base with) was Justin as a girl during Grace's birthday party. Susan didn't show attraction to Elliot until after Elliot started turning into a girl quite often. Susan has never had a romantic relationship with a boy. Neither has Diane; she just dates to get practice and get boys to spend money on her. Diane doesn't seem to have given up on Elliot even though she's seen him turn into two different (and sexy) female forms. I'm not married to this plot theory, but it does seem to have at least four legs. Of course, I'm at least going steady with the Other Woman Is Their Biological Mother theory. Did not notice that until you pointed that out.

Or maybe boys really aren't Diane's thing? The closest thing to a “moment” Diane's had with anyone so far was with Charlotte.

See? Even I have trouble telling them apart.

I think the only time Diane really weaseled out of an obligation was when she got Nanase to pick out Ellen's outfit for Grace's birthday party, and it was a really big deal for her. There's no way she's going to weasel out of seeing Diane soon: Diane is in danger; Diane is a friend of her friends; Diane's existence isn't Diane's fault. This is not to say that Susan and Diane are going to get along particularly well.

So far none of you have mentioned the most astounding feature of this strip: MR. KITSUNE SPOKE!!!

I'm going to start this thread with: Tony as Captain Kirk trying to make out with Lavender. Why? Kirk seducing alien women is a meme so established that Shatner himself satirized it in Escape From Planet Earth I can see Tony imagining that he could be Kirk Tony kind of looks like he has Kirk hair. And wouldn't it be great if Tony's already wearing a rug in high school? (This has nothing to do with my starting to lose my hair in high school.)

Maybe Vlad was always female. How do you tell with a bat-bat-bat-hawk-leopard-Uryuom hybrid? Vlad never successfully took human form before Ellen zapped her.

On rapid hair growth: Looking it up, it averages about six inches per year for Asians, which would put Nanase's way more than normal. She'd have to make the muggles think she was wearing wigs.

Indeed, and Edward probably tells her anything she asks about. I know I would. KRAK-A-THOOM! Think about that scene again. Cranium is one of the most powerful mages known, and she's intimidated by Nanase's mom. It also implies that Mom knew all about Nanase's "secrets". The Shive's decision to use Akiko here instead of a one-shot character like Jimmy could be a hook to hold up a lot of plot. One piece of possible plot might concern who's watching Akiko (besides Pandora). You really don't think Akiko would be alone at a huge mall with many exits and who knows how many perverts, do you?

We don't know if Akiko knows about real magic at all; she's never been in a scene where Nanase or Ellen used magic, and Nanase has reasons for keeping magic, particularly her magic, secret. Another point is Akiko probably doesn't know Rhoda, or even about Rhoda. And the same applies the other way. Rhoda could just walk away from some random kid. Right? End of problem. Well, Akiko would probably tell Nanase later... And Akiko might follow the magical lady to see if anything else happens and ask more awkward questions, and maybe catch Catalina talking or even see Tiny Catalina... Also, it might be good to remember that Akiko comes from the same bloodline that produced Nanase and Noriko. That may mean she already has at least a feeling for magic. And if Akiko can't use any magic yet, it's also good to remember that Pandora is watching all this happening. Mark this down.

Possibly because it was posted on December 4th?

Towels for all! Now we're ready for the Vogons.

Rhoda's growth spell + Catalina = CATZILLA!!!