The Old Hack

It is hilarious (read: creepy and disconcerting) how this narrative tends to be propagated by men who clearly give the impression that they think it would be a really cool idea if they could get away with it.

Unfortunately for trans and intersexed people, recognition of their rights to be regarded as the sex that they perceive themselves as rather than the sex that others perceive them as are lagging decades behind recognition of homosexual rights. There's still the narrative going around that some men will choose to impersonate women for malicious purposes.

Right on. Good to see everybody again.

What makes me happy (and amuses me no end) is to inadvertently look up at a tab and see that it reads, "Robin has sent you a mess..."
Said message being the one where he has returned me to moderator status. XD

The Moderator: By popular request, I am relaunching the political discussion thread.
Once again, however, I must stress that it will be very strictly monitored. Adherence to the forum courtesy rules will be enforced with especial care here. This is a particularly contentious topic and no flames, personal attacks, scandalmongering nor slurs of any kind will be permitted. People have a great range of opinions and while it is hard to remain calm and civil at times we should nevertheless strive for that to the best of our ability. Use of particularly offensive terms about other posters (including but not limited to 'RWNJ', 'SJW', 'Nazi' and others) will result in immediate warning points.
We had some good and beneficial discussions on the old thread and largely managed to remain civil and respectful. I hope we can accomplish the same here. Remember: do not post here in the heat of anger and always keep in mind that your fellow posters are people, too.
Last point: as in the old thread, when I do post here it will be in my capacity as moderator only. It will be easier for me to moderate here if I do not allow myself to become personally involved. While I do have a political bias, I will do my best to not let it affect me. And remember that as always, you have a right of appeal to the admins if I make a decision you disagree so much with that you find it unacceptable.
The Old Hack

Here's a little smug, and you can pet it if you like.
x
There's another concern. An area can be very comfortable with a certain flow of water, but if that flow is blocked so there's a buildup and then the buildup is released it can be extremely damaging. (Think of a dam breaking.) Is the same true of magic?
 

To our gentle forumgoers,
here follows a set of rules of behavior we wish our posters here to respect to the best of their ability:
Please stay polite to each others even when you disagree. Try to keep your comments aimed at the opinion of other posters instead of commenting on the posters themselves. Remember that it is much more likely to result in productive dialogue if you phrase your questions and opinions with respect for your fellow posters. Avoid deliberately inflammatory language as it can only have destructive consequences for forum mood. Even if some poster angers you, please think of the rest of our posters who hopefully do not deserve to have their discussion interrupted with angry words.

Keep criticism polite and constructive. It is fine not to like a given page or storyline but explain why rather than use dismissive or derogatory language. If at all possible, also describe what in your opinion could have been done better. It is also fine not to like a given character but again do not use derogatory terms or nicknames in connection with it. Avoid bald unsupported claims and leave room for others to have their own opinions -- anything that implies that "if you disagree with this you must be stupid/have no taste" is unacceptable.

I believe that most of us are reasonable people and that while mistakes and missteps may happen, they can be quietly settled once they occur, either with an appeal for more restrained commentary or with a notice in private messages. In such cases where this is not possible, however, I may have to resort to unapproving posts or even placing posters under temporary posting moderation. But I trust that this will not often become necessary.
In addition, it is also not acceptable to argue moderator decisions in the open threads. If anyone is dissatisfied with moderator decisions, that is what private messages are for. For example, arguing in the open threads that 'I do not understand why it is discourteous to...' [insert example of questionable behavior] will merely further derail proper discussion. Do not do this.
Certain topics are highly volatile and/or triggering for some people. Examples would be abuse, self-harm, sexual molestation or predation, serious injuries or illness, among others. It is not forbidden to discuss these but it is requested to add a content warning or note to the posts or threads these might appear in. (Example: [CN: self-harm].) Please add such a warning to either your topic or the top of your post in such a case. If you feel it is potentially upsetting material, you might also put it in a spoiler box. Of course, there's always private messages if you want to be completely sure and there is only a few who may be interested.
By the nature of EGS, it may from time to time provoke discussion of homophobia and transphobia. This is fine. What is NOT fine, however, is to in any way or form promote homophobia or transphobia in the form of either hate speech, apologia therefor or through attempted erasure of viewpoints that do not conform to cisgender or heterosexual standards. All three are serious offences and will result in immediate action from the moderator.

While creating a truly safe space is complex and may well be beyond my capabilities, I am nonetheless striving to make these forums as safe for the posters here as possible. That most certainly extends to those who have been harmed by cisheteronormativity elsewhere. I will come down hard on any attempt to persecute them and I have seen enough of this done under the pretense of 'reasoned discussion' that I will not accept that as an excuse.

Or in less flowery language: Being transgender, genderfluid, agender and so forth IS a thing. We've people here who identify that way. They get plenty of crap for that in other places and we don't need any of it here. Don't try to tell them that how they feel about themselves isn't real. Don't try to explain their identity away as a delusion, a fetish or some other slur like that. If you do, you're way out of line and you'll be dealt with.

For the sake of completeness: homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism and religious/racial intolerance have no place on these forums. Keep them all away.
Necroposting: As a rule of thumb, any thread, especially all threads in the Story forum and its subforums, should be considered decently dead if it has not generated responses for a time of about two weeks. If you at this point wish to debate a point raised in that thread or from that comic, do it in a new thread in the General forum or possibly the 'Things I noticed upon reread' thread.
The JML Exemption: Certain threads are directly exempt from the necroposting rule. These mainly include the 'Things I noticed upon reread', 'Wild Theories' and the Fanservice threads in the General forums but also the 'Things that make you...' and 'What are you...' threads in the Off Topic forums. Other threads may also belong here and may be added here over time.
Thank you for reading this. I trust there shall be no problem with respecting these rules.
-- The Moderator

To our gentle forumgoers,
here follows a set of rules of behavior we wish our posters here to respect to the best of their ability:
Please stay polite to each others even when you disagree. Try to keep your comments aimed at the opinion of other posters instead of commenting on the posters themselves. Remember that it is much more likely to result in productive dialogue if you phrase your questions and opinions with respect for your fellow posters. Avoid deliberately inflammatory language as it can only have destructive consequences for forum mood. Even if some poster angers you, please think of the rest of our posters who hopefully do not deserve to have their discussion interrupted with angry words.

Keep criticism polite and constructive. It is fine not to like a given page or storyline but explain why rather than use dismissive or derogatory language. If at all possible, also describe what in your opinion could have been done better. It is also fine not to like a given character but again do not use derogatory terms or nicknames in connection with it. Avoid bald unsupported claims and leave room for others to have their own opinions -- anything that implies that "if you disagree with this you must be stupid/have no taste" is unacceptable.

I believe that most of us are reasonable people and that while mistakes and missteps may happen, they can be quietly settled once they occur, either with an appeal for more restrained commentary or with a notice in private messages. In such cases where this is not possible, however, I may have to resort to unapproving posts or even placing posters under temporary posting moderation. But I trust that this will not often become necessary.
In addition, it is also not acceptable to argue moderator decisions in the open threads. If anyone is dissatisfied with moderator decisions, that is what private messages are for. For example, arguing in the open threads that 'I do not understand why it is discourteous to...' [insert example of questionable behavior] will merely further derail proper discussion. Do not do this.
Certain topics are highly volatile and/or triggering for some people. Examples would be abuse, self-harm, sexual molestation or predation, serious injuries or illness, among others. It is not forbidden to discuss these but it is requested to add a content warning or note to the posts or threads these might appear in. (Example: [CN: self-harm].) Please add such a warning to either your topic or the top of your post in such a case. If you feel it is potentially upsetting material, you might also put it in a spoiler box. Of course, there's always private messages if you want to be completely sure and there is only a few who may be interested.
By the nature of EGS, it may from time to time provoke discussion of homophobia and transphobia. This is fine. What is NOT fine, however, is to in any way or form promote homophobia or transphobia in the form of either hate speech, apologia therefor or through attempted erasure of viewpoints that do not conform to cisgender or heterosexual standards. All three are serious offences and will result in immediate action from the moderator.

While creating a truly safe space is complex and may well be beyond my capabilities, I am nonetheless striving to make these forums as safe for the posters here as possible. That most certainly extends to those who have been harmed by cisheteronormativity elsewhere. I will come down hard on any attempt to persecute them and I have seen enough of this done under the pretense of 'reasoned discussion' that I will not accept that as an excuse.

Or in less flowery language: Being transgender, genderfluid, agender and so forth IS a thing. We've people here who identify that way. They get plenty of crap for that in other places and we don't need any of it here. Don't try to tell them that how they feel about themselves isn't real. Don't try to explain their identity away as a delusion, a fetish or some other slur like that. If you do, you're way out of line and you'll be dealt with.

For the sake of completeness: homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism and religious/racial intolerance have no place on these forums. Keep them all away.
Necroposting: As a rule of thumb, any thread, especially all threads in the Story forum and its subforums, should be considered decently dead if it has not generated responses for a time of about two weeks. If you at this point wish to debate a point raised in that thread or from that comic, do it in a new thread in the General forum or possibly the 'Things I noticed upon reread' thread.
The JML Exemption: Certain threads are directly exempt from the necroposting rule. These mainly include the 'Things I noticed upon reread', 'Wild Theories' and the Fanservice threads in the General forums but also the 'Things that make you...' and 'What are you...' threads in the Off Topic forums. Other threads may also belong here and may be added here over time.
Thank you for reading this. I trust there shall be no problem with respecting these rules.
-- The Moderator

Oh, yeah. I am back. I was still pretty new when the old forums went kaput. But I went through and re-registered as soon as I could and everything. :3

Quite likely. It would explain his 'to **** with keeping a low profile' comment just before he pulled out the bombs.
Of course, afterwards Dame Tara set him up the bomb.

The Vampider said he was hungry enough to eat two.  My guess would be that Andrea has been keeping him from feeding for a while, leading to him being less cautious and thus her having to be more direct in return.  This confrontation might have been the last in a series, each bigger than the last, until this time around one or both of them would have been taken out if Dame Tara hadn't intervened.

Or, it might have been her reaching puberty that triggered the attack.  He let them take care of her until she showed signs of being potentially fertile, as many hybrids in the real world are not, and then claimed her.  If he found out about the eggs in the course of the raid, that might be why he then held off on raping her until finding out whether that better option panned out.  If making eggs is a conscious action, better to keep Grace afraid of him but relatively well-cared-for so she'd be less likely to flatly refuse to make them.  After all, if, in the end, he still couldn't get her to do it, hecould always go back to the original plan, in which she'd have no choice.... :-(

If memory serves me properly, it was Gene Coon (producer of the original Star Trek) who Heinlein spoke with.  Coon smoothed everything over, but Heinlein asked for a copy of the script (souvenir, not legal thing), and Coon had Gerrold sign it.  Gerrold had read "The Rolling Stones" (Heinlein's story) long ago, but thought he was retelling the "Rabbits in Australia" story and did not consciously try to plagiarize Heinlein.
(Still have a copy of "The Trouble with Tribbles",the book Gerrold wrote about the making of the episode...    It, along with Gerrold's "The World of Star Trek" are great looks into the environment of the television industry)
And to bring it back to topic, just because someone has the same idea as you doesn't mean that they stole it.  
 
Doesn't mean they didn't, either...

I must agree.
Before the crash, I was using a snapshot of a turtle in my driveway next to a car tire.  I cleverly titled this picture "Tired Turtle".  As it was a picture I took at my home and the original had the toe of my shoe in the shot, I felt justified in calling it my avatar.
I still have the picture on my hard drive, but the new cropping limits what I can effectively show.  Thus the turtle appears to be all alone now.

After much fighting with the f-ing insurance company, I now have the paperwork processing which the doctors need to rebuild me, to make me better than I was... better, stronger, faster, at least optically anyway.

I am putting off getting around to think about procrastinating.
 
 

More than Weisman.  Star Trek writers had been doing that for decades for the same reason.  Too many loons who sue because someone wrote a story/movie/song that happened to be similar to what they wrote but was never read/heard by the people being sued.
It's just good legal sense, unfortunately.

The birds probably took a look at Elliot and were like "OK now THAT is cheating! Building planes and learning how to control them at least took a great deal of effort."

Elliot, in this form, can fly.  No phone is needed to play with birds.  And it shouldn't take too much effort to make those birds angry.

None of this, however, answers the really important question: how does he play Angry Birds?

It certainly doesn't help that we'd gotten used to updates five days a week, and got dropped back to three.  Storylines naturally take a lot longer that way.  The occasional sketchbook entry used to help there, but we haven't seen more than a handful of non-pinup sketches in far too many months.  I used to get the impression that sketches were something easy and fun for Dan to do, that helped him recharge; I'm afraid *having* to do them for Patreon may have ruined that for him.

 
Good. Or these forums would end up being full of suspicious characters. And then I might actually have to work at being a moderator. And I hate to work.

Why, never! I would not do such things, yes?

... that is, until someone slams into Graham Rahal's side and starts an 8-car pile-up.

Drop the water and the chicken and just have the bourbon neat instead. It will make you feel better.