The Old Hack

To be fair, the Grand Prix drivers probably have a much better idea of what they are doing as well as fewer delusions about their mortality.

Sorry to hear that. One of my little sister's cats also has a medical condition. He has allergies, we're not sure what he is allergic too, but we know it is something in the back garden. This has made him far from enthusiastic in going out, unlike my sister's other cat.

Best wishes to your cat and yourselves, tOH. They're hard to lose, and I hope you don't have to lose yours.

Reading through the Frazz archive, and this comic reminds me just what a fantastic world we live in.  :-)

The Grand Prix in St Petersburg, FL.
I see people driving at insane speeds on the streets around here every day.  These racers look safer and more civilized than most of the drivers I usually encounter.

Mall food court bourbon chicken and water.
Just writing that out makes me more depressed.
 

Now hearing the sound of a better-feeling Mrs. Prof listening to something on her computer. She uses that thing for nefarious ends, I tell you ...

This seems like the kind of thread that the forum should have, I don’t know if the old one did.
The 8 "main" characters of EGS present a quite remarkable variety of character traits, although some of them are admittedly more fleshed out than others. Sarah, for example, seems until quite recently to have served as either the Only Sane Woman, a plot device, or the cuteness factor when Grace isn't available or enough. Justin hasn't precisely had his big moment yet, either, IMO.
Still, none of them really seem to blend together, so it's probably quite easy to identify a favourite.
For me, it's very hard to beat Susan. I like pretty much everything about her, from her backstory and as-of-yet mysterious connection to Diane, to her cynical sense of humour with the sweet Nature underneath. She's arguably got the deepest personal issues of any main character, with the possible exception of Tedd, and it's extremely satisfying to see her overcome them. In fact, I can't recall any comic in which she actively participates as being boring. It's a shame it's been a few years since the main storyline concentrated on her.
 
Very interested in hearing others' opinions!  The more thorough your elaboration, the better.

My sympathies to you both.  I spent an hour or so listening to myself groaning and quietly swearing and going "Ow ow ow ow ow!" tonight.  Thank you to the Mythbusters for giving evidence that it actually does help, so I didn't feel too silly or self-indulgent about it.

Cramps here too, but of a different kind.  Took a nap (bad sleep habits the past week) and woke up about 9pm with a bit of an ache, decided not to take Ibuprofen because I'm overdue to donate blood, and went to the grocery store.  Big mistake to not take the meds.  By the time I got home I was making liberal use of the Mythbuster-proven pain control of swearing.  Took Ibuprofen, used heating pad and exercises (guys may not know this, but certain exercises do help), and did a lot more grumbling and quiet swearing until it finally eased.
On the plus side, now that the Ibu has kicked in fully, I'm feeling fine!  I have very occasionally needed to add acetaminophen to the ibuprofen to do the job, a combo recommended the by my doc the one time years ago I put my back out so I know it's safe.  Thank goodness we live in an era of cheap and readily accessible pain meds!

Most royal families rose to power through military action. The difference is that it happened several generations ago.
I'm sure griffins will be able to recognize elf. And we don't know if Cranium is powerful. Wolf and Edward, maybe.
Her half may have same number of human magic users as our world (or at least same number of magic user FAMILIES, that is, people with hereditary magical affinity), the difference being they are more public. With current lack of information, I would consider it most likely.
Ability to learn other people's spell is definitely useful, but not "far superior". Even after learning the spell they may not have enough power to cast it - just as Sarah wouldn't have power to cast her spell outside Moperville. Also, it's ability which will not really help unless they know some other magic user with useful spells ...
Stephen Hawking. I think Einstein would be problematic for such courtroom due to being dead. Unless the courtroom IS in afterlife ... wait, that would be even more hypocritical.

Time to nominate a judge. I nominate Albert Einstein.

This gives me a rather strange mental image of some courtroom where magicians are being prosecuted for violating the laws of physics, with infractions against the square/cube law seen as mere misdemeanours whereas something like creating a machine that produces more energy than goes into it is a very serious offence that might result in a protracted stay in jail.

This gives me a rather strange mental image of some courtroom where magicians are being prosecuted for violating the laws of physics, with infractions against the square/cube law seen as mere misdemeanours whereas something like creating a machine that produces more energy than goes into it is a very serious offence that might result in a protracted stay in jail.

Thank's to HarJIT, who found an archive with The Old Hack's courtesy rules, I was reminded that we had a specific place to quarantine all discussion regarding the pacing, scheduling and fan service in general of EGS. So I'm making that thread now.
Note: Discussion regarding fan service on specific pages (like the Patreon Pinups) should be limited to the threads for those pages unless it results in a necro.
Here's the link for anyone interested, make sure to read the rules:
I'll start us off with this one:
How do you guys feel about the general pacing of the MV5 storyline in NP? Sure we have some development on the character and plot front, but I felt that there were times where it dragged on a bit.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151116210514/http://community.910cmx.com/index.php?/topic/10364-please-be-courteous-and-respectful-to-your-fellow-posters/ may help, although taking the opportunity to refactor them somewhat might I suppose be a good idea.
 

Royalty: Oh, I agree. That was why I said 'possibly.'
Pronunciation: Oh Lord yes. I learned so much English from reading back in the day. Even these days I will all too frequently mispronounce some word I only know in written form and my wife has to correct me.

Okay, fair enough, but I am still not happy with having an incompetent and corrupt tax-evading drunkard that spends government money on partying while he is supposed to be at work for our prime minister.

I am notoriously terrible at resisting temptation of this kind.

Give USA chance first. They not only needs Will more, but (sanity of) president of USA is important for whole world. Denmark doesn't have nuclear weapons, right?

Given the mention that royalty have strong magic, it may not even be vestigial. The revolutionary ideas of equality may not really hold when the royalty ARE better.
Note that this is ANDREA fangirling, she might not be informed yet ... but yes, I still see it as polite acceptance of royal caprice.
"I'm blind!"
There is an additional problem with pronunciation: even if you know the correct world, you may say it as something different. At least if you mostly learned the language in written form.
Well ... that was sort of expected after her reaction to Elliot's change.
I see you missed few episodes of Star Trek. Namely, The Squire of Gothos, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Encounter at Farpoint, Hide and Q, Q Who, Deja Q, Qpid, True Q, Tapestry, All Good Things, The Survivors ...
Just because Scotty can't change the laws of physics doesn't mean noone can.
Not literally everywhere but are definitely very common.
Tara might've not really meant it seriously. Or she never cared.
Agree. Newton would totally see black hole as impossible. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic (Clarke) and any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from technology (Girl Genius).
The really weird issue is the magic reset. Apparently, while "other" physical laws are solid, magic laws can change a lot.
 

I'm glad you got a laugh out of my ramblings.
As to Tedd's aura... hm. Maybe, "OMG! It's the Magic Pope!"

Given that Tara is a knight and their persistent mention of royalty I am starting to suspect that their half of the world (Darn you, Dan, EXPLAIN THAT!) is a monarchy with a feudal system of some sort. Possibly a vestigial one with some sort of civil representation. Moreover, I find the reactions of the griffins rather interesting. I have this feeling that they still have Nanase placed in the slot marked 'royalty' in their worldview and that they go along with not calling her 'princess' mostly as polite acceptance of royal caprice. ("Uh, of course, your Majest -- I mean, your Elizabethness -- I mean Elizabeth!")

This... okay, this makes a lot more sense than my idea. And thank you for an extra few laughs today.
I wonder what they would say about Tedd's aura...

I'm glad you got a laugh out of my ramblings.
As to Tedd's aura... hm. Maybe, "OMG! It's the Magic Pope!"