Tom Sewell

That's not quite what Adrian said: An Immortal whose magic power cannot be sensed... If Adrian had meant that all Immortals have magic powers that can't be detected by mortals who can detect magical potency, I think he would have used "Immortals" rather than "An Immortal." He could mean that his mother is the only Immortal he knows of who has that level of magical stealth. And that might support the that Edward knew it was Pandora when the egg dropped. Since Edward was once very close to Adrian, it's a reasonable conjecture that he met Pandora at least once before.

Maybe Tedd's sister? He does have at least one sibling. Also (especially if we get a visit from Lord Tedd & company) Nioi and Kaoli.

You mean Cato and Katrina?

How many pairs of sisters could Sister III feature? Elliot and Ellen (front of the title page) Susan and Diane (third row of the title page, behind Magus, in front of Pandora) Nanase's mom and Tedd's Mom Sarah and Carol Diane and Rhea Nanase and Akiko Mrs. Pompoms and her so-far unseen, unnamed sister

Considering what Edward did to Abraham, a mage that came close to killing a half-immortal, I think there's a lot more Edward could do and his niece knows it. He barely restrained Nanase on New Years Eve and that was just about telling Tedd the truth about his mom. Maybe Edward's attitude here has more to do with not wanting Nanase to follow the same path as his wife than concern about Diane, someone he's only met once very briefly.

Maybe not. Sirleck seems to be particularly well-hidden and well-connected. Bringing in Lord Tedd--or, more likely, getting General Shade Tail to bring in Lord Tedd--might be a pretty darn good way to bring hell down on Moperville, wouldn't it, now? The second I read Nanase's final remark about "the most intelligent and best with magic" put Sirleck in my mind. And if Edward didn't know there were vampires about until this Sunday morning, it's extremely unlikely he knows about Sirleck.

You mean like his ex-wife? Greg's training would help, but what Diane really needs is Immortal help. Know of any Immortals hanging around? As long as panel-by-panel analysis is on the table, here's my version: Nanase asks for help protecting Diane. Edward tells her the most he can do is tell the right people that there are vampires about. Kind alike that "security monitor" in that commercial you've seen a million times by now saying all he can do is say "There's a robbery." They have basically the same facial expressions, and their arms are hanging. Edward now has both eyebrows raised in a sort of "nothing I can do" signal while he gives suspiciously superficial advice. We can't see Nanase's face. Now Nanase is leaning forward in a similar posture and expression to the image of the vampire behind her. Nanase shoots Edward's previous assertions down in flames. Edward's arms are folded, his shoulders thrust back. Here it becomes apparent that he's not really facing Nanase, suggesting that he's being evasive. He's tog a one-eyebrow-up flag for "Listen to me, I know more than you." Nanase's the one with arms folded now. Her anger has cooled somewhat, but once again she refutes Edward's evasive arguments. Both Edward's eyebrows are high up again, and he's using a much weaker gesture, the "but I have another point" finger in the air. Nanase makes her stance and expression stronger by narrowing her eyes. Edwards face is slack and his arms hang down as he makes a final futile protest. Picture Edward at the end of any argument with Noriko.

Taking a break from questions about how Susan and Sarah are/are not related: How old are Edward and Noriko? I think everyone is assuming that they would be in their mid to late 40s or even 50s now, but they could just as easily be about the same age as Elliot's mother. I think it's somewhat more believable that Noriko left her child behind as a younger woman than a more mature woman who might well have had some difficulty in having a child at all. And we do know that Noriko has at least one other child, a vote in the favor of the greater fertility that goes with comparative youth. And it would also fit in with the warning Tedd gets from his dad about going too far too soon with Grace. How is Tedd the grand-godson of Pandora? This could mean Pandora is (or considers herself to be) the godmother of one or both of Tedd's parents., or that Adrian is the godfather of Tedd. Does Edward already know who and what Pandora is? In the very first appearance of Pandora, Edward knows she's an Immortal. Wolf and Cranium were both with him; neither could detect her magic. But it seems that Edward could.

Filled out one of those request forms lately? Does the phrase "in six to eight weeks" ring any bells? I believe most real-world DNA tests usually have similar lag-times. Of course, the Moperverse probably has testing on the "CSI" level of realism, with results available as soon as the next commercial break. But given the prevailing hazy conditions of this chapter (Reply Hazy), expect more delays.

Diane's forte in her own words is sneaking, and it isn't much of a stretch to snooping. But Susan's log is almost certainly in Susan's room, quite probably locked up in the chest with her swords, baseball bat, tools, spellbook, dolls, etc. So, Diane really has to meet Susan before the log comes into play. I'd bet on Tedd being the next of the eight to meet Diane because his dad will want to use that noisy wand to check on Diane's magic.

Ellen will spill these beans, if she already hasn't. The only other candidates I feel would be right would be Elliot and Ellen's parents, which would fit in with Diane spending the night at their house. Revealing Ellen's origin to Diane will allow her to wonder if she's got the same origin or a similar one, especially if Edward continues to exposit that Susan is an only child. Sounds like another source of haze around that reply.

Yes, I meant Grace.

I stand corrected. Please clarify. I know of many Bobs, such as the Bob in What About Bob?, Bob the blob in Monsters vs. Aliens, and Bob McNamara in The Fog of War. Also I know a mother of three who refers to herself as "B.O.B" as in "Beast of Burden."

Did a homosexual relationship break up Diane's parents? This is more of a "wouldn't it be a nice plot twist" idea, but I do have a plausible excuses for it: It would make Rhoda even more reluctant to reveal her sexuality to Diane for fear of losing her friendship. And it would help to explain why Diane is so hostile to Justin the first time they are shown together, and why Diane is shown spreading gossip about Justin in this flashback. Was Diane's adoptive father another "defective male companion?" Following this even further, Diane's attachment to Rick might fit the pattern. Rick is casually open about his relationship with Elijah, just like he seems to be about everything. Diane's earlier relationship with Rick might have been somewhat similar to Justin's with Melissa, although the age difference could have made it more like a little sister-big brother thing. And it really goes well with Diane being upset about finding out about Elliot--and still wondering if she wants to continue trying to land him!

Deductive reasoning, yes; actual gaydar, unproven. Diane seems to have some jealousy toward Elijah; she doesn't list Elijah with Rhea and Rick among the people she's concerned about when discussing whether or not to kill not-Tengu. And her remark about "lovebirds" might indicate jealousy over Ellen's relationship with Nanase. But jealousy isn't limited to objects of sexual attraction, is it?

And some pregnancies seem to be longer than others. For instance, that of Edward III of England, born November 13, 1312. As we know from Braveheart, his true father was executed on August 23, 1305.

And have you noticed that the last time a precise date and day-of-the-week appeared in canon was Saturday, June 15th? One might expect The Shive does not wish the Moperverse to be bound to the mundane calendar. A wise choice, particularly if Matt Cohen ever returns, because then we might have to look up Jewish holidays. And watch out for that Easter Bunny, because Easter is a movable feast. By the way, comparing Diane and Susan's fingerprints could yield surprising results as I just posted in Unsolved Mysteries of Susan and Diane.

Do Susan and Diane have the same fingerprints? Actually, if they do, they are NOT "normal" identical twins! Fingerprint patterns aren't entirely dependent on genetics in real life, so all those stories depending on twins having the exactly the same fingerprints are pretty much bogus. They tend to be very similar, but even genetically identical twins sharing the same womb don't occupy exactly the same place in the womb. So if they do have exactly the same fingerprints, they have a stranger origin than "normal" twins, presumably, although as Professor Nanase explained to Lady Andrea, the laws of physics are more like polite suggestions in the Moperverse. Which brings up another question: Do Elliot and Ellen have exactly the same fingerprints? Mirror-images?

I don't think the hospital birth records would necessarily mention that Susan came from a donated egg. Or a zygote from an in-vitro fertilization, especially if the procedure wasn't done at that hospital. The zygote could have split, so two (or more) different women could have given birth to genetically identical babies. So there is still some wiggle room here. It's going to take some time for the haze to clear.

Catalina looks really cute in this one. Maybe there's going to be real contrast between her human and cat forms.

SARAH'S DAD: Sarah, who are you talking to in there? SARAH: Just a floating magical girl who's hundreds of years old. Again. SARAH'S DAD: Very funny.

This could suggest that Diane has yet another characteristic that's strong in Susan: family loyalty. Arguably Diane resisted the idea that she had a natural sibling because it would might alienate her from her family, most probably her mother and Rhea. Yes, and they would have probably met earlier if Principal Verrucht hadn't backed down on the uniforms. Susan was ready to transfer schools over that. In fact, I wrote a little fanfic around that road not taken. Which reminds me of a question no one else seems to have asked yet: Where is Diane now? Is it possible she might be worried about more vampires coming after her? Is anyone else worried about that? Given that Sarah was lying down for a nap after a night without much sleep, it could have been a direct jump. It would have been cool if there had been a clock in Sarah's room. If it's ten at night, Central Time, it's time for some more news and maybe more Carol.

Yes, and it also implies there's at least one more Pandora out there. Scarrrrryyyyyy........

Is this color okay? The identity of Susan's biological parents has had two possible and seemingly contradictory foreshadowings: The Other Woman With Susan's Face from Feb 23, 2007 You Don't Have Any Kids, Do You? from Jan 17, 2012 Susan Grace noted the first time she met Diane that they looked exactly alike, and unless The Shive is going to say that Grace made a mistake, that stands. It's reasonable to assume that Grace will enter the conversation soon an reveal this, or remind Edward that she's already told him. Grace also notices that the illusion that Adrian put on her makes her look like Susan. She was supposed to look credibly like "his niece" to the muggles. As I've noted before on this forum, It's credible that Susan's memory of The Woman With Her Face could be false, but The Shive has never added a commentary to that one. Perhaps this signifies that He has forgotten (I hope I don't have to dodge lightning bolts for suggesting that The Shive might be fallible) or perhaps that is exactly what He meant to convey and still does. Maybe Adrian has a sister? I'm quite the fan of multiverse and alternate history stories, but I don't see any foreshadowing for this development.